Website builders average $4–$299/month, but the total cost grows with domains, apps, templates, and fees. Free plans cap storage and force branding; paid tiers add custom domains, e-commerce, and support. Save 10–30% with annual billing, monitor usage to avoid overages, and pick tiers by features, traffic, and growth.
Let's get the details!
Website Builder Pricing Models
Website builders use 4 main pricing structures: freemium plans, full subscription models, monthly billing, and annual prepayment with 10-30% discounts.
Subscription Plans vs Freemium Models
Freemium builders provide free plans with basic tools, limited storage (typically 500MB-1GB), and 5-20 templates. Upgrading costs $4-$159 monthly to access custom domains, e-commerce tools, and remove platform ads.
Full subscription builders require paid plans from the start, charging $4-$300 monthly depending on features. These platforms offer 3-5 pricing tiers with progressive feature access, storage capacity, and support levels.
Freemium models work for testing platforms or launching simple sites under 10 pages.
Monthly Cost vs Annual Discounts
Website builders charge $5-50 monthly or offer annual prepayment with 10-30% savings. According to Recurly, SaaS platforms provide an average 16.7% discount for annual commitments.
Annual plans reduce total costs by $60-180 yearly but require upfront payment of $100-500. Monthly billing provides flexibility to cancel anytime but costs 15-40% more over 12 months.
Feature Tiers and Free Plan Limitations
Paid tiers unlock 5 key improvements: increased storage (10GB-unlimited), higher bandwidth (50GB-unlimited), e-commerce capabilities with payment processing, 50-800+ templates, and priority support via chat or phone.
Free plans restrict users to:
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Subdomains (yoursite.builder.com format)
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Platform ads on every page
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500MB-1GB storage and 1-5GB monthly bandwidth
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No AI website builders, code export, or membership features
General vs Specialized Platforms
General builders like Dorik, Wix, and Squarespace serve blogs, portfolios, and small businesses with $16-$159 monthly plans. These platforms balance ease of use with 100-1200 templates and broad feature sets.
Specialized platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce target specific needs, such as complex e-commerce operations.
Specialized platforms also add hidden costs: transaction fees (1.5-3%), premium plugins ($5-30 monthly), and enterprise features ($100-500 monthly for high-volume stores).
Side-by-Side Pricing for Top Website Builders
10 leading website builders offer plans ranging from $3 to $299 monthly, with different strengths for e-commerce, design, and scalability.
| Platform | Free Plan | Starter Price (Monthly) | Business / Commerce Price (Monthly) | Key Features & Storage Limits | Best For Budget / Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorik | No (14-day trial) | $18 (annual billing) | $39 (annual billing) | Unlimited storage and bandwidth; membership features; 110+ templates; white-label CMS in business plan | Agencies and small businesses needing custom branding and unlimited storage |
| Wix | Yes | $17 | $39-$159 | 800+ templates; 200+ apps; flexible drag-and-drop editor; commerce on higher tiers | Creative users, portfolios, and businesses wanting visual freedom |
| Squarespace | No (14-day trial) | $16 (annual billing) | $23-$52 (annual billing) | Designer templates; built-in SEO, analytics, and booking tools; integrated commerce; limited plugins | Designers, portfolio sites, and service-based businesses |
| Shopify | No (3-day trial) | $1/month for 3 months. After that, $19 (annual billing) | $49-$299 | E-commerce tools: inventory management, POS integration, 100+ payment gateways, shipping automation; unlimited products | Online stores and serious sellers with high transaction volume |
| Hostinger Website Builder | No (14-day trial) | $3.99 (annual billing). Renews at $10.99/month | $4.99 (annual billing). Renews at 13.99/month | Hosting included; 150+ templates; business plan adds commerce and AI tools | Low-cost personal sites and starter small business pages |
| GoDaddy Website Builder | No (7-day trial) | $10.99 (annual billing). Renews at $16.99 | $16.99 (Renews at 29.99)-$23.99 (Renews at $34.99) | Instant setup; domain and email tools; basic commerce | Beginners and simple business sites needing fast launch |
| Weebly | Yes | $10 (annual billing) | $12-$26 | Drag-and-drop editor; basic store features; 500MB-unlimited storage; limited design options | Hobbyists, small sellers, and budget-conscious small business owners |
| SITE123 | Yes | $5.80 (Premium) | Not availabble | Free domain included for 1 year; 3GB storage; template-based building; ads removed in paid plan | Entrepreneurs and freelancers wanting simple sites without learning curves |
| WordPress.com (hosted) | Yes | $4 (annual billing) | $25-$45 | 50,000+ themes; 60,000+ plugins; advanced content tools; steep learning curve | Bloggers, content-rich sites, and users wanting maximum customization |
| BigCommerce | No (15-day trial) | $29 (annual billing) | $79-$299 | Unlimited products; multi-channel selling; advanced analytics; less design flexibility | Large stores and businesses expecting $50K+ annual sales |
*Prices are approximate and vary by billing period (monthly vs annual) and region.
