Blog · 4 min read
How much does a small business website cost in 2026?
Most small-business owners don't pay for a website once. They pay for it every month, for years, and the total adds up quietly. Here is what the common options cost when you add up the years.
The monthly builders
The best-known website builders charge a monthly plan for as long as your site is online. These are their entry-level plans that allow your own domain, billed yearly, as listed by independent reviewers in 2026:
- Wix Light: about $17 a month billed yearly (about $204 a year), or $24 billed monthly.
- Squarespace Basic: about $19 a month billed yearly (about $228 a year), or $25 billed monthly.
- GoDaddy Basic: about $9.99 a month billed yearly for the first term; GoDaddy does not publish its renewal price.
- Hostinger Premium: very low intro prices on a multi-year prepayment, renewing at about $10.99 a month.
Add up the years
Over three years, Wix Light comes to about $612 and Squarespace Basic to about $684, before the domain. Over five years, about $1,020 and $1,140. The site doesn't get better because you kept paying; you are renting the ability to keep it online.
If you stop paying, the site goes offline or reverts to a free address with the builder's ads, depending on the platform.
The domain is its own line item
Your domain name (yourbusiness.com) is registered and renewed separately, usually yearly, wherever your site lives. Builders often include the first year, then charge for renewals. Budget for it either way.
The one-time option
simple a site. charges $129 once for one business website, with covered hosting at $0 for ordinary informational and service-business sites. There is no monthly plan, you can download your complete website files at any time, and the domain is still separate. Stores, memberships and custom booking systems may need another solution.
Whatever you choose, look at the three-year total, not the monthly price.