What does it cost? It depends on what it has to do
And I'm not saying that to dodge the question. Here is what it depends on, the timelines I work to, what is always included and what is not. Plus the prices that are fixed, with the actual figure.
In short
- A website starts at €3,000 and custom management software at €6,000
- A fixed written quote within 48 hours, not a range that creeps upwards later
- Paid in three: 40% to start, 30% midway and 30% on delivery
- Maintenance from €69/month and hours from €65/h, with no tie-in
The short answer
“A website” can mean five pages introducing your business, or a tool your clients log into, book through and pay on. They go by the same name, and they resemble each other about as much as a flat and an industrial unit.
That is why you will not find a “from €990” here with small print underneath. What I will give you is the real floor for each kind of job, the nine things that move the price, and a fixed quote for yours within 48 hours. If something simpler would do the job, I'll say so: I'd rather have you come back than overcharge you once.
What the price depends on
This is what I look at when I put a proposal together. The more boxes your project ticks, the higher it comes out.
- What it has to do
- Introduce your business, sell, take bookings or run things behind the scenes. That is the first thing that places your project, and it counts for more than the number of pages.
- The logic, not the design
- A form that sends an email is an afternoon's work. One that validates against your system, generates a document and notifies the right person is a different project.
- The integrations
- Making it talk to what you already use: invoicing, Verifactu, accounting, a payment gateway, a calendar or whatever back office you have.
- How many kinds of user
- If only visitors come in, that is one thing. If there are clients, staff and administrators, each seeing their own part, that is quite another.
- Whether money changes hands
- Payments, deposits or subscriptions have to be built, tested and made certain never to fail. You do not improvise with money.
- The languages
- Every language is one more version to write, review and maintain, with its own SEO. It is not a translate button.
- The content
- How many pages there are, and who prepares the words and photos. If you have them ready it shows in the price; if they have to be written, that shows too.
- Where we start from
- If you already have something, I keep what works and protect your search rankings with redirects. Starting from scratch is not always dearer, but it is not the same job.
- The rush
- If there is a deadline looming, the essentials go first and the rest into a second phase. That way you are not paying all at once for what you do not need yet.
What pushes the price up, and how to bring it down without making it worse
What moves the price most is not the design: it is the features. And nearly all of them have a simpler version to start with.
What pushes the price up most
- Taking payment on the site: catalogue, variants, payments, shipping and tax.
- Bookings with real availability and your own rules.
- Private areas with client or staff accounts.
- Wiring invoicing into Verifactu when there is no way into your current system.
- Search with filters, maps or custom reports.
- Each extra language, because it is another website to look after.
What brings it down, without making it worse
- Having the words and photos ready, or at least sorted.
- Starting with the smallest version that already works for you and leaving the rest to a second phase.
- Keeping what already works instead of rebuilding for the sake of it.
- Using proven parts where you add nothing of your own: you pay for what makes your business different.
- Launching in one language and adding the others when they are genuinely needed.
How long it takes
From the moment you give me the go-ahead to the day it is live. Yours goes in writing in the proposal.
- Custom website3-6 weeks
- Rebuilding an existing website3-6 weeks
- Verifactu integration2-5 weeks
- Online shop or booking system6-8 weeks
- Chatbot or voice assistant3-6 weeks
- Custom management software for SMEs6-12 weeks, in phases
What drags a project out is not the code: it is the content. If you have it ready, we gain weeks. And on big projects there is no waiting until the end: built in phases, the first useful version goes into production a good deal sooner.
How you get the price
No “from” figure that shifts later. A fixed price for your job, in writing, before anything starts.
You tell me what you need
Today or tomorrow
By email, by WhatsApp or on a call. What you do, what you want to happen and, if you have a budget in mind, say so: it does not commit you and it saves me proposing something that does not fit.
I send you a proposal
Within 48 hours, in writing
Scope, features, timeline and a fixed price. If there are two routes, you get two options and I explain what you gain and what you lose with each.
You pay in three parts
40% · 30% · 30%
40% to start, 30% at the midway delivery and 30% when it goes live. If something new turns up halfway, it is quoted separately and you decide whether it goes in now or later.
