How much does a website cost for a small business in Canada
What goes into the price of a website, what you pay once and what you pay every month or year, and how to compare quotes from different studios and freelancers.
Short answer: there’s no single price. A one-page site for a nail technician and an online store with delivery are different jobs, and they cost different amounts. But the price isn’t pulled out of thin air. It’s made of parts you can understand. Here they are, followed by our own packages, so you have something to compare against.
What goes into the price
Whoever builds your site is estimating the time it will take. Six things affect that time the most.
- Size. One page with your services and contacts, or a separate page for each service, a portfolio, a blog.
- Design. A ready-made template, a customized template or a design made from scratch. A template is faster and cheaper. A custom design takes longer, but your site won’t look like the one next door.
- Features. Online booking, a store with payments and shipping, a calculator, several languages, a connection to the booking system you already use. Every feature has to be set up and tested.
- Platform. A site builder, WordPress, Shopify or custom code. It affects both the price of the work and your ongoing costs. More on that in WordPress, Shopify, Wix or custom code: which to choose.
- Content. If your texts, photos and logo are ready, the work goes faster. If they have to be created, that’s extra work. What to gather in advance: what to prepare before you order a website.
- Deadline. If you need the site by a certain date, say so right away: the deadline shapes the work plan and sometimes the price.
That’s why prices vary so much. A site you put together yourself on a site builder costs you a subscription and your evenings. A site from a studio costs more: you’re paying for a designer’s and a developer’s work, and your own time stays with your business. Both are fine choices. The question is what your business needs right now.
What you pay once and what you pay regularly
You pay for the work on the site once, even if it’s split into parts. But every website also comes with ongoing costs, and it’s better to know them in advance.
- Domain — your site’s address. It’s registered for one or several years and then renewed.
- Hosting — where your site lives. Site builders and Shopify include it in the subscription; for WordPress and custom code it’s paid separately.
- Paid add-ons — themes, plugins, store apps, if you need them.
- Care — updates, backups and small edits, if you’d rather not handle them yourself. Here’s how our website care works.
We don’t quote domain and hosting prices here: they depend on the registrar, the plan and the platform, and they change from time to time. Ask whoever builds your site to list the ongoing costs separately from the price of the work.
Before you pay, ask two more questions: whose name is the domain registered in, and who owns the site after launch? The right answer to both is you. With us, once the work is paid for, the site and the domain belong to the client. And check whether the price includes sales tax (GST or HST, depending on your province).
What our packages cost
To keep the numbers concrete, here are our packages. Prices are “from”: we give an exact figure after we talk, once the size and the features are clear.
- Start — from CAD 1,499, 1–2 weeks. A one-page website: design, code and an enquiry form.
- Business — from CAD 2,999, 2–4 weeks. Several pages, a catalogue and analytics, with a free Telegram bot.
- Pro — from CAD 9,999, 6–8 weeks. A custom build: 3D scenes and animation, integrations, automation.
“Start” and “Business” are paid in two parts: half before we start, half before launch. “Pro” is paid in three: on signing, after the design and before launch. The last payment always comes before the site goes live. And every package includes 30 days of basic support after launch.
See all the packages side by side in the pricing section of our home page.
How to compare quotes
When you have several quotes, compare what’s behind the numbers, not just the totals.
- What’s included. How many pages, who writes the texts and prepares the photos, whether your Google Business Profile gets set up.
- How many revisions. How many rounds of design changes, and how long after launch small issues are fixed for free.
- Who owns what. The domain, the site, the hosting and platform accounts should all be in your name.
- What happens after launch. Who updates the site, who makes backups and what that costs.
- Whether you can edit it yourself. Texts, prices and photos, without calling a developer.
If one quote is much cheaper than the others, ask what it leaves out. That’s the easiest way to see where the difference comes from.
In short
- The price of a website comes from its size, design, features, platform and content.
- On top of the one-time price, there are ongoing costs: the domain, hosting or a subscription, sometimes care.
- Compare what’s included, not the total. The domain and the site should belong to you.
Want to know what your site would cost? Tell us what your business does and what the site needs to do, and we’ll come back with a price and a timeline. We answer an enquiry within one business day.