How Much Does a Website Cost Per Month? Hosting, Tools, and Upkeep
A small business website usually costs $25 to $400 a month to run, depending on who builds and looks after it. Here is the bill line by line, with three worked budgets and what cheap plans leave out.
By BuildlyPublished November 2, 20269 min read
How much does a website cost per month? For a small US business, the running cost usually falls between $25 and $400 a month. A do-it-yourself site on a website builder sits at the low end, around $25 to $60 once you add a domain and a business email. A WordPress site built by a freelancer and kept up by a maintenance retainer usually comes to $110 to $380 a month once the build cost is spread over three years. Online stores, booking systems, and sites with customer logins cost more.
The spread is wide because "a website" is really a bundle of separate bills: a domain, hosting or a builder plan, email, plugins or apps, backups and security, and someone to make changes and keep everything updated. Below is each line item with current prices (checked in early November 2026), three realistic monthly budgets, and what the cheapest plans quietly leave out.
Website cost per month, line by line
This table covers the running costs only, not the one-off build. Annual fees are divided by 12 so you can compare them.
| Line item | Typical cost | Per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain (.com) | about $11 to $20 a year | $1 to $2 | Renews every year |
| Shared hosting | $3 to $15 a month; intro offers from about $2.49 | $3 to $15 | Intro prices usually need a multi-year term and renew higher |
| Managed WordPress hosting | $20 to $100 a month | $20 to $100 | Faster, with updates and backups handled for you |
| Website builder plan | Wix, Squarespace, Shopify | $17 to $39 for entry plans | Hosting included; price depends on annual or monthly billing |
| Business email | about $7 per user a month | $7+ per mailbox | Google Workspace Business Starter, annual billing |
| SSL certificate | usually free | $0 to $12 | $50 to $150 a year when your host doesn't include it |
| Premium plugins, themes, apps | $100 to $500 a year | $8 to $40+ | Each app adds a fee and something to update |
| Backups and security | $20 to $100+ a month | $0 to $100 | Often bundled with managed hosting or maintenance |
| Maintenance and changes | $50 to $200 a month | $50 to $200 | Updates, fixes, small edits by a professional |
Sources for the ranges: domain pricing from Porkbun ($11.81 a year for a .com) and Elementor's cost guide ($10 to $20 a year); hosting from Hostinger's plan page and Elementor; SSL, plugins, and maintenance from Elementor; backup services from Shopify's website cost guide; email from Cloudwards' Google Workspace pricing summary.
Domain: the smallest line, but it keeps rising
A .com costs roughly $1 a month. It is still worth watching, because Verisign raised the wholesale .com price from $10.26 to $10.97 a year from November 1, 2026, according to Domain Name Wire. Registrars pass that on at renewal. Many builders and hosts include a "free" domain for the first year only, so the real price starts in year two.
Hosting: the advertised price is rarely what you pay
Shared hosting looks very cheap. Hostinger, for example, advertised its Premium plan at $2.49 a month, but that price needs a 48-month term paid up front ($119.52), and the plan renews at $10.99 a month (Hostinger, November 2026). This is normal across the industry. Budget for the renewal price, not the first-term offer.
Managed WordPress hosting costs $20 to $100 a month (Elementor). It is the better fit when your site matters to sales, because the host handles server updates, caching, and usually backups.
Website builder plans: hosting included
On Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify, the monthly plan covers hosting, security certificates, and the editor. Entry prices when checked:
- Wix: the Light plan was listed at about $18 a month on yearly billing, with Core at about $30 (wix.com/plans; prices vary by location).
- Squarespace: from $19 a month on annual billing or $25 month to month in the US. See our Squarespace pricing breakdown for every plan.
- Shopify: $39 a month, or $29 a month billed annually (Shopify), plus payment fees on each sale. Our Shopify fees guide shows the full monthly and per-sale cost.
Paying yearly saves money, but you commit for 12 months.
Email: billed per person
A professional address ([email protected]) usually means Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Google Workspace Business Starter costs about $7 per user a month on annual billing, and more if you pay month to month (Cloudwards; prices vary by country, so check Google's pricing page for yours). With five staff, email alone is about $35 a month, often more than the hosting.
Plugins, apps, and themes
WordPress itself is free, but most business sites end up with a few paid plugins: forms, SEO, backups, booking, or a page builder. Elementor's guide suggests budgeting $100 to $500 a year for premium plugin and theme licences. On builders and Shopify, paid apps are monthly subscriptions. Each one adds a cost and something else to keep updated.
Maintenance: the line most people forget
Someone has to update the software, check the backups, fix whatever breaks, and make your changes. Professional maintenance usually costs $50 to $200 a month (Elementor), and the cheapest plans often cover updates but not content edits. Our guide to website maintenance cost breaks down what each tier includes.
Three real monthly budgets
The same small business website (five to eight pages, a contact form, two mailboxes) costs very different amounts depending on who builds and runs it.
1. DIY on a website builder: about $35 to $60 a month
| Item | Per month |
|---|---|
| Builder plan (annual billing) | $18 to $30 |
| Domain after the free first year | $1 to $2 |
| Email, 2 users | $14 |
| One or two paid apps (forms, booking) | $0 to $15 |
| Total | about $33 to $61 |
What it leaves out: your time. You design it, write it, fix it, and keep up with plan changes. It suits a simple site you're happy to edit yourself.
