Denver web design pricingWhat a Denver
website actually
costs you
Not the sticker price. The real number, over three years, including everything nobody puts in the quote. Ours is on this page. So is theirs.
Denver since 2012 · No setup fee · No contract to read a lawyer into
Denver Web Design · Est. 2012
Custom Site — Monthly
Lease · buyout option at 24–36 months
The thing quotes leave out
A website has two prices
There's the number on the proposal, and there's what it costs you to actually run for three years. Those are wildly different numbers, and only one of them shows up in the quote.
Independent 2026 pricing research puts the ongoing costs most owners overlook — hosting, security, backups, maintenance and marketing tools — at roughly $1,100 to $5,000 per year. That's on top of the build. One analysis of a representative $28,000 marketing site with a mid-tier maintenance program put the three-year total between $65,000 and $95,000.
Small business numbers are smaller but the pattern is identical. Most professional builds land between $3,000 and $15,000, and the running costs arrive quietly afterwards, one invoice at a time.
| Running cost | Typical market rate | On our monthly plan |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | $2–$120 / month | Included |
| SSL certificate | $0–$75 / year | Included |
| Maintenance & updates | Often billed hourly | Included |
| Security & backups | Part of the $1,100–$5,000 / yr | Included |
| Content edits | Hourly or per ticket | Included |
| Domain registration | $10–$20 / year | You keep this in your own name |
| Ongoing SEO campaign | Separate retainer | Separate — but structure is included |
Market ranges from published 2026 small-business web pricing research. Your own quotes will vary — the point is to ask for all of it up front, from us or anyone else.
Interactive
Three-year cost, side by side
Set it up the way your business actually is. This is arithmetic on published market ranges, not a sales pitch with a spinner on it.
How big is the site?
What else do you need?
Agency and freelancer figures use published 2026 market ranges and are shown as midpoints; real quotes vary a lot. DIY assumes you build it yourself and your time is free, which it isn't. Our figure is our actual price. This is a comparison tool, not a quote — call and we'll give you a real number.
The plans
Three ways to do this
Rates move with size, complexity and how much optimization you want. These are starting points, and we'll tell you on the phone which one actually fits.
$5.99/mo
Builder site
You pick a template and build it. We set it up and stay out of your way. It's the honest budget option and the one we recommend least when the site is meant to bring in customers.
$99/mo
Custom-coded site
Built by hand for your business. Hosting, updates, security and search structure all included. Lease with a buyout option at 24–36 months, priced on the site's valuation at that time.
Quoted per project
Stores & apps
Ecommerce, booking systems, customer portals and mobile apps. Real scope, real testing, priced on what it actually takes rather than a package that pretends to fit.
Read this part twice
What $99 a month does not mean
Cheap monthly pricing hides things sometimes. Here's ours, stated plainly, including the parts that aren't in our favor.
It's a lease, not a purchase
At $99 a month you're leasing the site, with a buyout option at 24 to 36 months priced on what the site is worth then. If it's had two years of search work behind it, that valuation reflects it. Ask us exactly how that's calculated before you sign — and get the answer in writing, from us or from anybody else you're considering.
Rates vary, genuinely
$99 is where custom builds start. A fifteen-page site with a booking system and heavy optimization is not $99. We'd rather tell you that here than get you on a call and reveal it at the end.
The domain stays in your name
Your domain, your content, your photos, your logo. Those are yours whatever happens with the site itself. If you don't have a domain yet we can help you find one.
Ongoing SEO campaigns cost extra
Search structure is in every build at no extra charge. Ongoing campaign work — link building, Google Business Profile management, monthly content — is a separate service through Eye To Ad Media. Two different things, and plenty of agencies blur that line on purpose.
Before you sign with anyone
Seven questions worth asking
Ask these of us and of every other designer or agency you're talking to. The answers tell you more than any portfolio.
1. What is the total cost over three years?
Not the build price. Build plus hosting plus maintenance plus edits plus every recurring fee. Published research puts the overlooked running costs at $1,100 to $5,000 a year, so a $6,000 site can quietly become $12,000 or more. Anyone who can't produce that number hasn't thought about your budget.
