What does a website cost? An honest answer.
Short answer: between 0 and 100,000 SEK — and the honest answer is that the price depends less on the website and more on who does the work and who carries the responsibility afterwards. Here is the full picture, without the sales pitch.
The four routes — and what they actually cost
| Option | Upfront cost | Ongoing | Your own time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY (Wix, One.com, Squarespace) | 0–2 000 kr | 100–350 kr/mo | 20–60 hours + maintenance |
| Freelancer | 8 000–30 000 kr | Hosting extra | 5–15 hours |
| Web agency | 30 000–100 000+ kr | 500–2 000 kr/mo | 10–30 hours of meetings |
| Subscription (like us) | 0 kr | 995–1 495 kr/mo | ~1 hour in total |
1. DIY — cheapest in kronor, most expensive in hours
Site builders like Wix or One.com cost a few hundred kronor a month. But count honestly: 20–60 hours for a first version you are happy with. What is your billable hour worth? For a tradesperson invoicing 600–900 SEK/hour, “free” is often the most expensive option — and then the site needs maintaining, securing and keeping current. That is why so many DIY sites end up as digital ghost houses with opening hours from 2019.
2. Freelancer — a good middle ground, with a catch
A skilled freelancer builds a good site for 8,000–30,000 SEK. The catch is rarely the build — it is afterwards. Who updates the prices next year? Who answers when the site is down on a Saturday? Freelancers move on to new gigs, and you are left with a site nobody knows anymore.
3. Web agency — professional, but priced for bigger companies
Agencies make excellent websites. But their business model — discovery phases, workshops, project management — is built for companies with a marketing department. For a trade business that needs a fast, sharp site with services, reference jobs and a phone number, 40,000 SEK + hosting usually means paying for a process you do not need.
4. Subscription — everything included, no lump sum
The model we chose ourselves: a fixed monthly cost where design, hosting, domain, security and ongoing changes are all included. For 995–1,495 SEK/month you get a site that is always operated, updated and somebody’s responsibility. Over three years it costs roughly the same as an agency project — but without the lump sum, without a separate maintenance contract, and with the option to step off whenever you want.
Our model is also reversed: we finish building your site before you pay anything at all. You look at the finished site and decide afterwards. How it works →
Hidden costs to ask about — whoever you hire
- The domain — is it registered to you or the vendor? It should be yours.
- Changes — are copy edits and new photos included, or does every email cost 900 SEK/hour?
- Operations — hosting, certificates and security updates: included or extra?
- Cancellation — what happens to the site and the domain if you part ways?
So what should a trade business pay?
Our honest rule of thumb: a professional website for a trade business should cost about one billed hour of work per month — everything included. If you pay much more, you are probably paying for process. If you pay much less, you are probably doing the work yourself without counting your own time.
Want to see what that means in practice? Look at websites we have built or compare our plans — and remember you can see your own site for free before deciding anything at all.