You rarely get a straight answer to this question. Most providers write “from” and a small number, and what it costs in the end you learn in the sales call. That is not chance, it is method.
I do it differently here and name real numbers for five routes — including what comes afterwards. Because with a website, the purchase price is almost never the interesting number.
What does a website cost? The five routes compared
| Route | One-off | Ongoing | Your time investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site builder yourself (Wix, Jimdo, Squarespace) | €0 | approx. €15–30 a month, permanently | high — you do everything |
| Building it yourself with AI | €0 | Tools from approx. €15 a month, hosting from approx. €5 | very high the first time |
| Done-with-you (together, in two weeks) | €997 launch price, then €1,997 | hosting only, from approx. €5 a month | two weeks, 6 live calls |
| Done-for-you (someone builds it for you) | €2,500–3,900 net | hosting only, optional maintenance | low — deliver content, approve |
| Agency | 8,000–€15,000 | maintenance contract, often four figures a year | low, but long coordination |
The range between €0 and €15,000 is not an error. It just shows that “website” can mean five different things.
Why the prices lie so far apart
Three factors drive the price — and none of them is the look.
Who does the work. That is the biggest lever. An agency bills hours, and from several people at that: project management, design, implementation, copy. With a single freelancer, that whole surcharge falls away. If you build yourself, you pay with your time instead of money — which is often the more expensive currency.
What comes included. A page that is merely pretty costs less than one that also brings copy, search engine setup and a newsletter connection. This is exactly where the follow-up charges hide: the cheap price covers the shell, everything else costs extra.
Who owns it afterwards. The point almost everyone misses. With a site builder you rent. Stop paying and the page is gone — after four years you have paid €1,400 and own nothing. With your own page on your own hosting you pay once, and afterwards only a few euros a month for the server.
The costs that appear in no offer
Whichever route you choose — these items come on top and almost never appear in offers. They are not dramatic, but you should know them before you calculate.
| Item | Usual scale | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | €10–20 a year | Should run in your name, not the freelancer’s |
| Hosting | €5–15 a month | Likewise in your name — otherwise, in a dispute, you cannot reach your own page |
| Legal texts | from approx. €10 a month | Legal notice, privacy policy, terms if needed. A service keeps them current — writing them yourself is not a good idea |
| Images | stock images from approx. €10, photo shoot €300–1,500 | Your own photos work considerably better than stock images, but cost once |
| Changes later | €80–150 per hour | The most important item. Ask beforehand what a text change costs |
The first two rows in particular are underestimated. If domain and hosting run in someone else’s name, the page is yours only on paper. Clear that up before commissioning, not after.
Worked example: three years, two routes
Numbers say more than principles. Let us take two routes over three years — each with two small changes a year, because that is realistic.
| Site builder | Own page, built for you | |
|---|---|---|
| Build | €0 | €2,500 |
| Ongoing (36 months) | approx. €25 × 36 = €900 | hosting approx. €8 × 36 = €288 |
| Your time during the build | 20–40 hours | approx. 3 hours (delivering content) |
| Changes (6 of them) | done yourself, approx. 6 hours | approx. €600, or yourself if you can |
| Paid after three years | €900 + around 30 hours | €3,388 + around 3 hours |
| And then? | You keep paying. Stop, and the page is gone. | The page is yours. About €96 a year remains. |
The site builder looks cheaper for three years — and that is true. The difference shows afterwards: in year four you pay another €300 with the site builder, under €100 with your own page. And the 30 hours you put into the site builder you never get back.
Count your hours at your own rate. Whoever charges €80 an hour has paid not €900 with the site builder but, on paper, €3,300 — and still owns nothing at the end.
The question worth more than the price
Do not calculate the purchase. Calculate what happens in two years.
Because at some point you will want to change a price, add an offer, swap a text. And that is when it is decided whether your website is a tool or a millstone.
There are three possibilities: you can do it yourself. You have someone who reliably does it for you. Or you cannot and have no one — then the change sits unmade, and the page ages while it keeps costing money.
The most expensive website is not the one for €8,000. It is the one for €2,500 that you cannot touch for two years.
That is why the decisive question is not “What does it cost?”, but: Who changes it next year — and what does that cost then?
Which route fits you?
You want to be able to do it yourself
Then the site builder is the wrong choice, because there you only learn to operate one particular tool. It makes more sense to build the page properly once — with someone beside you who knows the pitfalls. How such a build with AI concretely works, I have shown here step by step.
