Cost to build a website: what creators actually pay
TL;DR: Building a website ranges from free to $10,000+ depending on whether you DIY or hire out. For most creators and small businesses, a link-in-bio page with a custom domain is the fastest, cheapest way to have a real web presence without paying for a full site.
What does it actually cost to build a website?
The honest answer: anywhere from $0 to $10,000 or more, and the range is that wide because "building a website" covers completely different things. A custom-coded e-commerce platform for a clothing brand costs nothing like a one-page portfolio for a freelance photographer. Before you budget anything, you need to know what tier of website you actually need.
For most creators, the calculation looks something like this. Website builders like Squarespace run $23 to $65 per month. Wix ranges from $16 to $500 per month depending on whether you add professional services. WordPress hosting lands around $15 to $40 per month before plugins. Hiring a solo developer typically runs $200 to $2,500. An agency charges $500 to $10,000 and up. Then there are recurring costs: an SSL certificate adds $1 to $1,000 per year, domain registration usually runs $10 to $20 per year, and premium themes or plugins stack on top.
That said, there's a category of web presence most creators overlook entirely: a link-in-bio page with a custom domain. It is not a compromise. For many creators and small businesses, it covers 80% of what a full website does at a fraction of the cost.
The five website tiers and what each one costs
Knowing which tier fits your situation saves you from overpaying or underbuilding. Here's how the real cost ranges break down, from simplest to most complex.
Tier 1: link-in-bio page ($0 to $10/month)
A link-in-bio page is a single-page profile that lists your most important links, products, contact info, and social profiles. Services like MyLinks.page let you start free with no forced branding and add a custom domain for around $10 per month. That's cheaper than any full website builder and faster to set up. For YouTubers, TikTokers, musicians, and freelancers whose audience mainly comes from social media, this is the right starting point, not a stepping stone.
Where link-in-bio wins: zero hosting to manage, no plugins to update, custom domain SEO baked in, and you can launch in under an hour. Where it falls short: no blog, no deep product catalog, and no custom checkout flow.
Tier 2: DIY website builder ($15 to $65/month)
Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress cover this range. Squarespace sits at the high end of quality but the low end of flexibility, at $23 to $65 per month. Wix is more flexible, running $16 per month for a basic plan and climbing toward $500 per month if you add their professional services package. WordPress self-hosted is technically the cheapest option at around $15 to $40 per month for hosting, but that figure does not include premium themes ($50 to $100 one-time), page builder plugins ($50 to $200 per year), or the time cost of managing updates and security patches.
According to data from web industry surveys, small business owners spend an average of 3 to 5 hours per month on website maintenance when self-hosting WordPress. That's not a knock on WordPress, it's just a real cost that doesn't show up in the monthly hosting bill.
Tier 3: freelance developer ($200 to $2,500)
Hiring a developer makes sense when you need something a website builder can't template. Custom booking integrations, unusual product configurations, accessibility requirements that template themes routinely fail, specific animation work. Expect to pay $200 to $800 for a simple one-page site from an offshore or entry-level developer, and $1,000 to $2,500 for a more polished result from someone with a portfolio you actually like. The risk at this tier: if the developer disappears or you need changes later, you're dependent on whoever built it.
Tier 4: web design agency ($500 to $10,000+)
Agency work starts around $500 for a basic package at a smaller studio and climbs fast. A properly scoped small business site with custom design, copywriting, and basic SEO runs $3,000 to $6,000 at a mid-tier agency. The $10,000+ range is for complex builds: multi-page sites with custom CMS, e-commerce, integrations, and ongoing retainers. The advantage here is a team that handles strategy, design, and technical execution together. The disadvantage is cost and lead time, often 4 to 12 weeks from contract to launch.
Tier 5: custom development ($10,000 and up)
Fully custom-coded web applications sit here. If you're building a marketplace, a SaaS product, or an e-commerce store with a custom checkout and inventory system, this is the tier. For a creator or small business owner, this is almost never the right starting point.
