How Much Does a Website Cost per Month?
A website you own costs from about A$11 a month to keep online. Subscription websites cost more each month, often more over three years, and on some plans you never own the site.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure was read on 21 October 2026. The subscription prices come from the public pricing pages of five Australian web providers, plus the terms of service of one of them. We've kept the numbers and left the names out. Hosting and domain ranges come from three Australian pages: a published cost guide, an agency's cost article and a provider's price list. Shopify's prices are from shopify.com/au/pricing. Some pages include GST and some don't, and we've said which where the page did. Prices change, so the page on the day you sign up is the real number.
The three ways to pay for a website monthly
| How you pay | Typical monthly cost | What the monthly fee covers | Who owns the site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own the site, pay hosting and a domain | From about A$11 | Keeping it online. Changes and updates are yours or billed separately | You, if the contract says so |
| Builder plan (Shopify, Squarespace, Wix) | From A$42 on Shopify Basic, billed yearly | Software, hosting and security. You build and update it yourself | You hold the account. The site only runs on that platform |
| Subscription website ("$0 upfront") | A$79–299 on the plans we read | The build, hosting and some updates, bundled into one fee | Depends entirely on the terms. Read them |
Four real subscription plans, side by side
| Plan | Monthly | Upfront | Minimum term | What the page says about ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan A: up to 5 pages, .com.au domain included | A$79 | None listed | None, cancel anytime | Not addressed |
| Plan B: build, copy and hosting | A$250 inc GST, then A$99 inc GST from month 13 | None | 12 months | Yours once the first 12 months are paid in full |
| Plan C: 5-page site, 3 content updates a month | A$199 ex GST | A$599 ex GST setup | 3 months | Design and platform stay with the provider. No copies or exports on cancellation |
| Plan D: custom design, unlimited updates | A$299 ex GST | None | None, cancel anytime | Not addressed on the page |
What each option costs over three years
| Option | How we worked it out | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|
| Plan A subscription | A$79 × 36 months | A$2,844 |
| Plan B subscription | A$250 × 12, then A$99 × 24 (inc GST) | A$5,376 |
| Plan C subscription | A$599 setup + A$199 × 36 (ex GST) | A$7,763 |
| Plan D subscription | A$299 × 36 (ex GST), plus the domain | A$10,764 |
| One-off build you own | A$2,000–6,000 build + domain + A$10–30 a month hosting | About A$2,420–7,140 |
| Shopify Basic, billed yearly | A$42 × 36, before apps and a theme | A$1,512 plus your time |
What the three-year table shows
The cheapest subscription is cheaper than most builds over three years, and the dearest costs more than a mid-range custom site. The gap widens every year after that, because the subscription keeps billing and the one-off build doesn't. Year four on Plan D is another A$3,588. Year four on a site you own is hosting and a domain. Ownership is the bigger catch. On Plan C, the terms say the provider keeps the design and platform and won't hand over a copy when you leave. Three years of payments buy you three years of a website, and nothing after.
Questions to ask before signing a subscription
Five questions that separate a fair plan from a lease:
- What happens when I cancel? Ask whether you get the files, the content and the domain, and in writing.
- Whose name is the domain in? It should be your business, not the provider. Our domain ownership guide shows how to check.
- Is there a minimum term? The plans we read ranged from none to 12 months.
- Is GST included? Of the five pages we read, three said ex GST, one said inc GST and one didn't say.
- What counts as an update? "Unlimited updates" and "3 content updates a month" are very different plans at a similar price.
When a subscription is the right call
A subscription makes sense when you can't spare a few thousand dollars upfront, you want one bill that covers everything, and the plan lets you cancel without losing the domain. A no-lock-in plan at A$79 a month is a fair way to get a small business online. It gets worse value the longer you stay, and it's a poor fit if you'd lose the site by leaving. Ask for the exit terms in writing before the first payment.
Where our prices sit
We sell websites as a one-off build that you own, not a subscription. Starter is from A$1,000 + GST for up to five custom-coded pages, and Growth is from A$3,000 + GST with a dashboard to edit the site yourself. Both can be paid in six weekly instalments, which spreads the cost without tying you to a monthly plan. Growth's monthly plan runs from A$75 to A$2,000 a month + GST, depending on how much work you want from us each month. Your domain, hosting and code stay in your name either way.
Why our Growth plan runs from A$75 to A$2,000 a month
The spread is how much work you hand us each month. A site that rarely changes sits at the bottom. A business that wants a designer and developer on call sits near the top:
- Around A$75 a month. Hosting, monitoring, backups and the odd text change. The site is built and mostly runs itself.
- Regular changes. New pages, updated prices and services, seasonal offers and photos swapped as the business changes.
- Marketing material and graphic design. Social posts, flyers, ad creatives and banners made to match the site.
- New features and code changes. A quote calculator, a booking step, a link to your other software. Each change is deployed as soon as it's done, not saved up for a monthly release.
- Up to A$2,000 a month. All of the above at a steady pace, with lots of moving parts. That's about the cost of a developer on retainer, without hiring one.
We quote the monthly figure in writing once we know how much you want done, and you can move it up or down as the business changes.
Sources
- Shopify pricing (Australia)https://www.shopify.com/au/pricing
Basic A$42 a month billed yearly, A$56 billed monthly. Read 21 October 2026.
Where to next
- What a maintenance plan costs, and when you need one
The A$77–540 care-plan range, broken down.
- Every Squarespace, Wix and Shopify plan in A$
The builder side of the monthly bill.
Pay once for a site you own
Tell us what your business needs. We'll send a fixed price in writing and a free homepage design before you pay anything, and the site is yours from launch.
