How much is a 5-page website in South Africa?

A 5-page business website costs R5,590-R15,000 in South Africa in 2026. STRKR's Business website type is R7,500 fixed - five pages, local SEO schema, Google Business linking and a contact map, live in about two weeks.

Is it cheaper to pay a web designer hourly or a fixed price?

Hourly rates in South Africa run R450-R950/hour, so a 15-hour build costs R6,750-R14,250 - and you only learn the total at the end. A fixed price per website type puts the whole number in front of you before any work starts, which is why STRKR publishes all nine of its prices.

What is included in a professional website's price?

At minimum: mobile-responsive design, speed optimisation, on-page SEO with schema markup, Google Analytics, SSL and training on your own site. Every STRKR build includes all of that at every price level from R5,000 - if a quote doesn't list what's included, ask before paying.

What are the monthly costs of running a website?

Hosting, domain and maintenance typically cost R299-R1,500/month in South Africa. STRKR Care Plans run R450/month (hosting, SSL, backups, updates, monitoring), R950/month with monthly content changes and a traffic report, or R1,500/month for online stores.

How Much Does a Website Cost in South Africa? (2026 Prices)

A professional website costs R5,000 to R20,000 once-off in South Africa in 2026, depending on the type of website - and this article is written by a designer who publishes every one of his prices. Below: what each price band buys, the real hourly-vs-fixed maths, what should always be included, and the monthly costs nobody mentions in the quote.

The short answer, in one table

These are STRKR's actual published prices - useful as a benchmark even if you never hire us, because they were set against July 2026 market data (SA SME builds run R5,590-R16,900; agency business sites R15,000-R60,000).

Website type	Fixed price	Timeline	Scope
Portfolio	R5 000	1 week	3-4 pages: work gallery, about, contact
Blog	R5 500	1-1.5 weeks	CMS setup, 2 layouts, categories/tags, RSS, 3 posts migrated
Business	R7 500	1.5-2 weeks	5 pages: home, services, about, contact + map, gallery; local SEO schema
Lead-Generation	R9 500	2 weeks	Business base + conversion landing page, forms → email/WhatsApp, GA4 events, thank-you flow
Brand Identity	R12 000	2-3 weeks	Story-driven scroll experience, custom art direction from your brand assets, animations, media-rich
Directory	R14 000	3 weeks	Listing database, search/filter, categories, submission form, listing detail pages
Startup	R15 000	3 weeks	Pitch narrative, investor deck page, early-access signup + email capture, metrics/traction section, press kit
Membership	R18 000	3-4 weeks	Auth, gated content areas, course/lesson structure, member dashboard, subscription payments
E-Commerce	R20 000	3-4 weeks	Up to 30 products loaded, cart/checkout, Payfast/Yoco integration, shipping config, order emails

The DIY options (R0 - R500/month)

Website builders like Wix, Squarespace and Google Sites let you build a site yourself - free to start, R150-R500/month to run properly. They're genuinely fast, and for a hobby project or a first test of a business idea, they're the right call.

What they don't do well:

SEO performance - builders generate heavy code that scores poorly on Google's Core Web Vitals. In competitive local searches, a custom-built site consistently outranks them.
Ownership - your site lives on their platform, under their pricing. You can't take a working site with you when you leave.
The compounding cost - R300/month is R10,800 over three years, for a site you never own and that rarely ranks.

The honest rule: DIY is fine until your business depends on being found. Then it isn't.

The professional small-business band (R5,000 - R20,000 once-off)

This is where most South African small businesses should be shopping, and it's the band all nine STRKR types live in:

R5,000-R7,500 buys a focused site that does one job: a portfolio that shows your work, or a five-page business site with local SEO that turns "plumber Pretoria East" searches into calls. This is the right entry point for most owner-run businesses.
R9,500-R15,000 buys systems, not just pages: conversion landing pages with tracked forms (R9,500), custom art direction (R12,000), directories with search (R14,000), startup sites with email capture (R15,000).
R18,000-R20,000 buys transactions: membership sites with logins and subscriptions (R18,000) or a full online store with payments, shipping and 30 products loaded (R20,000).

The price steps track system complexity - forms, then CMS, then databases, then auth, then payments - not page count. A 30-page brochure is cheaper to build than a 10-product store.

Hourly vs fixed: do the maths before you sign

Most SA designers and agencies charge R450-R950 per hour. That's not dishonest - but it moves all the risk onto you:

	Hourly	Fixed price
A 15-hour business site	R6,750-R14,250, known at the end	R7,500, known before you start
Scope creep	Your problem (more hours)	The builder's problem
Comparing quotes	Nearly impossible	Read the table

"Request a quote" pricing has a second problem: the quote is often based on how the business sounds, not what the work costs. Published fixed prices are the same honest number for everyone.

What should always be included (check the quote)

Any professional build in 2026 should include mobile-responsive design, speed optimisation, on-page SEO with schema markup, Google Analytics, SSL security and a proper handover. Every STRKR type includes all of it - plus Google Business Profile linking and a 30-minute training video of your actual site - at every price level from R5,000.

If a quote doesn't itemise what's included, the add-ons arrive later as surprises.

The monthly costs nobody quotes

A website has running costs: hosting, domain, SSL, backups, updates. In South Africa the market norm is R299-R1,500/month depending on how much is managed for you.

EssentialR450/mo

Your site stays fast, secure and online - without you thinking about it.

Hosting
SSL certificate
Backups
Software updates
Uptime monitoring

Best for: Every site - the baseline that keeps it healthy.

GrowthR950/mo

Essential, plus your monthly content changes handled and a report you can actually read.

Everything in Essential
1 content change batch per month
Monthly GA4 traffic report in plain language

Best for: Businesses that update prices, photos or offers monthly.

CommerceR1 500/mo

Growth, plus product updates and priority support for stores and membership sites.

Everything in Growth
Product updates
Priority support

Best for: E-Commerce and Membership sites.

You can also self-manage for the cost of hosting (roughly R100-R300/month) - every STRKR handover video shows you how, and the Care Plan stays optional.

The hidden cost of going cheap

The most expensive website is the one that doesn't generate enquiries. A bargain build that sits on page 8 of Google produces R0 - and after a year you pay again for the rebuild. Four questions that expose a weak builder before you pay:

Can I see your own site's PageSpeed scores?
What exactly is included at this price - in writing?
Will you submit the site to Google Search Console at launch?
Do I own the files, domain and content when it's done?

Anyone worth hiring answers all four without flinching. (STRKR's answers: yes - test this site right now; the table above; yes; yes.)