Website Cost in India (2026): What You Should Really Pay
By Neha
Ask three web designers what a website costs and you will get three very different numbers. One says ₹4,999, another says ₹25,000, and an agency sends a quote for ₹80,000. All three may be honest. The website cost in India depends on what kind of site you need, who builds it, what platform it runs on, and what you will pay every year after it goes live.
This guide breaks those costs into plain pieces, so you can judge a quote instead of guessing. The figures below are typical 2026 ranges for freelancers and small agencies. They are a starting point for a conversation, not a price list, and your city, your builder and your needs can move them up or down.
Short answer: A simple one-page website usually costs ₹5,000–₹12,000 with an experienced freelancer, a five-page business website ₹12,000–₹30,000, and a small online store ₹30,000–₹80,000. On top of that, budget roughly ₹5,000–₹20,000 a year for the domain, hosting and upkeep. Very cheap quotes often leave out content, updates or ownership of the domain.
How much does a website cost in India?
The honest answer to "how much does a website cost in India" is: it depends on four things.
- The type of site. A single page with your services and a WhatsApp button is a very different job from a shop with 200 products and online payments.
- Who builds it. A beginner freelancer, an experienced freelancer and an agency charge very differently for similar-looking work.
- The platform. WordPress and Shopify are ready-made systems that a builder sets up and designs. A "custom" site is written from scratch in code, which takes longer and costs more.
- The extras. Content writing, a logo, a second language, online payments and basic SEO setup are often charged separately.
Here is what an experienced freelancer typically charges to build each kind of site on WordPress. The page count is what is usually included in that price.
| Type of website | Pages included | Typical build price | Usual time |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-page site (landing page) | 1 | ₹5,000–₹12,000 | About 1 week |
| Business website | 5 | ₹12,000–₹30,000 | 2–3 weeks |
| Booking or appointment site | 5 | ₹25,000–₹60,000 | 3–5 weeks |
| Online store (e-commerce) | 10 | ₹30,000–₹80,000 | 4–6 weeks |
A one-page site suits a home tutor, a small caterer or a freelancer who mainly needs a link to share. A business website with Home, About, Services, Gallery and Contact pages is what most shops, clinics and salons need. A booking site adds a way for customers to pick a slot, which suits a salon in Jaipur or a physiotherapist in Kochi.
Each page beyond the included ones usually adds ₹1,500–₹3,000.
Website development cost in India: freelancer or agency?
Website development cost in India changes most with who does the work. As a rough guide, compared with the experienced freelancer prices above:
| Who builds it | Roughly how the price compares | Five-page business site |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner freelancer | About 40% less | ₹7,000–₹18,000 |
| Experienced freelancer | The table above | ₹12,000–₹30,000 |
| Agency | Nearly double | ₹21,500–₹54,000 |
A beginner can build a perfectly good site if the brief is simple and you check the work. An agency costs more because you are paying for a team, a project manager and, usually, more support after launch. Neither is automatically better. Ask to see three sites they built for businesses like yours, and open those sites on your phone.
What about custom-coded websites?
A custom site, written from scratch rather than on WordPress or Shopify, typically costs about 1.8 times as much and takes a couple of weeks longer. It makes sense when you need something unusual, like a booking system tied to your own software. For a bakery, a coaching centre or a dental clinic, a well-built WordPress site is usually enough, and it is easier to find someone to maintain it later.
If you want to see what a competitor's site is built with before you decide, the website technology checker shows whether it runs on WordPress, Shopify, Wix or something else.
Ecommerce website cost in India
An online store is the most expensive common type because it has more moving parts: product pages, a cart, payments, delivery settings, stock and order emails. The ecommerce website cost in India typically starts around ₹30,000 with an experienced freelancer for about 10 pages and a small catalogue, and can reach ₹80,000 or more before any extras. With an agency, expect roughly double.
On Shopify, the build price is similar, but the yearly cost is higher because Shopify charges a monthly plan instead of separate hosting. Its entry plan works out to roughly ₹18,000–₹25,000 a year, depending on the plan and billing period. Check Shopify's current Indian pricing before you decide, because it changes.
If you only sell a handful of items, a business website with a WhatsApp order button, or a WhatsApp catalogue, may do the job for far less. Start small and add a full store when orders justify it.
What extras add to a website price for small business?
The quoted website price for small business owners often looks cheap because it leaves these out. Ask which of them are included.
| Extra | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Content writing | ₹500–₹1,500 per page |
| Logo design | ₹2,000–₹8,000 |
| Basic SEO setup (titles, descriptions, Google setup) | ₹3,000–₹10,000 |
| WhatsApp chat button | ₹500–₹1,500 |
| Online payments on a non-shop site | ₹3,000–₹8,000 |
| Blog section | ₹2,000–₹5,000 |
| A second language, such as Hindi | Roughly 30% more on the build |
Content is the one people forget. A designer can make a lovely page, but someone has to write what your business does, who it is for and why people should call you. If you write it yourself, you save money, and you know your customers better than anyone.
Domain and hosting cost in India, and other yearly costs
A website is not a one-time purchase. Three costs come back every year, whoever builds the site. Here is the typical domain and hosting cost in India, plus upkeep.
- Domain name (your address, like sharmabakery.in): about ₹800–₹1,200 a year for a .in or .com. First-year offers are often cheaper, and the renewal price can be higher, so check both.
