How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in Canada?
It's the first question every business owner asks, and the honest answer is "anywhere from $0 to $10,000+". That's not helpful on its own, so here's how the options actually break down, and what you should be paying attention to besides the sticker price.
Option 1: Build it yourself (Wix, Squarespace, Shopify)
Typical cost: roughly $20–$50 a month for the plan, plus your time.
Website builders are a real option. You pick a template, drag in your text and photos, and you can have something online in a weekend. The catch is that the cheapest plans usually don't include the things a business needs, like a custom domain without the builder's branding, online booking or a store, so most businesses end up on a mid-tier plan.
The bigger cost is time. Getting a template to look good on a phone, writing your page titles for Google and compressing photos so the site loads quickly is a skill. If your weekends are worth something, factor that in.
Option 2: Hire a freelancer
Typical cost: a few hundred to a few thousand dollars up front.
The range here is huge because "freelancer" covers everyone from a student installing a theme to a senior designer with fifteen years of experience. Ask to see live sites they've built (not just screenshots), and ask what happens after launch: who hosts it, who fixes it when it breaks, and what that costs.
Option 3: Hire a web agency
Typical cost: $3,000–$10,000 or more up front, often plus a monthly retainer.
Agencies bring a team: a strategist, a designer, a developer, a project manager. For a large business with complex needs that's worth it. For a café, a contractor or a clinic, you're often paying for meetings and process you don't need.
The costs nobody mentions up front
- Domain name: usually $15–$30 a year for a .com or .ca.
- Hosting: included with builders; separate with most freelancers and agencies.
- Email: a professional address ([email protected]) usually comes from Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 and is billed per person.
- Changes: new hours, a new menu, a new service. Find out if updates are included or billed hourly.
- Booking or payment tools: many charge their own monthly fee or a per-transaction fee.
What actually matters more than price
Do you own it? With most builders you can't take your site with you if you leave. With a custom site you should get the code, so you're never locked in.
Is it fast on a phone? Most of your visitors are on their phone. A slow site loses people before they see your prices.
Can people find you? Page titles, local business schema and a matching Google Business Profile are what get you into local search results. A pretty site nobody finds isn't doing its job.
Where we fit
At FreeSite Company I build small businesses a custom, hand-coded website for free, with two rounds of revisions. You see the finished site before you pay anything. If you love it, keeping it online with hosting and support is $9.99 a month*. If you don't, you walk away and owe nothing. You own the code either way.
Want a custom website without the up-front cost? I'll build it free. You only pay $9.99/month* if you keep it.