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Cheap websites: how to get one without hidden costs
A cheap website is easy to find. A website that stays cheap is harder. Low starting prices often leave out the domain, email, maintenance or changes, and those costs arrive later. This guide compares the ways to get a website on a small budget, lists the hidden costs to check and shows what a complete website costs per year on SitePack.
In short
- The cheapest website is the one with the lowest total cost per year, not the lowest starting price.
- Free plans usually come with a subdomain, adverts and no business email, so they rarely suit a business.
- Check the renewal price, domain, email, SSL, maintenance and the cost of changes before you compare.
- Being able to edit the site yourself saves more money over time than any discount.
- On SitePack a complete website costs 15 euro per month, billed yearly, or 500 euro one-off if we build it for you.
What does a cheap website cost?
There is no single price for a cheap website, because the word covers very different things. A free builder plan costs nothing per month but gives you an address on someone else's domain. A paid builder plan is a fixed monthly amount. A freelancer or agency charges a one-off price for the build, and you pay hosting and maintenance on top.
So do not compare starting prices. Add up everything you pay in the first year and in the years after: the build, the plan or hosting, the domain, email, security certificate, backups and the changes you will need. That total is what your website really costs.
Good to know
A website is a running cost, not a one-off purchase. Compare the price per year, including the second year, when introductory discounts end.
Five ways to get a website on a small budget
Each route has its own trade-off between money, time and control. Pick the one that matches how much you want to do yourself.
- Free builder plan: no monthly cost, but a subdomain, adverts from the builder and usually no business email
- Paid builder plan: a fixed monthly price, your own domain and a site you edit yourself
- WordPress on budget hosting: cheap hosting, but you handle updates, plugins, security and backups
- Freelancer: a site made for you, often at a fair price, but changes may depend on that person
- Built-for-you package on a platform: a fixed build price, and afterwards you edit the site yourself
Hidden costs to check before you choose
Most cheap offers are cheap because something is left out. Ask about each of these before you decide, and get the answers in writing.
What to ask
- The renewal price after the first year, not only the introductory price
- Whether the domain name is included, and what it costs to renew
- Business email on your own domain, and how many mailboxes
- SSL certificate, backups and security updates
- Paid plugins, themes or apps you need for basic features
- Who makes changes, and whether changes are billed per hour
- What happens to your site and domain if you stop paying or switch provider
When a cheap website becomes expensive
A website that costs little but brings in nothing is not a bargain. The most common problems are a site that is slow on a phone, a design that looks dated, pages that search engines cannot read well and texts you cannot change without calling someone.
Lock-in is the other trap. If a freelancer registered the domain in their own name, or the site runs on a system only they can maintain, every change costs money and leaving is hard. Make sure the domain is registered to your business and that you can log in and edit the site yourself.
- Not built for mobile, so visitors leave
- Every small change needs a paid developer
- Domain registered in someone else's name
- No backups, so one mistake can wipe the site
- No legal pages such as a privacy statement
How to keep your website cheap over time
The biggest saving is not the price of the build, it is not having to pay for every change. A few choices keep your yearly cost low.
- Own your domain and keep it in your business name
- Choose a platform where you edit texts and images yourself
- Prefer an all-in plan with hosting, domain, email and SSL in one price
- Pay yearly if that is cheaper than monthly
- Start with the pages you need now and add more later
A low-cost website on SitePack
On SitePack a website costs 15 euro per month, billed yearly. That includes your domain name, a 5 GB business mailbox, hosting on European servers, SSL and daily backups. There are no plugins to buy or update, and you edit everything yourself in the visual editor or by asking an AI assistant.
In the first year that comes to 180 euro if you build the site yourself. Prefer not to build it? We make a complete website for you for 500 euro one-off, with one feedback round, and the plan stays the same. Need a webshop instead? That starts at 25 euro per month, billed yearly.
You can try everything free for 14 days, without payment details.
- Website plan: 15 euro per month, billed yearly
- Domain, 5 GB mailbox, EU hosting, SSL and backups included
- Built for you: 500 euro one-off, then you edit it yourself
- 14-day free trial, no payment details needed
Keep reading
- What does a website cost? Every cost of a website, per year.
- How to make a website A step-by-step guide to your first site.
- Make a free website in 5 minutes Build and publish fast.
- Have your website built for 500 euro We build it, you take it over.
- Try a website free for 14 days No payment details needed to start.
- All packages and prices Website from 15 euro, webshop from 25 euro a month.
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