I built my first WordPress website almost 20 years ago, and I still remember assuming it would be free. After all, WordPress itself doesn’t cost anything, so why would running a site?
I quickly found out the hard way that hosting fees, premium themes, and plugin costs added up faster than I expected. What I thought was a free website ended up costing real money.
I’ve seen the same thing happen to many business owners and friends. Most people underestimate how much a WordPress website actually costs.
That’s why I created this complete breakdown of WordPress website costs. I’ll walk you through everything from the bare minimum budget to a full professional setup, so you can plan ahead and avoid costly surprises.
Quick Estimate of the Cost of Building a WordPress Website
I have broken down the typical costs into four common WordPress website types.
Here is a quick summary of what you can expect to spend every year for each:
| Website Type | Estimated Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Low Budget Website | $46 – $100 |
| Small Business Website | $300 – $1,000 |
| eCommerce Store | $1,000 – $3,000+ |
| Custom Website | $5,000 – $15,000+ |
Now, let’s explore what is included in each of these budget levels and how you can manage your spending.
I’m going to cover a lot of important information in this article. You can use the quick links below to jump straight to the topic you want to learn about:
- What Do You Need to Build a WordPress Website?
- What's the Cost of a WordPress Website (Low Budget)?
- What's the Cost of a Small Business Website with WordPress?
- What's the Cost of a WordPress eCommerce Website?
- What's the Cost of a Custom WordPress Site?
- How to Avoid Overpaying on Your WordPress Website?
- Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Website Costs
What Do You Need to Build a WordPress Website?
The WordPress software itself is free and open-source, meaning anyone can download and use it. But to create a live website that people can visit, you will need a few essential services.
The total cost of a WordPress website can be broken down into four main parts:
| Component | Purpose | Average Cost Range |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress Hosting | This is where your website’s files are stored online, making your site accessible on the internet. | $35 – $150 / year |
| Domain Name | This is your website’s unique address that users type into their browser, like wpbeginner.com. | $0 – $20 / year (often free for the first year with hosting) |
| Design (Theme) | A theme controls the visual appearance, layout, and style of your website. | $0 – $100+ (one-time or annual fee) |
| Plugins & Extensions | These are apps you install to add new features, such as contact forms or online stores. | $0 – $200+ / year (varies widely based on needs) |
While WordPress offers thousands of free themes and plugins to get you started, hosting and a domain name are the initial required costs. As your website grows, you can choose to invest in premium themes or plugins for more features.
Feeling lost? Don’t worry – let me walk you through the real cost of building a WordPress site.
What’s the Cost of a WordPress Website (Low Budget)?
You can launch a fully functional WordPress website for a very low cost, typically between $46 and $100 for the entire first year.
This is completely achievable by taking advantage of special hosting deals and using the vast library of free WordPress themes and plugins.
First, you will need a domain name and web hosting. A domain name typically costs around $14.99 per year, and web hosting starts at about $7.99 per month.
Thankfully, Bluehost, an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider, has agreed to offer our users a free domain name and a significant discount on web hosting.
📝 For more hosting recommendations, check out our guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting.
Next, you will need to install WordPress on your hosting account. You can follow our complete step-by-step guide on how to start a WordPress blog.
Once WordPress is installed, you can choose a design using a free template. These templates are called WordPress themes, and they control your website’s appearance.
There are thousands of professionally designed free themes available. For inspiration, see our expert pick of beautiful free WordPress blog themes.
After choosing a theme, you can follow the instructions in our guide on how to install a WordPress theme.
Next, you may want to add features like a contact form, photo gallery, or slider. There are more than 59,000 free WordPress plugins that can help you do that without costing a cent.
Not sure where to start? We’ve put together a list of essential free plugins that we recommend for almost every website:
Features
- WPForms Lite – Add contact forms to your site and even accept online payments with Stripe.
- SeedProd Lite – Easily build custom landing pages for your website without writing any code.
Website Optimization
- All in One SEO – Improve your WordPress SEO and get more traffic from search engines like Google.
- MonsterInsights (Free) – Track your visitors using Google Analytics to see where people are coming from and what they’re interested in.
- WP Super Cache – Improves your website’s speed by adding cache, which helps your site load much faster for visitors.
Website Security
- Duplicator or UpdraftPlus – These WordPress backup plugins ensure you always have a copy to restore if disaster strikes.
- Sucuri or MalCare – Scan your site for malware to keep your visitors safe.
There are many more free plugins that can add all kinds of features to your site. You can explore more in our roundup of the must-have WordPress plugins for all websites.
