Short answer
Charge your real hourly rate times the hours each phase takes, plus pass-through costs, plus a contingency buffer. Your rate is (take-home goal / (1 - tax reserve) + expenses) / billable hours. Example: a $86.38 rate, 41 hours for a 5-page site, $150 of theme and plugins and 15% contingency gives a $4,245.32 quote.
- Rate = (take-home / (1 - tax reserve) + expenses) / billable hours. Example inputs give $86.38 an hour.
- Assumed 14, 41 and 70 hours give $1,390.72, $4,245.32 and $7,241.09 for 1, 5 and 10-page sites.
- $1,500 buys about 17.37 hours at $86.38: enough for the 1-page estimate, not the 5-page one.
- A beginner on a $40,000 goal and 20 billable hours a week gets $61.23. Same formula, different inputs.
- A fixed price that runs from 41 to 55 hours drops your effective rate to $74.46 an hour.
On this page
- How much should I charge for a website? The formula
- Website design pricing calculator (your own numbers)
- How much to charge for a 1-page, 5-page and 10-page website
- Is $1,500 a good price for a website?
- How much to charge for a website as a beginner
- How much to charge for a website redesign
- Fixed price vs hourly: what happens when a website runs over
- How much to charge for website maintenance per month
- Website pricing formulas for Excel and Google Sheets
- Website price spreadsheet vs agency calculators and quote apps
- Step-by-step
- FAQ
How much should I charge for a website? The formula
Charge for the hours the site takes at a rate that pays your income, tax and costs. Website price = (estimated hours x your real hourly rate + pass-through costs) x (1 + contingency %).
The rate comes first, because a page count means nothing until you know what an hour of your time has to earn. Four inputs set it:
- Take-home goal. What you want to keep in a year. Example: $70,000.
- Tax reserve. Divide the goal by (1 - reserve). $70,000 / 0.75 = $93,333.33.
- Business expenses. Software, hardware, design tools, insurance, accounting. Example: $6,000, so revenue needed is $99,333.33.
- Billable hours. Hours a client actually pays for. Example: 25 a week for 46 weeks = 1,150 hours.
$99,333.33 / 1,150 = $86.38 an hour. Every input is an assumption for illustration; the table is rendered from the same numbers.
Worked example: Base case: $70,000 take-home, $6,000 of yearly expenses, 25% tax reserve, 25 billable hours a week for 46 weeks. All inputs are assumptions - replace them with yours.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Business expenses a year (input) | $6,000.00 |
| Tax reserve % (input) | 25% |
| Billable hours a week (input) | 25 |
| Working weeks a year (input) | 46 |
| Target margin % (input) | 0% |
| Take-home income you want (input) | $70,000.00 |
| Revenue needed | $99,333.33 |
| Billable hours a year | 1,150 |
| Hourly rate to charge | $86.38 |
| Day rate (8 hours) | $691.01 |
| Naive rate (income / 2,080 hours) | $33.65 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Selling, admin, email and unpaid pitches are why billable hours sit well below 40 a week. The freelance hourly rate calculator guide covers how to count them.
Website design pricing calculator (your own numbers)
Enter your goal, expenses, tax reserve and billable time. The "Hourly rate to charge" line is the number you multiply by your estimated website hours.
The widget stops at the rate. The freelance pricing template goes one step further in the same file: it takes estimated project hours, your rate, a materials or software cost and a rush or complexity markup, and returns the project quote, in Excel or Google Sheets.
How much to charge for a 1-page, 5-page and 10-page website
At $86.38 an hour, the hour estimates below price a 1-page site at $1,390.72, a 5-page site at $4,245.32 and a 10-page site at $7,241.09. These are outputs of assumed hours, not market prices.
