What Does a Website Cost in Switzerland? 2026 Prices for SMEs

“What does a website cost?” is the most common question we hear from Swiss SMEs — and at the same time the one that rarely gets a clear answer. Many providers only quote a price after a consultation call. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Here’s the short answer up front, then we’ll look at each option in detail.

The Short Answer: Price Ranges 2026

Website builder (Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo): CHF 20–50 per month, plus 20–60 hours of your own work
Freelancer: CHF 1’000–5’000 one-time, with quality and availability varying widely
Traditional agency: CHF 5’000–20’000 and more, with workshops and a multi-month process
Specialized studio (our model): CHF 790 (one-page) to CHF 1’790 (up to 10 subpages) one-time, plus CHF 29 per month hosting

On top of that, every option has running costs: domain (about CHF 10–20 per year), hosting, and maintenance. Let’s break down what’s behind these figures and which option fits your business.

The Four Options Compared

Option	One-Time Costs	Running Costs	Your Time Investment	Suitable For
Builder (Wix, Squarespace)	CHF 0 (your working time)	CHF 20–50/mo.	20–60 hours	Hobby, testing phase
Freelancer	CHF 1’000–5’000	variable, often unclear	10–30 hours	Projects with flexible timelines
Traditional agency	CHF 5’000–20’000+	CHF 50–300/mo.	20–50 hours (workshops, coordination)	Larger companies, complex projects
Web Alpine Studio	CHF 790–1’790	CHF 29/mo.	2–5 hours	SMEs that want to go online fast and predictably

Option 1: Website Builder (Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo)

On paper the cheapest option: CHF 20 to 50 per month, and you build the site yourself. For a testing phase or a hobby project, that’s perfectly fine.

The hidden effort is often underestimated, though:

Your working time: Realistically, you’ll need 20 to 60 hours for onboarding, setup, copy, images, and mobile optimization. At an hourly value of CHF 80 to 150, that’s CHF 1’600 to 9’000 in real opportunity costs.
The subscription runs forever: CHF 40 per month is CHF 480 per year — CHF 2’400 after five years, without you ever owning the site.
Limits in SEO and loading speed: Builder sites are often technically heavy, which costs rankings and mobile visitors.

Option 2: Freelancer (CHF 1’000–5’000)

A good freelancer can offer excellent value for money. But the range is wide: from the student building Wordpress sites on the side to the experienced professional with a waiting list.

What to watch for:

Availability after the project: Who maintains the site when the freelancer is fully booked or moves on?
Real references: Live websites, not just design mockups.
Clear scope: Is basic SEO included? Mobile testing? Legal pages?

Option 3: Traditional Agency (CHF 5’000–20’000+)

Agencies generally deliver solid quality, but the process is designed for larger projects: kickoff workshops, personas, multiple design rounds, project management. That has its price and its duration — three to six months is common.

For an SME with a clear offering, this is often oversized. You pay for processes that make sense for a corporation but add little value for a hair salon or a garage.

Option 4: The Specialized Studio (Our Model)

We deliberately position ourselves as the transparent middle ground, with fixed prices instead of “on request”:

One-page website: CHF 790 one-time, online in 7 to 10 working days
Website with up to 10 subpages: CHF 1’790 one-time, done in 2 to 3 weeks
Custom projects (web shop, booking system, web apps): on request
Hosting: CHF 29 per month, including SSL, backups, updates, and 1 hour of changes per year
Optional AI chatbot: CHF 399 one-time plus from CHF 19 per month

The reason for these prices isn’t lower quality but a lean process: We work with a proven workflow, modern and fast technologies, and no workshop overhead. You’ll find examples in our projects Creative Coiffeur and Tutorfinder.

What Really Drives the Price of a Website

Whatever the provider, these factors determine where you land in the price range.

Number of Pages and Structure

A one-page website is cheaper than ten subpages because fewer layouts are designed, less copy is written, and fewer coordination rounds are needed. Many local businesses don’t need more: If you mainly want calls, reservations, or inquiries, a strong one-page site often serves you better.

Content: Copy and Images

The most underestimated cost factor. If you deliver finished copy and good photos, the project stays lean. If copy has to be developed and images organized first, effort and price rise — with agencies, easily by several thousand francs.

Features: Booking, Shop, Special Requests

A contact form is standard. Online appointment booking, a web shop with payment integration, or a customer area are small projects of their own. Such features fall under custom projects with an individual quote at our studio — and that’s the case with every reputable provider.

Multilingualism

Every additional language means: translating all copy, maintaining all pages twice, setting up SEO per language. Depending on scope, expect a 30 to 70 percent surcharge per language. For many Swiss-German SMEs, German is enough to start; English or French can be added later.

Three Example Calculations From Practice

Abstract ranges only help so much. So here are three typical scenarios we encounter regularly:

Example 1: Hair Salon With a One-Page Website

A salon mainly needs: services and prices, opening hours, location, phone number, a few strong images. That fits perfectly on a one-page site.

Website: CHF 790 one-time
Hosting: CHF 29 per month
Domain: about CHF 15 per year
First-year costs: around CHF 1’150

From the second year on, only about CHF 365 per year remain.

A restaurant usually needs a bit more space: menu, gallery, events, reservation integration. Depending on scope, a generous one-page site (CHF 790) is enough, or it becomes a website with subpages (CHF 1’790). Connecting an existing reservation tool is no rocket science and shouldn’t cost a four-figure surcharge.