What’s the Cost of a Small Business Website with WordPress?
For a small business, building a professional WordPress website typically costs between $300 and $1000 per year. This budget allows for quality hosting, a premium theme, and essential plugins to help you generate leads and grow your business.
This estimate does not cover a full eCommerce store, which I will go into more detail about in the next section.
For a standard business site, you can start with an affordable hosting plan to keep initial costs down.
I recommend SiteGround’s GrowBig plan. They are known for their excellent support, which is a lifesaver for busy owners who don’t have a technical background.
Next, you should choose a premium theme for your design. This ensures you have access to support and updates. You can find excellent options in our list of the best WordPress themes for business websites.
To add the right functionality to your website, you will need a combination of free and premium plugins. Here are the premium tools I believe are essential for a small business website to succeed.
Features
- WPForms Pro – The premium version has all the features you need to generate leads, including payment fields, conversational forms, and powerful integrations.
- SeedProd Pro – A drag-and-drop page builder that lets you easily customize every part of your business website.
- WP Mail SMTP – This is essential for making sure your business emails are delivered reliably and don’t end up in the spam folder.
- Uncanny Automator – An automation plugin that connects your website with 200+ popular business tools.
Marketing
- Constant Contact – One of the best email marketing services for small businesses.
- OptinMonster – Helps you convert website visitors into leads and customers with popups, banners, and other campaigns.
- MonsterInsights Pro – This Google Analytics plugin helps you make data-driven decisions to grow your business.
- All in One SEO Pro – Improves your website’s SEO rankings so more customers can find you on search engines.
Security
- Duplicator Pro – Comes with automatic scheduled backups, remote cloud storage, and easy site migration tools.
- Sucuri Firewall or MalCare – A website firewall and malware protection are non-negotiable for a business site.
For more details on getting set up, see our step-by-step guide on how to make a small business website.
What’s the Cost of a WordPress eCommerce Website?
Building an online store with WordPress requires a more significant investment than a standard website. Based on my experience, the cost of a WordPress eCommerce site typically ranges from $1,000 to $3,000 per year, but this can increase based on the paid addons and services you need.
This budget allows for more powerful hosting, an essential SSL certificate for security, and the premium plugins required to manage products, payments, and marketing effectively.
In addition to hosting and a domain, your eCommerce site will need an SSL certificate to securely accept payments. I recommend using one of our recommended WooCommerce hosting providers because many of their plans include a free domain and a free SSL certificate.
Next, you will need to choose an eCommerce plugin. While there are several options, I recommend WooCommerce. It is the most popular eCommerce platform in the world, powering millions of successful online stores.
⭐ For more information, please see our detailed WooCommerce review.
You can get started by following our step-by-step guide on how to start an online store. After that, you will need to pick a theme with full WooCommerce support from our list of the best WooCommerce themes.
While WooCommerce itself is free, you will need paid extensions and services for advanced functionality. Here are some of the paid services I recommend for any serious eCommerce website.
Features
- WPForms – To add customer inquiry forms, surveys, and feedback forms.
- SeedProd Pro – Lets you create custom product grids and customize the WooCommerce checkout page.
- WP Mail SMTP – This is critical for ensuring your order confirmations and customer emails are delivered reliably.
- Uncanny Automator – Connects your online store with 200+ popular tools to automate key business tasks.
- FunnelKit – Boost your revenue with high-converting sales funnels, one-click upsells, order bumps, and more.
Marketing
- OptinMonster – Convert abandoning visitors into customers with targeted popups and offers.
- Constant Contact – A powerful email marketing service to engage your customers.
- MonsterInsights – Provides real-time eCommerce tracking in Google Analytics so that you can see what your customers are buying.
- All in One SEO Pro – Improve your WooCommerce SEO to drive more qualified buyers to your online store.
- HubSpot – An all-in-one CRM, live chat, and marketing automation platform.
Security
- Duplicator or BlogVault – Regular backups of your store, customer data, and order details are non-negotiable.
- Sucuri – A website firewall is crucial for protecting customer payment information and preventing attacks.
Remember, the best approach is to start with the essentials and then add more tools as your online store grows and generates revenue.
What’s the Cost of a Custom WordPress Site?
A custom WordPress site means hiring a developer to build a unique design and specialized features just for you. The cost varies widely, but you can generally expect a custom theme to cost between $2,000 and $5,000, while a complete custom website often ranges from $6,000 to $15,000 or even higher.
