How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026?

The truth is simple: a “website” does not have a single price because it is not a single product. In 2026, the cost mainly depends on whether you are buying a quick template-based implementation or designing a real UX and building a system that can be developed and maintained over time.

In the text below, I also reference market data: project cost ranges and hourly rates (Clutch), median hourly rates (Upwork), and median UX salaries in Poland (salary reports). For currency conversions, I use NBP exchange rates from 20.02.2026 (USD and EUR).

1) First: what actually makes up the cost of a website

The price is usually the sum of:

UX and visual design (UI)
Research, wireframes, prototype, design system, usability testing, or the lack of it.

Frontend and backend implementation
WordPress, headless, custom backend, integrations, forms, admin panel, business logic.

Content and media
Copywriting, photos, video, illustrations, animations, editing, licenses.

SEO and analytics
Technical SEO, schema, GA4, GTM, events, dashboards.

Performance and security
Cache, Core Web Vitals optimization, WAF, hardening, backups, monitoring.

Maintenance
Updates, fixes, further development, incident response.

That is why “the same 5-page website” can cost 4k or 60k. The difference lies in the quality of the process and whether someone takes responsibility for the result.

2) Market reference points

Rates and project costs

Clutch reports that most web development projects in their database are below 10,000 USD, and many agencies declare hourly rates of 25-49 USD/h.

Upwork shows a median rate of 30 USD/h for web developers.

For currency conversion: on 20.02.2026, NBP lists
1 USD = 3.5898 PLN
1 EUR = 4.2241 PLN

Which means:

25-49 USD/h is approximately 90-176 PLN/h
median 30 USD/h is approximately 108 PLN/h

These are global benchmarks, not a “Poland price list”. But they clearly show the mechanism: cost mainly increases with the number of hours and the quality of the team.

Why UX/UI clearly increases the budget

In Polish salary reports, median UX/UI salaries are around 10,000-12,000 PLN per month, depending on the report and seniority level.

If a project is supposed to include dedicated UX/UI work, this is not a two-hour add-on. It is real specialist work.

3) What it costs in practice: 4 types of websites in 2026

Below are realistic ranges for commercial projects. These are “from-to” ranges because the final cost depends on the number of views, design quality, number of integrations, and whether you build something that “just works” or something that works fast and predictably.

A) Simple template-based site / Elementor build

Who it is for: local service, business card website, “just needs to be online”, minimal budget.
What you get: ready-made layout, small modifications, basic forms, often many plugins.

Typical cost: 2,000-8,000 PLN
Time: 1-7 working days, depending on content
Risk: performance and long-term maintenance, technical debt grows over time

This is fine if you consciously accept that it is a quick implementation, not a product.

B) “Normal” company website on WordPress with solid architecture

Who it is for: companies that want something fast, stable, SEO-friendly, without drama during updates.
What “solid” means in 2026: blocks, clean plugin structure, good cache, proper hosting, basic hardening.

Typical cost: 8,000-25,000 PLN
Usually includes: custom sections or blocks, image optimization, analytics, basic SEO
In this category, price to quality ratio is often the best.

C) Dedicated UX/UI plus custom frontend (WordPress or headless)

Who it is for: when the website is meant to sell, convert, and function as a real business tool, not just look nice.
What you are paying for: design process, prototypes, testing, refined microinteractions, performance work.

Typical cost: 25,000-80,000 PLN
Time: 4-12 weeks
Effect: the biggest difference in conversion and perceived quality

At this level, you are paying for advantage, not just presence online.

D) Website as a product (advanced integrations, configurators, “mini app”)

Who it is for: when the website includes business logic, integrations, large amounts of content, user roles, personalization.
Examples: offer configurators, complex catalogs, large-scale multilingual setups, ERP or CRM integrations.

Typical cost: 80,000-250,000+ PLN
At this point, you are building software, not just a website.

4) E-commerce

A store is not “a website plus a cart”. It is processes, integrations, payments, shipping, VAT handling, GDPR compliance, returns, automation.

WooCommerce “starter”: 20,000-60,000 PLN
Well-optimized store with UX, performance, integrations: 60,000-200,000+ PLN

Clutch often shows project budget brackets like “under 10k USD” and “10k-49k USD”, which aligns well with the fact that e-commerce quickly moves beyond the small-budget range.

5) Ongoing costs in 2026 that people forget

Maintenance and development

Minimum reasonable package, updates, backups, monitoring: 300-1,500 PLN per month
For larger websites and stores: 1,500-6,000+ PLN per month

Hosting and tools

Decent hosting: 50-300 PLN per month
With high traffic: more, including cache, CDN, WAF

The point is not to overspend. The point is to understand that a website is not a one-time purchase.

6) Why are my prices relatively low if I do not use templates?

This is not a template and not copy-paste between clients. Over the years, I have built my own WordPress architecture: ready-made backend foundations, security standards, configurations, and integrations, including ACF structures, block architecture, and performance optimizations that repeat in most projects anyway. Because of that, I do not waste budget rebuilding the same technical foundations from scratch every time. I can allocate it where it makes the biggest difference: dedicated UX/UI and a clean, lightweight frontend.

Summary

If you only want to “be online”, a 2,000-8,000 PLN budget makes sense and is enough.

If you want a fast, stable company website that will not fall apart after a year, a realistic range is 8,000-25,000 PLN.

If you care about conversion, refined UX/UI, and competitive advantage, prepare 25,000-80,000 PLN.

If the website is meant to be a system with business logic, integrations, and larger scale, you start from 80,000 PLN and up.

And if you want the sweet spot: a custom, fast website without burning budget on things I already have architecturally solved, contact me. We will calculate it specifically for your case and you will see clearly where it is worth investing and where it is not.

Sources:

Clutch: Web Development Pricing Guide

Clutch: Top Web Design Companies in Poland (budżety projektów)

Upwork: Web Developers cost (mediana stawki)

Target Poland Salary Report Poland 2025 (UX Designer median)

Goldman Recruitment Salary Survey 2025 (UX/UI median)

NBP: Table no. 035/A/NBP/2026 (kurs USD i EUR na 20.02.2026)