Running a basic website costs somewhere between $5 and $50 a month, depending on the platform you choose and how much of the work you do yourself. A static HTML site sits at the low end. A CMS with plugins and a theme sits in the middle. A hosted builder with a paid plan sits at the top, but it bundles more of the work in.
There’s no single “average cost” figure worth quoting, because the range depends entirely on choices you control: domain registrar, hosting tier, whether you pay for a theme, and how much maintenance time you’re willing to put in yourself versus paying someone else to do.
The recurring costs, item by item
- Domain name — typically $10 to $20 a year for a .com. Premium or short domains cost more. Renewal price is sometimes higher than the first-year promo price, so check that before signing up.
- Hosting — shared hosting runs roughly $3 to $15 a month. VPS or managed WordPress hosting runs $20 to $100+ a month depending on traffic and resources. A static site can be hosted free or near-free on services built for static files.
- SSL certificate — free with almost every host now (Let’s Encrypt). Paid certificates with extended validation exist but aren’t necessary for most sites.
- Email hosting — often not included with web hosting. A business inbox (like [email protected]) through a mail provider costs roughly $5 to $7 per mailbox per month. Some hosts throw in basic email for free, with limits.
- Theme — free themes exist for every major CMS. Paid themes run $30 to $100 as a one-off, or $50 to $200+ a year if the theme includes a support/update subscription.
- Plugins or apps — free options cover a lot of ground. Paid plugins for things like forms, SEO, backups, or security typically cost $20 to $150 a year each. Costs add up fast if you install many.
- Maintenance time — updates, backups, and fixing things that break. This is the cost most people forget to count. Either you spend a few hours a month on it, or you pay someone else to.
Static site vs CMS vs hosted builder
The platform you pick changes where the money goes, not just how much there is.
| Type | What you’re paying for |
| Static HTML site | Cheapest to run. Domain and minimal hosting only. No plugins, no database, nothing to patch for security. Cost is low but you (or a developer) do all editing by hand, in code. |
| CMS (e.g. WordPress) | Domain, hosting, plus optional theme and plugin costs. More flexible and easier to edit day to day, but you take on update and security maintenance as an ongoing cost — either your time or someone else’s. |
| Hosted builder (e.g. Squarespace, Wix) | One monthly or annual plan fee covers hosting, SSL, and updates. Higher sticker price, but less to manage separately. Extras like custom email or removing ads usually cost more on top. |
A CMS gives you the most control over long-term cost, because you can swap hosts, themes, and plugins independently. A hosted builder trades that flexibility for one predictable bill. A static site is the cheapest option but the least convenient to update without technical help.
Costs that show up later, not at signup
- Traffic overages — some hosting plans charge extra once you exceed a bandwidth or visitor cap.
- Backups — some hosts include them, others charge extra or expect you to run your own.
- Security fixes — a compromised site can cost far more in cleanup time and lost trust than any of the line items above.
- Migration — moving a site to new hosting or a different platform later takes time and sometimes paid tools, even if the move itself is worth it.
- Support and troubleshooting — errors like a 401 response or a broken plugin update aren’t part of the monthly bill, but they cost time to fix. See the guide on a 401 unauthorized error for one common example.
Rough monthly ranges
- Static site, self-managed: roughly $2 to $10 a month, mostly domain and minimal hosting.
- CMS site on shared hosting, free theme and plugins: roughly $5 to $20 a month.
- CMS site with paid theme, a few paid plugins, and managed hosting: roughly $30 to $80 a month.
- Hosted builder on a business plan: roughly $20 to $50 a month, all-inclusive.
These are ranges, not averages, because the inputs vary too much for one number to mean anything. A small brochure site and a busy online store on the same platform can have very different hosting bills.
Picking a platform based on cost
If cost is the main constraint, decide first how much time you’re willing to spend on maintenance. Low time, higher fixed cost points toward a hosted builder. More time available, lower fixed cost points toward a CMS or static site. The comparison of the platform index is worth checking before you commit, since switching later carries its own cost in time and sometimes money.