For a site of this scale, it’s also wise to use a managed WordPress hosting provider. This setup offers a high-performance environment with premium support and developer-friendly tools.
⭐ Since several of you asked for more details on this section, we have created a comprehensive guide on how much a custom WordPress theme costs, plus tips on how you can save money.
One of the most effective ways to reduce custom site costs is by using the SeedProd plugin to create your own designs.
SeedProd is a powerful drag-and-drop website builder that lets you create custom themes and page layouts without editing any code.
In fact, you can use SeedProd to reduce your custom WordPress site costs by as much as 90%. For more details, see our tutorial on how to easily create a custom WordPress theme with SeedProd.
We’ve used SeedProd to design multiple websites for our partner brands, including the WP Charitable, WPForms, and Duplicator sites.
💡 You can learn more about this popular page builder plugin by checking out our complete SeedProd review.
How to Avoid Overpaying on Your WordPress Website?
My advice is always to start small and then scale your WordPress site as it grows. In many cases, you don’t need all the premium features you see on well-established websites in your industry.
Remember, those websites had a head start. It likely took them time to figure out how to manage costs and invest in the right tools for growth.
You can start with a budget-friendly website using free plugins and templates. Once you start getting visitors, you can consider adding premium features like a professional theme, email marketing, or a paid backup plugin.
The same principle applies to an eCommerce website. Just start with the bare minimum needed to make sales, then add more tools as you figure out what will best help you and your customers.
Another top tip is to look for the best WordPress deals and coupons to get discounts.
And remember, you don’t always need to hire a developer.
We have dozens of step-by-step tutorials to guide you through creating many different types of WordPress websites, such as:
- How to create a business directory
- How to create a review website
- How to build an auction website
- How to build a coupons website
- How to create a multilingual website
- How to create a job board
- How to create a Q&A website
- How to create a portfolio website
- How to create a knowledge base
- How to create an online marketplace
Video Tutorial
If you’d prefer a visual overview of how much it costs to build a WordPress site, you can check out our video tutorial:
Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Website Costs
Can I build a WordPress website completely for free?
While the WordPress software itself is free, you still need to pay for a domain name and web hosting to make your site live on the internet. However, by using a free theme, free plugins, and an affordable host, you can get started for under $100 for the first year.
How much does monthly maintenance for a WordPress site cost?
You can perform basic maintenance like updates and backups yourself for free. If you hire a professional service, then WordPress maintenance plans typically cost between $50 and $200 per month, depending on your site’s size and complexity.
Is WordPress cheaper than other website builders?
WordPress can often be cheaper, especially for growing websites. While builders like Wix have simple monthly fees, they often charge more for advanced features like eCommerce. With WordPress, you have more control over your spending and can find competitive pricing for hosting, plugins, and themes.
I hope this article answers your questions about how much a website costs to build. You may also want to see our list of legit ways to make money online with WordPress, and our AI-powered business name generator tool to come up with company name ideas.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
al amin Sheikh
I don’t know why still people go to Shopify where WP with WC can be scaled up for large e-commerce websites.
Very helpful for the business owner.
Moinuddin Waheed
Most of the times when we get into something and start doing , it becomes very difficult to come out of that platform and test other available options.
I had similar interests in other platforms untill I tested wordpress myself. once I started working on wordpress, it started giving a feeling like I can make anything on the web with the help of wordpress.
This has led me to make a nearly complete transition to this platform.
Those who are using Shopify or other platforms are infact never tasted the ease of wordpress.
Jiří Vaněk
The answer is simple. Because WordPress is not that easy for beginners. It requires maintenance, updates (which don’t always go smoothly and can sometimes break the website), and it often needs coding adjustments. That’s why many people prefer simpler, ready-made solutions that require little to no maintenance. And that’s also very appealing.
Jiří Vaněk
It’s an interesting comparison when I compare it to the prices in the country where I live. Web hosting here is at a similar price, but, for example, own server here is significantly cheaper. The biggest costs for us are the plugin prices, which are the same for everyone, and then, of course, the developer, who costs about 50 Euros per hour of work. However, a small blog or personal portfolio in the Czech Republic costs around 500 Euros, and a large website or e-shop costs ten times as much.
Moinuddin Waheed
Thanks for the breakdown of the costing for making an online presence whether it’s a blog or a website.
The cost may vary depending upon the nature and requirements of the website but the basic and standard cost of most important aspects of the website like domain name , hosting almost remains the same.
Iriogbe peter
I appreciate the effort you put into crafting this article.
