How much does a website cost in France
You run a gîte, a small brand or a consultancy in France, you need a website, and every search for a price lands somewhere different: offers at €650, packages at €1,290, agencies starting at €2,500, subscriptions at €29 a month. All of them sell "a website". This article will not give you THE price, because it does not exist. It will do something more useful: show you what those gaps contain, warn you about a tax habit that quietly adds 20% to French quotes, and put our own price anchors on the table, so you know where you stand before signing anything.
Why prices run from one to five times the same figure
It is almost never about margin or honesty. It is that the word "website" covers three different jobs: building the pages, deciding what they should say and to whom, then keeping the whole thing alive once it is online. We unpacked that reading grid in our guide to choosing a web agency in Provence; the essential fits in one sentence. A €650 quote usually covers the building only. A €3,000 quote can cover all three, but the amount alone does not prove it.
That is where reading a proposal is really decided: the price does not tell you the scope. A high figure can pay for pages and nothing else, a modest one can be honest about what it announces. Nothing on paper tells you which of the three jobs you are buying, except the line-by-line detail. Two proposals for the same amount can contain unrelated work, and the cheaper of the two can turn out to be the more expensive one for what it actually delivers.
The HT and TTC trap, or how French quotes hide 20%
Before any numbers, one thing every English speaker buying services in France should know. French professionals quote prices in two modes: HT, hors taxes, before VAT, and TTC, toutes taxes comprises, with 20% VAT included. Agencies almost always display HT, because their business clients reclaim the VAT. If you are buying as an individual, or through a structure that cannot reclaim it, the price you will actually pay is the TTC one. In practice: an agency advertising "from €1,500" usually means €1,500 HT, which is €1,800 TTC out of your pocket. When you compare quotes, first check the three letters next to each amount; comparing an HT figure with a TTC one is the fastest way to pick the wrong provider for the wrong reason.
One nuance: very small French providers under the micro-entrepreneur regime do not charge VAT at all, and their quotes say "TVA non applicable". Their price is the price. That is not a discount and not a red flag, just a different tax status.
What is actually on offer in Provence
Rather than unverifiable national averages, here are five public offers we opened and noted one by one on 4 August 2026, from providers in the region. They are five examples of different models, not a market average: each amount links to its source at the end of the article, and these prices can change without notice.
Five public offers, noted on 4 August 2026
- Single-page site: from €650 HT, at a Marseille studio whose showcase site then starts at €950 HT. One page, with content you supply.
- Closed package of 4 to 6 pages: €1,290 TTC, from an independent in the Alpes-Maritimes, delivery announced in 12 to 15 days. Same scope for every client, fixed price.
- Regional agency level: showcase from €1,500 HT, e-commerce from €3,000 HT. Watch the unit: €1,500 HT is €1,800 TTC, and agencies almost always display HT.
- Marseille agency: showcase site from €2,500, e-commerce from €3,000, bespoke development billed by the day. The same word "showcase" as line 1, at four times the price.
- Subscription rental: from €29 per month, for three pages, with domain name and hosting included. A different model altogether, which we come back to below, because it deserves more than one line.
A quick read tempts you to conclude "so a website is worth about €1,300". That is exactly the conclusion not to draw, and line 4 shows why: two providers sell a "showcase site" with a factor of four between them. These amounts do not describe the same work, and your project resembles none of these packages until someone has looked at your business.
The five lines that move a quote
When we price a project, this is what genuinely weighs. Use this list to take apart any proposal you receive, and to prepare your own request: the same points, seen from your side, form the one-page brief that makes quotes comparable.
- Who writes the copy. The most underestimated line, and doubly so when your site needs to exist in French and English. If the quote assumes you will supply the text and you do not have it, the price is wrong from day one, and the project will run months late.
- The work before the pages. Understanding who is searching for you, in which language and with which words, deciding the structure, choosing what the first sentence says. It is invisible on a mockup, and it is what separates a site that decorates from a site that brings enquiries.
- The functions. A simple form, online booking, payment, a genuinely bilingual structure: each step adds design and testing, not just pages.
- Visibility. A site can be delivered perfect and unfindable. SEO foundations, the Google Business Profile, pages written for local searches: depending on the offer, this is included, an option, or absent.
- What comes after. Who does the updates, the backups, the changes, and for how much. A low purchase price with vague maintenance often costs more over two years than a well-scoped complete project.
A quote does not compare with another quote. It compares with the list of what you actually need to receive.
The €29 a month subscription model
Subscription offers have a real merit: a minimal entry cost, a fast launch, and usually the domain, hosting and maintenance included in the monthly price. To test a business that is just starting, that is defensible. The point to examine closely is what happens on the way out: under some of these contracts, the site and its content do not transfer if you stop paying. At that price, the question to ask before signing is not "how much per month" but "what will I be able to keep or move if I cancel?".
