If you've asked three companies for a quote on the same small business website, you've probably had three very different numbers back — $250, $1,800, and $4,500 for what sounds like the same thing. Here's what's actually behind those numbers.
The short version
For a typical Ontario small business — a trade, a clinic, a salon, a café, a shop — a five to seven page website should cost somewhere between $250 and $2,500 to build, plus $100 to $200 a year for hosting and a domain. Anything meaningfully above that range is either a much bigger project than you described, or you're paying for overhead.
What you're actually paying for
A website quote is really four separate things bundled into one number, and knowing which is which makes the difference between quotes obvious:
- The build — design and construction of the pages themselves. This is the one-time cost.
- Hosting — the server your site lives on, billed yearly or monthly.
- The domain — your address, typically $15 to $25 a year for a .ca.
- Ongoing support — fixes, updates, and changes after launch.
Agencies often merge all four into a single monthly figure. That's not automatically dishonest, but it makes comparison shopping almost impossible, and it usually means you never actually own anything.
Why the same site costs $250 in one place and $1,800 in another
The gap is almost never the code. It's who's standing between you and the person building the site.
At an agency, a $1,800 quote might break down as a salesperson's commission, a project manager's hours, an account manager, office rent, and then — somewhere near the bottom — the designer and developer who do the work. For a five-page site for a local business, most of that is overhead you're funding but not benefiting from.
A one-person studio has none of that. That's the entire reason the number is lower. It isn't a discount, and it isn't a stripped-down version of the same thing.
If a quote is more than three times another quote for the same brief, ask what specifically is different. A straight answer is a good sign. A vague one about "quality" and "process" is not.
The recurring fees to watch for
This is where small business owners get caught, and it's worth more attention than the build price.
- $40–$150/month "maintenance" — sometimes real work, often just hosting with a markup. Ask exactly what's included and how many hours it covers.
- Hosting billed through the agency — if the hosting account isn't in your name, you can't leave without rebuilding. Insist on owning it.
- Domain registered to the agency — the same problem, but worse. Your domain should be registered to you.
- Per-change fees — a charge every time you want a price or a photo updated adds up fast.
- Licence fees for the theme or builder — a recurring cost that exists only because the site was built on someone else's platform.
Before signing anything, ask one question: if I want to move to another provider in two years, what do I take with me? The answer tells you everything.
What "cheap" actually costs you
The cheapest options aren't free of cost — they just move it somewhere less visible:
- DIY builders ($20–$40/month) — fine to start, but you're renting. The monthly never stops, and you can't take the site with you.
- A $150 marketplace gig — usually a template with your logo dropped in, no local SEO, no support, and nobody to call in six months.
- A relative who "does websites" — free until they get busy, at which point nobody can update your opening hours.
A realistic budget for an Ontario small business
Here's what to plan for in 2026 if you want something that works and that you own:
- Year one: $250–$2,500 build + roughly $140 hosting and maintenance + $15–$25 domain.
- Every year after: $140–$200 total, unless you're adding something new.
That's it. If a quote has a bigger number in year two than year one and nothing new is being built, ask why.
What should always be included
Regardless of who builds it, these are not extras and you shouldn't be charged separately for them:
- An SSL certificate — the padlock in the browser
- A site that works properly on a phone
- Page titles and descriptions written for search
- A contact form that actually reaches your inbox
- Your business name, address, and phone number marked up so Google can read them
- A sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
The one thing worth more than any of this
Set up your Google Business Profile. It's free, it takes an afternoon, and for a local business it often drives more calls than the website does. A website makes it credible and gives it somewhere to point — but if you only do one thing this month, do that one.
So what should you pay?
Pay for a site you own outright, hosted on an account in your name, built by someone who'll answer the phone in eight months. In Ontario in 2026 that starts around $250. If someone wants five times that, the burden is on them to explain what you're getting for it.