You're asking for quotes for a website and the numbers you get back differ several times over. That's normal, and the reason is usually scope, not quality. Before you accept or reject any quote, write one page: what the site must do, who the visitors are and which features must be finished on launch day. With that document, quotes become comparable.
In this post I deliberately don't publish a table of market prices in KM or euros. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia I found no primary source (statistics or a public price list) that would confirm ranges, and invented ranges would mislead you. Instead you get what can be checked: what sets the price, which costs aren't in the quote and how to assess a quote.
How much does a website cost in BiH and what sets the price?
The cost of building a website depends on four things: complexity, design approach, the features needed at launch and who builds it. There's no single "right" price, so compare quotes by the scope of work, not by the amount.
A website has become a business baseline. According to Eurostat, in 2025 79.01% of enterprises in the EU had a website, 76.66% of small and 95.65% of large ones (checked 30 September 2026). The figure covers the EU, not BiH, but it shows that a website is no longer a differentiator, it's what customers expect.
Complexity
A five-page site with a contact form is a solved problem. A booking system with user accounts, payments and email notifications is a software project. The more distinct things the site has to do, the bigger the scope.
Design approach
Building on a ready-made template (WordPress, Webflow, Framer) trades uniqueness for speed. Custom design from a Figma file gives full control but takes more time upfront. The difference in price is usually explained by the difference in hours of work.
Features
Features are often underestimated in quotes. A contact form is a small item. Multi-language support, user sign-in, roles and permissions, admin panels and integrations with external APIs add scope. Before you ask for a quote, list everything the site must have on launch day, not only the obvious parts.
Who builds it
The provider has a big effect on price: a solo freelancer, a regional agency and a Western European agency work with different overheads. I don't give hourly rates for providers in the region because I have no source that confirms them.
I charge for my services per project, not per hour. My public price list (pricing.md on this site) lists a fixed scope for a web app or custom site, a timeline of two to six weeks depending on scope and a price on request; it includes turning the design into code, CMS setup (if Webflow), an SEO foundation and deployment.
| Project type | What it usually includes | What raises the price most |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure site (a few pages, template) | Design, text layout, contact form, basic SEO, mobile adaptation | Extra pages, custom design |
| Site with a CMS | Content you edit yourself, a blog, basic SEO | Special content types, complex navigation, several languages |
| Web shop | Catalogue, cart, checkout, payment gateway | Inventory, order tracking, logistics, integrations |
| Web app or SaaS MVP | Sign-in, dashboards, business logic, database | The amount of custom logic |
A web app is software, not a website, and the difference between a booking system for a single business and a multi-tenant SaaS platform is huge even though both are called a "web app". For projects of that kind see the software development cost guide.
The difference between paying per project and per hour is who carries the risk. With a fixed price for a clearly defined scope, the provider carries the risk that the work takes longer, and you carry the risk that you failed to describe the scope. With hourly billing the risk is yours, but you're more flexible when requirements change. Neither model is better in itself; what matters is that the contract says what happens when scope changes and who approves it before time is spent.
Which costs aren't in a website quote?
A quote usually covers the build, not running the site: domain, hosting, content, maintenance, analytics and business email, so ask for those costs in writing and plan for the first year.
| Item | What to know before deciding |
|---|---|
| Domain | An annual fee at a registrar; check the renewal price, not just year one |
| Hosting | Depends on the site type; free plans can have usage restrictions |
| SSL certificate | Can be free, see below |
| Content | Text, images and photo licences come separately from the build |
| Maintenance | Updates, security patches and fixes; agree who does it and for what fee |
| Analytics | Google Analytics 4 and Search Console don't configure themselves |
| Business email | Not part of building the site |
Maintenance deserves its own sentence in the contract. After launch, a site still depends on software that changes: libraries get updates, plugins stop working with new versions, and certificates and domains expire. Someone has to watch that. So ask the provider whether they offer monthly maintenance, what exactly it covers (fixes, backups, uptime monitoring, small content changes) and whether it's mandatory. In the public price list for my own services I list monthly maintenance as a separate service with a minimum term of one month, price on request.
Content is the item clients forget most often. A build quote assumes you deliver the text, photos and logos unless it says otherwise. If you can't prepare them, ask who writes the copy, who arranges the photos and who is responsible for image copyright. A page with empty spaces for text can't be launched, so late content often delays the whole project.
