How Much Does a WordPress Website Cost in 2026? A Detailed Estimate
The cost of a WordPress site cannot be determined honestly by the number of pages alone. The main part of the estimate is formed by unique templates, individual design, integrations, data migration, catalog, personal account and SEO requirements. Ten text pages on a single template can be simpler than three pages with a calculator, filters, and sharing with CRM.
Short answer: in NBM-IT, website development starts from 100,000 rubles, but the exact cost appears after the structure and list of functions. To compare offers, ask the contractor to separately show analytics, design, template development, integrations, content, migration, testing, and launch.
Why the advertising price rarely coincides with the total
You can find the price "per site" in the search results, but different products are hidden under this name:
- installation of a ready-made theme with the replacement of text and logo;
- build on a visual designer inside WordPress;
- individual design and own theme;
- corporate website with a catalog and integrations;
- an online store on WooCommerce;
- transferring an existing site while preserving the URL and SEO.
- headless project, where WordPress is used as a CMS, and the frontend works separately.
It is incorrect to compare such sentences with one digit. First, you need to understand what result and set of works each contractor offers.
What makes up the estimate of a WordPress project
| Block | What's included | Which increases the scope of work |
|---|---|---|
| Analytics | Objectives, current site audit, structure, requirements | Multiple audiences, complex catalog, migration |
| Prototype | Page logic and custom scripts | Calculators, pickups, personal account |
| Design | Concept, adaptations, UI states | Many unique templates and interactive elements |
| the WordPress team | Layout, editor blocks, templates, settings | Non-standard frontend, animation, complex components |
| Functionality | Forms, search, filters, roles, WooCommerce | Custom business logic and access rights |
| Integrations | CRM, 1C, payments, delivery, API | Two-way exchange, old or closed systems |
| Content | Transfer, formatting, images | Large archive, heterogeneous data, manual cleaning |
| SEO relocation | URL, metadata, schema.org, redirects | Change of structure and CMS, many indexed pages |
| Testing | Browsers, devices, shapes, roles | Many scenarios, integrations and payment options |
| Launch | Server, domain, analytics, backup | Non-standard infrastructure and short transfer window |
This table is more useful than the general fork: it shows why a particular project is more expensive or cheaper.
You need to read templates, not pages
In WordPress, content pages are assembled based on templates and blocks. For example, a corporate website may have:
- Home
- Service Page
- Service list
- Case study list
- Case page.
- Blog
- Article.
- Contacts.
After the template is developed, the editor can create dozens of service pages. Therefore, adding another page of the same type is almost not the same as developing a new calculator or catalog.
When requesting an evaluation, send a list of page types and unique features instead of “need 30 pages”. This reduces the uncertainty margin in the estimate.
Ready-made theme or individual development
Ready theme
Suitable when the task is typical, corporate design is not an advantage, and processes can be adjusted to the capabilities of the template. At the start, it is cheaper, but improvements may require redefining someone else's code and a set of plugins.
Before selecting, check:
- who updates the topic;
- is it compatible with the current version of WordPress and PHP?
- whether it is possible to disable unnecessary modules;
- how the Content Editor works
- whether the changes will be lost after the update;
- whether there is a dependence on the closed designer.
Customized Theme
It is justified if you need a proprietary design, a clean structure, special templates and a controlled editor. It requires more work at the start, but the team defines the architecture and does not drag functions that the project does not need.
WordPress supports classic and block themes. See up-to-date documentation theme.json is used for global settings, styles, palettes, typography, and editor elements. This allows you to reconcile the site interface and the capabilities of the content manager, but the very presence theme.json does not guarantee the quality of the theme.
You can view different approaches in technical parsing of ten WordPress sites.
Which integrations change the score the most
A simple form that sends a letter and a two-way exchange with CRM are called integrations, but differ in volume at times. Details are needed for the evaluation.
CRM
Specify which entities are transferred: lead, contact, transaction, product, source of circulation. Do you need reverse statuses, protection against duplicates, and a queue when CRM is unavailable?
1C and catalogue
It is important to know the volume of goods, options, prices, balances, images and frequency of exchange. Separately, it is decided where the master system is located and what will happen if there is a data conflict.
Payments & Delivery
The estimate depends on the payment methods, refunds, checks, delivery geography and calculation logic. Installing the plugin does not replace testing the full order.
External services and APIs
The WordPress rest API allows you to work with structured data and connect external applications. But each integration still has authorization, limits, bugs, logging, and support after third-party API changes.
