Why do prices vary so much?
You asked for a quote on a website and received proposals between €500 and €10,000. That is neither random nor dishonest. The differences in price reflect real differences in quality, complexity, service and positioning.
The 4 broad categories of solution
1. DIY (do it yourself)
Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo and the rest. These site builders let anyone put together an online presence without writing a line of code. The result often looks decent enough, but it is limited on SEO, on performance and on customization. Suited to nonprofits or very small operations with little budget.
2. The monthly subscription route
An agency builds and runs your WordPress site for a fixed monthly fee. Hosting, maintenance, security and updates included. It is the most balanced answer for small and medium businesses: professional, no upfront investment, no unpleasant surprises. Ownership of the site transferred after 12 months in the better offers. See our three subscription plans in detail.
3. The WordPress freelancer
A freelancer builds your site to your own specification. The result is bespoke, but you then have to handle hosting, maintenance and updates yourself (or pay for them separately). The relationship depends entirely on the freelancer you choose.
4. The web agency
For complex projects, large companies or ambitious online stores, a web agency brings expertise, process, and a multidisciplinary team. The result is excellent but the budget is substantial.
Price ranges for a professional website, in euros
Enough generalities: here are the orders of magnitude actually charged in France in 2026, then our own rates, public and identical for everyone.
What the market charges
- Online site builder (Wix, Squarespace): €15 to €50 a month. The domain name, the copy, the photographs and the SEO stay on your plate, paid in money or in time.
- WordPress freelancer: €1,500 to €5,000 in one payment for a brochure site. Hosting, maintenance and updates are then billed separately, often €30 to €80 a month.
- Conventional web agency: €4,000 to €15,000 for a brochure site, €8,000 to €40,000 for an online store, with an annual maintenance contract on top.
- All inclusive subscription: €50 to €250 a month, with the build, hosting, maintenance, security and changes included, plus a set up fee at the start.
Our rates, not up for negotiation
| Plan | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Site Web Start | One page WordPress site, copywriting included, domain name, SSL certificate, content delivery network, hosting, automatic daily backup, SEO groundwork, 1 support ticket a year | €59/month or €639/year |
| Site Web Essentiel | Brochure site, blog or store up to 10 pages and 15 products written for you, SEO strategy applied, quarterly report, 2 support tickets a year | €109/month or €1,178/year |
| Site Web Premium | Advanced site or store up to 20 pages and 30 products, monthly strategic review, anti DDoS protection, monthly report, 5 support tickets a year | €230/month or €2,484/year |
On top of these monthly payments comes a €99 registration fee, once only, whatever the plan; it covers the scoping, the design and the launch. There is no minimum term, and the site belongs to you after twelve months. One off work outside a subscription is paid for by the unit: €89 for a one hour ticket, or €399 for the pack of five hours. Amounts in euros, VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French tax code.
How should you read these figures? Over three years, a Site Web Start subscription comes to €2,223 all in (€99 + 36 × €59), hosting, maintenance and updates included. A €3,000 site paid in one go, with hosting and maintenance added on afterwards, sits in the same order of magnitude, but with the cash tied up from day one. So the choice turns less on the total price than on how you want to spread it and on what is genuinely taken care of.
The hidden costs nobody tells you about
- Web hosting, if it is not included in your plan
- The domain name (renewed every year)
- The SSL certificate, depending on the provider
- WordPress and plugin updates, if you outsource them
- Automatic backups, sometimes billed as an extra
- Monthly SEO work
- Regular content creation
How do you avoid being taken for a ride?
- Ask who will own the site and the domain name
- Insist on a transfer clause in the terms and conditions
- Check the cancellation terms
- Ask for references and go and look at the sites they have built
- Be wary of abnormally low prices: below a certain figure something has been cut, and it is rarely the part you would have chosen to cut
To see how these amounts translate into a real project, the page for our web agency in Pau, south west France sets out how a project runs and what each plan covers.
Conclusion
The best investment is not the cheapest one, it is the one that brings the most back. A professional website that ranks well and brings in 3 clients a month pays for itself in a week. The real question is: what is it costing you not to have one?
Have you got a quote in hand and a doubt about what it actually covers? Send it to us for a second opinion, and we will take it apart line by line.
There is also our guide to launching an online store, step by step if you want support shaped around your case.
And it is worth seeing what sets a premium website apart from the low cost options.
