How much does a church website cost? A plain guide to monthly pricing

When a church council first talks about the website, the question that comes up before any other is usually the plainest one: what is this going to cost? It is a fair question, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a sales pitch. This guide explains what a church website costs, what the price ought to cover, and what to ask before you say yes.

Start with the whole cost, not the headline figure

A website has more than one cost, and they do not always arrive together. There may be a charge to build it, a charge each month or year to host it, a domain name to register and renew, and a fee for support when something goes wrong. A low price for one of these can hide a high price for another.

For a church treasurer, the most useful figure is the total for a year, with nothing left out. If a quote cannot give you that, it is worth asking again.

What Chrestos charges

Every Chrestos package is a single monthly cost. There is no build fee and no long contract, and the price includes hosting, security, unmetered support and unmetered content updates. The prices below are exclusive of VAT and billed monthly.

You can see all five side by side on our packages page.

What the monthly cost should include

Whoever you choose, it is worth checking that these are covered, and not charged for separately later:

• Hosting, so the website is kept online
• Security, including the padlock in the address bar
• A web address, registered and renewed for you
• A professional email address for the church
• Changes and updates whenever you need them
• Support from a person you can reach by phone or email

With Essentials, for example, the free org.uk domain and the free professional mailbox are part of the monthly cost, and so is every change you ask us to make.

Questions to ask before you commit

• Is there a charge to build the website, or to change it afterwards?
• How long is the contract, and what happens if the church wants to leave?
• Who looks after the website when the volunteer who set it up moves on?
• Is support included, and can you speak to a real person?
• Does the price rise when the website needs more pages or more photographs?

That last question matters more than it seems. Essentials has room for up to ten pages and fifty images, and if a church outgrows that, moving up to Classic lifts both limits and nothing you have already built is lost.

Choosing between looking after it and doing it yourself

The main difference between Essentials and Classic is who makes the changes. With Essentials we do it for you: you email or ring us and we update the site. With Classic you also receive the Chrestos Cloud Web Design Tools, so you can add a photograph or update a time yourself, and we are still there if you would rather ask us.

Neither choice is better in itself. It depends on whether your church has someone who would enjoy doing it, and whether they will still be there in three years. Our page on support explains how help works on every package.

A sensible next step

If you are still unsure which package fits, that is quite normal. A short conversation is usually quicker than reading a comparison table, and there is no obligation. You are welcome to get in touch and we will talk it through with you.