A small business website in Australia costs about $155 a year in hosting and a .com.au domain if you build it yourself, about $527 a year on a DIY shop builder like Shopify, and several thousand dollars if a designer builds it for you. The build price is only half the story: after launch someone pays for hosting, the domain and keeping the site current, and that's where quotes really pull apart.
Below are published Australian prices we checked on 31 October 2026, with links, so you can compare like with like. Introductory deals change often, so we've used the regular price wherever a discount is shown.
What does a website cost in Australia, line by line?
| Item | Published price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| .com.au or .au domain | $22.95 a year (regular price) | VentraIP, an Australian registrar; first-year deals from $9.95 |
| Shared hosting | $11.00 a month (regular price) | VentraIP Business Hosting Entry, servers in Sydney; first-term deal $5.50 |
| Shopify Basic plan | AU$42 a month billed yearly (AU$56 month to month) | Online shop builder; hosting included, card fees from 1.7% + 30c |
| Mabel build | $5k–$10k NZD + GST, usually | Branding, design, copywriting, SEO plan, build and launch |
| Mabel care plan | $2k NZD a month + GST | Hosting, email, changes, CMS, security and fresh pages |
Sources: VentraIP: domain names · VentraIP: business hosting · Shopify Australia pricing · ATO: GST · ACCC: displaying prices
Worked example: the first year, three ways
Shared hosting and a domain, building it yourself (for example with WordPress): 12 × $11.00 = $132 for hosting, plus $22.95 for the .com.au, is $154.95 for the year. That's the cheapest way to own a site outright, but you install it, write every page, run the updates and fix it when it breaks.
An online shop on Shopify Basic, billed yearly: 12 × $42 = $504, plus the domain, is $526.95, plus card fees on every sale. Shopify runs the hosting and security; you still do the building and the writing.
A designer-built site: our own builds usually land between $5,000 and $10,000 NZD + GST, quoted in New Zealand dollars, and then the care plan covers everything after launch. Whoever you hire, ask for the first-year total, not just the build price, so two quotes can be compared fairly.
What is a fair price to pay for a website?
A fair price is one where you know exactly what's included. A few hundred dollars a year is fair for a DIY builder where you do the work. A few thousand is fair for a designer-built small business site if it includes the writing, a page for each service and a plan for getting found on Google. A low quote that leaves out the copy, or a high one that hides a monthly fee, is the one to question.
Is there a monthly fee to have a website?
Yes, almost always, even if it's billed yearly. At minimum you pay for hosting and a domain: about $11 a month for shared hosting plus $22.95 a year for a .com.au at the prices above. Site builders roll hosting into one plan fee, and a designer's care plan adds the labour of keeping the site updated, secure and current.
What does a 5-page website cost?
A five-page brochure site (home, about, services, a work page and contact) is the smallest real business site. Done yourself, it costs only the platform and domain. Done by a designer, the price depends mostly on who writes the words and whether branding is included, which is why five-page quotes in Australia range from under a thousand to many thousands of dollars.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
- Copywriting: a proper page for each service is real work, and it's the part that decides whether the site gets found.
- Page count: a five-page site and a site with a page for every service and suburb you cover are very different jobs.
- Ownership: a rented page builder stops when you stop paying; a site handed over to you doesn't.
- Running costs: hosting, email, security updates and changes are paid for by you, by your designer, or by nobody.
- GST: Australian GST is 10%. Prices shown to consumers must be the total price, but quotes to businesses are often + GST, so check before you compare.
Questions to ask before you sign anything
- Is the price + GST or including GST, and in which currency?
- Is writing the copy included, or do I supply it?
- How many pages, and which ones?
- Who owns the domain, the code and the content?
- What does it cost to run each year after launch?
In New Zealand instead? How much does a website cost in NZ?
Common questions
How much does a basic website cost in Australia?
Built yourself, about $155 a year for shared hosting and a .com.au domain at VentraIP's regular prices, or about $527 a year on Shopify Basic billed yearly. A designer-built site costs thousands, depending mostly on whether copywriting and branding are included.
Is there a monthly fee to have a website?
Yes. You always pay for hosting and a domain, even if it's billed yearly: shared hosting is about $11 a month and a .com.au $22.95 a year at the published prices we checked. Builders like Shopify charge one monthly plan fee that includes hosting.
Is it expensive to set up a website?
Not if you do it yourself: hosting and a domain cost about $155 for the first year. What costs money is the work, meaning design, writing and keeping the site current. That's what a designer's quote is mostly paying for.
Do Australian website prices include GST?
Prices advertised to consumers must show the total price including the 10% GST. Designers quoting businesses often quote + GST, so a $5,000 + GST quote is $5,500 including GST. Check which one you're looking at before comparing.