I want to ask, how much should a web developer charge from a client who wants to build a customized WordPress website?
WPBeginner Support
It heavily depends on the individual and site, we do not have a guide for deciding pricing from a developer’s perspective at the moment sadly.
Admin
Ahmed Omar
An insightful exploration into the real costs of building a WordPress website!
Your detailed breakdown of expenses, from hosting to premium themes, is invaluable for budget planning.
A technical suggestion, leveraging Caching Plugin can significantly optimize performance and cut down on hosting costs.
Thanks for shedding light on the true investment
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome!
Admin
Sameer Hussain
Such a detailed and organized article, considering there is so much competition out there. I would just like to add one thing. Start small and keep the ‘Snowball effect’ in mind. Treat your website as a plant seed. And don’t forget to water it. The tools mentioned in this article are spot on.
Shafqat Khan
Great breakdown of WordPress website costs! Your detailed guide covers expenses for various site types, emphasizing the smart approach of starting small and expanding as needed. The section on avoiding overpaying is insightful, suggesting a gradual adoption of premium features. The step-by-step tutorials are a valuable resource. Overall, your article is a go-to guide for users at different stages. Kudos for providing valuable insights to the WordPress community!
WPBeginner Support
Happy to hear you liked our article and found it helpful
Admin
Lara Carter
I was wondering, how do websites, like wpbeginer make money if all of the content is free, is it just from adverts?
WPBeginner Support
We cover how we make money in our article below
https://014.leahstevensyj.workers.dev/opinion/wpbeginner-income-how-much-money-does-wpbeginner-make/
Admin
Suresh
Building a WordPress website is really affordable if you choose the right hosting company that supports WordPress. This guide explains it all.
Lara Carter
I have recently started to try and learn about website development and how to build a website yet and a question I kept trying to understand was about the cost of WordPress. This website explained it clearly naming all the differences in price between the different plan options including the features and the different options, comparing the value of the different plans. I have been wanting to experiment with WordPress by starting website possibly for young enterprise, but I didn’t want to spend too much money on it as I am only experimenting and playing around with the website, becoming familiar with it. This webpage was very helpful for to gain an understanding of this.
WPBeginner Support
Glad to hear our article was helpful
Admin
Олександр
At the age of 53, I need to learn a new profession. I want to try my hand at creating websites. But I am an absolute zero in this area of knowledge, so I need very simple and detailed explanations. I hope your blog will help me with this. What I have read here inspires me to keep learning. I don’t know if I will be able to go all the way, but you have convinced me to keep learning with this article. Some things are already becoming clear. At least, the skeleton of understandable concepts is beginning to emerge. Thank you for your work. Greetings from Ukraine!
WPBeginner Support
Glad this guide was helpful and we hope you find our other articles just as helpful!
Admin
Shashwata
Very well explained, A person without any single programming knowledge can easily understand what you want to saying. Very Nice, Keep it up…
WPBeginner Support
Glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Iwuozor John
Thank you so much WPbeginners. You explain these concepts so well that I no longer have doubts. I really appreciate.
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome, glad our guides are able to help
Admin
julius
This is beautiful and well detailed explaination
WPBeginner Support
Thank you, glad you found our article helpful
Admin
Jackie Lambert
Hi – this is a great and comprehensive article, but it has left me with a couple of questions.
I am on a Premium plan. I understood that I can’t install plugins but you mention free plugins that I should install even on a most basic website.
I would love to have backup at the very least. What do you suggest?
I set up my blog on Wordpress. How does Bluehost relate to this? I don’t remember choosing hosting.
Thanks a mill!
WPBeginner Support
This guide is for WordPress.org sites and you are on WordPress.com, for a better understanding of the difference between the two, you would want to take a look at our article here:
https://014.leahstevensyj.workers.dev/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Admin
Richard Thatcher
I enjoy reading through WP Beginner for the wealth of information that I will need to learn to have a good site in the future. It also has an interesting Do-it-yourself spirit to it that is empowering.
I am looking forward to learning as much as I can.
WPBeginner Support
Glad you like our content, hope we continue to be helpful with your learning and site itself
Admin
William Becker
I really appreciate your work that you have done in this blog.I like it keep it up.
WPBeginner Support
Thank you, glad you like our content
Admin
James D. A. Terry
I’m an author, book reviewer and author interviewer. I also produce a monthly newsletter. Which Wordpress should I use .com or .org and at what level?
Also, if I decide to go with .org can I transfer my .com to .org?
