◆ guides
Four routes to a shop website, prices checked in September 2026, and a two-year sum so you know what you pay for.
2026-09-22 · 5 min read
What you get
• Price ranges for each of the four routes, with the date checked
• The costs that come after launch: domain, hosting, changes
• A two-year sum you can run for your shop in five minutes
Apply in: 5 minutes · Saves: a few sales calls
If a question about your shop comes up, message me.
Ask me about your siteFour routes to a shop website and what each costs
An auto repair shop website costs $17 a month in a builder (Wix Light, yearly plan), $500-2,500 for an entry site and $3,000-8,000 for a professional one (Qrolic's ranges), or $49 a month on a plan with a person who runs the site. Prices checked on September 22, 2026; price lists change, so I date them.
Route
What you pay (as of Sept 22, 2026)
Who makes changes after launch
Builder (Wix and others)
Wix Light $17 a month on the yearly plan, taxes not included
You, alone in the editor
Freelancer
Entry site $500-2,500 (Qrolic)
The freelancer, each change billed
Agency
Professional site $3,000-8,000 (Qrolic); Clutch lists $100-149 an hour for web design companies, most projects under $10,000; $6,500-15,000 in WebFX's survey
The agency, under a contract
Monthly plan with a person
Givyx, Studio plan: $49 a month, no build fee; first month free, you pay from month two
Me; unlimited changes, a new feature or integration quoted first
The builder has the lowest number on the invoice and eats the most evenings: you build the site yourself and come back to it when the price of a brake job changes. A freelancer and an agency bill once; after that every change is a new conversation. A monthly plan spreads the cost over months, and the person who built the site answers you.
What is in the price, and what comes on top later?
The price usually covers the design and the copy. The domain, hosting and changes come separately, and year two can cost more than year one: Wix, for example, includes the domain free only for the first year.
The domain is the site's address, hosting is the server it sits on; you renew both every year. Wix includes a domain free for the first year on a yearly plan. Qrolic counts hosting at $30-150 a month and maintenance at $50-300 a month, so a $3,000 site carries $80-450 a month behind it.
The third cost is changes. A shop changes its prices and hours, adds a service in winter and drops it in spring; on a one-off quote each change has its own price.
One cost never shows up on an invoice: who owns the domain. A UK web host describes it:
The website is up, but the person who built it has stopped answering emails. Maybe they have retired, closed their business, or simply vanished.
Pete White, switchweb.co.uk
https://www.switchweb.co.uk/blog/2026/08/09/web-designer-disappeared-take-back-control-website-domain/Before you pay anyone, check who registers the domain and in whose name; the registrant should be your business.
Changes after launch are where a one-off quote starts to grow. With me, changes are unlimited on the Studio plan: you send a message, I make the change; a new feature or integration is quoted first.
- Up to 15 pages
- Everything in Starter
- Online booking
- Unlimited changes (new features quoted first)
- Advanced SEO
- Analytics dashboard
- Priority support
- 1 design refresh / year
First month free - you pay from month two, and only if you keep the site. Other plans on the pricing page; no build fee on any of them.
How do you count the cost of a website over two years?
Add the build price, two renewals of the domain and hosting, and the changes you will really make. Only that sum compares with a monthly plan.
1. Write down the build price, or zero if the route has none. 2. Add the domain and hosting for two years at the post-promotion price. 3. Count the changes you make a year (prices, hours, a new service, photos) and multiply by the rate per change. 4. Compare the sums and add how many of your evenings each route costs.
An example with the prices above. Freelancer: a $3,000 site plus hosting and maintenance at $80-450 a month (Qrolic's ranges) comes to $4,920-13,800 over two years, before any change. Builder: Wix Light at $17 a month on the yearly plan is $204 a year; the pricing page doesn't say what it costs after the first year, so ask before you buy. Studio plan: 23 months at $49, as the first is free, comes to $1,127 with unlimited changes (a new feature or integration is quoted first).
If the site will stand for years without changes, the one-off quote wins; if the budget is the whole decision, the builder wins. If prices and hours will change, the sum flips.
What a shop website has to do to be worth the money
A driver with a warning light on asks two things, whether you do this and roughly what it costs, then wants a slot right away. Whatever the price, check that the quote covers exactly that.
Look for four things in any quote. A service list with a "from" price and a note on what the final figure depends on. A booking form that lands in your calendar. A call button under the thumb. Hours that match your Google listing. The driver checks this on a phone, often in the parking lot, and gives it a few seconds. Ask the price of a single change too; a shop site earns its keep when its prices and hours are today's, whatever the page count.
FAQ
Is a "free" website really free?
It depends on what follows the word. A $0 domain in year one costs money in year two. The first month on Givyx is free; from month two you pay $49 a month, and only if you stay.
Can I change the prices on the site myself?
Prices and the service list you change yourself in the panel, from a phone too; the rest you send me as a message. In a builder you do it yourself in the editor. With a freelancer it depends on what the site was built with.
What happens when the person who built the site disappears?
If I stop, you keep your own domain, the text and the photos; only the platform is mine, so you rebuild the site anywhere. When the domain is in the builder's name, you're left disputing the address, the case Pete White describes.
◆ your website
Describe the business; I build a first version; you decide with the real site in front of you.
