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Many people want an answer to a question, whether it is possible to create a website for free. It is impossible, all resources have some cost, and some of them cannot be excluded from consideration. But they can be small for a petite project. In the future, we will consider this option, but the main focus will be on the cost of creating a complex project like a social media website.

Before assessing the cost of development, you need to determine the purpose of creating a website. It is unlikely that the invented appearance will greatly affect the final cost, the main thing will be the set of implemented functions. In other words, the choice between “I want a site that looks like Facebook” and “I want a site that works like Facebook” will be decisive. The price range between the answers ranges from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

Let's try to find out what's in such a wide range. Many factors affect the price, we will consider the most important ones.

Website type.

After you defined the purpose of creating a website, it can be classified.

Personal websites and blogs are for well-known personalities and media persons who have reasons not to participate in social networking or prefer to distribute unique content on their own. Looking ahead, it should be said that maintaining such a site can be costly. However, if you have your promotional team, such costs can be justified. The range of the cost of a personal site: $1,500-20,000.
Landing pages (landing site) usually have a short life and disappear after achieving marketing goals. Such sites typically have a spectacular appearance and a minimum set of functions limited to calling for action (purchase, subscription, survey, etc.). The cost of a good landing page can be from $3,000.
The corporate portal represents a specific business and is used to describe the services or goods offered on the Internet. A simple corporate website shows the company's portfolio and serves as a marketing tool and costs from $5,000. As to a corporate portal that performs business processes, the cost starts from $10,000.
Marketplaces are used to sell products and receive payments. It can be a small website of one seller, or a marketplace where many sellers sell their products online. Rental services also match this concept. The cost range for such a website starts from $30,000.
Educational portals of institutions that offer online courses. Website cost range for e-learning: for the basic version-more than $30,000.
Information portals unite many web resources and offer forums, multimedia players, search engines, etc. Portals are often used as an internal tool in universities and companies to store all important information in one place. The cost range: $10,000-60,000.
The community creation website is designed to unite users by interests, for example, to maintain social connections, career, or dating. Such websites offer not goods but paid services. Social site costs more than $50,000.

Website platform.

The selected technology stack also affects the price. So, how much does it cost to create a website considering these factors?

Drag-and-drop services allow users to easily and quickly create a website based on ready-made templates and functions that the user chooses and configures on the provider's website using a graphical interface. Very popular platforms are Wix, Weebly, Google Sites, Jimbo, etc. These tools have limited personalization functions and are recommended for personal web pages or individual blogs. At the same time, it is necessary to remember the dependence on the platform provider and the difficulties if the company-provider decides to change prices or terms of use. The cost of the website is up to 3000 US dollars, and it needs to choose the appropriate subscription plan that could cost a few hundred US dollars per month.

“Out-of-Box” solutions offer basic preset functions that can be expanded with third-party modules and plugins. Among the most famous are the popular WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. This solution leaves the customer with independence from the platform provider but involves many shortcomings. Firstly, it will be necessary to involve professional developers to implement the project, which ultimately increases the cost of website development. Secondly, the versatility of such platforms causes the impossibility of creating a highly specialized competitive project. In most cases, the cost is from $2,000.

Custom website development implies abandoning ready-made mass solutions described earlier. This approach is needed only if the website is a long-term project involving high scalability, load capacity, uniqueness. In this case, you have to create your platform from scratch or use a specially designed platform. Creating the platform is an expensive but also a long process. Team hiring, developing, and testing require a deep immersion in the process of product development and implementation. However, investments of several million US dollars and experienced specialists from different fields can reduce the development period to one or two years. Otherwise, the already made special platform will be an excellent solution that allows you to achieve the goal at a moderate cost of $50,000 or more.

Website design.

This is another important element to consider when determining how much it costs to create a website. Factors affecting website design prices are as follows:

In general, the use of ready-made design templates allows users to create websites with a limited budget. However, the overall availability and low cost of such templates (tens of US dollars) lead to the loss of the unique appearance. Therefore, in most cases, you will need to hire a designer to change the finished theme template.
The development of an individual website design involves creating a website design from scratch. Designers may create wireframes (UX) and mockups (UI) one by one or simultaneously to speed up the process.

Creating a logo, corporate identity, and dynamic objects increase design costs but add attractiveness.

When choosing a design, it is important to consider adaptability to different device screen sizes, even despite the increase in the cost of development. Unlike static or fluid websites, responsive ones allow users to access information on any type of device, whether it's a smartphone, laptop, or tablet.

Website functionality.

The number of functions and their complexity form the largest part of the cost of developing a website.

When you select the type of site and platform for creating it, you have already defined the functions that it will perform. For SaaS solutions, you are initially limited in choice, but if you have already chosen this path, it's too late to regret it.

