What does a WordPress website cost in 2026?

A simple WordPress website typically costs between €1,500 and €4,000 to build, a larger site with custom design runs €4,000 to €12,000, and a complex site with integrations (connections, portals, multiple languages) often starts around €12,000. On top of that comes hosting (€10-€100 per month), theme and plugin licences (€50-€400 per year), and maintenance (€50-€250 per month). WordPress itself is free — everything else is where the money goes.

Free software, not a free website

WordPress is open source and free to download. That's one reason it powers around 43% of all websites. But "free CMS" doesn't mean "free website." You pay for:

• Build time: someone has to set up the theme, add content, connect forms, and test everything.
• Hosting: WordPress has to run somewhere, and cheap shared hosting is often why sites are slow.
• Licences: many premium themes and plugins run on an annual subscription.
• Maintenance: updates, backups and security don't stop after launch.

If you're weighing WordPress against other options, it's worth reading about WordPress alternatives — sometimes another platform is cheaper long-term, sometimes it isn't.

Build costs by site type

These are indicative figures for the build itself, excluding hosting and maintenance. The final price depends on how much custom work, content and integrations are needed.

Site type	Indicative build cost	What it typically includes
Simple business site (5-10 pages)	€1,500 - €4,000	Existing theme, standard functionality, your own content
Larger site with custom design	€4,000 - €12,000	Unique design, more pages, more elaborate structure
Complex site with integrations	from €12,000	CRM/ERP connections, portals, multiple languages, custom functionality

If you specifically need custom-built functionality, read more about WordPress custom development. A WooCommerce store on WordPress has its own pricing, since you add payment integrations and store logic.

Hosting: the recurring cost

Hosting is where many sites cut corners, and that shows up directly in load time and reliability.

Hosting type	Indicative per month	Suited for
Shared hosting (budget)	€5 - €15	Small site, low traffic, no strict requirements
Managed WordPress hosting	€20 - €60	Most business sites
Cloud/dedicated hosting	€60 - €300+	High traffic, webshops, heavy integrations

Cheap hosting is a common cause of slow sites. If speed matters to you (and it almost always should, for SEO too), read on about WordPress speed.

Licences: themes and plugins per year

Many premium themes and plugins run on an annual licence for updates and support.

Item	Indicative per year
Premium theme	€50 - €150
Page builder (e.g. Elementor Pro)	€50 - €200
Forms, SEO plugin, backup plugin (combined)	€50 - €150
Security plugin	€50 - €100

Expect roughly €150-€400 per year in licences for an average site, more as you add premium plugins.

Maintenance: why it's not a one-off cost

A WordPress site isn't done once it's built. Updates, backups and security are ongoing work. Expect €50-€250 per month for a maintenance plan, depending on the size of the site and what's included. Skip it, and you risk hacks, plugins breaking after an update, and a site that quietly falls behind. Read more at WordPress maintenance.

Hidden costs you don't budget for

• Page builder lock-in: build everything with one specific page builder, and you're tied to it. Switching theme or platform later often means rebuilding from scratch.
• Plugin sprawl: every plugin you add is another thing that can break after an update, and another annual licence.
• Migrating later: moving to different hosting, or a different CMS, takes time and therefore money. The more custom work and plugins you have, the more expensive that migration gets. If that's on your radar, see WordPress migration.

You often only feel these costs a year or two in, once maintenance, licences and an eventual migration add up to more than the original build cost.

What makes a quote expensive or cheap?

A quote gets more expensive the more custom work, pages, integrations and content it involves. A quote gets cheaper when it uses an existing theme, when you supply your own content, and when functionality is standard. Neither is inherently better: a cheap quote that fits a simple need is fine, and a more expensive quote for a complex platform can still be good value.

How do you judge a quote?

Don't just look at the total — look at what's actually included:

• Is hosting included, or do you arrange that separately?
• Is a maintenance contract required, and what does that cost structurally?
• Which licences are part of the build price, and which do you renew yourself each year?
• What happens if you want to make changes later — can you do it yourself, or does everything go through the agency?
• Is there room to migrate later without rebuilding everything?

A good quote makes these points explicit instead of hiding them inside one all-in number. If you're looking to have a site built and want to know what it would cost for your situation, websites is a good starting point to map out your options.

Frequently asked questions about WordPress costs

Is WordPress really free?

The software itself is free and open source. The costs sit in hosting, building the site, premium themes and plugins, and the maintenance that remains necessary after launch.

What does a simple WordPress website cost roughly?

For a simple business site of 5 to 10 pages, expect €1,500 to €4,000 in build costs, plus monthly hosting and maintenance on top.

Why do WordPress quotes vary so much?

Quotes vary based on the amount of custom work, the number of pages, whether hosting and maintenance are included, and whether you supply content yourself or the agency does.

Is a cheap WordPress site always a bad choice?

No. For a simple need with few requirements, a cheap site built on an existing theme can work well. It only becomes a problem when the site doesn't match what you actually need.

What does WordPress maintenance cost per month?

A maintenance contract typically costs €50 to €250 per month, depending on the size of the site and how much needs to be checked and updated on an ongoing basis.

What's next?

Want to know what a WordPress site would actually cost for your situation, including hosting and maintenance? Book a no-obligation call and we'll work through the numbers together.