comparison — the money, on the table
What a website really costs: five models, real prices.
I opened the pricing pages of Wix, IONOS, Arsys, Fiverr and Upwork, the full rate card of a real local agency (PROWEB) and the sites of three agencies from the area; next to them, what I charge. Every figure comes with its official link and the date I checked it. None of these companies pays me or knows this page exists: if something changed, tell me and I'll fix it.
7 min read · prices checked on 8-08-2026 · sources linked at the bottom
at a glance
01
Do it yourself: site builders
Wix · IONOS · Arsys
€14–149/mo (or €0 with ads)
→ validating an idea with €0
02
Freelance marketplaces
Fiverr · Upwork
from $5 per gig
→ one-off pieces if you pick the profile well
03
An agency with public rates
PROWEB (Granollers) — proweb.cat
€3,000 + VAT for a basic site
→ a big project that needs a team
04
Local agencies with no published rates
Perception · KMA Disseny · Creactitud
custom quote (no public rate)
→ if you value a first meeting and portfolio
05
The workshop (this very thing)
WebProDev · Gerard · Cardedeu
€600–1,200, locked in writing
→ custom-made, measured publicly, one person on the other side
Bars are orientative (1–5) for quick reading; the real numbers are on each card and linked to its source.
Do it yourself: site builders
Wix · IONOS · Arsys
€14–149/mo (or €0 with ads)
- Wix: free plan (€0) with Wix ads and a subdomain, no own domain. Paid plans, billed yearly: Light ~€14/mo, Core ~€25/mo, Business ~€34/mo, Elite ~€149/mo. Paying monthly costs up to 40% more. wix.com/upgrade/website ↗
- IONOS (AI builder): 30-day free trial; intro deals from €1/mo for the first 6 months; afterwards €6 to €26/mo depending on the plan (Standard, Plus, Premium, Ultimate). ionos.es/pagina-web ↗
- Arsys (Basic Website): €0.50/mo the first year; then €1.25/mo. Free domain for the first year. arsys.net/website/basic ↗
The fee is small, but you do the work: your hours, your copy, your design on top of a template. And the site is rented: stop paying and it disappears — you can't take the code. Honest option to validate an idea with €0; a business that already bills usually outgrows it.
Freelance marketplaces
Fiverr · Upwork
from $5 per gig
- Each profile sets its own price: gigs from $5 up to projects in the thousands. Fiverr keeps ~20% from the freelancer and charges the buyer a 5.5% service fee (plus $3.50 on small orders). fiverr.com/legal-portal ↗
- Upwork: freelancer fee of 0-15% (typically ~10%) based on lifetime billings with that client; clients pay a 3-5% marketplace fee plus a contract initiation fee of $0.99-14.99. upwork.com/legal ↗
You can find brilliant, cheap people — and people who vanish mid-job. The platform takes a cut from both sides, the conversation runs through its chat and there is often a time zone in between. For one-off pieces (a logo, a translation) it works; for your business's whole site, luck weighs a lot.
An agency with public rates
PROWEB (Granollers) — proweb.cat
€3,000 + VAT for a basic site
- Branding (logo + graphic universe): €2,000 + VAT. Informational WordPress site: €3,000 + VAT. Online catalogue: €4,000. Online shop: €5,000 (multilingual: +€400 and +€30/mo). proweb.cat/preus ↗
- Monthly services: site maintenance €120/mo + VAT · SEO €580/mo · social media (8 posts, 3 networks + blog) €580/mo · PRO pack (all together) €980/mo. No lock-in. Hour packs: from €46/h (10 h) to €40/h (30 h).
The honest reference two towns over: full published rate card, a team, processes and a wall of REAL clients (universities, town halls) — the thing I keep asking everyone to do. You pay for agency structure: prices +VAT and a serious monthly retainer. If your project is big and needs a team, that's money well spent.
