The real breakdown — from free to $15K
Walk into any tradie pit meeting and ask "how much does a website cost?" and you'll get 20 different answers.
That's because there's no standard. You can spend $0 or $15,000 — and both might work. Or both might fail.
Here's the honest breakdown.
| Option | Upfront | Ongoing/Month | Time Input |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY (Wix, Squarespace) | $0 | $20-30 | 20+ hours |
| AI Website Builders | $0-200 | $10-20 | 2-4 hours |
| Professional (Fuse) | $1,000 | $8-15 | 1 hour |
| Freelancer | $1,500-4,000 | $50-100 | 5 hours |
| Web Design Agency | $5,000-15,000+ | $100-300 | 10+ hours |
✓ Free to start ✓ You control everything
✗ Takes 20+ hours to look decent ✗ Looks like every other DIY site ✗ You have to maintain it
Reality: Most tradies start this. Most tradies abandon it after 3 months. The ones who finish? They still have a site that looks like a hobby project.
✓ Fast (hours not weeks) ✓ AI generates content
✗ Limited customisation ✗ You don't own it ✗ Hard to rank on Google
Reality: Good for side hustles. Not for a business that needs real customers.
✓ Looks professional ✓ Built to convert ✓ SEO-ready ✓ You own it
✗ Upfront cost
Reality: This is the sweet spot. You get a proper site without the agency price tag. Most Aussie tradies don't need a $10K site — they need a $1K site that works.
✓ Personal service ✓ Can be custom
✗ Takes weeks ✗ Quality varies wildly ✗ Often ghost you after launch
Reality: Good freelancers exist. But finding one is a gamble. And if they go quiet, you're stuck.
✓ Full service ✓ Enterprise quality
✗ Massive overkill for tradies ✗ 6-12 week timeline ✗ Monthly maintenance fees
Reality: Unless you're a property developer or have 50 staff, you don't need this. It's built for businesses with marketing departments.
It's not the website that costs money. It's everything around it:
If you're a tradie with 1-10 staff, the answer is somewhere between $850-$1,500.
You get:
Anything more than $2,000 upfront is overkill. Anything less than $500 and you're getting what you paid for.
That DIY Wix site? It's not really free. You pay with:
We build professional websites for Aussie tradies at $1,000. Includes:
✓ 5-page website
✓ Mobile-optimised
✓ SEO setup
✓ Contact forms
✓ $100/year maintenance (optional)