How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in 2026?

Ask five people what a small business website costs and you'll get five answers, from "free" to "a few thousand dollars." Both can be true. The price depends on who builds it, what it needs to do and which fees show up after the first year.

If you run a local service business like house cleaning, lawn care or handyman work, you usually don't need a big custom site. You need a clear, phone-friendly page that says what you do, where you work and how to reach you.

This guide walks through what you actually pay for in 2026, with real prices we checked on public pricing pages, and how to get a cheap website for your small business without it looking cheap.

Start with the part that costs $0

Before you spend anything, claim your free Google Business Profile. It's the listing that shows your name, phone number, hours and reviews on Google Search and Maps, and Google says you can add or claim it at no charge (Google Business Profile Help).

Our guide on how to get your business on Google walks through setup step by step. If you're still deciding whether you need more than a listing, read do I need a website for my small business?

The four things you pay for

Every small business website cost breaks down into the same four pieces.

1. A domain name

Your domain is your web address, like smithhandyman.com. You pay for it once a year. As one example, Porkbun lists a .com at $11.81 per year on its .com pricing page. Cloudflare says its registrar charges registration and renewal at cost with no markup (Cloudflare Registrar).

Many builders include a free domain for the first year. Squarespace, for example, includes one year of free domain registration with annual plans, then renews it at its standard rate (Squarespace pricing). Always check the year two price.

2. Hosting and security

Hosting keeps your site online. SSL is the security lock in the browser bar. With most website builders, both are bundled into the monthly or yearly plan, so you rarely pay for them separately.

3. Building the site

Someone has to choose the layout, write the words and set up the contact form. That's either your own time, a designer's time or a builder that does the work for you.

4. Changes over time

Your hours, prices and service area will change. If you can make edits yourself, changes cost nothing extra. If you pay someone for every edit, they add up.

Three ways to get a website, with real numbers

Option 1: A do-it-yourself builder

Drag-and-drop builders give you templates and an editor. Here's what two well-known ones list today:

• Squarespace lists its Basic plan at $25/month billed monthly or $19/month billed annually, and its Core plan at $39/month or $29/month billed annually. Its Basic plan also charges a 2% transaction fee on online store sales, on top of card processing fees (Squarespace pricing).
• Wix has a free plan, but its FAQ says you need a paid Premium plan to connect your own domain and remove Wix branding (Wix plans). Wix notes that prices vary by location, so check the page for your area.

The hidden cost here is your time. Plan on a weekend or more to learn the editor, write your copy and check how everything looks on a phone.

Option 2: Hiring a designer or agency

A designer or agency builds the site for you. Prices vary widely, so the only real number is the written quote you get.

For a sense of scale, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median pay of $47.85 per hour for web developers and digital designers in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). That's what employees earn, not what a business bills clients. Even so, 20 hours of work at that wage is $957 in pay alone.

Before you sign, ask:

• Do I own my domain name?
• What does it cost when I need to change my hours or prices?
• Is there a monthly fee after launch, and what does it cover?

Option 3: A chat-based builder

This is the option we built LiveByLunch around. You answer a short AI chat about your business and it builds a real website. To change your words, photos, colors, logo, layout or pages later, you just ask.

Prices are per site. Yearly plans save 15%, and you can cancel anytime. See the full details on our pricing page.

What year one can look like

Here's a simple year-one estimate for a basic site, using the prices above. Plans include different features, so compare what each one covers, not just the price.

Five costs that sneak up on you

1. Renewal prices. Check what the plan and domain cost in year two, not just the first-year deal.
2. Card and transaction fees. If customers pay you online, card processors charge per sale. Stripe lists 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card charge (Stripe pricing), and some builders add their own fee on top.
3. Paid edits. If every change needs a designer, small updates get expensive.
4. Pages you don't need. One clear page often does the job. Our cleaning business website checklist and handyman website checklist show what belongs on it.
5. Fake review add-ons. Never pay for reviews. The FTC's rule bans buying and selling fake consumer reviews and testimonials (Federal Register). Real reviews from real customers cost nothing.

How to keep it cheap without looking cheap

• Start with one focused page and add more as you grow.
• Use your own photos. A few clear daylight shots of real jobs beat stock photos.
• Test your contact form the day your site goes live.
• Go yearly once you're settled. Monthly keeps upfront costs low; yearly saves money later.

Quick recap

• A Google Business Profile is free and should come first.
• A .com domain runs about $12 a year at a low-cost registrar, and builder plans often bundle hosting and SSL.
• DIY builders cost less money and more time. Designers cost more money and less time.
• Watch renewal prices, card fees and paid edits.

Want to see what it costs? LiveByLunch plans start at $15/month for Basic, with Advanced at $30/month and Pro at $50/month. Yearly plans save 15%. You can get started today. See plans.