> answers/cost
How much do web designers charge?
UPDATED OCTOBER 30, 2026
Web designers charge in one of three ways: by the hour, by the project, or on a monthly retainer. Hourly rates make you pay for the designer's uncertainty and give you no ceiling. Ghost charges fixed prices per project, agreed in writing before the work starts: a website is $3,900, an e-shop $7,900, a web app from $9,900. If the scope changes, the change is quoted before it is built, so the number never moves on its own.
Hourly, fixed, or retainer
- Hourly: fair for undefined work; expensive and open-ended for a site with a known scope.
- Fixed: the designer carries the risk of their own estimate. You get a number you can plan around.
- Retainer: right for ongoing work (content, campaigns, changes), wrong for a one-off build.
What a fair quote contains
- What is being built, page by page or screen by screen.
- What is included: copy, design, code, hosting setup, SEO foundation, fixes after launch.
- What is excluded and priced separately: domain, photography, third-party subscriptions.
- A date and a number. Both fixed.
> faq
Related questions
- Freelancer or agency?
- A good freelancer is often a better buy than a large agency for a small-business site, because you talk to the person doing the work. The risk is availability and breadth. A small studio with fixed prices gives you both the direct contact and the range.
> open_channel.exe
Tell us what you need. Any budget.
Say what you have in mind and what you can spend. You get back what we would build for it, how long it takes and a fixed price, usually within one business day.
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