The first question almost every client asks is: how much does a website cost? „It depends” is true but useless. So here is what actually drives the price, roughly what each type of site costs, and which expenses come back every year rather than just once.
This is written from the perspective of a studio working in Novi Sad, Serbia, with small and medium businesses, so the figures reflect that market.
What the price depends on
Price is not set by page count but by the number of decisions and the amount of work a site carries. Four things move the figure most.
1. Scope
A five-page site and a fifty-page site are not the same job — not because of typing, but because of structure. More pages mean more complex navigation, more templates and more testing. If you offer several services worth separating, that is money well spent: each page can then rank for its own topic.
2. Design: template or original
A ready-made template is the cheapest route and perfectly fine to start with. Original design costs more because it involves research, sketches and adapting everything to your brand — but it is the only way your site will not look like a thousand others. In practice we usually land in the middle: a solid base plus custom typography, colours and key sections.
3. Functionality
A contact form is standard. Online sales, bookings, user accounts, delivery or card payment integrations, multiple languages — each is a separate system that has to be set up, connected and tested.
4. Content
The most common hidden cost. If you do not have copy and photography, someone has to produce them. Writing and professional photos are billed separately and easily add 30% to the total.
Indicative prices by type of site
The ranges below are an orientation for the Serbian market, not a fixed price list.
| Type of site | What it covers | Indicative |
|---|---|---|
| Simple presentation site | 3–5 pages, contact form, basic SEO | €300–700 |
| Company website | 5–15 pages, blog, forms, custom design | €700–1,500 |
| Online shop | Catalogue, cart, payment, delivery | €1,200–3,000 |
| More complex system | Integrations, accounts, custom features | from €3,000 |
For an exact figure, the fastest route is to describe what you need — request a free quote and you will get a concrete proposal, price and timeline.
Costs that come back every year
- Domain — roughly €10–20 a year depending on the extension.
- Hosting — €40–150 a year for a typical small business site. Cheaper hosting nearly always means a slower site.
- Maintenance — updates, backups, small changes. Usually €15–50 a month or as needed.
- SSL certificate — included free with most hosting.
Where saving money backfires
- Speed and hosting. A slow site loses visitors before it finishes loading, and Google measures that.
- The mobile version. Most traffic comes from phones. A site that breaks on a phone effectively does not exist.
- Basic SEO. Titles, descriptions, structure and speed — without them the site exists but nobody finds it. More on that in SEO basics: how to make your website visible on Google.
How to lower the price without lowering quality
- Start smaller and extend later. Five good pages beat twenty empty ones.
- Prepare the content yourself — copy and photos. That is the single biggest saving.
- Describe precisely what you need. Vague briefs mean more revision rounds, and each round costs.
- Postpone features that are not essential for the first version.
Frequently asked questions
How long does building a website take?
A presentation site usually 2–3 weeks, a company site 3–6 weeks, an online shop 4–8 weeks. The timeline depends mostly on how quickly the content arrives.
Can I edit the content myself afterwards?
Yes. We build on a system that lets you change text, images and prices yourself, and we hand it over with a short walkthrough.
What if I already have an outdated website?
Redesigning an existing site is often cheaper than starting from scratch, especially when the content and domain already have search history.
Conclusion
For small and medium businesses in Serbia the cost of a website usually falls between €300 and €3,000, with scope, design and functionality making the difference. The best way to get a realistic figure is to describe the goal, not just the page count.
Have a look at our work to see what each range buys, or send us a note through the quote form — we reply within 24 hours.
