How Much Should a Tradie Website Cost in 2026? (New Zealand)

Executive Summary

Key takeaways (prices checked 30 September 2026)

• Most Kiwi tradies end up choosing between a $0 upfront subscription website at about $50 to $200 a month and a one-off build at about $500 to $3,500 plus hosting.
• Over three years a subscription site costs about $1,800 to $7,200. Compare that total, not the upfront price.
• The question that separates the options is what you keep when you stop paying. Exit terms range from "yours to keep" to "the site stays live until the end of your billing period".
• Generic agencies quote about $4,000 to $10,000 for a small business site, and far more for custom work. Check whether every quote includes 15% GST.
• Our own three-year totals are in a table further down, along with the cases where another option is the better call.

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A tradie website is a mobile-first lead tool that turns local Google searches into phone calls and quote requests. What it costs depends less on the page count than on how you pay for it: all upfront, all monthly, or a build plus a monthly plan. This guide compares the five ways New Zealand tradies actually buy a website, using prices published by the providers themselves and checked on 30 September 2026. It names the platforms (Wix, Squarespace, Builderscrack) and describes the rest by type. If you would rather see our done-for-you option straight away, visit our websites for tradies page.

A few numbers that explain why the choice matters:

97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, so the site has to put your reviews where people look 1.

GST in New Zealand is 15% 2, and a business must register once its turnover reaches $60,000 in 12 months 3. A quote "plus GST" therefore costs 15% more than the same number quoted GST-inclusive, and providers publish both ways.

Standard form contracts between businesses worth up to $250,000 a year are covered by the Fair Trading Act's unfair contract terms rules 4, which matters when you read a website provider's cancellation clause.

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How Much Does a Tradie Website Cost in New Zealand in 2026?

A tradie website in New Zealand costs $0 upfront and about $50 to $200 a month on a subscription, about $500 to $3,500 for a budget one-off build, about $1,500 to $5,000 from a freelancer, and about $4,000 to $10,000 from a generic web agency for a small business site. A DIY builder costs a plan fee plus a lot of your time. Prices were checked on 30 September 2026 from providers' own pricing pages and agency cost guides. They are bands, not quotes, and some include GST while others add it on top.

Provider type, Upfront, Ongoing, Three-year total, If you stop paying

Provider type	Upfront	Ongoing	Three-year total	If you stop paying
DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace)	$0	A monthly or annual plan fee; check the NZD price at checkout	Three years of the plan fee, plus 20 to 60 hours of your time	The site is built on their platform, so leaving means rebuilding it elsewhere
Subscription website	$0	About $50 to $200 a month (check whether GST is on top)	About $1,800 to $7,200	Varies. Some say the site is yours to keep; others keep it live only until the end of the billing period, while you keep your domain and content
Budget one-off build	About $500 to $3,500	Hosting and changes, sometimes included	The build plus hosting and changes	Usually yours. Check who holds the hosting and domain logins
Freelancer	About $1,500 to $5,000	Hosting, plus changes by the hour	The build plus hosting and changes	Usually yours, if the domain and hosting are in your name
Generic web agency	About $4,000 to $10,000, far more for custom work	Hosting and care plans extra	The build plus hosting and care plan	Depends on the contract. Check for a platform only they can host

Action: Before you compare two quotes, write the three-year total next to each one, with GST included. Upfront plus monthly fees times 36, plus any hosting renewals.

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Why Compare the Three-Year Total and Not the Upfront Price?

Because a $0 upfront site is not a cheap site. It is the same money spread over a longer period, and the longer you stay, the more you pay.

Two worked examples, using round numbers from inside the bands above:

• A subscription at $150 a month is $5,400 over three years, and the bill keeps coming in year four.
• A $2,500 one-off build with hosting at $40 a month is $3,940 over three years, and the build cost does not repeat.

Neither is automatically the better deal. The subscription asks for no cash on day one and usually bundles changes and hosting. The one-off build costs less over time but leaves you to organise hosting and updates. The comparison only becomes fair when both are written as the same three-year number, on the same GST basis.

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What Happens to Your Website When You Stop Paying?

