How Much Does a Professional Website Cost in 2026?

The short answer

In 2026, a professional showcase website built for you costs between €500 and €4,000 paid once with a freelancer or an agency with public pricing, or €60 to €240 per month over 24 to 60 months on a subscription plan. At SDR Web it's €149 per month for 12 months — creation included, everything managed, and at the 12th payment the site and its code are yours — or €1,490 paid once, in 4 interest-free instalments, if you'd rather manage things yourself. Either way you end up the owner: never a tenant.

The real question isn't "how much does it cost" but "how much does it cost over 3 years, and what do I own at the end". That's where the gaps widen.

The 7 ways to get a website in 2026, and their real price

Option	Advertised price	Real cost over 3 years	Do you own the site?
Online builder (Wix, Hostinger…)	€10 to €40/month	€360 to €1,440 + your time	No: locked to the platform
AI site generator	€0 to €50/month	€0 to €1,800	No, and weak local SEO
Freelancer	€500 to €4,000 (median ≈ €2,000)	Initial price + maintenance to negotiate	Yes, contract permitting
Subscription agency	"from €60/month"… + €400 to €2,000 setup fees	≈ €2,800 to €15,000	No: cancel = site deleted
Lease with purchase option	€49 to €140/month over 24 to 48 months	≈ €2,400 to €6,700	Only at the end of the contract
Traditional agency	€3,000 to €15,000	Initial price + often mandatory maintenance	Varies, often a locked CMS
SDR Web	€149/month × 12 (€1,788 total), or €1,490 once	€1,788 all-inclusive for year one, and we keep running it for as long as you want	Yes: at the 12th payment, or immediately when paying upfront. Source code handed over

The "small monthly price" trap

A site "at €60 per month" looks unbeatable next to a €1,490 site. Do the maths: €60 × 36 months + €400 setup = €2,560 over 3 years, owning nothing. The day you stop paying, the site disappears.

Five questions to ask any provider before signing:

1. Is the source code handed over? If the answer is vague, the site will never be yours.
2. How long is the commitment, and what's the notice period? 24, 36, 48 months? Registered letter required?
3. Who owns the domain name? It must be registered in YOUR name.
4. What does leaving cost? Buyout, penalties, remaining instalments due?
5. Can I change hosting providers? A portable site is a site you truly own.

What the price should include

• Custom design, not a template shared with 200 other businesses
• Copywriting built around your trade and your area
• Full technical SEO: tags, schema, sitemap, speed (PageSpeed 90+)
• Google Business profile created or optimised
• Secure forms, legal pages, GDPR
• Handover training, and the source code delivered

Costs after delivery, no surprises

• Hosting: ≈ €10/month with any provider you like, since you get the code. The only mandatory recurring cost.
• Domain name: €10 to €20/year, in your name.
• Maintenance: optional. €199 per month with us if you delegate everything, cancellable anytime. Zero if you self-manage.

What does a profitable website look like?

Run the numbers for your trade: with an average job worth €400 and the site bringing two calls a month with one signed, a €1,490 site pays for itself in under three months, then works for free.

These aren't projections: our case studies publish clients' real, dated Search Console figures, including one client who reached nearly 10,000 Google clicks in a year.

Conclusion

A website isn't an expense, it's what decides whether a customer finds you or finds your competitor. Always compare offers on the 3-year cost and on ownership, never on the advertised number. Want to see what yours would look like? The homepage mockup is free, before any commitment.