Ask five companies what a contractor website costs and you will get five answers between free and a car. They are all true. They are just prices for different things: a template you fill in yourself, a site someone builds once and hands you, or a site you rent for as long as you keep paying.
So here is the honest version, with the published prices of real companies, including the expensive ones, and the one number that matters more than any of them: what it costs you over three years.
The cheapest website in month one is rarely the cheapest by month thirty-six.
The short answer: what a website built for you costs
| Option | Up front | Monthly | 3 years | Who builds it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MM Brand Studio | Fixed quote | Hosting | One-time | Us |
| Freelancer | By the hour | Hosting | Varies | One person |
| Footbridge Media | $0 | $249 | $8,964 | Them |
| Hibu | Not listed | from $449 | from $16,164 | Them |
| Agency, one project | $38,105 avg. | Varies | $38,105+ | Them |
| Hook Agency | Not listed | $1,665 | $59,940 | Them |
“Hosting” means the domain and hosting bill you pay the provider directly, usually a small yearly amount. The monthly agency prices include hosting and upkeep, which is part of what you are paying for. Keep that in mind, and it still does not close a gap this wide.
Wix and Squarespace are not in this table on purpose. They are not a cheaper version of the same thing. They are a different thing.
Why Wix and Squarespace are not on the chart
A website builder is not a website. It is a box of parts, and you are the one building.
- You do all of it. Pick the template, write every word, take and size the photos, set up the form, the domain and the Google listing. Every evening you spend on it is an evening off the tools.
- It looks like everyone else. The same templates are used by thousands of businesses. Homeowners have seen that layout before, often on the next contractor in the search results.
- Nobody checks it. No one tests that the number dials on a phone, that the form reaches you, or that the page loads fast. Those are the things that lose jobs.
- The subscription never ends. You rent the builder for as long as the site is live, and you cannot take the site with you if you leave.
The monthly fee is low — Wix Business is $39 a month and Squarespace Core $23, billed annually — because the work is yours. Most contractors we talk to started one, got halfway, and have had a half-finished site live ever since.
Hiring a freelancer
On Upwork, designers building a full custom site charge $45 to $75 or more an hour. The total depends on the hours, which depend on how well the brief is written, which is usually where it goes wrong.
A good freelancer can be the best value on this list. The risks are the ones that come with one person: they get busy, they move on, and the site is in an account you cannot log in to. If you go this way, get the domain and hosting in your own name before anything is built.
Renting a site monthly
This is how a lot of contractor marketing companies sell websites: nothing up front, a monthly fee for as long as you stay.
- Footbridge Media lists contractor websites at $249 a month, with no contract and no build fee.
- Hibu starts at $449 a month on its entry plan, according to its Capterra listing.
No upfront cost is real, and for a company with no cash to spare it can be the right call. But the meter never stops. At $249 a month you pay almost $9,000 over three years, usually far more than a one-time build costs. Before you sign, ask the second question in the list below: what happens to the site if you leave.
The expensive end: contractor marketing agencies
At the top are agencies that sell the website as part of a bigger package of SEO, ads and reporting.
- Hook Agency wrote in a 2023 post on its own blog that its websites are $1,665 a month, with SEO listed at $4k and Google ads management from $2k.
- Scorpion does not publish prices. Its verified client reviews on Clutch list budgets from $10,000–$49,999 up to $200,000 and more, mostly from law firms.
- Across all industries, Clutch puts the average web design project at $38,105, with agencies charging $100–$149 an hour.
For a company running several crews and a real ad budget, an agency like this can be worth it: you are buying a team, not a website. For a one-truck business, most of that fee pays for things you do not need yet.
Where we fit
We sell contractor websites at a fixed price, in writing, before any work starts. A one-page Landing Page is one fixed price. A full site with your logo and brand is our Basic bundle. Pro adds your Google Business Profile, ads and an instant lead form; Premium adds SEO, a marketing plan and four seasonal refreshes over the year. Each is quoted for your business before we start. Half up front, half when you are happy, and you own all of it.
You pay once and own it outright: no rent, no contract, nothing to hand back. Ask for a fixed quote and compare it with the numbers above.
Five questions to ask before you sign anything
1Who owns the domain?
It should be registered in your name, on your account. If the agency owns it, they own your address.
2What happens to the site if I leave?
Some monthly plans keep the design and content when you cancel. Get the answer in writing.
3How long is the contract?
Month to month, 12 months, 24 months? And what does it cost to get out early?
4What is monthly, and what is it for?
Hosting, updates, SEO, ads? Price each part. Hosting on its own is a small yearly bill.
5Will my phone number be one tap away on a phone?
Whatever you pay, check this the day it launches. Here are seven more things to check.
Common questions
How much does a contractor website cost?
Built for you: a one-time build quoted for your business, $249–$1,665 a month for agencies that rent you the site, or $38,105 for an average agency project. Over three years the rented options run from about $9,000 to almost $60,000.
Is Wix or Squarespace good enough for a contractor?
They are cheap because you do all the work: the template, the words, the photos, the form. The result is a template site that looks like thousands of others, and nobody checks that it actually brings in calls. Fine as a stopgap, rarely what wins the job.
Is it cheaper to pay monthly or once?
Monthly looks cheaper in month one and almost never is by year three. At $249 a month you pay almost $9,000 over three years. What you are paying for monthly is usually hosting, updates and someone to call, so price those separately before you compare.
Do I own a website I pay for monthly?
It depends on the contract, and it is the first thing to ask. Some agencies keep the site, the design or even the domain when you leave. Ask who owns the domain, the design and the content, and what you get if you cancel.
What should a contractor website include?
At minimum: your phone number one tap away on a phone, a short quote form, the services you do, the towns you cover, real photos of your work, your reviews and your license number where your state requires it.
Prices are each company’s published figures, checked on 20 October 2026, and can change. Hook Agency’s figures are from its own July 2023 post. We have no relationship with any company named here.