This is the question most quotes skip, and it is where the options differ most. From the terms New Zealand providers publish, there are three outcomes:

1. You keep the site, the domain and the files. Some subscription providers say the site is yours to keep, and several one-off builders say you own it outright.
2. You keep the domain and your content, but the site goes offline. On some subscriptions the site stays live until the end of the billing period, and you take your domain and the content you supplied.
3. The site stays on the platform. DIY builders host the site on their own system, so moving means rebuilding.

Ask these five questions before you sign anything:

• Is the domain registered in your name?
• Whose account is the hosting in, and can you get a login?
• Can you take a copy of the site files if you leave, and what does that cost?
• Is there a minimum term, an automatic renewal, or an exit fee?
• What happens to your Google reviews, phone tracking numbers and email if the site goes offline?

Contract terms are also a legal question. The Fair Trading Act's unfair contract terms rules cover standard form contracts between businesses worth up to $250,000 a year. Only the Commerce Commission can take action over a small trade contract, and a term a court declares unfair is not legally binding 4. If a website contract looks one-sided, ask for it to be changed before you sign.

Action: Ask every provider for the cancellation clause in writing, and read it before you compare prices.

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Which Option Fits Your Business?

None of these options is wrong. Each suits a different stage of business.

DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace)

Best for: a brand-new business testing the market, one main service, and an owner who enjoys tinkering at night.

Not ideal for: a business that needs Google to send work across several suburbs. Templates rarely ship with suburb pages, structured data or a conversion layout, and the 20 to 60 hours come out of your weekends. Our DIY vs agency guide covers when DIY is fine and when to rebuild.

Subscription website

Best for: a tradie who wants no cash outlay on day one and someone else to handle hosting and changes.

Not ideal for: anyone planning to stay three years or more, because the total climbs every month. It also suits you less if you want to own the site outright, unless the exit terms hand it over.

Budget one-off build

Best for: a straightforward site at the lowest total cost, when you are happy to organise hosting and pay for changes as you need them.

Not ideal for: a business that wants monitoring, backups and regular edits included. Check exactly how many service and suburb pages the price covers, and who writes the copy.

Freelancer

Best for: someone you already know and trust, with a simple brief.

Not ideal for: a site you depend on for work. If the freelancer moves on, you need the logins, the files and someone new who can work with them.

Generic web agency

Best for: complex needs such as online bookings, e-commerce, integrations with other systems, or several brands.

Not ideal for: a standard tradie site. Many agencies do not build around how Kiwis search for trades (service plus suburb, "near me", emergency jobs), and a 6 to 12 week project with several approval rounds is hard to manage from the tools.

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Where Does Made 4 Tradies Sit?

We are a tradie-focused builder: a one-off build you own, plus a monthly plan that keeps the site hosted, monitored, backed up and updated. Core covers your main pages and a dedicated page for every service. Max adds 10 local suburb pages. Pro adds 10 more suburb pages, Google Business Profile optimisation and 30 directory listings. A standard build takes about 7 days, because we write the copy and pull photos from what you already have. Here is what each tier costs over the same three years as the table above:

The monthly plan runs with the site rather than as a cancel-anytime subscription, and you keep your domain and website either way. The full list of what the plan covers is in what our monthly maintenance covers.

When we are not the right choice:

• You want the lowest possible three-year cost. A DIY builder, a low-cost subscription or a basic one-off build can come in under our Core total.
• You need e-commerce, online bookings or custom integrations. A full-service agency is built for that work.
• You want to edit the site yourself every day. A DIY builder gives you that by default. Our plans include edits made by us; your own editing login is a one-off add-on.
• You only need a placeholder while you prove the business. Start on a DIY builder and come back when you are relying on Google for work.

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Is a Website Cheaper Than Builderscrack?

They are different costs for different jobs. A lead platform such as Builderscrack runs on a subscription plan with a token balance, and tokens come off each time a homeowner accepts your request to connect, whether or not you win the job. Several tradies can chase the same job, and the enquiries stop when the payments stop. A website costs the same whether it sends you two enquiries a month or twenty, and the enquiries come only to you. Many tradies run both for a while, then lean on the website once it ranks. Our Builderscrack guide shows how to work out the cost per job for your trade.

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What Else Should You Budget For?

