What determines the price of a website or application
If you look up what a website or application costs, you will find figures that vary widely. The price follows from a number of choices, most of which you make yourself.
Scope: screens and flows
The word website says little about scope. It covers a site with five pages, but also a portal with accounts and payments.
So count screens and flows rather than pages. A flow is a task a visitor must be able to complete from start to finish, such as submitting a request or placing an order. Every flow has a series of edge cases besides the main route, and those edge cases are often more work than the route itself.
- How many screens need their own design, and how many follow a fixed pattern
- How many flows are there, and how many steps and exceptions do they contain
- Do visitors need to log in, and are there roles with different permissions
- Does anything need managing: content, products, requests, users
Custom work or a template
A template is a ready-made design that you fill with your own content. If your needs fit inside that template, it is the cheaper route and often the faster one too. For a site that mainly tells people who you are and what you do, a template is a reasonable choice.
Custom work starts where the template falls short, for example with a process that does not fit it or an integration the package does not support. Everything that does not exist yet has to be designed and built, and that work determines the price.
A template that has to be reworked in many places is often more expensive than building the same site from scratch, because every change works against the way the template is set up.
Integrations and content
An integration connects your site or application to another system: the accounting package, a payment provider, an inventory system, a planning tool. Every integration has to be built and tested, and how much work that is depends mainly on the system being connected. A system with a well-documented API is far quicker to connect than one that only offers an export.
When you ask for a quote, also ask what the builder already knows about the system being connected. Anything the builder still has to research should be reflected in the price and the schedule.
Content is the cost that often gets forgotten. Someone has to write the copy and supply the images. If you do that yourself, it does not add to the price, but the site cannot go live until the content is ready. If you leave it to the builder, it is part of the work and therefore part of the price.
Legal requirements and the costs that keep running
For some businesses, including online stores, the accessibility requirements have been a legal obligation since 28 June 2025; micro-enterprises providing a service are exempt. Building accessibly from the start costs little extra. Making an existing site accessible afterwards costs more, because parts of it then have to be rebuilt.
After delivery, part of the cost keeps running. The site needs hosting, and someone has to make backups and install security updates. A quote without this recurring part looks cheaper, but it is not complete.
When you compare providers, check what the maintenance covers: only the hosting, or also the updates and fixing problems when they occur.
Who carries the risk: three pricing models
Every project starts from an estimate, and the work can take longer than estimated. The pricing model decides who pays for the difference.
With an hourly rate, that risk sits with you, although you are the one least able to judge in advance how long the work should take; the builder is better placed to estimate that.
With a fixed price up front, the risk sits with the builder. The builder then needs to know first what is being built, so a reliable fixed price only follows a conversation and a defined scope.
| Model | Who carries the risk | What you know up front |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate | You: if it overruns, you pay the extra hours | The hourly rate, not the final figure |
| Fixed price up front | The builder: if it overruns, that is their cost | The final figure and what you get for it |
| Subscription | Shared: low upfront cost, but sometimes a minimum term and no ownership | The monthly figure; what is included is in the terms |
What the market charges
Where your project lands within these ranges follows from the choices above.
The figures come from Dutch agencies that publish rates, and they were checked in September 2026.
| What | What the market charges | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A simple site of a few pages | €500 to €2,000 | a freelancer's rate, according to Stuurlui |
| A company site for a smaller business | €3,000 to €15,000 | the usual range according to Stuurlui |
| An online store | €6,000 to €25,000 | according to Stuurlui |
| Custom software for a smaller business | €2,000 to €10,000 | where most such projects land, according to Nurani |
| Hourly rate of an agency or freelancer | €75 to €125 | for professional web design, according to Stuurlui |
| Maintenance per month | €50 to €500 | average from freelancer to agency, according to Brightbrands |
Why the figures have come down
Almost every source reports that prices are lower than a few years ago, and gives the use of AI in development as the reason. One source puts them 50 to 70 percent below 2023 levels; that is a supplier's statement about its own market rather than a measured figure.
When you compare proposals, an hourly rate says something different than it did a few years ago, because the number of hours the same work takes has changed. So ask for the total price and for what you receive for it, not only for the hourly rate.
How it works at Falka
We work with one fixed price. It is in the proposal you receive after a free intro call, together with the description of what will be built and a delivery date that is fixed.
After that, you pay a fixed monthly amount for maintenance and hosting, and what it includes is described in advance. You can also take both elsewhere, because the site is yours.
Sources
- Stuurlui: what a website costs (price table with seven tiers, in Dutch)
- Nurani: what custom software really costs
- Invenix: the cost of custom software development (in Dutch)
- Brightbrands: monthly website maintenance costs (in Dutch)
- ACM: accessibility of e-commerce and electronic communications services (in Dutch)
Frequently asked questions
Why are there no project prices on your site?
A figure only means something once it is clear what will be built. That is why the price is in the proposal you receive after the intro call.
What makes a project more expensive than expected?
Usually it is something that only becomes clear during the build, such as an integration that takes more work than expected or content that is delivered later than planned.
When is a template cheaper?
A template is cheaper as long as it offers everything you need.
What does maintenance cost after delivery?
Suppliers charge €50 to €500 a month on average.
Why don't you bill by the hour?
We are in a better position than our client to estimate how long the work will take. With a fixed price, the risk of a wrong estimate therefore sits with us.
What do I need to know before I get in touch?
It is enough to know what the site or application should do, and for whom. We cover the rest in the intro call.