WPBeginner Support
You can transfer a WordPress.com site to WordPress.org, for which to use, it would depend on what your goals for the site are. You can see the different features for each in our article here: https://014.leahstevensyj.workers.dev/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Admin
ashley
I’m wondering if it makes sense to host something on Bluehost PLUS pay for Wordpress.com’s Business Plan for $25/month? Or do both of those offer more or less the same thing?
WPBeginner Support
If you are hosting on BlueHost, you do not need to pay anything to WordPress.com, you may want to take a look at our article here: https://ithemes.com/tutorials/wordpress-com-vs-wordpress-org/
Admin
Lisa
The articles on your site are very very much informative and straight to the point. I am really thankful for your help.
WPBeginner Support
Glad our articles are helpful
Admin
Bill Patterson
I would avoid wordpress.com at all costs. They handcuff you if you want to expand and get into the backend files. I have taken over sites built on that platform and had nothing but trouble moving to a normal site hosting.
WPBeginner Support
Thanks for sharing your experience with WordPress.com, we normally recommend WordPress.org to avoid the restrictions but for just starting out WordPress.com is a free option for a hobby site or similar. For moving WordPress.com sites in the future you may want to take a look at our guide here: https://014.leahstevensyj.workers.dev/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-move-your-blog-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/
Admin
SHIVANI UMEACADEMY. COM
There is a great blog, very good information in it, very good its content, this has helped me.
WPBeginner Support
Glad our content help
Admin
Keith
I need to build a page with a header photo and title followed with 3 columns of photos. Can you recommend a theme that is simple for a beginner/non-programmer to accomplish this? Thanks
WPBeginner Support
If you have a specific design that you are wanting to customize, you may want to take a look at our recommended page builder plugins here: https://014.leahstevensyj.workers.dev/beginners-guide/best-drag-and-drop-page-builders-for-wordpress/
Admin
Moses
Thanks a lot for this article, it was so helpful to me.
Kim
I am a small blogger (blog is less than 1 year). I currently am on wordpress.com. My renewal is coming up and I am wondering if I should upgrade to the business plan on the .com site or move over to wordpress.org ? I’ve been focusing this year on content (I’m a food blogger), but I want to get social media numbers up so I can get paid work. Would love your advice!
Sadi
Wordpress.com has some limitations while .org is more preferable in your case.
Their is a post regarding Wordpress.com Vs Wordpress.org on Wpbeginner, it will help you take better decision.
Fred
Hello, I’m interested in building a financial eCommerce (paid subscription via credit card, Square, PayPal) website with 3 to 5 pages and a 30-45 second YouTube video explaining my business model.
I’m undecided between using Bluehost or GO Daddy, which one can deliver a more robust performance at a lower cost?
Or can you give me a better alternative instead of Bluehost or GO Daddy?
Thank you so much!
Best regards,
Fred
WPBeginner Support
Hi Fred,
The performance of your website depends on how many people will be visiting it and how well optimized it is. We recommend using Bluehost and then gradually increasing your server resources as your traffic grows.
Admin
George
Hi Fred, Go for Godaddy…if you can manage Amazon AWS is even better, try lightsail. I tried both Godaddy and AWS, the later edged over….it’s just the setting up needs a bit of tech.
Steve Donoso
We are setting up a simple webpage on Wordpress (hosted by Bluehost) for a nascent film festival. It will solely be an informational webpage with three links to other sites. Nothing will be sold, or downloaded or uploaded on the webpage. Wordpress wants to know if we want to build a personal or business site — given what I’ve just described, which option is simplest?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Steve,
You are probably signing up for a WordPress.com website. Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.
Admin
Don Vannice
Hi…My book just got published and will be for sale on Amazon.
I need a site that shows a graphic of my book cover, plus a link to Amazon, plus a forum, plus a blog, plus links to FB and Twitter.
I already have my domain name with Go Daddy.
Can I hear from someone on this setup and the cost?
Thanks.
David
The many levels of hosting plans is what confuses me the most. I see a lot of add-ons and features.
I want to create a blog with with a forum feature for discussions. I am doing it more for my own satisfaction than to make money but monetizing the site would be nice. I would use either an affiliate program and/or pay per click.
It would also be nice to have a separate email associated with the domain.
Any suggestions on where to start and what level hosting plans would get me what I want.
WPBeginner Support
Hi David,
If you are just starting out, then the basic or plus plans on Bluehost would be good for now.
However, you will need to upgrade your hosting as your website gets more users.
