The question comes up in almost every first call, and the honest answer is always the same: it depends on how much of the work you already have done. A website is not a product with a shelf price. It is a set of decisions about scope, content, integrations and how long the result has to last.
What actually drives the price
Design and code are rarely the biggest line items. In most projects the budget moves because of structure and content, not because of pixels. Before you compare two offers, check which of these factors each one assumes.
- Number of unique page templates, not number of pages. Twenty pages on three templates cost far less than eight pages on eight templates.
- Content readiness. Existing German copy that only needs editing saves 15 to 40 hours compared to writing from scratch.
- Integrations. A contact form is trivial. A booking calendar, an ERP product feed or a payment provider adds days of work and testing.
- Languages. Each additional language adds technical routing, translated slugs, hreflang and an editorial workflow.
- Migration. Redirect maps for a site with 400 indexed URLs are a project of their own.
- Accessibility level. WCAG 2.1 AA is achievable inside a normal budget if planned from the start, and expensive if retrofitted.
Three realistic budget brackets
2,500 to 6,000 EUR: the focused one-pager
One long page, custom design, a clear call to action, a contact form and basic tracking. This works well for a single service, an event or a new offer that has to go live quickly. Expect three to four weeks. It is not a platform for growth: adding a blog, a shop or a second language later usually means rebuilding the structure.
7,000 to 18,000 EUR: the corporate website
Eight to fifteen pages, three to five templates, a blog or news section, a CMS your team can operate, structured data, and a proper content plan. This is the bracket where most German SMBs land, and it is the bracket where the money is well spent, because the site becomes an asset the sales team actually uses. Timeline is 8 to 12 weeks.
25,000 EUR and above: shop or platform
As soon as you sell online or manage user accounts, complexity multiplies. Catalogue logic, stock synchronisation, tax rules for DE, AT and CH, payment providers, returns, invoice documents and a staging environment for safe releases. Fourteen to twenty weeks is realistic, and the first year of operation needs its own budget.
| Scope | Price | Timeline | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-pager | 2,500–6,000 € | 3–4 weeks | A single service or launch |
| Corporate website | 7,000–18,000 € | 8–12 weeks | SMBs with sales and content |
| Shop or platform | from 25,000 € | 14–20 weeks | Online sales, user accounts |
The most expensive website is the one you have to rebuild after eighteen months because nobody planned for the second language.
The cost items offers usually leave out
- Copywriting in German, typically 90 to 160 EUR per page of finished text.
- Photography or licensed images, from 400 EUR for a small stock package to 3,500 EUR for a half-day shoot.
- Legal review of privacy policy and imprint, 400 to 900 EUR.
- Hosting, backups and monitoring, 25 to 180 EUR per month.
- Maintenance and small changes after launch, from 149 EUR per month.
| Cost item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| German copywriting | 90–160 € per finished page |
| Photography or licensed images | from 400 € (stock) to 3,500 € (half-day shoot) |
| Legal review of privacy policy and imprint | 400–900 € once |
| Hosting, backups, monitoring | 25–180 € per month |
| Maintenance and small changes | from 149 € per month |
How to compare two offers fairly
Ask both agencies for the same three numbers: how many templates are included, how many feedback rounds are included, and what an extra day of work costs after the agreed scope. Those three answers explain most of the price difference. An offer that looks 30 percent cheaper but includes one feedback round instead of three is not cheaper. Ask as well who writes the texts, who supplies the images, and who is liable if a deadline slips. Finally, judge the price against the value of one customer. If an average project is worth 8,000 EUR to you and the site brings four extra enquiries a month, the entire budget is earned back in a quarter. If your average order is 40 EUR, that maths looks very different, and the honest recommendation might be a smaller site plus a bigger advertising budget.
