How much does a website cost in 2027: what you pay for and why.

The cost of building a website is usually the first question we’re asked, and the hardest to answer with a single number. Two quotes for “a simple business website” can be far apart, and often both are right: they’re simply describing different projects.

That’s why you won’t find a price list here. You’ll find what drives the price up, which costs come back every year after launch, with prices as the providers themselves publish them, and how to compare quotes so you know exactly what you’re buying.

01What determines the cost of building a website

The price of a website is mostly hours of work. Anything that adds hours, in design, features, content or connections to other systems, also raises the price.

To give you a feel for the market: in Greece you’ll see packages advertised from a few hundred euros for a website or e-shop on a ready-made theme, while custom websites and e-shops with integrations are usually priced in the thousands of euros. These are indicative ranges, not prices. The only price that means anything is the one for your project, with what it includes in writing. These are the factors that make the biggest difference.

Ready-made theme, page builder or custom theme

A website on a ready-made theme (template) is quick to set up and costs less. But it looks like many others and carries code for features you’ll never use. Page builders offer the convenience of “drag and drop”, but they usually make pages heavier and often add yet another annual subscription.

A custom theme is designed from scratch for your content. It costs more up front, but it loads faster, is easier to update and contains only what you need. We only build custom themes, without page builders, and we won’t tell you it’s the cheapest option. In our experience, though, it’s the one that saves the most money in the years that follow.

Pages, languages and content

Ten pages with the same structure cost less than five pages that each have their own design. What counts isn’t so much the number of pages as the number of different page templates. Each extra language adds translation, checks and proper SEO for that language, with separate URLs and hreflang.

Content is often the biggest chunk of time that doesn’t show up in the quote. If the copy and photos aren’t ready, someone has to write or shoot them. You either pay for that or the project gets delayed.

E-shops and connections to banks, couriers and myDATA

An e-shop isn’t just a website with a cart. It needs card payments through a bank or Viva Wallet, shipping costs by area or weight, courier vouchers, receipts and invoices transmitted to myDATA and, often, sync with an ERP or a feed for Skroutz. Each connection is a separate job with its own testing, and often a plugin with an annual license. The number of products matters less than variations, pricing rules and integrations.

SEO and migrating from an old website

If there’s already a website with Google rankings, the migration needs every old URL mapped and proper redirects. It doesn’t show in the design, but if it’s missing from the quote it can cost you the traffic you’ve built up over the years. We describe the steps in our guide to redesigning without losing your Google rankings.

02One-off and annual costs: what you pay every year

You pay for the build once. But a website also has recurring costs, and these are often left out of the comparison. These are the prices in October 2026, as published by the providers themselves where a published price exists:

Premium plugin licenses are the cost that’s most easily forgotten. ACF PRO and Gravity Forms are sold with an annual license based on the number of sites, and WooCommerce extensions with an annual subscription that includes updates and support. Without an active license, the plugin gets no updates, and therefore no security fixes. Ask whose name each license will be in and who pays for the renewal.

Maintenance is the other cost often missing from budgets. For comparison, our own plans are Start €79, Grow €159 (with WooCommerce support, staging and daily off-server backups) and Scale €349 a month, plus VAT, with a 10% discount for annual billing. Hosting, the domain and plugin subscriptions are charged separately. See in detail what each maintenance plan includes.

03The hidden costs of a cheap website

A cheap website isn’t necessarily bad. It becomes expensive when the low price comes from things you can’t see on delivery day. This is what we see most often when we’re called in to “rescue” a site:

• It has to be rebuilt from scratch. A website on a heavy theme with dozens of plugins often can’t be fixed, only replaced. Then you pay for the build a second time, a few years after the first.
• It gets hacked. The security company Patchstack recorded 11,334 new vulnerabilities in the WordPress ecosystem in 2025, 42% more than in 2024. 91% were found in plugins, and for 46% there was no fix at the time they were disclosed. Every unnecessary plugin is one more door.
• It’s slow. A slow website loses visitors before it even loads and struggles on Google. Optimizing after the fact usually costs more than designing it properly from the start.
• It isn’t yours. The domain in the developer’s name, licenses on someone else’s account, passwords you don’t have. When you want to change partners, the handover becomes a project of its own.
• You can’t change it yourself. If every change to a piece of text needs a developer, you pay every time you want to update the site.

04How to compare two quotes

Two quotes can only be compared if they describe the same project. Ask everyone for written answers to these questions:

1. What exactly is delivered: how many page templates, which languages, which features.
2. Custom theme, ready-made theme or page builder?
3. Who writes, translates and uploads the content.
4. What the SEO includes: redirects from the old site, technical SEO, Search Console.
5. Which licensed plugins are needed, whose name they’re in and who pays for the renewal.
6. Whose name the domain, hosting and accounts will be in.
7. What support there is after launch and how much it costs.
8. Timeline, payment stages and what happens if something changes along the way.

A quote that answers all of these at a fixed price is more useful than a cheaper one that leaves half of them open. If you want a benchmark, see what’s included in our WordPress websites and WooCommerce e-shops with Greek banks and couriers.

05What to prepare before asking for a quote

The more specific the request, the more accurate the quote. When information is missing, the developer either makes assumptions or charges for the risk. Before asking for a quote, note down:

• The goal of the site: phone calls, bookings, sales or quote requests.
• The pages you need, even roughly, and in which languages.
• Two or three websites you like and what exactly you like about them.
• What already exists: logo, copy, photos, domain, hosting and passwords.
• For an e-shop: roughly how many products, payment methods, couriers, invoicing and accounting software.
• When you want it ready, and a budget range.

A budget isn’t a trap. It helps you get the right solution for the money you want to spend, instead of the maximum. These are exactly the questions asked by our quote request form.

06FAQ

Why don’t you publish build prices?

Because two “business websites” are rarely the same project. We’d rather see what you need and send you a written quote with a fixed price and timeline than write a “from” price that won’t apply to you.

Is WordPress free?

Yes. WordPress is open-source software under the GPL license. You pay for the work on it, the hosting, the domain and any premium plugins you need.

Can I start small and grow later?

Yes, if the site is set up properly from the start. A few good pages in a structure that can later take new sections, languages or an e-shop are often a better start than a big site that stays half-finished.

I already have a website. Do I fix it or rebuild it?

Start with a technical audit: €150 for a business website or €220 for an e-shop, plus VAT. We check speed, security, plugins, hosting and technical SEO, so you know whether fixing or rebuilding makes more sense before you pay for either.