Website cost in India in 2026: what you actually pay for

"How much does a website cost?" is the first question almost every business owner asks me. It's a fair question, and the honest answer is a range. Quotes in India for what sounds like the same website can go from ₹8,000 to ₹5 lakh.

That spread isn't random. Different quotes include different things. This post breaks down what you're actually paying for, gives typical market ranges for common types of website in 2026, and lists the questions that help you compare quotes fairly.

One note before the numbers. These are typical ranges I see across the Indian market, from freelancers to small studios to agencies. They are not my prices. Your quote will depend on your scope, your content and who you hire.

What you're paying for

Every website quote, cheap or expensive, is made up of the same parts. The difference is how much time goes into each one.

Planning. Understanding your business, your customers and what the site needs to do. Cheap quotes often skip this entirely.
Design. Either adapting a ready-made template or designing pages from scratch.
Content. Writing the text, choosing photos, preparing service and product details. Often the slowest part, and often left to the client.
Build. Turning the design into a working site that loads fast and works on phones.
SEO basics. Page titles, descriptions, headings, structured data, a sitemap and Google Search Console set-up.
Testing. Checking every page on phones and browsers, testing forms, fixing what breaks.
Launch. Domain, hosting, email, SSL, redirects from an old site, analytics.
Support after launch. Fixes, updates, backups and small changes.

When one quote is a fifth of another, ask which of these it leaves out.

Typical market ranges in 2026

Template website

A ready-made WordPress or website-builder theme, with your logo, colours, text and photos added. Usually five to eight pages.

Typical range: ₹8,000 to ₹30,000.
Timeline: one to two weeks.
Good for: a new business that needs to be online quickly, with a simple brochure-style site.
Watch out for: sites that look like hundreds of others, heavy themes that load slowly, and no help with content.

Custom small business website

Designed around your business, with properly written pages, a fast build and SEO set up correctly. Typical for clinics, coaching institutes, hotels, consultants and professional firms.

Typical range with freelancers and small studios: ₹40,000 to ₹1.5 lakh.
Typical range with established agencies: ₹1.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh.
Timeline: three to eight weeks.
Good for: businesses where the website is a main source of enquiries, or where trust matters a lot.
Watch out for: unclear ownership of the code and hosting, and "unlimited revisions" promises that turn into slow projects.

E-commerce store

An online shop with products, a cart, payments, shipping and order management. Usually built on Shopify or WooCommerce.

Typical range for a Shopify or WooCommerce store: ₹40,000 to ₹2 lakh, depending on design work, number of products and integrations.
Typical range for a custom-built store: ₹3 lakh and above.
Ongoing costs: Shopify's plans and any paid apps are monthly, and the payment gateway takes a percentage of each sale, commonly around 2%.
Good for: brands selling directly to customers.
Watch out for: app subscriptions that quietly add up, and product data entry that nobody budgeted for.

Web app or dashboard

Software that runs in the browser: a booking system, a student portal, an internal dashboard, a customer login area or an AI tool.

Typical range: ₹2 lakh to ₹10 lakh and above.
Timeline: six weeks to several months.
Good for: businesses with a process that currently runs on spreadsheets, WhatsApp and phone calls.
Watch out for: fixed quotes without a written scope. Apps change as you build them, so agree on how changes are priced before you start.

Yearly running costs

These are often left out of the first quote, then come as a surprise.

Domain name

.in domain: roughly ₹500 to ₹1,000 a year.
.com domain: roughly ₹800 to ₹1,500 a year.

First-year offers are often cheaper. Check the renewal price, and make sure the domain is registered in your name, not your developer's.

Hosting

Basic shared hosting: roughly ₹2,000 to ₹6,000 a year. Fine for a small, low-traffic site.
Managed WordPress hosting or a small cloud server: roughly ₹6,000 to ₹25,000 a year. Faster and more reliable.
Static or modern framework hosting (Next.js on platforms like Vercel or Netlify): free tiers cover many small business sites, with paid plans if traffic or team needs grow.

Business email

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 costs roughly ₹1,500 to ₹2,500 per user per year at the basic level. Some hosting plans include basic email, which works but is usually less reliable.

SSL certificate

Usually free through Let's Encrypt or your host. Be careful of anyone charging thousands of rupees a year for a basic SSL certificate.

Maintenance

A website isn't finished at launch. Plugins need updates, backups need checking, forms need testing and content needs changing.

Pay as you go: many freelancers charge by the hour or by the task for small changes.
Monthly care plan: typically ₹2,000 to ₹15,000 a month, depending on what's included and how quickly fixes are promised.
Annual maintenance contract: common with agencies, often 15% to 25% of the original build cost each year.

For a simple, well-built site, light maintenance is usually enough. For WordPress sites with many plugins, or e-commerce stores, regular maintenance matters more because more things can break.

Why quotes differ so much

When two quotes for "a five-page website" are ₹15,000 and ₹1.2 lakh, the usual reasons are:

Template versus custom design. Adapting a theme is quick. Designing from scratch takes time.
Who writes the content. If you supply finished text and photos, the job is smaller. If the developer helps write it, the quote goes up, and the site usually gets better.
Speed and quality of the build. A fast, accessible site with clean SEO takes more care than one that just looks right on a laptop.
What happens after launch. Some quotes include a month of support and training. Some end the day the site goes live.
Experience and process. A studio with a project manager, designer and developer costs more than one freelancer doing everything. Sometimes that's worth it, sometimes not.

Questions to ask before you pay

Will the domain, hosting and code be in my name?
What exactly is included, page by page?
Who writes and edits the content?
How many rounds of changes are included, and how are extra changes charged?
How fast will the site load on a phone, and how will you check it?
Is basic SEO set up, including Search Console and a sitemap?
What does support cost after launch?
What are the payment terms, and what happens if the project is delayed?

A good developer will answer all of these without hesitation, in writing.

A simple way to budget

If you're planning a website this year, a rough budget looks like this:

One-time build cost from the ranges above, based on the type of site.
Plus yearly costs for domain, hosting and email, usually ₹5,000 to ₹30,000 for a small business.
Plus maintenance, either monthly or as needed.
Plus your own time for content, reviews and approvals. This is the cost most people forget.

Spending more doesn't guarantee a better website. But a very cheap quote usually means something on the list above has been left out, and you'll pay for it later in lost enquiries or a rebuild.

Want a clear quote?

If you'd like a fixed-scope quote for your own site, see how I work and what's included, then tell me what you need. I'll reply with honest advice, a rough timeline and a price range. If you already have a site and aren't sure whether it needs a rebuild, a website audit is a cheaper place to start.