How much does a website cost in Australia?
Updated September 2026 · Written by a developer, not a sales page — the numbers below include the options we don't sell.
Short answer: anywhere from $200 a year to $20,000+, depending on who builds it and what it has to do. That range is useless on its own, so here's how it actually breaks down in Australia in 2026 — including the ongoing costs most quotes conveniently forget.
The three ways to get a website
| Option | Good for | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder (Wix, Squarespace, Shopify) | Testing an idea; very tight budgets; you enjoy fiddling | $200–$700/yr ongoing |
| Freelancer / small studio | Small businesses that want it done properly without agency overhead | $800–$3,500 once |
| Agency | Larger businesses, e-commerce, custom systems | $4,000–$20,000+ |
DIY builders — cheap monthly, expensive in hours
Wix, Squarespace and friends run roughly $17–$60 a month once you add a domain and remove their ads. The real cost is your weekends: expect 20–40 hours to get something presentable, and a result that still looks like a template. Fine for hobby projects; risky when the site is how customers judge your business. And you never own it — stop paying, it's gone.
Freelancers and small studios — the sweet spot for small business
A competent independent developer typically charges $800–$1,500 for a single-page site and $1,500–$3,500 for a multi-page site. You're paying for someone to make the hundred small decisions you'd otherwise google at midnight — layout, mobile behaviour, speed, the wording that makes people actually call. The catch: quality varies wildly. Judge them by sites they've already built, and by whether they answer their phone.
Agencies — you're paying for the team
From about $4,000 and comfortably into five figures for e-commerce or custom builds. Worth it when the job genuinely needs designers, developers and project managers. Overkill for "I need customers to find me and call me."
The ongoing costs nobody mentions
- Domain name: $15–$30/yr for a .com.au. Non-negotiable, and it should always be registered in your name — walk away from anyone who registers it in theirs.
- Hosting: $0–$40/mo. Modern static sites can host on world-class infrastructure for nothing; heavier platforms (WordPress) need paid hosting and more care.
- Maintenance: the silent one. Updates, backups, security, small content changes. Typically $50–$150/mo if you pay someone; several hours a month if it's you. WordPress sites, especially, do not look after themselves.
- Email on your domain: $0 (forwarding) to ~$10/user/mo (full mailbox).
Cost calculator
Four questions, honest ranges — across the whole market, not just us.
So what should a small business actually pay?
For most Australian small businesses — trades, services, local shops — the honest answer in 2026 is: $1,000–$2,500 upfront for a professionally built site, and $50–$100 a month to keep it fast, secure and updated. Less than that, check what's being skipped. More than that, check what you're getting for it.
For transparency, our own pricing sits inside that band: $1,200 for a single-page build, $2,200 for five pages, $89/month care — fixed, no lock-in, and you own the domain, the site and every lead it generates. That's the standard we think anyone should hold their web developer to, whether it's us or not.