The 99 euro website? What an affordable small-business website really costs

For 99 euros you usually get a website builder subscription, a ready-made template or a few hours of help — not a finished business website filled with your content that someone takes responsibility for. Even an affordable site is made of three parts: one-off work, running costs and your own time. This post breaks down what each part costs and what you get when you have the site built for you. We build small-business websites from 999 € + VAT, and at the end we list exactly what that price includes.

What a website's price is made of

When comparing website prices, separate three things:

1. One-off work — planning, texts, images, building and publishing. This is what a quote usually prices.
2. Running costs — the domain (e.g. your-company.com), hosting or the builder's monthly fee, email and any maintenance.
3. Your own time — writing texts, finding images, giving feedback and making updates later.

The lowest price in one column often moves the cost to another. A 99 euro site may mean you do the texts and the building yourself, or that a monthly fee runs for as long as the site is online.

What 99 euros usually buys

When a 99 euro website is advertised, it is typically one of these:

• A website builder subscription. You build the site yourself from templates and the service bills you monthly or yearly. AI-powered builders now produce a first draft from a few questions, but checking and finishing the texts is still up to you.
• A ready-made template. You get the design; content, images and publishing are on you.
• A light starter package. One page or a few hours of work, with anything more billed separately.

None of these is a bad choice if you have the time and want to do it yourself.

Free hosting is not always for business use

Many low-cost setups rely on free hosting, and free tiers come with terms. For example, as of October 2026 Vercel's free Hobby plan is, according to Vercel's own documentation, for personal, non-commercial use only. A business site therefore usually needs a paid plan or other hosting. Check the terms before you count hosting as zero.

Where the cheapest option gets expensive

Count the cost over the site's whole life. Typical places where cheap turns expensive:

• Your time. If the site takes several evenings, that time comes out of your actual work.
• Texts. AI writes a draft quickly, but it doesn't know your services, prices or customers. Vague copy doesn't bring enquiries.
• Phones. Many customers look for a local business on their phone first, and Google indexes sites based on their mobile version. The phone view has to work properly.
• Portability. A site built in a website builder can't always be moved to another service as it is. If the service or its pricing changes, you may have to rebuild.
• Extras. Booking, a shop or a second language often cost extra or need a pricier plan.

What you get for 999 € + VAT

Our small-business websites start from 999 € + VAT. The price includes:

• up to five pages, for example home, services, about, prices and contact
• a design that works well on a phone
• basic SEO: titles, descriptions and a structure that is clear to Google.

The site is usually ready within a week once your texts and images are in. AI drafts the design and the texts from what you tell us, and a developer checks, corrects and publishes the site.

What the price does not include: the domain, hosting and maintenance are agreed separately, and we list the options in the quote. Larger sites, online shops and booking systems are quoted separately.

What AI does and what it doesn't

In the way we work, AI speeds up the drafting stage: it proposes a page structure, drafts a layout and writes first versions of the texts from what you tell us.

The work doesn't disappear, though. Someone has to check that the texts are true, that the contact form really sends a message, that the site works on different phones and that Google understands what you do and where. That step separates a finished site from a draft, and it is most of what you pay for. More on this: AI websites — fast, but finished by a person.

Which one fits you?

Build it yourself with a website builder if:

• you have the time and interest to learn the tool
• you mainly need a site as an online business card
• the monthly fee fits your budget in the long run.

Have the site built if:

• you want someone to be responsible for the result and the launch
• the site has to bring enquiries, not just exist
• you want to extend it later, for example with booking or a shop.

Next step

If you want a finished site at a clear price, see small business websites or tell us about your business and we'll send you a quote.