When ordering a website, people usually only think about the one-time build cost. But a website isn't a one-time purchase - it's a service with its own costs every year. In this article we've laid out what those costs consist of, so you know what to expect.
Domain and hosting
This is the foundation, without which the website simply won't run.
Domain
A domain is your website's address, e.g. companyname.com. You need to renew it every year. A .lt domain costs around €12/year, and prices are fairly similar across providers.
Hosting
Hosting is the place on the internet where your website "lives". It's what makes sure the website is reachable around the clock, for every visitor, from anywhere in the world.
Hosting prices can vary a lot, and picking the right one without technical knowledge isn't easy. If you need help - you can always reach out here.
Our recommendation - Hostinger. About 90% of our clients use this platform, and from experience we can say it's a convenient, modern system with genuinely good support. The one downside - you'll usually first reach an AI chatbot rather than a human. But that AI is one of the more advanced ones on the market - it only fails to resolve around 10% of questions on its own, and in that case it hands the conversation straight to a specialist.
Since we're an official Hostinger partner, we can give you a 20% discount on services with the code DEVGURU.
Website maintenance service
To keep a website secure, fast and tidy, it needs ongoing maintenance - updates, security checks, backups. That's why companies usually buy a maintenance service.
The price typically runs around €100/mo, depending on what a given company includes in the package. Here you can see the package we offer.
Licenses and plugins
Depending on how the website is built, it may need extra add-ons - they provide additional functionality or make work easier. For example:
- translation add-ons (if the website is multilingual)
- subscription or membership functionality
- booking systems
These add-ons are usually paid once a year, directly to the developers who maintain and update them.
Extra costs for an online store
If you have an online store rather than just a website, two more cost categories come into play.
Payment gateways
This is a service that lets you accept card or bank transfer payments directly on the website. The price depends on the provider chosen (e.g. Paysera, Montonio) and is usually calculated as a percentage of each transaction amount - typically around 1-3%, plus a small fixed fee per transaction. The higher your turnover, the lower the percentage usually gets.
Delivery
Delivery costs are normally paid by the buyer - but you do have to pay for the integration itself with courier services (e.g. LP Express, Omniva), or their monthly system fees, if applicable.
Other possible costs
- Additional licenses - e.g. Elementor Pro or another paid design tool, if the website uses one
- Photo or font licenses
Wrapping up
The yearly cost of a simple informational website usually consists of the domain, hosting, and, if you want it, a maintenance service. For an online store, payment gateway and delivery costs come on top of that. Knowing this total in advance means avoiding surprises, and lets you actually compare what it really costs to run a website - not just build one.
Want to know what your website's upkeep would actually cost?
Tell us about your project - we'll calculate it and explain what the price consists of.