How much does a website cost in 2026?

The question "how much does a website cost" is exactly like asking: "how much does a car cost". You can buy a 20-year-old wreck for pennies, but you can also spend tens of millions on a luxury vehicle. Both roll, but their quality is heaven and earth. Let's look at the domestic price ranges!
1. The Free "Do It Yourself" Category ($0 - $150) This includes rentable website builders (e.g., Wix, Shopify) and free versions of WordPress.com. Who is it recommended for? Hobbyists, or if you are starting with a literal zero budget. The pitfall: Your time spent learning and editing is very valuable. Moreover, the end result is often slow and amateurish, which scares away serious buyers, and your own domain is not always included.
2. The "Freelancer" Solutions ($400 - $800) Here you pay a beginner professional or a student who clicks together a template WordPress for you. Who is it recommended for? Smaller micro-enterprises for a simple business card site. The pitfall: Although it works, due to the many plugins, the site is often slow. Later, support is cumbersome if something breaks, and the developer tends to "disappear".
3. Agency Template Sites ($1,000 - $2,500) These are made by official companies, but they often still work from ready-made WordPress templates (e.g., Elementor). Who is it recommended for? Stable SMEs who already have a smaller budget for this. The pitfall: The design will be nicer and the company more reliable, but the limitations of the WordPress system, security risks, and slow loading still remain.
4. Premium, Custom Development ($3,000+) There are no templates here. The website is built entirely from scratch, from custom code (React, Next.js), without compromises. Who is it recommended for? Those for whom the website is their main revenue-generating tool, and who cannot afford missed customers. Why is it worth it? A lightning-fast, maximally secure, and consciously conversion-optimized website will bring back orders and money by orders of magnitude more in the long run than it cost to make. It is not an expense, but an investment!