What a website costs, written down.
Real numbers, on a page, before you have to email anyone. These are starting prices — every project gets a fixed quote in writing before anything starts, so the number you agree to is the number you pay.
Builds
Custom site, booking or request system, and an admin dashboard you run yourselffrom $3,500
You have a site; it needs rebuilding, restructuring or extending rather than starting overfrom $1,500
A site that looks right and loads fast, with no portal behind it. Quoted on scope.ask
What moves the number: how many pages, how complicated the booking flow is, whether you need artist or staff accounts, and whether anything has to talk to software you already use. Four to six weeks for a full build, start to launch. Three rounds of changes are included — send each round as one batch and it moves much faster than a trickle.
Taking two more projects at founding rates this year, in exchange for a case study and a testimonial once you're live. That's the honest reason the number is what it is right now.
After launch, pick one
Bug fixes are free for the first 60 days either way. After that:
Care plan — $195/month
- Hosting for the site and the booking system
- Uptime monitoring, so I hear about problems before you do
- Nightly backups, with a restore I've actually tested
- Security patches and dependency updates
- One hour of changes a month — photos, prices, a service you've added
- Anything that breaks: a bug, a form getting hammered with spam, a booking that didn't come through, an email that stopped arriving. You tell me, I fix it, no invoice.
Handover — $400 once
- Everything moves into your own accounts: hosting, database, domain
- Written documentation and a walkthrough
- Code in your repository
- Then it runs without me
- You pay your own hosting after that — usually $25–45/month
- And you're your own support, which is the real trade for not paying monthly
You're not locked into either. Start on the care plan and take the handover later, or hand it back to me if running it yourself turns out not to be your favourite part of the week.
What's included in every build
- A fixed quote and a real timeline, in writing, before anything starts
- Your domain registered in your name, on your card
- Design work you see and react to before it gets built
- Three rounds of changes
- A site that works on phones, because that's where your clients are
- Basic on-page SEO and analytics set up
- Testing you do yourself before launch — you send real requests through and move them around the dashboard
- 60 days of free bug fixes after launch
- Ownership of the code, the content and the client data
What costs extra
- A rush timeline. If you're up against an opening or a season, tell me. Sometimes I can move faster — I'll say honestly whether it's doable and what it adds.
- Changes beyond three rounds, or a change of direction after the design is signed off.
- Copywriting and photography. I'll tell you what you need and how to get it; producing it isn't in the base price.
- Features that don't exist yet — card deposits, memberships, invoicing, multi-location scheduling. I built the back end, so these can be built. They change the quote, and you see that number first.
Nothing here becomes a surprise invoice. If something is going to cost more, you hear about it before it's done, not after.
Questions about money
- Why is a custom build more than a template?
- Because a template can't ask your questions. If your booking is genuinely "pick a slot", a $20/month tool beats me and I'll tell you so. This is for when the tool has turned into a second inbox and the real work still happens in your DMs.
- Do you take a deposit?
- Yes — a deposit to start, the rest at launch. It's in the quote in writing before you agree to anything.
- Do I have to take the care plan?
- No. It's $400 to take the handover and run it yourself, and that option exists on purpose. Most people take the care plan because they'd rather not deal with the technical side, but it's a choice, not a condition.
- What are my costs if I run it myself?
- Hosting and the database on your own accounts, usually $25–45/month depending on what you're running. I'll show you the actual numbers for your setup before you decide.
- What happens to my site if I stop paying?
- Nothing gets held hostage. Your domain and your client data are in your name from day one. Take the handover and everything moves to you, documented, and keeps running without me.
- Can I pay in instalments?
- Ask. If a payment schedule is what makes the project work, say so on the call rather than deciding you can't afford it.
- Will the price go up?
- Probably, once I'm booking more work — the founding rate exists because I'm building a portfolio. What you're quoted is locked for your project either way.
Get a real number for your project
Tell me what you do, how bookings reach you now, and what you're tired of doing by hand. You'll get a fixed quote and a timeline in writing — and if I'm not the right person, I'll say that instead.
Start a project