Budget Website Builders (Under $10/month)
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Hostinger Website Builder costs $2.99/month (Premium, 48-month term) with 150+ templates, AI generation, unlimited storage/bandwidth, and SSL certificates. Business plan ($3.99/month, 48-month) adds e-commerce, AI SEO tools, and product management. Renews at $10.99-13.99/month.
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SITE123 provides template-based building at $5.80/month (annual) with 3GB storage, a free year-one domain, and ad removal. Pre-structured layouts accelerate creation for users prioritizing speed over customization.
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Weebly offers drag-and-drop editing from $10/month (Personal) to $26/month (Performance, annual). Professional ($12/month) includes unlimited storage, Performance adds abandoned cart recovery and real-time shipping. Basic e-commerce is available on all paid plans.
Mid-Range Options ($10-40/month)
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Dorik provides unlimited storage/bandwidth at $18/month (annual) with 110+ templates and membership features. Business plan ($39/month) adds white-label CMS and client billing for agencies managing multiple sites.
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Wix offers 800+ templates and 200+ apps from $17-39/month. Core plan ($29/month) enables selling 50,000 products with abandoned cart recovery. Business plan ($39/month) provides 100GB storage and advanced marketing automation.
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Squarespace delivers designer templates from $16-39/month (annual). Basic ($16/month) charges 2% transaction fees on unlimited products. Core ($23/month) removes transaction fees and adds analytics. Plus ($39/month) reduces digital content fees to 1%.
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GoDaddy Website Builder starts at $10.99/month with instant setup and basic commerce. Business plans ($16.99-23.99/month) include domain registration, email tools, and quick-launch templates.
Premium and Enterprise Solutions ($40+/month)
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Shopify dominates e-commerce from $39-399/month with transaction fees decreasing by tier: Basic (2%), Grow (1%, $105/month), and Advanced (0.5%, $399/month). Shopify Plus starts at $2,300/month for operations exceeding $800,000 monthly revenue, providing unlimited staff, 10 expansion stores, and custom checkout.
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BigCommerce offers $39-399/month (annual: $29-299/month) with zero transaction fees across all tiers. Standard ($39/month) supports $50,000 annual sales, Plus ($105/month) handles $180,000, Pro ($399/month) manages $400,000. Enterprise pricing starts around $1,000/month for high-volume operations.
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Squarespace Advanced costs $99/month (annual) with unlimited storage, 0% product transaction fees, 2.5% credit card rates, and priority support for large creative teams.
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Wix Business Elite provides $159/month enterprise infrastructure with unlimited storage, priority support, advanced analytics, and customized integrations for high-revenue e-commerce operations.
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WordPress.com scales from $4-45/month, offering 50,000+ themes, 60,000+ plugins, and complete design control for content-rich sites requiring maximum customization despite steeper learning curves.
What Affects Website Builder Pricing?
Website builder pricing varies based on feature complexity, storage limits, bandwidth capacity, support quality, platform specialization, and infrastructure strength.
Feature Sophistication
Advanced capabilities command higher prices. AI generation tools, white-label options, custom code access, advanced SEO controls, and marketing automation increase costs by $10-100 monthly.
E-commerce functionality (inventory management, abandoned cart recovery, multi-channel selling) adds $15-50 monthly versus basic site building.
API access and developer tools typically appear in $30+ monthly tiers.
Resource Allocation
Storage ranges from 500 MB to unlimited, affecting prices from $5-100+ monthly. Bandwidth scales from 1GB (restricted to ~500 visitors monthly) to unlimited.
Here's how the cost typically varies with storage and bandwidth:
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Entry tiers (1-10GB storage, 10-50GB bandwidth) cost $5-15 monthly.
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Business tiers (20-100GB storage, unlimited bandwidth) cost $20-40 monthly.
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Enterprise plans provide unlimited resources at $100+ monthly.
Support Infrastructure
Response speed and channel availability determine support costs.
