Transparent breakdown of real website project costs (design, development, content, testing, maintenance) with honest guidance on what to budget for different project types.
Most agencies avoid the pricing conversation for as long as possible. Vague "it depends" answers. Discovery calls before any numbers are shared. Proposals that arrive weeks after the first conversation.
We're going to tell you exactly what a website project costs. Or as close to exactly as honesty allows — because it genuinely does depend on what you need.
Here's the transparency the industry typically withholds.
Why Agencies Don't Give Straight Answers
Before the numbers — it's worth understanding why the industry behaves this way.
The main reason is legitimate: website projects vary enormously in scope, and an agency that prices without understanding the brief is either underquoting (and will deliver less) or overquoting (and will lose the work to a cheaper competitor).
But there's a less charitable reason too: anchoring. If an agency quotes €15,000 in week one and the client's budget is €30,000, they've left money on the table. Withholding price until they understand the budget means they can calibrate the proposal accordingly.
Transparency about ranges and what drives the variability is more useful to clients — and we think it's how the industry should operate.
The Cost Components of a Website Project
1. Discovery and strategy (10–15% of project budget)
The work done before any design begins: understanding your business, your audience, your goals, your competitive context. Includes site architecture, content planning, and CMS structure decisions.
Clients often want to skip this. Good agencies shouldn't let them. Poor discovery produces expensive rework.
2. Design (25–35%)
Wireframing, visual design, interactive prototypes, design system creation. For marketing sites, this typically covers the core page templates (homepage, services, about, contact, case studies) plus the CMS article template.
The biggest variable here: how much creative exploration is included. A well-specified brief with clear references produces design faster than an open creative exploration.
3. Development / build (35–45%)
In Webflow, this is where the designed pages become a live, functional website. Clean CMS setup, responsive implementation, animation, form connections, SEO configuration, performance optimisation.
Development cost scales with complexity: number of pages, CMS collections, custom interactions, integrations with third-party tools.
4. Content (often underbudgeted)
Copy, photography, video, illustration. This is where many projects stall. Most agencies scope the build without realistic content costs — then the client tries to produce everything themselves, the content is late, and the project drags.
Budget for professional copywriting if you don't have an in-house writer. Budget for professional photography if your brand deserves it.
5. QA, testing, and launch (5–10%)
Cross-browser and device testing, form testing, redirect mapping, DNS migration, analytics setup. Not glamorous but essential.
6. Ongoing (post-launch)
Hosting and CMS platform subscription. Ongoing content support if needed. Future development work as the business grows.
What Projects Actually Cost
Simple marketing site (5–10 pages, Webflow CMS, no custom development):
€8,000 – €20,000 depending on design ambition, copywriting inclusion, and agency.
Mid-scale marketing site (15–25 pages, rich CMS, custom interactions, integrations):
€20,000 – €50,000
Complex marketing platform (50+ pages, multi-language, advanced CMS, custom integrations):
€50,000+
These ranges assume a professional agency delivering quality work. Freelancers can deliver at the lower end of these ranges. Template-based solutions can cost significantly less, with corresponding constraints on distinctiveness and flexibility.
What you're paying for at the higher end: strategy, creative quality, technical execution, and the infrastructure for ongoing marketing flexibility.
What Drives Costs Higher
- Scope creep (adding requirements after the brief is locked)
- Unclear brief (requiring more discovery and iteration)
- Multiple decision-makers with conflicting feedback
- Inadequate content provision (copy and assets arriving late or requiring extensive editing)
- High design ambition without reference points
- Complex integrations (CRM, marketing automation, payment systems)
- Multilingual requirements
- Custom development outside standard CMS capabilities
What You Can Do to Reduce Costs
- Come with a clear brief (what you want to achieve, who it's for, what success looks like)
- Provide quality content on time
- Minimise the number of decision-makers in the review process
- Have examples of what you like and don't like
- Be realistic about phases — a good Phase 1 is more valuable than a compromised full build
The Question to Ask Any Agency
"What's included and what's not in the quoted scope — specifically?"
A detailed scope protects both parties. Anything that isn't explicitly included in the scope is, by default, not included. Get it in writing.