That is exactly what my Website Sprint is for: in two weeks you build your complete page with AI, as your property, with a content machine attached. Afterwards you can operate it yourself. That is the route for everyone who does not want to be dependent.
You want it done for you
Completely legitimate — and for many the more economical decision. If your time earns more in client projects than you save by building yourself, building yourself is an expensive hobby.
We have someone in-house for that. Cornelia Scherer — Conny — works in my company and builds websites for established self-employed people: online in seven days, for €2,500 net in the basic version and €3,900 net with sales copy and search engine setup. No site-builder rent, but a page of your own that belongs to you. Her line about it says it all: “You take care of the business — I take care of technology, copy and Google.”
The difference to my sprint is solely the question of who does the work. With me you build yourself and can do it afterwards. With Conny you deliver the content and receive the finished page. The result is the same in both cases: your own website that belongs to you.
So you can place it: Conny is part of my team, so this is not a neutral recommendation but our own offer. I name it anyway, because the question “build it yourself or have it built?” would be incomplete without this option.
You do not know yet
Then do not start with the website, but with the question of what it should achieve. A page meant to bring appointments looks different from one that only has to look credible. Whoever skips this pays twice — once for the first page and once for the one that comes after.
How to recognise a good offer
When comparing offers, the price alone does not help you. These five questions do — they cost you five minutes and, in doubt, save you four-figure follow-up charges.
- Who owns domain and hosting at the end? The only correct answer is: you. Anything else means you do not really own the page.
- Who writes the copy? That is the biggest hidden item. “You deliver the content” means: you write your own sales page — and that is the hardest work in the whole project.
- Is search engine setup included? A pretty page nobody finds is expensive decoration. Ask concretely: page titles, descriptions, sitemap, Search Console.
- What does a change after handover cost? Have them name a number. Whoever dodges here has no interest in the time afterwards.
- How long does it take — and what does it depend on? Serious providers name a time frame and the condition for it. Usually the condition is that your content is ready.
If you get a clear answer to all five questions, the price is almost secondary. If you do not, even a cheap offer is too expensive.
What I do not recommend
The page from the acquaintance who knows about these things. It is cheap or free, and that is exactly the problem: when you need a change in a year, he has no time. You can demand nothing, because you paid nothing. I have seen quite a few of these pages — mostly reopened, painfully, by someone who did not build them.
The cheapest offer with a “from” price. A price without a service description is not a price but a door opener. Get it in writing beforehand what is included — especially: who writes the copy, who sets up search engine visibility, who owns the page at the end, and what a change after handover costs.
Which of the five routes you take depends less on budget than on how much you want to build yourself. That is exactly what we talk about in my free community “KI — aber richtig” — the templates and workflows from my videos live there too. And if you want company instead of doing it alone: the AI Business Community offers monthly live calls, workshops and the MACHZEIT! challenge for exactly that.
Frequently asked questions
What does a website cost for the self-employed?
Realistically the routes range between €0 and €15,000. A site builder costs nothing to buy but permanently about €15 to €30 a month. A page built for you by a single freelancer sits at around €2,500 to €3,900 net, one-off. An agency quotes €8,000 to €15,000 for a website including copy and search engine setup. What decides is less the price than the question of who owns the page afterwards and who can change it.
Is a site builder like Wix really cheaper?
To buy, yes; over time, rarely. At €15 to €30 a month you pay €720 to €1,440 after four years — and still do not own the page. Cancel, and it is gone. Your own page on your own hosting costs only a few euros a month after the build and stays yours.
Is building the website yourself worth it?
That hangs on your hourly rate. If your time earns more in client projects than you save by building yourself, building yourself is an expensive hobby. It is worth it when you want to make changes yourself afterwards without commissioning someone each time — that difference pays off over years.
How long does it take to have a website built?
That varies a lot. An agency usually needs several weeks to months, mainly because of the coordination loops. Single freelancers are considerably faster: Cornelia Scherer names seven days once the content is approved. In the Website Sprint the page stands in two weeks, because you build along — six live calls spread the work at a pace that holds alongside the day-to-day business.
What does changing an existing website cost?
That is exactly what you should clear up before commissioning, because this is where the real follow-on costs arise. Usual models are an hourly rate by effort or a monthly maintenance contract. You fare cheapest if you can make small changes yourself and only hand over the bigger ones.
