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Key takeaways
- The price follows what the site has to do, not how many pages it has.
- Budget for the yearly costs too: domain, hosting, email and someone to keep it updated.
- Make sure the domain, hosting and admin logins are in your name before you pay the final instalment.
- Compare quotes by listing exactly what each includes; the cheapest quote often leaves out content, training or support.
A basic business website in Nepal can start from around NPR 15,000, an online shop with eSewa or Khalti usually costs several times that, and a custom platform with apps and an admin back office is a different budget altogether. The honest answer to "how much" is that the price follows what the site has to do. This guide breaks that down so you can tell a fair quote from a risky one.
The four kinds of website, and what they cost
Most projects fall into one of four tiers. The figures below are rough starting points for a properly built site, not a guarantee; the exact price depends on content, design and integrations, which are covered after the table.
| Type of site | What you get | Rough starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure site | A handful of pages: services, about, contact, map, WhatsApp button. Fast and mobile-friendly. | From NPR 15,000 |
| Business site with CMS | An admin your staff use to change prices, notices, staff and photos without a developer. Blog, enquiry forms, optional Nepali pages. | Quoted per project, typically a step above a brochure site |
| Online shop | Catalogue, cart, eSewa/Khalti or cash on delivery, order management, stock. | Quoted per project |
| Custom platform | Portals, dealer ordering, bookings, records systems, mobile apps, integrations. | Custom software from NPR 250,000; apps from NPR 150,000 |
If you want to see what each tier looks like in practice, our portfolio links to live sites at every level, from school websites to a wholesale platform with two Android apps.
What actually drives the price
Two sites with the same number of pages can differ in price by a factor of ten. These are the things that move the number:
- Functionality, not pages. A contact form is cheap. Online booking, payments, user accounts or a dealer login are each real pieces of software.
- Who writes the content. If the agency writes your copy, that is work. If you supply finished text and photographs, the price drops.
- Custom design or a template. A well-chosen template is fine for many businesses. A design made around your brand takes longer.
- Two languages. A proper Nepali edition is close to a second site's worth of content, plus typography work for Devanagari.
- Integrations. Payment gateways, SMS, accounting software, Google Sheets or an existing system each add time and testing.
- The admin. An admin built so your staff can actually use it is worth paying for; it is what saves you calling a developer for every change.
The yearly costs people forget
The build is a one-off. A website also has running costs, and a quote that ignores them is incomplete.
- Domain name. A .com renews every year. A .com.np domain is free for Nepali businesses but still has to be looked after.
- Hosting. Somewhere for the site to live. Shared hosting is cheapest; a database-backed application needs more. Our domain and hosting plans start from NPR 18,000 a year.
- SSL certificate. Usually free now. If someone is charging you for one every year, ask why.
- Business email. Addresses at your own domain, often a separate yearly cost per mailbox.
- Maintenance. Updates, backups and security fixes. Sites that nobody maintains do break; see our guide to website maintenance.
- Marketing. SEO or ads, if you want the site to bring in new customers rather than just exist. SEO work starts from NPR 10,000 a month.
Why the cheapest quote is often the most expensive
Very cheap websites are cheap for a reason, and the cost usually arrives later. The patterns we see most often when businesses come to us to rescue a site:
- The domain was registered in the developer's name, so the business does not legally control its own web address.
- There is no admin access, so every price change means paying the original developer, who may no longer answer the phone.
- The site runs on pirated ("nulled") themes or plugins, which commonly carry malware and cannot be updated safely.
- There are no backups, so a hacked or broken site has to be rebuilt from nothing.
- The site looks fine on a laptop and is slow or broken on the mid-range Android phones most Nepali visitors use.
How to compare quotes like for like
Quotes are only comparable when they describe the same thing. Before choosing, put each one into the same checklist:
- List every page and every feature you need, and send the same list to every agency.
- Ask each one to state what is included: content writing, photos, Nepali translation, admin training, and how many rounds of changes.
- Ask what happens after launch: support period, response time, and the monthly or yearly cost of maintenance.
- Confirm in writing that you will own the domain, the hosting account and the code or CMS content.
- Ask for two or three live sites they built that you can open on your own phone.
- Compare the total cost over two years, not just the build price.
Our guide to choosing a web development company in Nepal goes through the questions in more detail.
Paying in instalments
A common and fair arrangement is a deposit to start, a payment when the design is approved, and the balance at launch. Avoid paying everything up front for anything beyond a very small site, and avoid agencies that will not put the scope in writing. A fixed quote protects both sides: you know the cost, and the agency knows exactly what it has promised.
Where to start
Write down, in plain language, what the website must do for your business in its first year: take bookings, sell products, answer common questions, or simply look trustworthy when someone searches your name. That list is what any agency needs to give you an accurate price. If you would like a fixed quote from us, send it over and we will tell you what it costs and what we would leave out to keep it within budget.
Frequently asked questions
A simple brochure site on a good template, with you supplying the text and photos, is the cheapest sensible option. Make sure it still comes with the domain in your name and a way to edit it, or the savings disappear the first time you need a change.
It depends mostly on the number of products, how payments work and what order management you need. A small shop with cash on delivery and one wallet is far cheaper than a multi-vendor marketplace. Ask for a quote based on your actual catalogue and checkout flow.
Yes, for the domain, hosting and usually email. Maintenance and SEO are optional but strongly advised for any site that matters to the business. The design and build are paid once.
Often it is cheaper to build, and it is a good choice when your staff already know it. Custom builds cost more up front but can be faster, more secure and easier to extend when the site has to do something specific.
A small site can be ready in one to two weeks once the content is supplied. Shops and custom platforms take longer, mostly because of content, testing and payment-gateway approvals rather than the code itself.
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