Ask five web companies what a website costs and you will get five numbers that are miles apart. That is not because four of them are lying. It is because "a website" can mean a five-page brochure or a store with ten thousand products, and the quote only makes sense once you know what is inside it.
This guide breaks a website into the parts you actually pay for, so you can read any quote line by line.
The two kinds of cost
Every website has two bills:
- The build — paid once: planning, design, development, content and launch.
- The running cost — paid every year: domain, hosting, security certificate, maintenance and any paid tools.
Cheap quotes often look cheap because they leave the second bill out. Ask for both before you compare.
What decides the build cost
1. Number and type of pages
A home page, about page, services page and contact page is the smallest useful website. Each extra page type — a service detail template, a blog, a careers page, a gallery — is more design and more development.
Ten pages built from the same template cost far less than ten pages that are each designed differently.
2. Custom design or a template
A ready-made template is the fastest and cheapest start. You get a layout someone else designed, adjusted with your colours, logo and text.
A custom design starts from your business: who your customers are, what they need to see first, what makes them call. It costs more because it is real design work, and it usually converts better because it was made for one job.
Neither is wrong. A new shop testing an idea rarely needs custom design. A company competing for large orders usually does.
3. Functionality
This is where quotes jump the most. Things that add real development time:
- Online payments and an order system
- Booking or appointment calendars
- Customer logins, dashboards or member areas
- Integration with a CRM, ERP, accounting software or WhatsApp
- Multiple languages
- Search and filters across a large catalogue
If a feature is not needed at launch, leave it for phase two. It is cheaper to add later than to pay for something nobody uses.
4. Content
Someone has to write the text, take or source the photos, and prepare product data. If you supply everything ready, the build is faster. If the company writes your copy or organises a photoshoot, that is extra — and usually worth it, because words sell more than layouts do.
5. E-commerce
An online store is a different size of project. Product pages, cart, checkout, payment gateway, shipping rules, GST invoices, order emails and stock all have to work together. We cover it separately in the e-commerce cost guide.
Typical ranges in the Indian market
These are broad bands to help you place a quote, not a price list. Cities, experience and scope move them a lot.
| Type of website | What it usually includes | Rough budget |
|---|---|---|
| Basic business website | 5–8 pages from a template, contact form, mobile-friendly | ₹10,000 – ₹30,000 |
| Professional custom website | Custom design, 8–20 pages, basic SEO setup, enquiry tracking | ₹30,000 – ₹1,50,000 |
| E-commerce store | Catalogue, cart, payments, shipping, order management | ₹50,000 – ₹3,00,000+ |
| Web application or portal | Logins, dashboards, integrations, custom workflows | ₹2,00,000+ |
If a quote sits far below its band, find out what is missing. If it sits far above, ask what you are getting for the difference.
The yearly running costs
| Item | What it is | Typical yearly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Your address, like yourbusiness.in | ₹500 – ₹1,500 |
| Hosting | The server your website runs on | ₹2,000 – ₹15,000 for most business sites |
| SSL certificate | The padlock (HTTPS) | Often free with hosting |
| Business email | name@yourbusiness.in | Per user, per month, depending on provider |
| Maintenance | Updates, backups, small changes, fixes | Monthly or yearly plan, depending on scope |
A store or application with real traffic needs better hosting than a brochure site. Ask your developer what your site needs, and why.
Questions to ask before you pay
- What exactly is included? Get the page list and feature list in writing.
- How many rounds of design changes? Unlimited revisions usually mean the scope was never agreed.
- Who owns the domain, hosting and code? The domain should be registered in your name, always.
- What happens after launch? Is there a support period? What does a change cost after it ends?
- Is it mobile-friendly and fast? Most of your visitors are on phones.
- Is basic SEO set up? Titles, descriptions, a sitemap and Google Search Console should be standard.
- Can I see live websites you built? Open them on your phone, not just in a portfolio screenshot.
Where cheap websites get expensive
The most expensive website is the one you build twice. Common reasons people rebuild within a year:
- The domain was registered in the developer's name, and the developer stopped answering.
- The site was so slow that ads and SEO could not save it.
- Nobody could edit it except the original developer.
- It looked fine on a laptop and broke on phones.
- It had no way to track which enquiries came from where.
Spending a little more on the right foundation is cheaper than paying twice.
A simple way to set your budget
Work backwards from what one new customer is worth to you. If one customer brings ₹50,000 of business a year, a website that brings two extra customers a year has paid for itself many times over. Budget for a website that can actually win those customers — clear, fast, trustworthy and easy to contact — rather than the cheapest thing with your logo on it.
If you are in Mumbai and want a quote broken down this way, tell us what you need. You can also see what we build on our website services page, or read how to choose a website design company in Mumbai before you speak to anyone.