Website Development Cost in India (2026): Real Price Breakdown
What a website really costs in India in 2026: landing pages, business sites, e-commerce and web apps, freelancer vs agency, hidden costs and red flags.
Ask five people what a website costs in India and you will get five answers, from ₹10,000 to ₹25 lakh. They are all correct, because “a website” can mean a one-page landing page built on a template or a custom web app with logins, payments and integrations. This guide breaks down what each type of website really costs in 2026, who should build it, which costs keep coming back every year, and how to tell a fair quote from a bad one.
Key takeaways
- A simple landing page costs about ₹10,000–35,000 from a freelancer and around ₹50,000 from a quality agency.
- A 5–10 page business website costs ₹30,000–80,000 on WordPress, and ₹80,000–2.5 lakh if it is custom-coded.
- E-commerce ranges from ₹50,000 for a basic store to ₹5–25 lakh for a fully custom build.
- Budget for recurring costs too: domain, hosting, paid plugins and maintenance can add ₹20,000–2 lakh a year.
- The cheapest quote is fine for some businesses. It is a problem when you need speed, leads and something that still works in three years.
Website development cost in India by type
The biggest driver of price is what the website has to do. Here are typical 2026 market ranges. They are ranges, not fixed prices, and you will find people above and below them.
| Type of website | Typical cost (one-time) | Timeline | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landing page (1 page) | ₹10k–35k freelancer; about ₹50k at an agency | 3–10 days | Ad campaigns, a single product or event |
| Business website, 5–10 pages (WordPress) | ₹30k–80k | 2–4 weeks | Clinics, consultants, local services |
| Business website, custom-coded | ₹80k–2.5L | 3–6 weeks | Brands that need speed, custom design, integrations |
| E-commerce, basic (Shopify/WooCommerce) | ₹50k–1.5L | 3–6 weeks | Up to a few hundred products, standard checkout |
| E-commerce, mid-range | ₹1.5L–5L | 6–10 weeks | Custom design, ERP or logistics integrations, COD rules |
| E-commerce, fully custom | ₹5L–25L | 3–6 months | Marketplaces, B2B pricing, subscriptions, high traffic |
| Web app or mobile app MVP (quality agency) | ₹4L–12L | 2–4 months | SaaS products, portals, booking or ordering platforms |
Landing pages
A landing page is one focused page with one goal: a call, a WhatsApp message, a form or a purchase. A freelancer using a page builder can do this for ₹10,000–35,000. An agency usually charges around ₹50,000 because the price includes copywriting, conversion tracking with Google Ads and Meta, speed work and a few rounds of testing. If you are about to spend ₹1 lakh a month on ads, the tracking alone is worth the difference.
Business websites
Most small and medium businesses need 5–10 pages: home, about, services, a few service detail pages, contact and maybe a blog. On WordPress with a good theme, that costs ₹30,000–80,000. A custom-coded site built with a framework like Next.js costs ₹80,000–2.5 lakh. You pay more for custom code because it is designed from scratch, loads faster, has fewer security issues from plugins, and is easier to connect to CRMs, booking systems or WhatsApp automation later.
E-commerce websites
A basic Shopify or WooCommerce store with a theme, product upload and payment gateway costs ₹50,000–1.5 lakh. Mid-range builds at ₹1.5–5 lakh add custom design, integrations with Shiprocket or your ERP, COD verification and better product filtering. Fully custom e-commerce at ₹5–25 lakh is for businesses whose needs a platform cannot handle, such as B2B price lists per dealer, multi-vendor marketplaces or complex subscriptions.
Web apps and mobile apps
Once users log in and the software does real work, such as bookings, payments, dashboards or multiple user roles, it is a web app. A first version (MVP) from a quality agency typically costs ₹4–12 lakh. Much cheaper quotes exist, but they often skip testing, security and documentation, which you pay for later.
Freelancer vs agency vs studio: who should build it?
There is no single right answer. Each option makes sense for a different business.
| Compared on | Freelancer | Small studio / tech-first agency | Large agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business website | ₹15k–60k | ₹50k–2.5L | ₹2L–10L+ |
| Strengths | Cheapest, direct contact, quick for simple sites | Design, code and marketing in one team; senior people do the work | Process, large teams, brand strategy |
| Risks | Single point of failure, may disappear, limited skills | Limited capacity; quality varies a lot between studios | High overhead; your project may go to juniors |
| Best for | Simple brochure sites, tight budgets | Businesses that want a site that brings leads | Enterprises with big brand budgets |
When cheap makes sense: if you are testing an idea, need an online presence mainly so people can find your phone number, or will not run ads to the site, a ₹10,000–25,000 template site or even a free builder like Google Sites or Wix is a reasonable choice. Do not overspend before you know what you need.
