Home › Guides › How Much Do Companies Charge to Build a Contractor Website?
How Much Do Companies Charge to Build a Contractor Website?
Short answer: What a company charges to build a contractor website depends on who builds it. A do-it-yourself builder such as WordPress.com or Squarespace lists $4 to $99 a month, plus your time. A freelancer or an agency charges a one-time fee, in our estimate about $1,500 to $15,000 or more, and then upkeep.
- Squarespace lists four website plans, from $19 to $99 a month, with a free domain the first year.
- WordPress.com lists a free plan, Personal at $4 and Business at $25 a month billed yearly.
- Our estimate: a freelancer charges about $1,500 to $5,000 for the build of a small trade site.
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics put median web developer pay at $47.85 an hour in May 2025.
- Many quotes cover only design, pages and text; ask about domain, hosting, Google setup and upkeep.
- A monthly plan from a specialist bundles the build and the upkeep into one payment.
Nobody publishes one price list for this, and I will not pretend there is a single number. This guide shows what each option includes, what is sourced and what is our estimate, so you can compare real quotes.
What does "build a website" include?
A contractor website build is the work of turning your business facts into live web pages: design, text, photos, service pages, contact forms and the technical setup so that Google can read it. Here is what that usually means, item by item:
- Design and layout that works on a phone.
- Pages: home, about, one per main service, contact, and pages for the towns you serve.
- Text and photos. Someone has to write them, and someone has to take or gather them.
- A domain name and hosting, which are the address and the place the site lives.
- Setup for Google: a sitemap, Search Console, and your business listing links.
- Ongoing updates, backups and security.
Many quotes only cover the first three. Ask about the rest.
The four ways to get a website
| Option | Typical cost structure | Who does the work | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website builder | Monthly plan, low | You | An owner with time and some patience |
| Freelancer | One-time fee, then optional upkeep | One person | A custom look on a modest budget |
| Agency | Larger one-time fee, often a monthly retainer | A team | A bigger company with many services |
| Monthly plan from a specialist | One monthly payment | The provider | An owner who wants it done and kept up |
Now each one in detail.
What does a website builder cost?
Website builders let you assemble the site yourself with templates. The advertised prices are low, and they are public, so you can check them.
- Squarespace lists four website plans, from $19 a month up to $99 a month. The page shows two prices per plan, and the lower one appears to be for yearly billing. A free custom domain is included for the first year on annual plans, and it renews at the standard rate afterward (Squarespace: Pricing (checked Nov 2026)).
- WordPress.com lists a free plan, then paid plans such as Personal at $4 a month and Business at $25 a month when billed yearly, with Commerce at $45. Monthly billing costs more, and prices exclude taxes (WordPress.com: Pricing (checked Nov 2026)).
These are real, and for the right owner they are a fine start. The part that is not on the pricing page is your time. You write the text, choose the photos, build the pages and set up the Google side. Plan on a few weekends, or more. If your hourly rate on jobs is $100 or more, that time is not free.
Also check the renewal terms. Squarespace says a domain from its free first-year offer renews at its standard rate plus taxes, and WordPress.com lists its prices excluding taxes.
A builder is a tool. It does not tell you what to write or how to rank. A site built in an afternoon with no service pages and no town names gets few calls. Our guide to the best website builder for contractors compares what they can and cannot do.
What does a freelancer cost?
A freelancer is one person who designs and builds the site for a fee. Prices vary a lot because skill and speed vary.
We could not find one neutral survey that gives a reliable freelancer price for a small contractor site. So here is how to estimate it yourself.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says web developers and digital designers earned a median of $99,520 a year, or $47.85 an hour, in May 2025 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Web Developers and Digital Designers). That is an employee wage. A freelancer also pays for software, taxes, insurance and gaps between jobs, so the rate they charge is usually higher.
At that wage, a 30 hour project would be about $1,435 in labor alone. This is our estimate, not a quote. A small trade site with a handful of pages can take 20 to 60 hours, so our estimate for a freelancer is about $1,500 to $5,000 for the build. Quotes outside that range are possible, and cheaper is not always worse.
What to ask a freelancer:
- Who writes the text? Many only drop in what you give them.
- Do you own the domain and the site files when it is done?
- What happens when something breaks in month 8?
- Do you set up Google Search Console and the sitemap?
- Will the site have a page for each service?
The biggest freelancer risk is that they move on. Ask for the logins on day one.
What does an agency cost?
An agency is a company with several people: a designer, a developer, a writer and a manager. You pay for the team and for the process.
