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A pay monthly website means you pay a fixed fee every month instead of a one-off price, and the provider usually includes hosting, the domain and small changes. In the short run that is cheaper. After two to four years most pay monthly website packages have cost more than a site bought outright, and when you stop, who owns your domain, design and copy matters more than the price.
Pay monthly websites for small businesses are common in the UK, where many agencies sell them as website as a service with a minimum term. This guide sets both models side by side over 12, 36 and 60 months, shows when a subscription overtakes buying, lists the clauses to look for in the contract, and says when pay monthly is the smart choice. Prices are in euro, as we quote from Ghent, Belgium; the sums work the same in pounds. For what a site costs to build, try the website cost calculator; for running costs, see website cost per year.
Two kinds of website subscription
| Kind | What you get | Who builds | Example price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A site builder | a platform you build on yourself, with hosting and often a domain | you | Wix, Squarespace or Webflow, from roughly 12 to 30 a month on annual billing |
| Website as a service | an agency or freelancer builds, hosts and maintains for a fixed monthly fee | the provider | set per provider, often with a minimum term |
The first is a tool you rent; the second is a site you rent. With the second, the difference from buying is not just the price but what you keep when you stop. Whether to build it yourself at all is covered in build your website yourself or hire someone. What a site builder costs every year is in Wix pricing; leaving one is covered in how to cancel Wix, and what hosting costs on its own in website hosting cost.
When does a subscription cost more
The sum is simple: divide what a site costs one-off by the monthly fee. With us a custom site starts from 1,500 euro. Against that, before VAT:
| Monthly fee | After 12 months | After 36 months | After 60 months | Costs more than 1,500 euro after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 euro | 360 euro | 1,080 euro | 1,800 euro | 50 months |
| 50 euro | 600 euro | 1,800 euro | 3,000 euro | 30 months |
| 80 euro | 960 euro | 2,880 euro | 4,800 euro | 19 months |
| 120 euro | 1,440 euro | 4,320 euro | 7,200 euro | 13 months |
A bought site still has running costs. A custom static site runs, for a normal business site, inside Amazon CloudFront's free plan, which leaves the domain. A .be, for example, costs 9.99 euro in year one and 46.99 euro after at a Belgian registrar; check the renewal price of your own extension. If you want maintenance, add a contract; Belgian web builders charge 200 to 1,000 euro a year.
| Bought outright | After 12 months | After 36 months | After 60 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 euro, static, domain only | 1,509.99 euro | 1,603.97 euro | 1,697.95 euro |
| 1,500 euro, plus 200 euro maintenance a year | 1,709.99 euro | 2,203.97 euro | 2,697.95 euro |
Sixty months of renting against buying once
Subscription, 50 euro a monthBought, 1,500 euro plus domain
3,000
1,698
month
Who owns what when you stop?
This is the question that decides it, and it is rarely on a pricing page. Ask it for every part and get the answer in the contract:
| Part | Often, with a subscription | What you want | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain name | registered to the provider | in your name, with your email | without it you lose your address and email; see how to transfer a domain name |
| Design and code | the provider's, you rent them | a licence or ownership when you leave | otherwise you rebuild |
| Copy and images | usually yours, not always in writing | yours, with an export when you leave | your own copy is your biggest effort |
| Google rankings | tied to your URLs | redirects if the site moves | otherwise you start over in Google |
Clauses to look for in the contract
- Minimum termHow long are you locked in, and what do you pay to leave early?
- Automatic renewalDoes the contract renew itself, for how long, and until when can you cancel?
- Notice period and formHow much notice, and in what form? Always cancel in writing so you have proof.
- Price risesCan the provider raise the monthly fee each year, and by how much?
- What is includedHow many changes a month, how fast, and what does everything else cost?
- What happens when you leaveDo you get the domain, an export of copy and images, and possibly the code?
Whether a clause holds in your case, especially in a business contract, is a question for a lawyer. What belongs in a good quote is shown in our quote template.
Leaving a website subscription without losing your rankings
Whoever wants out after a few years often hits two walls: the domain is registered to the provider, and the site cannot move. Here is how to handle it:
- Read your contract for the notice period and what you get on leaving. Cancel in writing, ahead of the renewal date.
- Get the domain into your name, or the transfer code if it already is. The steps are in how to transfer a domain name.
- Collect your copy and images, even if you have to copy them from the live site.
- List every URL of the old site, from its sitemap and from Google Search Console.
- Have the new site ready with a 301 redirect for every old URL, and only then switch the domain.
That way the site stays reachable and Google carries your rankings over to the new URLs. The technical side is in website migration SEO.
When pay monthly is the smart choice
- Choose pay monthly ifyou are just starting, have no budget for a one-off build and the site mainly needs to exist in the first months. Pick a short term and make sure the domain is in your name.
- Choose pay monthly ifyou do not want to spend time on hosting, updates and small changes, and the monthly fee matches what you would otherwise pay for that.
- Choose a site builder ifyou want to build it yourself for a few euro or pounds a month.
- Buy your site ifyou plan to keep it at least three years, need it to win clients from Google, and want to take it to another builder or host.
How to treat website costs in your accounts, as an expense or as an asset you depreciate, is covered in should you capitalise website costs; confirm with your accountant.
What we do
We build sites you buy once, from 1,500 euro, with domain, copy and images in your name. A static site on AWS carries no hosting bill for a normal business site; changes after launch are agreed per job. We work from Ghent, Belgium, for businesses across Europe; see website design and, for what comes after launch, website maintenance. For freelancers and one-person businesses there is web design for freelancers.
Renting, buying and leaving
Is a pay monthly website cheaper?
At first, yes. A 50 euro monthly plan costs as much as a 1,500 euro site after 30 months, and more after that. Over five years that is 3,000 euro against about 1,700 euro with only a domain.
What do pay monthly website packages usually include?
Usually the build, hosting, the domain and a set number of small changes, with a minimum term. Check what is excluded and what happens to the site when you stop.
What does website as a service pricing look like?
A fixed monthly fee instead of a build price, set per provider. Compare it over 36 and 60 months with a one-off price plus running costs.
Who owns my website if I stop paying?
Whatever your contract says. Design and code often stay with the provider, sometimes the domain too. Get it in writing up front that domain, copy and images are yours.
Can I have a website without monthly fees?
Almost. A static site can run inside CloudFront's free plan for a normal business site. You still pay for your domain and possibly your email each year.