COST GUIDE · WORDPRESS
By Joshua Jackai, Founder and Lead Designer · Updated September 2026
WordPress quotes are the hardest to compare because the word covers everything from installing a $59 theme to engineering a custom block library. The build price is only half the question; the annual running cost is what separates a cheap site from an expensive one over three years.
Key takeaways
Professional build: $3,250 to $15,000, with the widest legitimate spread of any platform here.
Running cost: $500 to $3,000+ per year across hosting, premium plugins, security, and maintenance.
Someone has to apply updates. If that is nobody, it becomes a security incident eventually.
WordPress still wins on flexibility, editorial workflow at scale, and full ownership of your data.
For a pure marketing site, the same money on a modern platform usually buys a better outcome with no maintenance line.
Approach
Typical cost
What you actually get
Theme install
$500 to $2,000
Your content in someone else’s structure
Theme customization
$3,250 to $6,950
Custom design decisions on a maintained base
Custom build
$9,750 to $15,000+
Bespoke templates and block library
Ecommerce (WooCommerce)
Add 30% to 60%
Products, checkout, tax, shipping
Line
Typical annual cost
Notes
Hosting
$120 to $900
Managed hosting costs more and is worth it
Premium plugins
$150 to $1,000
Renewals, not one-time purchases
Security and backups
$100 to $400
Or the cost of not having them
Maintenance
$0 to $1,800
Either a retainer or your own hours
Tier
Price
What it covers
Pro
$3,250
Conversion-first marketing site, up to ~8 pages
Grow
$4,850
Adds content migration with SEO carried over, plus analytics
VIP
$6,950
Adds CMS architecture, custom interactions, lead-capture systems
Elite
$9,750
The site plus the marketing setup around it: pixels, tracking, email templates
The cross-platform view is in the website redesign cost pillar. If the maintenance line is what is pushing you to look elsewhere, the WordPress to Framer migration guide covers the move, and the platform comparison covers whether you should.
Is WordPress actually free?
The software is. The site is not. Hosting, premium plugins, security, and someone’s time to maintain it are the real cost of ownership.
Why do WordPress quotes vary so much?
Because the word covers a theme install and a custom block library. Always compare what is being built, not the headline number.
How much does WordPress maintenance cost?
Between $0 and roughly $1,800 a year, depending on whether you do it or pay a retainer. It is never genuinely zero; it is either money or your hours.
Should I move off WordPress?
If your site is purely marketing and the maintenance burden is not buying you anything, usually yes. If you rely on specific plugins or need full data ownership, no.
Send us the site you have. We will tell you whether it needs a redesign, a rebuild, or a different platform entirely, and what each would cost.
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