The real answer is: it depends. But "it depends" is useless when you're trying to set a budget. So here are the actual numbers.
Whether you're a tradie in Melbourne wanting a professional online presence, a salon owner ready to ditch the Facebook page, or a service business that needs to start generating leads from Google — this guide gives you the genuine market rates for 2026, the hidden costs nobody talks about upfront, and a straight-talking breakdown of your options.
No fluff. No bait-and-switch. Just numbers.
Quick Summary: Website Costs in Australia (2026)
Prices above are in AUD and exclude GST. We'll unpack every row below.
DIY Website Builders: Wix, Squarespace, and Webflow
The advertised cost
DIY platforms are marketed as the cheap option, and the entry-level plans are genuinely affordable:
- Wix: $17–$36/month (billed annually) — eCommerce starts at the Core plan ($29/month)
- Squarespace: $16–$99/month — eCommerce included on all paid plans
- Webflow: $18–$49/month for standard sites, more for eCommerce
That works out to roughly $200–$600/year for a basic plan.
The real cost
Here's what the ads don't mention:
Add-ons and upgrades eat the budget fast. Need online bookings? That's an extra app, usually $15–$40/month. Want email marketing, live chat, or a members area? More add-ons. A business owner who starts on a $20/month plan and adds three tools can easily end up paying $70–$90/month — over $1,000/year.
Your time has a dollar value. Building and maintaining a DIY site takes real hours — designing it, writing the content, figuring out SEO, updating it when things break. If your time is worth $80–$100/hour, even 20–30 hours a year is $1,600–$3,000 in lost opportunity cost. That's time you could spend earning money from your trade.
You don't own it. With Wix and Squarespace, you can't export your site and take it elsewhere. If the platform folds, hikes prices, or changes features, you start from scratch. And note: Wix Payments doesn't operate in Australia — you're limited to PayPal for payment processing on the Wix platform.
SEO limitations are real. While both Wix and Squarespace have improved their SEO tools, they still lag behind a properly built custom site when it comes to technical SEO, page speed, and schema markup — all of which affect your Google rankings. Google scores Wix sites around 50–65 on its speed test. A properly built custom site typically scores 90–100.
Verdict: DIY builders are fine for testing an idea or running a side project. For a business that needs to actually generate leads and look professional, the true cost over three to five years often exceeds what a custom-built site would have cost upfront.
Freelance Web Designer: Price Range and What You Get
Hiring a freelance web designer is the most popular option for Australian sole traders and small businesses. Here's what the market looks like in 2026:
Hourly rates:
- Junior freelancer: $40–$70/hour
- Mid-level freelancer: $70–$120/hour
- Senior freelancer: $120–$200+/hour
Project rates (fixed price):
- 3–5 page template-based site: $1,000–$3,500
- 5–10 page custom design: $3,000–$8,000
- eCommerce (custom-built or Shopify): $6,000–$15,000+
What's typically included
- Mobile-responsive design
- Contact form
- Basic on-page SEO setup (meta titles, descriptions, image alt text)
- Google Analytics integration
- Up to a set number of revisions
What's typically NOT included (and costs extra)
- Copywriting (writing the actual words on each page): $150–$400/page
- Professional photography: $500–$2,000 per shoot
- Logo design (if you don't have one): $300–$1,500
- Domain name and hosting (separate annual costs)
- Ongoing maintenance after launch
The biggest risk with freelancers is inconsistency — availability, communication, and quality can vary enormously. Always ask to see recent work, check references, and make sure you'll own the final files and domain.
Web Design Agency: Price Range, What's Included, When It's Worth It
Australian web design agencies generally charge more than freelancers, and for good reason — you're getting a full team (designer, developer, project manager, sometimes a copywriter) and a structured process.
Typical agency pricing in 2026:
- 5–8 page small business site: $5,000–$12,000
- Medium business site (10–25 pages, CMS): $10,000–$25,000
- eCommerce store: $12,000–$40,000+
- Custom web application or platform: $30,000–$100,000+
Some Melbourne and Sydney agencies advertise entry packages starting around $3,000–$5,000, but full-service agencies with experienced teams typically start from $6,000–$8,000 for a proper business site.
