Around Asheville in 2026, a small business website costs about $630 to $1,700 over three years if you build it yourself, and about $1,200 to $4,300 for most sites a local designer builds and hosts. A monthly site with no build fee runs $7,164 or more over the same three years, and a full agency build usually costs more again.
Most price guides stop at the build. This one adds up three years, because hosting, upkeep and changes keep billing after launch, and on several paths they end up costing more than the build did.
One thing to know first: this is our own guide, and Mainspring Digital is one of the options in it. Our prices sit in their own row, last, and nothing here is ranked. Every other price comes from the seller's own page or published guide, checked on October 25, 2026. Local studios aren't named here; we call them Asheville-area studios that publish a price, and keep their links on file.
Every path, line by line
| Path | 3-year total | Up front | Ongoing | Who owns the site | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build it yourself (Wix, Squarespace) | About $630 to $1,700, plus your hours | Nothing to build; the plan bills a year ahead | $17 to $39 a month on Wix, billed yearly | Your domain and your words; the site runs only on the builder | Hosting, templates and a free domain for the first year |
| Local designer, one-time build plus hosting | About $1,200 to $4,300 for most small sites | $499 to $3,250 | $20 to $100 a month for hosting or upkeep, or $250 a year | The price pages don't say: ask | The build, then hosting or an upkeep plan |
| Monthly site, no build fee | $7,164 to $17,892 $11,700 to $27,540 with social posts and SEO | $0 | $199 to $497 a month for the site; $325 to $765 with social posts and SEO, on autopay | The studio's until you buy it out (from $1,500 after month 12) or finish 24 months of payments | The site; the higher plans add a logo, social posts and SEO |
| Full agency build | About $7,800 to $53,000 or more | Mid four figures to low five figures locally; $6,000 to $35,000 or more nationally | Upkeep of $600 to $6,000 a year (national figures) | Varies by contract: ask | Varies by quote |
| Mainspring Digital (ours) | $3,564 for 3 pages $4,364 for 5 | $1,800 for 3 pages or $2,600 for 5, half to start | $49 a month for Care | Yours once the build is paid in full | The build, hosting, security, backups, weekly checks of your pages and quote form, and up to 2 changes a month |
How each total adds up
- Build it yourself: Wix Light at $17 a month × 36 = $612, plus two .com renewals at $10 = $632. Wix Business at $39 × 36 = $1,404, plus two renewals at $20 and Google Workspace email at $7 × 36 = $252, comes to $1,696. Squarespace's Basic ($19) and Core ($29) plans, billed yearly, land in the same range. Prices from Wix's plans page.
- Local designer: A $499 one-page build plus $20 a month hosting × 36 = $1,219. A $700 starter site plus $100 a month upkeep × 36 = $4,300. A $3,250 package with the first year of hosting free, then $250 a year and a $25 domain renewal, lands at $3,800.
- Monthly site: $199 × 36 = $7,164 and $497 × 36 = $17,892. With social posts and SEO, $325 × 36 = $11,700 and $765 × 36 = $27,540.
- Full agency: A $6,000 build plus 3 years of upkeep at $600 = $7,800. A $35,000 build plus 3 years at $6,000 = $53,000.
- Ours: $1,800 plus Care at $49 × 36 ($1,764) = $3,564. $2,600 plus $1,764 = $4,364.
- Domain and email: Where a row doesn't include them, add about $10 to $20 a year for a .com domain and $7 a month per person for Google Workspace email.
What the table leaves out
Your own time. A builder is the cheapest path in dollars because you do the work, from the first page to every update after it. That trade is fair, and for a lot of owners it is the right one. Just count it: if building and updating the site takes you 20 hours over three years, and an hour of your time is worth $50, that's another $1,000 on top.
Upkeep that grows. The local designer range above covers most small sites, but upkeep plans vary a lot. A $2,000 build with a $300 a month upkeep plan comes to $12,800 over three years, which puts it next to the monthly sites. On a $700 build with $100 a month upkeep, the upkeep passes the build price in month 8.
How you come to own it. On a monthly site with no build fee, you are paying for the build inside the monthly price. One Asheville-area plan runs a 12-month first term, then goes month to month, and lets you buy the site outright from $1,500 after month 12. Another pays off the build inside 24 months and then the site is yours; leave early and you can owe what's left of the build at their standard rates. It's a real option for an owner who can't pay for a build up front, and it should be read like a loan: what's the total, and what do you own at the end?
Moving off a builder. On Wix, the site can't be hosted anywhere else. Squarespace can export some of a site's content for WordPress, but not all of it. Your domain and your words are yours either way, so a move means a rebuild, not a transfer.
Who should pick what
Build it yourself
Pick a builder if the budget is tight, the site is simple (what you do, where you work, how to reach you), and you like doing it yourself. For a new business finding its feet, this is often the right first site. Wix Light can't take payments, so if you sell online, price a higher plan.
A local designer's build plus hosting
Pick this if you want a site made for you, can pay for it up front, and won't need many changes after launch. Read the hosting or upkeep line as closely as the build price, because over three years it can cost more than the build.
A monthly site with no build fee
Pick this if a few thousand dollars up front isn't possible right now and a steady monthly bill is. It costs more over three years than most one-time builds, so before you sign, find out how you come to own the site, and what you'd owe if you leave in the first year or two.
A full agency build
Worth it when the site is a big part of how you sell: a lot of pages, a store or booking, several locations, or a brand made from scratch at the same time. It makes sense when the budget covers years of upkeep as well as the build. For a contractor who needs a clear site with a quote form, it is usually more than the job needs.
A build plus monthly care
This is the bracket we sit in, along with local designers who pair a build with an upkeep plan. It suits an owner who wants a site built for them, wants the files in their name, and would rather have checks and changes handled for a set monthly price than paid for one at a time. Half of the build is paid to start, and the rest at launch or over 3 monthly payments. If you'd rather make every change yourself, a builder costs less. If you need a store, booking or a dozen locations, an agency may fit better.
Questions to ask any quote
- Who owns the domain and the site's files? Get the answer in writing, and make sure the domain is registered in your name.
- What does month 13 cost? Free first years and intro prices end. Ask for the price after them.
- What does a change cost? One price for fixing a line of text, another for a new page.
- What happens if you leave? What you can take with you, and what you would still owe.
- What's in hosting or upkeep? Backups, security, someone checking the site, and how many changes a month.
Prices on this page
Prices checked October 25, 2026, on each seller's own page or published guide. We re-check them every 6 months. If one has changed before then, email [email protected] and we'll fix it. Our own prices are on our services page.