What a website really costs and what you are paying for

“How much does a website cost?” is a lot like asking how much a car costs. The answer depends on what you need and on what is included in the price. Below we break a website’s price into its parts, so you can compare quotes and know what you are paying for.

What makes up the price

Design

How the website looks and how a person moves through it: the order of sections, where the buttons sit, how everything looks on a phone. Most of the time here goes not into picking colours but into structure. What the visitor should see first and what they should do next.

Content

Texts, photos, videos. This is where projects get stuck most often. If you write the texts yourself, the price is lower, but launch often slips. If the studio writes them, you pay separately or it is part of the package. It is worth knowing in advance which option you are getting.

Development

Building the pages, the contact form, bookings, an online store, several languages. Every feature adds work. A simple business card site and a store with payments and stock levels cost very different amounts.

Hosting and domain

A domain, for example yourcompany.lt, is paid for every year. Hosting, the server your website lives on, is also an ongoing cost. Some platforms charge a monthly fee, others can be hosted very cheaply. Always ask whose name the domain will be registered in. It should be yours.

Maintenance

Updates, security fixes, backups, small changes. Some studios offer this for a monthly fee, others charge by the hour. Without maintenance, a website starts to slow down and break after a few years.

Template or custom

A template website is faster and cheaper. The design foundation already exists, and we adapt it to your colours, texts and photos. For most service businesses, hair salons, homesteads or tradespeople, that is plenty.

A custom build costs more because much of it is made from scratch. It makes sense when you have a non-standard process: bookings with complex rules, client accounts, a link to your accounting software. Without that kind of need, paying for “uniqueness” rarely pays off.

WindStudio packages start from €490 (excluding VAT). The exact price of your project depends on the number of pages, the features and who prepares the content.

What to ask a studio before signing

• What exactly is included: how many pages, how many rounds of revisions, are texts and photos included?
• Whose name will the domain and hosting be registered in?
• Will I be able to change texts and photos myself? Will you show me how?
• How much does maintenance cost and what does it include?
• What do I get if I want to move to another studio? Will you hand over all files and logins?
• How long will the work take and what does the timeline depend on?
• Will the website be built for phones and for search?

If the answers to these questions are vague, that already tells you something.

Hidden ongoing costs

The starting price is rarely the final one. Ask about these lines in advance:

• Platform subscription. Some website builders charge a monthly fee that grows as you need more features.
• Paid plugins and licences. Forms, booking modules, fonts, stock photos.
• Email inboxes on your domain, for example info@yourcompany.lt.
• Payment provider fees, if you sell online.
• Changes after launch. A new page, a new service, a seasonal offer. Find out the hourly rate in advance.

A simple rule: ask the studio to write down not only the build price but also what the website will cost you over the first year. Then you can compare quotes fairly.

If you want to know what your website would cost, get in touch. Email hello@windstudio.lt or call +370 5 241 6817. Tell us what you do and we will send a clear quote with every line spelled out.