How much does a tradie website cost in Australia?

What does a tradie website actually cost?

Short answer: anywhere from nothing to ten grand, depending on who builds it and what you get. That's not a dodge — it's the honest truth. A website isn't one product with one price. It's more like a ute: you can pick up a beat-up runabout or a fully kitted work truck, and both technically get you to the job.

So instead of one magic number, here's what the four main options really cost in 2026, what drives the price up or down, and — the bit most tradies miss — what a cheap website ends up costing you in lost jobs. Every dollar figure below is a typical, indicative range. Real quotes vary a lot, so treat these as ballparks to sanity-check what you're told, not gospel.

Typical price ranges for a tradie website

Do it yourself (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy)

DIY builders let you drag-and-drop your own site off a template. Typical cost is free up to about $40 a month for a paid plan, plus a domain name. The real price is your time — a weekend or three learning the builder, writing the words, taking the photos and fiddling with the layout. Free tiers usually slap their own ads or branding on your site and hand you a clunky web address, which doesn't exactly scream "trusted local tradie" to a customer.

Hire a freelancer

A freelancer or small studio builds you a one-off site. Typical cost lands somewhere in the $500 to $3,000 band for a simple trade website, depending on the number of pages, whether it's custom-designed and how much copy and photography is involved. You usually own the finished site, but ongoing changes, fixes and support often cost extra on top — and if the freelancer gets busy or moves on, you can be left stuck.

Hire an agency

A traditional web agency builds a custom site and usually charges a few thousand up to $10,000 or more upfront, more again if you add booking systems, lots of pages or ongoing marketing. Quality varies wildly at every price point — a big invoice is no guarantee the thing actually brings in work. Plenty of tradies have paid an agency thousands for a good-looking site that just sits there.

Free-to-build (the model we use)

The newer option: the site is built free — no upfront cost — and you pay a simple monthly plan instead that covers hosting, Google, reviews and lead follow-up. At The Site Girls that's On The Map at $129/mo, Booked Out at $349/mo (most popular) or Market Leader at $749/mo plus ad spend, with no setup fee and no lock-in. More on how that works below.

The ongoing costs nobody mentions

Whoever builds it, a website is never truly "one and done". These costs keep ticking over in the background, so factor them in when you compare quotes:

• Domain name — roughly $15 to $40 a year for a .com.au, renewed every year. Let it lapse and someone else can grab it.
• Hosting — roughly $5 to $30+ a month for a basic plan; managed or faster hosting costs more. This is what keeps your site online and loading quick.
• Security & SSL — the padlock in the browser. Often bundled, sometimes billed separately.
• Updates & upkeep — someone has to keep it fast, fix breakages and add new photos and services. Agencies bill hourly or on a retainer; DIY means it's your time again.
• The stuff that actually gets you jobs — your Google Business Profile, a steady flow of reviews and fast lead follow-up. These are usually not in a plain "just a website" quote, and they're the bits that turn a website into booked work.

What actually affects the price

Two quotes for "a tradie website" can be ten times apart and both be fair. Here's what moves the number:

• How many pages. A one-page site is quick; a page per service and per suburb is more work.
• Custom design vs template. A bespoke look costs more than a tidied-up template.
• Words and photos. If someone writes your copy and sorts your images, that's time you're paying for. Good photos of your own work are worth it.
• Features. Quote forms, galleries, online booking and reviews widgets all add build time.
• Google & SEO setup. Getting you found — Google Business Profile, local pages, the technical basics — is a job in itself.
• Who builds it. DIY is cheapest on paper, an agency dearest; your time is the hidden cost at the cheap end.
• Ongoing support. Is help with changes included, or billed every time you need a tweak?

Why "cheap" usually costs more

Here's the trap. A website's real job isn't to look nice — it's to turn a stranger into a phone call or a quote request. A cheap site that gets you no jobs isn't cheap. It's 100% wasted, no matter how little you paid.

Speed alone can sink a bargain build: 53% of people leave a mobile site that takes more than 3 seconds to load (Think with Google). Half your potential customers gone before they've read a word — because someone cut corners on hosting or bloated the page with a template.

Then there's getting found and getting trusted. 71% of people find local businesses on Google, and among reviews, 97% of people read them while 68% won't use a business rated under 4 stars (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, 2026). A cheap website with no Google profile, no reviews and no follow-up is invisible and un-trusted — so it sits there quietly costing you jobs you never even hear about.

The honest way to compare price isn't the sticker on the build. It's the total cost over two or three years divided by the jobs it wins you. A "free" DIY site that lands zero jobs is infinitely expensive. A site that costs a bit each month but keeps the phone ringing pays for itself and then some. (For the full breakdown of how tradies actually win work, read our guide on how Aussie tradies get more leads.)

The free-to-build model, explained

Free-to-build flips the usual deal. Instead of a big upfront invoice, the website is built at no cost and you pay a simple monthly plan for everything that keeps it working. No setup fee, no lock-in contract, and the site is yours.

Here's what's included across The Site Girls plans:

• On The Map — $129/mo. Your website plus hosting and changes, and your Google Business Profile set up so locals can find you. Website built free.
• Booked Out — $349/mo (most popular). The full Booked-Out System: everything in On The Map, plus ongoing local Google work, an automatic reviews machine, and missed-call text-back so you never lose a lead.
• Market Leader — $749/mo + ad spend. Everything in Booked Out, plus managed Google Ads and extra service areas for tradies who want to own their patch.

Every plan is month-to-month — cancel any month and you keep your website, your web address and your reviews. Because there's no upfront cost, one extra job a month usually covers the whole thing. And it's backed by our promise: more quote requests in your first 90 days, or we keep working free until you get them.

How to choose without getting stung

Whoever you go with — us or not — ask these five questions before you pay a cent:

• What's the total cost over 2–3 years? Add the build, the domain, the hosting and the upkeep. Not just the upfront figure.
• Do I own it, and can I take it with me? Get it in writing. You want to own the site, the domain and your reviews.
• Is it built to get jobs, or just to look nice? Fast, mobile-first, clear phone number and quote form — or a pretty brochure that just sits there?
• What's included after launch? Google, reviews and follow-up are what win work. Are they in the price, or extra?
• Is there a lock-in contract? Month-to-month means they have to keep earning your business. A 12-month trap means they don't.

Get straight answers to those and you'll dodge the two most common ways tradies overpay: a big upfront bill for a site that never brings in work, and a cheap one that was never built to.