How much does a website cost in the USA, UK and Australia?
Real website cost ranges for small business sites, online stores and custom platforms, and what actually moves the number.
People ask me this on almost every first call, usually right after "so, roughly?". The honest answer is that it depends, but that is not much use when you are trying to set a budget. So here are the ranges I actually see, in US, UK and Australian dollars, and what pushes a project from one end to the other.
A small business website
A five to ten page marketing site on Webflow or WordPress, designed from scratch, usually lands between USD 3,000 and 8,000 (roughly GBP 2,400 to 6,400, or AUD 4,500 to 12,000). That covers design, development, a CMS you can edit, basic SEO setup and a handover video.
If someone quotes you a few hundred dollars, they are almost certainly selling a template with your logo on it. That can be fine for a new business testing an idea. It is rarely fine for a business that needs the site to bring in work.
An online store
A Shopify store with a custom theme, product pages that sell and the usual apps connected tends to cost USD 6,000 to 20,000. Large catalogues, custom bundles, subscriptions or 3D product views push it higher.
A 3D or heavily animated site
Real-time 3D adds modelling, shader work and a lot of performance testing. A focused 3D brand site usually starts around USD 10,000. The Appshare launch site in my work section is a good example of what that budget buys.
A custom platform or app
Dashboards, portals, SaaS products and mobile apps are priced in phases. A useful MVP is often USD 15,000 to 40,000. I prefer to quote one phase at a time so you are never paying for features nobody has tested yet.
What actually changes the number
Five things move the quote more than anything else: how many unique page templates you need, whether the design starts from scratch, how much animation or 3D is involved, how many integrations (CRM, booking, payments) the site talks to, and how much content I have to write or migrate.
Hosting, domains and paid plugins are separate and usually small. I list them in the proposal so there are no surprises later.
Design from scratch or a premium template?
A good premium template plus custom work can take a real chunk off the price of a simple site, and I will suggest it when it fits. It falls down when the brand needs to look different from its competitors, or when the template fights every change you make.
Ongoing costs after launch
Plan for hosting (usually USD 20 to 50 a month for a marketing site, more on Webflow CMS or Shopify plans), the odd paid plugin or app, and some time each month for updates and small changes. My care plans are a fixed monthly fee, so you are not paying by the hour for every tweak.
Is pricing different in the USA, UK and Australia?
The work is the same, so my prices are the same in any of the three currencies, converted at the day's rate. Agencies in big cities usually charge more because of their overheads, which is one reason a lot of my clients find me.
How I quote
After a short call I send a fixed price for the first phase, a timeline with dates and exactly what is included. If the scope grows, we agree the change before I do the work. If you want a rough number for your project, send me a few lines about it and I will tell you honestly whether it fits your budget.