The short answer
In 2026, a professional website for a small Irish business typically costs €500–€5,000 as a one-off, plus €10–€100+ per month in running costs (hosting, domain, maintenance). Where you land in that range depends almost entirely on who builds it and how much custom work it needs.
Here's the realistic 2026 market picture for Cork and Ireland:
| Option | Typical price (Ireland, 2026) | Timeline | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | €150–€400/year | Your evenings, for weeks | Hobby projects, testing an idea |
| Freelance designer | €800–€2,500 | 3–8 weeks | Simple brochure sites, if you find a good one |
| Traditional Cork agency | €2,500–€10,000+ | 6–12 weeks | Large companies with complex needs |
| AI-powered studio (like Webby AI) | €497–€1,997 fixed | 5–10 days | SMEs that want agency quality at SME prices |
What actually drives the price of a website?
1. Number of pages and content
A 3-page site (Home, About, Contact) is a very different job to a 15-page site with service pages for every town you cover. More pages means more design, more copywriting, and more SEO work. This is why fixed-price packages are usually structured by page count — our own packages run from 3 pages at €497 to 7 pages plus a custom app at €1,997.
2. Custom design vs. template
A template site is faster and cheaper but looks like a thousand other sites. Fully custom design at a traditional agency is where €5,000+ quotes come from. The 2026 middle ground: AI-powered workflows let studios produce custom-designed sites at template-level prices — this is genuinely the biggest shift in web design pricing in a decade.
3. Copywriting and SEO
Words sell, and someone has to write them. If a quote doesn't mention content, assume you're writing it yourself. Proper SEO — keyword research, page structure, meta data, local landing pages, Google Business Profile setup — can add €500–€2,000 at an agency, or be baked in from the start. Ask specifically.
4. Features: booking, e-commerce, portals
Online booking, customer portals, payment processing and product catalogues each add complexity. A booking system alone can add €1,000–€3,000 at traditional rates. (It's included in our Pro package as a custom AI-built app.)
5. Ongoing costs — the part nobody mentions
- Domain: €10–€25/year (.ie domains cost a little more than .com)
- Hosting: €5–€30/month for a typical business site
- SSL certificate: should be free — walk away if someone charges €100/year for it
- Maintenance/care plans: €50–€150/month for updates, security and small content changes
Real price ranges in Cork in 2026
Based on what we see Cork businesses being quoted every week:
- Basic brochure site (3–5 pages): €800–€2,500 from freelancers and small studios; €2,500–€4,000 from established agencies.
- Business site with SEO and booking: €2,000–€6,000 from agencies; often quoted with 6–10 week lead times.
- E-commerce: €3,000–€10,000+ depending on catalogue size and integrations.
Those prices aren't dishonest — a traditional agency carries office costs, project managers and manual design hours. But most Cork SMEs don't need that overhead. They need a fast, professional, Google-friendly site that makes the phone ring.
Why AI-powered web design changes the maths
Webby AI builds websites using AI-assisted design and development tools. The quality bar doesn't drop — the hours do. That's how we deliver a professionally designed Cork website for:
- Starter — €497: 3 pages, mobile-first responsive design, contact form, SSL, live in 5 days.
- Standard — €797: 5 pages, SEO-optimised content, Google Maps, Google Business Profile and analytics setup, live in 7 days. Our most popular package.
- Pro — €1,997: 7 pages plus a custom AI-built app (booking, portal or catalogue), full SEO setup, live in 10 days.
An optional Care Plan from €99/month covers hosting, security updates and up to 2 content changes a month. And you own everything — domain, hosting and site are transferred to your name once the final invoice is paid.
Rule of thumb: if a quote is under €300, question the quality. If it's over €3,000 for a standard small-business site, question the overhead. And whatever you pay — get the delivery date and total cost in writing before you start.
Don't forget the grant: the Trading Online Voucher
Here's something many Cork business owners don't know: your Local Enterprise Office runs the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, which can cover up to 50% of the cost of getting your business online, to a maximum of €2,500. It applies to website development, online booking systems, e-commerce, and related digital costs, and it's open to small businesses (generally under 10 employees and under €2m turnover) that have been trading for at least 6 months.
The process is straightforward: attend a short information session with LEO Cork North & West (or your local LEO), submit the application with a quote from your web designer, and get approval before the work starts. For a Standard €797 website, that voucher can bring your real cost down dramatically — and for a Pro build with a booking app, it can effectively halve the bill. We're happy to prepare the written quote and specification your LEO application needs; just ask during your consultation.
Five questions to ask before you pay anyone
- "Do I own the website, domain and hosting?" — The answer must be an unqualified yes. Lock-in is the most common trap in Irish web design.
- "What exactly is included — and what costs extra?" — Content, SEO, revisions, images. Get the list in writing.
- "When will it go live?" — A professional will commit to a date. "A few weeks" usually means a few months.
- "Will it be mobile-first and fast?" — Over 60% of Irish local searches happen on phones, and Google ranks slow sites lower.
- "What happens after launch?" — Maintenance costs, support response times, and what a content change costs.
The bottom line
A website for a Cork small business in 2026 should cost €500–€2,000, be live within two weeks, and be owned by you outright. Anything dramatically cheaper is usually a template with your logo on it; anything dramatically dearer is usually paying for someone else's office.
And remember why you're buying it: a good website is not a cost, it's the cheapest salesperson you'll ever hire. One extra job a month covers a €497 site many times over — especially if you pair it with automation like a 24/7 AI receptionist or missed-call text-back so no enquiry goes cold.
Want a fixed quote instead of a guess? Book a free 30-minute consultation — we'll tell you exactly what your business needs, what it'll cost, and when it'll be live. Websites from €497, delivered in 5 days, from Freemount, Co. Cork. No obligation, no jargon.