Email-only support (24-48 hour response) appears in $5-15 monthly plans. Live chat during business hours starts at $15-30 monthly. Priority phone support and dedicated managers require $50+ monthly. 24/7 premium support with guaranteed response times costs $100+ monthly.
Platform Specialization
General builders targeting portfolios and blogs cost $10-40 monthly with broad feature sets.
E-commerce-focused platforms cost $25-300 monthly, including payment processing, shipping calculators, and tax automation.
Agency platforms with client billing and white-label options cost $30-100 monthly.
Enterprise solutions with multi-site management cost $200+ monthly.
Hosting Quality
Shared hosting on basic plans costs $3-10 monthly but limits performance and uptime. Managed hosting with CDN, automatic backups, and SSL certificates costs $15-50 monthly. Enterprise infrastructure with 99.9% uptime guarantees, global server networks, and DDoS protection costs $100+ monthly.
Server location quantity and quality directly impact pricing tiers.
Hidden Costs and Additional Fees to Consider
Six cost categories extend beyond base subscription fees: domain renewals, premium design assets, third-party integrations, payment processing, transaction fees, and resource overages.
Domain Renewals
First-year domains are free with annual plans on most platforms.
Renewal costs $10-20 annually for standard extensions (.com, .net, .org). Premium domains (.io, .co, .ai) cost $20-70 annually. Brandable or short domains cost $100-500+ annually, depending on registrar pricing and extension popularity.
Premium Design Assets
Premium templates cost $30-$200, one-time purchases beyond the included free options.
WordPress themes on ThemeForest average $59. Professional photography from stock libraries costs $10-50 per image or $29-99 monthly for subscription access. Custom fonts range from free (Google Fonts) to $30-200 per font family. Icon packs cost $15-50 for commercial licenses.
Third-Party Integration Costs
Marketing automation tools cost $10-300 monthly, based on contact list size and features.
Email platforms start at $13/month (1,000 contacts) and scale to $300+/month (50,000+ contacts). Advanced SEO tools cost $99-$399 monthly for keyword tracking and competitor analysis. Analytics platforms range $0-$300 monthly, depending on traffic volume and data retention. Running 5-10 essential integrations totals $100-400 monthly.
Payment Processing Fees
Payment gateway fees range 2.4%-2.9% + $0.30 per transaction across providers (Stripe, PayPal, Square).
International transactions add 1%-2% currency conversion fees. Chargeback fees cost $15-25 per dispute, regardless of outcome. Alternative payment methods (Apple Pay, Google Pay) apply standard processing rates. Processing $10,000 monthly revenue costs $240-290 in unavoidable gateway fees.
Platform Transaction Fees
Platform-specific transaction fees apply when using third-party payment processors. These fees range from 0%-3% per sale, depending on plan tier and platform.
Lower-tier plans charge higher percentages, decreasing as subscription cost increases. Zero transaction fee plans require premium tier subscriptions or platform-native payment processing. On $10,000 monthly revenue, transaction fees cost $0-300 depending on plan selection.
E-commerce Tool Costs
Shipping integration platforms cost $9-159 monthly for label printing, rate comparison, and tracking automation.
Inventory management systems cost $39-299 monthly for multi-channel stock tracking and automated reordering. Abandoned cart recovery tools cost $19-99 monthly to recapture lost sales. Product review platforms cost $15-79 monthly for social proof collection.
Running a complete e-commerce stack adds $100-600 monthly beyond base platform costs.
Resource Overage Charges
Exceeding storage limits triggers overage fees of $0.10-0.25 per GB monthly or forces immediate plan upgrades. Bandwidth overages occur when monthly visitors exceed plan allowances, causing site slowdowns or automatic tier increases.
Video hosting consumes storage rapidly—10 minutes of HD video uses approximately 1GB. High-traffic months may trigger surprise upgrades from $29 to $79+ monthly plans.
Monitoring resource usage prevents unexpected charges.
Free vs Paid Website Builder Plans: What's the Difference?
Free plans provide basic building tools with platform branding, subdomain URLs, and 250MB-500MB storage. Paid plans remove ads, enable custom domains, unlock e-commerce, and add professional tools (SEO, analytics, marketing automation).
| Aspect | Free Plans | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Branding | Builder ads and forced logos | Ad-free, full custom branding |
| Domain | Subdomain only | Custom domain, often first year free |
| Storage/Bandwidth | Limited (e.g., 250MB in Site123) | Gigabytes or unlimited (Dorik offers unlimited) |
| Features | Basic editing, no advanced tools | SEO, analytics, integrations, and AI tools |
| E-commerce | Not allowed | Full online store, payments, sales tools |
| Support | Limited or community-only | Professional support with higher tiers |
Branding Control
Free plans display builder advertisements and logos on every page, reducing professional credibility. Paid plans remove all platform branding and enable custom logo placement, favicon customization, and white-label presentation for client work.
