How much does a website cost in NZ in 2026? Real prices

Most quotes are hard to compare because nobody shows their working. This guide breaks a website into the parts you actually pay for, explains why two quotes for the "same" site can be miles apart, and shows our own prices so you have a real number to measure against. If you'd rather see the options first, the build your website page lets you price a site item by item.

What are the main ways to get a website in NZ?

There are five common routes. Each one trades your time against your money.

• DIY builder. Wix, Squarespace and similar. You pay a monthly subscription and do the work yourself. Lowest cash cost, highest cost in your hours.
• Template set up by someone else. A freelancer drops your content into a stock template. Quick, but it often looks like a template.
• Ready-made design built out for you. A finished, professionally designed site that a studio adapts to your brand, pages and content. Faster and more affordable than custom, without the template look.
• Custom build. Designed from a blank page around your brand and how your customers buy. Takes longer and costs more.
• E-commerce store. Usually Shopify for NZ product businesses. Adds products, payments, shipping and GST settings to the job.

How much does each type of website cost?

Here's what we charge, in NZD. We publish these because a real number is more useful than "it depends".

Option	What you get	Price	Typical time
Build your website (à la carte)	A base site, then add only what you need	From $990	Depends on add-ons
Ready-made design: Launch	Up to 5 pages, built out for your brand	$1,490	About 2 weeks
Ready-made design: Grow	Up to 10 pages plus service pages set up for SEO	$2,490	About 2 weeks
Custom website	Designed from scratch, 6 or 12 pages	$3,450 / $5,450	3–4 weeks
Shopify store build	Starter (up to 25 products) or Full store	$3,950 / $6,950	3–5 weeks
Monthly plan	Site plus ongoing care, $0 upfront	From $149/mo	Ongoing

You can see every ready-made design in the website designs collection, and the custom and Shopify packages under builds.

What do the à la carte add-ons cost?

The build your website option starts at $990. Add-ons are priced individually:

• Extra page: $149
• Service menu set-up: $190
• Online shop, up to 25 products: $490
• Google Business Profile setup: $249
• Journal plus 3 articles: $150
• Branded email templates: $150
• Clean product images, up to 25: $149

So a base site with two extra pages and a Google Business Profile comes to $1,537. That's the point of à la carte: you can see exactly where each dollar goes.

What pushes the price of a website up?

Two sites can look similar and still be priced very differently. These are the usual reasons.

• Number of pages. Every page has to be laid out, written and checked on mobile. Ten service pages is real work.
• Copywriting. If you supply finished text, the job is smaller. If the studio writes it, budget for that.
• Photography. Real photos of your team, work and premises beat stock every time, but a shoot is its own cost.
• Bookings and payments. Connecting a booking system, a payment gateway or a quote form takes set-up and testing.
• Online shop. Products, variants, shipping zones (including rural), GST and payments add a lot of moving parts.
• Migration. Moving an old site without losing Google rankings means mapping old URLs to new ones with redirects.
• Custom design. Designing from a blank page takes more rounds than adapting a proven layout.

Why do website quotes in NZ vary so much?

Because the quotes usually aren't for the same thing. One might be a template with your logo on it. Another might include strategy, copy, SEO set-up and a year of changes. Agencies also carry more overhead than a solo freelancer, and some offshore builders price low and leave you to sort out the rest.

The fix is to compare line by line. If a quote doesn't say how many pages, who writes the words, whether SEO is set up, and what happens after launch, ask before you sign.

What hidden costs should I budget for?

The build is only part of it. Check each of these is either included or budgeted:

• Domain name. A yearly fee to keep your .co.nz or .nz address. Make sure it's registered in your name.
• Hosting. Some platforms include it, others bill separately.
• Email. A business inbox on your own domain (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) is a separate monthly subscription.
• Apps and plugins. Booking widgets, reviews, forms and shop apps often charge monthly.
• Changes after launch. New photos, prices, staff and offers. Find out if they're included or billed by the hour.
• GST. Check whether each quote includes GST. A 15% difference matters when you're comparing.

Is it better to pay once or pay monthly for a website?

Both work. It depends on cash flow and how much you want handled for you.

	Pay for the build	Monthly plan
Upfront cost	The build price, or spread it	$0 upfront
Ongoing changes	Billed as needed	Included in the plan
Best for	Owners who want to own the cost outright	Owners who want the site looked after

With us, any build can be paid over 3, 6, 9 or 12 months with no extra fees. Our monthly plans start at $149 a month with $0 upfront and no lock-in. Higher plans add things like monthly blog posts and managed Google Ads.

How do I compare website quotes?

Run every quote through this checklist before you pay a deposit:

• How many pages are included, and what does an extra page cost?
• Who writes the copy, and who supplies the photos?
• Is it set up for Google: page titles, descriptions, a sitemap, Search Console?
• Will it work properly on a phone? Ask to see live sites on yours.
• Is the domain registered in your name?
• Can you get access to your own analytics?
• What happens after launch, and what do changes cost?
• Does the price include GST?
• What's the timeline, and what do they need from you to hit it?
• Can you see real sites they've built for businesses like yours?

If a studio can answer all ten in writing, you're comparing like with like.

What does a website cost for a salon or service business?

Service businesses usually need a clear service menu with prices, online booking, a Google Business Profile and reviews. On our à la carte builder that's the $990 base plus the $190 service menu set-up and the $249 Google Business Profile setup, before any extra pages. We built the sites for UKIYO in Wānaka and Crew Stylists in Queenstown, and the salon websites page covers what we learned about bookings from them.

If you need more than a website, like a booking app or a custom tool, see software.

Where should I start?

If you want a number in five minutes, use price your project. If you already know roughly what you need, pick a design from the website designs collection or build your own on build your website. Once you're underway, changes and updates go through the client portal.