How much does a website cost? A basic site builder charges a monthly fee, while a custom website runs from tens to hundreds of thousands of CZK. The final price depends on what the site does for your business, who builds it, and what it costs to run in the years ahead.

According to the Czech Statistical Office, 85% of businesses with ten or more employees have their own website (2026 data). Most price lists only show the launch price. In this guide, we calculate the three-year bill: four ways to get a site, what you pay for, what quotes leave out, and how to write a website brief. You will also find our prices at the end.

Why website prices vary tenfold

The word "website" covers anything from a ready-made template to a system linked to your inventory and payments. A vendor's big name does not set the price—the scope of work and the responsibility they take for the result do.

Think of it like a house: a catalog home is quick, while a custom home fits how you live. Both still need land (a domain), utilities (hosting and integrations), and upkeep (updates and backups).

These questions drive your website cost:

• How many pages and page types will it have?
• Will you supply copy and photos, or should the vendor?
• Should it take orders, payments, or bookings?
• Does it connect to inventory, accounting, or a CRM?
• Will it run in multiple languages?
• Who will manage it, and how often?

Take a fictional example: an accounting firm only needs five pages and a contact form. A tire wholesaler needs search by size, customer-specific price lists, and live inventory sync.

Every feature must be designed, tested, and maintained. Start with only what you truly need.

Four ways to build a website and who they fit

Four paths lead to a new website, and each suits a different business:

• Website builder: The fastest start for a monthly or yearly fee, though you handle the look and copy yourself. Fine for a simple online card. You hit a wall when you need custom features or want to move the site elsewhere.
• Hosted e-shop: A smart choice for a standard online store. For example, Shoptet—the leading Czech hosted e-shop platform—offers paid plans from CZK 440/month excluding VAT as of November 2026, according to its price list, plus card processing fees and add-ons. The platform handles hosting and security, though custom features are limited. We cover how to choose in E-commerce platforms.
• WordPress by a freelancer: A flexible option at a fair price. The risk is relying on one person if they fall ill or change careers. Insist that the domain, hosting, and admin accounts are registered in your name.
• Custom website by an agency: Worth it when the site drives sales—with inventory sync, B2B pricing, or a custom configurator. You pay a team for discovery, design, development, testing, and project management. If a standard catalog is enough, we will openly steer you toward a cheaper hosted store.

Ask yourself three questions: Do you sell online or collect leads? Do you need integrations and custom workflows? Will you manage the site alone or as a team? If your answers are "leads, no, alone," a site builder is enough. If "sales, yes, team," you need a setup that grows with your company.

What you actually pay for

Most of a website's price pays for people's time:

• Discovery and structure: site goals, required pages, and navigation.
• Copy and photography: persuasive content—the biggest hidden cost.
• Design: mobile and desktop layouts matching your brand.
• Development and integrations: templates, CMS, forms, payments, and links to inventory, accounting, or CRM.
• Tracking and testing: analytics, cookie consent, speed, and cross-device checks.
• SEO basics: headings, meta descriptions, redirects, and a sitemap.
• Training and handover: CMS walkthrough, logins, and documentation.

You can spot a fair quote by its breakdown of phases and hours: it shows who budgeted for copywriting or testing. A single lump sum is the hardest to compare.

You save safely by launching with fewer pages and delivering assets on time. Use off-the-shelf tools where they do not set you apart from competitors, such as a blog or privacy policy page.

Never cut corners on copy, analytics, or URL redirects: without them, the site will not convert, you will not know what works, and you risk losing search traffic. Learn how in Website redesign without losing traffic.

The three-year bill: launch is just line one

Launching is only the first line item. Over three years, you add the domain, hosting or platform fees, licenses, updates, backups, small tweaks, and fresh content. On a cheap build, running costs easily pass the launch price.

Take a sample calculation from Shoptet's November 2026 price list (excluding VAT): the Business plan costs CZK 1,490/month—that is CZK 17,880 a year and CZK 53,640 over three years. Paying annually upfront gets you a 10% discount from Shoptet. Add card fees, a paid theme or add-ons, and your own time. Even a low-cost start carries a three-year bill worth calculating upfront.

A maintenance plan should cover updates, backups with test restores, uptime monitoring, security patches, and hours for minor edits. Ask for response times for both outages and routine requests—without them, it is just a promise.

The cheapest start often ends up the priciest. If your site hits its limits in two years—it cannot sync stock, add a language, or load fast—you pay for discovery, design, code, and content migration all over again. You also lose time and search rankings. Write down what you will need three years from now before you start.

What quotes often leave out

Quotes routinely skip copy, photos, content migration, URL redirects, cookie banners, analytics, and maintenance. Online stores also face legal requirements.

Migrating content means someone must audit the old site, edit the text, and set permanent redirects from old URLs to new ones. Without them, visitors from search engines land on error pages.

For photos, fonts, and themes, make sure licenses are in your name and check renewal dates and fees. For cookies and analytics, ask what the vendor will set up and who maintains it.

Under EU accessibility rules applied in Czechia (Act No. 424/2023 Coll.), online stores—except micro-enterprises—must make their checkout accessible to people with disabilities starting June 28, 2025. Read more in Web accessibility and the law. And from January 1, 2027, EU consumer rules applied in Czechia require every B2C online store to display a contract withdrawal button. If a quote skips these, ask who will add them and for how much.

How to write a brief so you can compare quotes

To get comparable quotes, send every vendor the same one-page website brief:

1. Goal: more leads, online orders, or hiring.
2. Customers: who visits the site and what they look for.
3. Priorities: the top three must-haves.
4. Features: forms, e-shop, bookings, languages, integrations.
5. Assets: what you have (copy, photos, logo, current site) and what is missing.
6. Timeline: when you need to launch and why.
7. Budget range: a min–max figure so the vendor proposes a realistic build.
8. Approver: who gives feedback and signs off.

Do not hesitate to share a budget range. Without one, vendors are guessing; with one, they can suggest fitting options and tell you what to save for phase two. A vendor who asks zero questions either did not read your brief or just priced a template.

Put the quotes into a spreadsheet: scope, timeline, launch price, three-year running cost, domain and code ownership, maintenance, and references. Fill in any blanks, then hold a short call to meet the team who will build your site and review the handover process.

We cover ownership in Who owns your website and choosing a domain and server in our guide to domains and hosting.

How much does a website cost with us

With us, a brochure website starts from CZK 30,000, an e-shop from CZK 140,000, and a web application from CZK 230,000. Complex business websites typically run between CZK 50,000 and CZK 150,000. See all packages in our service price list.

We deliver smaller sites in a few weeks; mid-sized projects usually take 8–12 weeks. We work in four steps: Research, Design, Development, and Launch. After launch, we handle support and ongoing growth.

"From" prices apply to straightforward briefs. Discovery sets the final figure based on page and template count, copy and photo production, features, integrations, and languages. We itemize every quote so you can adjust the scope to fit your budget.

If a hosted store or site builder suits you better, we will tell you—just look at our Shopify store for La Pharmacie Française. We break down custom builds in How much does app development cost. For a quick ballpark figure tailored to your needs, try our project configurator.

Frequently asked questions