What does a website cost in Iceland?

Why the answer is never one number

A website is not an object with a price tag, it is work done over a certain number of hours. Two companies can both ask for a simple website, and one needs four pages with copy that already exists while the other needs fifteen pages, new copy, a photo shoot, a price list that updates and a booking form that talks to a calendar. Same words, six times the work.

So the real question is not what a website costs, it is what your website has to do. Once that is settled the price can usually be given in one sentence.

What actually drives the price

Page count matters less than people expect. Five pages that are all different cost more than fifteen that share one layout with different words.

Copy is part of the scope. My quotes include writing and editing unless we agree otherwise. You provide the facts; we agree the pages and languages before I price the work.

Photography matters too. Real photographs of the business do more than any design can make up for, but somebody has to take them. Stock photography is cheaper and it shows from a distance.

The systems underneath are the single biggest item. A site that presents information is one job. A site that takes a booking, tracks what is free, sends a confirmation and connects to your calendar is a different job, and that is the difference between 199.000 and 690.000.

Two languages double part of the work. Icelandic and English mean two URLs, two sets of copy and twice the upkeep, not one button that swaps the words.

What your quote needs to specify

A starting price alone does not explain the scope. Check pages, copy, imagery, languages, content editing and integrations. My copywriting is included within the agreed scope; larger additions are agreed in advance.

So do not ask what the starting price is. Ask what has to be added to it for the site to do what you just described. Whoever is selling it knows the answer immediately.

The other thing a starting price hides is the running cost. A website is not bought once. Hosting, the domain, the security certificate, updates and somebody who answers when it breaks are a monthly cost, and it continues long after the build is paid for.

The company itself moves the price most

Two companies with the same number of pages can get quotes where one is double the other, and that is not arbitrary. A sole trader selling one service needs a site that says who they are, what they do and how to reach them. There are few decisions to make and the work moves quickly.

A company with staff, several service lines and a price list that changes needs more: more pages, a system to keep them correct, and usually more than one person who has to approve each step. That lengthens the work, and longer work costs more.

The trade matters too. Accommodation and restaurants need booking, a calendar and usually two languages. Workshops and salons need appointments. A shop needs products, stock and payments. Somebody who needs none of those systems does not pay for them.

That is why I ask about the business, the goal and what already exists before quoting. Clear scope gives both of us a shared understanding of what will be delivered.

What it costs with me, all of it

The build, paid once: a website from 199.000 kr, whether that is a redesign or built from the ground up. A larger site with many pages, full content management and more languages from 390.000 kr. A custom build, with a system underneath the site, from 690.000 kr.

Running it, monthly: Grunnur at 4.900 kr, where the site simply works and you do not think about it. Vöxtur at 19.900 kr when the site has to change as the business does. Sýnileiki at 34.900 kr, where what the machines can read is measured every month. Allt at 59.900 kr, which is the site, the measurement and both systems in one place.

Add-ons cost 19.900 kr a month for booking, 14.900 kr for the assistant and 19.900 kr for Eldhús. The Everything plan combines Visibility, booking and the assistant for 59.900 kr instead of 69.700 kr, saving 9.800 kr. Eldhús is not in that bundle.

All prices are before VAT and they stand on the price list, not only here.

What if I build it myself?

You can also build the website yourself using a website builder or content management system. That can suit straightforward needs when you have time for the content and setup.

Compare the total cost, the time you will invest and what the platform lets you take with you later. Test languages, mobile layouts and the integrations you need.

A custom service fits when you want help with the whole job: what to say, how it should look and how everything works together. The difference is responsibility for delivery and a solution shaped around your business.

How to compare two quotes

Ask who owns the site and the domain when the arrangement ends. The answer should be you, and on subscription routes that is not a given.

Ask what happens if you stop paying. A website needs hosting from somebody, so it always comes off the hosting when payments stop, with me too. The question is whether you get it handed over and can set it up elsewhere, or whether you lose everything. That is the difference between owning the site and renting it.

Ask whether you can change the text yourself without sending an email, and ask to see the system you would be using. Thirty seconds on screen tells you more than a page of description.

Ask who writes the copy and who takes the photographs, and whether that sits inside the price.

Ask what the monthly fee includes and what counts as extra work. The difference between 4.900 and 19.900 should be explainable in one sentence.

When cheap is right, and when it gets expensive

The cheapest route is right more often than people in my trade like to admit. If you are starting out, do not yet know who your customers are and mainly need to exist online, then a small well made site is the correct decision. You can always build on top of it.

Look at the next steps before choosing. If booking or another language is likely later, understand how it can be added. That helps you choose a foundation that can grow with you.

Sources and dates

• Every price here is my own and matches the price list at /verd. If it changes there, it changes here.
• I do not publish other companies’ prices. They have their own price lists and it is for them to describe them.