What a website costs
How much does a
custom website cost?
The honest answer is a range, because a website is priced like a suit, not a shirt. Here is what actually drives the number, so you can budget without guessing.
Ask ten studios what a website costs and you get ten different answers, because the word "website" covers everything from a one-page holding site to a bespoke store with a client portal. Strip the confusion away and price comes down to a few real levers: how many pages, how much custom functionality, whether you need words and photography written and shot for you, and how much of the work is designed for your brand alone rather than pulled from a template.
The three price bands
Most builds fall into one of three bands. None is wrong. Each is built for a different problem.
| Template / DIY | Boutique studio | Full agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical spend | Subscription, low hundreds a year | Mid four to low five figures, one fee | High five figures and up |
| Built for | The average business | Your brand alone | Large, multi-team orgs |
| Who builds it | You, on a platform | One maker, end to end | Account, design, and dev teams |
| Timeline | Days | About three weeks | Two to four months |
| Best when | Testing an idea | You want it to feel like you | Budget and process are large |
What pushes the number up
Within the studio band, a handful of choices move the fee:
- Page count. A sharp one-page site costs a fraction of a ten-page site with a journal and case studies.
- Custom features. Booking, ecommerce, a members area, or a supplier portal each add real build time.
- Words and images. If copywriting and art direction are done for you rather than supplied, that is craft you are paying for.
- Brand work. A site built on an existing brand costs less than one where the look is invented from scratch.
Why the cheapest option is rarely the cheapest
A template looks like a saving because the number is small today. But it is one design hung in a thousand doorways, fitted to none of them. It tends to load slower, look generic, and convert worse, and the cost of that shows up later as enquiries that never arrive. A bespoke site costs more at the start and is built to earn its fee back in trust and in work won. For the maths behind that, see how a studio, agency, and template compare.
Maison Turco quotes a fixed project fee after a short intake call, scoped to exactly the site you need. No hourly billing, no surprises. See the work, read how the studio works, or start below.
Want a fixed price for your build? Tell the studio what you need and get a scoped quote after one call.
Start a brief →Common questions
How much does a custom website cost in Australia?
A custom, hand-coded marketing site from a boutique studio in Australia typically runs in the mid four to low five figures, depending on page count, custom features, and whether copy and photography are included. Template sites sit far lower but are built for the average business, not yours. Large agency ecommerce builds run from the high five figures upward.
Why does a bespoke website cost more than a template?
A template is one design sold to thousands of businesses, so the price is spread thin. A bespoke site is designed and built for one brand alone, by the person making it, which takes real hours of research, design, and hand-written code. You pay for a site fitted to you rather than one fitted to no one.
What makes a website build more expensive?
The biggest cost drivers are page count, custom functionality such as booking, ecommerce, or a client portal, whether you need copywriting and photography, and how much brand and strategy work happens before design. A simple one-page site costs a fraction of a multi-page store.
Is a cheap website worth it for a small business?
For a hobby or a quick test, a cheap template is honest value. For a business asking strangers to trust it with money, a generic site tends to convert worse and quietly cost you enquiries. The saving upfront often turns into a larger cost in lost work.
Does Maison Turco give fixed quotes?
Yes. Every commission starts with an intake call, then a fixed project fee scoped to exactly what you need. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices, no retainer you did not ask for.