Why the transfer of the old site is paid separately
Wrapping isn't just about copying text. You need to map old and new URLs, save important metadata, transfer images, authors, categories, and links between materials.
Before the assessment, it is useful to collect
- the number of URLs to be indexed;
- types of content and their volume;
- a list of files and media libraries;
- current redirects;
- pages with search traffic;
- forms and integrations;
- data that can be deleted.
If URLs change without a redirect map, the new site may lose accumulated signals and users from old links. Therefore, SEO relocation should be a separate stage with verification before and after launch.
What should be included in the basic development
The composition depends on the contract, but a full-fledged offer usually describes:
- structure and agreed list of templates;
- desktop and mobile design states;
- development of the theme and editable blocks;
- forms and basic integrations;
- setting up technical metadata;
- sitemap, canonical, robots, and redirects
- testing on matched devices;
- transfer to production and backup;
- instructions for the editor.
- warranty Period and Support Policies.
If the estimate contains only "design + layout + WordPress", ask to decipher the result of each stage. This is not a bureaucracy, but a way to compare offers with the same volume.
Fixed costs after start-up
Development is not the only expense. After launch, the following remain:
- Domain and Hosting
- paid plugin licenses, if used;
- backup and monitoring;
- wordPress updates, themes, and extensions
- Technical support
- content development and SEO;
- checking integrations after changes to external systems.
As of August 25, 2026, WordPress recommends a server with PHP 8.3 or newer, MariaDB 10.11+, or MySQL 8.0+ and HTTPS. The official requirements also state that older versions of PHP and MySQL have already completed the lifecycle and may pose security risks. This means that a very cheap legacy hosting can later turn into a separate migration task.
It is useful to plan in advance for an existing project wordPress support and secure updates, rather than updating production without backup and test loop.
How to compare two estimates
Do not start with the bottom line. Go through the ten questions:
- Is the same list of templates rated?
- Is the individual design of all key states included?
- What blocks will the editor be able to change without a developer?
- Which plugins are paid and who buys the licenses?
- What exactly is included in the integration?
- Is content migration enabled and who reviews it?
- Is there a map of URLs and redirects?
- What devices and scenarios are tested on?
- What counts as project completion?
- How does the warranty and follow-up support work?
A proposal with a larger final amount may be more profitable if it already has migration, adaptations, integrations and launch, which the second contractor will take out for additional work.
How to get an accurate estimate faster
Prepare one document for 1–2 pages:
- the purpose of the site and the main conversion;
- Target audiences
- list of page types;
- mandatory functions;
- design examples with an explanation of what exactly you like;
- integration and availability of documentation;
- the need to transfer and the current domain;
- responsible for the content;
- the desired launch date;
- budget constraints and phasing.
This is enough for the first technical analysis. The team will be able to separate the mandatory scope from the functions that can be transferred to the second queue. The terms of development and examples of projects are collected on the page turnkey WordPress site creation.
Need a clear WordPress site estimate?
We will separate the mandatory works and the second stage, evaluate the templates, integrations, transfer and launch.
FAQ
How much does a simple corporate WordPress site cost?
For NBM-IT, development starts from 100,000 rubles. The bottom line depends on the number of unique templates, design, content, integrations, and migration. An accurate estimate can be made after the structure and list of mandatory functions.
Is it possible to launch a low-cost version first and then develop
Yes, if the first version is built on an extensible structure. Immediately identify the required templates, data model, and future integrations so that the second stage does not require replacing the theme and re-importing the content.
Which is cheaper: a ready-made theme or an individual design
The finished theme is cheaper at the start for a typical task. Individual development requires more work, but gives control over the interface, speed and editor. It is necessary to compare not the price of installation, but the cost of improvements and support for the life of the site.
How long does it take to develop a WordPress site
A small project with a ready-made structure is launched faster than a corporate website with a unique design, migration and integrations. The real schedule consists of the following stages: analytics, prototype, design, development, content, testing and launch.
Is SEO included in the development cost
The technical base - correct URLs, metadata, sitemap, canonical, redirects and structured data - must be agreed in the estimate. Semantics, regular content, links and further promotion are usually a separate work.
Why a WooCommerce website costs more than a regular one
In addition to the catalog, a basket, order, payment, delivery, notifications, statuses and often exchange with the accounting system appear. Each scenario needs to be implemented and tested on errors, returns, and repeated user actions.
Useful on the topic
- Turnkey WordPress website development
- 10 Best WordPress Websites: Technical Analysis
- 1C-Bitrix or WordPress: CMS comparison
- Carnegiestone WordPress site case