How much does a website cost in 2026?
Complete pricing guide: freelancer vs agency vs template. Where the fair price sits for a professional site that actually converts.
The real cost of a website in 2026
The question comes up at every first meeting: "How much does a website cost?" The honest answer: it depends. But we can give you precise ranges.
The 3 options on the market
1. Templates (0 - 500 €)
Wix, Squarespace, WordPress with a theme. You do everything yourself. Tempting on paper.
The problem: you spend 40 hours fighting the tool, the result looks like 10,000 other sites, SEO is mediocre, and the moment you want something specific, you're stuck. "Free" ends up costing dearly in lost time.
2. Freelancers (800 - 2,500 €)
An independent developer. Attractive price, direct relationship. Often a good choice for a simple site.
The risk: variable availability, not always follow-up after delivery, very uneven quality. A good freelancer is rare and usually overbooked.
3. Agencies (2,000 - 15,000 €)
The range is wide because the market is wide. A communication agency that subcontracts development will charge 5,000 to 10,000 € for a brochure site. A technical agency like NovAI, coding in-house, can deliver the same result for 1,500 €.
Why such a gap in prices?
The difference rarely comes from technical quality. It comes from the economic model:
- Traditional agencies have offices, sales reps, project managers. Every project must cover those fixed costs.
- Freelancers and technical agencies have low fixed costs. The price reflects real work.
What truly drives the price up
| Element | Impact on price |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | Low (1 to 5 pages = standard) |
| Custom design | Medium (+500 to 1,500 €) |
| E-commerce | High (+1,500 to 5,000 €) |
| Admin back-office | High (+1,000 to 3,000 €) |
| Multilingual | Medium (+500 to 1,000 €) |
| API integrations | Variable (depends on complexity) |
Our positioning at NovAI
We made a choice: fixed prices, clear deliverables.
- Brochure site: 1,500 €. 1 to 5 pages, responsive design, optimised SEO, hardened security, deployment included. Delivered in 7 days.
- Digital product: 3,000 €. Backend, database, authentication, admin dashboard. Delivered in 10 days.
- Custom build: by quote. AI agents, data pipelines, automation.
No hidden day rates. No "we'll see at the end". One price, one deliverable, one deadline.
How to choose?
Ask yourself 3 questions:
1. Should your site generate business? If yes, invest in a professional site. A 0 € template that doesn't convert costs more than a 1,500 € site that brings in clients.
2. Do you need specific features? Online payment, booking, customer area, stock management? That's a digital product, not a brochure site.
3. Do you want autonomy? If you have to call someone for every change, it's not a good investment. At NovAI, we hand over the source code and train our clients.
Conclusion
A good website in 2026 costs between 1,500 and 5,000 € for the vast majority of needs. Be wary of 10,000 € quotes for a brochure site: you're probably paying for the structure, not the technique.
Want a precise quote for your project? Contact us: we reply within 24h with a fixed price.