What a good agency includes
- Custom design (not a modified template)
- Professional development and testing across devices and browsers
- On-page SEO foundations
- Google Analytics and Search Console setup
- Post-launch support period (usually 30–90 days)
- Clear project management and communication
The technology used varies significantly between agencies. Some still build on WordPress with off-the-shelf themes. Others build entirely custom — which costs more but delivers faster, more secure sites that perform better on Google. Ask what platform they use and why, and ask to see their Google PageSpeed scores for recent work.
When it's worth it
Hiring an agency makes sense when:
- Your website is a core revenue channel, not just a brochure
- You need eCommerce, booking systems, or complex integrations
- You want a site that ranks well on Google and loads fast on mobile
- You've outgrown a DIY builder or a template-based site
For most tradies and small service businesses who need a clean, fast 5–10 page site that actually generates leads, a smaller specialist agency at the right price point will outperform both a large generalist agency and a template freelancer.
What Affects the Price: Feature Breakdown
Not all websites are created equal. Here's what adds to the cost:
The more of these you need, the higher your investment. A tradie wanting a clean 5-page site with a quote form doesn't need most of this list. An online retailer shipping nationally does.
Ongoing Costs Every Australian Business Owner Should Budget For
This is where a lot of people get surprised. Building the website is a one-time cost. Running it is ongoing. Here's what to budget for annually:
Domain name
Your .com.au or .com address needs to be registered and renewed each year.
.com.audomain: $15–$25/year (through registrars like Crazy Domains, VentraIP, or Netfleet).comdomain: $15–$30/year
Web hosting
Your website lives on a server somewhere. Costs vary by plan type:
- Shared hosting (basic, fine for brochure sites): $5–$25/month ($60–$300/year)
- Managed WordPress hosting: $25–$80/month ($300–$960/year)
- VPS or dedicated (for high-traffic or eCommerce sites): $50–$200+/month
Choose Australian-based hosting where possible. Google considers server location a ranking signal, and local hosting means faster load times for Australian visitors.
SSL certificate
The padlock in your browser bar. Most reputable hosts now include a free SSL certificate (via Let's Encrypt). If your host doesn't include it, budget $0–$200/year. Don't launch a site without it — Google flags non-SSL sites as insecure, and it kills trust.
Website maintenance
Websites aren't "set and forget." Platforms, plugins, and themes need updates to stay secure. Things break. Content needs refreshing.
- Basic maintenance (updates, backups, uptime monitoring): $200–$600/month
- Comprehensive care plan (security, content edits, support hours): $500–$1,500/month
- Ad-hoc hourly support: $150–$250/hour
Google Business Profile management
For local businesses, your GBP (Google Business Profile) listing is arguably as important as your website. Regular updates, responding to reviews, posting offers and photos — it takes time. Many agencies offer this as part of an ongoing retainer.
Content updates and SEO
If you want to grow your organic traffic over time, budget for ongoing blog content, SEO work, or both. Expect $500–$2,000/month for active SEO campaigns from a reputable Australian agency.
Why the Technology Behind Your Website Matters
Not all websites are built the same — and the difference matters more than most people realise.
Most agencies and freelancers build on WordPress, which powers around 40% of the internet. It's a capable platform, but it comes with trade-offs: dozens of plugins that need constant updates, security vulnerabilities that attract hackers, and pages that can load slowly when traffic spikes.
There's a newer way to build websites that solves all of this — and it's what the world's fastest and most visited sites now use. The result, in plain English:
Your site loads in under a second. Not two seconds, not three. Fast enough that Google notices. Fast enough that customers don't bounce. Google's own speed test typically scores these sites 95–100 out of 100. A standard WordPress site with a few plugins usually scores 50–70.
No plugins that break or get hacked. There's nothing to update every week. No plugin conflicts. No "your site has been compromised" emails. The site is lean by design.
