On this page
- 01WordPress website costs, layer by layer
- 02Worked example: a WordPress site you build yourself
- 03Worked example: a WordPress site built for you
- 04Where WordPress costs more than expected
- 05What a WordPress shop adds
- 06How to keep WordPress costs down
- 07WordPress, a site builder or a custom site?
- 08How we see it
A WordPress website costs nothing in software, but you pay for hosting, a domain, often a premium theme and plugins, maintenance and the build itself. Built yourself, it costs around 250 euro in year one and about 400 euro a year after, before VAT. Built for you, the build is the big line: in Belgium, where we work, web builders charge 2,000 to 6,000 euro for a professional business site, with hosting, domain and maintenance on top every year.
WordPress is open software you download free from wordpress.org. It runs on a server you rent, with a theme for the look and plugins for features. Each of those layers has a price, and this guide adds them up, works through a self-built and a built-for-you site, and shows where WordPress ends up costing more than expected. For website costs beyond WordPress, see website cost.
Prices below are in euro where the vendor shows euro and converted from dollars otherwise. In the UK and the US the same plans are sold in pounds or dollars; the structure of the bill is the same.
WordPress website costs, layer by layer
Before VAT, on 24 October 2026:
| Layer | What it is | Year one | Each year after |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress itself | the software | 0 | 0 |
| Hosting | a server for your site, here SiteGround StartUp or GrowBig | 35.88 to 65.88 euro on promo | 191.88 to 335.88 euro |
| Domain | depends on the extension and registrar | about 10 euro at a promo | 10 to 50 euro |
| Theme | free, or premium such as Astra Pro at 99 dollars in year one | 0 to about 88 euro | 0 to about 133 euro at the 149 dollar renewal |
| Plugins | free or paid, such as Yoast SEO Premium at 118.80 euro a year | 0 to a few hundred euro | the same |
| Maintenance | updates to core, theme and plugins, backups, checks | your time, or a maintenance contract | the same |
| Build | design, pages, copy, forms | your time, or an agency or freelancer | 0 |
Dollar prices are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 21 October 2026, 1 euro to 1.1234 dollars. Hosting in detail, including what happens after the promo, is in website hosting cost.
Year one and year two, self-built or built for you
HostingDomainThemePlugins or maintenanceBuild
Self-built
Built for you, lower bound
Worked example: a WordPress site you build yourself
Our own example for a small business site on WordPress, before VAT. We use the cheapest hosts we checked for this guide:
| Item | Year 1 | Year 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting, entry plan with promo then renewal | 29.64 euro | 95.88 euro |
| Domain | 9.99 euro | 46.99 euro |
| Astra Pro, converted | 88.13 euro | 132.63 euro |
| Yoast SEO Premium | 118.80 euro | 118.80 euro |
| Total | 246.56 euro | 394.30 euro |
The sum leaves out your own time. Building a site, writing copy, finding images and checking updates every month easily takes a first-timer dozens of hours in year one. If you build it yourself, use a free theme and as few paid plugins as possible; the bill then drops to about 40 euro in year one and 145 euro after.
Worked example: a WordPress site built for you
For a professional business site of ten to twenty pages, Belgian web builders charge 2,000 to 6,000 euro for the build, and freelancers bill 30 to 80 euro an hour against 50 to 150 euro at an agency. Every year on top:
| Item | Per year |
|---|---|
| Managed WordPress hosting, list price at a Belgian host | 239.88 euro |
| Domain | 46.99 euro |
| Paid plugins and theme | 0 to a few hundred euro |
| Maintenance contract | 200 to 1,000 euro |
| Total, excluding the build | about 490 to 1,600 euro |
Over three years that is the build plus 1,500 to 4,800 euro of running costs. How to compare two quotes fairly is in compare website quotes; what a developer charges by the hour in web developer hourly rate.
Where WordPress costs more than expected
- Plugins that are each a subscriptionA forms plugin, an SEO plugin, a caching plugin and a backup plugin can together cost more than your hosting.
