What does a website cost? Buying vs. subscription compared

What drives the cost of a website?

A website is not an off-the-shelf product but the sum of many work steps. The more of them there are and the more complex they are, the higher the price. If you know the individual cost drivers, you can read quotes more easily and decide what really matters in your case.

The main factors are almost always the same, whether you run a restaurant, a practice or a trades business:

• →Scope and number of pages: a home page with contact details is quicker to build than twenty subpages with service descriptions, location pages and a careers section.
• →Design: an adapted layout based on a proven framework takes less effort than a fully custom design with its own illustrations and animations.
• →Copy: do you bring finished texts, or do they need to be written? Good service page copy requires research, alignment and keywords.
• →Images: existing photos, licensed images or a dedicated photo shoot make a noticeable difference.
• →Functions: a contact form, appointment booking, reservations, multiple languages, a members area or an online shop with payment integration add considerable effort.
• →SEO basics: page titles, descriptions, structured data, clean URLs, redirects from old pages and registration with Google Search Console.
• →Legal pages: imprint, privacy policy and a cookie banner that works correctly from a technical point of view.

Which running costs come after launch?

Many cost comparisons stop at launch. Yet that is where the part that runs for years begins. A website needs a home, regular care and new content from time to time. If you do not plan for this, you often pay more later, for example when an outdated site has to be rebuilt.

Typical running items include:

• →Domain and hosting: your website's address and the server it runs on, including SSL certificate and backups.
• →Technical maintenance: updates for the system, extensions and dependencies so that no security gaps appear.
• →Content changes: new opening hours, prices, team photos, services or job ads.
• →Legal updates: adjusting the privacy policy and cookie banner when new services are added or requirements change.
• →Analysis and improvement: checking Search Console and statistics, fixing errors, improving loading speed.

How do you calculate the total cost over two to three years?

The fairest way to compare two quotes is a total cost of ownership calculation. You add up all costs that occur within a fixed period and, if needed, divide them by the number of months. That makes a high one-off amount with a low monthly fee comparable to a model with no one-off amount at all.

Choose a period of two to three years. That roughly matches the time a website should work well without a major overhaul, and often the minimum term of subscription contracts too. The calculation is simple:

Total cost = build (one-off)
           + monthly fee x number of months
           + changes that are not included
           + domain, hosting, licences (if separate)

• →Compare all quotes either net or gross, never mixed.
• →Estimate realistically how many changes you need per year, and ask what a change outside the package costs.
• →Check whether domain, hosting and paid extensions are included in the price or charged on top.

Buying a website: pros and cons

With a classic purchase you pay a fixed amount for the build. After that, the website usually belongs to you entirely, and you decide who hosts and maintains it. For maintenance and hosting you typically sign a separate contract or take care of it yourself.

• →Pro: clear ownership; you can switch provider and hosting at any time.
• →Pro: for highly custom projects with many special functions, buying is often the obvious choice.
• →Con: a large amount up front that ties up cash.
• →Con: care, updates and changes cost extra or are left undone if nobody is responsible.
• →Con: after a few years a complete rebuild is often due, again as a one-off amount.

Website subscription: pros and cons

With a subscription model you pay no or only a small amount for the build and instead a fixed monthly fee. Depending on the contract, this covers hosting, maintenance, security updates and a certain number of changes. For many small and medium-sized businesses this is easier to plan, because the website is treated like any other operating resource.

• →Pro: no large amount up front, steady monthly costs that are easy to plan.
• →Pro: technology, updates and hosting are in one hand, and you have a fixed contact person.
• →Pro: small changes are often included, so the website stays more up to date.
• →Con: there is a minimum term during which you are committed.
• →Con: depending on the contract, the website does not automatically belong to you, and switching can take more effort.
• →Con: over very long periods, the sum of monthly fees can be higher than buying and organising care yourself.

What should you check in the contract?

Whether you buy or subscribe, most misunderstandings do not come from the price but from details that are in the contract or missing from it. Clarify these points in writing before you sign:

• →Minimum term and notice period: how long are you committed, and does the contract renew automatically?
• →Ownership: who owns the design, copy, images and code? Who owns the domain? The domain should be registered to your business.
• →What happens at cancellation: do you get the content, a copy of the website or the option to take it over, and on what terms?
• →Included changes: how many changes per month are included, what counts as a change, and what does anything beyond that cost?
• →Scope of service: are hosting, backups, SSL, security updates and legal pages included?
• →Response times: how quickly is an outage or error dealt with?
• →Access: do you get access to Search Console, statistics and your Google Business Profile?

Which model suits you?

If you are planning a large, highly custom project and have technical skills or an in-house team, buying often makes sense. If you want a professional website without dealing with technology and prefer to plan with fixed monthly costs, a subscription usually fits better.

For orientation, here are the published prices of Clieni Media: the website subscription costs €99.00 net per month (€117.81 gross), with no build costs and a minimum term of 24 months. Previously the model was €1,699.00 for the build plus €199.00 per month (net). Feel free to run these figures through the formula above against other quotes.

If you want to know where your current website stands and whether a rebuild is worthwhile, start with the free check at Website check.