Website costs in Austria: what you really need to budget for

What makes up the cost of a website

The price on a quote is rarely the whole price. A website is made of several building blocks that you pay for either once or on an ongoing basis. Some are part of a package, others come on top. So if you want to compare quotes, you first need to know which building blocks exist.

One-off costs are mainly concept, design and build, plus the texts and photos. Ongoing costs are the domain, hosting, updates and changes. You need an Impressum (legal notice) under § 5 ECG (E-Commerce Act) in every model, and a privacy policy under the GDPR as soon as the website processes personal data, for example through a contact form.

• Setup and design: structure, page layout, look and build in the system.
• Content: texts, photos, logo, price lists. Often the biggest time sink, even if you supply them yourself.
• Domain: your address, for example yourbusiness.at. For .at, nic.at manages the registrations.
• Hosting: the server your website runs on, including storage and traffic.
• SSL certificate: makes https work. Available free of charge from Let's Encrypt.
• Maintenance and updates: security updates, backups, checking that everything works.
• Legal texts: Impressum under § 5 ECG, privacy policy and, where needed, a cookie notice.
• Changes: new opening hours, new services, new photos, again and again over the years.

The three common models compared

Small businesses basically have three ways to get a website. None of them is right for everyone. What matters is how much of your own time you want to invest, how much money you can spend at once and who takes care of changes later.

With a website builder such as Wix, Jimdo or Squarespace, you pay a platform fee and build the site yourself. According to its own pricing page, Squarespace charges €12 per month on the Basic plan billed annually and €17 billed monthly, each excl. VAT (as of 14 October 2026). You do the work on texts, photos and structure yourself. With an agency or freelancer, you pay once for the build and usually pay separately for hosting and maintenance. With a website subscription, you pay a monthly amount that bundles build, hosting and maintenance.

Ongoing costs that are often forgotten

Many businesses only budget for the build. But a website causes costs year after year, even if nobody changes anything. If you don't plan for that, you can end up with an outdated or insecure site after a year or two.

The domain is one example. A .at domain doesn't simply expire. According to nic.at, it is an ongoing contract that runs until you cancel it. Directly from nic.at it costs €34 per year excl. VAT from the second year. Registrars charge their own prices, which according to nic.at are usually lower. With website builders, the domain is often only free in the first year: Squarespace renews the domain registered free with an annual plan at the standard price plus taxes after the first year.

• Domain renewal every year, even if it was free in the first year.
• Hosting and backups, if not included in the package.
• Security updates for the system and for plugins.
• Email mailboxes on your domain, often a separate item.
• Updating the legal texts when you add new tools such as booking or analytics.
• Small changes throughout the year: prices, team, opening hours, photos.
• Your own time, if you take care of maintenance yourself.

What drives the price up

A simple business card website with a few pages is manageable. It gets more expensive with features that process data or connect to other systems. Each such feature adds effort for setup, legal texts and maintenance.

• Number of pages and subpages, for example one page per service.
• Texts and photos that still need to be created.
• Online appointment booking, voucher sales or a shop.
• Several languages.
• Connections to existing software, such as a till system or calendar.
• Individual design instead of a template.
• Tight deadlines.

Comparing quotes: checklist

Two quotes with a similar amount can contain very different things. Get written confirmation of what is included in the price and what costs extra. The following questions help you make quotes comparable.

• Is the price stated net or gross?
• How many pages are included, and who supplies texts and photos?
• Are domain, hosting, SSL and email included, or do they come on top?
• Who does updates and backups, and how often?
• How many changes per month or year are included?
• Are the Impressum and privacy policy included, and who keeps them up to date?
• Who is the domain registered to? Ideally to you as the owner.
• What is the minimum term, and what happens to the domain, content and design if you cancel?

Tax: your website as a business expense

Under § 4 Abs. 4 EStG (Income Tax Act), business expenses are costs or expenditure incurred for the business. A website for your business falls under this. How exactly you book the costs, for example all at once or spread over several years, is something to clarify with your tax adviser.

VAT matters too. If you use the Kleinunternehmer (small business) VAT exemption, a turnover threshold of €55,000 incl. VAT has applied since 1 January 2025. According to the Unternehmensserviceportal (USP, the government business service portal), you then can't deduct input VAT. So the gross price incl. VAT is what counts for you. If you can deduct input VAT, the net price is what matters. That's why you should check on every quote whether it is stated net or gross.

Who owns the website, and what happens if you cancel?

This is the question most often asked too late. With website builders, the website runs on the provider's technology. Wix states in its help centre that a Wix website must be hosted and run on Wix's servers and cannot be hosted externally. Squarespace offers an export, but it only covers certain page types and content. So if you cancel, you usually keep only your texts and images, not the finished website.

With an agency or subscription, the contract settles what belongs to you. Check three points before signing: Who is the owner of the domain? Do you get the content and, if agreed, the website files when you cancel? And will the provider hand over the code for moving the domain? For .at domains, according to nic.at, the previous registrar must hand over the Authinfo code even if invoices are still unpaid.

Common mistakes

• Comparing only the build price and not adding the ongoing costs for domain, hosting, updates and changes over three to five years.
• Having the domain registered to the agency or the website builder instead of to yourself. Switching then becomes a hassle.
• Mixing up net and gross prices. Under the Kleinunternehmer exemption without input VAT deduction, you pay the full gross price.
• Underestimating the time needed for texts and photos. With a website builder, all the work stays with you.
• Assuming a website builder site can easily be moved to another provider later. Usually it can't.
• Treating the Impressum and privacy policy as an afterthought, even though § 5 ECG requires the Impressum and the GDPR requires privacy information.

Frequently asked questions