What drives the cost of a website
Clients regularly receive two quotes for the same task that differ several times over, and cannot tell what they would be paying extra for. The difference almost always hides in these six factors, not in the contractor's greed.
1. Type of website
A landing page (1 page) is the cheapest format because it doesn't require complex architecture. A corporate website (5-15 pages) is 2-3× more expensive due to a separate design for each page and CMS setup. An online store is another 2-3× more expensive because of payment, CRM and delivery integrations.
2. Design complexity
A ready-made template is the cheapest way in, but you get a look thousands of other sites already have. A custom design with simple sections costs noticeably more than a template. Awwwards-tier work with bespoke animation, WebGL and a motion system is the most expensive part of the project. Design moves the final number as much as the development itself.
3. Tech stack
Site builders (WordPress, Tilda, Wix) are the cheapest way in, but the ceiling on speed and SEO is low. Webflow sits in the middle: visually custom, with limits under the hood. Next.js, Astro or plain JS cost more and give maximum speed and SEO. Headless e-commerce is the most expensive stack, and it only pays off when the store is genuinely large.
4. Number of revision rounds
Standard — 2-3 revision rounds on the design and 1-2 on the build. Unlimited revisions = +30-50% to the price. The clearer the brief at the start, the fewer revisions — and the cheaper the project.
5. Integrations
A basic form that notifies you by email or Telegram adds nothing. CRM, payment systems and ERP each add their own development and testing cycle, and they are what most often doubles a quote without the client noticing. List every integration at the brief stage, not after the work starts.
6. Who builds it
A junior freelancer is cheapest, but the quality is inconsistent and there is no support after delivery. An experienced freelancer is safer, though narrowly specialised: strong code often means weaker design, and the reverse. An agency gives you a full cycle with a management layer you also pay for. A studio gives the full cycle without that layer, a fixed price in the contract and support after launch.
Landing page: which contractor fits you
A landing page is the most popular format for testing hypotheses, generating leads and presenting a product. Contractors differ less in price than in what you actually end up holding:
| Contractor | When it makes sense | What you get | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior freelancer | You need to test a hypothesis within a week | Tilda / WordPress template | None |
| Experienced freelancer | One narrow task, design or code already exists | Custom on Webflow / Next.js | For extra fee |
| Small agency | You need several contractors under one roof | Design + code, GSAP animations | 14-30 days |
| Premium studio | The site is your main sales channel and has to beat competitors | Awwwards-tier, custom | Up to 30 days + ongoing |
At OVERCHENKO STUDIO, turnkey landing page development runs on a fixed price: we scope it after a short call and lock it in the contract before we start — it does not move afterwards. 1-2 weeks from brief to launch.
Corporate website: what grows the scope
A corporate website is 5-15 pages with a separate design for each, CMS setup, multilingual support and an SEO foundation. The main multiplier here is page count, because every page is its own layout and its own build:
| Type | Pages | What gets added to the scope | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small business | 3-5 | Basic structure, one language | 3-4 weeks |
| Mid-size business | 6-10 | CMS, blog, a second language | 4-6 weeks |
| Corporation | 10-25 | CMS roles, complex navigation, integrations | 6-12 weeks |
| Corporate portal | 50+ | User accounts, access rights, a backend | 3-6 months |
What a mid-size corporate website usually includes: 6-10 pages with a custom design, a CMS (Sanity / Strapi / Webflow), UA/EN multilingual support, an SEO foundation (meta tags, Schema.org, sitemap), a contact form, integration with an email service and a month of support. More on corporate website development.
