Most calculators only show a price. This one also shows how long it takes to launch and how many hours land on you — so you can compare routes honestly.
Educational market ranges, not an automatic Studio O'Brien quote.
Pick the closest project to load a starting scope, then fine-tune it below.
Tap to add or remove. Common picks are pre-selected.
Content readiness is the biggest hidden driver of timeline and your own workload.
Cash is only half the story. Here's what each route asks of your calendar and your own hands — and the true cost once your time counts.
Every estimate starts from production hours — the real work of planning, writing, designing, building, and testing your scope:
production hours = ( page work + feature work ) × design depthCalendar time is not the same as production hours. No one works 40 focused hours a week on a single site — there are review cycles, feedback waits, and other projects. Each route has its own realistic weekly throughput, plus a buffer when content isn't ready:
weeks ≈ production hours ÷ weekly throughput + content bufferYour hours is the share of the work that lands on you personally — decisions, content gathering, revisions, and (for DIY) the actual building. It drops sharply the more of the work a professional carries:
true cost = cash price + ( your hours × your hourly value )These are planning ranges built from public market data, not quotes. A real proposal depends on content readiness, integrations, accessibility, timeline, and support.
A website can mean a modified template, a focused freelance build, a connected studio process, or a large agency engagement. Same words, very different work.
Page count matters, but page types, writing needs, content migration, and information architecture determine far more of the real workload.
Booking, commerce, multilingual content, owner editing, and integrations add planning, configuration, testing, and support requirements.
Adapting a proven structure costs less than developing original art direction, writing, responsive behavior, and interaction around one business.
The cheaper the cash price, the more planning, writing, and problem-solving usually falls on you. That time is real cost, just paid in hours.
No. It's a market-planning estimate showing what similar scope can cost through different provider types. Studio O'Brien recommends scope and pricing after learning what the business needs.
Every website takes real human time. “Your hours” is the slice of that work you personally carry — decisions, writing, gathering photos, revisions, and, on the DIY route, the building itself. A low cash price with 80 of your own hours attached isn't actually cheap.
Because your time isn't free. When you price your own hours honestly, the “$300 website” often costs more in evenings and weekends than hiring someone would — and takes far longer to launch.
Provider experience, creative depth, content readiness, technical requirements, geography, process, and overhead all affect cost. A single instant number would create false precision.
Copywriting, photography, content migration, accessibility, integrations, analytics, training, hosting, maintenance, and internal review time are commonly left out of early estimates.
Send your calculator scope and a short note on what the site needs to accomplish. You'll get a specific recommendation back — not a sales pitch.
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