Admin
VectorJournal
I see that many web designers have chimed in and were worried that they would lose jobs because people were building their own websites. If that logic stands, then there would be no hope for carpenter, chef, plumber, marketer, business consultant etc.
Indeed, a few years ago when Canva, a graphic design software was launched, many graphic designers were worried that it would take their jobs. But many are still doing fine. Canva’s primary market is bloggers who hope to monetize from their blogs. They have never been a big client for graphic designers. It takes much more than script fonts, gaudy background, Photoshop level adjustment to ensure a consistent and beautiful branding image for your website.
So folks, keep calm and focus on growing your skills. And huge thanks for WPBeginner for the most helpful Wordpress tutorial series on the planet.
Vicki
Well said VectorJournal.
I am a total believer in an educational approach with my clients. I find the more I educate them on how to “do-it-yourself,” the more they rely on me to take them to the next step, and the next – at their pace of readiness. They also learn what they don’t want to do themselves and what takes too much time for them to do (and get me to do that task instead) or what they can do themselves. When they understand the time and cost involved in the processes, they can better make decisions about where there money and time goes. I find it is a win-win situation. There is plenty of work to go around, but when we want to hold onto our knowledge tightly, it only breeds distrust.
In regard to this article, I think it is great.
Vicki
I don’t often subscribe for stuff based on one article but I find your style is very easy to understand and progresses logically. Thanks! So many “educators” actually leave out simple but crucial steps. Nice job!
My question is…if I want a responsive site, can I still obtain that through getting a .org template and adding bootstrap? Is it that easy? Or, as a beginner in wordpress, will I need to hire someone to get bootstrap and worpress to work together?
Thanks.
WPBeginner Support
Hi Vicki,
Most themes on .org are already responsive. There are also some themes that are built using bootstrap.
Admin
JoDel
Hi! Thank you for the article it’s clear and very helpful.
I was wondering though, if I wanted to pay someone to review everything I’ve done and check the security of the domain as well as everything I have on the hosting site, where would I go to find someone? There’s so many random people and places, it’s hard to tell who is legit and who is going to run off with all of my info.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
WPBeginner Support
hi JoDel,
You can find developers on websites like UpWork and Freelancer. Thoroughly check their profiles and completed jobs before hiring them.
Admin
Yonatan
A great website and great content; very much helpful for beginners.
Ellen
I read your article and several others, and I’m still not clear.
– You say WordPress is free but WordPress lists the cost of $4/month (in another place on their site I thought I saw $12/month) for a site with a custom domain. The WP site says that cost includes a custom domain name. Does that mean you don’t have to pay extra to register the domain?
– If you pay the $4/month, you still have to pay for a host, correct?
Thanks much.
WPBeginner Support
Hi Ellen,
You are probably looking at WordPress.com prices. We recommend using self-hosted WordPress.org and the article above will give you an estimate of how much it would cost to start a WordPress blog using self hosted WordPress.org.
Admin
Ellen
Thanks! So, I can create a Web site by paying for just the domain and the host?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Ellen,
Initially, yes. However, you will have to use free themes and plugins WordPress.org has thousands of free plugins and themes. If you choose to use paid themes, plugins, or services then this will increase your cost.
Elli
Hi, thanks for a straight-forward article!
I am a total beginner taking on a challenge to build my first simple blog site…
I use bluehost
I use wordpress
I am playing with some templates
I have created a localhost to work on
I am making good progress!
My question is:
When do buying Genesis and a child theme come into play?
I signed up with Bluehost through The Minimalist website and watched their tutorial to set up. Everyone keeps talking about Genesis but I am not sure if it is something I need right now as a beginner?? And I didn’t see it mentioned above.
Thanks in advance for any help!
WPBeginner Support
Hi Elli,
Good luck with your blog
Genesis is a WordPress theme framework, which makes it easier for theme developers to create child themes based on a rock solid and performance optimized parent theme. You can purchase genesis and a child theme for it.
However, if you are just starting out, then you can start with any good standard compliant theme and with proper optimization it could even outperform a Genesis theme.
Admin
Ravi
hi,
I want to build a crowdfunding site in wordpress and cant find any in the mentioned list ‘how to create different types of WordPress websites such as:’. please advise how can I do so with the low budget as suggested in the article to start small. to be more precise, it would be an equity crowdfunding site.
Hasnain
Hello first of all above knowledge is very useful .I have a question that if you make money online via Google adsense so you have to pay wordpress also? If yes so how much?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Hasnain,
No, you don’t have to pay WordPress. If you are on a self hosted WordPress.org website, then you have complete ownership and control of your website.
