Where the numbers come from
The base amounts, feature allowances and multipliers below are SiteCost’s internal modelling assumptions. They are inherited from the calculator and documented here so you can reproduce a result. No sample of market transactions or client invoices has been used to validate them.
Neaptide has separately supplied three indicative starting prices: landing pages from $2,900, corporate websites from $8,200 and web apps from $14,000. Those minimums are applied to the matching agency scenarios. Ecommerce and content-site agency outputs have no confirmed Neaptide minimum and remain model examples.
The calculation, in order
- Add the website-type base and the allowances for the selected features.
- Multiply that sum by the design factor and technology factor.
- Use the result as the freelancer scenario; multiply it by 2.2 for the studio scenario.
- For the agency scenario, multiply by 5 and apply the relevant Neaptide minimum when one has been supplied.
- Convert from USD using the displayed fixed conversion assumptions and round once to a whole currency unit.
Studio = freelancer × 2.2
Agency = max(freelancer × 5, applicable Neaptide minimum)
Feature allowances are added before design and technology multipliers. Each feature is counted once.
Base development assumptions
| Website type | Model base, USD |
|---|---|
| Landing page | $1,000 |
| Business website | $2,500 |
| Online store | $4,500 |
| Web app / SaaS | $7,500 |
| Content website | $1,500 |
A category does not specify a fixed page count or a complete product scope. A large catalogue, unusual workflow or substantial migration needs an individual estimate.
Design and technology factors
| Choice | Factor |
|---|---|
| Adapted template | ×1 |
| Custom design | ×1.4 |
| Advanced visual design | ×2 |
| No-code | ×0.8 |
| CMS | ×1 |
| React / Next.js | ×1.3 |
| Custom backend architecture | ×1.8 |
These factors model relative effort. They do not measure the performance, safety or suitability of a technology, and they do not replace technical discovery.
Feature allowances
| Feature | Allowance before multipliers |
|---|---|
| Accounts & login | $600 |
| Payments | $800 |
| Multiple languages | $400 |
| CRM integration | $700 |
| Admin panel | $800 |
| Blog | $300 |
| Support chat | $200 |
| Search & filtering | $500 |
| Technical SEO setup | $400 |
Each allowance represents a generic integration task. Define the supported workflow, provider, failure handling and acceptance criteria before treating it as a quote. Licence fees and service usage are separate.
One reproducible calculation
A corporate website with a CMS, custom design and technical SEO has a $2,500 base plus a $400 feature allowance. Multiplying $2,900 by 1.4 and 1.0 produces $4,060 for the freelancer scenario, $8,932 for the studio and $20,300 for the agency. The corporate agency minimum of $8,200 does not change this result.
Currency is not a local market adjustment
The model uses fixed assumptions: 1 USD = 0.92 EUR, 93 RUB or 7.24 CNY. These are not live exchange rates. Their market date is unknown, so use a current rate for an actual payment or proposal.
Changing the language or currency does not make this a country-specific price survey. Taxes, local operating costs and provider terms are not modelled.
What is excluded
Domain and hosting fees, paid platform plans, licences, transaction charges, taxes, writing, translation, photography, advertising, data migration and ongoing support are excluded unless a real proposal explicitly includes them. AI inference costs and regulated or unusually complex requirements need separate discovery.
Timeline labels and the cost-allocation table are illustrative planning assumptions. They are not a delivery commitment or an estimate of failure probability. We do not calculate a reliability score.
Maintaining and correcting the model
Neaptide maintains the model and benefits from enquiries made through SiteCost. It is not an independent review of development providers. The starting prices above were supplied by Neaptide on September 9, 2026; the exact proposal follows a short scope discussion.
To report an unclear assumption or request a scoped quote, contact hello@neaptide.ai. Model changes should include a new version date and a description of their effect on example estimates.