WordPress Website Cost | Every Cost You Should Know in 2023

In today’s market, WordPress is by far regarded as one of the best content management systems, even if there are tons of website builders out there. Be it for the online store, personal blog or small business website, with this robust tool, users can create, manage, scale and achieve a quality online presence.

After all, with how important digital marketing and online shopping have become, having a professional website is crucial. On top of that, the quick setup process, low development costs, SEO friendliness, flexibility and security are what add more value to this popular CMS platform.

However, when using this platform, one big concern of users is the WordPress website cost. So, let’s discuss it here and figure out what’s the catch.

Is WordPress free?

WordPress is free for you to download and use, you can amend and extend it as you wish. Aspects of self-hosted WordPress, such as the core software, support, themes or plugins, are free, however, you might end up spending money for hosting, premium themes or plugins, updates or premium support.

Also, as WordPress is open-source, it is maintained by a variety of developers worldwide that work on patching the security and adding useful features. So, when your WordPress developer is developing a custom functionality feature, it will cost you more. Eventually, the WordPress core software is free to download and use in any way you want until you want to pay a little extra for a high-performing professional website.

Key factors that influence the cost of developing a WordPress website

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the main factors you need to budget for when tallying the cost of a WordPress website.

Type of website

The cost of developing a WordPress website will depend on the complexity of the features required and the level of customisation needed.

E-commerce website

A full-fledged ecommerce platform requires integrating various features such as shopping carts, payment gateways, shipping, and inventory management systems. And the complexity of these features can affect the cost of development. On top of that, the number of products you plan to sell, the complexity of your product catalogue, and the need for customisations also influence the overall cost.

Personal blogs

Personal blogs are one of the most affordable types of websites. They require significantly less dynamic content compared to other website types like business or ecommerce. So only a few hosting resources will be needed to add the basic features like blog posts, comments or social media sharing buttons.

There will be some necessary elements like a domain name or hosting space you will have to pay for. You might start with a minimal cost of $60, while the extra costs will depend upon your specific requirements.

Online portfolios

Developing an online portfolio requires a custom design, galleries, image sliders, visual elements, and multimedia integration. So, the complexity of the design, the number of pages required, and the integration of multimedia will affect the cost of development. So you can showcase your work on a budget or go the extra mile by adding plenty of additional functionality.

Small business website

Again, the cost of building a small business website with WordPress will depend on the business needs and the tools you’ll be using. If you simply want to showcase your products or services, the cost will be very minimal. However, if you require a more professional design and features, including contact forms, team pages or company information details, it can turn expensive to build on WordPress.

Hosting provider

This is a crucial cost as the hosting provider is where your website lives on the internet. There are many WordPress hosting providers to choose from, select the right one, as it will impact your site’s overall health, security, speed and functionality. You can use a dedicated server or go for shared web hosting.

Having a personal server will be costly compared to shared web hosting, but definitely will perform better as you won’t be required to share the server with other companies. The hosting prices can start at around $10 per month for a shared hosting plan, while it can go up to $1000+ for enterprise hosting solutions that come with a large number of features and customisation options. So, the more exclusive the server, the higher the price tag.

Domain name and registration

If you are using WordPress, you need a domain name. And if you don’t have one, you must pay for one. A domain name is a website address or URL that works as a unique identifier for your business so that potential customers can visit your website and see your content. Though the cost will depend on where you purchase your domain, it may fall around $0.95-$12 per month.

So, the choice of domain name selling companies might affect the cost of WordPress websites. Some hosting companies might offer you a free domain name for a certain amount of time, which can lower your cost at the start. Also, for domain privacy protection, you can purchase add-ons that will cost you additional charges.

WordPress themes

A compelling WordPress website theme is what allows you to arrange your content engagingly. Using WordPress, you will have the option to choose from a wide variety of third-party and WordPress themes to define the content layout and the overall look of your website. There is a number of free default themes that comes with each WordPress installation.

They offer basic functionality and customisation option. When the lowest price per theme can cost you around $20, the highest can go up to $1000. On the other hand, by creating a custom theme, you will get flexibility over the layout, design and set of features of your WordPress site.

WordPress plugins

Plugins are the ways you can extend the feature and functionality of your theme. There are tons of free plugins around. On the WordPress plugin directory, you will get over 59,000 free plugins. However, premium plugins offer more advanced functionality and security features. For example, plugins like Mailchimp will get leads into your email database by allowing you to create opt-in web forms to get people signed up for your email list.

Even though there is a free version available, but most of the advanced feature, like A/B testing or multivariate testing, requires a premium plan that can cost $59-$149 per year. So, the overall cost of using plugins will vary depending on the requirement and use.

Security

When using WordPress, security is one top priority to ensure your site is protected. Even though WordPress has built-in security, the key step for an extra layer of protection is to download a security plugin that can provide website scanning, web application firewalls and other necessary features to save your site against cyber-attacks, such as UpdraftPlus ($70 – $195) or Sucuri ($199.99 – $499.99).

You should also get an SSL certificate or Secure Socket Layer certificate to enable HTTPS. It will ensure that all the data transmitted between your website and its visitors will be encrypted. Also, in terms of boosting Google ranking or speeding up your site, installing SSL has become a standard-practically required. It typically requires a one-time payment, and you can purchase one for around $50 per year.

Website maintenance

The website maintenance cost of a WordPress website is another factor when considering how much does WordPress website costs. In order to maintain a high-end professional site, you need to keep your WordPress installation up to date and protected with every new security and maintenance release. It will ensure that your website will not sit vulnerable to hackers. Eventually, the cost of the maintenance will differ depending on the size of your website.

Also, if the regular maintenance is managed by the web hosting provider, they may charge around $200 to $500 per month, whereas hiring specialised freelancers can cost you $60 to $150 per hour. Or you can simply go for the “doing it yourself” approach if you have the knowledge to fix issues and the tools needed to perform the maintenance task.

So, even though the basic functionalities and core software of WordPress are free, these are the sectors where the WordPress website cost comes into play. It may seem daunting, but you definitely should take into account the quality while knowing exactly what your business website needs.