Most people ask what a website costs to build. The question that catches them out later is what it costs to keep. A site is not a one-off purchase like a ute or a laptop. It has running costs, some essential and some optional, and it helps to know which is which before you sign up for anything.
This article walks through each monthly cost, what it is for, and where people tend to overpay. We have not put average prices on anything, because they vary by provider, by platform and by what you ask for. Where a figure matters, check the provider’s current pricing page. If you want the build side as well, our guide to what a small business website costs in Australia covers that.
The two costs every website has
Every website needs two things to exist online: a domain name and somewhere to host the files.
The domain name
This is your web address, like yourbusiness.com.au. You rent it from a registrar, usually for one or more years at a time, so it often shows up as an annual charge rather than a monthly one. Prices differ between registrars and between domain types, and renewal prices are sometimes higher than the first-year price. Check the renewal price before you buy.
Make sure the domain is registered in your name, not the name of whoever built your site. If it is in someone else’s name, they control it, and getting it back later can be a headache. We cover that problem in our list of cheap website red flags.
Hosting
Hosting is the computer that stores your site and delivers it to visitors. It ranges from shared hosting on a budget plan to managed hosting where someone looks after the technical side. Cheaper plans can be slower or less secure, and the cheapest are not always the best value. A good host will also include an SSL certificate, which is what puts the padlock next to your address and keeps visitor data private.
If you use a website builder, hosting is bundled into the subscription. If you have a custom or WordPress site, you pay for it separately.
Maintenance and security
A site that is left alone does not stay healthy. Software needs updating, backups need to run, and security needs watching. On a builder platform, the platform does most of this for you. On WordPress and similar systems, someone has to do it, either you or a person you pay.
Some hosting plans include maintenance. Others sell it as a separate service. Ask directly what is covered: updates, backups, security monitoring, and small edits like changing opening hours. If something goes wrong, who fixes it, and is that included or billed by the hour?
Our own Care plan is $49 + GST a month and covers hosting, SSL, security, backups and 30 minutes of edits each month. Other providers package things differently, so compare what is inside, not just the headline price.
Plugins, apps and paid extras
This is where monthly costs tend to creep. A basic site might need nothing extra. A site that takes bookings, sells products, runs a members area or sends email newsletters often relies on paid tools.
- Booking tools. Many are a monthly subscription, and some charge per staff member or per booking.
- Email marketing. Usually priced on how many contacts you have.
- Premium plugins or themes. On WordPress, many are yearly licences that need renewing.
- Payment fees. Online shops pay a fee on each sale on top of any platform subscription.
- Stock photos or fonts. Often free, sometimes paid, and worth checking before you assume.
None of these are bad. The point is to list what your site actually needs and add up the subscriptions before you commit. Three small subscriptions add up faster than people expect.
Website builder subscriptions
Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, GoDaddy and similar platforms charge a recurring fee that covers hosting, the editor, and usually a domain for the first year. Plans come in tiers, and the tier you need depends on whether you want a shop, bookings, or more advanced features. Prices change and are quoted in various currencies, so check the current pricing on each platform’s own website. We compare the main options in our guide to the best website builders for small business in Australia.
One honest point about builders: the monthly fee is often the whole ongoing cost, which makes budgeting simple. The trade-off is that your site lives inside their platform, and moving it out later usually means rebuilding it.
SEO and Google Ads
These are optional, and they are the biggest range of all. A website that nobody finds still costs money to run. If you want to appear when someone nearby searches for what you do, you have two broad routes.
- SEO is the slow work of making your site and Google Business Profile easy for Google to trust. It takes months, not days. See how long SEO takes for a realistic timeline.
- Google Ads are paid placements. You pay Google each time someone clicks, plus any management fee. Our Google Ads cost guide explains how the spend works.
Agencies price these very differently. Some charge hundreds of dollars a month for a basic package, others charge much more. There is no standard rate, and a higher price does not guarantee better work. Be wary of anyone who promises specific rankings.
Our Grow plan is $250 + GST a month and our Dominate plan is $450 + GST a month. Both include free Google Ads management up to a spend cap, which we explain on the pricing page. Ad spend itself is paid by you directly to Google.
Three common setups, compared in plain terms
These are not prices, just a way to see what you are paying for in each case.
- Builder, do it yourself. One subscription covers hosting and the platform. You pay with your time for building, writing and updating. Add-ons if you need them.
- WordPress, self-managed. Hosting, domain and possibly paid plugins, with you or a contractor handling updates and security. Flexible, but someone has to look after it.
- Built for you, with a care plan. A one-off build fee, then a monthly fee for hosting and upkeep. Less of your time, a more predictable bill, and you should still own the site and domain.
Where people overpay
- Paying for a premium tier of a builder when the basic tier would do.
- Keeping old apps and plugins running that nobody uses.
- Paying two providers for the same thing, such as hosting through the agency and through a builder.
- Buying SEO before the site and Google Business Profile are in good shape.
- Signing a long contract for a service they can only cancel with a penalty.
A quick audit once a year is worth the effort. List every website-related charge, what it does, and whether you would buy it again today.
How to plan your budget
Start with the essentials: domain, hosting and whatever maintenance you cannot do yourself. Then add the extras your business actually needs, one at a time. Leave SEO and ads until the basics are working, unless you need leads quickly and have a clear idea of what an enquiry is worth to you.
If you want a build with everything laid out up front, our $500 + GST website includes the first three months of Care hosting, and then it continues month to month with 30 days’ notice and no lock-in. If you need a shop or a custom system, that is outside what we do at this price, and we refer those jobs to our sister studio ClickTheory. To get started, use the get started form.