I'll show the arithmetic so you can swap in your own hours. Break the job into phases, estimate each, and let the total drive the price:
| Phase | 1-page site (h) | 5-page site (h) | 10-page site (h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery and brief | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Design (layout, mockups) | 4 | 10 | 16 |
| Build (theme setup, pages, forms) | 4 | 14 | 26 |
| Content load (text, images) | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Revision rounds (two included) | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Launch and QA | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Total hours | 14 | 41 | 70 |
| Labour (hours x $86.38) | $1,209.32 | $3,541.58 | $6,046.60 |
| Pass-through (theme, plugins, stock; assumed) | $0 | $150 | $250 |
| Subtotal | $1,209.32 | $3,691.58 | $6,296.60 |
| Quote (subtotal x 1.15) | $1,390.72 | $4,245.32 | $7,241.09 |
| Per page | $1,390.72 | $849.06 | $724.11 |
Two things stand out. First, the per-page price falls as the site grows, because discovery and launch are shared across more pages. Pricing "per page" from a 1-page job would overcharge a 10-page client; pricing from a 10-page job would undercharge a 1-page client. Second, the phases are where your estimate is weakest. Time your next build phase by phase and replace these guesses with your own records.
Pass-through costs are a premium theme, paid plugins, stock photos or fonts bought for this client. List them on the quote at cost, or have the client buy them in their own name, so licences stay with the site owner.
Is $1,500 a good price for a website?
It depends on how many hours the site takes and what your hour must earn. $1,500 / $86.38 = 17.37 hours. That covers the 14-hour, 1-page estimate above, with $109.28 to spare, but not the 41-hour 5-page site.
Turn any budget a client names into hours before you answer:
| Rate | Hours $1,500 buys | 1-page estimate (14 h) | 5-page estimate (41 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $86.38 (ex1) | 17.37 | Fits | Short by about 24 hours |
| $61.23 (ex2, beginner) | 24.5 | Fits | Short by about 17 hours |
If the hours do not fit, change the scope rather than the rate: fewer pages, the client loads their own content, one revision round instead of two. Each removed phase hour takes $86.38 off the labour line.
How much to charge for a website as a beginner
Use the same formula with your own inputs. A beginner usually has a lower income goal, lower expenses and fewer booked hours, and also works slower, so the hour estimates go up while the rate goes down.
With a $40,000 goal, $3,000 of expenses, a 25% reserve and 20 billable hours a week for 46 weeks, the rate is $61.23:
Worked example: Beginner case: $40,000 take-home, $3,000 of expenses, 25% reserve, 20 billable hours a week for 46 weeks (assumptions).
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Business expenses a year (input) | $3,000.00 |
| Tax reserve % (input) | 25% |
| Billable hours a week (input) | 20 |
| Working weeks a year (input) | 46 |
| Target margin % (input) | 0% |
| Take-home income you want (input) | $40,000.00 |
| Revenue needed | $56,333.33 |
| Billable hours a year | 920 |
| Hourly rate to charge | $61.23 |
| Day rate (8 hours) | $489.86 |
| Naive rate (income / 2,080 hours) | $19.23 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
| Site | Hours | Labour | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 page | 14 | $857.22 | $985.80 |
| 5 pages | 41 | $2,510.43 | $3,059.49 |
| 10 pages | 70 | $4,286.10 | $5,216.52 |
Quoting a beginner's slower hours at a full rate is how first projects run over. Track the hours you actually spend, even on a free or discounted build for a friend, so the next estimate starts from data. Do not drop the tax reserve to make a number look friendlier: the tax is owed either way.
How much to charge for a website redesign
Price a redesign from its own phase list. It adds an audit of the old site and content migration, and may save design time if the brand stays. With assumed hours it can land close to a new build, at $3,947.31 for 5 pages here.
| Phase | Hours | Why it differs from a new build |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and audit of the old site | 6 | Inventory pages, links and what to keep |
| Design | 8 | Existing brand, logo and colours reused |
| Build | 12 | Same page count, some layouts reused |
| Content migration | 3 | Text moved, not written |
| Revisions | 4 | Fewer open design questions |
| Launch, redirects and QA | 5 | Old URLs must point to new ones |
| Total | 38 | Labour $3,282.44; subtotal $3,432.44; quote $3,947.31 |
The redirect line is the one people skip. If old pages already get visits, every changed URL needs a redirect, and that time belongs in the quote.
