Over three years, a DIY website builder costs about $1,100–1,500 in cash for a small business site, against about $4,000 for a done-for-you Starter site at $1,499 plus $69 a month. Once the owner’s own hours are counted, the totals cross at roughly $28–32 per hour of your time: below that, DIY is cheaper; above it, done-for-you is. The model below shows every line, uses the same assumptions for each route, and tells you how to swap in your own numbers.
Why compare over three years instead of the first month?
Because the first-month price is designed to look small, and websites are not one-month purchases. Most small businesses keep a site for several years. Over that time the costs that matter are the ones that repeat: the subscription, the domain renewal, paid add-ons, fees on sales, and the hours somebody spends keeping the site correct.
Three years is also long enough to include a price rise. One of the best-known DIY builders raised its prices by up to 26% in July 2026, according to a report by a photography news site, taking its yearly-billed plans to about $19, $29 and $49 a month for the main tiers. Another popular builder lists its small-business plans at roughly $17 to $39 a month on yearly billing, and says prices vary by location. Neither is unusual. Subscriptions tend to go up, not down.
What assumptions does this cost model use?
A cost model is only as honest as its assumptions, so here they are in full. They describe a typical five-page site for a local service business in the US. Change any number that does not fit you.
- 1DIY builder: a mid-tier plan at $29 a month on yearly billing, the domain free for year one and about $20 a year after, plus $10 a month of paid extras such as a booking app or business email.
- 2DIY time: 30 hours to build the first version (writing five pages, choosing photos, settings, forms, search basics, testing on a phone), then 2 hours a month to keep it current.
- 3Freelance designer: $1,800 to build, which sits inside the $500–2,500 range that published US price guides (2026) give. Then $30 a month for hosting and care, and $75 per change request, about four a year. The owner still writes the words: 15 hours, plus 5 hours of feedback and 30 minutes a month after launch.
- 4Done-for-you (Adyft Sites Starter): $1,499 setup and $69 a month, covering hosting, security, small changes and a monthly report. Domain about $15 a year in the owner’s name. Owner time: 3 hours of answering questions and approving, then about 10 minutes a month sending changes on WhatsApp.
- 5The owner’s time is valued at $40 an hour as a middle example. This is not what you pay yourself; it is what an hour of your attention is worth to the business, such as a billable hour or a job you could have quoted.
What does each route cost in cash, year by year?
| Cash only | DIY builder | Freelance designer | Done-for-you (Adyft Starter) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $468 | $2,475 | $2,342 |
| Year 2 | $488 | $675 | $843 |
| Year 3 | $488 | $675 | $843 |
| 3-year cash total | $1,444 | $3,825 | $4,028 |
| Who writes the pages | You | You (or pay a copywriter extra) | The provider |
| Who fixes it at 9 pm | You, with the builder’s help centre | The freelancer, if available | The provider |
In cash alone, DIY wins clearly, by around $2,500 over three years. That is a real saving, and for some businesses it is the deciding number. But cash is only half the bill.
How much is your time worth in this calculation?
Under the assumptions above, the three routes take very different amounts of the owner’s time over three years: DIY about 102 hours (30 to build plus 72 of upkeep), the freelancer route about 38 hours, and done-for-you about 9 hours. Those hours come from somewhere, usually evenings, weekends or time you could have spent with customers.
| Your time valued at | DIY builder | Freelance designer | Done-for-you (Adyft Starter) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20 an hour | $3,484 | $4,585 | $4,208 |
| $40 an hour | $5,524 | $5,345 | $4,388 |
| $75 an hour | $9,094 | $6,675 | $4,703 |
Each figure is three-year cash plus owner hours multiplied by the rate. At $20 an hour, DIY is the cheapest route. At $40 it is the most expensive. The break-even point between DIY and done-for-you under these assumptions is about $28 an hour, or about $32 if you skip the paid extras.
💡 The honest rule: if an hour of your time is worth less than about $30 to the business, and you do not mind the work, a DIY builder is the cheaper route over three years. Above that, paying someone usually costs less in total.
Which costs do builder price pages leave out?
The subscription is the line people compare. These are the lines they tend to discover later:
- 1Domain renewal after a free first year, often around $15–20 a year and sometimes more through the builder.
- 2Paid apps and add-ons for booking, forms, reviews, pop-ups or extra storage, usually monthly.
- 3Business email on your own domain, frequently sold separately.
- 4Fees on sales. One well-known builder’s own pricing page shows a 2% fee on store sales on its cheapest plan, and one large e-commerce platform adds a fee of 2% on its basic plan when you use a third-party payment provider. Card processing fees are on top, as they are everywhere.
- 5Annual price rises, which you accept or leave.
