How much does a contractor website cost in 2026?
Four ways to get a contractor website: Squarespace, WordPress, a freelancer, or a fixed-price specialist. Here's what each one actually costs, including the parts most comparison articles leave out.
The short version
The cheapest on paper is WordPress with free plugins and cheap hosting. The cheapest in practice is Squarespace if your time is free. The most predictable is a fixed-price package. The most expensive is usually a freelancer who quotes low and charges for every revision.
Squarespace
Squarespace plans start at $16/month for Personal and go up to $49/month for Business (billed monthly). For a contractor who needs contact forms, scheduling, or custom code, the Business plan at $36/month (billed annually) is the realistic minimum. That's $432/year.
What you get: managed hosting, SSL, templates, form blocks, SEO settings, analytics integration, and a free domain for the first year. The templates are clean. The editor is straightforward once you learn it. Support is available.
What costs extra: Acuity Scheduling for online booking ($15-50/month), Google Workspace email ($6/user/month), and domain renewal after year 1 (about $20/year). If you want to sell anything, the Business plan adds a 3% transaction fee on top of payment processing.
The real cost is your time. Building a proper contractor site on Squarespace means writing copy for each service page, choosing and sizing photos, setting up form notifications, writing SEO titles and descriptions, connecting Google Analytics and Search Console, testing the contact form on mobile, and making sure the homepage says your trade and location in the first screen. If you've never done it, that's not a weekend. It's several evenings, at minimum, and the result is only as good as the effort you put in.
A simple brochure site when you have time to build it and don't need custom booking or multiple service-area pages.
Monthly cost never ends. You don't own the platform. If you stop paying, the site disappears. Local SEO for multiple service areas needs manual work.
WordPress
WordPress.org is free. Everything around it costs money.
Hosting runs $3-15/month on shared plans (Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator) or $20-50/month on managed hosting (WP Engine, Kinsta). Managed hosting is faster and more secure but not strictly necessary for a small contractor site.
A decent free theme (Astra, GeneratePress, Kadence) is enough for a contractor site. Premium themes and page builders like Elementor Pro ($59/year) or Divi ($89/year) save time but add cost.
Plugins you'll probably need: a form plugin (WPForms free is fine), an SEO plugin (Rank Math or Yoast, both have free versions), a security plugin (Wordfence free), a backup plugin (UpdraftPlus free), and a caching plugin (WP Rocket is $59/year, W3 Total Cache is free). If you want advanced forms, galleries, or booking, premium plugins add $50-200/year.
Domain is $10-15/year. SSL is free via Let's Encrypt on most modern hosts.
The cost nobody puts in the quote: maintenance. WordPress updates core files, themes, and plugins on a regular schedule. Updates can break things. When a plugin update conflicts with your theme and the contact form stops working, you fix it yourself or you pay someone $75-150/hour. Security patches, backup verification, spam filtering, and performance tuning are ongoing tasks that never fully go away.
WordPress has a steeper learning curve than Squarespace. The first build takes longer, and ongoing maintenance is part of the deal. You get full control in exchange for full responsibility.
People who want full control of their site, don't mind maintaining it, and are comfortable learning the basics.
Cheapest on paper, most demanding in practice. Plugin conflicts, security updates, and breakage are the real cost.
Hiring a freelancer
Freelancer pricing for a contractor website ranges from $300 to $8,000+. Here's what those numbers mean.
$300-800 is a junior or student building a template-based site. Quality varies. You may get a decent result, but revisions, SEO setup, and post-launch support are usually thin. This tier works if you have a tight budget and clear references.
$1,000-3,000 is an experienced freelancer or small studio. Custom design, responsive build, basic SEO, and a couple of revision rounds. This is the sweet spot for a contractor who wants something tailored without paying agency rates.
$3,000-8,000+ is a senior designer or small agency. More strategy, custom illustration or photography direction, integrations, and structured handover. Usually more than a small contractor needs unless the website directly drives a high-ticket sales process.
What's typically included: design and build, responsive layout, content entry (if you provide the copy), and a round or two of revisions.
What's typically extra: domain registration ($10-25/year for a standard domain), hosting ($5-30/month), ongoing maintenance ($50-100/hour or a monthly retainer), content writing, SEO setup beyond basic meta tags, premium plugins or themes, and additional revision rounds.
The hidden cost is communication and scope. Freelancers work to a brief. If the brief is vague, the result will be too. If you change your mind mid-project, revisions cost money. And if the freelancer moves on to another client after yours, you may wait weeks for simple edits or need to find someone new for maintenance.
Custom projects when you have a clear brief, realistic budget, and don't mind managing the process.
The quote is rarely the total. Hosting, domain, edits, and maintenance add up. Quality and reliability vary enormously.
