Your first website probably needs fewer features than you think. The real challenge is knowing exactly what you need and how much it will cost. |
We compared current pricing ranges across major website platforms to show what a blog, business site, or online store costs in year one and beyond. |
So, how much does it cost to build a website? As an example, a straightforward DIY site on WordPress.com, built on open source WordPress, can cost as little as $4 per month in its first year. Better yet, you can start for free with hosting included and a WordPress.com subdomain (.wordpress.com). |
But for any plan, the first-year introductory price is only part of the story. The more useful number is what that same site costs to keep running in year two when your plan comes up for renewal. |
What actually goes into the cost of a website? |
Before you compare prices, it helps to know what you’re actually paying for. Your website-building cost starts with a platform and a hosting plan. Most people will also want their own domain name. Everything else depends on what you need your site to do.
Here are the main website costs to consider: |
- Website platform + hosting: The software you use to build your site and the servers that keep it online.
- Domain name: Your web address. A free site might use an address like yoursite.wordpress.com; your own domain name gives you something like yoursite.com.
- Business email: An email address using your domain name, like hello@yoursite.com.
- Themes, plugins, or apps: Extras that change how your site looks or what it can do.
- Selling fees: Fees charged when someone pays you through your site.
- Professional help: Paying someone to design, write, or build your site.
Those are the basic bill items. The mistake is budgeting for every feature you might want someday as though you need it from day one. |
How much does a blog or portfolio website cost? |
A blog or portfolio is the least expensive website you can run. You need somewhere to publish, a domain name that’s yours, and a way for readers to follow your posts. Everything else is optional, and most of it can wait. |
| WordPress.com offers free and premium themes for blog and portfolio websites, so design doesn’t have to be a separate upfront cost. |
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All in, a blog or portfolio setup typically costs about $5–$22 per month after introductory offers end. Most of that spread is the platform, not the domain. |
| Service |
What it does |
What it typically costs |
| Platform and hosting |
Keeps the site online, updated, and secure |
Free tiers are available on the platform’s subdomain and include ads. Plans that remove ads and connect your own domain cost about $4–$20 per month when billed annually. |
| Domain name |
Your unique website address |
Usually free for the first year with an annual plan, then $13–$25 a year for a .com domain. |
| Design |
How your site looks and feels |
Included templates are enough for a blog or portfolio. Premium themes run $0–$100+, one-time or yearly, and you can decide later. |
| Subscriptions |
Let readers follow you by email |
Built into some platforms. Others need a separate newsletter tool, most of which are free at small list sizes and charge monthly as the list grows. |
| Paid subscriptions (optional) |
Lets readers pay you |
No upfront cost. Platforms take a cut of each payment (0–10%) plus roughly 3% in card processing fees. |
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What you can skip for now: a premium theme, extra storage, an email marketing platform, a professional email address, a store. |
On WordPress.com, you can get this setup with the Personal plan and a .com domain.
