Pricing guide
How much does a website cost in Calgary?
Most Calgary small businesses pay somewhere between $1,500 and $8,000 to have a site built, then $50–$500 a month to keep it running. Ours is $1,499–$5,499 plus a care plan from $99/month. Here’s how that compares, and what most quotes leave out.
Updated · By AltaSmith, Calgary
Free guideDo you actually own your business online? A 10-minute check, with worksheets and templates.Get it freeWhat Calgary small businesses typically pay
These are the ranges Calgary web design firms publish in their own 2026 pricing guides, such as OxOne and Chameleon Ideas. They’re sellers’ numbers, so treat them as a guide to the market, not a quote.
| Option | Build cost | Your time | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, AI builders) | $200–$500 a year | 20–40 hours of your own work | You rent it; moving off is hard |
| Freelancer | $1,500–$5,000 for about 5 pages | Low, 2–6 weeks | Usually you — ask |
| Small agency | $3,000–$15,000 | Low, 4–12 weeks | Varies — ask |
| Large agency | $15,000–$50,000+ | Low, 8–24 weeks | Varies — ask |
A quality custom site of 5–7 pages most often lands around $5,000–$6,500 in these guides. Ongoing costs are separate, and they’re where quotes get vague.
What AltaSmith charges
Two parts, both published: a one-time build price, then a monthly care plan. Three years on the entry plan, before GST, looks like this:
| Package | One-time build | With Business in a Box | Three-year total* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $1,499 | $2,249 | $5,063 |
| Professional | $3,499 | $4,249 | $7,063 |
| Commerce | $5,499 | $6,249 | $12,663 |
*Build price plus 36 months of the lowest plan, which is Core ($99/month), or Growth ($199/month) for Commerce, before GST and before email mailboxes. Business in a Box ($750) is optional and not included in the total. Higher plans add more hands-on work; see the full pricing.
The costs most quotes leave out
The most common complaint about hiring a web designer is the bill that shows up after the quote. Ask every provider, including us, about each of these:
- Domain renewal — typically $15–$30 a year, and whose name it’s registered in.
- Hosting and SSL — often $5–$60 a month depending on the plan.
- Business email — typically $7–$18 per user per month.
- Maintenance and edits — commonly $50–$500 a month for updates, backups, and security.
- Copywriting and photos — often priced separately if you don’t supply your own.
- Plugins and licences — $50–$300 a year on WordPress-style sites.
Here, the Core plan ($99/month) covers hosting, SSL, domain renewal, a safe rebuildable copy of your site, security updates, email support, and small content edits. Mailboxes are billed monthly per user, and your quote shows the exact price for your team.
Should you just use Wix, Squarespace, or an AI builder?
Sometimes, yes. If you have more time than budget and need a simple page, a builder is a legitimate choice, and over three years it costs roughly $1,260–$1,620 in the OxOne comparison. It’s cheaper on paper than any professional build. Here’s what that number doesn’t count:
- Your own 20–40 hours to build it, and the hours you’ll spend changing it later.
- Ownership. You rent the site. Squarespace doesn’t let you export your site’s code, and moving off Wix is much harder than most people expect.
- The setup around the site: your Google Business Profile, local search, consistent listings, and getting described correctly by ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers. A builder gives you a page; it doesn’t do that work for you.
If you only need a simple page and you’ll do the work yourself, a builder is the right call and we’ll say so. If you’d rather spend your hours running the business, that’s what the build price buys.
How to compare quotes fairly
Put each quote next to the same six answers: what’s included at launch, what you pay every month after, whose name the domain is in, who writes the copy, how many changes are included, and how fast someone answers when something breaks. Our separate guide on who owns your website covers the ownership questions in detail.
Common questions
Because “a website” covers very different jobs. The price depends on how many pages you need, who writes the copy and sources the photos, whether SEO and Google listings are set up or left to you, what the site is built on, and whether the quote includes hosting and upkeep or stops at launch. Two quotes are only comparable once you know what each one leaves out.
For a single-service business or a new startup, yes: Starter ($1,499) is a custom single-page site with your domain, hosting, SSL, and a contact or booking form wired to your inbox. If you have several services that each deserve to be found on their own, Professional ($3,499) gives each one its own page.
Yes. Every price on this site is in Canadian dollars plus GST.
Send us your logo, photos, and a few paragraphs about your business and we build around them. If you’d rather we help write the copy, say so when you request a quote and what’s included is confirmed in writing up front — no surprise line items later.
A care plan, from $99/month. Core covers hosting, SSL, domain renewal, a safe rebuildable copy of your site, security updates, email support, and up to 30 minutes of small content edits a month. If you add Business in a Box, email mailboxes are billed monthly per user on top.
Want a straight price for your business?
Tell us what you do and we’ll reply within 1 business day with a clear number — no sales call required.