How much does a small business website cost in Ireland?

The short answer

A simple website for a small business usually costs somewhere between €500 and €6,000 to build, plus a monthly or yearly cost to keep it running. The price depends mostly on who builds it, how many pages it has, and whether it does more than show information, such as taking bookings or payments.

Doing it yourself with a website builder

Builders such as Wix and Squarespace let you make a site from a template. Squarespace's plans, for example, run from about €12 to €69 a month when paid yearly, at the time of writing. Check their pricing pages, as these change.

This is the cheapest way in, but you pay with your time: writing the text, taking the photos, setting it up and keeping it right. Online booking, payments and email are often extra plans or add-ons.

A freelancer or an agency

Irish web design firms' own published guides put a small business site at roughly €1,500 to €3,500 from a freelancer or a small studio, and €3,500 to €8,000 or more for a bigger custom build from an agency. Online shops usually start higher.

You usually pay most of it up front and own a finished site. Ask what happens after launch: hosting, updates and changes are often a separate care plan, commonly €50 to €180 a month.

A monthly plan

Some studios, including us, charge a small setup fee and then a monthly price that covers the design, hosting, updates and support. You pay less at the start and spread the cost, and someone is always looking after it. The trade-off is that you keep paying for as long as you use it, so check the minimum term and what you take with you if you leave.

The costs that carry on

• A .ie domain name: usually about €15 to €30 a year, though first-year offers can be cheaper.
• Hosting: from about €5 a month for basic shared hosting, more for managed hosting.
• Email on your own domain, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, paid per mailbox each month.
• Updates, security fixes and backups, if they're not included.
• Booking, invoicing or payment tools, if your site needs them, and card fees on payments.

Questions to ask before you pay

• Is the domain registered in my name?
• What does it cost each year after the first, all in?
• Can I change the text, prices and photos myself?
• Is there a minimum term, and what notice do I give to leave?
• If I leave, what do I keep: the domain, the text, the photos, my customer data?
• Who do I call when something breaks, and how quickly do they answer?

Help with the cost

Your Local Enterprise Office runs the Trading Online Voucher scheme, which has part-funded websites and online selling for small businesses. The amount, the share you pay and who qualifies are set by the scheme and can change, and approval is needed before you spend anything. Ask your Local Enterprise Office about the current terms.

What we charge

Our websites cost €100 to set up, then €25 a month for the website, €50 with customers and jobs, or €75 with booking, invoices, rosters and the rest. Hosting, updates and backups are included, there's no minimum term, and your domain is in your name. See the plans.