Website cost
What a website costs in New Zealand, with real numbers.
Most studios won’t tell you until you’ve had a meeting. We publish our prices, so here is what a custom website costs from us, what moves the number, and what to budget after launch.
The short answer
A custom-designed website from Refined Digital costs NZ$20,000 to NZ$25,000 for up to ten pages, NZ$35,000 to NZ$45,000 for up to twenty pages with full copywriting and a brand refresh, and from NZ$60,000 for larger projects with research and conversion strategy.
After launch, hosting and maintenance cost NZ$150 to NZ$2,500 a month, depending on how much is done to the site each month. All prices exclude GST. The pricing page lists what each package includes.
What moves the price
Number of pages
A ten-page site and a forty-page site are different projects. Each page type needs designing, building and filling with content.
Who writes the words
Polishing copy you supply is quick. Writing it from scratch, or planning what the site should say at all, is often the largest single cost.
Integrations
Bookings, a wine club, CRM forms, buyer registrations, calculators. Each connection to another system is design, build and testing in its own right.
Brand and photography
A site built on an existing brand and good photos costs less than one that has to sort out the logo, colours and imagery along the way.
Rounds of changes
Two rounds of revisions is a different budget from open-ended feedback. Agree the number before you start.
Budget for three years, not launch day
The build is the number everyone asks about, but a website is something you run, not something you buy once. A Core Build at NZ$20,000 with a Care plan at NZ$650 a month comes to about NZ$43,400 over three years, or about NZ$41,060 if the care plan is paid annually.
That is the realistic cost of a site that is still fast, secure and current in year three. A cheaper build with nobody maintaining it usually needs replacing by then, and you pay for the build twice.
Cheaper options
Website builders, freelancers and template sites all cost less up front, and for a new business testing an idea they can be the right call. What you trade is time and ownership: you write the content, you choose the layout from a template, and when something breaks, it’s on you.
A studio costs more because someone else takes those jobs on, and stays responsible for the site after it launches. Our website maintenance page explains what that looks like month to month.
Questions to ask any quote
Who owns the domain, content and accounts?
They should be in your name. If you leave, you should leave with everything.
Who writes the content?
If it’s you, budget the time. It is usually what delays a launch.
What happens after launch?
Ask what maintenance costs, what it includes and how long a small change takes.
How are changes priced?
Anything outside the agreed scope should be quoted in writing before work starts.
What happens to the old site?
Old URLs need redirecting, or you lose the search rankings they’ve built up. Here’s how to move without losing them.
Questions about cost.
- How much does a website cost in New Zealand?
- It depends far more on who builds it than on what it is. A custom site from our studio costs NZ$20,000 to NZ$25,000 for up to ten pages, NZ$35,000 to NZ$45,000 for up to twenty pages with copywriting and a brand refresh, and from NZ$60,000 for larger, researched projects. Keeping it maintained costs NZ$150 to NZ$2,500 a month.
- Why does a custom website cost more than a website builder?
- A builder sells you a template and your own time. A custom build pays for someone to plan what the site needs to do, design it for your business, write or polish the content, connect it to your systems and take responsibility for it after launch.
- How long does a website take to build?
- Our Core Build typically takes six to eight weeks and a Growth Build ten to fourteen. The variable is almost always content and photography, not development.
- How do payments work?
- A 40 to 50% deposit books the project and the balance is paid at agreed milestones. The proposal states the price for the agreed scope, and anything outside it is quoted in writing before work starts.
- Do your prices include GST?
- No. All our published prices are in New Zealand dollars and exclude GST.
- Do you quote in Australian dollars?
- No. We quote and bill in New Zealand dollars only, for clients in Australia and everywhere else.
Tell us about your project.
Send a few details and you’ll get a straight answer within two business days: whether we’re a fit, roughly what it would cost, and how long it would take.