Most people ask what a website costs to build. Far fewer ask what it costs to keep running, and that is where local businesses quietly lose money for years. The build is a one-time number. The monthly bill is forever, so it is worth understanding before you sign anything.
The only two costs you truly need
A modern small business website really only needs two recurring things to stay online: a domain name and hosting. Everything else is optional.
- A domain name (your web address): roughly $12 to $20 a year
- Hosting (where the site lives): $0 to about $15 a month for a fast, modern site
- That is genuinely it for a well-built site, often around $25 a month all in
If your site is built as a fast, modern site rather than a heavy template, hosting is cheap because it is efficient. You are not paying for a bloated platform you do not use.
The costs that quietly add up
Here is where the monthly number balloons for a lot of owners. None of these are automatically bad, but you should know what you are paying for.
- Platform subscriptions: builders like Wix or Squarespace run about $16 to $49 a month, every month, forever
- Agency 'care plans' or retainers: often $50 to $300+ a month, sometimes for very little actual work
- Per-change fees: paying every time you need a phone number or a price updated
- Premium themes and plugins: recurring license fees that stack up on platforms like WordPress
A simple gut check: if you are paying a monthly fee just to keep your site online or to make small text edits, ask exactly what that fee buys. If the answer is vague, that is your answer.
How we think about it
We charge a single, low, student-led project fee, agreed in writing before any work begins. After launch you pay only your own domain and hosting, usually around $25 a month total, billed directly to you. There is no agency markup and no monthly retainer to us, and you own the site outright, so you are never paying just to keep the lights on.
A sensible way to budget
Plan for the two real costs, then add optional extras only if they earn their keep, like a professional email address or a specific paid tool your business actually uses. If a recurring charge does not clearly help you get or keep customers, it is a candidate to cut.
Not sure what you are currently paying for, or whether it is worth it? We will review your setup and tell you straight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is hosting really only about $15 a month?
For a fast, modern site, yes, often less. Efficient sites are cheap to host. Heavy, template-based sites on all-in-one platforms cost more because you are paying for the whole platform, not just hosting.
Do I have to pay monthly for someone to make small edits?
You should not have to. Some providers charge per change or bundle edits into a retainer. We hand over a site you own and can update, and we are available for support without a mandatory monthly fee.
What about a professional email address?
That is an optional extra, usually a few dollars per mailbox per month through a provider like Google Workspace. Useful for looking professional, but not required to run the website itself.
Is cheaper hosting lower quality?
Not necessarily. Modern hosting is cheap because it is efficient, not because it is worse. What matters is how the site is built. A well-built site is fast and reliable on inexpensive hosting.