A small business website in Canada costs anywhere from about $250 a year to $12,000 or more up front, depending on who builds it. DIY website builders cost roughly $250 to $1,300 a year in subscription fees. Freelancers and agencies usually charge a one-time build fee plus yearly costs. Flat monthly plans like ours charge no build fee and a monthly price.
We run one of those flat monthly plans, so we are not neutral. We have linked the source for every number that is not ours, so you can check it.
The short answer, in Canadian dollars
| Route | Up front | Ongoing | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder | $0 to $500 | $300 to $1,200 a year | Marvel Marketing guide |
| Freelancer | $1,500 to $7,000 | $500 to $2,000 a year | Marvel Marketing guide |
| Small agency | $5,000 to $12,000 | $1,200 to $3,500 a year | Marvel Marketing guide |
| WebFoundry | $0 build | $187, $276 or $364 a month, plus applicable GST/HST | Our pricing page |
The first three rows come from one published guide, Marvel Marketing’s website design cost guide, which states its figures are in CAD and based on 2026 Canadian agencies and freelancers. Other Canadian guides land in a similar place. Impeka’s web design pricing in Canada and Jerotech’s Ontario cost guide are two more you can compare. Treat all of them as ranges, not quotes. Every one is published by a company that sells websites.
The part the subscription price does not cover
The DIY builder prices are real, but they are only the platform. You still need someone to do the work.
You write every page, choose and edit photos, set up a quote form, add a service page for each job you do, and connect Google Business Profile. Someone has to fix it when a plugin or form stops sending leads. If that someone is you, it is time you are not spending on jobs. If you hire it out, you are paying a freelancer anyway, on top of the subscription.
That is why the Marvel Marketing table shows DIY at $0 to $500 up front and $300 to $1,200 a year: it is mostly the subscription, a domain, and some paid help. It does not price your evenings.
What a freelancer or agency costs
Freelancers sit at $1,500 to $7,000 for the build in the Marvel Marketing table, and agencies at $5,000 to $12,000. The same guide puts the ongoing cost at $500 to $2,000 a year for freelancers and $1,200 to $3,500 for agencies. These are ongoing costs such as hosting, updates and edits.
Quotes vary this much because the work varies. The number of pages, whether someone writes the copy, whether the site is built from a template or designed from scratch, and who owns the hosting all move the price. If you are comparing two quotes, ask each one the same questions. Our guide to choosing a web company lists them.
The honest trade-off: you pay a lot at the start, then little. You own the result. If the person who built it disappears, someone else has to take it over.
How WebFoundry pricing works
WebFoundry builds your site at no cost and charges one flat monthly plan. Prices are in Canadian dollars plus applicable GST/HST:
- Starter, $187 a month: a professional mobile site, hosting, SSL, CDN and backups, a click-to-call button and quote form. You can edit it yourself by voice or typing, or send us changes by email or text.
- Essential, $276 a month: everything in Starter, plus service and city pages for local search, a Google Reviews widget with testimonials, and a photo gallery.
- Pro, $364 a month: everything in Essential, plus online payments, a blog we write for you, Google Business Profile setup, promo banners, a QR code for your van and priority support.
If we register your domain there is a one-time $15 fee plus tax, and you keep the domain. If you already own one, there is nothing to pay. The first 14 days are free, there is no contract, and you can cancel in your dashboard or by email. Changes are made within one business day. Full detail is on the pricing page.
Three years side by side
Take the ranges above and add up three years. This uses the same Marvel Marketing figures and our listed prices, before tax.
| Route | Year 1 | Three years |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | $300 to $1,700 | $900 to $4,100 |
| Freelancer | $2,000 to $9,000 | $3,000 to $13,000 |
| Small agency | $6,200 to $15,500 | $8,600 to $22,500 |
| WebFoundry Starter | $2,244 | $6,732 |
| WebFoundry Essential | $3,312 | $9,936 |
| WebFoundry Pro | $4,368 | $13,104 |
Read that table carefully. DIY is the cheapest route on paper, and a freelancer can be cheaper than our higher plans over three years. We are not the cheapest in every case, and we will not pretend to be.
What you are buying with the monthly plan is different. The build, the writing, the hosting, the changes and the local-search pages are one bill, so there is no separate invoice for any of them, and you can stop paying if it stops working for you. The agency range does not include that ongoing work unless you pay for a retainer, and Marvel Marketing’s own table shows managed monthly subscriptions at $2,400 to $8,400 a year.
What a lead is worth to a contractor
Before you compare, work out what one job is worth to you. If a new customer is worth $400 on a service call or several thousand on a bigger job, one extra job a month changes which route makes sense. If you only need a page with your phone number on it, a $21 a month builder may be all you need.
We do not know your numbers, so we will not guess at them. Do the sum with your own average job.
Which route fits whom
- DIY builder: you enjoy this kind of work, you have the evenings for it, and a simple page is enough.
- Freelancer: you want a one-time build, you own the result, and you have found someone you trust to still be around in three years.
- Agency: you need a custom design or a large site, and you have the budget for a build plus a retainer.
- Flat monthly plan: you want a site that is built, kept running and changed for you, with nothing to pay at the start.
If that last one sounds right, see the plans for contractors or start a free trial. We also build for specific trades: plumbers, HVAC contractors, electricians, roofers and general contractors. See all of them on our contractor websites page.
Last updated 2026-11-11. Third-party prices are quoted from the pages linked above on that date and change often.