How Much Does It Cost to Build a WordPress Website – Total Breakdown

WordPress is currently the most popular Content Management System to maintain a website. In general, using WordPress CMS is free. But still when someone wants to start a new website, he/she needs to have a budget for the WordPress website development.

If you are just starting a new WordPress website, you might be wondering how much does it cost to build a WordPress website.

Building a WordPress website could cost from $500 to $5000 or even more based on the features. If you hire WordPress developer to design the website, the cost goes higher. Doing everything yourself will help to save your pocket.

Here we are going to discuss everything you need to know before starting a WordPress website – cost, necessary WordPress plugins, time to design the website, etc.

Why Does WordPress Website Need Budget?

Most beginners get confused after hearing that WordPress websites need additional cost. WordPress website development is possible with the wordpress.org version and you can use the WordPress CMS for free. But that is not all. There is some additional cost for WordPress website.

You need WordPress themes, plugins, hosting, SSL certificate, etc. along with the WordPress CMS.

However, if you choose the SaaS based WordPress service from wordpress.com, it will cost to use the CMS. Check out the pricing plan for more details.

What Do You Need to Run a WordPress Website?

So, here are the things you need for a new WordPress website –

• A top level domain
• Web hosting service for WordPress
• WordPress themes
• Necessary Plugins for WordPress

Cost for Different Types of WordPress Website

The actual cost to build a WordPress website depends on several factors. For instance, if you are running a giant website, the hosting cost will be high. Similarly, for a small business, the scenario will be the opposite. That’s why here we have discussed the cost for different types of WordPress websites.

Cost for a WordPress Blog Website

Let’s say you want to run a simple WordPress Blog, then you will have to buy the following things –

Domain: The first step to build a WordPress blog is getting its name. For the web, the name of the blog will be the domain name. There are different marketplaces for domains.

But we would recommend Namecheap and GoDaddy for domain names. A fresh domain cost for WordPress website could be around $10.

But there are some premium domains as well that might cost even thousands of bucks. However, for a new blog, it is not essential to go for a premium domain.

So, the average cost for the domain is $10/year.

Hosting: For a new WordPress blog, a starter package of hosting plans would be good enough. Almost all hosting providers have starter plans from where you can pick the desired one. You can also check the top web hosting providers for WordPress.

For example, Bluehost has a starter package that starts from around $3/month. To have minimal pricing, you should choose yearly hosting plans.

The average cost for blog hosting will be around $30/year.

WordPress Themes: There are both free and premium options for WordPress themes. It is up to you what you prefer. My suggestion is starting with a premium theme to avoid bugs.

A premium blog theme price will cost you from $30 to $40, but it is worth buying.

The average cost for a premium WordPress theme is $35. While a premium multipurpose theme like the Total theme will cost $59 or more, but it is worth buying.

Website Builders: Both of these plugins will make everything smooth and easy. With ElementsKit’s lite version, you will even have the free ready templates for different sections of a website. However, if you are looking for high-end customization, you can go for premium plugin as well.

For blogs, we recommend two Page Builder plugins – 

• Elementor Free version
• ElementsKit Lite

Both of these plugins will make everything smooth and easy. With ElementsKit’s lite version, you will even have the free ready templates for different sections of a website.

As we recommend only the free versions, there won’t be any cost.

Subscriber Form Plugin: When you are getting a significant amount of visitors to your Blog, you should integrate a subscription form. For this, we recommend MetForm.

You can integrate third-party email marketing tools and CRM tools with MetForm.

It is the most flexible and user-friendly form builder plugin for WordPress. Check out the detailed features of MetForm to learn more about it.

The pricing of MetForm starts from $39/year.

Social Share Plugin: Want to let your visitors share your blog posts? Then you should integrate a Social Share plugin. WP Social is a great option for it.

With Wp Social, you can show the number of social shares, number of followers for social media pages, and many more.

Pricing for Wp Social starts from $29/year.

So, the overall cost for a Blog website tool will be around $150-$200 per year.

SEO Plugin: Publishing random posts on your blog won’t bring visitors to your site. You need to optimize the website as well as the blog posts. On-page optimization is especially important for a new blog.

Though there are different SEO plugins available for WordPress, we highly recommend the Rank Math SEO.

You can start for free and then migrate to premium packages of Rank Math. 

Now, if you design the website yourself, there won’t be any need for a WordPress developer. Otherwise, you will have to hire a WordPress developer, which will cost you around $300 for the entire design.

If you calculate the total cost to build a WordPress website for blogging, it will be more or less $500.

Cost for a Business/SaaS Business Website

Now let’s say you want to build a business website or SaaS business website, the cost will be different than a WordPress blog website.

Here are the things that you need for a business website –

Domain: The cost of a domain name will be the same as blog websites, which is around $10. But if you consider a brandable domain, the price will increase. And we recommend brandable domains for businesses.

Let’s consider the cost for a business website domain will be $100.

Hosting: In general, you will find two types of hosting options from different web hosting service providers – managed web hosting and shared web hosting. For business websites, we highly recommend managed WordPress hosting to have better support.