- Maintenance nobody doesWordPress officially supports only its latest major version. Security fixes for older branches are a courtesy, not a promise, and outdated plugins are a common way in for attackers. Whether WordPress is safe mostly depends on upkeep; see is WordPress safe.
- A theme that locks you inSome themes and page builders store your layout in their own format. Change theme later and you rebuild pages.
- SpeedEvery plugin adds code to your pages. A slow site loses visitors and rankings; see improve website speed.
- A shop on topWooCommerce itself is free, but payment modules, shipping plugins and heavier hosting add up; see ecommerce website cost.
What a WordPress shop adds
WooCommerce turns WordPress into a shop, and the plugin itself is free. What comes on top:
| Item | Why | How big |
|---|---|---|
| Heavier hosting | a shop makes more requests and has a growing database | managed WooCommerce hosting from about 9 euro a month on promo, 22 euro after, at a Belgian host |
| Payment provider | cards and local methods through a provider | a fee per payment |
| Shipping plugin and labels | labels and tracking | per month or per label |
| Invoicing and accounting | invoices, VAT and a link to your accountant | a plugin or integration |
| Maintenance | more plugins mean more updates | more hours than a plain site |
If you mainly want to sell without maintaining anything yourself, compare WooCommerce with a hosted platform such as Shopify in Shopify or WooCommerce.
How to keep WordPress costs down
- Start with a free theme from a known maker, and pay only when you miss something.
- Keep plugins few. Every plugin is an update, a possible hole and sometimes a subscription. Ask of each one whether WordPress can do it on its own.
- Choose hosting on the renewal price, not the promo, and check whether backups are included.
- Schedule maintenance. A fixed slot each month for updates and a test costs less than repairing a hacked site.
- Keep the domain in your own name, at a registrar where you hold the account.
Do those five and a small WordPress site stays under 200 euro a year in outside costs, your own time not counted.
WordPress, a site builder or a custom site?
WordPress is not the only route, and not always the cheapest over three years.
| Route | Build | Each year | You maintain it | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress, self-built | your time | 145 to 400 euro | yes | people who want to build and keep it up themselves |
| WordPress, built for you | 2,000 to 6,000 euro in Belgium | 490 to 1,600 euro | or pay someone | teams that want to keep writing in a familiar system |
| Wix or Squarespace | your time | the plan, from about 150 euro a year | no | a few pages online fast |
| Custom static site | from 1,500 euro with us | domain and email, hosting usually 0 in a free plan | no | a fast site that wins clients from Google |
WordPress against Wix is in Wix or WordPress, against a custom site in custom website or WordPress, and against Webflow in Webflow or WordPress. Running an old Joomla site instead? The move to WordPress or static is covered in Joomla vs WordPress.
How we see it
We build most client sites as static sites on AWS: no WordPress, no plugins to update, and for a normal business site no hosting bill. Business Centrum, SN Group and Villa Lidia, a holiday villa in Umbria, run that way. Where a client already runs WordPress and wants to stay, we build on it: for No.4 Lange Ast, a holiday house in Flanders, the availability calendar fed by Airbnb and Booking runs as a WordPress plugin on the existing hosting. We pick the route that fits the site, not the one that pays us most. From Ghent, Belgium, for businesses across Europe; see website design.
WordPress per month, per year and to build
Is WordPress free?
The software is: you download it free from wordpress.org. Hosting, a domain, premium themes and plugins, maintenance and the build are not.
How much does a WordPress website cost per year?
Self-built roughly 145 to 400 euro a year before VAT, depending on hosting and paid plugins. Built and maintained for you roughly 490 to 1,600 euro a year, excluding the build.
What does a WordPress website cost in the UK?
The same layers apply, priced in pounds: hosting, domain, theme, plugins, maintenance and the build. Compare quotes on the yearly running costs as well as the build price.
Is there a WordPress website cost estimator?
Use the layer table above as one: add hosting at its renewal price, the domain, theme and plugin renewals and maintenance, then the build from your quote.
Do I have to pay for WordPress maintenance?
You have to do it, but not necessarily pay for it: updates, backups and checks can be done yourself. Contracts in Belgium run from 200 to 1,000 euro a year.