How Much Does a Website Cost in Ontario?

There are two numbers, and most quotes only show the first. The build cost is what you pay to have the site planned, designed, written and launched. The total cost of ownership is the build cost plus everything it takes to keep the site running and accurate: domain, hosting, licences, updates, security, content changes and your own time. A cheap build with expensive upkeep can cost more over three years than a careful build with light upkeep, so compare both.

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Market figures exist, but treat them as a rough frame, not a price list for Ontario. Clutch, a directory that lists agencies and collects client reviews, publishes a web design pricing guide. As of 15 October 2026, it reports (vendor-reported, drawn from projects reviewed on its platform, and apparently in US dollars):

• an average web design project cost of about $38,105
• agency projects "typically" ranging from $2,000 to $100,000
• most projects costing less than $10,000
• shortlisted firms in the US, Canada and Australia charging around $100 to $149 an hour

These numbers come from a directory whose business is listing agencies, they mix project sizes and countries, and they are not a survey of Ontario small businesses. Use them to sanity-check a quote that seems far outside the range, not to set your budget.

As of 15 October 2026, these are our published prices. Each one is a starting price for a fixed quote agreed before any work starts, in Canadian dollars, plus HST, paid in two instalments: 50% to start and 50% at launch.

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"From" means the quote can be higher when the scope is larger, for example with a booking integration, a large migration or regulated copy. The quote says so before you agree to anything. Your code stays in your repository, and you own it. The pricing page has the full detail.

In Ontario, the harmonized sales tax (HST) is 13%. The Canada Revenue Agency's page on charging and collecting GST/HST explains which rate applies based on the place of supply; its Ontario example charges 13% HST on the sale.

A worked example on our Growth tier: $3,500 plus $455 HST is $3,955. In two instalments, that is $1,977.50 to start and $1,977.50 at launch, each including HST. If you are an HST registrant, you may be able to claim input tax credits; ask your accountant.

Drip pricing is advertising a price that cannot actually be paid, because mandatory fees are added later. The Competition Bureau describes it as businesses that "add mandatory fees so that the advertised prices are not attainable", and treats it as a concern under the Competition Act unless the extra charge is imposed by government, such as sales tax.

That is why every price we publish carries "plus HST" next to it. The fixed quote is the price for the agreed scope, plus HST. If you ask for work outside that scope, we quote it before we start it. When you compare quotes from other providers, ask each one: "Is there any mandatory charge not shown in this number, apart from HST?"

Running costs depend on the platform and how much changes after launch. Plan for:

• Domain. A yearly renewal, usually small, but it must be in your name.
• Hosting and platform fees. A builder charges a subscription; a custom site needs hosting. Check what your provider includes.
• Licences. Fonts, plugins, booking tools and photo licences can renew yearly.
• Care and updates. Security, backups, fixes and small changes. Our care plans, as of 15 October 2026, are Essentials at $250, Growth at $650 and Authority at $1,200 CAD a month, plus HST, month-to-month, cancel any time. See care plans for what each covers.
• Content. New pages, articles, photos and seasonal updates, written by you or by someone you pay.
• Your time. Approvals, replies to enquiries, and keeping your Google Business Profile current.

A hypothetical first year, to show the arithmetic rather than to quote you: a Growth build from $3,500 plus twelve months of Essentials at $250 is $6,500, plus $845 HST, for $7,345 before domain and licence costs. Your quote will differ with scope. What a care plan covers goes into upkeep in more depth.

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Where we come out worse: if you can write your own copy, need a few pages and have the time, a builder will cost less than any of our tiers. If you need a large enterprise integration programme, a larger agency has more people to put on it. The builder versus custom guide and WordPress or Next.js comparison help with the platform side of the decision.

Costs shift with the rules and features each type of business needs:

• Law firms need every page checked against the Law Society's marketing rules; see LSO marketing rules and your website and law firm website companies in Ontario, compared.
• Clinics need booking linked from every practitioner page and forms that keep health details off the site; see choosing online booking and PHIPA and clinic website forms.
• Trades need service and town pages with real local proof; see should a contractor have a page for every city?

For what Ontario law, clinic and accounting websites publish today, measured on a phone, see our Ontario Practice Website Index.

1. List the pages you need and the one action each should lead to, such as call, book or enquire.
2. Decide who writes the content, and say so in your request.
3. List the features that must work at launch, and the ones that can wait.
4. Ask each provider whether the price is a fixed quote or hourly, and what is out of scope.
5. Ask whether any mandatory charge sits outside the number, apart from HST.
6. Ask for the yearly running costs, and who owns the domain, code and accounts.
7. Ask when the timeline will be confirmed. Ours is stated in the quote, before anything starts.