"How much does a website cost?" is the first question almost everyone asks, and the most common answer — "it depends" — is useless. Here are real ranges, what moves the number, and an honest look at how a custom build compares with a website maker like Wix or Squarespace.
The short answer
For a professionally built website in India in 2026, expect roughly:
| Type of site | Typical price | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Focused business site (up to ~5 pages) | from $499 | Clinics, cafés, consultants, local services |
| Custom-designed, animated site with a CMS | from $1,999 | Startups, D2C brands, growing businesses |
| Fully bespoke, art-directed experience | from $5,999 | Flagship launches, premium brands |
Those are our published starting prices — you can see each level live before you pay anything. Other agencies price differently, so compare what each quote includes rather than the headline number.
What actually drives the price
- How much is designed from scratch. Adapting a proven layout is quicker than art-directing a one-of-one site.
- Page count. Every unique page template needs design, build and testing.
- Features. A CMS, online shop, bookings, multiple languages or CRM integrations each add work.
- Motion and interaction. Scroll animation and interactive product moments take real engineering time.
- Content. If the studio writes your copy, that's a separate (and often underestimated) job.
Try the website cost calculator to see how these combine for your project.
What about Wix, Squarespace and other website makers?
A website builder's upfront cost is much lower: a monthly subscription and your own time. That's genuinely the right choice for some people — a hobby site, an event page, or a business that needs something online this week.
Over three years the picture changes:
- Subscriptions never stop. You pay every month for as long as the site exists, often plus paid apps and premium templates.
- Your time isn't free. Designing, writing, fixing and updating the site is hours you're not spending on the business.
- You don't own it. A builder site can't be exported as working code. If you outgrow it, you rebuild.
A custom site is a one-off fee, hosting is usually cheap, and you own the code, domain and hosting account. We compare the two in detail in website builder vs web designer.
Questions to ask any studio before you pay
- Is the quote fixed, or an estimate that can grow?
- Who owns the code, domain and hosting account?
- How many revision rounds are included?
- What happens after launch — and for how long?
- Can I see a live site at the level I'm paying for, not just screenshots?
If a studio can't answer all five clearly, keep looking.