How Much for a Website?

I get this question all the time:

“How much does a website cost?”

And my honest answer is: Well… I can’t tell you. Not yet.

It’s not me being evasive. It’s just that pricing a website without context is like asking:

“How much for a vehicle?”

What kind of vehicle are we talking about?

If you’re shopping for a car, you likely know a few things already:

• What you’ll use it for
• How often you’ll use it
• What fuel you have access to
• Your budget
• What features you care about
• Your long-term plans

The car salesperson can’t give you a real answer without asking those questions (and probably a few more).

Same goes for websites. I don’t know if you’re looking for a golf cart, a reliable family van, or a high-performance sports car. Or, once we talk, it may turn out your business would be best served by a sailing boat instead! That’s what the discovery phase is for: asking the right questions about your business goals, your audience, your current tools and processes, your challenges, your competitors, and what kind of support you’ll need.

I just need a basic website

Many people think of a website as “a business card online.” Simple, right? Sadly, there is no such thing. Even the most minimal site still needs to:

• Work across devices (phones, tablets, large monitors, etc.)
• Comply with privacy and accessibility laws
• Include a tested, functioning contact method
• Be secure (SSL and more)
• Meet performance and technical standards
• Be search-engine ready (and now also and AI-tool friendly)

If it doesn’t meet these criteria, it’s not going to help your business.

Speed = Savings

Here’s something a lot of people don’t expect: the timeline directly impacts the cost.

If a client is responsive and organized, we can publish a site incredibly quickly. The fastest websites we’ve built were done in under a week. But if the project stretches out (waiting on content, clarifications, meetings) it can drag on for months or even years.

The longer the project takes, the more communication, file-wrangling, and revisiting is required. That overhead adds up.

Future-proofing

Upkeep and maintenance is also a big topic and we make sure to bring it up early.

Again, you can think of a website like a vehicle:

You don’t just buy it and walk away. You keep the gas tank filled, go through the car wash, get oil changes, and prepare for things to randomly break.

Websites are no different. With WordPress, everybody knows about plugin updates, but even static sites require monitoring and ongoing care!

We still run into old websites that aren’t mobile responsive, no longer meet legal standards, have expired SSL certificates… the contact phone number is no longer in service and the business owner hasn’t even noticed.

As regulations, screen sizes, and cultural expectations and technical best practices evolve, so must your website.

So, how do we price projects?

At Almostronaut Creative, we take a different approach: We don’t set fixed prices – we bill by the hour.

Yes, that goes against what agencies are typically recommended to do, but here’s why we do it:

• We don’t have to over-estimate time (so we don’t over-charge).
• Our client stays in control of the pace, and thus of their budget. During any month, we could make either more or less progress, based on your resources.
• We can dynamically react to changes in scope or direction without putting the project on hold for a new round of contract negotiations.
• If you’re responsive and prepared, your project will move faster – and cost less.

This lets us keep things fair. You’re not paying for padded estimates, and we’re getting paid for the work we’re doing – no more, no less.

The fairest answer we can give

I’d love to give you a simple, flat number. But I’d rather give you a fair price for what you actually need.

I’m not here to sell you a site and disappear. I aim for long-term, healthy relationships where both your and my team feel like they got the better deal.

If that sounds like your kind of collaboration, I’m happy to talk and help you figure out whether you need a golf cart, a van… or maybe that sailing ship after all.