The short answer: a small business website at our storefront costs a .com domain at $24.99 a year, plus a monthly website plan from $5.99 (builder) or $12.99 (WordPress), plus $4.99 a month for each email inbox. Design is either your own time or a written quote with a fixed price, paid separately.
The five costs that make up a small business website
Every small business website is built from the same five pieces: a domain, email, a place for the site to live, optional protection, and the design work. Some are billed yearly, most monthly, and one is a one-time project.
| Cost | What it pays for | Price at our storefront | How it is billed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain | Your address, like yourbusiness.com, used by your site and your email | $24.99 for a .com; other endings are priced in the domain search | Per year |
| Business email | Inboxes at your domain, with webmail and phone apps | From $4.99 (Light) to $11.99 (Ultra) | Per inbox, per month |
| Website builder | A drag-and-drop site with hosting and SSL included | $5.99 Personal, $9.99 Business, $14.99 Business Plus | Per month |
| WordPress hosting | Managed hosting for a WordPress site, with SSL, backups and malware scans | $12.99 Basic, $16.99 Deluxe, $22.99 Ultimate | Per month, on an annual plan |
| Security add-ons | Firewall, malware scanning and cleanups, or extra backups | Website Security from $5.99; Website Backup from $2.99 | Per month, optional |
| Design | The pages, words and setup | Your own time, or a written quote with a fixed price before we start | One project |
All storefront products renew automatically until you cancel them. The storefront shows the exact term for each product at checkout, so check it before you pay.
What realistic website bundles cost per month and per year
Most small businesses land in one of four bundles. The table splits each one into what you pay every month and what you pay once a year, using live storefront prices.
| Bundle | Monthly costs | Yearly costs | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder site + domain + 1 inbox | Website Builder Business $9.99 and one Professional Email Light inbox $4.99 | .com domain $24.99 | A solo owner who wants to build and edit the site without code |
| Builder with online appointments | Website Builder Business Plus $14.99 and one Light inbox $4.99 | .com domain $24.99 | Salons, cleaners and other businesses that take bookings |
| WordPress Basic + domain + 2 inboxes | WordPress Basic $12.99 and two Light inboxes at $4.99 each | .com domain $24.99 | A small team that wants room to grow, or a site we build for you |
| WordPress store | WordPress Ultimate $22.99, which adds WooCommerce selling, and one Professional Email Pro inbox $5.99 | .com domain $24.99 | Selling products online with your own checkout |
| Domain + email only | One Light inbox $4.99 | .com domain $24.99 | Getting a professional address now and the site later |
Count inboxes by people, not by addresses you want to show. Each person who needs their own login is one inbox. A shared address such as info@ can be handled by one person to start.
Website builder or WordPress: which costs less for a small business?
The builder costs less per month and takes less upkeep; WordPress costs a little more and gives you more room to grow. Pick by how you will work, not only by price.
- Website Builder Personal ($5.99 a month) includes a blog, SSL and hosting. Business ($9.99) adds a PayPal Buy Now or Donate button and SEO tools. Business Plus ($14.99) adds social media integration, Facebook sharing and Online Appointments.
- WordPress Basic ($12.99 a month) hosts one site with 10 GB, weekly backups, free SSL, a web application firewall and malware scans. Deluxe ($16.99) moves to daily backups and adds a Cloudflare CDN and staging. Ultimate ($22.99) adds WooCommerce selling, unlimited malware removal and on-demand backups.
- cPanel hosting, Web Hosting Plus and VPS are for people who manage their own sites or servers. If that does not sound like you, skip them.
Because the builder and WordPress plans already include SSL, you do not need a separate certificate to get the padlock. Paid certificates only make sense when someone requires business validation.
How renewals and first-year prices work
Storefront products auto-renew at the list price on the day they renew, so the figures above are also what a normal second year looks like if prices do not change. Here is what to know before you buy.
- Auto-renew is on by default. Domains and plans renew until you cancel. That protects your domain from expiring by accident, but put the renewal dates on your calendar.
- First-year offers are first-year only. If the storefront ever shows special savings, check whether they apply only to the first year. Look at the renewal price in the cart, not just the first charge.
- Taxes and fees are extra. Prices here are before taxes and fees, which the storefront adds at checkout.
- Monthly plans may be billed for a full term. Some plans are priced per month but sold on an annual plan, so the first charge can cover the whole term. The cart shows the total before you pay.
Domain prices for endings other than .com vary; the storefront shows each one in the domain search. Every live price is listed on our prices page.
Build it yourself or hire it out: what each really costs
Building it yourself costs your time; hiring it out costs a one-time design fee. In both cases you still pay the domain, the site plan and email every month or year.
Building it yourself
With the builder, a simple five-page site is mostly writing: what you do, where you work, your services and how to reach you. With WordPress you also choose a theme, install plugins and keep them updated. Either way, plan for the work of writing clear service pages, taking real photos and setting up your email records.
Having Force Domains build it
Our website design service gives you a written quote with a fixed price before we start. The work includes a design made for phones, copy organized so Google and AI assistants understand what you do and where, a contact form and tap-to-call buttons, your domain, email and hosting connected, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, and Google Search Console and analytics set up. We build fast custom pages rather than using a builder, in English, Spanish or both, and we can fix an existing site. You own the domain, files, hosting and email.
Extra work, such as competitor research, a Google Business Profile setup or monthly care, can be added to your written quote if you want it. The domain, hosting and email are paid separately at storefront prices, so you can see exactly where each dollar goes.
| Path | What you pay | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Build it yourself | Domain $24.99 a year, builder from $5.99 or WordPress from $12.99 a month, email from $4.99 a month per inbox | Write, design, publish and maintain the site |
| Have Force Domains build it | A written quote with a fixed price, plus domain, hosting and email at storefront prices | Answer questions, send photos, approve the pages |
| Start with domain + email | Domain $24.99 a year and email from $4.99 a month per inbox | Use your new address now and add the site later |
Website costs that catch small businesses off guard
The surprises are rarely the main plan; they come from extras that grow over time or duplicate something you already have.
- Paying twice for SSL. Hosting and builder plans include it. Check before adding a certificate.
- More inboxes as the team grows. Email is billed per inbox, so a new hire adds a monthly cost.
- Email marketing that scales with your list. Email Marketing Beginner is $9.99 a month for 500 contacts; bigger lists move you to Up and Running ($14.99) or Pro ($29.99). Wait until you have a list to write to.
- Extra domain endings. Buy .net or a spelling variation only if you will use it or it protects customers from confusion.
- A designer who registers the domain in their name. It is not a fee on day one, but it can become a costly problem if you part ways. Keep the domain in your own account.
How to keep website costs low without cutting corners
Start small, buy only what the site uses today, and keep everything in your own name so you never pay to get it back.
Register the domain first
It is the one piece everything else connects to, and it is the cheapest to secure today. Search for your domain.
Pick one site plan
The builder if you want simple editing, WordPress if you plan to grow or sell online. Compare hosting.
Start with one inbox per person
Light covers most owners. Move up to Pro for undo send, read receipts and an invoice builder. Compare email plans.
Skip add-ons until you need them
Security add-ons, extra backups and email marketing can wait until the site has traffic or a list.
Review once a year
Before renewals, check which products you still use and cancel the rest in the storefront.
For the full checklist of pages and settings a business site needs, read what you need for a business website. If you are still deciding whether you need a site at all, see whether a Facebook page is enough.