WordPress Website Cost
WordPress website cost: this is one of the questions we’re often asked. Although WordPress is free, the cost of a website depends entirely on your budget and goals.
In this article, we’ll break it down to answer the fundamental question: how much does it really cost to create a WordPress website? We’ll also show you how to avoid overspending and minimize costs when building a website.
What do you need to create a WordPress website?
WordPress is free to download and use by anyone. It’s open source software, giving you the freedom to install it on any type of website.
So, if WordPress is free, where does the cost come from?
The cost of a WordPress site can be broken down into the following categories:
- WordPress Hosting
- Domain Name
- Design
- Plugins and Extensions (Apps)
To create a self-hosted WordPress site, you need web hosting to store your files. Every website on the internet needs hosting. This is your website’s home on the internet.
Different hosting plans are available for all types of websites. You need to choose one that meets your needs and fits your budget. Next, you’ll need a domain name. This will be your website’s address on the internet, and it’s what your users will type into their browsers to reach your website.
With WordPress, there are tons of free website templates you can use.
However, if you want something more advanced/customized, you can purchase a premium template or create a custom one, which will increase the overall cost.
There are over 54,000 free WordPress plugins. These are apps and extensions for your websites. Think of features like a contact form, gallery, etc.
So, while you can create a website with just the cost of hosting and a domain, depending on your situation, you may end up paying for additional tools and services. This is why it’s often confusing for people to figure out the true cost of a WordPress website.
Let us walk you through the true cost of creating a WordPress website.
Estimating the Real Cost of Building a WordPress Site
Depending on your needs, the cost of starting a WordPress website can range from $100 to $500 to $3,000, up to $30,000 or more.
It’s important to know what type of website you’re building and what you’ll need, because this will directly affect your costs.
But don’t worry, we’ll show you how to avoid financial disaster and make the best decisions.
For the sake of this article, we’ll divide websites into different budget categories:
- Building a WordPress Website (Low Budget)
- Building a WordPress Website (With More Features)
- Building a WordPress Website for Small Businesses
- Building a WordPress E-Commerce Site
- Building a Custom WordPress Website
Let’s now look at how much each of these projects costs and how to avoid spending more than necessary.
How much does a WordPress website cost (low budget)?
You can create a fully functional WordPress website yourself and keep the costs under $100. Here’s a breakdown of the WordPress website cost on a low budget. First, you’ll need a domain name and web hosting. A domain name typically costs $14.99/year, and web hosting typically costs $7.99/month.
Next, you’ll need to install WordPress on your hosting.
After installing WordPress, you can choose a design for your website using a free template. These design templates are called WordPress themes, and they control the look and feel of your website. There are thousands of professionally designed free WordPress themes available that you can install. See our selection of 43 beautiful free WordPress blog themes for some examples.
Next, you may want to add some features to your website, such as a contact form, photo gallery, slider, etc. Don’t worry, there are over 40,000 WordPress plugins available to help you do just that.
Plugins are like apps or extensions for your WordPress site.
Below is our selection of essential WordPress plugins you should install on your website. All are available for free.
Low-budget, self-built WordPress website cost: $46 – $100 per year
How much does a WordPress website cost (with more features)?
We always advise our users to start small and then add more features as their website grows. This way, you won’t pay for anything you don’t really need.
As you add more features to your website, the cost of your website will begin to increase.
However, as you add more features to your website, it may make sense to get a more powerful hosting setup. This will cost you a little more, but it includes premium features like staging, faster performance, and can handle up to 100,000 visitors per month.
Here are some essential premium WordPress plugins and extensions you’ll need as your site grows:
Features
- WPForms (Pro) – Adds a drag-and-drop form builder to your WordPress site
- WP Rocket – Premium WordPress caching plugin to speed up your site.
- WP Mail SMTP – Improves email deliverability and fixes the WordPress not sending emails issue.
Marketing
- MailChimp: One of the best email marketing services
- OptinMonster: Convert abandoned website visitors into subscribers. Lead generation for WordPress.
- MonsterInsights Pro – See how visitors find and use your website.
- All in One SEO Pro: Improve your website’s SEO ranking.
Security
- BackupBuddy – For automatic WordPress backups
- Sucuri Firewall – Website firewall and malware protection
There are many other WordPress plugins and services you can add. Each paid service or add-on you add will increase the cost of your WordPress site.
Total website cost: Depending on the premium WordPress plugins and services you add, it can be between $500 and $1,000 per year.
How much does a small business website cost with WordPress?
Many people often ask us how much it costs to build a small business website with WordPress.
The answer depends on your business needs and the tools you’ll use to grow your business online.
Basically, you can estimate the cost to be somewhere between a low-budget WordPress site and a WordPress site with more features.
Keep in mind that you’re not adding a full-fledged e-commerce store to your business website. If so, see the next section of this article for a more accurate estimate.
Next, you’ll need to choose a design for your website.
You can search for a WordPress theme for business websites or choose a responsive WordPress theme that meets your needs.