When cheap costs more: if the website is your main source of leads, or you plan to spend on Google or Meta ads, a slow site without tracking wastes ad money every day. Rebuilding a bad site a year later usually costs more than building it properly once.
What drives the cost of a website
- Custom design vs template. A premium theme costs ₹3,000–8,000. Custom design adds ₹20,000–1 lakh depending on the number of unique page layouts.
- Number of unique pages. Ten pages with the same layout cost less than five pages that each need a different design.
- Content and copywriting. If you supply text and photos, it is cheaper. Professional copy usually costs ₹1,500–5,000 per page.
- Features. Online booking, payments, logins, multi-language, search and calculators each add time and cost.
- Integrations. Connecting to a CRM, WhatsApp API, Tally, a clinic system or a logistics partner takes real engineering time.
- Speed and SEO work. Getting a site to load in under 2–3 seconds on mobile data, with proper page titles, schema and sitemaps, takes skill that cheaper builds often skip.
- Who does the work. Senior engineers cost more per hour but usually take fewer hours and leave fewer problems behind.
Hidden and recurring costs nobody quotes upfront
The build price is only part of the cost. These are the charges that come every month or year. Ask for them in writing before you sign.
| Cost | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Domain (.com or .in) | ₹800–1,500 per year | Always register it in your own name and account |
| Hosting | ₹0–2,000/month for most business sites | Modern static hosting can be free at low traffic; WordPress needs paid hosting |
| Paid plugins and themes | ₹5,000–30,000 per year | Common with WordPress: forms, SEO, backups, security, page builders |
| Business email | About ₹125–300 per user per month | Google Workspace or Zoho Mail; approximate, check current pricing |
| Maintenance / AMC | ₹1,500–15,000 per month | Updates, backups, security, small changes; depends on scope |
| Shopify plan and apps (e-commerce) | Varies by plan; apps often ₹1,000–10,000/month | Plus payment gateway fees of about 2% per transaction on many plans |
Also remember GST. Most agency quotes in India are exclusive of 18% GST, so a ₹1 lakh quote is ₹1.18 lakh when you pay. A registered business can usually claim this back as input credit.
Red flags in a website quote
- The agency registers the domain in its own name. If you ever part ways, you may lose your own web address.
- “Unlimited pages and revisions” for ₹8,000. Unlimited scope at a tiny price usually means a template with your logo, and little help after launch.
- No written scope. A one-line quote like “Website – ₹40,000” leads to arguments later about what was included.
- “Guaranteed #1 on Google.” Nobody can guarantee rankings. Google itself warns against anyone who promises this.
- You will not get admin access or the code. You should own everything you paid for.
- 100% payment upfront. Milestone payments protect both sides.
How to get a fair quote
- Write a one-page brief. List the pages you need, the main goal (calls, WhatsApp, bookings, sales), features, and two or three websites you like.
- Get three quotes from different types of builders. For example, one freelancer, one small studio and one larger agency. The spread will teach you a lot.
- Compare scope, not just price. Check whether copywriting, tracking, SEO basics, speed targets and post-launch support are included.
- Ask for the recurring costs in writing. Domain, hosting, plugins and maintenance for the first year.
- Click through their past work. Open the live sites on your phone. Are they fast? Do the forms work?
- Agree on milestones. A common split is 40% to start, 30% on design approval and 30% at launch.
For a longer list of what to check before hiring, read our 15-point checklist for choosing a website development company.
How much should you spend?
A simple rule: spend in proportion to what one customer is worth to you and how much the site has to do. A dental clinic where one implant patient is worth ₹40,000 can justify a faster, better-built site with online booking. A home tutor who gets most students by referral may only need a clean one-page site.
For reference, at Tenth Floor Labs our websites start from ₹25,000, custom-coded, with tracking and WhatsApp capture built in. That is not the cheapest option in the market, and for some businesses a cheaper template site is the smarter choice.
Next steps
If you want a rough number for your own project, try our website cost estimator. It takes about 30 seconds and shows a realistic range with the recurring costs included. If you would rather talk it through, see our website development service or, if you sell online, our e-commerce development page.