- Hosting (the rented computer that keeps your site online): about ₹3,000–₹10,000 a year for a small WordPress site. Shopify's plan replaces hosting, at the higher price mentioned above.
- Care and updates (security updates, backups, small text changes): budget about 10–20% of the build price each year, whether you pay someone monthly or fix things as they come up.
Two practical points. First, the domain should be registered in your name, with your email, so you can move to another designer later. Second, renewals should not lapse. The domain and SSL expiry checker shows when your domain and its security certificate (the padlock in the browser) run out, so a missed renewal does not take your site offline.
Still choosing a name? The domain name generator suggests short, easy-to-say options in .in, .co.in, .com and .shop.
A worked example: a bakery in Indore
Say Meena runs a bakery in Indore. She wants a five-page WordPress site, a simple logo, and a WhatsApp button so customers can order cakes. She hires an experienced freelancer and writes the text herself.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Five-page business website | ₹12,000 | ₹30,000 |
| Logo | ₹2,000 | ₹8,000 |
| WhatsApp button | ₹500 | ₹1,500 |
| Build total | ₹14,500 | ₹39,500 |
| Domain, per year | ₹800 | ₹1,200 |
| Hosting, per year | ₹3,000 | ₹10,000 |
| Care and updates, per year | ₹1,500 | ₹8,000 |
| Running cost per year | ₹5,300 | ₹19,200 |
That range is wide on purpose. The low end is a capable freelancer in a smaller city using a standard theme. The high end is someone doing more design work, with better photos and more hand-holding. Both can be fair. What matters is that Meena knows what she is paying for.
You can build a line-by-line estimate like this for your own business with the website cost calculator. It also shows the yearly running costs, so there are no surprises in year two.
Which website quotes should you be careful of?
A cheap quote is not always a bad one, and an expensive one is not always good. But these are warning signs worth asking about:
- The domain is registered in the designer's name. If you part ways, you may lose your own address.
- "Free hosting for life." Someone pays for hosting. Ask what happens if the designer stops trading.
- No mention of content. Who writes the text and supplies the photos?
- No handover. You should get the admin login for your site and your domain, in your own email.
- "Guaranteed first page on Google." Nobody can promise that, and Google itself warns against anyone who guarantees rankings. A good builder sets up the basics properly; ranking takes time and effort after launch.
- Unclear yearly charges. Get renewal prices for the domain, hosting and maintenance in writing.
A fair quote lists the pages, the platform, what content you must supply, how many rounds of changes are included, the delivery time and the yearly costs.
What happens after the website goes live?
A new website does not bring customers on its own. Google has to find it, understand it and decide it deserves to be shown. Our guide on how to get your website on Google walks through the first steps, and local SEO for small business covers how shops and clinics show up in nearby searches. If you plan to pay someone for that ongoing work, read what SEO costs in India before you sign anything.
Speed matters too. Many Indian customers browse on mid-range phones and patchy mobile data, so a heavy site loses people before it loads. See how to improve your website speed.
What to do this week
- Decide which type of site you really need: one page, a business site, a booking site or a store.
- Write down the pages you want and draft the text for each one yourself.
- Get two or three quotes and compare them line by line against the tables above.
- Ask each builder for three live sites they made, and open them on your phone.
- Confirm in writing that the domain and admin logins will be in your name.
- Work out your yearly running cost, so the website cost in India you budget for covers year two as well.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get a website in India?
The cheapest workable option is usually a one-page site built by a freelancer on WordPress, typically ₹5,000–₹12,000 with an experienced builder and less with a beginner, plus about ₹4,000–₹11,000 a year for the domain and hosting. Writing the text yourself saves more. Free website builders exist, but check whether you can use your own domain and move the site later.
Is ₹5,000 enough for a business website?
For a single page, often yes, especially with a beginner freelancer. For a five-page business website, ₹5,000 is below the typical range, so check what is being left out: content, a proper domain in your name, mobile design or any support after launch. A low price with clear limits can be fine. A low price with vague promises is a risk.
How much does an e-commerce website cost per year to run?
On WordPress, expect roughly ₹800–₹1,200 for the domain, ₹3,000–₹10,000 for hosting and 10–20% of the build price for updates. On Shopify, the monthly plan replaces hosting and typically adds up to around ₹18,000–₹25,000 a year for the entry plan. Payment gateways also take a fee per order, which varies by provider.
Should I choose WordPress or a custom website?
For most small businesses, WordPress is the practical choice. It costs less, many freelancers know it, and you can update text yourself. A custom-coded site typically costs about 1.8 times as much and takes longer. Choose custom only if you need something WordPress or Shopify cannot do, and make sure the code and hosting access are handed over to you.
Who should own my domain name?
You should. The domain should be registered in your name, or your business name, using an email address you control. Your designer can manage it for you, but ownership should be yours. If it is registered in their name and you part ways, getting it back can be slow or impossible, and your address is what customers and Google already know.
Does a new website come with SEO?
Usually only the basics, if anything. A good builder sets page titles, descriptions and a mobile-friendly layout, and connects Google Search Console, which typically costs ₹3,000–₹10,000 as an extra. Ongoing SEO, which means improving pages and earning visibility month after month, is separate work. Be wary of any website quote that promises a first-page ranking.