WordPress Costs: How Much Does a WordPress Website Cost in 2023?
Learn everything about WordPress website costs for small and big businesses
Since WordPress powers more than 35% of the world’s websites, it makes sense to build a WordPress website. However, the question is how much does a WordPress website cost and which WordPress prices do you need to budget for on a one-time or ongoing basis?
This guide on WordPress website costs offers answers, and covers the following topics:
- How much does a WordPress website cost?
- Summary: WordPress costs
- How much does a WordPress website design cost?
- How much does WordPress website maintenance cost?
- Summary: WordPress website pricing by business type
- What determines WordPress website pricing?
- Is the cost of WordPress worth the money?
- What are some alternatives to a WordPress website?
- FAQs about WordPress costs
Keep reading to learn more about WordPress prices now!
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How much does a WordPress website cost?
WordPress website pricing varies because every business’s design and development needs are unique. The average upfront cost for a WordPress website, though, is $75 to $115,000. Ongoing maintenance costs for WordPress websites range from $75 to $15,000 per year.
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Your cheat sheet to WordPress website costs
Get a quick summary of WordPress website costs, both one-time and ongoing, in this table:
| Expense | Cost | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Name | $0.95 - $12 | Per month, may be billed annually |
| Web Hosting | $24 - $10,000 | Per month, may be billed annually |
| Additional File Storage | $0 - $650 | One-time or Ongoing, dependent on service |
| WordPress Themes | $0 - $200 | One-time, per theme |
| WordPress plugins | $0 - $1000 | One-time or Ongoing, dependent on plugin |
| Optional: Security | $50 - $500 | One-time or Ongoing, dependent on program |
| Website maintenance | ||
| --In-house | $0 - $25 | Per month |
| --Freelancer | $50 - $100 | Per hour |
| --Agency | $119 - $449 | Per month |
| WordPress website design | ||
| --In-house | $0 - $300 | One-time |
| --Freelancer | $500 - $5000 | One-time |
| --Agency | $3000 - $100,000 | One-time |
| WordPress subscription | ||
| --Free | $0 | N/A |
| --Premium | $8 | Per month, billed annually |
| --Business | $25 | Per month, billed annually |
| --Ecommerce | $45 | Per month, billed annually |
| --Enterprise | $1700 | Per month, billed annually |
Learn More About WordPress Pricing
How much does a WordPress website design cost?
WordPress website design costs depend on whether your business designs your website in-house or hires a freelancer or web design agency to create your site. In-house WordPress website design prices range from $0 to $300, while freelancers cost $500 to $5000 and agencies cost $3000 to $100,000.
How much does WordPress website maintenance cost?
WordPress costs for website maintenance depend on who performs the maintenance. In-house website maintenance costs $0 to $25 per month, while freelancer website maintenance costs $50 to $100 per hour. Website maintenance services from an agency cost $119 to $449 per month.
Your cheat sheet to WordPress website pricing by business type
Estimate your website costs in this breakdown of WordPress website pricing by business type:
| Business Type | Average Upfront WordPress Cost | Average Ongoing WordPress Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business Website | $75 - $2500 / one-time | $300 - $700 / yr. |
| Ecommerce | $5000 - $55,000 / one-time | $1000 - $3000 / yr. |
| Mid-sized Business | $7500 - $35,000 / one-time | $2000 - $5000 / yr. |
| Enterprise Business | $10,000 - $115,000 / one-time | $5000 - $15,000 / yr. |
Keep in mind that your organization’s WordPress website costs will depend on multiple factors, like your:
- Number of pages
- Number of WordPress plugins
- Website traffic
- Website capabilities, like ecommerce functionality
- Design style
- Redesign frequency
- Employment, like working in-house or hiring an agency
- And more
That’s why your business may pay more or less than these company-specific averages.
Related video: 7 website essentials for an SMB website
Check out this five-minute video to learn how to create the best possible WordPress site for your business.
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Get My Free GuideWordPress pricing: 6 factors that determine your WordPress costs the most
Let’s take a look at six factors that influence WordPress website pricing.