Online store: how to pick a platform
E-commerce is the most complex format because of the catalog, cart, payments, CRM, delivery and SEO for product pages. The platform sets both your budget and the ceiling you will hit a year from now:
| Platform | SKUs | Limitation | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prom.ua / Rozetka Marketplace | any | Commission on every sale, someone else's brand and audience | 1 day |
| WordPress + WooCommerce | up to 500 | Speed degrades as plugins pile up | 4-6 weeks |
| Shopify Custom | up to 1,000 | Monthly subscription, limited storefront customisation | 6-8 weeks |
| Headless (Next.js + Shopify) | 500-5,000 | Expensive to build, needs a developer for changes | 10-14 weeks |
| Custom (Node.js, Python) | any | Longest launch, your own support team | 3-6 months |
Besides development, budget for operating costs: hosting, payment processing (a percentage of revenue), CRM and an email service. The Nova Poshta API is free. These are monthly, and in the first year they often add up to the cost of the build itself. More on online store development.
Custom development: when you need it
Custom development is when off-the-shelf solutions (Shopify, WordPress, ready-made CMSs) don't fit and you need to build from scratch. This can be: a marketplace with complex commission logic, a B2B portal with personalized price lists, a SaaS product, a fintech application, a complex booking service.
Custom is the most expensive scenario because you are paying for a team, not a website: a PM, a UX/UI designer, one or two frontend developers, one or two backend developers and QA. Timelines run from three months to a year. The line item people forget at the start is infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Cloudflare): it is monthly and it grows with load.
How to avoid overpaying: 7 tips
- A clear brief at the start. 80% of budget overruns happen because the client "figures it out as they go". Prepare a detailed brief with reference examples — this saves 30-50% of the budget.
- Don't pay for features you don't need. WebGL animations, 3D models, complex motion = extra time. If you just need a "nice landing page with a form", don't pay for "wow effects".
- CMS from day one. If you plan to update content yourself, ask for a CMS up front. Otherwise every text change becomes a separately billed developer hour, and over a year that costs more than the CMS would have.
- Fixed price, not hourly. Serious studios (like OVERCHENKO STUDIO) lock the price in the contract — you know the budget for sure. Hourly billing = unpredictable costs.
- Avoid "add-ons for an extra fee". SEO, meta tags, sitemap, basic analytics — all of this should be part of the base price. If it's billed separately, that's a signal to consider another contractor.
- Ask for portfolio in production. A Figma mockup ≠ a working website. Ask for links to 3-5 live projects you can open and test yourself.
- Don't skimp on design. Design costs 30-40% of the project budget but influences conversion many times more than the code. A premium design pays back in 1-3 months through conversion growth.
Real example: King Gym (our case study)
The King Gym fitness club commissioned us to build a landing page with a 3D dumbbell model and a sign-up form for a trial session. Timeline — 3 weeks. What was included:
- Strategy + copywriting (3 days)
- Design in Figma with 2 revision rounds (5 days)
- Next.js build + GSAP animations + Three.js (10 days)
- 3D dumbbell model (integration of a ready asset from Sketchfab)
- Integration with a Telegram bot for lead capture
- QA on 6 devices, deploy to Vercel
- SEO foundation + Google Search Console
- 30 days of support
Result for the first month: 340 new requests from paid traffic, PageSpeed 96/100, landing page ROI — within 6 weeks. Details — in the King Gym case study.
So where do you start counting?
Settle this before you ask for a price
- The one action a visitor should take. A request, a call, a purchase, a booking. One, not three.
- Page count. This is the main scope multiplier in any quote.
- Who edits the copy after launch. If it is you, you need a CMS.
- The list of integrations. CRM, payments, delivery, ERP — name them all up front.
- How many languages. A second language is not a translation, it is a second set of content.
- The deadline. A compressed timeline always costs more than a calm one.
Plus a 20-30% reserve for extra revisions, content strategy, copywriting, photo shoots and launch advertising — the line people forget most often.
Bottom line
The cost of a website is not a fixed number from a price list, it is a consequence of the scope you ordered. So choose a contractor not by the lowest quote but by how clearly they explain what their number is made of, and whether they will lock it in a contract before the work starts.
At OVERCHENKO STUDIO the price is fixed in the contract before work begins and does not change afterwards. To see an indicative range for your own task, fill in the request: pick a service and a package, and the range appears straight away. The 30-minute consultation is free and commits you to nothing.