In short
- Domain: a yearly fee to a domain company. Check the renewal price, not just the first year.
- Hosting: free for a simple site on many services; a monthly fee once you want your own domain, forms or more sites.
- Design and building: free if you build it with an AI yourself; your time is the cost. Hiring someone is the biggest cost by far.
- Extras: forms, bookings, email addresses and shops each may add a monthly fee. List the ones you really need.
The parts you pay for
| Part | What it is | How you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Your address, like yourcafe.com | Yearly, to a domain company |
| Hosting | The computer that keeps the site online | Free, or monthly or yearly |
| Design and content | Layout, words, photos | Your time, an AI subscription, or a designer |
| Extras | Forms, bookings, payments, analytics | Often included in a plan, or a separate service |
| Email address | you@yourcafe.com | Usually a separate monthly fee per person |
| Upkeep | Changes, fixes, renewals | Your time, or a designer by the hour |
Domain
You rent the name a year at a time. Popular endings like .com are usually a modest yearly fee; some endings cost much more, and some are cheap only in the first year. Before you buy, check:
- The renewal price. That's what you pay every year after the first.
- Privacy protection. It hides your home address from public lookups. Many companies include it free.
- Auto-renew. Turn it on. A domain that lapses can be bought by someone else.
You don't strictly need a domain. Most hosts give you a free address, like yourname.pagelemon.dev. It's fine for a portfolio, a class project or an event. A business usually wants its own.
Hosting
A site your AI made is usually a static site: files only. Static sites are cheap to host, and many services have a free tier for them. What usually costs money:
- using your own domain;
- removing the host's badge or branding;
- more sites, more storage or longer version history;
- forms, bookings, passwords and analytics built in.
Site builders, where you design in the host's own editor, usually bundle hosting, the editor and extras in one monthly price. Developer platforms often start free and charge by use. Compare what you'll actually use, not the longest feature list.
For example: Page Lemon
A site on a pagelemon.dev address is free. Your own domain, forms and invite-only pages come with paid plans. The domain itself is paid to your domain company. See pricing
Design and building
- Build it with an AI yourself. Most AI chat apps have a free plan; paid plans add more use. The real cost is your time: an afternoon for a simple site, more for the words and photos.
- Use a template. Starting from a finished design saves time. Check whether the template has its own licence fee.
- Hire a freelancer or agency. The biggest cost, from a few hundred to many thousands, depending on pages, writing, photography and how many rounds of changes. Ask who owns the domain, the accounts and the files at the end.
Costs people forget
- Renewals. The domain renews yearly. Put the date in your calendar even with auto-renew on.
- Email. An address at your domain is usually a separate service from hosting.
- Photos and fonts. Use your own photos or ones with a clear licence. Free fonts are fine.
- Payment fees. If you take payments, the payment company takes a share of each one.
- Changes. If someone else built the site, every change may cost their time. If you can ask an AI to make changes, it costs yours.
- Leaving. Check you can download your site's files if you ever move.
Three example budgets
| Who | Likely setup | Yearly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Student portfolio | Built with an AI, free host address | $0 |
| Café with a menu and a contact form | Built with an AI, own domain, forms | Hosting on a paid plan, plus the domain |
| Small business, built by a designer | Designer up front, hosting, domain, email | The designer's fee, plus hosting, domain and email |
Questions
Can I have a website for free?
Yes, on a free host address. You pay once you want your own domain or extras like forms.
Is it cheaper to pay yearly?
Often. Many hosts discount yearly billing. On Page Lemon, yearly is ten months' price for twelve.
Do I need to pay for SSL or HTTPS?
Usually not any more. Most hosts include the padlock free. Page Lemon sets it up for every site and every connected domain.
What's the difference between hosting and a domain?
The domain is the address, hosting is the building. See hosting vs domain.