Fixed price vs hourly: what happens when a website runs over
On a fixed price you absorb the overrun; on hourly the client does. The contingency buffer is how a fixed price survives small overruns. Past it, every extra hour cuts your effective rate.
The 5-page quote of $4,245.32 carries $553.74 of contingency, about 6.41 extra hours at $86.38. So up to roughly 47 hours you still earn your rate. If the build takes 55 hours, ($4,245.32 - $150) / 55 = $74.46 an hour. Billed hourly, the same 55 hours would have been $4,750.90 of labour plus $150, so $4,900.90, which is $655.58 more.
| Point | Fixed price | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Client knows the total up front | Yes | Only an estimate |
| Who carries an overrun | You | The client |
| Needs a written scope | Yes, pages and revision rounds named | Helpful, less critical |
| Faster work raises your earnings | Yes | No |
For fixed quotes, write the page count and the number of revision rounds into the quote, and price extra rounds at your hourly rate. The freelance quote template guide covers how to word the scope and the change clause.
How much to charge for website maintenance per month
Price a retainer as included hours x your rate + any hosting or licence costs you pay. Two assumed hours a month at $86.38 is $172.76; add an assumed $25 hosting cost and the retainer is $197.76 a month, or $2,373.12 a year.
Decide what the hours cover (updates, backups, small text edits) and what counts as new work. Unused hours and rollover rules belong in the agreement. If the client pays the host directly, leave that line out and charge for your time only. The same rule applies to Wix, Squarespace or WordPress builds: the platform subscription is a client cost, and your price is still hours x rate.
Website pricing formulas for Excel and Google Sheets
Five cells reproduce every price on this page. Enter percentages as percentages (25%, 15%).
Real hourly rate
=ROUND((B2/(1-B4)+B3)/(B5*B6),2)B2 = take-home goal, B3 = yearly expenses, B4 = tax reserve %, B5 = billable hours a week, B6 = working weeks. Returns 86.38 for the example.
Total project hours
=SUM(D2:D7)D2:D7 = hours for discovery, design, build, content load, revisions, launch/QA.
Website quote
=ROUND((D8*B7+B9)*(1+B10),2)D8 = total hours, B7 = hourly rate, B9 = pass-through costs, B10 = contingency % (15%).
Hours a budget buys
=ROUND(B11/B7,2)B11 = the client's budget (e.g. 1500). Returns 17.37 at the example rate.
Effective rate after an overrun
=ROUND((B12-B9)/B13,2)B12 = fixed quote, B13 = actual hours spent. Returns 74.46 for $4,245.32 over 55 hours.
Keep the hours per phase in separate rows. After each project, type the real hours next to the estimate; that column is what makes your next quote better than any market average.
Website price spreadsheet vs agency calculators and quote apps
Online website cost calculators estimate what a buyer might pay; your price has to come from your own costs and hours. A spreadsheet keeps those inputs and reuses them for every quote.
| Need | Online website cost calculator | Your own pricing spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Rate built from your goal, tax and expenses | Rarely | Yes |
| Hours per phase you can edit | Usually fixed options | Yes |
| See the formula behind the price | Often hidden | Every cell visible |
| Branded proposal to send | Sometimes | No, it is a pricing sheet |
What to put in your website price sheet: take-home goal, itemised expenses, tax reserve %, billable hours and weeks; hours per phase for each site size; pass-through costs; contingency %; revision rounds included; maintenance hours a month. The how to price a service guide shows the same structure for other service work.
Freelance Rate & Quote Calculator
The spreadsheet version of this guide for Excel & Google Sheets: type your numbers into the highlighted cells and the formulas do the rest. One-time $14.99, no subscription, instant download.
See the freelance pricing template →Buy now — $14.99All 7 templates — $49Instant access by email after checkout via Payhip.
