I quote website projects every week. The most common reaction I get is confusion. "My friend paid 5,000 for a website. Why are you quoting 40,000?"
Because your friend's website loads in 7 seconds, has no SEO, and is a template with their logo swapped in. That is not a custom website. That is a skin.
What things actually cost, what you are paying for at each price point, and how to avoid the most expensive mistake in web development: going cheap.
The price ranges in 2026
These are real-world prices based on projects I have quoted, built, or reviewed in the past two years. Not agency wish lists. Not Fiverr outliers.
Landing page: 2,000-5,000 DKK ($300-700 USD)
A single page. One message, one call to action. No navigation, no blog, no e-commerce. Used for ad campaigns, product launches, or event signups.
What you get: One responsive page, basic form integration, deployment to a hosting platform.
What you do not get: SEO optimization, content writing, analytics setup, ongoing updates.
Who it is for: Someone running paid ads who needs a focused destination page. Not a long-term business presence.
Starter business site: 8,000-25,000 DKK ($1,000-3,000 USD)
This is a template-based build. A WordPress theme, a Squarespace site, or a Shopify storefront with minor customization. 5-10 pages. Your logo, your colors, your content plugged into someone else's design framework.
What you get: A functional website that looks professional enough. Basic mobile responsiveness. Maybe a contact form and Google Maps embed.
What you do not get: Custom design, serious SEO work, page speed optimization, structured data, or anything that differentiates you from thousands of other sites using the same template.
Who it is for: A brand new business that needs an online presence fast, on a tight budget, with plans to upgrade later.
Professional business site: 25,000-60,000 DKK ($3,000-7,500 USD)
This is where custom development starts. A developer builds your site from scratch (or heavily customizes a framework) to match your specific business needs. 10-30 pages. Custom design, mobile-first layout, SEO optimization, content strategy.
What you get: A website that is designed for your business, not adapted from a template. Proper technical SEO. Fast load times. Content structured around your target keywords. Analytics integration. A site that actually helps you compete.
What you do not get at the lower end: Full e-commerce, complex integrations, or ongoing content production.
Who it is for: Established businesses that depend on their website for leads, credibility, or direct revenue. This is the sweet spot for most small to medium businesses.
Build444 client projects typically land in this range. Hattemanden.dk, a custom Shopify store with bilingual support and SEO optimization, was a project at this level.
E-commerce site: 30,000-100,000 DKK ($4,000-12,500 USD)
Selling products online adds complexity. Product catalogs, inventory management, checkout flows, payment processing, shipping calculations, tax handling, order confirmation emails.
What you get: A store that can actually process transactions reliably. Product pages optimized for search. A checkout flow that does not leak conversions. Integration with your payment processor and shipping provider.
Price drivers: Number of products (10 vs 500), custom checkout logic, subscription features, multi-currency support, ERP integration.
Who it is for: Businesses ready to sell online seriously. Not someone testing the waters with 3 products on Etsy.
Custom platform: 60,000-200,000+ DKK ($7,500-25,000+ USD)
This is software development, not website building. Multi-user dashboards, SaaS applications, booking platforms, marketplace sites, member portals with complex permissions.
What you get: A custom-built application that does exactly what your business needs. Usually includes an admin panel, API integrations, user authentication, and ongoing development.
Who it is for: Businesses whose website IS their product, or businesses with workflows too complex for off-the-shelf solutions.
What drives cost up
Understanding these factors is more useful than memorizing price ranges, because every project is different.
Custom design vs template
A template costs hours. A custom design costs days. If a designer creates your layout from a blank canvas -- wireframes, mockups, revisions, responsive variants -- that is 20-40 hours of skilled work before a single line of code is written.
Templates are not bad. They are fine for many businesses. But if you need to stand out visually or have specific UX requirements, custom design is worth the investment.
Number of pages and content types
10 pages cost less than 50 pages. But it is not linear. Each unique content type (blog posts, case studies, product pages, team profiles) requires its own template, its own layout logic, and its own SEO setup. A 30-page site with 5 content types costs more than a 50-page site with 2.
Integrations
Every third-party connection adds cost. CRM integration, email marketing, payment processing, booking systems, inventory management, shipping APIs, accounting software. Each one needs to be configured, tested, and maintained.