1. Domain name (Cost: $0.95 – $12 / mo.)
When you use WordPress, you need a domain name. If you don’t already have a domain name, you must pay for one. The cost depends on where you purchase your domain, but it will fall around $12 per month to keep your domain.
2. Web hosting (Cost: $24 – $10,000 / yr.)
Aside from your domain name, you must have web hosting. There are two options for web hosting: shared and dedicated.
With shared web hosting, you share a server with other businesses. This option costs less because different companies use the server, but the server may not perform as well.
When you use a dedicated server, you have your server for your business. A personal server will be more expensive, but you won’t need to share the server with other companies.
The cost will vary depending upon the type of web hosting you use and where you host your website.
3. Storage and bandwidth (Cost: $0 – $650 / one-time or ongoing)
Another cost factor is your storage and bandwidth for your site. There’s no way to pinpoint the price because each website differs.
For example, someone who uses WordPress for their blog won’t need as much storage space. On the other hand, an eCommerce site will need more storage because they’re uploading their entire inventory of products.
You must factor this cost into your overall budget when you’re building your WordPress site or using WordPress development services. If your WordPress site has a lot of photos, videos, products, or other content, it’ll cost more to host it.
4. Themes (Cost: $0 – $200 / theme)
WordPress offers numerous themes for your business that can help you personalize your online presence. WordPress is home to a wide variety of free themes, but you can also find free themes from third-party websites.
There are also premium themes available to your business. These themes do cost money, but they make your site appear more professional, add more functionality, and include plugins.
The cost of these themes varies — you may find a theme for $20, or you might find a theme for $100. The prices vary greatly depending on the style.
5. Plugins (Cost: $0 – $1000 / one-time or ongoing, depends on plugin)
Plugins are a crucial part of your WordPress site since they add functionality and make it more professional.
Some plugins will charge a yearly cost, while others charge a one-off fee. With over 50,000 plugins, you have dozens of options available to your company. There are multiple types of plugins you may use for your site, like anti-spam, search engine optimization (SEO), and site maintenance plugins.
The cost will vary depending on how many plugins you use.
6. Security (Cost: $50 – $500 / one-time or ongoing)
One of the most important elements of your site is its security. You want people to feel safe if they’re browsing or shopping on your site. You’ll need to add security to your page to encourage people to remain on your site.
You’ll want to get an SSL certificate, which is standard technology that keeps websites safe. It helps keep the user’s internet connections secure. Sometimes you can pay a one-time fee for security, but many security options require a monthly cost.
A basic security plan will run about $50 a year, but you can easily climb up to hundreds of dollars a year for more advanced security options.
Is the cost of WordPress worth the money?
WordPress is an excellent option for building your website, but there are good and bad features of this service. Let’s take a look at a few pros and cons of using WordPress and whether the cost of WordPress is worth it.
Pros
WordPress offers a lot to businesses looking to create their website. Let’s look at the three pros of using WordPress to build your website.
- Options: WordPress gives you the freedom to build any website for your business. From a basic blogger site to a complicated ecommerce site, you have the opportunity to create what your business needs. With all the available plugins, you can continue to expand your website as your business grows.
- SEO-friendly: WordPress creates very SEO-friendly websites from the start. While you can add plugins to help with SEO, WordPress’s site structure is great for SEO to start with. This structure means you’ll rank better in the search results and drive more traffic for your business.
- Affordable: WordPress can be affordable for your business if you only have basic needs. As you add more to your site, it can get more expensive, but overall, it’s relatively affordable for businesses that need a standard website.
Cons
While WordPress has a lot to offer to your business, there are cons to using this service. Let’s look at three cons of building your website on WordPress
- Complicated to learn: WordPress has a steep learning curve. It’s not as easy to use drag and drop website builders so that it can cause headaches for inexperienced website builders. WordPress takes time to learn and requires a bit of coding knowledge, so it can end up making matters more complicated for people who aren’t familiar with it.