2. What happens if I want to leave?
The question people forget until it matters. Do you keep the site? Do you keep the domain? Is there a term, and what's the exit? Get it in writing before you sign anything, from us or from anyone. Vagueness here is the single loudest warning sign in this industry.
3. Who actually does the work?
Some shops sell locally and build offshore. That isn't automatically bad, but you should know, because it determines who you're talking to when something breaks and how long the round trip is.
4. What does a small change cost?
New phone number. New service. Updated hours. At some agencies that's a ticket, an estimate and a two-week wait. Ask what a ten-minute edit costs and how fast it happens, because you'll need dozens of them.
5. Is SEO included or extra?
Ask them to be specific about which parts. Technical structure, schema and speed should be part of building the thing. An ongoing content and link campaign is a real separate service. If they answer "yes, SEO is included" without splitting those, press harder.
6. What is your own website's PageSpeed score?
Free to check at Google's PageSpeed Insights, thirty seconds, and they cannot argue with it. A web designer whose own site scores poorly on mobile is showing you their standard.
7. Can I see it before I pay?
Most agencies want a deposit before you see anything but a wireframe. Ask what you get to look at, and when. Grey boxes tell you nothing about whether a site will work.
Straight answers
Denver web design pricing questions
How much does a website cost in Denver?
Denver agencies commonly quote $9,000 to $22,000 for a professional five-page site. Across the wider market, most professional small business builds land between $3,000 and $15,000, with freelancers typically $3,000 to $8,000 and boutique agencies $8,000 to $15,000. Our custom-coded sites start at $99 per month with no setup fee, and builder plans start at $5.99 per month.
Why do you charge monthly instead of one big price?
Two reasons. It removes the barrier that stops most small businesses from getting a decent site at all — almost nobody has $9,000 sitting spare. And it keeps us responsible after launch. A one-off invoice ends our involvement the day it clears; a monthly relationship means the site still has to be working in year two.
Is there a setup fee or a deposit?
No setup fee on the standard custom plan. Larger project work — ecommerce, apps, custom systems — is quoted separately and may be structured differently depending on scope.
What is the buyout and how is it priced?
After 24 to 36 months you have the option to buy the site outright. The price is based on what the site is worth at that point, which takes into account the search performance and traffic it has built up. Ask for the specific calculation before you sign so there are no surprises later.
Is a cheaper website worse?
Not automatically, but it does buy something different. Price gaps between builds mostly come down to design originality, content work and the depth of technical structure. A template site is cheaper because layouts get reused. A custom build costs more because someone designs it. What you should never accept is paying custom prices for template work.
Do you take payment plans for bigger projects?
Larger builds get quoted individually and we'll structure it sensibly for the scope. Call and describe the project — we'd rather talk about what it actually needs than publish a package number that fits nobody.
What is the cheapest way to get a business website?
A drag-and-drop builder plan at around $5.99 a month, built by you. It is genuinely the cheapest route and we sell it. Be honest with yourself about whether the site is decoration or is supposed to bring in customers, because template builders are limited at the second job.
Does the price include content and photos?
We write the content from a phone call plus whatever you already have, and you correct it. Photography isn't included — if you need original photos, that's a separate cost and often worth it. Original images build more trust than stock, with customers and with search engines.
Can I upgrade later?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Start with pages and a contact form, add booking or a store when the business needs it. Building the simple version first and expanding is almost always cheaper than building machinery you might not use.
Do you work outside Denver?
Yes. Denver metro is home and where most clients are, and we work across Colorado and out of state too. Pricing is the same either way.
Keep going
Or start from the top: everything we do in Denver website design, in one page.
No cost, no obligation
Get a real number
Tell us what the business is and what the site needs to do. You'll get an actual figure, not a range, and we'll say plainly if a cheaper option fits you better.
Rather just talk?
1-800-481-8638
Denver, Colorado · Answered within one business day