THE FACTS

TRADITIONAL SUBSCRIPTION PLANS

According to REACHRIGHT Studio’s blog, “How Much Should a Church Website Cost?” published in 2023, Emma Davis recommends three options for website builders that specifically cater to churches. REACHRIGHT’s own business offers a plan which “starts as low as $97 per month for a fully designed website with everything included.” Clover Sites, another option, has plans which average a cost of $85 per month, with all but the most expensive plan including a $500 set-up fee. Ministry Designs offers a $57 and $97 per month plan, with design options you need to customize yourself.

That averages out to $84 a month, not including set-up fees, for a website from a ministry-focused website-builder or company.

There are cheaper options for subscription websites that aren’t ministry focused. Mass marketing companies like Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy offer lower monthly prices for a website that you build with their tools (which churches oftentimes must hire others to design, regardless). They require a much more hands-on approach and more maintenance. Business plans usually start around $20-$30 per month with limited features, while additional plugins and improvements keep adding to that monthly charge. Our own church used to pay GoDaddy around $50 a month before switching to a Church Sites Online website.

Let’s play it conservative and say an average subscription website, across the board, costs $50 a month, with an initial $300 payment (assuming you can get your third cousin to design it for you dirt cheap!).

TRADITIONAL PROFESSIONAL HIRING

Estimates vary for the current cost of hiring a web developer to build a website for you from start to finish. SpdLoad’s 2023 blog, for example, claims professional hiring for the average website costs somewhere between $40,000 and $100,000. Forbes Advisor’s “How Much Does A Website Cost? (2023 Guide)” suggests a more conservative $2,000 - $9,000 for the initial design cost of a small business’s website, plus $1,200 annual maintenance costs. Website Builder Reviews suggests paying anything less than $5,000 results in disappointment and claims $5,000 - $30,000 is a more realistic upfront cost expectation, with yearly upkeep totaling around $500-$1,000.

That averages out to an up-front web design cost of $31,000 for a professional hire, with an average ongoing yearly expense of $900.

CHURCH SITES ONLINE'S AFFORDABLE PRICING MISSION

So what’s different about Church Sites Online? Well, these websites have zero monthly subscription fees and no annual maintenance charges, costing a one-and-done $2,000. That’s less than 7% as much as the traditional professional hire would charge just to build a site for you and saves you an average of $900 a year in the maintenance costs (or church staff paychecks) that you would otherwise have to pay from that point on!

Compared to the traditional subscription options, a Church Sites Online website pays for itself in just three years and designs itself for you. Even if your church is already paying a subscription website builder, switching to a Church Sites Online website would mean getting that monthly expense back in your budget in no time, plus less work and less confusion for you and your volunteers.

WHY SO AFFORDABLE?

I (Andrew Juliot, founder of Church Sites Online) am a pastor myself, and have experienced first-hand the confusions, costs, distractions, and difficulties that websites can create for churches—especially small churches. I wanted to break the mold of the traditional options and create a new system where a website could be a helpful tool that serves the local church instead of taking its focus or funding away from the gospel. As a minister, I’ve learned exactly what churches could use on a website, but also how much is too much. The lower cost of a Church Sites Online website doesn’t reflect a lower quality product. It reflects a purpose that’s greater than profit: to get this in the hands of as many churches as possible.

To return to the Church Sites Online home page, click here.