Website prices can be surprisingly hard to pin down.
One designer charges $2,000, another quotes $8,000, and both appear to be offering a five-page website. Then you find an agency quoting $15,000 and start wondering what everyone else has left out.
So, how much does a professional website cost in New Zealand?
The short version
As a useful starting point, I’d allow:
| Website project | Typical planning range |
|---|---|
| Focused professional service website | $2,000 to $6,000 + GST |
| Larger or more customised service website | $6,000 to $15,000+ + GST |
| Smaller ecommerce website | $5,000 to $10,000+ + GST |
| Larger or more complex ecommerce website | $10,000 to $25,000+ + GST |
These are planning figures rather than a universal rate card. Website designers structure their services differently, so two projects with the same number of pages can involve very different amounts of planning, content support and custom work.
My own Website in a Week package is currently $2,400 + GST. I’ll explain where that fits shortly.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
The number of pages matters, but it rarely tells the whole story.
A five-page website for a prepared business with clear services, approved branding and organised content is quite different from a five-page website that also needs a new client pathway worked out, a large treatment menu restructured and several systems connected.
One project is ready to be designed. The other needs more sorting before the design can properly begin.
The quote may also reflect who is involved. A larger agency has strategists, designers, developers and account managers to cover. An independent designer will usually have a much leaner setup, although the depth of experience and level of support can still vary widely.
This is why the total price means very little until you understand what is actually included.
Where Website in a Week fits
My Website in a Week package costs $2,400 + GST, split into two payments.
It includes:
- A discovery call and business questionnaire
- My Website Content Workbook to guide your preparation
- A build-week kickoff call
- A custom, mobile-friendly WordPress website
- Five core pages
- SEO and AI search foundations
- Scheduled review and refinement points
- A handover pack and recorded walkthrough
- Two working weeks of follow-up support
The focused price is possible because the process and scope are clearly defined.
Before the build week begins, you’ll have worked through your content, images, services and key business details. I can then spend the week shaping that information into the website, rather than using your design time to track down missing details or work out the basics from scratch.
You’re also working directly with me throughout the project. There aren’t separate layers of project management, design and development built into the price.
The package suits an established beauty, skin, wellness or owner-led business that needs a clear professional website and can prepare its content before the build begins. The prep work that makes Website in a Week work explains that part of the process in more detail.
What if you need ecommerce?
Ecommerce pricing depends heavily on what needs to be sold and how customers need to move through the shop.
My Ecommerce Add-on is $800 + GST when booked with Website in a Week. That brings a qualifying website and ecommerce project to $3,200 + GST.
The add-on covers up to 20 products or variants, including:
- Product uploads
- Shop categories and navigation
- Shop, category and product page layouts
- Payments, cart and checkout setup
- Customer account pages
- Order emails
- Abandoned-cart automation
Additional products are $15 + GST each.
This works well for a clinic adding a focused skincare shop or a smaller skincare brand with its product information organised and ready to upload. A larger catalogue, wholesale functionality, subscriptions, advanced filtering or complicated shipping rules would need to be scoped separately.
If the shop is the main part of the business or there are a lot of products, I may recommend Shopify rather than WordPress. The platform subscription would then be an additional ongoing cost paid directly to Shopify.
You can also read what to include on a skincare ecommerce website if you’re working out what the shop will need.
What changes the cost of a website?
The amount of planning involved
A website needs to help the right person understand what you offer and choose where to start.
For a skin clinic, that could mean working out how consultations, treatments and online booking fit together. A Pilates studio might need to separate private sessions, classes and memberships. A skincare brand may need clearer product categories and guidance around choosing the right products.
When these decisions have already been made, the project can move quickly. When the offer or client pathway still needs substantial work, the website scope needs to allow for it.
The number of unique pages and layouts
Page count is useful, but I also look at how different those pages need to be.
Ten treatment pages using one reusable structure are usually much quicker to create than ten completely different pages with their own content, features and layouts.
Team profiles, multiple locations, detailed programme pages, resource libraries and separate booking pathways can all increase the work involved, even when the navigation still looks fairly simple.
Your content and imagery
Some website packages expect you to arrive with finished copy and correctly sized images. Others include copywriting, photography or more hands-on content development.
Website in a Week includes a workbook to help you prepare your content, along with light editing and formatting during the build. Full copywriting and photography aren’t included.
If you’re comparing quotes, check whether the designer is writing the content, refining supplied content or simply placing exactly what you provide.
Branding
A website is easier to design when the logo, colours, typography and visual direction are already clear.
Maglev’s Brand & Logo Package is $2,400 + GST. If your current identity still works well, there’s no reason to add a rebrand to the website budget. If the visual foundations need attention first, it makes sense to treat branding as its own piece of work.
Do you need branding before a new website? will help you work out which position you’re in.
Integrations and migrations
Booking systems, enquiry forms, email platforms, memberships and online shops all need to be connected and tested.
Moving an existing website can add another layer. The designer may need to redirect old links, preserve useful search content, move blog articles or products and check that nothing important disappears during the changeover.
A straightforward rebuild and a large website migration can look similar from the outside, but they aren’t the same job behind the scenes.
Don’t forget the ongoing website costs
The build price gets the website designed and launched. There will also be recurring costs to keep it running.
Maglev’s managed WordPress hosting is $300 + GST annually. This is separate from Website in a Week and doesn’t include your domain registration.
Depending on the website, you may also need to budget for your domain renewal, booking software, email marketing platform, ecommerce platform or paid apps. Ask which costs are included, which ones you’ll pay directly and whether any subscriptions are optional.
How to compare website quotes properly
Before comparing the final totals, check that each quote answers the same questions:
- How many pages and unique layouts are included?
- Who prepares and loads the content?
- Is page planning or strategy included?
- Are mobile layouts designed and checked?
- What SEO setup is completed before launch?
- Which bookings, forms or ecommerce features are included?
- How many review or refinement points do you receive?
- Will you receive training and post-launch support?
- What will you continue paying once the website is live?
A lower quote can be exactly right for a focused, prepared project. A higher quote may make sense when the website needs more custom functionality, content development or planning.
The useful comparison is what each designer will take responsibility for.
Do you need a full new website?
Possibly, but it’s worth checking before you commit.
If the main structure still works and you only need new sections, an additional page or a few layouts rebuilt, a full website project may be more than you need. My VIP Design Day costs $800 + GST for six focused hours and can be used for website updates.
Website refresh or new website? covers that decision in more detail.
What should you budget?
For a focused five-page service website with your branding and content prepared, I’d start with a budget of around $2,000 to $6,000 + GST.
Allow more when the website needs substantial content support, a larger page structure, advanced functionality or a more involved migration. Ecommerce can also increase the investment quickly once the product catalogue and customer requirements become more complex.
If your project fits within the Website in a Week scope, the current Maglev price is $2,400 + GST. Add the smaller Ecommerce Add-on and the total becomes $3,200 + GST.
The clearest next step is to work out what the website genuinely needs to do. Once that’s sorted, it becomes much easier to tell whether you need a focused package or a larger custom project.
If you’d like help working that out, send me the project details and I’ll tell you which option fits.