WebDoneNow
WebDoneNow offers three monthly website subscription packages for contractor websites. There is no setup fee and no deposit.
Every package includes design, build, stock photos (or your own photos if you have them), mobile-responsive layout, contact form, page titles and meta descriptions, sitemap, schema markup, hosting, maintenance, and one standard available domain up to $25.
What's not included: premium domains, auction or brokered domains, domains above the allowance unless you approve the extra cost, major redesigns, custom integrations, e-commerce, paid ads, or SEO work beyond the technical basics.
The trade-off: WebDoneNow sites are built from a structured system designed for contractors, not custom-designed from scratch. You get a site that's fast, mobile-friendly, and built around how customers search for trades. For most contractors, that's a reasonable exchange for monthly pricing and a fast turnaround.
Contractors who want a proper website without spending evenings on templates, plugins, and copywriting.
Template-based, not bespoke. If you need a fully custom design or complex integrations, this isn't the right fit.
The hidden costs every option has
These costs apply regardless of which route you choose. The difference is whether they're built into the price or show up later.
Domain
Usually $10-25/year for a standard domain. Some platforms include it free for the first year, then charge more at renewal. Premium or unusual domain extensions can cost much more.
Maintenance and updates
WordPress needs regular updates to core, themes, and plugins. Squarespace handles this but charges monthly forever. Freelancers may offer a maintenance retainer or hand over and move on.
Your time
The biggest hidden cost. Building a site yourself takes evenings and weekends. Writing copy, choosing photos, testing forms on mobile, fixing layout issues, connecting analytics. All of it is unpaid work.
When something breaks
WordPress plugin conflicts, Squarespace template changes, freelancer availability. When your contact form stops working and you don't notice for three weeks, that costs enquiries.
Rough total cost over 2 years
These are approximate figures for a typical contractor website. Your actual costs depend on plan choices, how much you do yourself, and whether anything breaks.
Competitor figures are shown in USD as that's how those platforms quote. WebDoneNow prices adjust to your local currency.
$36/month x 24 months + $20 domain renewal. Your time is on top.
$5-10/month hosting + $24 domain + $0-60 theme + $0-200 plugins. Plus your time for setup and maintenance.
$20-50/month hosting + $24 domain + premium plugins. Less maintenance work, higher monthly cost.
$1,500 build + $120-360 hosting + $20-50 domain cost. Maintenance and edits extra.
$39/mo includes the standard domain allowance, hosting, and maintenance.
$79/mo includes the standard domain allowance, hosting, and maintenance.
These numbers don't include the value of your time, which is the biggest variable. If your evenings are worth $50/hour to you and you spend 20 hours building a Squarespace or WordPress site, that's another $1,000 in opportunity cost.
Which route makes sense for you
You need a simple site, you're comfortable with DIY tools, and you have 10-20 hours to build it properly. Budget $36/month ongoing.
You want full control, don't mind learning the basics, and are willing to handle updates and security. Budget $5-50/month plus your time.
You have a clear brief, a realistic budget ($1,000-3,000 for most contractors), and don't mind managing the project. Budget for hosting and maintenance on top.
You want a contractor website built properly without spending your own evenings on it. Budget $39-$109 per month, with a standard available domain included within the allowance.
What our contractor audits showed
We've reviewed contractor websites across five trades. The same issues kept showing up regardless of platform: weak page titles, missing tracking, unclear contact paths, thin service pages, and strong Google reviews that never made it onto the website. The cost of a website is what you pay. The cost of a bad website is the enquiries you never receive.
How we put this together
Pricing for Squarespace was taken from Squarespace.com in July 2026. WordPress cost ranges are based on advertised pricing from Bluehost, SiteGround, WP Engine, Kinsta, and common plugin pricing (WPForms, Yoast, Rank Math, Wordfence, UpdraftPlus, WP Rocket). Freelancer ranges come from WebDoneNow's own contractor website audits and industry pricing research across electrician, plumber, HVAC, roofer, and builder websites.
WebDoneNow pricing reflects the current monthly subscription model as of July 2026. SEO add-on pricing is still being tested and is not included in these figures.
The 2-year totals are rough estimates meant for comparison, not quotes. Your actual costs will vary based on the specific plans, plugins, and services you choose.
Related articles
The hidden costs of going too cheap.
Should a Contractor Build on Squarespace?When DIY works and where contractors outgrow it.
Wix vs a Done-for-You Contractor WebsiteHonest comparison of Wix and managed services.
Contractor Website Checklist12 things every contractor site should have.
What 150 Contractor Websites RevealThe full benchmark report.
Want a contractor website at a fixed price?
WebDoneNow builds contractor websites with clear pages, quote paths, mobile layouts, basic local SEO, and practical handover. Starting at $39/month.