With annual billing: |
- Year one: $4 a month
- Year two: $5 a month
How much does a small business website cost? |
For a consultant, a local service, or a freelancer, the site should give people a reason to hire you and make it easy to get in touch. |
| Example of a small business website layout with clear messaging, service information, and a call to action. |
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That’s five pages (home, services, about, testimonials, contact), a form, and an email address at your own domain. When you’re putting time into promoting your services, analytics help you see which efforts bring visitors and which service pages they read. |
All in, this small business setup typically costs about $12–$35 per month after the introductory offers end, billed annually. |
| Service |
What it does |
What it typically costs |
| Platform and hosting |
Keeps the site online, updated, and secure |
Plans that connect your own domain and remove the platform’s ads cost about $4–$20 per month when billed annually. |
| Domain name |
Your unique website address |
Usually free for the first year with an annual plan, then $13–$25 a year for a .com domain. |
| Contact form |
Turns visitors into inquiries |
Included on most platforms, or free via a plugin. |
| Professional email |
you@yourbusiness.com |
One mailbox runs about $2–$7 a month depending on whether you want email only or a full office suite; free trials and free first years are common. |
| Design |
Helps you present your services and show your work |
Included business templates are usually enough to start with. Some plans include a wider selection of premium themes, giving you more choice without the need to purchase a separate theme. |
| Analytics |
Shows which marketing brings visitors and which pages they explore |
Basic reporting is often included. Campaign tracking and Google Analytics integration may be bundled into a higher tier. |
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What you can skip for now: a booking system, a client portal, live chat, a CRM, a store, a second mailbox. |
On WordPress.com, you can get this setup with the Premium plan, a .com domain, and one Professional Email mailbox added separately. With annual billing: |
- Year one: $10 a month
- Year two: $12 a month
How much does a small online store cost? |
First question: do you need to accept payments, or do you need a store? If you sell one or two things occasionally, a payment button on a regular site is enough. A store is for a catalog: product pages, a cart, checkout, and order management. |
| A small online store needs a storefront for products plus checkout and order management; advanced ecommerce extensions can come later. |
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All in, a small store typically costs about $24-$41 per month after introductory offers end, plus roughly 3% of sales. |
| Service |
What it does |
What it typically costs |
| Platform with store features |
Catalog, cart, checkout, orders |
Store-capable plans run about $16–$30 a month, billed annually. |
| Domain name |
Your unique website address |
Usually free for the first year with an annual plan, then $13–$25 a year for a .com domain. |
| Professional email |
you@yourstore.com |
One mailbox costs about $2–$7 per month, depending on whether you want email only or a full office suite; free trials and free first years are common. |
| Card processing |
Gets you paid |
About 2.9% + 30¢ per US card transaction across most processors. Some plans add their own transaction fee on top (0–3%), which usually disappears at higher tiers. |
| Store design |
Helps advertise and sell your products |
Included store templates are usually enough to launch. |
| Extensions |
Subscriptions, product add-ons, carrier-calculated shipping, marketing automation |
Basic shipping rates and tax are usually covered. Advanced features are paid extensions, roughly $50–$300 a year each, or bundled into a higher-tier plan. |
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What you can skip for now: subscriptions, abandoned-cart automation, advanced shipping rules, multi-currency, point-of-sale, and most extensions. |
On WordPress.com, you can get this setup with the Business plan, a .com domain, one Professional Email mailbox, and the free WooCommerce plugin. With annual billing and current first-year offers: |
- Year one: $27 a month
- Year two: $29 a month
Before you choose a plan, ask these five questions |
Whatever platform you’re weighing, the same five questions turn its pricing page into the bill you’ll actually receive. |
- What is the renewal price?
Find three numbers before you buy: the charge today, the period it covers, and the price it renews at. «$4 a month» is usually billed annually upfront, and the lowest advertised rate often requires a two- or three-year commitment. Then check the extras on their own terms: an included domain is typically free for the first year only, and an email trial bills on its own schedule. On WordPress.com, every subscription’s renewal date and price is listed under Purchases. The page also flags an expiring plan and the features you would lose.
- What’s still included in year two?
Count the features you’ll rely on: your own domain, no platform ads, storage, support, and any tool the site needs to run. Backups are the one to read closely: check what the plan lets you restore, and how. WordPress.com plans include managed hosting, SSL, and security protections on every tier; the rest varies by plan, so price the setup you need, including any separate services.
- What do you pay when you sell?
Look up the fee for the payment tool you’ll actually use; a payment button and a store checkout can carry different fees on the same platform. There’s usually a percentage and a fixed amount per transaction, and both are deducted from every sale. If a pricier plan promises lower selling fees, run the numbers on the sales you realistically expect before upgrading.
- What if you’d rather have someone build it?