Our estimate for a small contractor site from an agency is about $5,000 to $15,000 or more for the build, depending on the size, with larger monthly retainers if marketing is included. This is an estimate too. Agency prices are not public, and they depend on what you ask for. The only way to know is to get written quotes.
What you often get for that price: custom design, original photography, copywriting, a project manager and more rounds of changes. If you run a company with many crews, many towns and several services, it can make sense.
For a one-truck or five-truck company, the question is whether you need that much. A simple, fast, clear site with real photos does most of the work.
Questions for an agency:
- What exactly is in the price? Get the list of pages.
- Who owns the site, and can I take it elsewhere?
- What is the monthly fee after launch, and what does it cover?
- Is there a contract? How do I cancel?
- Can you show a site you built for a company like mine?
What does a monthly plan cost?
A monthly plan means a provider builds and runs the site for a regular fee, so you pay no large amount at the start. The provider usually handles hosting, updates, small edits and Google setup.
Plans differ a lot, so compare what is in them. We do not list our own prices here. You can see what we offer on our home page.
Check these points in any plan:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Do I own the site if I stop paying? | Some plans keep the site when you leave |
| Do I own my domain? | The domain should be registered in your name |
| What is the minimum term? | Ask before you sign |
| Are edits included? | Count how many and how fast |
| Is Google setup included? | Search Console, sitemap and Business Profile links |
| Is there a one-time setup fee? | Add it to the monthly cost over 12 months |
The monthly price looks small. Multiply it by 12 and by 3 to see the real cost over three years, then set it next to a one-time build plus upkeep.
How do the four options compare over three years?
A fair test is to add up everything you pay in three years. Use your own quotes. This is the formula:
Three-year cost = build fee + (monthly fees x 36) + your time at your hourly rate + extras.
Extras are the domain renewal, edits you pay for by the hour, new photos and any plugin or tool fees.
| Option | Build fee | Monthly | Your time | Surprise risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Builder | None | Plan price | High | Low cost, but results depend on you |
| Freelancer | One-time | Often hosting and upkeep | Medium | Availability after launch |
| Agency | One-time, larger | Often a retainer | Low to medium | Scope changes |
| Monthly plan | Low or none | One payment | Low | Lock-in terms |
Fill in the numbers from the quotes you get. The cheapest sticker price is often not the cheapest option once your time is counted.
What does the site need to do for the money?
The price matters less than whether the site brings calls. Whichever option you pick, check that it has:
- Your phone number at the top, tappable on a phone.
- A page for each main service.
- The towns you work in, by name.
- Your license number, insurance and warranty.
- Real reviews and real job photos.
- Text on the page, not in pictures, so Google and AI tools can read it.
Our checklist, what a contractor website should include, covers all of it. And since people now ask AI tools who to hire, see how to get recommended by ChatGPT as a contractor.
Trade-by-trade price guides
Each trade has its own jobs, seasons and wants. See the cost guides for roofers, plumbers, HVAC companies and electricians. For the general version, read contractor website cost.
Red flags in any quote
- A price with no list of pages or deliverables.
- No answer about who owns the domain and the site.
- A long contract with a fee to leave.
- A promise of rankings. Google says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking (Google Business Profile Help: Improve your local ranking).
- Stock photos only, with no plan to add your real jobs.
- Ten near-identical town pages with only the town name changed.
Common questions
How much does a custom website cost?
A custom site is designed for you instead of picked from a template. In our estimate it runs from about $1,500 for a small freelancer build to $15,000 or more from an agency. These are estimates, not survey figures, so get at least three written quotes with page lists.
Is a $500 website any good?
It can be, if it is a template you fill in yourself. A cheap site fails when it has no service pages, no town names and no real text, because Google has little to show. Judge it by the checklist above, not the price.
Do I have to pay every month to keep a website?
Always something. Even a free-looking site needs a domain that renews each year, and paid builders charge monthly. Squarespace says a domain from its free first-year offer renews at its standard rate after that (Squarespace: Pricing).
Should I own my domain?
Yes. Register it in your name with your email, even if someone else runs the site. If the domain is theirs, they can hold your address hostage.
What is cheaper for a contractor: a builder or a monthly plan?
The builder is cheaper in cash and costs more in time. A monthly plan costs more in cash and saves the time. Count your own hours at the rate you earn on a job, and compare totals over three years.
If you want to see what a monthly plan looks like for your trade before you decide, see a free demo site.
Sources
- Squarespace: Pricing (2026)
- WordPress.com: Pricing (2026)
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Web Developers and Digital Designers (May 2025 data)
- Google Business Profile Help: Improve your local ranking (2026)
We build your new website free, before you pay, then work every week to get you named when homeowners ask Google and AI who to call. Get your free demo site.