HTTPS doesn't have to be a cost. Let's Encrypt is a nonprofit that issues certificates for free, and most hosting providers include them. If someone charges for a standard certificate, ask why. Then check the terms of free hosting. Vercel states that its Hobby plan is restricted to non-commercial use (checked 30 September 2026), so a business site that earns revenue shouldn't sit on it.
Speed has a cost too if it's neglected. web.dev gives target values for Core Web Vitals (LCP within 2.5 s, INP within 200 ms, CLS within 0.1 at the 75th percentile). Ask the provider whether they measure them before launch and who monitors them afterwards.
WordPress, custom or static site: which is better value?
There's no single winner: WordPress is a common choice when a team edits a lot of content itself, custom builds when there's business logic, and a static site when content rarely changes. Value depends on how often you change content and how it's maintained.
| Approach | Advantage | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress on a ready-made theme | Quick start, you edit content yourself | Plugins and updates need constant attention |
| Custom build (e.g. Next.js, Astro) | Full control, no surplus plugins | More upfront effort, changes need a developer if there's no CMS |
| Static site | Simple and fast, small attack surface | Every content change goes through a developer |
| CMS (Webflow, Contentful) | Editing without code | More parts that can fail |
These are qualitative differences, not prices. If content changes daily, a CMS pays off; if it changes quarterly, a static site is often enough. The WordPress vs custom website comparison goes into detail.
Agency or freelancer
An agency usually has higher overhead because it covers account management, sales and internal coordination. That isn't always a bad choice, but it isn't the default either. Agencies have the advantage on large projects that need design, development, content and testing at the same time, in procurements with formal requirements and when you need a legal entity with an agreed service level. A freelancer is often the better fit for a clearly defined scope, fast delivery and direct communication with the person who builds. For SaaS projects see the agency vs freelancer comparison.
How do you assess a quote and get a realistic price?
A good quote lists pages, features and deliverables, states the number of revision rounds, the technology, timelines by milestone and a payment schedule tied to deliveries. A quote without that is a proposal to negotiate scope.
Red flags:
- A quote without a scope description ("website, amount"), because the provider hasn't worked the project through or plans to negotiate later.
- A fixed price with unlimited revisions, because that's a contradiction: either the price is padded or the provider will quietly limit what counts as a revision.
- "We'll figure it out as we go" without a change process, because then scope creep becomes your problem.
Good signs: line items per feature, a stated revision limit, a defined technology, a timeline with milestones and payment per delivery.
How to choose a provider in BiH, Croatia or Serbia
- Portfolio. One or two showcase sites don't say much. Ask for several delivered projects for different types of client, plus references.
- Technology. Ask what they use and why. A provider who explains the trade-offs between Webflow, custom code and WordPress for your case is more reliable than one who offers a single tool.
- Written scope. Before signing, ask for a document listing every page, feature and integration. Anything outside it is a scope change.
- Post-launch support. Who do you call when the form stops sending messages months after launch, and what does it cost? Ask for it in writing.
How to compare two quotes
- Count the pages and features in each quote and write down what one has and the other doesn't.
- Check what is agreed for content, SEO basics, measurement and deployment, because that item often differs.
- Compare the number of revision rounds and what counts as a revision.
- Ask who stays the owner of the code, the domain and the platform accounts, and whether you get access to everything.
- Only then compare the amount, and only after you've reduced the quotes to the same scope.
A quote that's half as high is often lower because something is missing, not because the provider is more efficient. Conversely, the most expensive quote isn't automatically the best: it may cover agency overhead you don't need. That's why the only reliable comparison is one made against the same written scope.
How to get a realistic quote
Send the provider a brief: what the site does, who the audience is, what success looks like and your rough budget. Hiding the budget usually doesn't work in your favour, because quotes then get built to absorb whatever you might have. If the scope isn't clear, a paid discovery phase before the build is often cheaper than changes afterwards. For more on choosing collaborators, see the comparison of in-house hire vs freelancer.
For a concrete next step, write the one-page scope from the first paragraph and send it to two or three providers. If you'd like someone to review the scope and tell you what's left outside it, send it to me.
Part of the Software Development Cost: Pricing for Web Apps and SaaS guide.