If you'll build the site yourself, a builder such as Wix or WordPress.com costs less in cash than paying a developer, for as long as you keep paying the subscription. If you sell online in India, Shopify is hard to beat on setup, but you pay its plan fee plus a cut of every order. A custom site costs more on day one and nothing to the platform after that.
What do website builders cost in India?
These are the list prices on each vendor's own pricing page, checked on 3 November 2026. We kept each price in the currency the vendor shows. GST or other taxes are extra unless the row says otherwise.
| Plan | Listed price | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Wix Light | About US$17 a month, billed yearly | Wix says prices and currency vary by location and showed us US dollars "for reference only". Light does not include accepting payments. |
| Wix Core | About US$29 a month, billed yearly | The cheapest Wix plan we saw that includes "Accept payments". |
| WordPress.com Personal | US$4 a month, billed yearly | Excludes taxes. WordPress.com says every paid plan, Personal included, can install plugins. |
| WordPress.com Business | US$25 a month, billed yearly | US$40 if you pay month to month. |
| Shopify Basic | ₹1,499 a month, billed yearly | Plus 2% of each order if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, which is not offered in India. |
We couldn't see the rupee price Wix charges an Indian account, so treat the Wix rows as a rough guide and check the price after you sign in. Shopify's third-party fee is charged on top of what Razorpay, PayU or another gateway charges you, so an Indian Shopify store pays two percentages on every order. Shopify's introductory offer for the first three months isn't in the table, because it ends.
What does a custom site cost from us?
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | ₹25,000* | Up to 5 pages, basic SEO setup, 3 months post-launch support |
| Growth | ₹60,000* | Up to 15 pages, blog / CMS integration, advanced SEO + schema markup |
| Enterprise | from ₹1,20,000* | E-commerce / payments, custom backend + database, API integrations |
The build price is paid once. After that you pay for the domain and hosting, and a simple static or Next.js site can run on a free hosting tier. Our post on website maintenance costs in India lists those bills with sourced prices. If you want someone to look after the site, the Website Care Plan is ₹3,000*/mo, and it's optional.
How do they compare over three years?
Three years is a fair life for a small business site before it needs a refresh. Shopify Basic at its yearly rate is ₹17,988 a year, which comes to ₹53,964 over three years, before GST and before the per-order fees. That is close to the price of our Growth website, and much less than a custom shop on our Enterprise plan (from ₹1,20,000*). For a store with a few hundred products, delivery rules and online payment, Shopify is the cheaper way to start.
For a 5-page site with no shop, the cash comparison goes the other way. WordPress.com Personal at US$4 a month is US$144 over three years, far less than our Starter price. What the Starter price buys is the work: someone writes the pages, builds the phone layout, sets up the SEO basics and hands over a site that needs no plugin updates. If you have the time and like doing it, use the builder.
Can you move the site later?
A common setup in India is a freelancer who builds the site on Wix or WordPress.com for a one-time fee. You then pay both: the freelancer once and the subscription every year. That can still be a good deal. Make sure the builder account is registered to your email and paid with your card, so the site stays yours if the freelancer moves on.
Wix says plainly that its sites can't be hosted anywhere else, because they run on Wix's own technology. You can transfer the domain away, but moving the site means rebuilding it. A custom site is a set of files and a database you can move to any host. Whoever builds it, ask for the code, the hosting account and the domain to be in your name before you pay the final invoice.
WordPress or a custom-coded site?
Self-hosted WordPress sits between a builder and a custom build. A developer installs it on your hosting, picks or builds a theme and adds plugins. You get an editor many people already know and thousands of plugins. You also take on the upkeep.
| Question | WordPress | Custom-coded (Next.js or Laravel) |
|---|---|---|
| Who edits the content? | You, in the WordPress editor, any time | Your developer, or you through an admin panel if one is built in |
| What needs updating? | WordPress core, the theme, every plugin and the PHP version on the server | Far less on a static site. A Laravel or server-rendered site needs its framework kept current. |
| Main security risk | Plugins. Most WordPress vulnerabilities are found in plugins. | Mostly the code your developer wrote and the server it runs on |
| Speed on phones | Depends on the theme and how many plugins load scripts | Only what the page needs is loaded, if the developer is careful |
| Finding another developer later | Easy. Many people in India know WordPress. | Possible, since Next.js and Laravel are common, but fewer people know your particular codebase |
Our post on maintenance costs has the 2025 count of WordPress vulnerabilities and the PHP support dates, if you want the numbers behind the security row.
We build custom sites in Next.js and Laravel. Gausiya Exports, a seafood exporter in Navi Mumbai, has a product catalogue and an enquiry form for overseas buyers in Next.js. Sidmark, a laminate supplier in Mumbai, has a catalogue of HPL and LPL products with an enquiry form, built in Laravel. Neither needs anyone posting content every week, and that kind of site is where we think custom code makes most sense.
Our take
Selling products online
Start on Shopify, and budget for its plan plus both payment fees. Move to a custom build when you need something Shopify can't do or the fees outgrow the plan.
A shop, clinic or service business with 5 to 15 pages
Ravi would build it custom, as a static or Next.js site on free hosting. It loads fast on phones and there's nothing to patch. Pick a builder instead only if you'll genuinely build and edit it yourself.
Publishing articles or offers every week yourself
WordPress, with a maintained theme and as few plugins as possible, and someone checking updates every month.
For what a full build costs at each tier, see our website development cost guide, and for how we work, our web development page.
Where these numbers come from
We checked every source on 3 November 2026. Builder prices change often, so check before you buy.
- Shopify plan prices in India, third-party payment fees and the trial offer: Shopify India pricing.
- Countries where Shopify Payments is available, which don't include India: Shopify Help Center, supported countries.
- Wix plan prices, the reference-currency note and which plans accept payments: Wix premium plans.
- Wix sites can't be hosted elsewhere: Wix Help Center, exporting or embedding your site elsewhere.
- WordPress.com plan prices and plugin installation on paid plans: WordPress.com pricing.
