The short version
Expect $0–$400 a year to do it yourself, $1,500–$5,000 one-time for a freelancer, and $5,000–$15,000+ for an agency. Monthly “salon website” platforms run $30–$300 a month forever and you usually do not own the site. The honest answer is that a good small-salon site is a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and anything above that is buying strategy work most salons do not need.
This is the question every salon owner asks first and almost nobody answers straight. Here are real 2026 numbers, including mine, and what you actually get at each level.
What are the four ways to get a salon website?
| Route | What it costs | How long | Do you own it? | Ongoing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | $0–$400 a year | 20–40 hours of your own time | Yes | $16–$49/mo builder, ~$20/yr domain |
| Freelancer | $1,500–$5,000 one time | 3–8 weeks | Yes | Hourly, or wait for them |
| Agency | $5,000–$15,000+ | 6–12 weeks | Yes | Usually a retainer |
| Monthly platform | $30–$300 a month, forever | Varies | No — cancel and it usually disappears | The monthly, indefinitely |
| Yeti Design Co. | $999 flat, one time | 7 days | Yes, from day one | $0 for year one, then $300/yr or free handover |
Builder and platform prices are the September 2026 rates from each company’s own pricing page. They change; check before you commit.
1. Do it yourself — $0 to $400 a year
Wix, Squarespace, Showit or GoDaddy. The builder runs $16–$49 a month on the plans a salon would use, plus around $20 a year for the domain. Templates are free or up to $200. Those are the September 2026 rates from each company’s own pricing page. They change, so check before you commit.
What it really costs you is time. Most owners spend twenty to forty hours on the first build, then avoid touching it again. That is a week of your life you could have spent behind the chair, and the result usually looks like the template it started as.
Worth it if: you are pre-revenue, you enjoy the fiddling, and you genuinely have the weekend.
2. A freelancer — $1,500 to $5,000 one-time
The usual range for a custom small-business site from an individual designer. You get something built for you, usually four to eight pages, in three to eight weeks.
The catch is what happens after. Most freelance work is project-based, so when you need your hours changed in December, you are either paying an hourly rate or waiting on someone who has moved on to other projects.
3. An agency — $5,000 to $15,000 and up
Discovery calls, brand workshops, wireframes, revision rounds, a project manager. Six to twelve weeks.
Agencies are genuinely good at complex problems. A single-location salon is not a complex problem. You are mostly paying for process and overhead that a five-page site does not need.
4. A monthly platform — $30 to $300 a month, forever
Salon-specific website services bundled with booking software. Convenient, and the trap is ownership: cancel and the site usually disappears, because you were renting it.
Before you pay anyone, ask: do I own the site if I stop paying you? If the answer is no, you are renting. That is fine if you know it going in, and expensive if you do not.
What actually drives the price?
- Page count. Five pages is not five times a one-page site, but it is not the same either.
- Custom design versus a template. The single biggest factor.
- Who writes the words. Copywriting is often quoted separately and quietly doubles a quote.
- Booking integration. Connecting Vagaro, Square, Boulevard or GlossGenius properly takes real work.
- Who maintains it after launch. The line item nobody asks about, and the one that bites.
What does a salon site actually need?
Most quotes are inflated by things a salon will never use. You need: a service menu with real prices, an obvious way to book, your hours and location, photos of your actual work, and a page that loads fast on a phone. That is close to the whole list.
You do not need a blog you will never write, a custom booking system when your platform already has one, an app, or a fifteen-page site for a five-service salon.
What I charge, and why
$999 flat to design and build it, with twelve months of hosting, SSL, booking integration and unlimited small edits included (hours, prices, photos, staff changes, holiday notices). Live in seven days. One price, whether you have one chair or twelve. After the first year, care renews at $300 a year, or I hand the whole site over free if you would rather run it yourself. You own the code, the domain and the DNS from day one.
That is lower than a freelancer because I only build for beauty businesses. I am not researching your industry on your budget, and I am not booking meetings to learn what a balayage appointment is. Narrow focus is what makes the price work.
Below roughly $300, be careful. Common patterns are a free template with your logo dropped on, a site you cannot edit or move, hosting that vanishes, or a $99 build followed by $150 for every small change. Ask what happens in month eight.
How to compare quotes properly
- Do I own the site outright once it is paid for?
- What does it cost to change my hours or prices later?
- Is hosting and SSL included, or billed separately?
- Who writes the copy?
- Can I see something you built for a business like mine?
- What is the total cost over two years, not just launch?
That last one reorders most quotes. A $99 build with $99 monthly costs more over two years than a $2,000 one-time site.
See what this price actually builds
Read next
$999 flat. A year of hosting included. Live in seven days.
No tiers, no add-ons, no upsell. The site is yours once it is paid for.
See what I build →