The freelance rate and quote calculator is $14.99 one-time for Excel and Google Sheets, or part of the $49 bundle of 7 templates. It finds your rate from your goal, tax set-aside and expenses, then turns estimated hours, software cost and a complexity markup into a project quote. It has one hours field, so add up your phase hours first.
Step-by-step: How Much to Charge for a Website: Price It From Your Hours, Not a Guess
- Set your take-home goal. Write the yearly income you want to keep, for example $70,000.
- Work out your real hourly rate. Divide the goal by (1 - tax reserve), add yearly expenses, divide by billable hours. The example gives $86.38.
- Estimate hours per phase. List discovery, design, build, content load, revision rounds and launch/QA. Add them up: 41 hours for the 5-page example.
- Multiply and add pass-through costs. Hours x rate, plus theme, plugins or stock bought for the client. 41 x $86.38 + $150 = $3,691.58.
- Add a contingency buffer. Multiply the subtotal by 1 + contingency. At 15%, $3,691.58 becomes a $4,245.32 quote.
- Write the scope into the quote. Name the page count, revision rounds included and the hourly rate for extra work, then log real hours after launch.
Skip the setup: Freelance Rate & Quote Calculator
The spreadsheet version of this guide for Excel & Google Sheets: type your numbers into the highlighted cells and the formulas do the rest. One-time $14.99, no subscription, instant download.
See the Freelance Rate & Quote Calculator →Buy now — $14.99All 7 templates — $49Instant access by email after checkout via Payhip.
Frequently asked questions
What is a reasonable price to charge for a website?
A reasonable price is your estimated hours times a rate that covers your income, tax and expenses, plus pass-through costs and contingency. With a $86.38 rate, assumed hours give $1,390.72 for 1 page, $4,245.32 for 5 pages and $7,241.09 for 10 pages.
Is $1,500 a good price for a website?
Divide it by your rate to see. At $86.38 an hour, $1,500 buys 17.37 hours: enough for a 14-hour single-page site, not a 41-hour 5-page site. At a beginner rate of $61.23 it buys about 24.5 hours.
How much can you charge for a basic website?
Price a basic site from its hours like any other. A 1-page site estimated at 14 hours costs $1,390.72 at $86.38 with 15% contingency, or $985.80 at a $61.23 beginner rate. Fewer hours or a lower rate changes the result.
How much should I charge for website design per hour?
Charge the rate your numbers need: (take-home goal / (1 - tax reserve) + expenses) / billable hours. A $70,000 goal, 25% reserve, $6,000 expenses and 1,150 billable hours gives $86.38. Dividing a salary by 2,080 hours undercharges.
How much should I charge for website maintenance?
Charge included hours times your rate, plus any hosting you pay. Two hours a month at $86.38 is $172.76; with an assumed $25 hosting cost the retainer is $197.76 a month. Spell out what the hours cover and what counts as new work.
Should a website redesign cost less than a new site?
Not always. A redesign saves design time when the brand stays but adds an audit, content migration and redirects. In this page's assumed hours, a 5-page redesign takes 38 hours and quotes at $3,947.31, against $4,245.32 for a new 5-page build.
How much should I charge to build a website on Wix?
Use the same formula: hours x your rate, plus contingency. A builder like Wix may cut build hours, so your estimate drops, not your rate. The platform subscription is normally paid by the client in their own account, so leave it off your labour line.
How much tax should a website price cover?
Enough for self-employment tax plus income tax. The IRS states the self-employment tax rate is 15.3% (12.4% Social Security, 2.9% Medicare) before income tax. The 25% reserve on this page is an assumption, not tax advice; set your own.
Sources
- IRS: Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) — 15.3% self-employment tax rate (12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare)
I'm not a contractor, landlord or accountant. I build the pricing maths, and every number on this page shows its working so you can check it instead of trusting it. Guides are drafted with AI assistance; every worked figure is computed by the same code as the free calculators. How these guides are made → · Watch the breakdowns on YouTube →