“How much does a website cost?”
Asking the price of a redesign is like asking the price of a building. A thirty-square-meter unit and an office tower are both “constructed,” both go by the name “building,” and have nothing in common in terms of method, timeline, lifespan, or cost.
A website is the same. The price isn’t an independent variable: it’s the consequence of the technical ceiling you choose. That’s true whether you’re building a new site or doing a website redesign – and that’s why a quote should never be judged on its total alone.
The quote isn’t the cost
Comparing two proposals on their initial price tag alone is the most common mistake. The real cost of a site over five years adds up:
| Item | What it represents |
| Design and development | The quote amount |
| Subscriptions and licenses | Platform, premium plugins, third-party tools |
| Hosting | From a few dozen to several hundred euros per month |
| Maintenance | Updates, monitoring, security fixes |
| Evolutions | Whatever you’ll ask for later that wasn’t planned |
| SEO tracking and LLM optimization | Google rankings, citations in AI answers, adjustments |
| Content | Writing, photography, video, 3D |
| Performance support | A/B tests, heatmaps, journey analysis — fixing whatever is holding back conversion |
Price ranges by type of build
There are six ways to build a site in 2026, and each has its own precise technical ceiling. We broke them down one by one – what each allows, and above all where it hits its limit – in Website redesign: template, AI, or custom-built? Here’s what each represents budget-wise, depending on whether you do it yourself or go through a provider.
| Type of build | On your own | With an agency |
| 1. Mainstream editor | €150 to €800/year subscription | €1,500 to €6,000 setup |
| 2. CMS + installed template | €200 to €600 in the first year | Showcase site: €3,000 to €8,000 E-commerce: €4,000 to €25,000 |
| 3. AI generation | €20 to €200/month in tools | Cleanup before going live: €5,000 to €40,000 |
| 4. Advanced no-code | €200 to €600/year subscription | €2,000 to €15,000 |
| 5. Custom-built on CMS | Not accessible on your own | €15,000 to €60,000 |
| 6. Custom web application | Not accessible on your own | Starting at €40,000, with no real ceiling |
Categories 5 and 6 don’t have an “on your own” column, and that’s not a sales angle – by definition, custom development requires a development team.
The two warning signs
An abnormally low quote. Below €1,000 for a professional showcase site, something has necessarily been dropped: an installed template with no real customization, undeclared subcontracting, or an unsustainable loss-leader rate.
An abnormally high quote with no justified scope. An €80,000 site that does nothing more than a €20,000 one exists too. The question to ask is always the same: what does this budget let me do that the other doesn’t? What exactly does it include? You can also have your quote reviewed by a professional in the field, who’ll break down each line item for you. This is a service we offer.
In most cases, quotes aren’t miscalculated – they simply cover different categories of build.
Where we fit in
Colibrity Agency’s projects fall into categories 5 and 6. We step in when an identified ceiling needs to be broken through – performance under heavy visual load, custom features, advanced interaction, compliance, or deep integration with your business tools.
Five questions to settle before asking for a quote
- What actually failed on the current site? If your answer is “it looks dated,” dig deeper: that’s rarely the real reason.
- Does the site need to generate revenue, or just exist? The answer changes everything. A site that needs to convert is an investment you measure; a site for pure presence is a cost you minimize.
- Who will be updating the content, and how often? A need for day-to-day autonomy points toward an open CMS.
- What obligations are you subject to? Accessibility, data protection, public procurement.
- What happens if you need to switch providers in three years? If the answer is “we’d start from scratch,” build that into the budget now.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a redesign take?
From a few days on a mainstream editor to more than six months for a custom application. For a custom build on a CMS, expect two to five months depending on complexity. Content is the leading cause of delay, ahead of development.
Do you lose your search rankings during a redesign?
Not if the redirect plan is done properly and the content structure is preserved. Traffic drops after a redesign almost always come from URLs abandoned without a redirect. It’s the item that gets cut first when budgets tighten – and the one that’s most expensive to fix afterward.
How do you compare two website redesign quotes?
First trace each one back to its category of build – that’s the variable that explains most of the gap. Then compare over a five-year span, factoring in hosting, maintenance, subscriptions, and exit cost. A quote is only comparable when the scope and lifespan are the same.
Why do two agencies quote such different prices for the same project?
Most often because they’re not actually proposing the same category of build, without saying so explicitly. Systematically ask: off-the-shelf template or custom development? Who owns the code? What happens if we switch providers in three years? Once you know that, the price gaps become understandable.
Is a cheaper quote necessarily worse?
No, if it matches a genuinely simpler need. Yes, if it claims the same scope for half the price – in that case, something has been dropped, and it’s almost always accessibility, performance, or maintenance.
What to remember
The price of a redesign isn’t a market data point, it’s the result of a decision: how far does your site actually need to be able to go?
Answer that question first — the article Website redesign: template, AI, or custom-built? is built for exactly that. The quotes you receive afterward will become comparable, and you’ll know why they differ.
Worth Knowing
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