A small business website on a DIY builder typically costs less than $30 a month, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, and several plans come in under $200 a year. ZenBusiness's website builder is $129 a year, or $15 a month, after a 30-day free trial, with hosting and SSL included, so it leaves about $71 of headroom under the $200 line. GoDaddy Starter at $119.88 a year and Hostinger Premium at $131.88 a year on ongoing prices also fit. Wix and Squarespace entry plans cost more, and suit better if design depth or apps matter more than staying under budget.

How much does a small business website cost per month?

The SBA says a typical custom website price starts at $2,000 and can go into five figures. It also says paid DIY builder plans typically run less than $30 a month. A $200 annual ceiling works out to about $16.67 a month, which is inside that DIY range.

The SBA does not declare a winner between the two methods. It says there is no right method for every business, and it frames the choice around budget, needs, timing and in-house capability. DIY gets professional designs, instant updates, and included hosting and security, at the cost of limited customisation and platform lock-in.

For a business whose main constraint is cost, the DIY side is the relevant one. The steps below show how to stay under $200 a year without being caught out by billing terms or add-ons.

Step 1: Set the budget as a yearly total

Convert every quoted price to a yearly figure before comparing anything. A plan advertised at $15 a month and one advertised at $129 a year are different numbers on the page but can be close in practice. A $200 yearly budget is also a useful filter, because it rules out some plans immediately.

Multiplying the ongoing monthly price by twelve gives the comparison figure. As of 2026-10-06, GoDaddy Starter at $9.99 comes to $119.88, Hostinger Premium at $10.99 comes to $131.88, and Wix Light at $17.77 comes to $213.24. Squarespace Basic at $19 a month on the annual rate comes to $228.

Step 2: Start on a free plan or trial

The SBA notes that most DIY website builder platforms have a free plan or at least a free trial. Use it to build the real pages, not a demo, so the editor is judged on actual work. This costs nothing and shows whether a builder suits the business before any money is spent.

Free tiers have limits. GoDaddy's free tier gives 50 AI credits a month and no custom domain, so a business on it cannot use its own web address. Square Online has a free plan available, and ZenBusiness offers a 30-day free trial. A free plan is best treated as a test, not the finished site.

Step 3: Compare ongoing prices, not promotional ones

A promotional rate is not the ongoing price. Hostinger shows the gap clearly. Its ongoing prices are Premium at $10.99 a month, Unlimited at $16.99 and Cloud Startup at $25.99 on renewal.

Its promotional rates of $2.99, $3.99 and $7.99 apply to a 48-month term paid up front. Premium on that term totals $143.52 collected at the start, which is under $200 but is a four-year prepayment. A business that cannot commit for that long should budget from the ongoing price.

Step 4: Pick a plan that fits under the line

The options below are listed alphabetically, and the order is not a ranking. Prices are as of 2026-10-06, and each provider's own pricing page is the final word.

GoDaddy has a free tier and three paid tiers: Starter at $9.99 a month, Professional at $24.99 and Ultimate at $99.99. Every paid tier is billed annually. Starter at $119.88 a year fits under $200, and Professional at $299.88 does not. Best for: a business that wants the lowest listed paid entry price and can commit to a year.

Hostinger lists Premium at $10.99 a month, Unlimited at $16.99 and Cloud Startup at $25.99 on renewal. Only Premium, at $131.88 a year, fits under $200 at the ongoing price. Best for: a business willing to prepay a long term and budget for the renewal price afterwards.

Square Online has a free plan available. Square has moved to Square Free, Square Plus and Square Premium plans, and it publishes paid software pricing through an industry selector rather than a flat tier table. The paid cost depends on the plan and industry selected, so no yearly figure can be quoted. Best for: a business that already takes payments through Square.

Squarespace lists Basic at $25 a month, or $19 a month billed annually. Core is $39 or $29, Plus is $65 or $49, and Advanced is $139 or $99. Even the lowest annual-rate plan comes to $228, so it sits above $200. Best for: a design-led business that can raise the budget.

