Photo: SumUp
“WordPress is free” is true in one narrow sense: you do not pay a licence to download the software. A website people can use is a stack of other bills. This post is the list I walk through before a sales call, so nobody is shocked in month two.
Figures are typical ranges in USD for 2026. Indian agencies will quote rupees; the buckets stay the same. Always get a written scope.
The five buckets
- Design (Figma, brand, copy)
- Build (WordPress + Elementor or a theme)
- Go-live stack (domain, hosting, DNS, SSL, SMTP)
- Plugins and licences (yearly)
- Care (updates, backups, security, spam)
Skip any bucket and the “cheap WordPress site” either never launches or dies quietly a year later.
Photo: Andrew Neel
1. Design
If you already have a Figma file, this line may be $0 on the web quote. If you do not, budget a designer.
- Logo + simple brand kit: a few hundred dollars, or more for an agency
- Full marketing site in Figma (home, inner pages, mobile): often the same size as the build, sometimes more
- Copywriting: extra, unless you write it
A “theme install” with stock photos is not a custom design. It is cheaper. It will also look like every other site on that theme.
2. Build
This is the human who turns the file into WordPress. Ballpark for a small business site (not a shop):
- Theme + tweaks: $300–1,500
- Elementor Pro from Figma (5–10 pages): $1,000–5,000+
- Custom theme / ACF / WooCommerce: $4,000–20,000+ depending on scope
India, Eastern Europe, and the US sit at different hourly rates. The hours are the honest unit: a 10-page Figma with a shop is not a weekend.
See also Elementor Free vs Pro — Pro is usually a licence, not a substitute for the build fee.
Photo: Kelly Sikkema
3. Domain, hosting, email (every year)
Covered in detail in the domain / hosting / DNS / SMTP post. Money view:
- Domain: ~$12–20/year
- Shared hosting: ~$3–15/month
- Managed WordPress hosting: ~$20–50+/month
- Google Workspace / Microsoft 365: per mailbox / month
- SMTP for forms: $0–15/month on a decent provider
Year one of a simple site: often $80–400 in infrastructure, not counting people.
4. Plugins (yearly, easy to forget)
- Elementor Pro: from ~$59/year (Essential) — I usually budget Advanced Solo ~$84 for a real site
- Rank Math / Yoast Pro: $0 if free tier is enough, or ~$50–100/year
- Backup (UpdraftPlus, BlogVault, host backups): $0–100/year
- Security (Wordfence premium optional): $0–100/year
- WooCommerce extensions, booking, multilingual: can dwarf the rest
A lean marketing site: $100–300/year in licences. A shop: more. Free plugins exist; you still pay in update risk and your time.
5. Yearly care
Updates, backups, firewall, spam comments, uptime. DIY is “free” until a hack. A retainer is typically:
- Light (one small site, monthly updates): $30–80/month
- Standard business site: $80–200/month
- Shop / high traffic: $200+/month
The next scheduled post is a full maintenance plan checklist. For the sales call, just know: if nobody owns this line, you will pay a recovery invoice later.
A realistic first-year picture
| Kind of site | Build (once) | Year 1 run (host + licences + light care) |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure, existing Figma, Elementor | $1,000–4,000 | $250–800 |
| Brochure, design + build | $3,000–10,000 | $250–800 |
| Small WooCommerce shop | $4,000–15,000 | $500–2,000 |
Your quote can sit outside these bands. The point is: WordPress.org = $0 software. WordPress website = design + build + stack + plugins + care.
What to ask on the sales call
- What is in the build, and what is extra (shop, languages, extra pages)?
- Who owns domain and hosting?
- Which paid plugins, and who renews them?
- Is monthly care included for 30 days, 90 days, or never?
- What happens if I add pages later?
If the proposal is one number with no buckets, ask them to split it. Free software is a gift. Pretending the rest is free is how projects sour. Photos via Unsplash.