2. Freelancer-built WordPress with a maintenance retainer: about $110 to $380 a month
| Item | Per month |
|---|---|
| Build: $1,000 to $4,000 for a brochure site (Elementor), spread over 3 years | $28 to $111 |
| Hosting (renewal price or managed) | $11 to $30 |
| Domain | $1 |
| Email, 2 users | $14 |
| Premium plugins | $8 to $25 |
| Maintenance retainer | $50 to $200 |
| Total | about $112 to $381 |
What it leaves out: if you skip the retainer, the monthly bill drops to about $60 to $180, but updates, backups, and fixes become your problem or a series of hourly invoices. Redesigns and new features are usually quoted separately.
3. A website subscription: build, hosting, and changes in one fee
Some companies, Buildly included, roll the build, hosting, and upkeep into one monthly price. With Buildly's Essential plan, a focused business website costs $35 a month at the launch price (the regular price is $60, and clients who subscribe now keep $35 for as long as they stay subscribed). There is a $100 setup fee, and the initial build costs nothing extra. The plan includes shared hosting (upgradeable), 5 GB of storage, and 2 change requests a year, and you own the source code and database after 12 months.
| Item | Per month |
|---|---|
| Essential plan (launch price) | $35 |
| Setup fee ($100, spread over the first year) | about $8 |
| Domain (budget separately unless your scope says otherwise) | $1 |
| Email, 2 users (budget separately) | $14 |
| Total in year one | about $58 |
What it leaves out: Essential is for small, clearly scoped sites with one main workflow. If you need customer accounts, a dashboard, or a shop with checkout, that's a larger plan. Growth and the plans above it are priced "from", so check the current figures on the pricing page. Standard integrations cost $20 each, once, and extra storage is $5 a month per 50 GB (hosting and add-ons).
How much does a website cost per year?
Multiply by 12, then add the one-off costs that land in a single month:
| Setup | Monthly running cost | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | $33 to $61 | about $400 to $730 |
| Freelancer-built, no retainer (build spread over 3 years) | $60 to $180 | about $720 to $2,160 |
| Freelancer-built with retainer (build spread over 3 years) | $112 to $381 | about $1,340 to $4,570 |
| Buildly Essential plus domain and email, year one | about $58 | about $700 |
Elementor puts a DIY site's first year at roughly $75 to $470 before email (source), which matches the low end above once you add mailboxes.
What a low monthly price leaves out
Before you compare two monthly prices, check what each one actually covers:
- Renewal pricing. Intro hosting and builder deals can cost several times more at renewal.
- Per-user email. It grows with your team, not your website.
- Changes. Does the price include edits, or only keeping the site online?
- Updates and backups. On self-hosted WordPress, nobody updates plugins unless you or someone you pay does it.
- Paid apps. Booking, reviews, and forms add up fast on builders.
- Ownership. On a builder you can't take the site's code elsewhere. With a freelancer or a subscription, ask when the code and data become yours.
- Payment fees. An online store pays card processing on every sale on top of its plan (see our ecommerce website cost guide).
How to keep the monthly bill down
- Pay annually for the plans you are sure to keep, and monthly for anything you're testing.
- Budget for the renewal price of hosting, not the introductory one.
- Remove plugins and apps you don't use. Fewer moving parts means less upkeep.
- Only create mailboxes for people who need them. Use free aliases for addresses like info@ and sales@ that forward to an existing mailbox.
- Put the domain in your own name and account, whoever builds the site.
- Decide in advance how many changes you'll need each year, and choose a plan that includes them.
Having it built and run for you
If you'd rather not run a website yourself, a subscription turns the build, hosting, and upkeep into one predictable line. With Buildly, you send a free brief, get a written scope and price, and approve each stage (scope, wireframes, design, build, launch). After the plan's commitment, the contract runs month to month. See how it works, compare plans on the pricing page, or send your brief to get a written scope for your site.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to pay monthly for a website?
Yes. Every website has ongoing costs, even if you pay for the build once. At minimum you pay for a domain (about $1 a month for a .com) and hosting or a builder plan. Most businesses also pay for email, paid plugins or apps, and someone to maintain the site.
How much does a website cost per month for a small business?
Usually $35 to $60 a month for a DIY site on a website builder, including a domain and two mailboxes. A freelancer-built WordPress site with hosting and a maintenance retainer comes to about $110 to $380 a month when the build cost is spread over three years. Online stores and sites with logins or bookings cost more.
How much do websites cost a year?
A simple DIY site costs roughly $400 to $730 a year once you include email. A professionally built and maintained small business site costs about $1,300 to $4,600 a year, with the build cost spread over three years.
How much does domain registration cost?
A standard .com costs about $11 to $20 a year at most registrars. Porkbun listed .com registration and renewal at $11.81 in November 2026. Check the renewal price, not just the first-year offer.
How much does hosting a website cost per month?
Shared hosting usually costs about $3 to $15 a month, with lower introductory offers that renew higher. Managed WordPress hosting costs $20 to $100 a month. Website builders include hosting in their plan price.