- 6Leaving. One of the most popular builders says in its own help pages that its sites cannot be exported to another host. Another says its export file leaves out store pages, products, headers, footers, style settings and custom code. Moving later can mean rebuilding.
None of this makes builders bad value. It means the right comparison is the full three-year bill, not the monthly sticker.
What about an online shop: do sales fees change the maths?
Yes, sometimes a lot. A percentage fee grows with your sales, while a fixed monthly fee does not. On $60,000 of online sales a year, a 2% platform fee is $1,200 a year, or $3,600 over three years, before card fees. Many platforms reduce or remove that fee on more expensive plans, so the real choice is often a higher subscription or a percentage of every sale.
For comparison, the Adyft Sites Shop Starter plan is $3,999 setup plus $129 a month for a website with an order-taking shop of up to 50 products, customer logins, order history, an admin area, card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and order alerts on WhatsApp and email. Over three years that is $8,643 plus the payment provider’s card fees, with no extra platform percentage from us. Whether that beats a DIY shop depends on your sales volume and your time, so run both numbers. Our guide to online shop costs goes deeper.
When does a DIY website builder clearly win?
We sell done-for-you websites, so it is fair to be specific about when you should not buy one.
- 1You genuinely enjoy writing and designing, and building the site is not a chore.
- 2Your time is cheap right now, for example before your first customers or in a quiet season.
- 3You are testing an idea and may change the whole business in six months.
- 4You need a single page with a phone number and nothing else.
- 5You or someone on your team already has web skills and the time to keep using them.
If two or more of those describe you, start with a builder. Keep the domain in your own name from day one, so you can move later without losing your address.
When does done-for-you cost less overall?
It tends to win when your hours are valuable, when you do not like writing, and when the site needs to stay correct without you thinking about it. For a plumber, a clinic, a law firm, a restaurant or a salon, 100 hours spent on a website is 100 hours not spent on paying work.
With Adyft Sites, the setup and monthly fee include writing every page, hosting, SSL security, setting the site up to be found on Google and readable by AI assistants, small changes sent by WhatsApp, and a monthly visitor report. FAQ, Contact and Privacy pages are free, the domain is registered in your name, and Starter goes live in under seven days, with 42 industry designs to choose from. Growth, at $3,499 plus $129 a month, covers 25 pages for businesses with many services or areas.
It is not the right fit for everything. A large custom build, with complex integrations or a design that has to be one of a kind, belongs with an agency and a bigger budget. And if you are in the DIY list above, keep your money.
How do I run this cost model with my own numbers?
- 1Write down the real monthly price of the builder plan you would need, on the billing you would choose, and multiply by 36.
- 2Add domain renewals for years two and three, every paid app, and business email.
- 3If you sell online, add any platform percentage on your expected sales.
- 4Estimate your hours honestly: first build, then monthly upkeep. Double your first guess if you have never built a site.
- 5Pick an hourly value for your time and multiply.
- 6Do the same for each quote you have, including what is not in the quote, such as writing and change requests.
- 7Compare three-year totals, not first-month prices.
Questions about the real cost of a website
Is a website builder really cheaper than paying someone?
In cash, yes, by roughly $2,500 over three years in our example. Once your own hours are counted at around $28–32 an hour or more, a done-for-you service usually costs less in total.
How long does it take to build a website yourself?
For a first-timer, a five-page business site often takes 20–40 hours including writing, photos, settings and testing. Our model uses 30 hours, plus about 2 hours a month to keep it up to date.
Do website builders charge transaction fees?
Some do on certain plans. One well-known builder shows a 2% fee on store sales on its cheapest plan, and one large e-commerce platform adds 2% on its basic plan when you use a third-party payment provider. Card fees are separate.
Can I move my site off a website builder later?
Usually you can keep your domain and copy your text, but often not the design. One popular builder says its sites cannot be exported to another host, and another’s export leaves out store pages and styling.
What does done-for-you cost over three years?
Adyft Sites Starter is $1,499 setup plus $69 a month, which comes to $3,983 over three years, plus about $15 a year for a domain in your name. Writing, hosting, security and small changes are included.
Should I value my time at my hourly rate?
Use what an hour is worth to the business: what you would bill a client, or the profit from a job you could have done instead. If the hours would genuinely be spare, value them lower.
Sources: the builders’ and platforms’ own pricing pages and help-centre pages on plans, sales fees and site export, read on 15 October 2026 (we do not name individual builders on this blog) · a photography news report of July 2026 on one builder’s price rise · US freelance and agency price ranges from published US price guides (2026). All hourly values, hours and add-on amounts in the model are our stated example assumptions, not survey data.
Spend your hours on customers, not on a website
Adyft Sites writes, builds, hosts and updates your site for one setup fee and one monthly fee. Starter is $1,499 plus $69 a month, live in under 7 days.