Guide · 6 min read
Small business website cost: real pricing in 2026
Most "how much does a website cost" answers are useless ranges ($0 to $50,000). Here's what you'll actually pay, what changes year-to-year, and how the three common pricing models compare over three years.
The three pricing models
Almost every quote a small business gets falls into one of three buckets:
- One-time build. A flat fee for a finished site you own. You pay separately for hosting and the domain.
- Subscription builders. Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, GoDaddy. Low monthly fee, but it never stops, and you lose the site if you stop paying.
- Agency retainer. Custom design + ongoing management. Highest quality, highest cost.
3-year total cost, side by side
| Option | Upfront | Monthly | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toso Sites (one-time) | $500–$750 | $0* | $500–$750 |
| Subscription builder | $0 | $23–$49 | $828–$1,764 |
| Agency build + retainer | $3,000–$10,000 | $200–$1,000 | $10,200–$46,000 |
*Domain registration (~$15/yr) and optional hosting (~$5–10/mo for a basic site) are billed by the registrar/host directly, not by Toso Sites.
What you're actually buying
When subscription builders make sense
If you genuinely need to add and edit pages weekly and don't want to call anyone, a subscription builder is fine. The catch is the math: at $29/mo, you cross $1,000 in 35 months. Most small business sites change a handful of times a year — you're renting forever for edits you don't make.
When an agency is worth it
Once you're spending real money on ads, need custom integrations (CRM, booking, inventory), or your site directly drives six figures of revenue, an agency's process and ongoing optimization usually pay for themselves. Below that, you're subsidizing their overhead.
What Toso Sites costs
A one-page site is $500. A full multi-page business site is $750. Both are flat fees — no monthly bill from us. You own the site, you keep the files, and if you need a hand later you can text me directly.
The domain isn't included (you buy that from a registrar like Namecheap or Cloudflare for ~$15/year), but I'll walk you through setting it up if you need help.
Want a real quote?
Tell me what you need. I'll send a fixed price the same day.