How Much Should a Small Business Website Cost in Ireland 2026?

A small business website in Ireland costs between €900 and €25,000+ depending on the type of site, how many pages you need, and who builds it. Most small businesses — a service provider needing a clean online presence — pay between €3,000 and €10,000 ex-VAT for a solid 5–8 page site. The Trading Online Voucher can reduce that by €2,500 if your business qualifies.

How Much Does a Website Cost in Ireland in 2026?

The price of a website in Ireland depends almost entirely on what the site needs to do, not just how many pages it has.

A five-page brochure site with no booking system and no e-commerce is a fundamentally different build from a five-page site with a client portal and payment processing. Quoting by page count alone is how some agencies justify charging €12,000 for something that should cost €5,000.

Here is a realistic tier-by-tier breakdown for 2026:

Site Type	What It Includes	Typical Cost (ex-VAT)	Build Time
One-page site	Single scrolling page, contact form, basic SEO	€900–€3,000	1–5 days
Brochure site (5–8 pages)	Home, About, Services, Blog, Contact + SEO	€3,000–€10,000	2–4 weeks
Brochure + booking	All of above plus online appointment booking	€8,000–€16,000	4–6 weeks
E-commerce	Online store, up to 20 products, secure checkout	€10,000–€30,000+	4–12 weeks
Custom web app / SaaS	Subscription platform, user accounts, dashboards	€18,000–€35,000+	8–16 weeks

These are full-build figures from a qualified developer — not Wix, not a template. The prices include design, development, and launch. They do not include VAT, copywriting, or monthly management unless stated.

One-page website cost Ireland

A one-page website in Ireland costs between €900 and €3,000 ex-VAT.

At €900, you're getting a clean, fast single-page layout — your offer, your contact details, and nothing else. Good for a solo service provider who wants a professional presence before committing to a full site.

At €3,000, you get a proper landing page with a contact form, technical SEO setup, Google Analytics, and mobile-optimised performance. This is closer to a real marketing asset.

Most Irish freelancers and solo developers fall in this range. Agencies will quote higher — €4,000–€6,000 for the same spec — because of their overhead.

Brochure website cost Ireland

A 5–8 page brochure site in Ireland typically costs €3,000–€10,000 ex-VAT.

The wide range comes from a few factors: whether copywriting is included, how much custom design is involved, and whether you need a blog, FAQ section, or anything beyond static pages.

A solid 5-page site (Home, About, Services, Blog, Contact) from a good freelancer or solo developer: €3,000–€6,000. From an Irish agency with an account manager and a designer involved: €6,000–€12,000.

Same output. Different overhead.

E-commerce website cost Ireland

E-commerce is where Irish small businesses consistently underestimate cost.

A basic online store — up to 20 products, Stripe or PayPal checkout, no custom features — costs €10,000–€15,000 ex-VAT from a custom developer. A Shopify setup with a bought theme can come in at €3,000–€8,000, but you will pay €30–€300/mo in Shopify platform fees indefinitely.

Anything with custom product configurators, subscription billing, or integrations into accounting software (Xero, Sage) will push the cost toward €20,000–€30,000+.

Custom web application cost Ireland

Custom applications — member portals, SaaS products, booking platforms, internal tools — start at €18,000 and go up fast.

If your business idea requires user accounts, recurring payments, or a dashboard, budget for €18,000–€35,000+ for a first version. This is not a website build — it is a software development project.

What's Included in a Website Quote in Ireland?

A lot of confusion around website pricing in Ireland comes down to what is actually included in the quote versus what gets added on later.

What's usually in the price

Most quotes from Irish web developers include:

• Design and development of the agreed pages
• Mobile responsiveness
• Hosting setup (sometimes the first year of hosting)
• Basic on-page SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, sitemap)
• Google Analytics or GA4 setup
• A content management system (CMS) so you can update text

What's usually not in the price

These are the items that commonly cause shock invoices:

• Copywriting — writing the words on your site. Most developers don't write copy. If they quote without asking about copy, assume it's excluded.
• Photography or images — stock photo licences cost €10–€50 per image or €150–€600/yr for a subscription. Professional photography for a small business: €500–€2,000.
• Domain name — a .ie domain costs €20–€40/yr. A .com costs €12–€15/yr. Both are usually extra.
• Email setup — a professional email address (yourname@yourbusiness.ie) typically requires Google Workspace at €6–€14/mo per user or Microsoft 365 at €5–€10/mo per user.
• SSL certificate — the security certificate that makes your site show "https." Most modern hosts include this free, but older hosting packages may charge €50–€150/yr.
• Ongoing maintenance — after launch, someone needs to keep the site updated, secure, and running. This is almost always a separate monthly fee.

Ask any developer you're talking to: "What is not included in this quote?"

What Does It Cost to Run a Website Every Month in Ireland?

Building the site is the one-time cost. Running it costs money every month.