Admin
Grace
Hello,
Thanks for the article. I clicked the button, but Bluehost does NOT give over 60% off ‘on web hosting.’ There is no indication of your website either on the Bluehost website while I go through the sign up process. How can I get the discount you mentioned?
Thanks in advance
Thankfully, Bluehost, an official WordPress recommended hosting provider, has agreed to offer our users a free domain name and over 60% off on web hosting.
WPBeginner Support
Hi Grace,
When you click the button it takes you to Bluehost website, where you see a message ‘Special offer for WordPress users’. You will see the discounted price above the green ‘Get Started’ button.
Admin
Raka
If I were to pay $10k+ for a WordPress ecommerce, why should I not go for a Magento.
Lodi Daniel
I think this article is great for some one is well articulate with website design and cost implications but a bit misleading for some one who is very naive about website costing. cheap can be cost saving in the short run but a complete disaster in the long run.
I have built websites for clients who really want to save a huge cost but in the end they fail to get value for their little money.
Awontis
Everyone wants a beautiful website and luckily WordPress offers many themes at reasonable prices. Since you’re doing things yourself, you’ll probably want to choose a pre-made WordPress theme for your site’s design. A lot will depend on the type of look you want for your WordPress site and you need to think about how you want to represent yourself or your brand online, and that costs.
Nate
A lot of these articles neglect a huge factor of building your own site: time. If you have never built a site before you are going to spend a lot of time figuring out things work. Then once you do have it built, how do you know it is right?
What is your time worth? Would you pay me with no experience in your job the same amount you make.
Looking at the Holistic Cost and the TERM cost is important: Time, Enjoyment, Result, Money. Money is last for a reason.
Jeffrey Samorano
Great article! I love how you’ve broken it down.
However, I feel there needs to be some words of caution for the “cheapest” option you’ve outlined.
Sometimes, saving money in the short-term can cause headaches and larger financial burdens later on down the line.
I would add that *if you know you want to grow your site* (more then just validating an idea or starting a blog), that you should really start out with a premium theme. I feel that the ‘cost’ (time, headache and money) of changing themes later is unnecessary and more trouble than it’s worth.
Premium themes are so cheap that, in my opinion, it’s better to start out with something really good that you can grow into, than to upgrade later. This is even more true for “free” themes that use proprietary visual editors and shortcodes. moving from one shortcode library to another is, essentially, re-constructing every single page of your website.
Another word of caution is to find a reputable source for free themes. the danger is that “free” themes could have built-in back doors for potentially nefarious intrusions. beware free themes that have not gone through some kind of checks and balance or, third part verification.
I’m sure this could probably be an entire post in itself but, i feel it’s worth mentioning here as well.
Great Article!
Naseem khan
I am Confused, as I have purchased Domain name from Godaddy and Hosting from Hostgator. But still thinking that I dont know the basic wordpress Editing.
Currently using Blogger and very Well known. But wanted to work on it.
Can you please suggest me should I register my domain name and hosting without an experience?
Lodi Daniel
Wordpress can offer your website a better visual appearance and functionality than blogger, But as far as managing your hosting account is concerned, you can watch self guiding tutorials or get some one who is well conversant with cPanel since you said you bought hosting from HostGator and they use the industry standard cPanel, then you’ll have o make GoDaddy point your domain to the Hostgator nameservers where your files shall be hosted.
I hope this helps a bit.
Regards.
Jeremy
One thing that I think is important to point out in terms of cost is maintenance. A lot of people buy or build a website without considering that there are ongoing costs and time. WordPress sites tend to need some TLC when it comes to updates, security, and backups. While some of this can be automated, there’s some risk of updates breaking themes and plugins. There’s also issues that your backups could be compromised, if you’re just letting a server keep 30 days worth.
Overall, the point here is that if you’re serious about owning a website and keeping it healthy, don’t consider your cost a one-time thing. Factor in the other ongoing costs. Managed hosting does a lot of this, but it’s not the be-all to end all solution.
Barbara J
That is so true. I have seen so many people say they want to upkeep and maintain thier websites, but they don’t.
Jeffrey Samorano
Oh man.. Every client I’ve ever had. :o)
satya
how to create a flate image for blog post like you ???? ?????
Nanang
An appropriate comparison to notify the clients, that there is a fair price if you want to get a professional website. If you want cheap, you will “play” in around a free templates that is used millions of others throughout the world.
