How Much Does a Website Cost in India in 2026? A Transparent Pricing Guide
What actually drives the price of a business website, what you should expect at each budget, and the hidden costs to ask about before you sign.
A business website in India typically costs anywhere from ₹15,000 for a simple template site to ₹5 lakh or more for a custom-built platform with integrations. Most SMEs land between ₹40,000 and ₹2 lakh for a well-designed, fast, SEO-ready site. The final number depends less on the number of pages and more on what the site has to do: show information, capture leads, take payments or connect to your internal systems. This guide breaks down what drives the price, what each budget realistically buys, and the running costs that quotes often leave out.
What actually drives the price
Two quotes for "a 10-page website" can differ by five times, and both vendors may be honest. The gap usually comes from a handful of decisions that are rarely spelled out in the proposal.
Template versus custom design
A template or theme gives you a ready layout that is adjusted with your logo, colours and content. It is quick and cheap, but it looks like thousands of other sites and often carries unused code that slows it down. Custom design starts with wireframes and a design system built around your brand and your customer's journey. It takes longer and costs more, but the site is lighter, more distinctive and easier to extend later.
Functionality
Static pages are cheap. Every dynamic feature adds cost: enquiry forms connected to a CRM, appointment booking, multi-language content, member logins, payment gateways, product catalogues, calculators or dealer locators. A single integration with a third-party system such as an ERP or a courier API can cost more than the design of the whole site.
Content management
If your team needs to update pages, courses, blog posts or job openings without calling a developer, you need a proper content management system with sensible roles. A well-structured CMS takes planning, and it is the difference between a site that stays current and one that is out of date within six months.
Content and assets
Copywriting, product photography, illustrations and video are often excluded from website quotes. If you do not have them ready, budget separately or expect delays while your team writes pages in between other work.
Performance, SEO and security
A site that loads quickly on a mid-range Android phone over 4G, has clean technical SEO and is hardened against common attacks takes deliberate effort. Cheaper builds often skip this, and the cost shows up later as poor rankings or a hacked site.
Typical price bands in 2026
The ranges below reflect typical market pricing from established agencies and experienced freelancers. They are a starting point for budgeting, not a guarantee; your requirements will move you up or down a band.
| Type of site | Typical range (INR) | Usual timeline | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template brochure site (5 to 8 pages) | ₹15,000 to ₹40,000 | 1 to 3 weeks | New businesses that need a credible presence fast |
| Custom-designed business site with CMS | ₹40,000 to ₹1.5 lakh | 4 to 8 weeks | Established SMEs, clinics, consultancies, manufacturers |
| Lead-generation site with landing pages and CRM integration | ₹75,000 to ₹2.5 lakh | 5 to 10 weeks | Businesses that run paid ads and track enquiries |
| E-commerce store (custom) | ₹1.5 lakh to ₹6 lakh | 8 to 16 weeks | D2C brands with specific catalogue or checkout needs |
| Web application or portal | ₹3 lakh to ₹15 lakh+ | 3 to 6 months | Booking platforms, dashboards, multi-user systems |
Very low quotes, such as ₹5,000 for a "complete website", usually mean a page builder with a stock theme, no strategy and no support. That can be fine for a test, but it rarely works as the main sales channel for a growing business.
Hidden and recurring costs to ask about
The build fee is only part of the cost. Before you sign, ask the vendor to list every item below and say who pays for it.
- Domain name: roughly ₹800 to ₹1,500 a year for a .com or .in, more for premium names.
- Hosting: shared hosting can be a few thousand rupees a year; a managed cloud setup for a busy site can run ₹1,000 to ₹10,000 a month.
- SSL certificate: often free through the host, but confirm it is included and auto-renews.
- Premium themes and plugins: many carry annual licence fees that stop updates if unpaid.
- Business email: usually billed per user per month by the email provider.
- Maintenance: updates, backups, security patches and small edits. Typical retainers range from ₹2,000 to ₹15,000 a month depending on the site's complexity.
- Third-party services: SMS, WhatsApp messaging, payment gateway fees, map APIs and form tools each have their own pricing.
- Change requests: ask how extra pages or features after sign-off are priced, and whether there is a revision limit.
Questions to ask before you sign
A clear proposal protects both sides. Use these questions to compare vendors on more than the headline price.
- Who owns the code, design files, domain and hosting account once the project is paid for?
- Is the site built on a template, a page builder or custom code, and why was that chosen for us?
- What is included in SEO setup: meta tags, sitemaps, schema, page speed work, redirects from the old site?
- How many revision rounds are included at the design and development stages?
- What are the performance targets, and how will they be measured on mobile?
- What happens after launch: warranty period, support hours, response times?
- Can we see two or three live sites of similar scope, and speak to those clients?
Ownership is the question most often skipped. Always make sure the domain is registered in your company's name and that you have admin access to hosting and the CMS. Businesses that lose access to a domain registered by a former vendor spend months, and sometimes real money, getting it back.
How to choose the right budget for your business
Start from the business goal. If the site mainly needs to reassure people who already heard about you, a clean template site with good copy is often enough. If it must generate enquiries from ads and search, invest in landing pages, speed, tracking and CRM integration, because each lost lead costs more than the extra build effort. If it runs a core process, such as bookings or orders, treat it as software and plan for ongoing development.
It also helps to phase the work. Launch a focused first version with the pages and features that bring revenue, measure how people use it, and add the rest in later sprints. Phasing keeps the upfront cost manageable and means later spending is based on real data rather than guesses.
If you want an estimate against your actual requirements, the website and web application development team at Yenetch can scope it with you, and our maintenance plans cover the running costs listed above. You can also share your brief for a no-obligation breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
Is WordPress cheaper than a custom-coded website?
Usually yes for the initial build, because themes and plugins cover common features. Costs can rise later if the site depends on many paid plugins or needs heavy customisation. For content-heavy sites WordPress is often a sensible choice; for complex workflows a custom build can be cheaper over three to five years.
How long does it take to build a business website?
A template site can go live in one to three weeks. A custom-designed site with a CMS typically takes four to eight weeks, and most delays come from content and feedback rather than development.
Should I pay the full amount upfront?
Milestone payments are more common and safer for both sides, for example a portion at kickoff, another at design approval and the balance at launch. Avoid paying everything before you have seen a working site.
What does annual website maintenance cost in India?
Typical market ranges are ₹24,000 to ₹1.8 lakh a year depending on the site's size, the number of plugins or integrations, and how many content changes you need each month.