You can choose a free WordPress theme. However, since this is a business website, we recommend purchasing a premium theme that gives you access to support and updates.
Now let’s talk plugins.
You’ll want to use a combination of free and premium plugins to keep costs down. Below are some of the absolutely essential premium plugins for a small business website.
Features
- WPForms (Pro) – The premium version gives you access to all the features you’ll need for lead generation. This includes PayPal and Stripe payments, conversation forms, email marketing integration, and more.
- SeedProd – Helps you add a beautiful inbox and maintenance mode to your site while you’re setting it up.
- WP Mail SMTP Pro – Improves email deliverability and fixes the WordPress email not sending issue.
Marketing
- MailChimp Pro: One of the best email marketing services, especially for small businesses.
- OptinMonster – Helps you convert website visitors into leads and customers. You’ll need it for lead generation and conversion optimization.
- MonsterInsights Pro: The best Google Analytics plugin helps you see where your users come from and what they do on your website. This allows you to make data-driven decisions to grow your business.
- All in One SEO Pro: Improve your website’s SEO ranking.
Security
- UpdraftPlus (Pro) – The premium version of the plugin includes incremental backups, automatic backups before updates, and multiple remote storage locations for storing backups.
- Sucuri Firewall – Website firewall and malware protection
There are now many more plugins and tools you’ll want to use. We recommend trying the free version first and seeing if it works for you. Many premium tools offer free trials; take advantage of them to see if you really need them.
As a business website, you’ll want to spend money to grow your business. We don’t discourage you from spending money when it makes sense and you can afford it.
For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to build a small business website.
WordPress website cost for small businesses: Again, this depends on the premium tools and plugins purchased. It can range from $300 to $700 per year, but could be as high as $1,000 per year.
How much does a WordPress e-commerce website cost?
WordPress powers millions of e-commerce sites worldwide.
The cost of building a WordPress ecommerce website can be significantly higher, but we’ll show you how to build a WordPress ecommerce website while avoiding potential losses and overspending.
In addition to hosting and a domain, your eCommerce site will also need an SSL certificate, which costs about $69.99 per year. SSL is necessary to securely transfer customer data such as credit card information, usernames, passwords, etc.
Next, you need to select a WordPress eCommerce plugin.
There are several eCommerce plugins for WordPress, but none come close to WooCommerce. It is the most popular WordPress eCommerce plugin that allows you to create robust online stores to sell your products/services.
Although WooCommerce is free, you will need to use paid add-ons for additional features. The cost of your website will increase depending on how many add-ons you need to add to your website.
Once you’re up and running, you’ll need to choose a WooCommerce-ready WordPress template for your site. There are several paid and free WordPress templates with full WooCommerce support. Choosing a premium or paid model gives you access to support and extra features.
We’ve listed the best free WooCommerce add-ons, but depending on your needs, you may also want to consider some paid extensions.
Here are some other paid services you’ll need for your eCommerce site.
Features
- WPForms: Add customer inquiries and feedback forms
- WooCommerce: Add products to your store
- WP Mail SMTP Pro: Improve email deliverability for WooCommerce
Marketing
- OptinMonster: Convert visitors into customers with this powerful lead generation tool
- MailChimp: Powerful email marketing service
- MonsterInsights – E-commerce tracking with real-time statistics using Google Analytics
- All in One SEO Pro: Improve your SEO ranking on WooCommerce.
Security
- BackupBuddy – Automatic WordPress Backups
- Sucuri – Website Firewall and Malware Scanner
Remember, the best way to keep costs down is to start small and add extensions and services as your business grows.
Total cost to build a WordPress eCommerce website: $1,000 – $3,000. May be higher depending on how many paid add-ons and services you add to your site.
Custom WordPress Website Cost
A custom WordPress website is when you hire a WordPress developer to create a unique design and build specific features for it.
Typically, medium and large businesses choose this route.
To support a custom WordPress website, you could also choose a managed WordPress hosting provider. This is a WordPress-focused hosting environment, with managed updates, premium support, rigorous security, and developer-friendly tools.
In addition to your hosting and domain name, you’ll also pay the web developer who builds your website. Depending on your needs, you may want to get quotes from various theme developers, web designers, and agencies.
The cost of a custom website depends on your needs, budget, and the rates of the developer or agency you hire.
Custom WordPress sites with specific custom features can cost up to $15,000 or more.
How can you avoid overpaying and reduce expenses?
We always advise our users to start small and then scale their WordPress site as it grows. In many cases, you don’t need all the premium features you see on many established websites in your industry.
Keep in mind that the owners of those websites had a head start and likely spent time figuring out how to manage costs and grow their business.
You can start with a budget-friendly website using free plugins and templates. Once you start receiving visitors, you can consider adding premium features such as a premium template, email marketing, paid backup plugins, a website firewall, a business email address, business phone services, live chat, and so on.
The same goes for your eCommerce site.
Start with the bare minimum, and then, as you start selling, you’ll discover exactly the tools that will help you and your customers.
If you’re looking for a professional web designer to create your business website, contact us by clicking here.
