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WordPress Pricing: The Cost to Build a Website

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What started out as a small blogging software, soon grew into one of the most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) used to power websites, traditional mailing lists and Internet fora, media galleries, membership sites, learning management systems (LMS), and even online stores. WordPress currently dominates the market powering over 43% of all websitesIn this blog, we’re gonna discuss WordPress Pricing: The cost to build a website. But wait! WordPress pricing is free right? Yes, WordPress ITSELF is free but it still has costs associated with it, and those are the WordPress pricing we’re gonna dive-in in this blog. 

The cost of a WordPress website can be calculated to assist you set a budget and maximize marketing initiatives. In light of this, we’ll discuss all of the factors that affect WordPress pricing, including web hosting, WordPress optimized plans, themes, and other plugins. Let’s start by comparing the two WordPress platforms, WordPress.com and WordPress.org, in terms of pricing.

Pricing for WordPress.com and WordPress.org

increasing prices

WordPress is now available on two separate platforms. The hosting company is the main distinction between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. The first is a self-hosted platform, therefore users are required to use hosting provider services to host their websites. WordPress.com, on the other hand, is hosted by Automattic. In light of this, there are differences in the pricing for the two platforms. Let’s start with the pricing for WordPress.com. WordPress.com allows you to create a free WordPress site, but if you want to use it for business, you’ll need to sign up for one of their premium plans. These plans influence WordPress pricing between $4 and $45 per month.

Every premium plan comes with unlimited email support and a free domain name for a year. Additionally, Google Analytics integration, premium themes, and live chat support are included with the Premium, Business, and eCommerce plans. Despite the fact that WordPress.com enables a variety of monetization strategies, there are a number of drawbacks. For instance, users can only run adverts by signing up for their WordAds advertising program in exchange for shared advertising money.

WordPress.com also has rules regarding memberships, donations, and affiliate connections. In other words, WordPress users’ options for monetization are not entirely under their control. It’s advisable to create a WordPress website using WordPress.org if you want more freedom and control over your site as well as limitless revenue choices.

You must download the essential software and estimate the cost of additional resources in WordPress pricing. These range from a domain name and web hosting package to premium WordPress plugins and themes, and they all increase the cost of WordPress pricing as a whole.

The Main Expenses Of WordPress Pricing

Now that you have a rough idea of the WordPress pricing, let’s review the main expenses and details based on the website type:

  • Domain
  • Web Hosting
  • Website Maintenance & Security
  • Plugins
  • Themes
  • Developer Fees

Domain

When creating a website using WordPress.org, you must purchase a domain name from a domain registrar like Domain.com, in contrast to the majority of website builders that offer one in their paid plans. We advise choosing a domain name that is as close as feasible to the name of your company or website. It must be concise and memorable! The average WordPress pricing of a domain name is a fairly reasonable $11.99 per year, but coveted ones have been known to cost thousands or even millions of dollars!

The price of a domain is determined by its TLDs. (Top-Level Domains). The three most popular ones are the.com,.net, and.org domain name extensions, sometimes referred to as generic top-level domains (gTLD). These gTLDs have prices ranging from $0.99 for inexpensive domain names to $14.99 per year. In addition to these three most popular gTLDs, less expensive generic extensions include.live,.tech,.online, and.xyz. These TLDs can increase the specificity and uniqueness of your domain despite the fact that they may not be as well-known as other options.

TLD with the.com

The TLD with the.com extension is the priciest and most popular choice. Some of the explanations are as follows:

  • Credibility – Many well-known brands and companies utilize the .com extension for their domain names. Adding one to your WordPress website can increase your credibility and foster client trust.
  • SEO ranking – Due to their authority and credibility, .com websites are favored by Google and other search engines. This is so that general TLD search results, as opposed to those from country code domains, are more likely to be displayed with higher rankings by search engines.
  • Popularity – People typically write a website URL with this domain because the majority of websites use the.com extension. Your customers will find it simpler to recognise and remember your brand if you use a .com domain.

Once it is registered, you must renew the domain name once a year to keep ownership. Every service connected to your domain name will stop working if you don’t renew it before the expiration date. The domain registrars determine each domain name’s registration costs as well. Depending on how long you register the domain for, the WordPress pricing ranges anywhere from $12.99 to $28.00 per year.

Keep in mind that when you register a domain, you consent to the WHOIS database making your personal information accessible to the general public. You might also want to look into getting domain privacy protection to secure the data of your customers and store.

