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Free calculator · BLS wage data

Website Pricing Calculator: What to Charge for a Website

Pick the business, your state and what the site needs. The calculator works out the hours and prices them at the freelance rate where you live — so your quote is neither a guess nor a giveaway.

Pages

5
What the site needs

What to charge

$1,000–$1,600

About 18 hours at $55–$90 an hour, the freelance rate in the US. Plus $50–$110 a month for hosting and updates.

Web design rates in every state

How much to charge for a website in 2026

At the US freelance rate of $55–$90 an hour, these are fair prices for a small business. They are the build price; the monthly figure is hosting and updates on top.

SiteHoursPriceMonthly
One-page site7$500–$750$50–$110
Five-page business site18$1,000–$1,600$50–$110
Five pages with online booking22$1,200–$2,000$50–$110
Eight pages, copy written for them39$2,150–$3,500$50–$110
Small online shop31$1,700–$2,800$50–$110

How the calculator works

  1. Hours. 4 hours for setup, design and launch, 2 per page, and set hours for each extra — online booking 3, online ordering or shop 10, writing the copy 1.5 a page. The hours assume a template- and AI-assisted build, which is how most small-business sites are made now.
  2. Your rate. The BLS median wage for web developers in your state, times 1.25 to 2: what a freelancer needs to charge to take home what an employee earns. See every state.
  3. Price. Hours times rate, rounded, and never under $500. Quote the range's top for a client who needs it fast or a trade that pays well, the bottom for a first portfolio piece.

Website prices by type of business

What a small independent business typically pays, and what its site has to do:

BusinessTypical price
Restaurants$800–$2,500
Cafés$500–$2,000
Bakeries$500–$2,000
Barbers$600–$1,800
Hair Salons$800–$2,500
Beauty Salons$800–$2,500
Nail Salons$500–$2,000
Dentists$2,000–$6,000
Gyms$1,000–$3,000
Auto Repair Shops$1,000–$3,000
Florists$1,000–$3,000
Tattoo Shops$800–$2,000
Massage Therapists$600–$1,800
Vets$1,500–$4,000
Law Firms$2,000–$6,000
Accountants$1,500–$4,000
Real Estate Agents$1,500–$5,000
Plumbers$1,000–$3,000
Electricians$1,000–$3,000
Roofers$1,500–$4,000
Landscapers$1,000–$3,000
Physiotherapists$1,500–$4,000
Driving Schools$600–$1,800
Locksmiths$800–$2,000
Pet Groomers$500–$2,000

Make it pay every month

A build is paid once. A care plan — hosting, backups, updates and small edits — is paid every month for as long as the site is live. Twenty clients on a $50 plan is $1,000 a month before you sell anything. The income calculator shows how fast it adds up.

Web design rates by state

Website cost by business

Questions

How much should I charge for a website?+

For a five-page small-business website, $1,000 to $1,600 at a US freelance rate of $55–$90 an hour, plus $50–$110 a month for hosting and updates. Booking, a shop or writing the copy for them all push it up; the calculator above prices each.

How much do freelance web designers charge per hour?+

Employed web developers in the US earn a median $44.54 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Freelancers pay their own tax, insurance and software and are not paid for every hour, so they need roughly 1.25 to 2 times that: about $55–$90 an hour. It varies a lot by state.

Should I charge by the hour or by the project?+

By the project. Small businesses want to know the price before they say yes, and a fixed price rewards you for getting faster. Use your hourly rate to work out the project price, then quote the project.

How much should I charge per month for website maintenance?+

Most small-business care plans sit between $50 and $110 a month: hosting, backups, security updates and a small amount of edits. It is the income that keeps arriving after the site is built, so offer it with every site.

Has AI made websites cheaper?+

The work has got faster, so yes. An AI builder costs a few dollars a month, and a freelancer working from templates with AI tools builds a simple site in a day or two. Hourly rates have not fallen in the 2026 rate surveys; what has fallen is the hours. This calculator assumes that kind of build, which is why a one-page site comes out at $500–$750.

Why do website prices vary so much?+

A one-page site and an online shop are different jobs. The biggest drivers are the number of pages, online booking or ordering, who writes the words, and where you live — freelance rates in Washington and California are more than double those in South Dakota.

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Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates, for web developers (15-1254) and web and digital interface designers (15-1255). Those are employees' wages; freelance rates and prices here are estimates built from them, not BLS figures.