How much does a church website design company charge?

Agencies commonly quote a few thousand dollars up front plus hosting or a maintenance retainer; church builders publish $19 to $99 a month plus setup fees on some. Church Digital is $120 a month flat with no setup fee, the first 6 months at $60.

Should a church hire a company or use a builder?

Use a builder when someone on the team will keep the site current and a template is enough. Hire a company when nobody wants to own the website, when you want a custom site, or when the last DIY attempt stalled. The test is whether the site will still be current six months after launch.

What should be in a church website contract?

Total price including setup, what is included, who owns the domain and content, how to cancel, and what you keep if you leave. If any of those is missing, ask before signing.

Do you require a contract?

No. Month to month, cancel anytime, no setup fee. The first month is refundable if it was not worth it.

For churches · Hiring a company

Hiring a church website design company: the twelve questions, answered

Bring this to the board meeting

By Logan BusicFounder, Church Digital — ran the 2,000-church website study

Published September 11, 2026

A church website company is easy to hire and hard to leave. Before you sign anything, get these twelve answers in writing. We have put ours next to each one so you can compare.

Get my free 5-minute site review →See pricing

Money

Questions about the money

1. What is the total first-year cost, including setup?
Setup fees of $149 to $999 are common on church builders (published June to July 2026), and agencies often quote a few thousand up front. Church Digital: $120 a month, $0 setup, so the first year is exactly twelve months of the flat fee (the first 6 at $60).
2. Is there a contract, and what happens if we cancel?
Look for annual lock-ins and cancellation fees. Ours: month to month, cancel anytime, and the first month is refundable if it was not worth it.
3. What costs extra?
Giving, media, extra pages, "premium support." Ours: nothing for the website itself; add-ons like ads and sermon clips are separate products with their own listed prices.
4. Who pays for hosting, SSL and the domain?
Hosting and SSL should be inside the fee. The domain is yours and stays in your own account. That is how we do it.

Ownership

Questions about who owns what

5. If we leave, what do we keep?
Most builders rent you the site; the design leaves with them. Ask for the answer in writing. Ours: your content and your domain are yours, always.
6. Who owns the domain and the Google Business Profile?
You should, in church-controlled accounts. A company that registers the domain in its own name is a red flag.
7. Can we make our own updates?
Some churches want to; some do not. Ours handles updates for you, and you can ask for anything anytime.

Work

Questions about the work itself

8. Is it a template or a custom design?
Both are legitimate. The honest question is whether it will look like every other church on the same platform. Ours is a custom build from your own words and photos; you can see what one looks like before paying anything.
9. Will it be fast on a phone?
Ask for a real number from Google's PageSpeed test on a site they built. Our 2026 study of 1,734 small-church websites found 93.4% of small-church sites were set up for mobile, which is not the same as fast.
10. Who keeps it current after launch?
The site that goes stale is the one nobody owns. If the company disappears after launch, budget for a volunteer or expect the site to freeze.
11. Can we see three live sites you built for churches our size?
Not a portfolio of mockups: live sites, with the church's name, that you can visit today. Ours are on the examples page.
12. What happens to our Google rankings during the switch?
The right answer includes the words "redirects" and "sitemap." If the company does not mention them, it is on you to ask.

Common questions

Questions churches ask

How much does a church website design company charge?: Agencies commonly quote a few thousand dollars up front plus hosting or a maintenance retainer; church builders publish $19 to $99 a month plus setup fees on some. Church Digital is $120 a month flat with no setup fee, the first 6 months at $60.
Should a church hire a company or use a builder?: Use a builder when someone on the team will keep the site current and a template is enough. Hire a company when nobody wants to own the website, when you want a custom site, or when the last DIY attempt stalled. The test is whether the site will still be current six months after launch.
What should be in a church website contract?: Total price including setup, what is included, who owns the domain and content, how to cancel, and what you keep if you leave. If any of those is missing, ask before signing.
Do you require a contract?: No. Month to month, cancel anytime, no setup fee. The first month is refundable if it was not worth it.

Compare us honestly

Send your current site and get our answers to all twelve, for your church

We record a free five-minute walkthrough of your homepage and tell you what we would change and what it would cost. No pitch, no call required.

Get my free 5-minute site review →See a homepage demo

Go deeper

Hiring a church website design company: the twelve questions, answered

1. What is the total first-year cost, including setup?

2. Is there a contract, and what happens if we cancel?

3. What costs extra?

4. Who pays for hosting, SSL and the domain?

5. If we leave, what do we keep?

6. Who owns the domain and the Google Business Profile?

7. Can we make our own updates?

8. Is it a template or a custom design?

9. Will it be fast on a phone?

10. Who keeps it current after launch?

11. Can we see three live sites you built for churches our size?

12. What happens to our Google rankings during the switch?

Send your current site and get our answers to all twelve, for your church

See live church sites we built

See current pricing

Compare the 10 church website builders