The hidden costs most people miss
Quoted prices for website builders and developers rarely include everything you'll actually pay. Here's what adds up:
- Domain registration: $10 to $20 per year for a .com, more for premium TLDs
- SSL certificate: free via Let's Encrypt if your host supports it, or $1 to $1,000 per year if you need an extended validation cert
- Premium themes: $50 to $100 one-time on Squarespace or WordPress
- Plugins and extensions: $50 to $500 per year depending on what you need
- Email hosting: $5 to $12 per user per month (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365)
- Stock photos or custom photography: $0 if you shoot your own, $50 to $300 for a stock license, $500+ for a professional shoot
- Copywriting: $0 if you write well, $300 to $2,000 for professional copy on a full site
The platform cost is usually the smallest recurring expense. The time and content costs are where budgets actually blow up.
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When a link-in-bio page beats a full website
A link-in-bio page is not a placeholder you upgrade away from once you "get serious." For a significant portion of creators, it's the permanent right answer. Here's when it makes more sense than a full website:
Your audience primarily comes from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Twitter. If someone discovers you through a Reel and clicks your bio link, they're looking for: your other profiles, a way to buy something you mentioned, your email list signup, your booking link. A well-built link-in-bio page handles all of that faster than a full website with a homepage, about page, and blog section they'll never read.
You don't need a blog or deep content library yet. Blog-driven SEO requires consistent publishing over months before it moves the needle. If you're not committed to that content cadence, a static website with an empty blog hurts your credibility more than having no blog at all.
You want custom domain SEO without agency pricing. This is where the free-tier Linktree trap catches people. Linktree hosts your page on their domain. Every link you send traffic through builds authority for linktree.com, not for you. MyLinks.page lets you run your profile on your own domain, so the SEO value stays with your brand. That's a meaningful long-term difference for creators who are building a personal brand rather than a hobby account.
Speed matters more than features. A link-in-bio page takes one afternoon to set up properly. A full website with a builder takes a weekend minimum, and an agency build takes months. If you need to be live for a product launch, a podcast release, or a brand partnership next week, the math on setup time is obvious.
What creators and small businesses actually spend
According to GoodFirms research, 48% of small business owners report that building their website cost more than they expected, primarily due to ongoing maintenance costs and plugin fees they didn't anticipate. The average small business website costs between $2,000 and $9,000 to build and $500 to $1,200 per year to maintain.
Creators tend to start cheaper. A survey by Influencer Marketing Hub found that the majority of full-time content creators with under 500,000 followers spend under $100 per month on all website and hosting costs combined. Most started with free tiers and upgraded only when a specific feature gap became a real problem, not a theoretical one.
The pattern that works: start with the cheapest option that lets you connect your own custom domain on Pro. Add features when a specific use case requires them. Don't pay for a $65/month Squarespace plan with e-commerce features because you might sell something someday.
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How to pick the right option for where you are now
The question is not "which website builder has the best features." The question is "what does someone need to do when they land on my page?"
If the answer is "find my social links, buy one or two products, and sign up for my email list," a link-in-bio page on a custom domain is faster, cheaper, and more maintainable than a full website. MyLinks.page handles all three, runs on your domain, and doesn't plaster its branding across your page the way free Linktree does.
If the answer includes "read multiple articles, browse a product catalog, or book a service through a custom intake form," you need at least a website builder. Squarespace is the easiest to launch something that looks professional. WordPress gives you more control if you're willing to manage it.
If you need custom functionality that no template covers, a freelance developer is the right call. Get at least three quotes. Ask to see their work in the same niche. Specify in the contract who owns the files and what the handoff looks like.
Agencies make sense when design, copy, and technical execution all need to happen in parallel and you don't have the time or headspace to manage three separate contractors.
Start with the minimum that covers your actual current needs. A link-in-bio page on your own domain launched this week beats a full website launched in four months every time. You can always add pages. You can't get back the month you waited to launch.