If you’ve asked a few people what a website costs and got wildly different answers, you’re not imagining things. A website can cost $500 or $50,000 — and both figures can be correct, depending on what you’re building and who’s building it. Here’s a plain-English breakdown.
The four tiers
1. DIY website builders — $30–$60/month
Squarespace, Wix, Shopify (for ecommerce) — these tools let you build something yourself using templates. The monthly cost looks low, but factor in your time. If you spend 40 hours learning the platform, wrestling with the template, and writing your content, that’s not free. The results can be fine. They can also look exactly like every other site on that platform.
Good for: solo operators with time to spare and simple needs.
Not great for: anyone who wants to stand out, or who values their time.
2. Freelancers — $1,500–$5,000
A freelancer — typically a designer or developer who takes on side projects — will usually work from a theme or page builder like Elementor or Divi. You’ll get a more personalised result than DIY, but quality varies enormously. Ask to see their portfolio, check how their sites load on mobile, and make sure you know who handles it when something breaks.
Good for: small budgets, simple sites, when you find someone you trust.
Not great for: complex projects, or if ongoing support matters to you.
3. Agencies — $8,000–$30,000+
A full-service agency brings a team: account manager, designer, developer, copywriter. You’ll get a polished result and a proper process. You’ll also pay for the overhead — the fancy office, the account manager’s time, the project management software. For a small business brochure site, you’re often paying for more than you need.
Good for: larger organisations, complex builds, ongoing retainers.
Not great for: small businesses who want a direct relationship with the people doing the work.
4. Small studios — $3,500–$10,000
A small specialist studio (like us) sits between a freelancer and a full agency. You deal directly with the people building your site. There’s no account manager relay, no overhead from a 20-person team. You get considered design, clean code, and someone who actually cares whether your site works.
This is where Virgola sits. Our brochure sites start at around $3,500–$5,000 for a clean, fast, custom-built site.
What affects the price?
- Number of pages — a 5-page site costs less than a 20-page one
- Custom design vs. template — original work takes longer
- Copywriting — if you need help writing the content, budget for it
- eCommerce — add-to-cart functionality adds significant complexity
- Ongoing support — some studios charge a monthly retainer, others charge per change
What about ongoing costs?
Your domain name ($20–$40/year) and hosting ($10–$40/month) are unavoidable. Most small business sites don’t need expensive hosting — a good static or PHP host is plenty. We handle all of this for our clients, so you’re not left Googling “how to point a DNS record.”
The honest answer
For a well-designed, fast, custom-built brochure site from a small studio in New Zealand — expect to pay somewhere between $3,500 and $7,000. If someone quotes you $800 for a “professional website,” ask what they’re actually delivering. If an agency quotes you $25,000 for a 5-page site, ask what’s in that number.
The best website investment is one that reflects your business accurately, loads fast, and earns you enquiries. That’s what we build.
Virgola is a two-person web studio based in Nelson. If you’d like a straight answer on what your site might cost, get in touch.