Website costs in India range from about Rs 15,000 for a simple brochure site to Rs 5L and above for a complex custom web application. The honest answer depends entirely on what you are building, so rather than leave it at "it depends", here is the breakdown by project type.
What it actually costs, by project type
Three bands cover most of what small and mid-sized businesses in India commission. Find the row that matches what you are describing to agencies and you have a sanity check on every quote you receive.
| Project type | Typical range | Typical timeline | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brochure or small business site | Rs 15K to 30K | 1 to 2 weeks | 5 to 8 pages, WordPress, contact form, basic SEO setup. Suits a service business or a small brand. |
| Custom WordPress site | Rs 25K to 65K | 2 to 4 weeks | Custom theme built from a Figma design, ACF-powered content types, no page builder bloat, editable by your own team. |
| Custom web application | Rs 75K to 3L+ | 6 to 14 weeks | A Laravel or CodeIgniter platform. Portals, booking systems, dashboards, membership sites. |
All figures exclude GST. They are market bands, not a quote. Where you land inside a band comes down to the five things below.
Why the range is so wide
Custom code versus a template
A hand-coded custom theme costs more upfront than a customised template. What you buy for the difference is the absence of the bloat and the structural limits a template carries for as long as the site is live.
Backend complexity
A static content site is far cheaper than a site with user accounts, a database and custom business logic behind it. The moment a site has to remember who someone is and what they did, the cost profile changes.
Content management needs
How much your team needs to update on its own shapes how much CMS configuration goes into the build. A site where every section is editable takes real work to set up. A site where only the blog changes takes almost none.
Security and compliance requirements
Sites handling payments, health information or personal data need additional security work, and that work is reflected in the price. It is also the line item worth protecting when a budget gets squeezed.
Agency location and team structure
Rates vary sharply by city. Agencies outside the metros typically quote lower than metro-based or international ones for comparable quality, largely because their overheads are lower. It is worth factoring into any comparison of quotes.
Frequently asked questions
Why do website costs vary so much between agencies in India?
Team structure, experience level and what is actually included all vary, and the last one matters most. Design, revision rounds and post-launch support are sometimes in the price and sometimes not. A Rs 8,000 website and a Rs 80,000 website are rarely comparable in scope, quality or what happens after launch.
Is it cheaper to use a website builder like Wix instead of hiring an agency?
Upfront, yes. Over a longer horizon, DIY builders often cost more once you account for conversions lost to a generic design, limited SEO control, and the founder's own time spent building the site instead of running the business.
Do freelancers charge less than agencies for the same work?
Often yes on the quoted price. Agencies typically offer more reliability in exchange: cover if someone is unavailable, a written scope, and accountability that an individual working alone cannot always match.
What is a reasonable budget for a small business's first website?
For most small businesses in India, Rs 25,000 to 50,000 covers a solid custom WordPress site that represents the business properly and can be built on as it grows.