How much does a website cost in Canada? My prices, and what moves them
What a small business website costs with me, in Canadian dollars: the four packages, what makes the price go up, and what you keep paying for after launch.
By Drew Palframan, Ucluelet · · 3 min read
The short version
- My four packages run from a one-page site to a site with an admin area, and every price is public.
- Pages, a tool your customers use, and who writes the words are what move the price.
- Every website has running costs: hosting, and changes if you want them done for you.
- A monthly plan spreads the price of the site over a fixed term, and you own it at the end.
A lot of web designers won’t put a number on a page until you’ve had a call with them. I put mine on my pricing page instead, and the honest answer is still a range, because a one-page site and a site that takes bookings are different jobs. So here is what each one costs with me, what moves the price, and what you keep paying for after launch. Every number below comes from the same price list as my pricing page, so if one changes, this post changes with it.
What a website costs with me
Four packages, all hand-coded rather than built on a template, and all in Canadian dollars before tax.
| Package | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $1,000 | One custom page, for a simple online presence. |
| Foundation | $3,500 | A complete five-page small-business website. |
| Growth | from $7,000 | Five pages, plus one tool your customers use. |
| Business | from $13,000 | Five pages, plus a private area you manage yourself. |
While my founding offer is open, the first clients get Foundation for less. The founding price and its terms are on the pricing page.
For most small businesses, Foundation is the one to look at: a home page, your services, an about page, a gallery of your work and a contact page. A tour operator, a charter or a trade that quotes jobs usually needs Growth, because the site has to do something, like take a booking or collect what you need to price the work.
What makes the price go up
- More pages. Each one is written, designed and built, so each one is a line in the quote.
- A tool your customers use. A booking calendar or a quote form stores what people send it, so it is real software, not a page. That is the jump from Foundation to Growth.
- Who writes the words. Every page carries my search guidance on its wording, at $75 a page. If you’d rather I write a page outright, that is $200 a page.
- Editing it yourself. If you want to change your own text and photos without asking me, that is an admin area, and it comes with Business.
What it costs every month
This is the part most quotes leave out. A website has running costs whoever builds it.
- Hosting: $30 a month while I host the site. That covers the server, the padlock in the address bar, and a check every minute that the site is up.
- Changes: optional. Acuity Care, from $89 a month, covers small changes as you need them. Without it, I quote a change before I start, at $125 an hour.
- Your domain name and business email are separate costs, paid yearly or monthly to whoever provides them.
Paying for it monthly instead
If a lump sum is the problem, every package can be spread over a monthly plan. It is the price of the site paid over a fixed term, not rent: when the term is paid, the site is yours on the same terms as if you had paid upfront, and you can pay it off early with no penalty. The plans are on the pricing page.
Why a website builder looks cheaper
A builder’s monthly fee is smaller than a build, and for some businesses that is the right call. The difference is what you have at the end. On most builders you pay every month for as long as the site exists, and the site can’t leave. I wrote about exactly what you can and can’t take with you in Stuck on a template website?
A site I build is yours once it’s paid for. Hosting with me is a choice you can change, not the price of keeping your website.
How to get your own number
The estimate builder takes a few minutes, asks what your business needs, and gives you a price before you talk to anyone. If it lands somewhere you didn’t expect, that is a good thing to bring to a call, and I’ll tell you what I would cut.