Website design packages in South Africa compared: what the lowest quotes leave out
Two website quotes can be thousands of rand apart and both be honest: the difference is usually in what each one leaves out. Here is how to find it before you sign.
Website design packages in South Africa can look alike on paper and still be thousands of rand apart. The gap is seldom talent. It is scope: what the price includes, and what it leaves out. A low quote is often an honest price for a smaller job, with fewer pages, a ready-made template, nothing set up for Google and no help after launch. So the useful question is not which quote is lowest, but what each one covers, line by line, and what you will still pay for once the site is live. For the prices themselves, and what moves them, see what website design costs in South Africa.
What the lowest quotes leave out
If one quote is far below the others, check it against this list. Each item is easy to leave off a quote.
VAT in the price
Ask whether the figure includes VAT. As at 2 October 2026, SARS’s VAT page says VAT is levied at the standard rate of 15% by registered vendors, who must charge it, subject to certain conditions. It also says a vendor can deduct the VAT charged to it (input tax) when it is incurred for making taxable supplies. So one quote may include VAT and another, from a supplier who isn’t registered, may not. If your business can deduct the VAT, compare the prices without it; if not, compare the totals you would pay. All our prices include VAT.
A design made for your business
A ready-made template with your logo dropped in is quicker to deliver, and it can look like any other site built on the same template. Ask whether the design is made for your business. Ours is: the Business package is a custom design, with no off-the-shelf template.
The words on every page
Ask who writes the text. Our Business and Professional packages don’t include copywriting: you supply the words, and we send you a structured content brief and do one editing pass at no charge. If you would rather we wrote them, it is R975 a page, incl. VAT.
Moving your current site
If you already have a website, ask whether moving its content across is included, and who redirects the old page addresses to the new ones. Migration from an existing site is part of our Professional package; on Business, we quote it before we start. See moving a website without losing traffic.
Set-up for Google
Ask whether the quote sets up an SEO plugin, Google Analytics, Google Search Console and your Google Business Profile. Google describes Search Console as a tool that shows how your site is performing on Google Search and what you can improve, and the Business Profile as a free listing that shows your business on Google Search and Maps. All four are in our Business package.
Security and speed
Ask what the quote installs and configures to protect the site and keep it quick. Our Business package configures Wordfence for security and LiteSpeed for speed. Security is not only a launch-day job, either. Xscape4u came to us after their site was compromised and injected with links to offshore casino sites; we rebuilt the platform clean and protected it with encryption and Wordfence.
Changes and support after launch
Ask how many rounds of changes are included, how extra work is charged, and who helps when something needs fixing a month after launch. Our Business package includes two revision rounds, 30 days of support after launch and a handover video; Professional has three rounds and 60 days. Anything outside a package is quoted per task before we start.
Hosting and updates, every month
A package price is a one-off; running the site is not. Ask what hosting costs, what it includes, whether updates and backups are part of it and, if hosting is included, for how long. If the site uses paid themes or plugins, ask whose name their licences are in and who pays when they renew. Our hosting is R450 a month, incl. VAT, with daily off-site backups, five mailboxes and up to 15 GB per site, but hosting alone doesn’t include updates. Our basic care plan, at R975 a month incl. VAT, includes the hosting and adds core, plugin and theme updates tested on staging first, Wordfence monitoring and a monthly health email. There is more in the running costs nobody quotes and what a website maintenance package includes.
Who holds the keys
Ask whose name the domain is registered in, what the site is built on, and whether you could move it to another host. If the site is paid for monthly, ask what happens to it when you stop paying. Some platforms can’t be moved. Wix’s help centre says a Wix site has to run on Wix’s own servers, although the content you build on it belongs to you. We build on WordPress. Your website and its content are yours, and you can move them wherever you like. WordPress.org describes WordPress as open-source software, and WordPress’s own documentation explains how to move a site to a new server.
What should a website design quote include?
A website design quote should list, in writing, what you get and what you don’t: the number of pages, custom design or template, who writes the words, whether your current site is moved, what is set up for Google and security, revisions and support after launch, running costs, whose name the domain is in, payment terms, turnaround and VAT.
Put your quotes side by side on those lines. Here are our answers for the Business package, as a worked example. If your site is small, what a 5-page business website costs covers which pages it needs.
| What to check | Ask each supplier | Our Business package |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Does it include VAT? | R15,000, incl. VAT |
| Pages | How many are included? | Up to 8 |
| Design | Made for you, or a template? | A custom design, no off-the-shelf template |
| Words | Who writes them? | You do, with our brief and one editing pass, or we write them at R975 a page |
| Your current site | Is moving it across included? | Quoted per task; included in Professional |
| What is set up? | An SEO plugin (Rank Math), Google Analytics, Search Console and your Business Profile | |
| Security and speed | What is configured? | Wordfence and LiteSpeed |
| Changes | How many rounds? | Two |
| After launch | How long is support? | 30 days, plus a handover video |
| Running costs | What does hosting cost, and what does it include? | R450 a month, or R975 a month with updates and Wordfence monitoring |
| Terms | How do you pay, and how long does it take? | 50/50 payment; typically two weeks |
What even our packages leave out
Every package leaves something out, ours included, and you should see that list before you pay a deposit. Here is ours. The Business package doesn’t include an online store, bookings, memberships or a learning platform, custom plugin work, third-party integrations, copywriting, photography or ongoing SEO.
Professional, from R25,000 incl. VAT (quoted up for a larger store), adds one of a WooCommerce store, a booking system, a membership or a learning platform, with up to 20 pages and up to 50 products loaded. It still leaves out custom plugin development, accounting or ERP integrations, stores with several sellers or several currencies, more than 50 products captured, and ongoing SEO. Anything larger is Custom & Systems, from R65,000 incl. VAT, quoted after a free first discovery, with detailed scoping included in the build price. The three packages are compared line by line on our website pricing page.
When the lowest quote is the right one
We are not the lowest quote you will get, and we don’t try to be. If you need a simple page with your contact details while you test an idea, or you are happy to build and run the site yourself, a low-priced package or a site builder may be all you need. Buy it knowing what it leaves out.
A fuller package earns its price when the site has to work for the business: bring in enquiries from Google, take orders or bookings, and keep running for years. Then the line no quote shows matters most: whether the people who built it will still be there. We have been building websites since 2001. GiftBucks has been a client since 2003, and Tin Soldier since 2005; we rebuilt Tin Soldier’s site in April 2025, and we still host it.
Compare the three packages side by side on the website pricing page. Get a quote when you are ready, and tell us what the site needs to do. We reply to new enquiries on the same business day.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to have a website designed in South Africa?
What a website costs to have designed in South Africa depends on what the package includes, so compare scope before price. Ours, all incl. VAT: R15,000 for a custom-designed business site of up to eight pages; from R25,000 when it also needs an online store, bookings, a membership area or a learning platform; and from R65,000 for custom systems. Hosting is R450 a month on top. You will find lower quotes: check what they leave out.
Which website builder is the best in South Africa?
There isn’t one best builder for every business. It depends on whether you want to build and run the site yourself, and whether you may want to move it later. Wix’s help centre says a Wix site has to run on Wix’s servers, while WordPress, which we build on, is open-source software that can be moved to a new server. We compare them in Wix vs WordPress for a South African business.
Can ChatGPT build me a website?
ChatGPT can write the code for a web page, and OpenAI’s help centre says supported HTML pages can be previewed inside it. Put it through the same questions as any quote: who hosts the site, who sets it up for Google, who installs the updates, and who fixes it when it breaks. That work is what a package and a care plan pay for.