“How much will a website cost?” is the first question almost every business owner asks. The honest answer is: it depends less on the design and more on what happens after the website is made. Here is what you are really paying for, and how to compare quotes fairly.
The five things every website needs
Whoever makes your website, these five costs exist. Some quotes include them, and some leave them out and charge later.
- Design and build: making the pages, writing or arranging the text, and adding your photos.
- Domain: your address online, like yourbusiness.in. You pay for it every year.
- Hosting: the computer that keeps your website online, all day, every day. Also paid every year or month.
- Security and backups: the padlock (https), safety updates, and a copy of your website in case something goes wrong.
- Updates: changing a phone number, adding photos, new prices, festival timings. Every business needs these, every month.
When two quotes look very different, it is usually because one of them includes only the first item.
One-time price or monthly plan?
There are two common ways to pay.
A one-time price. You pay once for the design. Hosting and the domain are paid separately every year, and updates are charged each time you ask, or not done at all. This can look cheaper on day one. The risk is a website that is never updated, because every small change means another call and another bill.
A monthly plan. You pay a fixed amount every month, and design, hosting, security, backups and a set number of updates are included. You know your cost in advance, and the website keeps changing with your business.
Neither is wrong. What matters is the total over two or three years, and whether your website stays up to date.
How to compare quotes: ask these questions
Before you choose, ask every web designer the same questions, in writing:
- Is the domain registered in my name? Who renews it, and at what price?
- Is hosting included? For how long? What does it cost after that?
- How many changes a month are included? What does an extra change cost?
- Is the website made for phones first? Most of your customers will open it on a phone.
- Where do enquiries go? To my email, my phone, or a form nobody checks?
- If I stop paying, what happens to my website and my domain?
- Is there anything else: setup fees, GST, “maintenance” charges?
Then add everything up for three years. That is the real price.
Tip: Make sure the domain is in your name, not your designer's. If you ever change designers, you keep your address, and your customers can still find you.
What a Plumo website costs
Plumo is a monthly plan, so everything above is included in one fee:
- Starter: ₹349 a month. For shops, clinics and small services.
- Growth: ₹649 a month. For schools, restaurants and growing businesses. More pages and more updates.
- Pro: ₹949 a month. For architects, builders and manufacturers with many projects or products.
Every plan includes design, hosting, https, backups, monthly updates (2, 4 or 8 by plan), and the free Plumo app where every enquiry arrives. Your domain is always registered in your name, and you keep it. Setup is free for our first 500 customers. You can see every detail on our pricing page.
You also see a free preview of your website before you pay anything. You pay only when you approve it and it goes live.
The costs people forget
Whichever way you choose, keep these in mind:
- Domain renewal every year. If it lapses, your website and email stop working, and someone else can buy the name.
- Your time. A website you have to update yourself costs hours. A website nobody updates costs customers.
- Missed enquiries. A form that sends messages to an old email address is the most expensive website of all.
The short answer
Don't compare only the first payment. Compare what you will pay over three years, what is included, and who keeps the website fresh. A cheaper quote that leaves you with an out-of-date website is not cheaper.
Want to see what your own website could look like first? Tell us about your business, and we build a free preview. Or see what we make for clinics, shops and other businesses.