How Much Should a Website Cost in BC? A Transparent Breakdown

The most common question local business owners in Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley ask before starting a website project is: how much should this cost? The frustrating reality is that most agencies won't answer that question until you've sat through a discovery call. We think that wastes your time.

Here's a transparent breakdown of what websites actually cost in BC in 2026.

DIY website builders — $0 to $40/month

Tools like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly let you build a site yourself for free or for a low monthly fee. If you're a brand-new business with no budget, this is a legitimate starting point. The trade-offs are real: these sites are slow, hard to optimize for SEO, look like templates (because they are), and require your time to build and maintain. For a business actively trying to win customers online, a DIY builder site is usually a ceiling, not a foundation.

WordPress with a premium theme — $500 to $2,000 one-time

A freelancer or junior developer will often build a WordPress site using a premium theme for somewhere in this range. The result can look professional, but the technical quality varies enormously. WordPress sites built this way often have slow load times, poor mobile performance, and security vulnerabilities from outdated plugins. Unless you vet the developer carefully and specify performance requirements, this tier is hit or miss.

Custom-built website from a local agency — $600 to $5,000 one-time

This is the range for a purpose-built website from a proper agency — designed specifically for your business, mobile-first, fast-loading, and built with SEO from the ground up. At Shaxx, custom websites start from $600 for a five-page site and go up based on the number of pages, complexity of functionality, and whether integrations like booking systems or e-commerce are included.

This is the range where you start seeing real returns — sites that rank, convert visitors, and pay for themselves through new business.

Monthly retainer plans including a website — $397 to $2,000/month

Many agencies, including Shaxx, now offer monthly plans that include your website as part of a broader marketing engagement. The advantage is that you spread the cost, keep the site maintained and updated, and get ongoing SEO and marketing work included. Shaxx's Starter plan at $397/month includes AI chat, booking calendar, and basic SEO — with no contract.

What you actually need to ask any agency

Before hiring anyone for a website in BC, ask these five questions: Do I own the website files and domain when the project is done? What is your process for mobile optimization and page speed? Is on-page SEO included or an add-on? What does ongoing maintenance cost? Can I see examples of sites you've built in my industry?

At Shaxx, the answers are: yes you own everything, speed and mobile are built into our process not added on, SEO is standard, maintenance is included in monthly plans, and yes we'll show you our work.

No surprises. No lock-in. That's how it should work.

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