Website cost guide · Australia
How much does a website actually cost in Australia?
It is the question we get asked almost every day, and the honest answer is: it depends. This is a straight guide to what websites really cost here, from DIY builders to freelancers and agencies, and how our build-it-free-then-$100/month model fits in.
Trusted by 7,280+ Australian businesses · 10+ years experience · Google Partner
We build your site free, then look after everything for $100 a month.
What that includes
- Custom design, no big upfront bill
- Fast, secure, mobile-first build
- SEO foundations from day one
- Hosting, maintenance and support included
- Month to month, no lock-in
How much does a website cost in Australia?
It depends on the route you take. DIY builders like Wix or Squarespace cost from $0 upfront and about $30 to $100 a month, a freelancer typically charges $3,000 to $10,000 or more upfront, and a full-service agency runs $10,000 to $50,000 or more upfront plus an ongoing retainer. 3P Digital takes a different approach: we design and build your site at no upfront cost, then look after hosting, maintenance, security and support for a flat $100 a month, month to month with no lock-in.
What drives the price
Six things that move a website's cost up or down.
Before any price range makes sense, it helps to know the levers. These are what a good build either dials up or keeps lean, depending on what your business actually needs.
Design complexity
A clean, template-based design costs far less than a fully custom, one-of-a-kind build. The more bespoke the design, the more hours it takes.
Big leverNumber of pages
A five-page brochure site is a different job to a fifty-page site with hundreds of products. More pages means more content, structure and testing.
Medium leverFunctionality
Online booking, customer portals, calculators or integrations with other software each add complexity, and each one adds to the price.
Big leverContent creation
Supplying your own copy and images keeps costs down. Bringing in a copywriter or photographer is worth it, but it is an extra investment.
Medium leverE-commerce
Selling online means a store platform, product setup, payments and shipping logic. It is one of the biggest single drivers of cost.
Big leverSEO foundations
A good build bakes in technical SEO from day one. Ongoing search marketing is a separate, ongoing cost you should plan for.
Medium leverYour options in Australia
Four ways to get a website built, and what each really costs.
These ranges are typical of the Australian market in 2025. They are guides, not quotes: your final figure depends on the levers above.
Wix, Squarespace, Shopify
A low-cost entry point if you are just starting out and happy to build it yourself.
- Drag-and-drop, no coding needed
- A library of ready-made templates
- Basic forms and image galleries
- A template look thousands of sites share
- Limited custom features and integrations
- Harder to get real SEO traction
Independent web developer
A solid option if you have a clear vision and just need a capable pair of hands to build it.
- A custom build tailored to you
- More flexibility than a DIY builder
- Performance and SEO depend on the developer
- Little strategic input on the bigger picture
- Support and maintenance can be patchy
- One person, so limited cover if they are away
Full-service digital agency
The comprehensive option for businesses serious about their online presence, with a team behind it.
- A team of specialists, not one generalist
- Custom design built around your goals
- Performance, SEO and support handled
- The largest upfront cost of the lot
- Ongoing retainers can strain cash flow
- Often a high barrier for smaller businesses
Build it free, then $100/month
We design and build your site at no upfront cost, then look after it for one flat monthly fee.
- Custom design, no large upfront bill
- Hosting, maintenance and support included
- Built fast and SEO-ready from day one
DIY builders look like the obvious bargain, but the gap in performance and SEO often means you pay for it later in missed enquiries. Agencies sit at the other end: brilliant work, but the upfront cheque and retainers put it out of reach for a lot of small and medium businesses. That gap is exactly what our model is built for.
Side by side
A standard 10-page business website, costed across year one.
Same brief, four routes. The figures are indicative, but they show how the upfront and ongoing costs stack up over the first twelve months.
| Feature | DIY builder | Freelancer | Agency | 3P Digital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | $0 | $5,000 | $15,000 | $0 |
| Design | Template | Custom | Custom | Custom |
| Performance | Basic | Varies | Good | Fast |
| SEO foundations | Limited | Basic | Good | Built in |
| Support | Forums | Limited | Dedicated | Dedicated |
| Monthly cost | $50 | $50 | $500+ | $100 |
| Total, year one | $600 | $5,600 | $21,000 | $1,200 |
Indicative figures for a typical 10-page build. Your numbers will vary with scope and supplier.