Ad removal alone justifies upgrading for business use.
Domain and URL Structure
Free plans restrict users to subdomains (yourname.platformname.com) that signal amateur status and hurt search rankings. Paid plans provide custom domains (yourwebsite.com) with first-year registration included, improving SEO performance, brand memorability, and marketing effectiveness.
Professional domains increase click-through rates by 30-50% in email campaigns.
Storage and Bandwidth Allocation
Free plans limit storage to 250-500MB and bandwidth to 1-5GB monthly, restricting content volume and visitor capacity. Paid entry plans provide 2-10GB storage and 10-50GB bandwidth. Mid-tier plans offer 20-100GB storage with unlimited bandwidth.
Premium plans include unlimited resources, supporting growth without performance throttling or overage charges.
Feature Access
Free plans block SEO optimization tools, analytics dashboards, custom code injection, form builders, and third-party integrations. Paid plans unlock meta tag control, sitemap generation, Google Analytics integration, contact form creation, and API access.
Advanced features (marketing automation, A/B testing, membership areas) require mid-tier or premium subscriptions.
E-commerce Capabilities
Free plans prohibit commercial transactions and payment collection entirely.
Entry paid plans ($10-30 monthly) enable basic product catalogs with transaction fees of 2-3%.
Mid-tier plans ($25-50 monthly) add abandoned cart recovery, inventory management, and shipping calculators with reduced transaction fees of 0-2%.
Premium plans ($50+ monthly) provide unlimited products, multi-channel selling, and zero platform transaction fees.
Support Quality
Free plans offer community forums and help documentation only, with no direct assistance.
Entry paid plans add email support with 24-48 hour responses.
Mid-tier plans include live chat during business hours.
Premium plans provide priority phone support, dedicated account managers, and guaranteed response times under 2 hours.
When to Upgrade from Free Plans
Upgrade to a paid plan when:
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Your site receives builder ads that damage brand perception
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You need to sell products or accept customer payments
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Traffic growth requires more storage or bandwidth capacity
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SEO tools and analytics become essential for marketing
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Professional email (name@yourdomain.com) strengthens credibility
How to Choose the Right Pricing Tier for Your Needs
Choose a website builder plan by matching your site goals, traffic projections, and budget to available features across pricing tiers.
Define Site Goals and Priority Features
List your primary goal: selling products, booking appointments, showcasing portfolios, or generating leads. Rank required features (payment processing, booking systems, membership tools, AI website builders, code export) by importance. With 71% of businesses operating websites, clear feature priorities differentiate your site from competitors.
Estimate Traffic and Bandwidth Needs
Calculate monthly visitors and average page size to project bandwidth requirements. Shared hosting supports low-traffic sites, but upgrade at 10,000 daily visits to prevent outages and maintain performance.
Assess E-commerce Requirements
For online stores, document product inventory size, expected monthly orders, and required payment methods (credit cards, PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, bank transfers). E-commerce represents 15.5% of total U.S. retail sales, making capacity planning and transaction fee analysis critical for profitability.
Calculate Total Costs
Add base subscription, domain renewal ($10-$20 annually), app fees ($5-$50 monthly), premium templates ($30-$100 one-time), and payment processing (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) to determine true annual costs.
Set a 12-month budget with a 36-month growth buffer for unexpected expenses.
Establish Upgrade Triggers
Monitor specific performance indicators: page load times exceeding 3 seconds, repeated downtime, bounce rates above 60%, or month-over-month traffic increases of 25%+. Data-driven upgrade decisions prevent revenue loss without overspending on premature capacity.
Plan Scalability and Migration
Map your growth path: shared hosting → VPS hosting → dedicated servers, or website builder → headless CMS → custom development.
Verify code export options, data migration tools, and API access before committing to ensure platform switching remains feasible as needs evolve.
Choose your pricing tier by defining goals, projecting traffic, listing features, calculating total costs, setting upgrade triggers, and confirming migration flexibility.
This framework replaces guesswork with strategic decision-making.
