Why quotes for the "same" website differ so much
A website is not a product with a shelf price. Five pages with a contact form and a custom-built store with an admin panel are both "a website", but they are different amounts of work. When you compare quotes, compare what is included, not only the total.
The seven things that decide the price
| Factor | Lower cost | Higher cost |
|---|---|---|
| Number of pages | Home, about, services, contact | Dozens of service, product or location pages |
| Design | Clean layout built on your brand colours | Fully custom design with animation and illustration |
| Content | You supply text and photos | Agency writes copy, sources images, shoots photos |
| Features | Contact form, WhatsApp button | Online payments, accounts, bookings, search |
| Back office | None, you ask the agency for edits | Admin panel to manage products, orders or enquiries |
| Integrations | Google Analytics | CRM, WhatsApp automation, payment gateway, ERP |
| SEO and speed | Basic titles and descriptions | Structured data, content plan, performance tuning |
Costs that sit outside the quote
- Domain and hosting. Billed yearly. Ask whether they are in the quote or extra, and whether the account is in your name.
- Paid services. Payment gateway fees, WhatsApp Business API charges and ad spend are paid to Razorpay, Meta or Google, not to the agency.
- Content and images. Stock photos, copywriting and product photography are often separate lines.
- Support after launch. Find out how long free support lasts and what a change costs after that.
How to compare two quotes fairly
- Ask both agencies for a written list of pages and features. If one list is longer, the totals are not comparable.
- Check who owns the code, the design files and the domain once you have paid.
- Ask what is included for SEO. "SEO included" can mean a page title, or it can mean schema, speed work and a sitemap.
- Ask how many rounds of changes are included before launch.
- Ask what happens if you want to move to another developer later. A site on standard shared hosting can move easily. A site locked to a proprietary platform cannot.
Warning signs in a quote
- A single total with no list of what is inside it.
- No mention of mobile design, speed or basic SEO.
- A yearly "maintenance" fee that is larger than the website itself.
- Ownership of the website staying with the agency.
How we price at FebTech
We quote against a written feature list after a free discovery call, so you know the scope before work starts. On custom platforms we hand over the source code and database on full payment, and the site runs on ordinary shared hosting, so you are never locked in. Our pricing is among the lowest you will find for the same scope, and we put it in writing. Share any comparable written quote and we will give you our best price.
Not sure which scope you need? Start with our web development service, or if you sell to businesses see B2B ecommerce development.