How to quote a website project:
a template for freelancers and small agencies

Scope before price

"How much for a website?" could mean five pages on a template or a shop with hundreds of products. Ask questions before you name a number.

• What is the site for? Enquiries, bookings, sales or information.
• Which pages? A rough list is enough to start.
• Who supplies the words and photos? This changes the timeline more than anything else.
• Which features? Forms, booking, a shop, payments, a members' area, more than one language.
• Is there an old site? Moving content, keeping web addresses and setting up redirects all take time.
• Which platform? WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Squarespace or a custom build.
• Who updates it afterwards? The client, you, or nobody.
• Domain, hosting and email. Who owns them, and who pays.
• Deadline and budget. Even a range helps you suggest the right size of project.

If the client cannot answer most of these, offer a short, paid discovery stage first. Quote the build once you both know what it is.

Three ways to price it

Fixed price

One price for a defined scope. Clients like the certainty. You carry the risk if the work grows, so the scope must be written down in detail.

Day rate

You charge for the time you spend. It suits work that cannot be fully defined up front. Give an estimate in days, and say how and when you will report time used.

Fixed price per stage

Discovery, design and build each get their own price. The client agrees each stage before it starts. This limits the risk on both sides.

Whichever you choose, say which one it is. Many clients read a "quote" as a fixed price and an "estimate" as a best guess. Use the word you mean.

What every website quote should include

• Deliverables. Each page and feature, listed.
• Technical basics. Works on phones, readable page titles and headings, structured data for the business details, a sitemap, and key content in the page text so search engines and AI tools can read it.
• What the client provides, and by when: words, photos, logos, logins.
• Exclusions. Copywriting, photography, paid plugins, stock images or ongoing support, unless you include them.
• Revisions. How many rounds of changes, at which stages, and the rate for more.
• Timeline. Start date, review dates and launch date, and that dates depend on content arriving on time.
• Price and payment stages, and whether VAT applies.
• Ongoing costs. Hosting, domain, licences and maintenance, and who pays whom.
• Ownership. When the client owns the design and code, and which parts stay under someone else's licence.
• Validity. The date the quote expires.
• How to accept. Reply, sign or pay the deposit.

A template you can copy

Replace everything in square brackets. Delete any line that does not apply.

Subject: Website quote [quote number] for [client business]

Hello [name],

Thank you for talking me through your new website. This quote is based on our call on [date].

What you get
- [number] pages: [Home, About, Services, Contact]
- [Features, for example: contact form, online booking]
- Built on [platform], working on phones and computers
- Page titles, structured data for your business details, and a sitemap
- [number] rounds of design changes and [number] rounds of changes before launch

What you provide
- Words for each page by [date]
- Photos and logo files by [date]
- Access to [domain / hosting / old site]

Not included
- [Copywriting / photography / paid plugins / ongoing support]
- Changes beyond the rounds above, at [rate]

Timeline
Start: [date], once the deposit is paid
Design for review: [date]
Launch: [date], if content arrives by the dates above

Price
Total: [currency and amount] [excluding / including] VAT
Payment: [deposit] to start, [amount] at design sign-off, [balance] before launch

Ongoing costs, paid by [you / us]
Hosting: [cost and period]
Domain: [cost per year]
Maintenance (optional): [cost and what it covers]

Ownership: you own the finished site once the final invoice is paid. Third-party themes and plugins stay under their own licences.

This quote is valid until [date]. To go ahead, reply to confirm and I will send the deposit invoice.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Business name]

Handling changes

Scope grows. Agree how you will handle it before it does: a change request, a price and a new date, all agreed in writing before the extra work starts. One line in your quote covers it:

Changes outside this scope will be quoted separately, and agreed in writing, before any work on them starts.

Mistakes that cost you

• Quoting before you know who writes the words. If the words arrive late, so does the launch.
• Unlimited revisions. Name the number of rounds.
• No expiry date. A quote accepted months later may not cover today's costs.
• Forgetting ongoing costs. Hosting and licences that surprise a client later damage trust.
• One payment at the end. Stage payments protect your cash flow.

Contract rules differ between countries, and what binds you depends on the exact wording. For anything unusual, check with an adviser.

Faster first drafts

QuoteDesk is a tool Kavel has built that reads a quote request and drafts a reply priced from your own price list. A person checks and sends every reply. You can try the demo or get started free on your own price list. See QuoteDesk for freelancers.

Written with AI.