Look past the sticker price
The hidden costs that catch people out.
The build fee is only part of the story. Over a few years, these running costs often add up to more than the site itself. On our plan, the ones below are already covered.
Domain and hosting
A .com.au domain runs about $15 to $50 a year, and hosting from $10 to $200+ a month. Both are included in our $100/month plan.
SSL certificates
Essential for security and search rankings. Premium certificates can run $100 to $300 a year. We include this at no extra cost.
CMS licences
Many WordPress themes and plugins charge $50 to $500 a year each. On a typical site, those licences add up quickly.
Security and backups
Regular backups and monitoring often cost $200 to $500 a year on WordPress. Our architecture handles this automatically.
Maintenance and updates
Keeping plugins and themes current usually needs a developer retainer of $100 to $500 a month. We take care of all of it.
Content updates
Agencies often charge $100 to $200 an hour for text changes. We include reasonable content updates in your monthly fee.
By type of site
What to expect to pay, by the kind of website you need.
Brochure website (5 to 10 pages)
A simple, informational site for a small business.
Agency: $5k to $15k upfront, plus $200+/mo
3P Digital: $0 upfront, $100/mo
E-commerce website
An online store with a cart and payments.
Agency: $15k to $50k+ upfront
3P Digital: custom quote, no upfront build cost
A different way to pay for a website
Build it free, then $100 a month.
Too many businesses pay a small fortune up front for a site that quietly underperforms. We flipped that around: no large upfront bill, just a flat monthly fee, with our work tied to keeping your site fast, current and earning its keep. Here is the short version of the $100/month website.
No large upfront cost
We have removed the big upfront bill, so a professional website is within reach for almost any business.
Aligned on performance
Our model only works if your site works for you, so we are motivated to build something that actually pulls in enquiries.
Fast, modern build
We use current web technology to build sites that load quickly, stay secure and are ready for search from day one.
Professionally designed
An experienced design team builds a site that looks the part and reflects your brand, not a generic template.
It is honest, affordable and great value: a custom, professionally built website without the five-figure cheque, then one predictable fee that keeps it running. If a cheap, set-and-forget template has burned you before, this is the deliberate opposite.
Explore the $100/month websiteWebsite cost questions, answered
Straight answers on what websites cost in Australia and how our model works.
A professionally designed small business website from a freelancer or small agency usually costs between $3,000 and $10,000 upfront. With our model, you can get a high-performance website for no upfront cost and a flat $100 a month.
For most businesses, yes. A professional website generates enquiries, builds credibility and helps you compete. A well-built, well-performing site tends to pay for itself many times over, which is why we made the upfront cost $0.
You can use a DIY builder like Wix or Squarespace to put together a basic site for free or a small monthly fee. They are fine for a personal project, but they tend to be limited on customisation and SEO, so they rarely suit a business that needs to be found and trusted.
Look for a partner with no large upfront cost and a clear, ongoing relationship. Our build-it-free-then-$100/month model is designed to be great value for Australian businesses: a custom, professionally built site without the five-figure cheque.
A simple brochure website can be ready in about two to four weeks. A larger e-commerce site or custom build can take two to six months or more, depending on the scope and how quickly content comes together.
Design and build at no upfront cost, then hosting, maintenance, security, support and reasonable content updates rolled into the monthly fee. It is month to month, so you are never locked into a long contract.
Reviewed by
Alex Frew
Founder, 3P Digital
Web design at 3P is led by Alex Frew. He served on the Google CEO Advisory Board from 2019 to 2020 and led a group that ran 83 Google BETA programs, 80% of which went on to be adopted globally. Earlier in his career he helped scale CSG from $5M to $330M through its ASX listing.
More about Alex- Google CEO Advisory Board, 2019 to 2020
- Led 83 Google BETA programs, 80% adopted globally
- Scaled CSG from $5M to $330M to ASX listing
- 10+ years in digital marketing
Want a real number for your site?
Book a free website plan and we will map out exactly what you need, what it would cost elsewhere, and how the $100/month build compares. No obligation, no jargon.