Managed web hosting services start from $20/month and it will vary depending on the service providers. If you choose a renowned hosting provider like Siteground, the cost may increase.

So, you can assume that you will have to spend more or less $300 per year on hosting.

But if it is a simple blog website or a small business website, you should consider shared hosting.

Security Plugin: Though WordPress has enough security features, still you should be aware of the security of your site.

There are some popular WordPress security plugins you can choose from – Wordfence Security, All In One WP Security & Firewall, etc.

Depending on your preferences, it may cost around $100 to $150.

Page Builders: Again, we recommend Elementor and ElementsKit plugins for business website designing. But for business websites, we highly recommend the premium version of both of the plugins.

Especially, if you don’t want to spend much on the development of the website, these pagebuilders will help you a lot.

• Elementor Pro pricing starts from $49/year.
• ElementsKit Pro pricing starts from $39/year.

Choose the plan according to your business goal. 

WordPress Theme for Business Website: The business website should have a Stunning outlook with the best user interface (UI). That’s why you must use a premium business WordPress theme for the website.

We recommend the Induxo – Industry WordPress Theme for business websites. The regular license fee for the theme is only $39. 

Subscription Form: Use a custom form builder when you are collecting leads from your business website. To design a user-friendly and converting subscription form, we recommend MetForm.

MetForm premium subscription starts from $39 per year.

CRM Software: In business, you need to track your business growth, contact list, email campaigns, and more. For this, having a CRM software installed on your site is mandatory. Among all other CRM software, HubSpot has considerably better features.

HubSpot pricing starts from as low as $45/month. So, you may have to spend at least $540 per year.

Once you have all the plugins and essential tools for the business website, you can design a business website within no time.

If you don’t have any knowledge of WordPress, you need to hire an expert or a team of experts, which will cost you around $500 to $2000.

So, the overall cost for a business WordPress website will be around $1000 to $3000. But you can always cut the budget by doing things yourself with WordPress page builders. The opposite is also true when you need advanced level functionalities for your WordPress site.

How Much Does It Cost to Build a WordPress eCommerce site?

Cost for WordPress website for eCommerce store won’t be same as a blog website with WordPress. eCommerce stores need various additional features that increase the cost to build the WordPress website.

Domain: Domain cost will be the same as business websites and blog websites. However, for eCommerce websites, you should keep a bit higher budget for the domain name.

Hosting: eCommerce websites used to have tons of elements. Managing them and maintaining the inventory needs good web hosting. For eCommerce, you can choose a managed Web hosting package.

As mentioned earlier, a good managed web hosting may cost around $20 per month. But remember that if you are expecting to receive millions of traffic to the store, you must go for a higher package. 

WooCommerce: To run an eCommerce website with WordPress, you must have to install WooCommerce. The plugin has both free and paid options. Though you can perform most of the tasks with the free version, you can check premium features as well.

So, primarily, you can start for free.

WordPress eCommerce Plugins: You might have heard that building an eCommerce website costs a lot. Well, it is true when you are doing everything from scratch. But let us introduce you to the WooCommerce plugins that will save you a lot.

For a full fledged eCommerce website, you need –

• Elementor – it is the ultimate page builder for WordPress websites
• ShopEngine – It is the most advanced Elementor addons for WooCommerce.

Elementor helps you to design different sections of an eCommerce website without any code.

And if you install ShopEngine along with Elementor, you can design a complete WooCommerce store. 

• Elementor pro pricing starts from $49 per year.
• ShopEngine Pro’s pricing starts from $59 per year.

WooCommerce Themes: You want to give a stunning look to your WooCommerce store, right? For that, you should use a WooCommerce theme.

SSL Certificates: As an online store, there will be a transaction system, right? But what if your customers can’t trust you while paying for an order? Yes, it can happen when you don’t have an SSL certificate.

SSL certificates indicate that the transaction will be safe and secure. With most hosting service providers, you will get a free SSL certificate for the first year. But in general, it can cost you from $10 to $15 for an SSL certificate.

Once you purchase all the essential tools and plugins for an eCommerce website, you need to start building the website. If you can handle the page builders and themes, you can do the entire thing yourself.

Otherwise, you can take the help of a WooCommerce expert, which may cost you $500 to $1500. However, this is the initial cost and it will increase over time. Especially, when you are expanding your business, you will need more expert people and that will cost extra.

So, you can assume that the total cost to build a WordPress website for an eCommerce store could be in between $500-$2000.

How Much Does it Cost to Maintain a WordPress Website?

Now you know what is the cost for WordPress websites. It is time to get a detailed idea about the maintenance cost for a WordPress website.

If you are managing everything yourself and have proper knowledge about WordPress CMS, you won’t have to worry about additional costs. All you have to do is renew the existing tools and WordPress plugins.

In case it is a WordPress business website or an eCommerce website, you might have to hire someone who can look after the entire website. Depending on the person’s expertise, it could cost $100 to $1000 per month. It will even increase if you are offering services or a variety of products. 

Final Words

Now you know that how much does it cost to build a WordPress website. But always remember that here we have shared just an estimated cost for different types of WordPress websites. It will vary based on the website’s structure, functionalities, and purpose.