Web Hosting

web hosting

Building a fully working WordPress website requires both web hosting and domain names. Web hosting services offer the server space and resources required, while domain names serve as the website’s address. Your hosting company will get the content of your domain name and present it to visitors each time they access it. Depending on the type, a web hosting plan’s price varies. You have the following hosting options to choose from:

  • WordPress Hosting

This choice frequently comes with 1-click installation, automatic software upgrades, and a specialized WordPress staff. Costs range from $1.99 to $9.99 per month for managed WordPress hosting.

  • Shared Hosting 

An affordable choice for small enterprises and personal websites, with plans raising the WordPress pricing by $1.99 to $3.99 per month. Users pay less than they would for other hosting plans since the server and resources are shared.

  • VPS Hosting 

One physical server is divided into several virtual servers through the use of VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting, with each partition remaining separate from the others. VPS hosting is excellent for WordPress websites with medium-to-high traffic because of its private environment. Plans for VPS hosting range from $3.99 to $77.99 per month.

  • Cloud Server Hosting 

A large eCommerce site might consider cloud server hosting because it uses a cluster of many servers to balance site traffic and reduce downtime. Your WordPress website will continue to function even if one server crashes. Plans for cloud hosting range from $9.99 to $29.99 per month.

In conclusion, the WordPress website packages pricing for hosting varies from $1.99 to $77.99 per month, depending on the type and hosting company. Keep in mind that each web hosting account’s initial monthly WordPress hosting pricing is different from the renewal fee.

Plan Features Single

$1.99 per month

Starter

$2.99 per month

Business

$3.99 per month

Pro

$9.99 per month

Websites 1 100 100 300
SSD Storage 30 GB 100 GB 200 GB 200 GB
Visits ~10000 ~25000 ~100000 ~300000
Free Domain No Yes Yes Yes
Backups Weekly Weekly Daily Daily

Website Maintenance and Security

In order to guarantee optimal performance and availability, website maintenance is essential. Maintaining a WordPress site regularly can improve its search engine ranks, attract repeat visitors, and increase conversions.

The cost of maintaining your WordPress website depends on a number of variables, including website software and apps, hosting kinds, and domain names. The total WordPress pricing of maintenance will be greatly influenced by the size of your WordPress website.

Type Of Website Average monthly cost
Personal website $5-$30/month
Professional blogging site $20-$100/month
Large business website $35-$300/month
Small-to-medium sized eCommerce $150-$1,500/month
Enterprise-level online store Up to $1,500/month


While certain maintenance charges are necessary, others are viewed as extra. For instance, WordPress pricing for email services, online marketing, and help from a site designer are significant but not necessarily necessary.

SSL certificates

A data transfer technique called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts all data exchanged between servers and clients. Data security, anonymity, and encryption are advantages of an SSL certificate. An SSL certificate should be installed on every website that stores sensitive user data, such as credit card numbers. When an SSL certificate is installed on your WordPress website, HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) and a padlock symbol that denotes the website’s security will show at the beginning of your site’s address. The types and levels of validation affect how much an SSL certificate costs. In light of this, do your homework before investing in one for your WordPress website.

Plugins

WordPress plugins are pieces of software that either expand the functionality of already-existing WordPress features or provide new features. Having additional levels of security will help your website in the long term, even though the core WordPress platform already offers security features.

WordPress plugins come in three different categories:

  • Free plugins have no additional charges up front and are typically created as a promotion for the commercial version.
  • Freemium plugins allow users to use the fundamental functions, but they must pay for additional capabilities.
  • Premium plugins are pricey but offer immense features, after sales support, as well as rolling out regular upgrades and patches.

Freemium and premium plugins

Freemium and premium plugins typically raise WordPress pricing between $5 to $1,000. They have various prices, from one-time charges to yearly memberships. We suggest downloading the following WordPress security plugins since they are some of the best:

  • UpdraftPlus: Use UpdraftPlus for secure backups and easier restores. They have free plans available as well as premium plans ranging in price from $70 to £195 as a one-time fee.
  • Jetpack: For enhanced security, improved performance, and better marketing tools, Jetpack is an all in one tool which offers spam protection, unlimited backup storage, and 1-click restorations. The premium version starts at $99/year.
  • Sucuri: You can use Sucuri for advanced protection and hack fixing for $199.99 to $499.99 as a one-time purchase.
  • Yoast SEO: A must-have tool for optimizing your website for search engines, it is available in both a free and a premium version, the latter of which costs $69 (one-time).
  • MonsterInsights: Using MonsterInsights, you may advance your analytics. There is a free version and premium versions that cost $99.50 to $399.50 per year.
  • MailChimp: Whatever the objective of your website, having the ability to collect email addresses and send out emails is quite helpful, and MailChimp is the best at it. Optional premium plans range in price from $59 to $149 per year.