Enterprise-grade security, included. Every site is routed through Cloudflare — the same security network used by major banks, airlines, and government services. It blocks attacks before they reach your site.
Bulletproof uptime. Your site is served from a global network of servers. If traffic spikes — say, after a TV spot or a viral social post — it handles it without flinching. No single server to go down on a Friday night.
You control your content, without touching code. Need to update your prices, add a new service, or swap out a photo? You do it yourself through a simple dashboard — no developer needed, no WordPress, no confusing menus.
This is what CodeQy builds on. It's why our clients rank higher, load faster, and don't ring us at 8pm because their site crashed.
CodeQy's Pricing: Transparent and Straightforward
At CodeQy, we work primarily with Australian small businesses — tradies, salon owners, professional services, and local retailers. Every site we build uses the same high-performance technology described above — no templates, no WordPress, no plugin bloat.
Here's exactly what we charge:
Starter Website — from $1,500
A clean, fast, mobile-optimised 5-page site built to generate leads. Ideal for sole traders and service businesses getting online properly for the first time.
Includes: Custom design to your brand, 5 pages, contact form, speed-optimised build (scores 95+ on Google's speed test), basic on-page SEO, Google Analytics setup. Delivered in 3 weeks. No lock-in.
Business Website — from $2,800
More pages, more features, and a simple content dashboard so you can update text and photos yourself — no developer needed.
Includes: Everything in Starter, plus 8–12 pages, easy-to-use content management, blog or news section, Google Business Profile setup, full schema markup for AI and local search.
Premium / Custom — from $5,000
For businesses that need eCommerce, online booking systems, complex integrations, or a fully custom design built around a specific workflow.
Includes: Custom scope, custom design, full custom development, integrations, eCommerce where required. We scope this one properly before quoting.
Business Pack — $50–$150/month
Ongoing hosting, security, backups, minor content edits, and Google Business Profile management — all on the same high-performance infrastructure. No lock-in contracts — cancel anytime.
Delivery is 3 weeks from sign-off, not 3 months. We work with trades businesses, beauty salons, professional services, NDIS providers, and solo operators. Recent work includes: a powder coating specialist whose site now wins commercial and industrial enquiries that word-of-mouth alone couldn't; a Melbourne accounting firm that launched in 2025 and needed to present as credible and established from day one; a Vietnamese-Australian trades business built entirely for bilingual phone-lead conversion; an NDIS provider using bilingual content and real team profiles to earn trust from participants and their families before the first phone call; and a solo freelance editor who went from referral-only to receiving enquiries from clients in Germany, the UK, and across Australia. We're happy to show you comparable work before you commit to anything.
Explore our web design services to see recent work and full package details.
How to Get Value for Money: Questions to Ask Before You Hire Anyone
Before you sign anything or pay a deposit, ask these questions:
1. Will I own the website and domain? You should always own your own domain and have full access to your hosting account. Be wary of any arrangement where the agency "holds" your assets.
2. What platform will you build it on? WordPress, Webflow, custom code? Understand what you're getting. If it's a bespoke platform, ask whether you can take the site to another developer later.
3. What's included in the quote vs. what costs extra? Get a written scope. "Extras" that aren't in the quote will come up as variation invoices. Copywriting, photography, and ongoing maintenance are the most common add-ons.
4. What does ongoing support cost after launch? Every site needs maintenance. Find out the monthly cost before you're surprised by a bill.
5. Can I see recent work for businesses similar to mine? Ask specifically for examples in your industry or a comparable type of business.
6. What's the realistic delivery timeline? "6–8 weeks" often means 3–4 months in practice. Get a committed timeline in writing.
7. Do you include SEO foundations? A site that Google can't find is a wasted investment. At minimum, ask for meta titles, meta descriptions, proper heading structure, schema markup, and Google Search Console setup.
Ready to Get a Quote?
If you're an Australian small business owner and you want straight answers about what a website will actually cost for your situation — not a vague range — we're happy to give you a free, no-obligation quote.
We'll tell you exactly what we'd recommend, what it'll cost, and why. No hard sell.