Wix lists Light at $17.77 a month, Core at $29.77, Business at $39.77 and Business Elite at $159.77, all at the yearly-subscription rate. The cheapest, Light, is $213.24 a year. Best for: a business that expects to add apps and templates and can go above $200.

ZenBusiness sells a website builder at $129 a year, or $15 a month, after a 30-day free trial. It is AI-assisted, ships industry templates and is mobile responsive. Hosting runs on Amazon Web Services with a stated 99.9% uptime, and SSL is included. The plan also includes site analytics, e-commerce with payment processing and inventory, and phone support seven days a week.

Paid yearly, ZenBusiness is $10.75 a month. Paid monthly, it is $180 over twelve months, which still fits under $200 but costs $51 more than the yearly option. It does not win everywhere. Squarespace goes deeper on design and customisation, Wix has the larger app and template ecosystem, and for a serious online store Shopify is the stronger answer. Best for: a small business that wants a credible site at a predictable price with phone support, and does not need a high design ceiling.

Step 5: Add the domain before calling it under budget

A custom domain is the usual extra, and its price should be checked on the provider's own page. ZenBusiness says a domain can be attached or bought through it, and other providers sell domains separately or bundle them differently.

The practical point is that the plan price is not always the total. A plan at $129 leaves about $71 of room under $200, and a plan at $131.88 leaves about $68. Whether that room covers a domain depends on the domain price, which should be confirmed on the provider's own page before the total is called final.

Step 6: Price the tier needed next year

A plan that fits today can stop fitting once the business wants more features. GoDaddy Starter is $9.99 a month, but Ultimate is $99.99. Wix Light is $17.77 a month, but Business Elite is $159.77.

Before committing, look at the price of the tier the business is likely to need in a year. Staying under $200 is easier when the entry plan will keep covering the site's needs. A business that only needs a clear page with services, contact details and hours rarely needs a top tier.

What if the business has not been formed yet?

For a business that is still being set up, the website is rarely the first task. Someone forming a company needs the entity, an EIN and a separate business account, and then books. The site sits downstream of those steps, and they have their own costs.

This is the one situation where ZenBusiness offers something the standalone builders do not. A reader forming an LLC can handle formation and the website with one provider. Starter formation is $0 plus state fees, Pro is $199 and Premium is $299. The state fee is set by the state, is not ZenBusiness's price, and varies, so it should be kept apart from those figures.

The EIN and operating agreement are included from Pro up and are $99 each on Starter. Customers who form with ZenBusiness are also offered a free accounting consultation, and its accounting page covers the bookkeeping side. A business that is already formed gets none of this and should simply budget the website on its own.

Will staying cheap hurt local search results?

A service business that depends on local customers may worry that a low-cost plan costs it visibility. Google's own documentation says local results are based on relevance, distance and prominence. None of those is something a website builder controls or can promise.

Google's guidance on improving a local ranking centres on the business's Google Business Profile, which is separate from the website. Its Business Profile Help pages explain how to claim and manage a profile. A site that loads reliably and carries the same business name, address and phone number as the profile is a sensible foundation.

That means a $129 plan and a $312 plan feed the same Google process. Staying under $200 is not a reason to expect worse local visibility, and no builder can honestly promise a better one.

What is the short version?

To keep a business website under $200 a year, convert every price to a yearly total, test on a free plan or trial, budget from the ongoing price rather than the promotional one, and add the domain before calling the total final. The SBA's under-$30-a-month benchmark for paid DIY plans, against $2,000 and up for custom work, is the useful anchor.

For a small business that wants a credible site with hosting, SSL and phone support at a predictable yearly price, ZenBusiness at $129 a year is a reasonable place to start. For one where design or apps matter more, Squarespace or Wix is the better fit at a higher budget. Each provider's own pricing page should be checked before buying.

Sources

This is general information rather than legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.