How much does a contractor website cost in 2026?
Most small contractors in the US pay between $1,000 and $5,000 for a website someone else builds, and agencies charge a lot more. A roofer, a plumber and a concrete crew can all end up with very different quotes for what looks like the same job, because the scope behind the price is so different.
Recent 2026 pricing guides put a basic template site at around $1,000 to $2,500, a mid-range custom site at $2,500 to $10,000 (with many landing around $5,000 to $7,000), and agency-level work at $15,000 and up. Roofing-specific estimates show a 6-page brochure site at roughly $2,200 to $3,800 from a freelancer and $5,500 to $9,000 from an agency.
Then there is the subscription route, where you pay nothing or a small setup fee up front and a monthly fee for as long as the site stays up. Lots of contractor marketing companies sell it this way.
What do the different options cost?
Here is a simple side-by-side in US dollars. Sales tax on web services depends on your state, so ask whether it applies.
- DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy): about $17 to $46 a month. Wix runs $17 (Light) to $39 (Business) a month on annual billing and $24 to $46 billed monthly.
- Template or budget freelancer: about $500 to $2,500 for a basic site.
- Experienced freelancer: about $2,000 to $5,000 for a 5 to 8 page custom site, with copywriting often extra at $100 to $300 a page.
- Agency: about $5,000 to $15,000 for a contractor site, and $15,000 to $60,000 for bigger agency-level builds.
- Contractor website subscription: about $99 to $500 a month, often with a setup or design fee and a 12-month minimum.
- Mago Labs (my offer): $799 one-off for up to 6 pages, no monthly fee.
Is a contractor website subscription worth it?
A contractor website subscription is worth it mainly when you have no budget up front and need a site fast. If you plan to stay in business for years, it usually costs far more than buying a site outright.
The typical offer is $99 to $500 a month. Some big names in local marketing reportedly charge around $99 a month and up for hosting and support, a design fee of up to $499, and a 12-month minimum with no early cancellation. Contractor-focused agencies that bundle SEO, ads management and reporting often sit at the higher end.
Before you sign, ask two questions. First, can you cancel, and when? Second, what do you keep if you leave? With many subscriptions, the site design and content stay with the provider. If the domain is registered in their name too, you can lose the web address printed on your truck and your yard signs.
What hidden and ongoing costs should contractors expect?
A cheap build can get expensive if the running costs are high. These are the line items to ask about up front.
- Domain name: a .com costs about $12 to $22 a year. Wix and others include it free for year one, then charge renewal.
- Hosting: about $15 a month for shared hosting and $30 to $50 a month for managed WordPress hosting.
- Maintenance plans: $50 to $150 a month for updates, backups and security, mostly for WordPress sites.
- Developer changes: commonly $75 to $150 an hour for edits after launch.
- SSL certificate: should be free. If someone wants $200 a year for one, that is a red flag.
- Photography and copywriting: $500 to $2,000 for a photo shoot and $100 to $300 a page for copy if they are not included in the build.
What does a contractor website cost over three years?
Three years is a good yardstick, because that is about how long most contractor sites run before a redesign. Here is how the options stack up.
- Subscription at $99 a month plus a $499 setup fee: about $4,063 over three years.
- Subscription at $300 a month: $10,800 over three years.
- Subscription at $500 a month: $18,000 over three years.
- Freelancer or agency build at $4,000 plus $50 a month hosting and upkeep: about $5,800 over three years.
- DIY on Wix Core at $29 a month: about $1,044 over three years, plus your time.
- Mago Labs at $799 plus a .com domain: about $835 to $865 over three years, plus any changes you pay for after year one.
What should a contractor website include?
A contractor website needs to answer three questions fast: do you do the job I need, do you work in my area, and can I trust you. Everything else is secondary.
That means a separate page for each core service (a roofer's storm damage repair and full roof replacement are different searches), a clear list of the cities and counties you serve, photos of your own projects, a tap-to-call button and a short estimate form. Show your state contractor license number where your state requires it in advertising, and mention that you are insured.
Homeowners often check BBB, Angi or Google reviews before they call, so link to the profiles you actually have and keep your business name, address and phone number the same everywhere. On the technical side, insist on proper page titles, local business schema, a sitemap in Google Search Console, and a Google Business Profile that points to the site.
How does Mago Labs price a contractor website?
I charge $799 once for a custom website of up to 6 pages, with no monthly fee. That includes the design, all the copy written for you, tap-to-call and a quote form, Google basics (titles, schema, sitemap, Search Console), Google Business Profile setup, and a year of edits and support.
You see a free working preview within 48 hours, and the site is usually live in about 14 days. You own the domain, the code and the content. Your domain name, paid to your own registrar, is the only extra cost.
After year one you can leave the site running and pay nothing, pay $25 an hour for changes, or edit it yourself with a light CMS. I am based in India and work remotely on US hours, so I am not a local shop, and I do not run your ads or SEO retainer. If you want a big agency managing everything every month, that is a different service and a different price.
Which option makes sense for my contracting business?
If you are a one-truck operation testing the waters, a DIY builder is fine for now. If you want a professional site you own without a monthly bill, a one-off freelancer or studio build is usually the best value. If you run multiple crews across several metros and want paid ads, SEO and reporting handled for you, an agency or full-service subscription can earn its fee.
Whatever you pick, get the domain registered in your own name and get the terms in writing. That protects you whichever way it goes.