Here's what a typical Irish small business pays to keep a website live:

Item	Monthly Cost	Notes
Hosting	€10–€30/mo	Shared hosting. VPS costs more.
Domain	€2–€4/mo	Based on annual renewal cost
Email (Google Workspace)	€6–€14/mo per user	Gmail with your domain
SSL certificate	€0–€12/mo	Usually free on modern hosts
Maintenance / managed plan	€50–€500/mo	Huge range — see below
Analytics	€0	GA4 is free
Total (no maintenance)	€18–€50/mo	Bare minimum to stay live
Total (with managed plan)	€500–€600/mo	Full coverage

The maintenance line is where Irish businesses get caught out. Many pay €100–€150/mo to a developer for "maintenance" that amounts to hosting and nothing else. A managed plan that actually includes security patching, plugin updates, uptime monitoring, daily backups, and a real human to call when something breaks runs €500/mo.

If you're paying less than that, make sure you know exactly what you're getting.

.ie vs .com: Domain Cost in Ireland

The domain name is a small cost but worth understanding for Irish businesses specifically.

A .com domain costs €12–€15/yr from most registrars and is available to anyone worldwide. Most Irish businesses that trade internationally use .com.

A .ie domain costs €20–€40/yr and requires proof of Irish connection — a registered Irish business, VAT number, or Irish address. The process takes 1–3 days longer to register. The benefit: it signals to Irish customers that you're a local business, which can help with local search rankings.

Both options are fine for a small Irish business. If your customers are mostly in Ireland, .ie has a slight trust advantage. If you sell internationally or plan to, .com is cleaner.

Web Design Cost in Ireland: Agency vs Freelancer vs Solo Developer

The biggest variable in website pricing in Ireland is who you hire. The work can be identical — the price can vary by 3x.

Irish agency rates 2026

Irish agencies typically charge €120–€200 per hour for web development work.

For a project-based quote, a mid-tier Dublin agency will charge €8,000–€15,000 for a 5-page brochure site. That includes project management, a dedicated account manager, a designer, and a developer — often working across different days and handoff points, which introduces delays and miscommunication.

The result is usually good. The process is slow, and the price reflects the agency's overhead — not your website's complexity.

Irish freelance developer rates 2026

Irish freelance web developers charge €60–€120/hr.

For a similar 5-page brochure site, a freelancer will quote €3,000–€7,000 depending on experience and scope. You deal directly with the person building the site, which cuts down on miscommunication and speeds up decisions.

The risk with freelancers is availability — a one-person operation who books out for a month can delay your launch. Ask upfront about current availability and timeline before committing.

Solo developer (dedicated)

Some developers — like Nerd Prescribed — work with a small number of clients at a time, offering a direct relationship without agency overhead and without the availability risk of a solo freelancer juggling twenty projects.

The pricing is typically project-based rather than hourly: a one-page site at €900–€3,000, a brochure site from €3,000, e-commerce from €10,000. You pay for the output, not the hours.

WordPress vs Custom Website Cost in Ireland

WordPress powers about 40% of websites worldwide, which is why most Irish small business owners hear it recommended first.

Here is how the costs actually compare:

	WordPress	Custom Build
Upfront build cost	€2,000–€8,000	€3,000–€25,000+
Monthly hosting	€10–€50/mo	€10–€30/mo
Monthly maintenance	€80–€200/mo	€0 (self-manage) or €500/mo
Plugin licences (annual)	€200–€600/yr	€0
Security risk	Higher (frequent hacking target)	Lower
Performance	Slower without optimisation	Faster by default
Long-term total cost	Higher	Lower if maintained in-house

WordPress is cheaper to build initially because most of the functionality is done through plugins. But those plugins need updating, they conflict with each other, and WordPress sites are the most-hacked platform on the internet.

A custom-built site has a higher upfront cost but lower long-term risk. It doesn't depend on a plugin ecosystem, doesn't slow down under plugin weight, and is harder to exploit.

For most Irish small businesses that need a brochure site: a custom build at €3,000–€5,000 is a better long-term investment than a WordPress build at €2,000–€4,000, once you factor in the ongoing plugin licences and the maintenance overhead.

For a simple blog or very basic informational site, WordPress is fine. For anything involving customer data, payments, or high traffic, custom is worth it.

Can the Trading Online Voucher Help Pay for Your Website?

Yes — and if you qualify, it's the first thing you should apply for.

The Trading Online Voucher (TOV) is a grant from your Local Enterprise Office (LEO). It covers 50% of your website project cost, up to a maximum of €2,500.

To claim the maximum €2,500, your project must cost at least €5,000 ex-VAT.

Who qualifies for the Trading Online Voucher?

Your business must:

• Be registered in Ireland
• Have fewer than 10 employees
• Have annual turnover under €2 million
• Not have received a TOV previously for the same project type
• Be trading for at least 6 months

The grant is administered through your local LEO (Dublin, Cork, Galway, etc.). You apply before the project starts, not after. The developer you hire must be a registered supplier — most professional Irish web developers are eligible, but confirm before signing.