WordPress Themes

wordpress theme
Woman Use Laptop Work Cafe

All users of WordPress can choose from a huge selection of themes. There are many free themes available, but you may also purchase one from a third party website like Themeforest. The advantage of purchasing a theme is that you’ll probably get something a little less generic and slightly more stylish. Additionally, it’s a one-time fee, and once you’ve purchased a theme, you can use it on as many sites as you wish. There are a tonne of paid themes priced from $2 to $200 per license, in addition to a tonne of free templates.

Once WordPress is installed, you may access your admin panel to find a free WordPress theme. Access Appearance -> Themes -> Add New Theme by going there. Free themes have been made by reputable WordPress developers and reviewed by the theme review team, therefore they aren’t always of low quality. Free WordPress themes are great for beginners, but they frequently lack the capabilities needed to build a strong WordPress website. If your theme doesn’t contain all the features you require, don’t panic; you can add more functionality to it using plugins, which are essentially “apps” for your website. 

Developer Fees

Last but not least, one of the following factors may require you to select and work with a developer to create your WordPress website:

  • You’re short on time
  • You have a very specific design in mind, or you need advanced functionality that requires custom coding
  • You don’t feel confident with the process

Due to its extreme dependence on your needs, it is challenging to estimate this cost precisely. It might just cost you $100 to $200 to hire someone to set up a very simple website for you.

Spending more than $1,000 is entirely possible if you require anything fairly intricate. How does a website become complex, though? Let’s say you’re opening a gym. People must be able to access their accounts, make membership payments, and reserve lessons, all of which must be scheduled. You can see how adding more features can quickly become too much for you to handle alone.

WordPress Pricing: A Summary

As you can see, it’s difficult to estimate the cost precisely; rather, there is a base cost (hosting, domain, and SSL certificate), with the majority of people realistically needing to spend a little more along the way:

Factor Pricing Recurring or Not?
Domain $0.99 to $20 Annual
Web Hosting $1.99 to +$77.99 Monthly
Plugins $5 to $1000 Mix
Themes $2 to $200 No
Developer Fees $100 to +$1000 No


Now that you have an idea of the WordPress pricing plans for your WordPress site, all you need to do is get in touch with us at Trango Tech and get a WordPress powered website made for you! Why? Because each website has its own set of unique needs, needs which only a seasoned professional can meet and fulfill, seasoned professionals like our
Website Development team. Whether you want to build a website like YouTube on WordPress or looking to get a website redesign cost quotation, we’ve got you covered. So hurry up! Contact us today and let’s work out the details, together.

FAQs

Is WordPress Worth It?

Yes, WordPress is definitely worth it! It is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) in the world and powers more than 40% of all websites on the internet. WordPress is easy to use and flexible, allowing users to create almost any type of website, from simple blogs to complex e-commerce sites. It also has a large community of developers who create plugins and themes that extend the functionality of WordPress and allow users to customize their websites even further.

How much does WordPress cost?

WordPress itself is a free to use open-source platform, but the cost of running a WordPress website can vary depending on the hosting provider, domain name, and any premium plugins or themes you may choose to use. The main factor associated with WordPress pricing is hosting, which starts at around $2.95/month. Other common factors which influence WordPress pricing include domains, themes, and plugins.

Do I have to pay for hosting for my WordPress website?

It depends on how you plan to host your WordPress website. If you use the WordPress.com platform, they offer free and paid plans with different levels of features and customizations. However, if you want to use your own domain name, remove ads, and have access to more advanced features, you will need to pay for one of their paid plans. If you choose to self-host your WordPress website, you will need to pay for a web hosting service. The WordPress pricing of web hosting can vary depending on the hosting provider and the type of hosting plan you choose

Should I use a free WordPress theme or a premium one?

The choice between a free WordPress theme and a premium one depends on your needs and budget. Free WordPress themes are a good choice if you are just starting out and have a limited budget. They are available on the WordPress theme directory and are easy to install and customize. However, free themes may not have as many features or support as premium themes. Premium WordPress themes offer more customization options, advanced features, and better support than free themes. They are often designed by professional developers and designers and can make your website look more polished and professional.

Further reading:
WooCommerce Pricing: The complete cost breakdown
Adobe Commerce Pricing (Magento Cost and Comparison)
BigCommerce Pricing: The Latest Pricing Plans in 2023

 

Alan Maxwell

Business Strategist

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