On this page
You can get a website designed cheaply if you save on what you can add later without harm, such as the number of pages at launch, your own photo shoot or animations, and not on what costs you customers when it is missing: speed on a phone, titles that Google finds you on, the legally required details and a domain name in your own name. The cheapest route is building it yourself with a website builder from a few euros a month; having a simple site built costs from about 500 euros with a freelancer or agency in Belgium.
This guide is for small business owners and freelancers in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe who want a site that works without paying for one they do not need. It sets four budgets side by side with what you get, lists what you can safely cut and what never, and says for each point what it costs to add it later. No list of cheap providers: instead, the questions to ask every provider. What a website costs in general is in how much does a website cost.
Four budgets side by side
Prices excluding VAT, on 24 October 2026:
| Budget | What you get | One-off | Every year | What you do yourself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build it yourself with a website builder | a template you fill in, hosting included | 0 euros | JouwWeb (Webador outside the Netherlands) Lite 66 euros, Pro 120 euros; Wix Light 168 euros | everything: copy, images, structure |
| Have a template filled in | an existing design with your copy and logo | 500 to 1,500 euros with Belgian web builders | hosting and domain, 50 to 300 euros | supply the copy |
| A freelancer | a simple custom or WordPress site | 500 to 1,500 euros for a few pages; hourly rate 30 to 80 euros | hosting, domain, maintenance if any | copy, following up the build |
| An agency | design, copy, findability, follow-up | 2,000 to 6,000 euros for a professional business site | 50 to 300 euros, plus maintenance | input and approval |
With us a custom site starts from 1,500 euros; what that includes is further down. What a web designer charges per hour is in web developer hourly rate, and how to weigh building it yourself against hiring someone, in build your website yourself or hire.
If you live in Belgium but your customers speak several languages, budget for that from the start: a builder plan or a cheap site in one language is cheap until you need a second one.
What drops out at each price step
Build it yourself
from 66 euros a year
Designtemplate
Copy on search termsyou
Speed on a phonethe platform decides
Domain in your nameyou arrange it
Your own timea lot
Simple site
500 to 1,500 euros
Designtemplate
Copy on search termsoften you
Speed on a phoneask
Domain in your nameask
Your own timecopy
Agency
2,000 to 6,000 euros
Designown design
Copy on search termsusually
Speed on a phoneask
Domain in your nameask
Your own timeinput
taken care ofdependsdrops out or falls on you
Where you can safely save
| Saving | What it saves you now | What it costs to add later |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer pages at launch | design and copy per page | little: add a page per service once you know what customers search for |
| No photo shoot of your own | a day of a photographer and editing | a shoot later, once you know which images you need |
| No animations or effects | design and build time | a few hours per effect |
| One language at launch | copy and translation per language | a second language later, provided the site was built for it from the start |
| A simple contact form instead of a booking system | a link to a calendar | a link later, when the demand is there |
These things make your site better but stop no customer. Adding them later costs little more than doing them now.
What you never cut
| Never cut | Why | What it costs later if it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Speed on a phone | most visitors come on their phone; a slow page loses them | a site built slow rarely becomes fast without a rebuild; see improve website speed |
| Titles and copy in your customers' words | without them Google does not find you for what you do | rewriting and waiting for Google to pick it up; see technical SEO |
| Legally required details | your company number, privacy policy and cookie consent belong on it | a fine or a complaint; see company number on your website and do I need a privacy policy |
| Your domain name in your name | whoever holds the domain holds your site and your email | a transfer that takes weeks; see my web designer disappeared |
| An accessible site if you sell to consumers | the European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to online shops, among others | changes after the fact; see the European Accessibility Act for websites |
The cheapest site that works
For a freelancer or a small business that mainly needs to be found and called, this is enough to start:
- One page per service, with the words your customers type into Google in the title.
- Your town or region on the pages, if you work locally; and a Google Business Profile.
- A call button that sits under your thumb on a phone.
- Proof: real photos of your work, a few lines about who you are.
- The legally required details and a domain name in your own name.
You need no more than that for the first months. What it brings you, you work out in is a website worth it.
Why the cheapest site sometimes becomes the most expensive
A site of a few hundred euros only becomes expensive if you have to have it rebuilt within two years. That usually happens for one of four reasons: it was built on a platform you cannot leave, it loads slowly on a phone and that cannot be fixed, it cannot be found because titles and copy do not match search terms, or the domain is registered to the builder, who no longer answers. Each of those four can be avoided for free at the start, if you ask for it.
Already on a cheap site with a website builder and want to leave? The order that protects your Google rankings is in cancel Wix; for an old WordPress or Joomla site, see Joomla vs WordPress. What WordPress costs year after year is worked out in WordPress website cost.
Questions to ask every cheap provider
- In whose name is the domain, and do I get the login details?
- What does it cost from the second year, hosting, domain and maintenance together?
- Can I take the site with me if I leave, or is it tied to your platform?
- How fast does a page load on a phone on mobile data?
- Who writes the copy, and for which search terms?
- What does an extra page or a small change cost after launch?
- Can you work in English with me, and in the languages my customers read?
A quote that answers those questions can be compared fairly; how, is in compare website quotes. Unsure between a freelancer and an agency? Read freelancer or agency. A monthly plan instead of a one-off price, with the sum over five years, is in pay monthly website.
What our entry level of 1,500 euros includes
A custom site from 1,500 euros is, with us, a small, fast site built on your customers' search terms: its own design, built as a static site that has no hosting bill for an ordinary business site, fast on every phone, with the legally required details and a domain in your name. More pages, languages or features raise the price; where your site lands you work out in our website cost calculator. How we build is on website design, and for freelancers on web design for freelancers.
Cheap, cheapest and what you get for it
What is the cheapest way to get a website?
Build it yourself with a website builder, from 5.50 euros a month with JouwWeb or Webador Lite. Having one built starts at about 500 euros in Belgium for a simple site from a freelancer or with a template.
Is a cheap website a bad website?
Not if it is fast on a phone, found on your customers' words, has the legally required details and your domain is in your name. Save on pages, images and effects, not on those.
What does a cheap online shop cost?
Yourself on a shop platform from a few dozen euros a month; having one built in Belgium from about 4,000 euros. What an online shop adds is in our guide to ecommerce website cost.
What does a website cost at VBS?
A custom site starts from 1,500 euros. More pages, languages or features raise the price; after a first conversation you get a fixed price.
What should I watch for with a cheap web builder?
In whose name the domain is, what it costs from the second year, whether you can take the site with you, and how fast it loads on a phone.