Paying for a build buys back your time; you’ll still have running costs after launch. Get a quote that specifies the pages, features, content, and rounds of revisions included, plus any ongoing support charges, and keep it separate from the plan, domain, and services you’ll pay for each year after launch. WordPress.com’s Website Design Service starts at $499 for a five-page site, plus the required Premium plan.
- Can you start for free?
On some platforms, yes. The free WordPress.com plan gives you hosting and a yoursite.wordpress.com address, with WordPress.com ads on the page. It’s enough to start publishing and build out your pages. Move to a paid plan when you want your own domain and to get rid of the ads.
| The WordPress.com paid plans bundle hosting, security, and support at different tiers, so compare what’s included before adding separate website tools. |
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You’ve done the math, now make it yours |
Your first website probably needs less than you think. |
Start with what you want it to do: publish your work, bring in clients, or sell what you make. Use what’s already included, budget beyond the first year, and add tools when you have a reason to use them. |
At the time of writing, WordPress.com is the only major hosted website platform that comes in under $50* on a standard one-year paid plan. You can also start for free with hosting included if you’re happy to have ads and use a WordPress.com subdomain. |
*Lower advertised rates require a multi-year commitment. |
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Imagine that you’re writing a new post when a reader asks a question about something you published yesterday.
In WP Admin, answering it means leaving the editor, and when you come back, you need to wait for the draft to load again. |
With OpenStation, you can keep both open, side by side, in the same browser tab. The same goes for your media, your pages, and any other WP Admin screen. |
It’s the same plugin that we introduced in June as Desktop Mode, now called OpenStation. Since then, we’ve redesigned the workspace, made it faster, and begun bringing the experience to phones. |
Your WP Admin screens, side by side |
Open a post, then open your media next to it. When you find the photo you want, drag it into the post. |
The media picker in the editor works well for a single image. For a recipe with a photo for every step, keep your library open beside the draft instead of opening the picker again and again. |
Photos on your computer work the same way. You can drag a few of them, or even a whole folder. |
Preview your post while you write |
Every post and page window has an eye icon at the top. Click it, and your draft moves to the left half of the screen while a preview opens on the right, showing how your visitors will see the post. |
Keep writing. Every time you save, the preview updates, so you can check how a new title wraps or how a photo looks in your theme without switching tabs. |
Come back to exactly where you were |
Windows in OpenStation stay open until you close them. So, switching back to one is instant. |
Your layout is saved too. Close the browser, come back again (even from another computer), and your windows will be right where you left them. |
Some days are for writing. Others are for answering comments or sorting through photos. Workspaces give each of those jobs its own desk, so you can focus more easily on the right task. |
Jump between workspaces from the dock or with the arrow keys (nothing closes when you switch to another workspace). |
Pick a wallpaper, or use one of your own photos. Change the accent color, move the dock to the left or right side of the screen, or enlarge it. |
You’ll find all of it in System -> OpenStation Preferences → Appearance. |
Use it as an app on your phone |
You can install OpenStation on your phone via the System -> Install web app option in the dock. |
The phone layout is still experimental, so we’d love to hear in the comments or our OpenStation support forum how it works for you. |
Desktop mode is best known as a setting in mobile browsers, so searching for it mostly turned up browser help pages. |
The plugin had also grown past the idea of a mode you switch on. It’s closer to a workstation for your WordPress site, and it’s open source, so we called it OpenStation. |
If you already use Desktop Mode, you don’t have to do anything. It’s the same plugin; it keeps updating as usual, and your windows and settings are still there. |
OpenStation changes how WP Admin looks only for the people who turn it on. Visitors see your site as they always have. If you deactivate the plugin, WP Admin goes back to the way it was. |
On WordPress.com, you can install OpenStation on any paid plan. |
- From your site’s dashboard, go to «Plugins«, search for “OpenStation,” and click the “Install and activate” button.
- Click the “Switch to OpenStation” link at the top right of the admin bar.
- To go back to the classic WP Admin, click the “Exit OpenStation” icon at the end of the dock.