Brett Atkin
The title of this article is misleading at the very least. Nowhere do you mention the cost of content, imagery, learning WP, etc… Building a web site is so much than what you outline, even for experienced individuals.
WPBeginner Support
Hi Brett,
We wrote this article for our DIY users. They normally create their own content. You can use WPBeginner to learn WordPress (all for free). There are tons of cc0 images that one can use as well.
Admin
Amanda
WordPress and web designers dont need to worry about their future just because people can build their own site for free. Yes, anyone can learn how to make a WordPress page for free, that is so true. But I have many years of experience working with a lot of clients both building websites for them and teaching them how to manage it themselves, and there are two important reasons why the general public will always need web designers. First, many people are completely incapable of Googling something or even reading a WP Beginner article and doing their own DIY. If the entire world was capable of DIY there would be no Jiffy Lubes or plumbers. Tons of people will always need their hand held or someone to just do it all for them. The other reasons why people will always need to hire web designers is that you can teach a few of them how to *build* it, but so many will stop learning there, and never realize that being a carpenter is not the same thing as being an architect. Good design is hard to find on most DIY sites. Only a tiny fraction will ever push through both learning construction and learning design, let alone marketing. The rest will always be willing to throw a couple bucks into hiring a designer with business & marketing knowledge.
I like your article…except that it leaves out even the possibility of hiring someone to help with design until they are at massive corporate website level. I think you should consider that probably a good number of your subscribers are semi-pro designers who are the real people who do DIY. And at least give them a nod. Recognize that if small businesses didn’t hire web designers the web would be filled with hideous websites, with menus that have too many options, sidebars cluttered with dozens of distracting widgets, headers that don’t look right on mobile….and worse….Possibly dancing baby gifs, visitor counters, guest books…wallpaper!
I think you need something in between the “basic DIY site” and “Site with more features”. Because “more features” obviously means more paid plugins. And a good designer can get a wordpress website to do more and look better with less plugins…And certainly avoid paying for plugins for as long as possible. Depending on how “fussy” the client is they could easily have this designed for them for a one time fee of $300 – $500. Now I am being controversial because I know some designers charge $1000 and up. But I am talking simple sites for small businesses that only take a few hours to set up. Paying $1000 for that is over-paying.
And if I really want to get controversial and fly in the face of DIY, I have recently been exploring designing Wix sites for a few small business people. They may be built for DIY, but they still need someone with a designer’s eye and good marketing sense to help them out.
Vicki
Amanda I totally agree. I like to think of my superpower as being the Madame of General Knowledge of Everything. I can put together an html site (for examp) and it will look decent. U can do a certain level of seo and web marketing, and marketing in general. That is what many webbie newbies need to get their feet wet at a low cost. However, I also know my limitations as well as my gifts, and I know when my client is ready for the next level, and when it is time I bring my talented friends in for specific tasks. It is also about time and efficiency and money. For myself, just learning wordpress, I will do what I can, but there will be certain limitations with templates esthetically and functionally that I will overcome by bringing in a more talented tool (talented person) in my toolbox to change this or that…and it really doesn’t have to cost much to do that. In fact more of you would get business if the general public understood that. They don’t need to hire someone for $5000. They can hire someone for a couple to 10 hours at a reasonable cost.
Dr.Varun
It is less costly if you just buy domain and let your friend host for you. For me, premium version cost 700 INR. Special thanks to the guy, hosting is the real money. And for addons, i guess it’s better to leave them and focus on your content first. Once you have 20-30 posts (or had earned from adsense), go premium plugins.
John
Why would a person select Woo Commerce instead of paying $29.95 for Shopify? By the time a person purchased the paid plugins for Woo Commerce wouldn’t it be more expensive than just getting a shopify store? Thanks.
WPBeginner Support
Hi John,
Most WooCommerce plugins come with yearly licenses, WooCommerce itself is free. You are free to add features and extensions to your eCommerce site but you are not required to. You can control your expenses quite easily and spend as your business grows.
Admin
Pankaj Dhawan
Hello Syed,
Great post as always. One thing though, for security, I am using Wordfence. I hope that is also a good plugin for the security purpose.
WPBeginner Support
Hey Pankaj,
We use Sucuri on all of our websites. We try to recommend products and services that we use ourselves.
Admin
Joe B
This is a very comprehensive breakdown of WordPress associated cost. Very good to see the breakdown from low cost to advance cost for ecommerce. This gives the novice user a better understanding of what WordPress is and how it can be leveraged for various types of projects as what we do. Ultimately, professional looking websites don’t have to cost a bundle.