Website Design Prices in South Africa: Builder, Freelancer, Agency or Monthly Plan

The price on the quote is never the whole cost. A website has a build cost, a yearly domain cost, hosting, and the cost of changing things later. Here are the four common routes, compared on what you actually pay over three years.

1. DIY website builder

Builders such as Wix, Canva and the registrar builders advertise from about R50 a month. You do the design and the writing yourself. It suits a simple one-page site if you have the time, but the plan that removes ads and adds a custom domain usually costs more than the headline price.

2. Freelancer

A freelancer will often build a small site for a once-off fee in the low thousands of rand. Hosting and your domain are usually separate, and quality and availability vary a lot. Ask who looks after the site once it is live.

3. Web design agency, once-off fee

Agencies commonly quote a once-off build in the thousands to tens of thousands of rand, with hosting and maintenance billed on top. You get more design and strategy, but you carry a large cost on day one. Webrio offers this route too, as Design Only from R3,500 once-off, where you receive the full code and arrange your own hosting.

4. Monthly plan with hosting included

Here the agency builds the site, hosts it and looks after it for a fixed monthly amount. Webrio Host with Webrio starts at R299 a month with no build fee. Hosting, DNS, SSL and maintenance are included, and the minimum term is 12 months on the Starter plan.

What it costs over three years

• Host with Webrio Starter: R299 a month for the first 12 months, then R249 a month for hosting and maintenance. That is R3,588 in year one and R2,988 a year after.
• Design Only Starter: R3,500 once-off, plus your own hosting, which you pay separately.
• DIY builder: the plan price you choose, multiplied by 36 months, plus your own time.
• Freelancer or agency once-off: the quote, plus hosting and maintenance each year.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Is the domain registered in my name?
• What happens to the site if I cancel or move?
• What does a text or image change cost after launch?
• Are hosting, SSL and backups included or extra?

Check the live prices on our packages page before you decide. If you are not sure which route fits, send us a message and we will tell you honestly, even if the answer is a builder.