The short answer
A Starter Site for a local or small business starts at $3,750, with hosting from $79 a month. A custom Next.js marketing website starts at $9,500, and most land between $12,000 and $18,000. Larger sites with a content editor, integrations or many pages start at $22,000, and most land between $25,000 and $40,000. After launch, care plans for those sites start at $499 a month.
| What | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery (credited to the build) | $1,500 | One-time |
| Starter Site | From $3,750 | Up to ~8 pages, for local and small businesses |
| Starter Site hosting | From $79 a month | Hosting, security, updates and a few small content changes a year |
| Marketing Website | From $9,500 | Most land $12,000 to $18,000 |
| Custom Web Platform | From $22,000 | Most land $25,000 to $40,000 |
| Essential Care | $499 a month | Hosting, updates, 2 hours of changes |
| Growth Care | $1,250 a month | Everything in Essential, 8 hours of changes |
| Work outside your plan | $150 an hour | Or quoted up front |
What a typical project costs
A marketing website for an established business
Around 10 to 20 pages with a custom design, your best content moved over from WordPress, every old address redirected, structured data built in and forms connected to your email or CRM.
A larger site or web platform
Dozens of pages or several locations, a content editor your team uses every week, and connections to listings, booking, payments or back-office tools.
What moves the price
- Number of pages and page types. Ten pages built from three layouts cost less than ten pages that are all different.
- Content. Moving and tidying existing content is faster than writing new copy or organizing hundreds of blog posts.
- Design. Every site I build is custom, but some brands need more design rounds, illustration or photography direction.
- Integrations. Each connection to a CRM, scheduling, listings or payment system adds build and testing time.
- A content editor. If your team wants to publish without me, setting up and training on an editor adds cost.
- Redirects. A site with years of pages and blog posts needs a larger redirect map to protect its Google rankings.
Discovery and payment
Marketing Website and Custom Web Platform projects start with a $1,500 discovery: a UX review of your current site, a sitemap for the new one and a written scope with a fixed price. If you go ahead with the build, the $1,500 is credited toward it. If you don't, the scope is yours to keep. Starter Sites skip paid discovery and are quoted at a fixed price up front.
- Projects under $15,000: half to start and half at launch.
- Projects of $15,000 and up: 40% to start, 30% when you approve the design and 30% at launch.
Costs after launch
A website is not finished on launch day. Every site I build is hosted and looked after on a care plan, so it stays fast, secure and current.
Essential Care
- Managed hosting on Vercel with SSL
- Security and dependency updates
- Uptime monitoring
- Up to 2 hours of changes a month
- Changes done within 3 business days
Growth Care
- Everything in Essential
- Up to 8 hours a month for changes and new pages
- Conversion and UX improvements
- Quarterly review of traffic and leads
- Changes done within 1 business day
Not included: your domain, your email and tools you already pay for, like your CRM. Those stay with your current providers.
How changes get made
You email me what you need: new photos, a price update, a new service page. I make the change and let you know when it is live. Changes inside your plan's hours are already paid for. Anything larger, like a new section of the site or a new integration, is $150 an hour or quoted up front, and nothing starts without your OK.
How long it takes
A typical marketing website takes 4 to 6 weeks from kickoff to launch. Larger platforms are scheduled during discovery. The biggest variable is usually content: projects move fastest when photos, copy and feedback come in promptly. Moving off WordPress? The migration guide walks through the process step by step.
Common questions
Why does a custom Next.js site cost more than a WordPress theme?
A theme is a template many businesses share. A custom Next.js site is designed around your services and customers, built without plugins, and set up so it loads fast and stays secure without weekly patching. You pay more up front and spend less time fixing things later.
Is the price fixed?
Yes. Discovery ends with a written scope and a fixed price. If you later want something that is not in the scope, I quote it first and nothing starts without your OK.
Do I have to be on a care plan?
Marketing Websites and Custom Web Platforms are hosted and looked after on a care plan. It covers hosting, security and dependency updates, monitoring and a set number of hours for your changes each month, so the site keeps working the way it did on launch day. Starter Sites have a simpler hosting option from $79 a month that includes a few small content changes a year.
How do I get changes made after launch?
Email me what you need. On Essential Care, changes are done within 3 business days and up to 2 hours a month are included. On Growth Care, they are done within 1 business day and up to 8 hours a month are included. Larger work is $150 an hour or quoted up front.
Do my domain and email change?
No. Your domain and email stay where they are and are billed by your current providers. The same goes for tools you already pay for, like your CRM or scheduling software.
Is a custom Next.js site right for every business?
Not always. If you only need a handful of pages, the Starter Site (from $3,750) gives a local or small business the same fast, modern Next.js build without the cost of a larger project. If a template site would truly serve you better, I will tell you that up front.
Want a number for your site?
Send me your current site and I'll tell you which tier it fits and what it would cost.
Talk With Mike