What the TOV covers

The voucher can apply to:

• Website design and development
• SEO setup
• Copywriting
• Social media integration
• Payment system setup

It cannot be used for domain registration, hosting, or ongoing maintenance fees.

How to apply

Contact your Local Enterprise Office directly. The process involves a brief online application and a short interview. Approval typically takes 2–4 weeks. The voucher is paid in arrears — you pay the developer, then claim the grant.

For a €5,000 website: you pay €5,000, claim €2,500 back. Effective cost: €2,500 + VAT on your net spend.

Where Irish Small Businesses Overpay on Website Costs

There are two common situations where Irish businesses pay far more than they should.

The agency brochure site markup

A brochure site — Home, About, Services, Contact — costs €3,000–€5,000 to build. Some Irish agencies charge €10,000–€15,000 for the same output.

The extra cost goes to project management meetings, account managers, internal design reviews, and revision cycles that add weeks without adding quality. If you're a small business with a clear brief, you don't need that process. You need a developer who can work from your input and move quickly.

Ask any agency: "Can you show me a comparable brochure site you built and tell me what it cost?" If they dodge the question, walk.

The WordPress maintenance trap

Many Irish businesses pay €80–€150/mo for "website maintenance" from whoever built their WordPress site.

Ask what that maintenance actually covers. In many cases: nothing beyond keeping the server running. Plugins go unpatched. Security updates are missed. When something breaks, they charge extra to fix it.

A managed website plan should include security patching, plugin updates, uptime monitoring, daily backups, performance checks, and a person to contact when something goes wrong. If you're paying €100/mo and not getting that, you're paying for hosting and calling it maintenance.

Is a Custom Website Worth It for an Irish Small Business?

It depends entirely on what your site needs to do.

A custom website is worth it when:

• You need a contact form, booking system, or any integration with your business tools
• Your site needs to rank on Google for competitive search terms
• You're selling services and your website is a primary source of leads
• You want a site that can grow as your business does without a full rebuild
• You've already outgrown a DIY builder and it's costing you clients

You can start with a template when:

• You're pre-launch and just need something live while you validate the business
• You're testing a side project before committing real budget
• You have fewer than 100 visitors per month and conversion isn't the priority yet

The mistake most Irish small businesses make: they build a cheap site at launch, realise it doesn't convert, and rebuild it 18 months later. Two builds at €2,000 each costs more than one build at €3,000 done properly the first time.

Website Redesign Cost in Ireland

If you already have a site and need it rebuilt, the cost is similar to a new build — sometimes more.

Redesigning an existing site requires:

• Auditing what exists (content, SEO rankings, analytics)
• Deciding what to keep, improve, or cut
• Migrating content to the new platform
• Redirecting old URLs so you don't lose existing Google rankings

Migrating from WordPress to a custom build in Ireland typically costs €3,000–€8,000 depending on content volume. If you have existing SEO rankings worth protecting, the redirect setup is a technical task that adds time and cost.

Don't expect a discount because the site already exists. The migration work often adds time, not saves it.

Sole Trader Website Cost in Ireland

Sole traders in Ireland have the same options as limited companies — but the budget is usually tighter and the scope is usually simpler.

A sole trader typically needs:

• A clear explanation of what they do and who they serve
• A way for potential clients to contact them
• Some form of credibility signal (testimonials, portfolio, process)
• Local SEO if they serve a specific area (Dublin, Cork, Galway)

That's a one-page site (€900–€3,000) or a minimal brochure site (€3,000–€5,000).

The Trading Online Voucher is particularly relevant for sole traders — a €2,500 grant on a €3,000–€5,000 project can make a proper site genuinely affordable.

How to Get an Accurate Website Quote in Ireland

The fastest way to get a misleading website quote is to say "I need a website" and wait for a price.

Developers and agencies price based on assumptions. If you don't give them specifics, they'll either over-specify to protect themselves or under-quote to win the work.

Before you ask for a quote, have answers to:

1. What pages do you need? (List them.)
2. Do you need e-commerce? (Yes/no, and how many products.)
3. Do you need a booking system? (Yes/no.)
4. Do you have copy ready? (Or do you need it written?)
5. Do you have photography or images? (Or does the developer source them?)
6. What's your timeline? (Launch date, if you have one.)
7. Is your business VAT-registered? (Affects whether VAT is a real cost to you.)

If you're not sure what you need, the cheapest first step is a site diagnostic — an expert review of your current site (or a brief of your needs) with a specific recommendation and price breakdown. That costs €59 at Nerd Prescribed and takes 3 working days. It's faster and cheaper than getting three agency quotes that are each based on different assumptions.

If you already know what you need, use the instant quote calculator at /start — enter your pages, features, and care plan preference, and get a real price in under two minutes.

A one-page site starts at €900. A managed plan is €500/month and covers everything after launch.