Project Types & Investment

Every project is different, but clear ranges help determine whether a project is a good fit before time is spent on calls, estimates, or planning.

These are starting points for websites, custom content management systems, SEO, writing, audits, media, and ongoing support.

You own the features

Many businesses spend hundreds of dollars per month on plugins, subscriptions, add-ons, booking systems, calendars, galleries, SEO tools, and premium website-builder plans. In some cases, owning the functionality can be less expensive over time.

These features become part of your website vs relying on subscriptions. Depending on the project, content can be managed through a private dashboard designed specifically for your business.

Website project planning, custom CMS pricing, and digital platform investment options

Website & Platform Projects

Starter Website

$750–2,000

Typical timeline: 1–3 weeks

Best for small businesses that need a clean, fast, professional site without heavy custom functionality.

  • 5–10 pages
  • Responsive layout
  • Basic keyword research and search optimization to help customers find the business
  • Contact form
  • Analytics setup

Business CMS Website (Content Management System)

Ideal for organizations that regularly publish content, events, resources, listings, guides, announcements, or member information.
Built for ownership. Unlike many website builders, the content management tools, features, and workflows are designed around your business rather than generic platform limitations.

$4,000–7,500

Typical timeline: 4–8 weeks

Best for businesses, associations, organizations, and content-driven websites that need the ability to update information without relying on developers or subscription platforms.

  • Private admin dashboard built specifically for your business
  • Client-editable pages, events, articles, resources, announcements, galleries, staff profiles, FAQs, and services
  • Image uploads and media management through an easy-to-use interface
  • Custom content sections designed around your business vs generic website-builder limitations
  • Faster websites with fewer dependencies and ongoing subscription costs
  • Add, edit, remove, and organize website content without relying on a developer for routine updates
Examples: Association websites, visitor bureaus, conference websites, business directories, tourism websites, resource libraries, outdoor organizations, and community organizations.

Custom Platform

$8,500–25,000+

Typical timeline: 2–6+ months

Best for businesses and organizations that need software, workflows, automation, memberships, searchable data, dashboards, or custom operational tools.

Think member portals, customer dashboards, searchable databases, vendor systems, internal tools, resource libraries, and industry-specific business software.

  • User accounts, profiles, permissions, and role management
  • Membership systems, protected content, subscriptions, or gated access
  • Advanced search, filtering, and large data sets
  • Custom dashboards, reporting, analytics, and operational workflows
  • Directories, portals, resource libraries, event systems, or industry-specific tools
  • Business processes that go beyond traditional website functionality
Examples: Member portals, learning platforms, vendor portals, customer dashboards, industry databases, resource management systems, and internal business tools.

Why Ownership Can Matter

Common issues businesses run into

Website builders and plugin-based platforms can be useful— typically for simple sites. The tradeoff is that features often depend on subscriptions and/ or limitations.

Hosted Builders

Platforms like Wix and Squarespace bundle hosting, templates, editing tools, and some SEO features into monthly plans. They're convenient, but businesses may still pay more for e-commerce, email, booking, analytics, storage, or app features.

Plugin-Based Sites

WordPress is powerful, but many advanced features rely on paid plugins. Costs can grow when a site needs forms, security, backups, SEO tools, galleries, memberships, calendars, directories, or performance improvements.

Custom-Owned Features

Custom features cost more upfront, but they can reduce dependency on subscriptions and one-size-fits-all website builders.

  • Subscription creep One monthly plan turns into several paid apps, plugin renewals, booking tools, SEO tools, forms, galleries, calendars, security features, etc.
  • Limited flexibility Website builders are convenient, but unusual business needs often hit platform limits or require workarounds.
  • Performance problems Heavy themes, plugins, page builders, third-party scripts, oversized images, and unused features can slow down pages.
  • Plugin dependency Important features may depend on third-party plugins that can change pricing, break during updates, or require ongoing maintenance.
  • Generic editing tools Business owners may get a dashboard that can technically edit pages, but is not designed around how their business actually manages content.

The bigger question is not only build cost, but long-term ownership.

Businesses using multiple subscriptions, plugins, and add-ons can easily spend hundreds of dollars per month. For some organizations, owning the functionality outright becomes more cost-effective over time.

Builder plan
$600/yr
Premium plugins
$1,200/yr
SEO tools
$1,800/yr
Booking, events, forms, or add-ons
$900/yr
Illustrative annual total $4,500/yr

These ranges are meant to help business owners think about whether they are paying for convenience, rented features, or long-term ownership.

Over five years, recurring software costs can exceed the cost of owning some business-specific functionality outright.

Build Your Project

Select the features that matter. This is not a final quote, but it helps estimate project size.

Other Project Types

Hosted Website Cleanup & Platform Review

$750–1,250

Typical timeline: 3–7 business days

Focused cleanup for websites built on Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Webflow, GoDaddy Website Builder, WordPress.com, and similar hosted platforms.

  • Content, metadata, headings, forms, and accessibility settings
  • Review of site-added apps, widgets, tracking code, media, and animations
  • Clear separation of owner-controlled issues from platform-generated limitations
  • A practical recommendation to keep the platform, improve it, or plan a rebuild

Check a hosted website →

Website Improvement & Remediation

From $750

Focused: $750–1,250

Standard: $1,250–2,500

Broad: $2,500–6,000+

Targeted implementation for existing websites with issues spanning performance, accessibility, technical SEO, broken links, templates, scripts, images, forms, or other site-wide quality problems—without immediately rebuilding the entire site.

Scan the current site to see whether remediation fits →

Writing & Documentation

$500–15,000+

Website content, guides, documentation, SEO articles, books, and long-form content.

Ongoing Support

$500–3,000+/month

Updates, improvements, SEO work, content support, performance tuning, and maintenance.

Not sure where your project fits?

Send the current site, what you want changed, and what the business needs to accomplish.