How much does a website cost in Australia?
Real prices that Australian web designers publish themselves, what moves the number and the bills that keep arriving after launch day.
A five-page website for an Australian small business usually costs between $1,000 and $3,000 from a web designer who publishes prices. Cheaper template packages sit below that. Bigger agencies quote well above it. On top of the build you'll pay for hosting, a domain and somebody keeping the thing updated, so the real question is what it costs over a year, not on day one.
This guide uses prices that businesses put on their own websites, checked on the day we wrote it, with a link to each. No averages pulled from thin air.
What Australian web designers actually charge
Most designers won't put a number on their site. They want a call first. The ones below do publish. We copied each figure exactly as it appeared on 2 October 2026. Where a business doesn't say whether GST is in the price, the table says so.
| Business | What it covers | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| AusWeb Design | Starter, up to 10 pages | From $999, GST not stated |
| Havealook | Economy package, build plus hosting | $1,495 inc GST |
| Sourcewise | Essentials, 5 pages | From $1,500, GST not stated |
| Sourcewise | Business, 10 pages and a blog | From $2,500, GST not stated |
| Rankify | Up to 10 pages | $2,999, GST not stated |
| AusWeb Design | Online store, up to 20 pages | From $2,999, GST not stated |
| Sites and Servers | Starter, 5 pages | $1,490 inc GST |
| Sites and Servers | Shop, 5 pages plus an online shop | $2,490 inc GST |
Two things jump out. First, the word "from". A from price is where the conversation starts. The final invoice often lands higher once the extras are counted. Second, page counts differ wildly. One business's starter site is five pages. Another's is ten. Compare the price per page you'll actually need rather than the headline figure.
What pushes the price up
Two quotes for "a website" can be thousands of dollars apart and both be fair. Usually the gap comes down to a handful of things.
How many pages you need
Every page has to be designed, built, written and checked on a phone. That's why most price lists charge per page past a set number. Rankify lists extra pages at $200 each. Small Business Web Designs lists $150 plus GST. Ours are $175 each on the Starter package. A plumber covering three suburbs with a page for each service can need twelve pages before anyone notices.
Selling online
A shop adds a cart, checkout, shipping rules, tax settings and products that someone has to load. It's the biggest single jump on most price lists. Look at how many products the quote includes loading. Loading them by hand takes real time, so it's often priced in batches. We charge $190 for each extra 10 products loaded.
Who writes the words
This one catches people out. Plenty of quotes assume you'll supply every word. Then the site sits half finished for weeks while you try to find time. Paying someone to write the pages costs more up front (we charge $190 a page) but it's usually the difference between launching this month and launching next quarter.
Features that do a job
Online booking, quote request forms, a members area or a connection to your stock system each add work. Ask what each feature costs on its own. A booking calendar your customers fill in themselves is $490 with us, for example. A decent quote lists these line by line instead of hiding them inside one big number.
An old site that needs moving
If you already rank on Google for anything, the move matters. Old addresses need to point to the new pages or you lose whatever search history you've built. It's fiddly work and it should be on the quote.
The costs after launch
The build is a one-off. These aren't.
- Hosting. The server your site lives on. Rankify charges $250 a year. VentraIP's entry business plan shows $5.50 a month on the first invoice, then its regular $11.00 a month. Managed hosting costs more because someone does the updates and backups for you. Ours starts at $25 a month. Our guide to web hosting costs compares more plans.
- Your domain. The .com.au address, renewed every year or two. Make sure it's registered in your name, not the designer's.
- Email. A mailbox on your own domain through Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 is billed by them, per person.
- Updates and small changes. WordPress, its plugins and its theme all need updating. Either you do it, your host does it or you pay a care plan. Ours is $95 a month.
Add those up before you compare quotes. A cheap build on cheap hosting that nobody updates tends to cost more by year three, usually around the time it breaks.
Paying once or paying monthly
Some companies skip the build fee and charge a monthly subscription instead. Localsearch, for example, lists websites from $299 a month plus GST, month to month with 30 days' notice. That's $328.90 a month once GST is added. Over a year that comes to just under $4,000.
It suits a business that can't spare the cash up front. The catch is what happens when you stop paying. With most subscription sites the design stays with the provider, so leaving means starting again. If you go this way, ask in writing what you keep if you cancel.
How to tell a fair quote from a padded one
A good quote answers these without you having to chase:
- How many pages are included and what each extra one costs.
- Who writes the words and who supplies the photos.
- Whether the domain and the site are in your name.
- How many rounds of changes are included.
- What hosting costs after the first year, not just during it.
- When you pay. Some designers take a deposit and the rest before launch. AusWeb Design asks for 50% up front. Rankify and Sites and Servers take the full amount when you order.
Vague answers on any of these are worth a follow-up email. A designer who can't tell you what's included can't really tell you what it costs either.
What a website costs with us
We publish every price and they include GST. The Starter package is $1,490 for five pages, the Shop package is $2,490 with an online shop and Growth is $3,290 for ten pages with a shop and a blog. You see your homepage demo within 7 days of paying. The website packages page lets you add pages and features and watch the total change as you go.
Already have a site and wondering whether it's worth replacing? Run the free website check first. It tests speed, security and the basics Google reads, then tells you in plain words what's worth fixing.
Common questions
Can I get a decent website for under $1,000?
Sometimes, from a template package or a website builder you set up yourself. Expect a template with your logo and words dropped in, not a design worked out around your business. That's fine for a lot of new businesses. Just check what the hosting renews at.
Do website prices in Australia include GST?
Prices advertised to consumers generally should. Plenty of designers don't say either way, though. If a price list is silent, ask. On a $3,000 quote the difference is $300.
How much does a WordPress website cost?
The same ranges as above, since most small business designers build on WordPress. What changes the price is pages, a shop and who writes the content, not the platform itself. WordPress is free; the work isn't.
Why are some quotes so much higher than others?
Usually more pages, written copy, a shop or a custom design rather than a template. Sometimes it's an agency's overheads. Ask both businesses for a line-by-line breakdown and the gap normally explains itself.
How long does a small business website take to build?
A few weeks for most five to ten page sites. The slowest part is nearly always waiting on words and photos. With us the homepage demo arrives within 7 days of payment.