What does a website from Grey Mountain Software actually cost?

A standard small business site starts at $1,000 as a one-time launch fee, then $100 a month afterward for the Care plan. That's the real number, not a quote you have to request and wait on. The $1,000 covers a custom design built around your business, self-editing tools so you can update your own content, domain setup, and SEO and accessibility basics from day one, not sold back to you later as add-ons through our website service.

Dena Gray Design, a freelance graphic designer, is one real example of a site built this way, live today and linked from our own homepage. We wrote a broader post on how much a small business website really costs across the whole industry, covering the full range an owner might run into. This post is the other half of that conversation, the actual number behind our own service rather than a general range.

Why put out a real number instead of saying "it depends"?

Because "it depends" is the default answer in this industry, and it's a big part of what makes shopping for a website so stressful if you're not technical yourself. Clutch's research on web design pricing found the average agency project runs around $38,000, with a typical range from $2,000 to $100,000 depending on scope, and most reviewed projects still landing under $10,000 (Clutch, 2026). Those numbers describe custom enterprise-scale builds more than a small business's first real website, but they explain why a flat, published number feels unusual in this industry.

We'd rather an owner know what they're signing up for before they ever talk to us. If the bigger picture of agency pricing across the industry is still useful context, that's what the cornerstone post above is for.

What's actually included in the $1,000 launch?

The launch fee covers everything needed to get a professional site live, not a stripped-down version you have to pay to unlock later.

• A custom design built for your business, not a generic template
• Self-editing tools so you can update text, images, and hours yourself
• Domain setup
• SEO and accessibility basics built in from the start

Editing a page looks like clicking the text you want to change, typing, and hitting save, no developer, no ticket, no waiting. You can see more examples across 27 real, published sites in our portfolio, grouped by industry so you can find a business like yours.

What does the $100 a month Care plan cover?

The Care plan is hosting, automatic platform and security updates, weekly backups we can restore from if something goes wrong, covering any point in the last seven days, and support for minor edits. Industry maintenance guides put typical small business website upkeep somewhere between $50 and $250 a month, and note that managed security and backup services alone often run $100 to $500 a month on their own (Gravitate Design, 2026). At $100 a month, the Care plan sits inside that normal range while bundling in hosting and backup coverage that are often sold separately.

A site that nobody is watching is how small, fixable problems turn into real downtime. The Care plan exists so that doesn't happen on your watch.

What if a business needs more than the standard plan?

Structural changes, bigger sites, and extra add-ons get quoted separately in writing, and domain registration is a separate cost from hosting. We confirm pricing in writing with every new client before any work begins, so there's no surprise invoice waiting at the end.

Is this the right starting point for your business?

If you're weighing a website investment and want to know the real number before you pick up the phone, now you have it. Look through the portfolio for an example close to your own industry, or get in touch and we'll walk through what your specific site would actually need.