What a website costs in South Africa: once-off quotes vs monthly packages
A business website in South Africa costs R7,500 to R20,000 once-off in Procompare's 2026 price guide, and the guide says that price doesn't include ongoing maintenance. Monthly packages work the other way round: ours start at R490 a month, with the website built free and the care after launch included. Here's what each kind of price buys, what pushes a quote up, and how the two add up over three years.
What once-off builds cost
Procompare, a marketplace that sells enquiries to web designers, publishes a 2026 price guide built from project costs its designers report. These are its ranges:
| Kind of website | Once-off price range | Procompare's average |
|---|---|---|
| Simple website (CMS) | R3,800 to R6,300 | R5,000 |
| Business website | R7,500 to R20,000 | R14,000 |
| E-commerce website | R13,000 to R25,000 | R19,000 |
| Custom website | R38,000 to R88,000 | not given |
Figures checked November 2026, from Procompare's 2026 price guide.
The guide says these prices cover building the site, not looking after it once it's live. That's the part to ask about on every quote.
For the wider picture, such as how many South African small businesses use a website and how their customers search, see our small business website statistics, each figure with its source.
What our packages cost
We don't charge to build the website. You pay one monthly price, and the build, hosting and care come with it.
| Package | A month | A year (pay for 10 months, get 12) | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | R490 | R4,900 | A website of up to 5 pages, the words written for you, hosting, security updates, backups and SSL, a mailbox, up to 30 minutes of changes a month, your Google Business Profile set up |
| Standard (recommended) | R990 | R9,900 | On-site SEO, 2 blog posts a month, your Google Business Profile managed, Search Console and Bing set up, a monthly report, up to 1 hour of changes |
| Growth | R1,490 | R14,900 | 4 blog posts a month, call, WhatsApp and form tracking, a review-request kit, 10 directory listings, up to 2 hours of changes |
| Full House | R4,990 | R49,900 | Full SEO for one local business website, 8 blog posts a month, heatmap improvements, up to 4 hours of changes done the same working day |
Prices as at November 2026. Each package includes everything in the one before it. The domain isn't included in any package; we register it for you at cost. The full list is on our packages page.
Three years, side by side
Over three years a package can cost you more than a once-off build. That's worth saying plainly, so here are the totals.
| Compare | Over three years |
|---|---|
| Procompare's average business website, once-off | R14,000, plus whatever hosting, changes and SEO cost after launch |
| Our Minimum, paid monthly | R17,640 (36 x R490) |
| Our Minimum, paid yearly | R14,700 (3 x R4,900) |
| Our Standard with SEO, paid monthly | R35,640 (36 x R990) |
| Our Standard with SEO, paid yearly | R29,700 (3 x R9,900) |
Figures checked November 2026.
What the monthly price buys is everything after launch. Somebody keeps the site hosted, secure and backed up. Somebody makes the changes when your prices go up or you add a service. From Standard up, somebody does the SEO every month and tells you what they did. On a once-off build those are either in the quote, billed separately, or left to you. And with us, after 12 paid months the website files are yours, so you're never stuck.
If you want to own the files on day one and you're happy to look after the site yourself, a once-off build can be the better deal. If you'd rather not think about the website at all, that's what a package is for.
What pushes a once-off quote up
Who writes the words. A designer who drops your existing text into a layout is doing a different job from one who writes each page around what your customers search for. Ask whether copywriting is in the quote. On our packages, we write the words.
How many pages, and how different they are. Five pages that share one layout cost less than five pages that each need their own design. A services page, a prices page and a contact page are three different problems.
What the site has to connect to. A payment gateway like PayFast or Yoco, a booking calendar, a CRM, a stock feed. Each one is real development time.
Tracking. Recording calls, WhatsApp taps and form enquiries is cheap to set up while the site is being built and fiddly to add later. Without it you can't tell whether the site brings in work.
Life after launch. Hosting, domain renewal, SSL, backups and edits. Ask for each as a line item, so a low build price doesn't hide a monthly fee you only see later.
What a website costs each month
Whichever way you pay for the build, a live website has running costs: hosting, the domain renewal, email, security updates and the occasional change. If you want to be found on Google, add SEO. Some quotes leave these out, some charge for them separately, and some, like ours, put them in one monthly price. Our packages cover hosting, mailboxes and monthly changes on every package, and SEO from Standard at R990 a month.
How to compare quotes
Put these questions to every web designer you're talking to, us included:
- What does the price include after the site goes live?
- Who writes the words?
- Whose name is the domain registered in, and when do the website files become mine?
- When will the site be live, and what happens if it isn't?
- What does a small change cost once it's live?
Our answers are on our packages page: hosting and changes are in the monthly price, we write the words, the domain is yours from day one and the files after 12 paid months, and your site goes live within 7 days of us getting your details, or your first month is free.
Want to see what you'd get for the money first? Look at sites we've built, or read how a free builder compares with a site we build for you in free website builder vs a coded site.
Questions people ask
How much does a website cost in South Africa?
Procompare, a marketplace that sells enquiries to web designers, puts a business website at R7,500 to R20,000 once-off in its 2026 price guide, with an average of R14,000. Hosting, changes and SEO come on top unless the quote includes them. Our packages have no build fee and run from R490 to R4,990 a month, with hosting and changes included.
How much does a website cost per month in South Africa?
That depends on what you need after launch: hosting, email, changes and, if you want to be found on Google, SEO. Our packages cost R490 a month for the website, hosting, a mailbox and small changes, and R990 a month once SEO is included. Pay yearly and you pay for 10 months and get 12.
What's the most affordable way to get a business website in South Africa?
It depends on whether you'd rather pay in money or in time. A free builder plan costs nothing, but you build the site yourself, and on Wix's free plan, for example, it stays on a wixsite.com address. Procompare, a marketplace that sells enquiries to web designers, puts a business website at R7,500 to R20,000 once-off in its 2026 price guide. It says that covers the build, not upkeep, so hosting and changes come on top unless the quote includes them. With us the build is free and you pay from R490 a month, with hosting, a mailbox and small changes included.
Why is there no build fee?
We build the website free and earn our money from the monthly package, from R490 a month. There's no contract: you can cancel with 30 days' notice, your domain, email and words go with you, and after 12 paid months the website files are yours too.
What isn't included in your prices?
The domain name, which we register for you at cost. Online stores, ads management and bigger or immersive builds aren't in the packages either; we price those on your brief.
Let’s get your website live
Send us a WhatsApp with your business name and what you do. Your website is built free, then from R490 a month.
Prefer to phone? +27 66 241 2155