What people charge a local business for a website: $500 up front and $50 a month
The asking prices 112 Pindrop builders set for 261 local business websites between July and September 2026, and how the deals that closed compare.
When a Pindrop builder sends a finished site to a business owner, they set two prices first: a one-time build fee and a monthly charge for hosting and updates. That gives us something most pricing advice does not have: real numbers from real people selling to real businesses. Here is what 112 builders asked for across 261 sites between July 9 and September 14, 2026.
- median build fee asked
- $500
- median monthly charge asked
- $50
- of builders asked exactly $500 up front
- 54%
- asked for no build fee at all
- 7%
The build fee
The build fee clusters hard around $500: 142 of the 261 prices were exactly that, and 170 sat between $251 and $500. Below that, 27 prices were between $101 and $250, and 15 were $100 or less. Above it, 27 were between $501 and $1,000, and only 5 went past $1,000. The average is $502, which tells you how tight the cluster is.
One-time build fee set by the builder, 261 sites, U.S. dollars.
The monthly charge
Monthly is nearly as clustered. $50 a month was the most common price by a distance, at 122 of 261. The next most common was $20, at 52. Between the two, $25, $30, $40 and $45 picked up about a dozen each. Only 11 builders asked for $100 a month or more, and none asked for more than $199.
Monthly charge set by the builder, 261 sites, U.S. dollars.
What the deals that closed looked like
An asking price is not a closed deal. Looking only at the sites where the owner has paid, the deals that closed were cheaper than the asking prices above. The median build fee among them was $215, and a good share had no build fee at all. The median monthly was $20, and half were exactly $20 a month.
That fits what builders tell us. The owner who says yes on the spot is often the one offered a small monthly charge and little or nothing up front. The $500 build fee is the price people want; the $20 a month with no build fee is the price that gets signed the same day. Which one to use depends on whether you want cash now or a customer who stays.
How the money moves
The builder keeps 90% of the build fee and 90% of every monthly payment. Pindrop keeps 10% and handles the hosting, the billing and the tax forms. Prices can be set in U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, pounds, euros or Australian dollars.
How we counted
- Every price a builder set when sending a site to an owner through Pindrop, July 9 to September 14, 2026, in U.S. dollars. 261 prices from 112 builders; 3 in other currencies are excluded.
- Asking prices include deals the owner has not paid for. Closed deals are the ones where the owner paid at least once.
- Medians are the middle value. A price of $0 counts as asking for no build fee.
