What will your website really cost over three years?
Not the sticker price - the real three-year total, four ways: doing it yourself, hiring a freelancer, hiring an agency, or running it on Sitecrew. Answer three questions and see them side by side, your own time included.
Your three-year cost, four ways.
Answer three questions. We'll estimate the full three-year total for doing it yourself, a freelancer, an agency, and Sitecrew - and put a price on your own time so the comparison is honest.
Your three-year comparison appears here
Pick an answer to each of the three questions and we'll build your side-by-side totals. Want the method first? It's just below.
These are estimates for a typical small-business site, not quotes - your exact numbers move with scope and provider. Sitecrew figures use our public plans; currency conversions are approximate.
How we worked these out.
Every number here is an honest, defensible range for a small-business marketing site over three years. Here's exactly what goes into each one, so you can sanity-check it against your own quotes.
~$1,100-$1,400 in tools
plus 150-200 hours of your time over 3 years
- Builder, hosting, domain and email at roughly $30/mo
- Your hours to learn the tools, build pages and fix what breaks
- Cheapest in cash - only because your own time reads as zero
~$6,000-$22,000
build once, then pay per change
- Build: $800-$12,000 depending on size
- Changes: a fresh quote each time, or a monthly retainer
- A single page you never touch is the cheap exception
~$80,000-$180,000
build plus a monthly retainer, over 3 years
- Build: $8,000-$35,000 to launch
- Retainer: $2,000-$5,000/mo after that
- Worth it when strategy and senior hands map to real revenue
About €3,564
a flat 3 years on the Pro plan
- Free to start and shape a design before you pay
- Plans from €99/mo, everything included
- No per-change invoice and no retainer - the crew keeps shipping
Want the qualitative side - who does the work, who owns the code, when an agency is genuinely the right call? That's on the AI builder vs freelancer vs agency page. For exact Sitecrew plan prices, see pricing.
Questions, answered.
How much does a website cost over three years?
It depends who builds it. Doing it yourself runs roughly $1,100-$1,400 in tools over three years, plus 150-200 hours of your own time. A freelancer is about $6,000-$22,000 once you add changes. An agency lands around $80,000-$180,000 with a retainer. Sitecrew is a flat plan from €99/mo - about €3,564 across three full years, everything included. Run your own numbers above.
Is it cheaper to build my own website or hire someone?
In pure cash, doing it yourself is almost always cheapest - but only because your own time shows up as zero on the invoice. A standard site is 150-200 hours over three years. Put even a modest hourly value on that time and the gap closes fast. The calculator lets you price your time and see the honest total.
How much does a freelancer website cost?
A freelancer typically charges $800-$12,000 to build depending on size, then bills again for every change - so a living site runs about $6,000-$22,000 across three years. A single page you never touch is the cheap exception.
How much does an agency website cost?
An agency starts in the several-thousands to build and adds a $2,000-$5,000/mo retainer, so three years lands around $80,000-$180,000. It is worth it once strategy, a network and senior hands map to real revenue - rarely before then. There's more on that call on the comparison page.
What does Sitecrew cost compared to a freelancer or agency?
Sitecrew is free to start, then a flat plan from €99/mo with the work included - about €3,564 over three years on Pro. No per-change invoice and no retainer, so it comes in below a freelancer for any site that keeps changing, and far below an agency. See the full pricing.
Does doing it yourself really save money?
Only if your time is genuinely free. The cash cost is low, but the hours are real - learning the tools, building pages, fixing what breaks. For most founders that time is the most expensive thing they own. The calculator makes that trade visible instead of hiding it.
Get the agency outcome. Skip the agency invoice.
Start free and shape your design before you pay a thing. When you outgrow us, take your Laravel code and go.
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