«Out-of-Box» solutions have more opportunities, but this will again require an experienced developer and precious time. And it is still unknown whether you will be satisfied with the result. Payments for modifying a universal product may eventually be an unbearable burden for the project.

As to a specialized platform such as QSNE from X Networks, you do not have to limit yourself in your choice or take risks when developing extensions for a ready-made solution. All the functionality inherent in large projects of social networks, web portals and marketplaces has already been implemented. The user only needs to select the elements he needs, and the company independently implements them, considering the wishes of the customer. This is the best way to create a complex website because it has many advantages:

High scalability and load capacity. The high-load testing report promises trouble-free service in all circumstances-an increased flow of requests from site users or a DDoS attack.
High responsiveness. Access time to the QSNE platform is a record time on the Internet. According to statistics, 40% of users leave the site if it does not load within 3 seconds.
Choosing to use the company's ready-made infrastructure, or deploying a project on the customer's infrastructure
Fast error correction and introduction of new technologies. For example, the capabilities of artificial intelligence and trained chatbots.
Unique design based on your requirements
No restrictions on the choice of functionality
Ability to integrate with existing business processes
Project support by an experienced team

Developer's choice.

Reading this article means you are most likely not a developer. Therefore, consider the following options:

Hire a freelancer to create your website. Rates for freelance web design and development can reach $150/hour, depending on the specialization, skills, and experience of a software developer. Keep in mind the risk that the declared qualifications do not always correspond to the actual one, which can cause at least a delay in development. And, of course, this way is suitable for small projects. Assembling a team of freelancers will be a very risky idea.

Hire a software development team nearby. If the customer is inquiring about such services in North America or Western Europe, it needs to be ready for an hourly rate of $100 and more. The creation process is costly, reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars for a comprehensive project. But the quality will also be good in most cases.

Globalization has erased boundaries to transfer intellectual labor results, so it will not be difficult to find a company in South East Asia or Eastern Europe that will offer more moderate rates. At the same time, there is a risk of incorrect assessment of the developer's competence and the project budget overrun.
You can reduce costs and risks when creating a complex website by involving a reliable European developer, X Networks. Proven solutions on the QSNE platform allow you to create complex projects in a specified time frame at a fixed price.

How much does it cost to create a website with a ready-made solution?

Here we are back to the very first question about the free website. Dozens of template CMS are distributed completely free of charge. It should be said that most Internet sites use free WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and similar scripts. Monetizing such sites is quite difficult because they have a similar structure and set of functions. Worse, they contain similar errors and vulnerabilities that attackers successfully use. Scalability is not initially their strong point because it is impossible to develop the only good software solution for a variety of platforms. The performance of such sites cannot be increased even with the use of powerful servers because of used technology stacks limitations.

Does this mean that these are trash solutions? Of course not. They are suitable for a small company or individuals, as well as for time-limited marketing campaigns (for landing pages). But for businesses, such solutions are highly discouraged to avoid loss of reputation.

The cost of entering the world of social media websites through this door is low and starts from about $100 per year, but there is a small room with tiny windows behind this door. If you need more space, don't enter there, find another way.

How much does it cost to create a custom website?

Individual web development is the best option for serious enterprises that require a website with high performance. Individual websites better meet the requirements of the company, business needs, and target audience.

The cost of developing custom websites covers the entire list of software development services, namely:

Business analysis is not a mandatory stage if the customer knows for sure that his idea does not need research. Otherwise, it is necessary to conduct a preliminary study of the niche, which can cost from $1,000.
Website design (UI/UX) is an integral part of development, as it is unique in each case. Depending on the complexity of the project, the cost can reach $30,000.
Frontend and backend development is probably the most expensive part. Since the set of implemented functions is individual for each project, it is only possible to approximate the total amount. X Networks is always open to cost discussion and offers a development cost calculator for initial evaluation.
Quality assurance includes product testing at all stages and can add up to 20% to the cost of the project.
Support and maintenance begin immediately after the launch of the project. It should be remembered that technologies are constantly evolving, and absolutely any site needs support throughout the life cycle. These costs are difficult to predict, but in the case of X Networks, it is possible to exclude them by ceding some project share.

Conclusion

Modern technologies provide a wide range of tools for creating a quality social media website. And the main task is to choose among them exactly the one that suits you. The huge success of website builders is due to the large number of users who have a limited budget, are looking for a simple solution, intend to independently develop and maintain their site.

But the builders are unusable if you're seeking a platform for a high-performance complex project built on advanced technology stacks. And then the issue of the cost of developing an individual solution fades into the background since such a project is an investment in business development.

More specific figures from $10,000 for a corporate web portal, and an advanced marketplace or social network can cost more than $50,000. Creating a social network with complex multi-level architecture may cost from $100,000.

As for the time required to create a website, it can vary from 3 to 18 months, depending on the complexity of the website, as well as the organization of the process.