Samy LazraqAsk around New York for a website and you can collect three prices that seem to describe three different worlds: $999, $25,000, and $5,995 a month. All three are real, and they are published or documented. They just do not buy the same thing.
This article takes each kind of quote apart, adds the line most of them leave out, and shows where our own price sits and why. By the end, you should be able to read any proposal on your desk and know what you are paying for.
The short answer
A custom website costs $25,000 to $75,000 at a New York agency (Clutch and DesignRush, 2026). Entry-level platforms start around $1,000. Capturit, a French web and film studio, draws and codes a site for you from $8,900 for up to five pages, or $14,900 for up to twelve pages in two languages. The price is fixed before work starts, the site goes live in six weeks, and there is no monthly license.
- A custom marketing site from a New York agency, up to $75,000
- $25,000+
- A site drawn and coded for you by Capturit, up to five pages
- $8,900
What the three kinds of quote pay for
Around $1,000: a platform someone else owns
United Of Web, for example, starts web development at $999 on a proprietary platform. You get a working site fast. You also get a shared structure, and a question to ask before you sign: who owns the code if you leave?
A monthly fee: a team on subscription
Designity's Plus plan is $5,995 a month for 120 hours, month to month. That makes sense when you need creative work every month, well beyond one website. For one website, you are paying for capacity you may not use.
$25,000 and up: a custom build at an agency
Here you pay for strategy, design and development by a team, usually with an account manager and a project manager around them, in an office in Manhattan. Lounge Lizard, on West 34th Street since 1998, is one long-established example, and it can run your marketing too. Part of what you pay is that structure.
From $8,900: a custom build without the structure
That is what we sell. Your site is drawn from a blank page and coded by us, with a dashboard made for it. The person on your call is the person doing the work, so there is no layer to pay for, and we do not carry a New York lease.
To compare these studios side by side, read our list of web design agencies in New York.
The line most quotes leave out: what you pay after launch
A website quote usually stops the day the site goes live. Your costs do not. Many sites run on a content system billed for as long as they exist: at public prices in October 2026, Webflow Premium to Storyblok Growth Plus comes to $900 to $12,600 over three years. Then come hosting, updates and small edits.
So compare over three years, not on launch day. At the low end, an agency site on the cheapest of those plans comes to $25,900, before anyone changes a word. Ours comes to $8,900, because the dashboard is built for your site and there is nothing to rent. If you want us to host, update and measure it, Atelier Care starts at $290 a month, which adds $10,440 over three years, and it stops with one month's notice.
What moves the price up
Five things change a website quote more than anything else, wherever you buy it.
- Pages and languages. Up to five pages in one language start at $8,900. Up to twelve pages in two languages, with one integration, start at $14,900.
- A brand identity. A logo, typefaces, colors and their rules, with a twelve-page site on top, start at $19,900.
- Software inside the site. Bookings, client accounts, payments and user roles start at $29,900, delivered in stages.
- New pictures. A brand film of 60 to 90 seconds starts at $5,900, or $5,300 with a site. It stays optional: if your images are good, we build with them.
- Who writes the words. Ask whether the quote includes your copy, or whether you are expected to supply it.
Why a fixed price matters more than a low one
An hourly or open-ended project moves the risk to you: every new idea becomes a new invoice. A fixed price moves it to the studio, which is why you should ask for one in writing.
Ours is written after a first call and does not move once we start. If you want something more, it goes in a quote first. You pay 40% to start, 30% when you approve the designs, and 30% when the site is live, so most of the price comes after you have seen the work.
Six questions to ask before you sign
- Who owns the code and the domain if we part ways?
- What will I pay each month after launch, and for how long?
- How much do I pay before I see a design?
- Is this price fixed, and what would change it?
- Who does the work, and will I talk to them?
- Can I edit the site myself without opening a ticket?
On the last question, ours is yes: you run the site from its dashboard. At launch you receive the code, the content, the dashboard and the domain, and any developer can take over.
What a New York company gets from a studio in France
Our calls fall between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. in New York, and every message gets an answer within one business day. You get one call a week and a preview link from the first design. We explain the rest in hiring a French studio: what American companies get, including how we worked with an American company at Cannes Lions.
Questions about website costs in New York
Is the starting price the final price?
It is the price for what it describes. After a first call we write your fixed price, in dollars, and it does not move once work starts.
How long does it take?
Six weeks from the first call to launch, for up to twelve pages. A new brand identity adds four to six weeks. A platform ships in stages.
Why not build it myself with Squarespace, Wix or AI?
You can, and a one-page site may not need more. Builders work from shared templates, billed monthly for as long as the site lives. We draw yours from scratch, write fast code and give you the keys.
Will my website be ADA compliant?
It will be built to WCAG 2.1 AA and tested with a keyboard and automated checks before launch. No site removes every legal risk, but one built to the standard is the strongest position you can be in.