Item, Typical cost

Item	Typical cost
Domain (.co.nz)	About $20 to $35 a year
Hosting	Often bundled; ask for the renewal price, not the first-year price
Content changes	DIY free; agencies usually charge by the hour or on a retainer
Search marketing (agency retainer)	Hundreds to thousands of dollars a month, priced separately from the build
Your time	20 to 60 hours for DIY; a few hours of answers and approvals with a done-for-you build

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What Are the Red Flags in a Website Quote?

Walk away, or ask hard questions, if you see:

• Hostage hosting: the domain is not in your name, or leaving means losing the site
• Monthly fees with no defined deliverables: no list of what changes, monitoring or reporting you get
• Automatic renewals and exit fees buried in the terms
• A template reskin at custom prices: the same theme sold for thousands with your logo swapped in
• "SEO included" with no service pages, no suburb pages and no reporting
• No page list, no mobile example and no licence or registration number in the proposal

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How Do I Evaluate a Quote Before I Pay?

1. Ask for a page list: every URL included, and what is excluded
2. Ask who writes the copy, and whether they understand your trade registration rules and service areas
3. Ask for a live mobile example of a similar tradie site, not a mockup
4. Ask about service and suburb pages; if the answer is vague, local search work is not included (page map by setup)
5. Ask what happens when you stop paying: domain, hosting, site files, minimum term and exit fees
6. Ask what they need from you: hours of photos, forms and approvals
7. Work out the three-year total: upfront, plus monthly fees times 36, plus hosting renewals, all including GST

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Want Someone to Review Your Current Site?

Made 4 Tradies offers a free, no-obligation website audit for New Zealand trade businesses. We check mobile speed, conversion blockers, local Google ranking signals, structured data, and the gaps that cost you calls.

• Free website audit, search visibility, speed, local signals, structured data, conversion blockers. PDF in 24 hours.
• Free Google listing audit, Maps ranking, review profile, photos, competitive benchmarking. PDF in 24 hours.

No call required. No pitch. Just a straight read on what's costing you work.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much should a tradie website cost in New Zealand?

As of 30 September 2026, $0 upfront and about $50 to $200 a month on a subscription, about $500 to $3,500 for a budget one-off build, about $1,500 to $5,000 from a freelancer, and about $4,000 to $10,000 from a generic agency for a small business site. Compare the three-year total, including GST, and the exit terms, not the upfront price.

Is a $0 upfront website really free?

No. You pay monthly instead of upfront. At about $50 to $200 a month, a subscription site costs about $1,800 to $7,200 over three years, and the payments continue for as long as the site is live.

Do I own my website if I stop paying?

It depends on the provider. Some subscriptions say the site is yours to keep, others keep it live only until the end of the billing period, and DIY sites stay on the builder's platform. Get the cancellation clause in writing and check the domain is registered in your name.

Is GST included in website prices?

Not always. Some providers include GST and some add 15% on top, so compare every quote on the same basis. Sole traders under the $60,000 GST registration threshold may not charge GST at all. Made 4 Tradies prices include GST.

How long does a tradie website take to build?

On a DIY builder, expect several weekends. A generic agency project often runs 6 to 12 weeks. A standard Made 4 Tradies build takes about 7 days, because we write the copy and source photos from your Google Business Profile, Facebook and existing site.

Can I build it myself on Wix or Squarespace?

Yes, if you have the time to learn how local Google ranking works, write every page yourself and optimise your images. It works well as a placeholder while you prove the business. Once you rely on Google for work, a site built around service and suburb pages usually earns its cost back.

Is a website cheaper than Builderscrack?

Over time it usually is, because a website does not charge per enquiry and its enquiries are not shared with other tradies. A lead platform can fill the calendar faster in the first months while a new site builds its Google ranking, which is why many tradies run both at first.

Are payment plans available?

Many builders take a deposit and the balance at launch. At Made 4 Tradies the build is split into a 50% deposit at the start and the balance on go-live. Talk to us if you need a longer plan.

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References:

• [1] BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (published 11 February 2026): 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses
• [2] Inland Revenue (IRD), GST: GST is charged at a rate of 15%
• [3] Inland Revenue (IRD), Registering for GST: $60,000 turnover threshold
• [4] Commerce Commission, Unfair contract terms: standard form small trade contracts worth up to $250,000 a year

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Published by Made 4 Tradies. Kiwi-owned, run by a Hawke's Bay local. Serving Auckland, Christchurch, Hawke's Bay, and nationwide.