Multilingual support
Adding a second language does not double the cost, but it adds 30-50%. Every page needs translated content, every meta tag needs a translation, URL routing gets more complex, and you need hreflang tags for search engines.
We built Build444.com with full English and Danish support. The i18n architecture alone took significant development time.
Content creation
If you need someone to write your website copy, that is a separate cost. Professional copywriting for a 10-page business site runs 5,000-15,000 DKK. Good copy converts. Bad copy does not. Most businesses underinvest here.
SEO optimization
Basic on-page SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure) should be included in any professional build. But competitive SEO -- keyword research, content strategy, technical audit, structured data, internal linking architecture -- is a separate workstream that adds 5,000-20,000 DKK depending on scope.
What keeps cost down
Clear requirements upfront
The single biggest cost driver in web development is scope changes mid-project. "Can we also add a blog?" three weeks into development costs more than including it from day one. Write down what you need before you ask for quotes.
Existing content ready to go
If you hand your developer finished copy, proofread images, and a clear site map, you save weeks of back-and-forth. Most project delays are not development delays. They are content delays.
Using the right platform
Overbuilding is expensive. If you need a 5-page brochure site, do not build it on a custom React framework. If you need a complex e-commerce platform, do not try to make WordPress do things it was not designed to do. Match the tool to the job. Our Next.js vs WordPress comparison can help you decide.
Working with a developer who scopes honestly
Good developers will tell you when something is overkill. If someone quotes 80,000 DKK for a 5-page site, they are either padding the quote or building something you do not need. If someone quotes 8,000 DKK for an e-commerce site with 200 products, they are cutting corners you will pay for later.
The hidden costs everyone forgets
The sticker price is not the full cost. Budget for these from day one.
Hosting: 100-800 DKK/month
Static sites on Netlify or Vercel: 0-200 DKK/month. WordPress on managed hosting: 200-800 DKK/month. The difference is meaningful over 3 years.
Domain: 100-500 DKK/year
Your .com or .dk renewal. Not expensive, but do not let your developer register it under their account. You should own your domain directly.
SSL certificate: 0 DKK
Free through Let's Encrypt on any modern hosting platform. If someone is charging you for SSL in 2026, find a different provider.
Maintenance: 500-2,000 DKK/month
WordPress sites need monthly plugin updates, security patches, and PHP version checks. A Next.js site on Vercel needs almost nothing. Factor this into your platform decision.
Content updates: varies
Someone needs to update your blog, change your pricing, add new services. If that is you, it costs time. If that is your developer, it costs money. Budget 1,000-3,000 DKK/month if you want a developer on retainer for regular updates.
Why cheap quotes are expensive
The math that most business owners miss.
A 10,000 DKK website that loads in 5 seconds, has no SEO, and converts 0.5% of visitors generates almost no value. It sits there, looking moderately professional, while your competitors with proper websites collect the leads.
A 40,000 DKK website that loads in under a second, ranks for your target keywords, and converts 3% of visitors pays for itself in months.
The cheap website is not cheaper. It is a more expensive way to get no results.
I have rebuilt more websites than I have built from scratch. Almost every rebuild started with "we went with the cheaper quote and now we need to start over." That second build costs more than doing it right the first time.
How to get an accurate quote
- Write down your requirements. Pages needed, features required, integrations, content types, languages.
- Get 3 quotes. Not 1, not 10. Three quotes from developers with relevant portfolios.
- Compare scope, not just price. The cheapest quote is often the smallest scope. Make sure everyone is quoting the same deliverables.
- Ask about ongoing costs. Hosting, maintenance, updates, support. The project price is the beginning, not the end.
- Check their SEO knowledge. If a developer does not mention page speed, metadata, or mobile responsiveness in their proposal, they are not thinking about whether your site will perform after launch.
For guidance on evaluating developers, read our complete guide to choosing a web developer.
Build444 pricing
We are transparent about this. Our web development projects start at 15,000 DKK for a professional business site and scale based on complexity. Every build includes technical SEO, mobile-first design, performance optimization, and structured data.
Browse our full service and product list to see what we offer, or learn more about our web development approach.
If you are not sure what you need yet, start with a free SEO report to understand where your current site stands. That baseline tells you whether you need a redesign, a rebuild, or just targeted improvements.