Local agencies with no published rates
Perception · KMA Disseny · Creactitud
custom quote (no public rate)
- Their sites publish no rate card (checked on 8 August 2026): the price comes out of a meeting and a custom quote. That's the industry norm — it was mine too before I published mine.
Not publishing prices doesn't make them suspicious: they build custom sites with their team and portfolio, and the quote depends on each case. What you can always ask for: the price in writing before starting and what exactly it includes. If they're clear about it, they're serious; if not, ask twice.
The workshop (this very thing)
WebProDev · Gerard · Cardedeu
€600–1,200, locked in writing
- Landing page €600 · full website €1,200 · site with custom AI €2,500. Price locked IN WRITING before starting: the number you sign is the number you pay.
- Cared-for site: €400 kick-off + €100/mo (hosting, security, backups, WhatsApp support and 2 changes a month; the first month is free). Single piece: €90. Social videos: 2 a month for €250 (no site) or site combos at €300-400/mo (first month, €150).
I'm one person, not a team: you talk on WhatsApp with the one building your site, no tickets. In return, my capacity is one person's: if your project needs five specialists at once, the agency above is the better option and I'll tell you so myself. The speed of what I build is measured with Google's public tool, in front of you.
the table — seven questions, no adjectives
The same things I'd ask myself before paying anyone.
| question | DIY (Wix · IONOS · Arsys) | Freelance marketplace | Agency with rates (PROWEB) | Agency without rates | The workshop (me) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published, checkable price? | ✓ yes, on their site | ✓ yes, per profile | ✓ yes, full rate card | ✗ no; quote only | ✓ yes, and locked in writing |
| Do you talk to the builder? | ✗ tickets & help center | ◐ via the platform chat | ◐ sales rep and team | ◐ depends | ✓ direct WhatsApp with me |
| Custom-made, no template? | ✗ template | ◐ depends on the profile | ✓ yes | ✓ yes, usually | ✓ yes, custom code |
| If you leave, do you take it? | ✗ no: it's rented | ◐ as agreed | ◐ WordPress: ask first | — depends on the contract | ✓ yes, in your name from day 1 |
| Who maintains it afterwards? | ◐ you, within your plan | ✗ no one; separate gig | ✓ €120/mo + VAT, published | — ask in the meeting | ✓ €100/mo; first month free |
| Basic site: ballpark cost | ◐ €0-400/year in fees + your hours | ◐ gigs from $5 + fees | ✓ €3,000 + VAT, published | — custom quote | ✓ €600-1,200, locked |
| Its best moment (honest) | ✓ validating an idea with no budget | ✓ one-off pieces if you pick well | ✓ a big project with a team and ongoing SEO | ✓ if you value a first meeting and portfolio | ✓ custom-made, measured publicly, one person on the other side |
✓ good enough for most cases · ◐ depends / partial · ✗ no by default · — ask. My honest read from the public data above; the last row says when each model WINS, including the ones that aren't me.
the sources — check everything
All figures come from these official pages, as they stood on 8 August 2026. Figures with «~» depend on country, currency and monthly vs yearly billing: today's exact number is on their site, not mine.
- Wix — planes (pago anual) ↗
- IONOS — creador de páginas web ↗
- Arsys — Web Básica ↗
- Fiverr — condiciones del servicio ↗
- Upwork — condiciones legales ↗
- PROWEB — tarifas publicadas ↗
- Perception — perception.es ↗
- KMA Disseny — kmadisseny.es ↗
- Creactitud — creactitud.com ↗
Honest frame: the brands named belong to their owners and appear only to compare public, objective prices (lawful comparative advertising: Spain's Ley 3/1991, art. 11 — same need, verifiable data, no denigration, no confusion). None of these companies pays me, sponsors me or knows who I am. Prices can change at any time: if you spot an outdated one, write to me and I'll fix it with the correction date next to it.
if this helped
Shall we run the numbers on YOUR case, not someone else's?
No strings attached and no weird sales call: you write, I (Gerard) answer, and if it doesn't fit I'll tell you just as plainly.