Ask three agencies "how much does a website cost" and you'll get three numbers that don't agree because they're quietly pricing three different things - a WordPress template install, a custom-coded product, and everything in between. This guide breaks the number down into its actual components so you can tell whether a quote is cheap because the scope is small, or cheap because something important has been left out.
Why website quotes vary so widely
A five-page brochure site built on a WordPress theme and a custom booking platform with payment gateways, vendor logins and real-time inventory are both "websites," but they don't belong in the same budget conversation. The gap between a βΉ20,000 quote and a βΉ5,00,000 quote is almost never markup - it's usually one of these:
- Build method - theme customization vs. semi-custom (WordPress/Webflow with custom plugins) vs. fully custom code (React/Next.js frontend, Node.js/Laravel/Django backend)
- Number of unique page templates, not total pages - ten pages using two templates cost less than ten pages that each need a different layout
- Content readiness - whether copy, images and product data are supplied or need to be written, sourced and structured
- Integrations - payment gateways, CRM/ERP sync, shipping APIs, third-party booking systems, SSO
- Data complexity - a static catalog vs. a searchable, filterable product database with thousands of SKUs
Typical cost bands and what sits inside each
Basic brochure or landing page (βΉ15,000 - βΉ60,000)
Theme-based build, 5-8 pages, contact form, basic on-page SEO, no custom backend logic. Suitable for a local service business, a single-product launch page, or a portfolio site. Ongoing cost is usually just hosting and a maintenance retainer.
Business / corporate website (βΉ60,000 - βΉ2,50,000)
Custom design (not a stock theme), CMS setup so the client's team can edit content, blog/resources section, lead-capture forms tied to email or a basic CRM, and structured SEO (schema markup, sitemap, page-speed optimization). This band is where most B2B and mid-size businesses land.
E-commerce (βΉ1,50,000 - βΉ8,00,000+)
Product catalog, cart, checkout, payment gateway integration (Razorpay, Stripe, PayU), inventory sync, shipping/tax rules, customer accounts, and order-management dashboards. Cost scales with catalog size, whether it's built on Shopify/WooCommerce vs. custom, and how many third-party systems (accounting, warehouse, courier APIs) need two-way sync.
Custom web application or platform (βΉ4,00,000 - βΉ20,00,000+)
Multi-role logins, custom dashboards, workflow logic, real-time data, third-party API integrations, and often a mobile companion app. This is closer to software product development than "website development," and the estimate depends on user roles, database design, and how many integrations touch external systems.
What actually drives the number inside a proposal
Design depth
A template with color and logo swapped costs far less than a design system built from wireframes and user-flow mapping, with custom components for each content type. If a proposal has no line item for UX/wireframing, it's likely reusing a pre-built theme.
Frontend and backend architecture
Static HTML/CSS sites are cheapest to build but expensive to change later. A CMS-driven site (WordPress, custom headless CMS with Next.js) costs more upfront but lets non-technical staff update content without a developer. A fully custom stack (React/Vue frontend with a Node.js/PHP/Python backend and a proper database) costs the most but is the only option when the site needs business logic - custom pricing rules, multi-step approval workflows, role-based dashboards.
Integrations and third-party services
Each integration - payment gateway, SMS/WhatsApp API, CRM, analytics, chat widget, ERP - adds setup time, API credential handling, error-state design (what happens when the payment gateway times out?), and testing. Quotes that bundle "unlimited integrations" into a flat fee are usually scoping them shallowly.
Content and data migration
Migrating an existing site's content, redirects (to protect SEO rankings), and product/customer data from an old platform is frequently underestimated. A domain migration with hundreds of URLs needing 301 redirects takes real QA time that should appear as its own line item.
Security, testing and deployment
SSL, form validation, protection against common vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS), cross-browser and cross-device testing, and a staging environment before go-live all take hours that don't show up in a homepage screenshot but do show up in the invoice.
Costs that show up after launch
The build price is not the total cost of ownership. Budget separately for:
- Hosting and domain renewal (shared hosting vs. VPS/cloud hosting like AWS or DigitalOcean, depending on traffic)
- SSL certificate renewal (often free with modern hosts, but verify)
- CMS/plugin and security updates - skipping these is how sites get hacked or break silently
- A maintenance retainer for bug fixes, content updates and small feature additions
- SEO and content work, which is ongoing, not a one-time deliverable bundled into the launch price
How to compare two proposals that quote different numbers
Before comparing totals, line up the scope: number of unique templates, CMS or no CMS, list of named integrations, who supplies content, number of revision rounds, and what "support" means after handover (bug fixes only, or new features too). A lower number that excludes CMS access, mobile responsiveness testing, or post-launch support is not actually cheaper - it's a different, smaller project.
How Urgent IT Solution approaches estimation
Rather than quoting from a page count alone, we scope by templates, data model, and integration list first, then price design, development, QA and deployment as separate, visible line items. This lets a client see exactly what changes if they add a custom dashboard, drop a feature, or bring their own content instead of asking us to write it - so the final number reflects the actual build, not a rounded guess.