Also run the sum over time: €29 a month comes to €1,044 after three years. That figure alone does not settle the choice between the two models, since it includes services a purchase does not. What it does is frame the real comparison: for a similar total, on one side you rent a maintained site, on the other you own yours and pay for upkeep separately. Both are defensible; what is not defensible is signing without knowing which of the two you are in.
Our anchors, cards on the table
We do not publish a fixed price grid, for the reason above: quoting without knowing the scope means promising one thing and invoicing another. But refusing to give any order of magnitude is the opposite failing. So here are our anchors, exactly as we give them to clients. They are starting points, not a final quote.
Two stages, and they should not be confused, because promising a firm price in fifteen minutes would contradict everything above. The first conversation is free and serves to place your project: you leave with a ballpark figure and, often, the frank opinion that a lighter scope would do. The precise quote comes next, once the scope is written down. As for the €250 diagnostic, it is not a paid sales conversation: it produces a document, the state of your online presence and what to fix in what order, plus a conversation to walk through it. That document stays yours even if we never work together, and it is deducted from the project if you launch one.
What "from €1,800" contains, so the number means something: a showcase site with a simple scope, including positioning and scoping, the site structure, design and build of the pages, copy worked on with you, SEO foundations and the Google Business Profile where it is relevant to your business. It is a complete project, not assembled pages. Bilingual versions, online booking, payment and specific features are priced separately: they are design work, not boxes to tick. And if your need is simpler than a complete project, we will say so in the first conversation; sometimes the honest answer is that a lighter offer elsewhere will serve you well.
And the technical costs stay separate and in your name: the domain, the hosting, the tools. That is deliberate, and it is the subject of a rule we do not bend, described in our guide on choosing a provider: a client's assets stay with the client.
The costs that continue after launch
One last point, almost always missing from comparisons. A website has recurring costs, modest but real: the domain, around €10 to €20 a year; hosting, from a few euros to a few dozen euros a month depending on the technology; and the time or budget to keep the site alive, because a site left without care gradually loses relevance, technical reliability and visibility. Build them into the sum from the start: a quote that does not mention them has not told you everything.
Frequently asked questions
What do HT and TTC mean on a French quote?
HT (hors taxes) is the price before VAT; TTC (toutes taxes comprises) includes 20% VAT. Agencies usually display HT because business clients reclaim the VAT. If you cannot reclaim it, the TTC figure is what you will pay: €1,500 HT becomes €1,800 TTC. Micro-entrepreneurs charge no VAT and write "TVA non applicable"; their price is the final price.
Why do two quotes for the same website differ so much?
Because they do not price the same work. The word "website" covers building the pages, the positioning and content work, and the follow-up once the site is live. A short quote usually prices only the building; a complete quote prices all three. Before comparing amounts, ask each provider what is included beyond the pages.
Is a €650 website a bad idea?
Not necessarily. If you supply ready-made text, your need is a simple presence and you know what the offer does not contain, it is a rational choice. The problem starts when a €650 build is expected to deliver the results of a complete project: incoming enquiries, local visibility, a message that convinces. That work is not in the price.
What about website subscriptions at €29 a month?
A minimal entry cost and a fast launch, which can suit a business testing the waters. Before signing, check what you will be able to keep or transfer if the subscription ends: under some contracts, the site and its content do not leave with you. And run the three-year sum: over €1,000, the price of a small showcase site you would have owned.
Which costs continue after the site is live?
The domain name, around €10 to €20 a year; hosting, from a few euros to a few dozen euros a month; and the upkeep of the site: updates, backups, small changes, content. A site left untouched gradually loses visibility. Any serious quote should mention these recurring costs.
How do I get a precise figure for my project?
By defining the scope before the amount: who writes the copy and in which languages, which functions are needed, what visibility work is included, who looks after the site afterwards. A short conversation is usually enough to settle these points and turn "it depends" into an honest bracket, then into a quote itemised line by line.
More questions ? Many answers are already gathered on our FAQ page.
Want a ballpark figure for your project ?
Describe your business and your goal in two sentences through the contact form, in English or French. We reply with an honest order of magnitude, and if it turns out a lighter offer elsewhere will serve you, we will say that too.
Sources, public prices consulted on 4 August 2026, in the order of the five lines: single page from €650 HT · 4 to 6 page package at €1,290 TTC · showcase from €1,500 HT · showcase from €2,500 · subscription from €29 per month. This sample illustrates five different offer models; it is not a market average. The prices these providers display may change without notice.