- Many moving parts: WordPress doesn’t hand you everything you need on your website and tell you to build it. You have to pull at the pieces together, like your hosting, theme, plugins, and more. This setup makes it a more daunting practice for busy businesses.
- May require help: Since WordPress has many moving parts and is challenging to learn, you may end up hiring someone to create your site.
What are some alternatives to a WordPress website?
As far as website builders go, WordPress is one of the best. It offers more opportunities to add practical elements to your site, like security or SEO monitoring, but it can quickly become complicated.
So now you’re wondering, are there more practical alternatives to WordPress?
If you want to get the most value out of your website for the least amount of stress, hiring a web design company is your best option. When you hire a web design company, you focus on the daily operations of your business while a team of professionals builds your website for you.
Let’s take a look at a few positives of using professional web designers to create your site.
Better customization
Your website is the heart of your business, so you’ll want to build a unique website that reflects your business and brand.
When you hire web design professionals, you’ll have more customization options for your business than you would with a WordPress site. Not to mention, a web design company will work with your vision and bring your website design ideas to life.
Professionals working on your site
Web designers are professionals that know how to design websites. When you choose a top-of-the-line web designer, you’ll partner with people who know the ins and outs of good design and how to implement it on your site.
With WordPress, you’d spend a lot of time trying to figure out the right plugins for your website. A web designer will know what you need on your site based on the specific functionality you’re seeking. If you are an ecommerce company, for example, a team of professional web designers will know how to build a website that fulfills all your ecommerce functionality needs.
Get more than just web design
There’s more to web design than just designing a site. You need website copy to fill all the pages of your site. Your business needs SEO implementation and monitoring.
With a web design company, you’ll get all the additional features you need. You’ll get copywriting for your pages, SEO services, and responsive design for your website. All of these features help you create a better and more functional website for your business.
Does WordPress cost money?
Yes and no. Technically, WordPress is free for users who select the “Free” plan. Most businesses, however, require one of WordPress’s paid plans. WordPress prices for these plans range from a couple of dollars a month to over $1000 a month.
What WordPress costs do I need to budget for?
Companies should budget for the following ongoing WordPress costs:
- WordPress subscription
- Website hosting
- Domain name
- Website security
- Website maintenance
- WordPress plugins
- Additional file storage
As you finalize your plan, like whether you’ll maintain your site in-house or with an agency’s help, you can better estimate your WordPress website costs. You should always include a buffer in your budget, though, so you can respond to unexpected costs throughout the year.
How much does WordPress cost per year?
Per year, WordPress websites cost around $75 to $15,000. How much your business pays will depend on features unique to your website, like the number of pages, functionality, overall design, plugin usage, and more.
How much does WordPress cost per month?
Per month, WordPress websites cost around $7 to $1250. How much your business pays will depend on your website and its unique features. For example, your number of pages and plugins, as well as your website’s design and traffic, will influence your monthly WordPress cost.
How much does it cost to build a WordPress website?
The cost to build a WordPress website is $75 to $115,000, which includes designing, developing, and launching your site. Keep in mind that your custom WordPress website costs will vary and depend on your unique wants and needs.
How much does it cost to host a WordPress website?
The cost to host a WordPress website is $24 to $10,000 per year — if your business chooses to self-host vs. allow WordPress to host your site. WordPress website costs for hosting will depend on your hosting plan. Companies can choose between a shared server or a dedicated service, for example.
Build your customized website with WebFX today
After looking at the WordPress cost, you may find that it’s doesn’t offer enough for the price. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, your best option is to hire a web design company. At WebFX, we have over a decade of experience building customized websites for our clients.
Our award-winning team of over 500+ web design experts will help you build the website of your dreams. With Best of Web and Horizon Interactive Awards under our belt, you can count on our team of professional designers to create a functional and well-designed site for your business.
We’ll help you build a fully customized website that’s unique to your business. With our program, RainmakerFX, we’ll help you create a great website in just 30 days.
If you’re ready to learn more about how you can build a custom website, contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our custom web design plans.