First-year costs: around CHF 1’150 to 2’150

Example 3: Dental Practice With 10 Subpages

A practice with multiple treatment areas, a team page, job listings, and separate service pages for SEO is the classic case for the 10-page option:

Website: CHF 1’790 one-time
Hosting: CHF 29 per month
Optional AI chatbot for common patient questions: CHF 399 one-time plus from CHF 19 per month
First-year costs: around CHF 2’150 to 2’800

For comparison: Traditional agencies frequently charge CHF 8’000 to 15’000 for the same project. The difference is rarely in the visible result — it’s in the process behind it.

And What Does a Redesign Cost?

If a website already exists but is outdated, budget as you would for a new build. A redesign is rarely cheaper, because structure, copy, and technology get rebuilt anyway. The advantage: Existing content and images can often be carried over, which significantly reduces your own effort.

Running Costs: What to Budget For

A website is not a one-time purchase. These items recur permanently:

Domain: about CHF 10–20 per year for a .ch address
Hosting: CHF 10–50 per month depending on provider and service. With us, CHF 29 per month including SSL certificate, daily backups, and technical updates
Maintenance and changes: With us, 1 hour of changes per year is included in hosting; further adjustments cost CHF 120 per hour. Agencies often charge CHF 150–200 per hour or sell maintenance contracts from CHF 100 per month
Licenses: Wordpress sites often add paid plugins (CHF 50–300 per year); builders add the subscription

A realistic annual budget for a professionally hosted SME website is therefore CHF 360 to 600, provided no major rebuilds are due.

5 Concrete Saving Tips

1. Deliver Copy and Images Yourself

Draft your service descriptions yourself, even if they’re not perfect. A professional would rather tighten existing text than start from zero. Good smartphone photos today often beat expensive stock images.

2. Start With a One-Page Site

You can always expand. Someone who starts at CHF 790 and expands after a year based on real inquiries invests more wisely than someone who puts CHF 15’000 into a site half of which nobody visits.

3. Register the Domain Yourself

It costs CHF 10–20 per year and ensures the domain belongs to you, not the provider. An important point for your independence.

4. Bundle Your Change Requests

Instead of reporting one small thing five times a year, collect adjustments and commission them in one batch. That saves billable hours with any provider.

5. Compare Total Costs Over 3 Years

Always calculate: one-time costs plus 36 months of running costs plus your own working time. A “free” builder quickly adds up to over CHF 3’000 this way, while a professional one-page site comes in around CHF 1’800.

Hidden Costs to Watch Out For

These items rarely appear in the quote but like to show up later:

Template licenses: Some agencies build on purchased themes whose license must be renewed annually. Ask whether license costs apply and who bears them.
Stock photos: Image licenses can cost CHF 10–100 per image. Clarify whether image costs are included and whether the licenses are issued to your company.
Cancellation periods: Builder subscriptions and maintenance contracts sometimes have annual commitments. Read the fine print before signing.
Site ownership: The most important question of all: Do you own the website? Do you get all access credentials (domain, hosting, content)? With some providers you effectively only “rent” the site, and when switching you start from zero.
Surcharges for basics: An SSL certificate, mobile optimization, or legal pages should never cost extra. If they do, that’s a warning sign.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

The honest summary:

Testing phase or hobby: Website builder, CHF 20–50 per month, with deliberately modest expectations.
The website should bring customers, the budget is limited: Specialized studio with fixed prices, from CHF 790.
Complex requirements, multiple departments, large budget: Traditional agency from CHF 5’000.

For most Swiss SMEs — from hair salons and restaurants to garages — the sweet spot is in the middle: professionally built, fixed price, online fast, without agency overhead.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a simple website cost in Switzerland?

A professionally built one-page website costs from around CHF 790 with specialized providers, typically CHF 1’000–2’500 with freelancers. Add running costs of about CHF 30–50 per month for hosting and domain.

Why are agencies so much more expensive?

Agencies price in workshops, project management, multiple design rounds, and team structures. That’s justified for complex projects, but for a classic SME website you pay for a lot of process that barely improves the result.

What does a website cost per month?

Budget CHF 30–50 per month for hosting, SSL, and domain combined. With us it’s CHF 29 per month including backups, updates, and one hour of changes per year. Agency maintenance contracts often run CHF 100–300 per month.

Can I rent a website instead of buying one?

Yes, some providers offer subscription models without one-time costs. Pay close attention to the total costs over several years and to who owns the website in the end. Often you pay more after three years than with a purchase, without having built any ownership.

What does a web shop cost in Switzerland?

Significantly more than a company website: realistically from CHF 3’000–5’000 for a small shop, with no upper limit. Payment integration, product maintenance, and legal requirements make shops projects of their own. With us, web shops fall under custom projects with an individual quote.

How fast is a website finished?

With us: a one-page site in 7 to 10 working days, a website with up to 10 subpages in 2 to 3 weeks, provided the content is ready. Agency projects typically take 3 to 6 months. By the way, the most common reason for delays is the same with every provider: missing copy and images from the client.

Transparent Prices Instead of “On Request”

You now know what a website realistically costs in Switzerland. If you want a professional website at a fixed price — no surprises, in days instead of months — you’ll find all packages on our pricing page. Or contact us directly for a no-obligation assessment of which solution fits your business.