What a local business website really costs in 2026
Nobody publishes a straight answer because the honest one is a range. Here are the ranges the market actually quotes in 2026 for the three kinds of business we build for, where each number comes from, and what makes the same five-page site cost $1,500 in one quote and $15,000 in another.
The short answer
These are the build ranges published by agencies working in each vertical in 2026. They are one-off design and build costs, before any monthly retainer.
| Business | DIY / template | Freelance or small studio | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental practice | $500 – $1,500 | $1,500 – $5,000 | $4,000 – $30,000 |
| Gym or fitness studio | $500 – $2,500 | $1,500 – $5,000 | $3,000 – $20,000 |
| Med spa or aesthetics clinic | $500 – $2,000 | $2,000 – $5,000 | $4,000 – $30,000 |
The spread is not a mistake. It is the whole story, and the rest of this page is about where inside it you should be.
Dentists
Specialist dental web shops quote from a few hundred dollars as a one-off, freelancers land around $1,500 to $5,000, small agencies around $4,000 to $12,000, and the big dental marketing companies go from $8,000 to $30,000 and up, usually with a monthly retainer attached. Several of the sources below converge on $4,000 to $8,000 as what a typical small practice ends up paying, with $5,000 to $10,000 quoted as the sweet spot when the build is paired with local SEO.
Ongoing maintenance is quoted between roughly $100 and $500 a month, and much more once marketing is bundled in.
Gyms and fitness studios
The published range runs from about $1,500 to $15,000, and up to $20,000 once membership systems, class booking and member portals are in scope. A basic design lands around $500 to $2,500; anything with real booking or a trainer portal starts at $3,000 and climbs.
This is the vertical where the DIY route is most tempting, because the software you already pay for often ships a website. It is also the vertical where that site looks most like everyone else's, which matters when the thing you sell is a room people want to be in.
Med spas and aesthetics
Published ranges start around $500 for a builder template and reach $10,000 or more for a fully custom build, with $4,000 to $8,000 typical for a semi-custom site with booking, and $10,000 to $25,000 quoted for competitive metro markets. Monthly SEO and content retainers in this space are quoted at $1,000 to $2,500.
Treatment pages are the reason the number moves. Ten treatments written properly is ten pages of medical-adjacent copy, not ten paragraphs.
Why the same site costs $1,500 or $15,000
Four things move the number, and only one of them is design.
- Page count. A homepage plus four pages is a different job from thirty treatment pages. Ask for the price per additional page before you sign, not after.
- Who writes the words. If you supply the copy, the price drops and the timeline shortens. If the agency writes it, that is the bulk of the hours.
- Integrations. A contact form is free. A booking system that writes into the software you already use is real engineering.
- Who is doing it. A studio that builds for your vertical every week has the patterns already. A generalist is learning your business on your budget.
The one that catches people: a low build price attached to a long contract. A $500 build with a $400 monthly commitment for three years is a $14,900 website. Always add up the full term before comparing quotes.
What we charge, and why we publish it
Most of the pages you will find on this topic do not tell you what the author charges. Ours does, for the same reason we build your homepage before you pay: if the number is defensible, saying it out loud costs nothing.
| Tier | One-off | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | $1,500 | A single, complete, animated page that does the job of a site. |
| Signature | $3,500 | The full build. Multiple pages, the cinematic scroll, the whole design system. |
| Flagship | $6,000 | Signature plus custom motion, bespoke photography direction and more pages. |
| Care Plan | $149 / month | Optional. Hosting, uptime monitoring and edits. Cancel and the site is still yours. |
What you do not get at any of our prices
Worth saying before you spend, not after. These are premium static sites. No blog or CMS, no online store or checkout, no member logins. If your business genuinely needs one of those, we will tell you before you pay, and the honest answer may be that we are the wrong shop.
Red flags in a quote
- The price appears only after a sales call. If it cannot be published, it is not a price, it is a negotiation.
- You do not own the domain or the files at the end.
- The contract auto-renews and the cancellation window is buried.
- Nobody asks what the site is supposed to make happen. A website with no defined action is decoration.
Common questions about website cost.
Is a cheaper website worse?
Not automatically. A $1,500 site built by someone who does this every week can beat a $12,000 site built by a generalist. What the price usually buys you is scope: more pages, more custom work, more rounds. It does not reliably buy you a better first screen or a faster load.
What should I never pay for?
Paying monthly forever for a site you never own. If cancelling the subscription means losing the site, you are renting, not buying. Check who holds the domain, the hosting account and the files before you sign anything.
Do I need a custom design or is a template fine?
A template is fine if your business looks like the template. The moment your offer, your room or your tone is the reason people pick you, a template flattens exactly the thing that sells.
How long should it take?
A focused build for a local business is days to a few weeks, not months. If a quote comes with a three-month timeline for a five-page site, ask what is taking three months.
What does Magno Sites charge?
Essential $1,500, Signature $3,500 and Flagship $6,000 as one-off builds, plus an optional Care Plan at $149 a month for hosting, edits and uptime. We build your homepage first and you only pay if you want the rest.
Sources
- Rosemont Media, "What should a dental website cost in 2026?"
- The Dental Signal, "The real cost of a dental practice website in 2026"
- Flamingo Agency, "Dental website design cost"
- Zen Planner, "Websites for gyms: how much should a gym website cost"
- Qrolic, "Gym website design cost: 2026 pricing and budget guide"
- Marceline Studios, "Med spa website cost 2026"
- Digital Med Spa, "How much does a custom med spa website cost in 2026"
See yours before you pay
Tell us about your business and we build your homepage first. If you love it we finish the site. If not, it costs you nothing.
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