We launch and tidy up
And afterwards too
It gets checked across devices, left measuring properly, and I show you how to run it. Everything is in your name: domain, hosting, code and logins.
What is always included and what is not
I would rather tell you now than on the invoice.
Always included
- A design built for your business, no catalogue templates.
- A private link from the first days so you can see it taking shape.
- Mobile-ready, fast, with the basic security done properly.
- Technical SEO from day one: structure, structured data and Search Console.
- Analytics with consent and the legal pages the law requires of you.
- The code, documented and 100% yours, with no licences and no lock-in.
- A recorded walkthrough so you can run it without depending on me.
Not included
- The domain and the hosting: you pay for them and they stay in your name.
- The words and the photos: you provide them or they are quoted separately.
- The logo and brand identity, if you do not have them yet.
- Translation into other languages, beyond building the structure.
- Advertising campaigns and ongoing content SEO.
- Monthly maintenance, which is optional.
- On shops, the payment gateway's commission.
- Usage of third-party services: AI models, telephony, email sending.
What does have a fixed price
Looking after something that is already running, or putting in a few hours, does not vary much from one business to the next, so here you get the figure. No tie-in: if one month you decide you do not need it, we close it and I hand over every login.
Basic
For websites that change rarely.
€69/month
- Updates and security patches
- Verified backups, actually test-restored
- Downtime and certificate monitoring
With changes
For websites and shops that move every month.
€119/month
- Everything in Basic
- One hour a month of changes: words, photos, prices
- Periodic performance and search visibility review
Platforms
For management systems, shops and anything that cannot go down.
€199/month
- Everything in With changes
- I check payments, bookings and forms after every update
- Priority on incidents
Functional map
Before quoting a management system or a platform, we put in writing what it will do, who for, with what data and in which phases. It is yours even if we do not carry on together, and if we do, I take it off the project price.
Fixed price€280
Block of hours
For small changes, questions or training, without opening a quote every time. The more hours you buy, the cheaper the hour works out.
From€65/h
Prices exclude VAT. It makes no difference whether I built it or somebody else did: I'll look at it first and tell you what suits you.
For comparing quotes, mine and anybody else's
If you are gathering a few, these are the questions I would ask. They work just as well for judging me.
- Ask who owns the code, and who the domain and the logins belong to at the end.
- Ask what the price includes: words, technical SEO, training and adjustments after delivery.
- Ask whether there is a fee for using your own software, and what happens the day you leave.
- Ask for the timeline in writing, and ask what would delay it.
- Be wary of anyone who guarantees you first place on Google, or a website in a week.
- Be wary of the much cheaper quote too: it usually means a template, or that the expensive part arrives later.
Questions about this service
Why don't you put a “from” price on everything?
Because it would be a number that does not hold. I would rather give you the real floor for each kind of project, explain what the rest depends on and send you yours as a fixed price within 48 hours. And I do put a figure on everything that can be fixed: maintenance, hours and the functional map.
Can I pay in instalments?
The usual split is 40% to start, 30% at the midway delivery and 30% when it goes live. On big projects built in phases you can pay as it progresses. It goes in writing in the proposal, not on a handshake.
Does the price include the domain and the hosting?
No, and that is deliberate: you buy them and they stay in your name. I'll tell you which to choose and leave them configured. Me paying for them and reselling them to you would only serve to tie you in.
What if I want to add something halfway through the project?
It gets quoted separately and you decide whether it goes in now or in a second phase. What does not happen is it turning up on the final invoice without being discussed.
What if my budget doesn't stretch?
Tell me, and I'll tell you what can be done with what you have. Often it is starting with the half that already solves something and leaving the rest until the project pays for itself. And if what you need is not something I cover, I'll tell you that too.
Do you work to a fixed quote or by the hour?
Projects go on a fixed quote: the price you sign is the price you pay. The block of hours is for the other things, the small changes afterwards, where pricing each one up would be more work than doing it.
Shall we put some numbers on yours?
Tell me what you need and, if you have one, the figure you are working with. I'll tell you what can be done with it and, if there are two routes, I'll give you two options. I reply within 24-48 business hours.