A professionally built small business website in Dallas-Fort Worth costs $3,000 to $7,500 in 2026. Simple brochure sites run $1,500 to $3,500. E-commerce builds run $6,000 to $20,000. Custom projects start near $15,000. Texas sales tax, hosting, and maintenance add to that number, and most pricing guides leave them out.
TL;DR
- Most DFW small businesses pay $3,000 to $7,500 for a professional custom website design in 2026.
- Page count, custom design, e-commerce, and content writing are the four biggest cost drivers.
- Texas treats website design as a taxable data processing service. Tax applies to 80 percent of the charge, at 8.25 percent in most DFW cities.
- Plan on $600 to $3,000 per year in ongoing costs for hosting, maintenance, and your domain.
- DIY builders cost less up front but cost you time, flexibility, and ownership later.
What does a website cost in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2026?
Expect $1,500 to $3,500 for a brochure site, $3,000 to $7,500 for a standard small business site, $6,000 to $20,000 for e-commerce, and $15,000 or more for custom builds. These ranges reflect what established DFW agencies and experienced freelancers charge in 2026.
| Project type | Typical DFW range (2026) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure site (1 to 5 pages) | $1,500 to $3,500 | Home, about, services, contact. Mobile-friendly. Basic on-page SEO. |
| Small business site (5 to 15 pages) | $3,000 to $7,500 | Custom design, service pages, blog, lead forms, analytics, local SEO foundations. |
| E-commerce store | $6,000 to $20,000 | Product catalog, cart, payments, shipping and tax rules, training. |
| Custom or web application | $15,000 to $50,000+ | Member portals, booking systems, integrations, custom functionality. |
Prices in Dallas and Fort Worth run close to each other. Suburbs like Coppell, Plano, and Arlington see the same ranges because most agencies serve the whole metroplex.
What drives the cost of a website up or down?
Four factors move the price more than anything else: page count, design customization, functionality, and content. A quote that looks high or low usually differs on one of these.
- Page count. Every unique page needs layout, content, and review. A 15-page site costs more than a 5-page site from the same builder.
- Custom design vs. template. A purchased template dropped in with your logo costs less. A design built around your brand and customers costs more and converts better.
- Functionality. Online ordering, booking, gated content, calculators, and integrations with your CRM each add build time.
- Content. Copywriting, photography, and content migration from an old site are often quoted separately. Professional copy commonly runs $50 to $150 per page in the DFW market.
- Who builds it. An agency with a team, a process, and a portfolio charges more than a solo freelancer. You pay for accountability and continuity.
Quality standards matter too. A site that follows Google Search Essentials, Google’s published requirements for appearing in search, takes more care to build than one that ignores them.
DIY vs. freelancer vs. agency: what does each cost?
DIY builders cost $150 to $600 per year plus your time. Freelancers charge $800 to $4,000 for most small business sites. Agencies charge $3,000 to $15,000 or more. The right choice depends on how much your website needs to do for your business.
| Option | Typical cost | Best for | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $150 to $600 per year | Testing an idea, hobby sites | Your time, template limits, you rent the platform |
| Freelancer | $800 to $4,000 | Simple sites on a tight budget | Availability varies, continuity risk if they move on |
| Agency | $3,000 to $15,000+ | Businesses that need leads from the site | Higher up-front cost, but a team, a process, and ongoing support |
Ownership is the hidden difference. A WordPress site built by a freelancer or agency belongs to you. You can move it to any host and hire anyone to work on it. A DIY builder site lives on that platform, and leaving usually means rebuilding. We cover the ownership question, the platform trade-offs, and what to ask a builder in WordPress and Elementor web design in Dallas.
Does Texas sales tax apply to web design?
Yes. Texas classifies website creation, repair, and maintenance as a taxable data processing service. The Texas Comptroller lists “creating web (home) page” among taxable data processing services. Most DFW pricing guides skip this, and it changes your real project total.
Two details matter for your budget:
- Only 80 percent of the charge is taxed. Texas Tax Code Section 151.351 exempts 20 percent of the amount charged for data processing services. The Comptroller confirmed this in its amended Rule 3.330, effective April 2, 2025.
- The combined rate in most DFW cities is 8.25 percent. That is the 6.25 percent state rate plus up to 2 percent in local taxes. Applied to 80 percent of the invoice, the effective rate is about 6.6 percent of the total.
Example: on a $5,000 website project, tax applies to $4,000. At 8.25 percent, that adds $330. Ask any builder you interview whether their quote includes sales tax. A quote that ignores it is understating your cost.
What are the ongoing costs after launch?
Budget $600 to $3,000 per year to run a small business website. The build price is not the whole cost. Hosting, maintenance, domain renewal, and software licenses continue for the life of the site.
- Hosting: $10 to $100 per month. Cheap shared hosting starts around $10. Managed website hosting with backups, staging, and support costs more and saves you when something breaks.
- Maintenance: $50 to $300 per month. WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates, security monitoring, and backups. A website maintenance plan covers these on a schedule instead of after a hack.
- Domain: $10 to $25 per year. Registered in your name, not your developer’s.
- Software licenses: $0 to $300 per year. Premium plugins, page builder licenses, and form tools. Ask who holds each license and what happens if you change providers.
Marketing is a separate budget. If you want the site to bring in leads, plan for SEO or ads after launch. See our companion guide on SEO retainer pricing for Texas small businesses for those numbers.
How do you know a website quote is fair?
A fair quote itemizes pages, features, content, revisions, and ongoing costs, and it falls inside the ranges above for its scope. A one-line quote with a single number tells you nothing. Compare at least two quotes at the same scope before you decide.
Ask every builder these five questions:
- What exactly is included: how many pages, who writes the copy, how many revision rounds?
- Will I own the site, the domain, and the hosting account outright?
- What does the site run on, and can another company take it over later?
- What are the monthly costs after launch, and what do they cover?
- Can you show results for a business like mine?
On that last question, look for evidence rather than promises. No builder can guarantee rankings or revenue. But real numbers exist: our client Fish and Ski Marine grew organic traffic 500 percent after their rebuild and ongoing SEO. Ask for case studies with numbers, then ask how those results happened.
How long does a website take to build in DFW?
Most small business websites take 4 to 8 weeks from kickoff to launch. Brochure sites take 2 to 4 weeks. E-commerce stores take 8 to 12 weeks or more. The single biggest schedule risk is content: projects stall when the business owes the builder copy, photos, or approvals.
A realistic timeline for a standard project looks like this:
- Week 1: discovery. Goals, sitemap, competitors, and content plan.
- Weeks 2 to 3: design. Homepage and key page designs, one to two revision rounds.
- Weeks 4 to 6: build. Pages assembled, content loaded, forms and analytics connected.
- Weeks 7 to 8: review and launch. Testing on phones and browsers, final edits, go-live, and training.
Payment terms follow the timeline. Most DFW builders ask for 50 percent up front and 50 percent at launch. Larger projects split into milestones. Be cautious with anyone who wants 100 percent before work starts, and with anyone who starts without a deposit and a signed scope.
What should you budget in total for year one?
Plan $4,000 to $10,000 for year one of a professional small business website in DFW. That covers a $3,000 to $7,500 build, sales tax of roughly $250 to $620, and $600 to $1,800 in hosting and maintenance. Brochure sites land lower. E-commerce lands higher.
Connect Media Agency has built websites for Dallas-Fort Worth small businesses since 2012 from our office in Coppell. Jay Nadir founded the agency, and it holds a 4.7-star Google rating. We build on WordPress and Elementor, we quote in writing with sales tax included, and you own everything at handoff. Call (469) 428-7384 for a written quote at your scope.
