"How much does a website cost?" is the most common question we get, and the honest answer starts with another question: what does the website need to do? A five-page brochure site and a custom ecommerce store are priced very differently, even though both are "a website".
This guide explains what moves a website quote in India, so you can compare proposals on the same terms and spend where it counts.
The seven factors that move the price
1. Scope: pages, templates and features. The number of unique page designs matters more than the number of pages. Ten blog posts share one template. Ten different landing pages are ten designs.
2. Design depth. A themed build adapts an existing design. A custom design system, motion and brand-specific layouts take more design time and cost more. Neither is wrong; they solve different problems.
3. Platform. A hosted platform such as Shopify gets a store live quickly. A custom build on a framework like Next.js gives more control over performance, design and SEO but takes more engineering. Our guide to Shopify versus custom ecommerce covers how to choose.
4. Integrations. Payment gateways, shipping partners, CRMs, WhatsApp, booking tools and ERPs each add build and testing time.
5. Content. Who writes the copy, shoots the photos and migrates old pages? Content is the most underestimated line in a website budget.
6. SEO and performance setup. Metadata, structured data, redirects from an old site, speed work and analytics are easy to skip and expensive to fix later. Ask whether they are in scope. Our pre-launch SEO checklist lists what to expect.
7. Who builds it. A solo specialist, a small studio and a large agency price differently. Communication and accountability change too: ask who you will actually talk to.
What a good quote includes
A clear proposal should state:
- The deliverables: page templates, design rounds, features and integrations
- The platform and why it was chosen
- A timeline with milestones (most business websites take roughly four to ten weeks, depending on scope)
- What is not included, such as copywriting, photography, paid plugins or hosting
- Launch support and a documented handover
- Options for ongoing care after launch
If a quote is a single number with no breakdown, ask for the breakdown.
Fixed scope or hourly?
For a defined website, fixed scope gives you cost certainty. For ongoing work such as experiments, content and improvements, a monthly engagement fits better. At Promptt Studios, website projects are fixed-scope and quoted after a discovery conversation, with an optional care plan afterwards.
Costs people forget
- Domain renewals and hosting
- Premium themes, plugins and fonts
- Transactional email and SMS
- Payment gateway fees
- Photography and video
- Ongoing updates, security and backups
How to compare proposals
- Ask each studio to scope the same list of pages and features.
- Look at their live work, not only their price. Our case studies show the brief and build behind real client sites.
- Check who builds what, and who you will talk to.
- Ask what happens if scope changes mid-project.
- Ask what you own at the end: design files, code and accounts.
Next step
If you are scoping a website and want a clear, itemised proposal, start a project. We reply within one business hour and send a one-page proposal within 48 hours of a discovery call.