Ask five people what a website costs in India and you'll hear five numbers, anywhere from ₹8,000 to ₹8 lakh. They're all telling the truth. They're describing different things.
So “affordable” can't mean the lowest quote. It means paying the right amount for what the site has to do, and not paying twice because the first version had to be thrown away.
The short answer
Going by price guides published in 2026, affordable website development in India starts at roughly ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 for a simple brochure site, ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh for a business website with a CMS, ₹50,000 to ₹3 lakh or more for an online store, and ₹2 lakh upwards for a custom web application. Yearly costs for the domain, hosting and maintenance come on top.
Price ranges by type of website
| Type of website | Typical range in India | What you usually get |
|---|---|---|
| Website builder (Wix and similar) | ₹5,000 to ₹30,000 a year | A template you fill in yourself |
| Brochure site from a freelancer | ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 | A handful of pages on a ready theme, with a contact form |
| Business website with a CMS | ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh | Custom design, pages you can edit, a blog, basic SEO setup |
| Online store | ₹50,000 to ₹3 lakh and up | Catalogue, cart, payment gateway, shipping setup |
| Custom web application | ₹2 lakh to ₹15 lakh and up | Logins, dashboards and business logic built for you |
These ranges come from price guides that Indian agencies published in 2026. Use them as a starting picture, not as a quote.
What “affordable” should mean
Think in cost per year of use. A ₹15,000 website that has to be rebuilt after eight months costs more than a ₹60,000 website that runs for four years.
Then ask what one enquiry is worth to you. If a single new customer brings in ₹50,000, a site that produces one extra lead has paid for itself. If the site exists only so people can check you're real, a simple one is enough and anything more is waste.
What moves the price
- Unique layouts, not page count. Twenty pages on three layouts cost less than eight pages that all look different.
- Custom design or a ready theme. Custom takes longer and looks like you. A theme is quicker and looks like everyone else on that theme.
- Features. Booking, online payment, logins and multiple languages each add work.
- Content. Somebody has to write the words and supply the photos.
- Integrations. Connecting a CRM, WhatsApp or a payment gateway takes time to build and test.
- Speed and SEO done properly. This is invisible on launch day and obvious six months later.
The yearly costs people forget
The build is a one-time cost. These are not:
- Domain renewal
- Hosting
- Maintenance: updates, backups, small changes
- Renewals for any paid theme or plugins
- Business email
None of them is large. Together they add up, and they never stop. Ask for them in writing as a single yearly figure before you agree to anything.
Where cheap websites go wrong
A low price is fine when the scope is small. It becomes a problem when it's low because something was left out:
- The same template sold to dozens of businesses with the logo swapped
- The domain registered in the developer's name, not yours
- Crowded shared hosting that makes every page crawl
- No testing on actual phones
- Pirated themes or plugins, which are a common way for sites to get hacked
- Nobody to call a month after launch
Seven ways to pay less without getting less
- Write your content first. Projects stall while everyone waits for text, and stalled projects cost more.
- Reuse layouts. Agree on a home page, a service page and a contact page, then reuse the service layout for every service.
- Launch small. Go live with the essentials and add the rest as phase two.
- Use a CMS. You shouldn't pay a developer every time a phone number changes.
- Supply your own photos. Clear phone photos of your real team and work beat stock images.
- Give feedback in one go. One consolidated list per round is faster than ten separate messages.
- Ask what can be reused. A team that has built similar sites has components ready, and you shouldn't pay to reinvent them.
How to compare two quotes
Put the quotes side by side and check each one for:
- The number of pages and unique designs
- Whether the mobile layout is included (it should be, always)
- A CMS and training on how to use it
- Domain and hosting: are they included, and in whose name?
- Basic SEO setup and analytics
- The number of revision rounds
- The free support period after launch
- The yearly renewal cost
If one quote is missing half of these, it isn't cheaper. It's quoting for less work.
Frequently asked questions
What's the minimum cost of a website in India?
A do-it-yourself builder costs a few thousand rupees a year. A basic brochure site from a freelancer starts at around ₹10,000.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
Because the scope varies. Until two quotes list the same pages, features and support, you can't compare their prices.
Is WordPress cheaper than a custom-built site?
For content websites, usually yes. Custom development is worth the extra when you need features that plugins handle badly, or when speed is critical.
How much does website maintenance cost per year?
It depends on the size of the site and how often it changes. Ask for the figure before you sign, and check that it covers renewals, updates and backups.
Get an itemised quote
Tell us what the website needs to do and what you'd like to spend. We'll send a quote broken down line by line, with the yearly costs included, so you can see where every rupee goes. See our website design and development and WordPress development services, ask for a free quote, or message us on WhatsApp.