What does a website actually cost?
Here is what we charge, what each band includes, and the eight things that move a quote up or down. Enough to judge any price you are given in South Africa, including ours.
What we charge
Four to six pages that present the business and then stay put.
Home, about, what you do, how to reach you, and a gallery if the work is worth showing. The content settles after launch and we change it when you need it changed. One to two weeks to build.
Where you land in the band depends on how many pages need a design of their own rather than sharing one.
The same site, with an admin area you sign into and edit yourself.
CMS stands for content management system, which is a long way of saying the site has a back door for you. You add a post, change a price, swap a photograph or publish a new page without phoning anybody. Worth it if you publish regularly: news, sermons, listings, events, properties, a portfolio that keeps growing. Two to three weeks.
It costs more because the admin has to be built, and built around what you actually edit rather than a generic dashboard bolted on top.
Products, a cart, a checkout, and real money changing hands.
There is no honest band for this one. Twelve products with a single delivery rate is a different job from two thousand products with variants, three couriers and a stock system behind them. Three to five weeks once the shape is known.
A blind quote either overcharges you or traps us into work nobody priced. So we look first, then give you a fixed number we will stand behind.
All three include the build, the design of the pages themselves, and your domain registered in your name. Hosting, anything ongoing, and a brand built from scratch are quoted separately. We are not VAT registered, so these are the numbers you pay and there is nothing to add to them. Prices are in Rand and the same wherever you are in South Africa: we price the job, not the postcode. Need something smaller? A one-page site is a few days of work and we quote it on its own.
What drives the price
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How many pages, and how different they are
Biggest single factorFive pages that share a layout is a different job from five pages that each need their own. A one-page site is a few days; a brochure site of four to six is one to two weeks. The count matters less than how much of it is genuinely new design.
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Whether money changes hands on the site
Why stores are quoted, not listedA site that informs is straightforward. A site that takes payment needs a product catalogue, a cart, a checkout, delivery rules, a payment gateway and order handling, and every one of those needs testing properly, because the failure modes involve real money.
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Whether you need to edit it yourself
Adds about a weekIf you publish regularly (news, sermons, listings, a portfolio that grows) you need an admin panel, and one built around what you actually edit rather than a generic dashboard. If the content is stable, you do not need one, and paying for it is money wasted.
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Who writes the words and takes the photos
Sets the pace of everythingThis is the one people underestimate. If you have copy and images ready, a build moves fast. If they need writing, or 200 products need photographing and describing, that is real work and it sits on the critical path. It is also the single most common reason projects run late.
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What it has to talk to
Scoped case by caseA site that stands alone is simpler than one that has to reach your accounting package, your stock system, your booking tool or your CRM. Integrations are quotable, but only once we know exactly what is being joined and what those systems allow.
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Logins, bookings and dashboards
From several weeksThe moment users have accounts, you are building software rather than a website. Permissions, password resets, data protection and a great deal more testing. Worth it when the tool is the point, expensive when it is not.
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How much of the brand already exists
Separate phaseIf you have a logo, colours and a clear sense of the voice, design starts from somewhere. If the brand needs creating first, that is a separate piece of work before the site can sensibly begin.
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What happens after launch
Ongoing, optionalHosting, domain, SSL and backups are ongoing. So is someone answering the phone when something looks wrong. Some people want that handled; others would rather own it entirely and call only when needed. Both are fine, and they cost differently.
Three things worth knowing before you accept any quote
Cheap sites are usually templates
There is a price below which nobody is building anything bespoke. They are dropping your logo into something bought once and resold many times. That is a legitimate option for some businesses, and if it is what you want, you should not pay bespoke rates for it. Just know which one you are buying.
Expensive does not mean bespoke either
Plenty of large invoices cover account management, project coordination and a template underneath. Ask what you are actually paying for, and ask who will be doing the work.
The quote should not move
A fixed quote after a proper scoping conversation is normal and reasonable to expect. If a number changes mid-project without the scope changing, something went wrong at the start.
How long each one takes
We publish build times for every shape of site we make, from one-pagers through to online stores and installable web apps, with what each includes and the thing that most often makes it run long.
See build times by type ↗Common questions
Why bands rather than one price?
Because two sites with the same number of pages can be completely different jobs, and a single figure would be wrong for most of the people reading it. The band is the honest range for that shape of site. The fixed quote comes after a free half-hour conversation, and it does not move unless you ask for something new.
Why is an online store not priced here?
Because we will not give you a number we cannot stand behind. A shop with twelve products and one delivery rate is not a shop with two thousand products, variants, three couriers and a stock system behind it. Quoting blind would either overcharge you or trap us, and both of those end badly. We would rather look at what it needs and then commit.
Can you give me a ballpark on a call?
Yes, that is what the first conversation is for, and it is free with no obligation. Most people leave that call knowing roughly what their project costs and how long it takes, whether or not they go ahead with us.
What's the cheapest thing that would actually work?
For most small businesses, a well-built one-page site beats a bad five-page one, and we quote those on their own rather than in a band. If budget is tight, we would rather build something small properly and grow it than stretch the same money across pages that all end up thin.
Do you take payment upfront?
A deposit to begin and the balance at completion, on a fixed quote agreed in writing beforehand. You own everything, design, content, code and domain, outright on final payment.
What makes a project run over?
Content, almost every time. Not design rounds, not technical problems. It is waiting on words and photographs. Starting that in week one is the single most useful thing a client can do.
Get a number for your project
Tell us what you're building. Half an hour, free, and you'll leave knowing roughly what it costs, whether or not you go ahead with us.