How much does a website cost, and what actually changes the price?

The lower limit assumes a clear request, prepared inputs and a straightforward technical path. The upper limit allows proportionate refinement and the more involved version of the same assignment. If the project contains behaviour outside the description, I estimate it separately rather than hiding it inside a vague reserve. At €40 per hour, the intervals can be converted directly: a 7 to 15 hour custom site is €280 to €600 including VAT, while a 20 to 50 hour custom e-shop is €800 to €2,000 including VAT. Comparable numbers make trade-offs visible.

• Ranges are based on hours
• All prices include VAT
• Additional behaviour has a visible impact

A clear objective and prepared content make the greatest difference. When the audience, primary action, required pages and responsible reviewer are known, less time is spent reopening decisions. Usable brand assets, photographs and copy reduce waiting and temporary work. Budget also improves when launch-critical behaviour is separated from ideas that can follow real user evidence. This does not mean removing engineering quality. It means investing first in a version that demonstrates value and avoiding detailed work on hypothetical edge cases before the central journey has been proven.

• One measurable objective
• Prepared copy and visual assets
• Priorities for the first release

Unplanned migration, multiple languages, sophisticated roles and external systems add work because each variation needs design, implementation and verification. E-commerce adds tax, delivery, payment and failure scenarios. An inherited website may need environmental stabilisation or reliable backups before a visible fix is safe. A distinct design with many truly unique page types takes longer than a compact system of reusable components. None of these factors is inherently a problem. The risk appears when they remain undisclosed until development has started, which is why I investigate them during estimation.

• Migration and source data quality
• Roles, languages and integrations
• The number of genuinely unique components

A fixed price suits a tightly defined outcome with limited unknowns. It includes supplier risk and therefore needs precise acceptance criteria. Hourly work is more effective for repairs, inherited code and iterative development where findings change priorities. In either model I track scope and communicate a likely deviation. A short paid audit of 3 to 6 hours can sometimes turn uncertainty into evidence before a fixed implementation quote. That is preferable to embedding a large risk premium or pretending that an uninspected system is fully understood.

• Fixed price for stable scope
• Hourly work for repair and iteration
• A small audit to reduce uncertainty

After the initial message I ask only for material needed to make the next decision. For a new site, that usually covers its purpose, content map, languages, timing and editing needs. For an existing system, I need its address, a useful problem description and secure access where necessary. I then summarise the recommended route, hour interval, assumptions and excluded items. You can review working outcomes during delivery. The invoice follows identifiable work rather than a mysterious technical line. If responsible estimation requires an audit, I state that limitation instead of presenting false precision.

• A concrete intended outcome
• Hour range and assumptions
• Visible progress during delivery