Website Builders vs Custom Development: Cost Comparison
Website builders cost $4-299 monthly with hosting, updates, security, and support included, enabling site launch in 2-8 hours with no technical expertise required.
Custom development requires $3,000-100,000 upfront plus $500-5,000 annually for hosting, maintenance, security patches, and updates, with 4-12 week development timelines and ongoing technical management needs.
| Cost Category | Website Builders | Custom Development |
|---|---|---|
| Setup Cost | $0-300 (first year) | $3,000-100,000 |
| Monthly Subscription | $5-300 | $0 |
| Hosting | Included | $60-6,000/year |
| Maintenance & Updates | Included | $500-5,000/year |
| Security & SSL | Included | $100-1,200/year |
| Technical Support | Included | $0-2,400/year |
| Domain | $10-20/year (free first year) | $10-20/year |
| Total Year 1 | $60-3,600 | $4,000-115,000 |
| Total Year 3 | $180-10,800 | $6,000-150,000+ |
| Total Year 5 | $300-18,000 | $8,000-200,000+ |
ROI Analysis and Break-Even
A builder at $25/month costs $1,500 over 5 years versus $9,000 for custom development at $5,000 initial plus $800 annually—a $7,500 difference.
Break-even occurs only if custom development generates $7,500+ additional revenue through superior conversion rates or specialized functionality.
For e-commerce, launching 8 weeks earlier with a builder captures 2 months of revenue that custom development misses during build time. A business generating $5,000 monthly gains $10,000 by launching immediately, exceeding the entire 5-year cost difference between options.
Custom development justifies higher costs when proprietary systems, specialized integrations, or unique functionality generate returns exceeding the $5,000-20,000 premium over builders.
Enterprise operations requiring custom databases, white-label platforms, or complex CRM integration need custom development.
Small businesses, startups, content sites, and standard e-commerce stores achieve better ROI with builders due to lower costs, faster deployment, included maintenance, and minimal technical requirements.
Money-Saving Tips for Website Builder Costs
Six strategic approaches reduce website builder expenses by 30-50% annually: billing optimization, feature management, resource utilization, usage monitoring, performance-based upgrades, and price negotiation.
Pay Annually for 10-30% Discounts
Annual payments cost 10-30% less than monthly billing. According to DevSquad, 40% of SaaS companies offer annual discounts as part of their pricing strategy. A $20/month plan paid annually typically costs $168-$180 yearly instead of $240, saving $60-$72.
Disable Unused Premium Features
Skip premium add-ons until needed. Membership tools, advanced integrations, and marketing automation apps cost $5-$50 monthly each. Enable features only when traffic or revenue justifies the expense.
Use Free Resources Until Revenue Justifies Upgrades
Free stock photo libraries (Unsplash, Pexels), open-source plugins (Yoast SEO, WooCommerce), and free analytics tools (Google Analytics, Search Console) eliminate costs during early growth stages. Upgrade to premium versions when monthly revenue exceeds $1,000.
Monitor Usage to Avoid Overage Charges
Track storage and bandwidth weekly using platform dashboards. Upgrade before reaching 80% of plan limits to prevent overage fees or performance throttling that damages user experience.
Upgrade Based on Performance Metrics, Not Guesswork
Upgrade when specific indicators appear: page load times exceed 3 seconds, bounce rates increase above 60%, traffic grows 50%+ month-over-month, or sales conversion drops due to site limitations. Performance data justifies spending better than assumptions.
Negotiate 10-15% Discounts on Annual Plans
Request discounts before purchase, especially for multiple sites or annual commitments. According to CloudZero, customers negotiate around 15% off standard SaaS rates in many deals. Email sales teams directly rather than accepting published pricing.
FAQs
Can I change plans anytime, and how does billing work?
Most website builders allow plan changes anytime. Upgrades charge the prorated difference immediately, while downgrades apply credits to your next billing cycle. Some platforms process changes at renewal instead of mid-cycle.
Do website builders charge setup or cancellation fees?
Most builders charge no setup fees. Monthly plans allow free cancellation anytime, while annual subscriptions typically don't refund unused months. Shopify and BigCommerce offer 14-30 day money-back guarantees on annual commitments.
When does upgrading to a higher tier make financial sense?
Upgrade when monthly traffic exceeds 10,000 visitors, page load times surpass 3 seconds, or transaction fees exceed the cost difference between tiers. Calculate the break-even point: if overage charges or lost conversions cost more than $10-20 monthly, upgrade immediately.