Want to try it before installing anything? This live preview runs OpenStation in your browser, with nothing to install. |
Now you can go ahead and close a few tabs. |
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Last week, I spent two days at eCommerce Expo at ExCeL London, my first time in the city (and hopefully not the last). |
eCommerce Expo brings together retailers, brands, and ecommerce teams to talk about everything from finding customers to getting orders out the door. The expo shared the floor with Technology for Marketing, so it felt like two events at once. |
With that much going on, it’s easy to leave with a bag of swag and a blur of buzzwords. With the holiday rush coming up fast, one panel felt especially relevant: Preparing for Peak Shopping Seasons: How to Win Christmas with Chris Hutchins (Audiense), Ellie Bradford (Clearer.io), Naomi Boonin (WPP Media), and James White (Klaviyo). |
The idea is simple: Start preparing now for the peak shopping season, so you can serve your holiday shoppers better and give them a reason to come back long after December. |
The problem with «set it and forget it» |
Peak season isn’t a great time to put your store on autopilot. What people search for, which products are selling, where shoppers hesitate, and what they complain about can all change quickly. |
The speakers discussed a habit many of us know: you set something up for the holidays, let it run, and don’t really watch it. The campaign goes live, the site stays as it is, and you check back in January. |
Their alternative starts with something you already have: last year’s data. |
Your customers have already left you clues |
The speakers pointed to two useful places to start: onsite search data and customer reviews. These show what customers are looking for in their own words. |
Here are three signals to look for: |
- Top searches: What people wanted most. Make sure those products are easy to find, in stock, and front and center.
- Zero-result searches: What people looked for and didn’t find. Every one is a lost sale and a clue about a missing product or a naming mismatch.
- Review data: What customers said after they bought. If «shipping took forever» came up again and again last December, you know what to address this year: put clear cut-off dates and delivery expectations on your site before anyone has to ask.
Nothing here needs a new tool. Start with the data you already have, and follow the clues: the unexpected search term, the product someone couldn’t find, the review you wish you hadn’t received. |
Don’t bring a sledgehammer to Q4 |
Q4 is loud. Every brand is in every inbox and every feed. Keep filling their inbox with more of the same, and the next click may be “unsubscribe.”
The speakers’ advice was to be selective: prioritize the channels where your customers actually are, and make the message personal. Blasting everywhere might win a sale, but it rarely wins loyalty. |
To show what that looks like, they used KitKat’s sharing bar launch as an example. Nestlé built it around one clear, human idea – shared moments with friends and family – and the whole team pulled in the same direction. It was focused, playful, and memorable. |
The holiday shopper is a different shopper |
Your holiday visitor may not be your regular customer. They’re probably buying for someone else; they may not know your brand, and they’re short on time. |
This part landed hardest for me – just how little context a gift buyer may have. They might not know your brand, the product category, the right words to search, or even exactly what the person they’re buying for would choose. |
Our panel provided an example of shopping for a coffee-loving relative. You know you want to buy them something they’ll love, but you may not know the name of a particular coffee press. That’s when clear gift collections, categories, and filters really matter. |
So design for them. A gifting collection filtered by price («gifts under $25,» «under $50») gets them straight to what they came for. On a WooCommerce store, product collections and filters make this quick to set up. |
A fast, easy on-site experience during the busiest shopping weeks of the year might be what turns a one-time gift buyer into a repeat customer. |
Get curious before you get busy |
The theme running through the whole session was curiosity: What drives your shopper? What are they worried about? What would make their day easier? |
Curiosity helps both sides: customers find what they need, and merchants earn trust that lasts past the holidays. The speakers also reminded us that small human touches, like a handwritten note in the box, still matter a lot. |
London was a beautiful, easy city to love, and I’m already planning my return. But the thing I brought home was a notebook full of ideas and one question for every merchant I talk to this season: what is your data already telling you? |
If you’re getting ready for Black Friday, start with your search bar and your reviews and choose one thing to improve. |
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