2026 prices.

How much does a website or a web application?

A showcase site runs from €500 to €5,000. A web app, from €10,000 to €200,000+. Before comparing quotes, know which of the two you're buying — ranges, recurring costs and the right model, no detours.

Price my project → See the ranges ↓

Which one are you buying.

Website or web application:
which one are you paying for?

The same question hides two very different products — and two budgets that have nothing in common. Naming yours is the first step of any serious quote.

Showcase site

A static online presence

It presents your business: pages, content, a contact form. It informs, reassures and converts — but it doesn't 'do' anything. The complexity lives in the design and the copy, not the tech.

Web application

An interactive tool

A piece of software in the browser: user accounts, data, business logic. It replaces spreadsheets, orchestrates processes, takes payments. The complexity lives in the business rules and the integrations.

The line blurs in two cases: (a 'site' with payments, stock and customer accounts — technically an application) and (an application sold by subscription). That's exactly where quotes diverge the most.

The ranges.

Price ranges by project type.

Drag the cursor to where your budget is: the ruler tells you which product you are buying — and when two readings are possible.

At €12,000

  • One-page / showcase site €500 → €5,000
  • E-commerce site €3,000 → €15,000
  • Internal web application €10,000 → €40,000
  • SaaS / complex web application €30,000 → €200,000+

Why such wide gaps? Three reasons. Who builds: an offshore freelancer doesn't bill like a specialised French agency — day rates go from one to three. How: an adapted template costs 3 to 5 times less than a fully custom design. What: every feature — payment, client area, dashboard — adds days of work. Two 'e-commerce' projects can legitimately range from €3,000 to €50,000.

For a SaaS specifically →For a mobile app →

The estimator.

And for your project?

Six answers, one range. It is computed from the ranges published above, not from a hidden price list.

The drivers.

What makes the price move.

Five drivers explain almost every gap between two quotes. Check yours before comparing anything.

  1. The first driver. A contact form costs an hour; a booking engine with payments costs weeks. Each screen, role and business rule adds days of work.

    #screens#roles#business-rules

  2. A well-chosen template gets a showcase site out for a few hundred euros. A custom design — identity, layouts, animations — multiplies the budget by 3 to 5, and it shows.

    #identity#mockups

  3. Payment, CRM, invoicing, third-party APIs: every connection to your tools is scoped, built and tested. A product that lives alone costs less than one that orchestrates your stack.

    #payment#CRM#API

  4. User accounts, permissions, personal or payment data: security isn't an option, it's engineering time. The more sensitive the data, the higher the bar — and the budget.

    #accounts#GDPR

  5. Ten visitors a day or a thousand simultaneous users: it's not the same product. Going from 'it works' to 'it holds under real load' is precisely what separates a demo from production.

    #load#scaling

Total cost.

Build cost vs recurring costs.

The quote is only half the story. What you'll actually pay is the total cost of ownership (TCO): build + everything that runs every month after launch.

One-time · the build

Paid once

  • Scoping and design of the screens
  • Development and integrations
  • Content, testing, go-live

This is the number on the quote — the one everyone compares. It's also the one that varies the most.

Recurring · every year

Paid for as long as it runs

  • Hosting: ~€10–30 / month
  • Showcase site maintenance: ~€100–300 / year
  • Web app maintenance: ~15–20% of the initial budget / year

Security updates, fixes, monitoring, small evolutions: an application is alive — budget it from day one.

The same two examples, over five years

A €3,000 site€3,000 + €300/yr × 5

A €40,000 app€40,000 + 15%/yr × 5

build, paid onceone year of running costs

The right reflex: think in 5-year TCO. A €3,000 site + €300/year comes to €4,500. A €40,000 app + 15%/year comes to €70,000. That's the number to compare — not the quote.

Who builds it.

Agency, freelancer, no-code or AI:
which model for which budget.

  1. 05

    €600–1,000 / day

    Specialised agency / studio

    #process#guarantee#follow-up

  2. 04

    €400–600 / day

    Freelancer France · offshore ~€200–350/day

    A good freelancer delivers a lot for the price. The risks: availability, bus factor, and quality that depends entirely on one person.

  3. 03

    ~ €10,000

    No-code Bubble

    A basic app, fast. Good for validating an idea — but scalability limits and per-user pricing catch up with you as soon as it works.

  4. 02

    ~ €20 / month

    Generative AI Lovable

    An MVP prototype for the price of a subscription. Perfect for showing an idea; not something you put real clients or real data on.

  5. 01

    < €20 / month

    DIY Wix, Squarespace

    You build it yourself on a site builder. Fine for a simple showcase site — and only for that. Your time is the real cost.

Self-scoping.

Scope your budget in 5 questions.

Answer these five before asking for a single quote — they place you on the ruler above and save everyone a round trip.

0 / 5 scoped

It's an application → let's talkIt's a site → let's talk

FAQ.

The questions we get all the time.

Yours is not here? Brief us in a few minutes — an honest answer within one business day.

Ask your question →
What's the difference between a website and a web application?

A website presents your business: pages, content, a form. A web application is software in the browser: user accounts, data, business logic. The first informs, the second works — and the budgets have nothing in common.

How much does a basic showcase site cost?

€500 to €5,000 depending on complexity: number of pages, template vs custom design, whether the content exists, and who builds it (DIY, freelancer or agency).

How much does a SaaS web application cost?

€30,000 to €200,000+ depending on features: screens and roles, integrations (payment, CRM, APIs), security and finish. A tight-scoped MVP can start lower — see how much a custom SaaS costs.

Is no-code really cheaper?

Yes for an MVP (~€10,000). No at scale: beyond ~500 users, performance limits and per-user pricing make a migration to real code inevitable — and you pay for the product twice.

Contact.

One brief, one quote, within 24 h.

Describe the project in a few minutes. We come back with an honest first read, a ballpark and the first risks. No PowerPoint, just a clear answer.

StudioRemote · US / EU / Asia, aligned time zones
Emailcontact@ottopilote.com
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