How much does a website cost in Kenya in 2026?
A transparent breakdown of what goes into pricing — and the questions to ask before you pay anyone.
Published 5 May 2026 · 8 min read · by Webtech Solutions KE
It’s the first question every client asks, and most agencies answer it with “it depends” and a wink. It does depend — but you deserve to know on what, and what realistic numbers look like, before you talk to anyone. So here’s the honest breakdown we wish more people had before they paid a cousin’s friend KSh 80,000 for a site that was never finished.
One disclaimer before the numbers: these are typical ranges in the Kenyan market in 2026, drawn from what we see and what we quote. Individual projects land outside them in both directions — treat them as a map, not a price tag.
The fixed costs every website has
- Domain name: a .co.ke domain typically runs about KSh 1,000–1,500 per year; a .com is similar. This renews annually, forever — and it should be registered in your name (more on that below).
- Hosting: decent shared hosting for a business site costs roughly KSh 3,000–12,000 per year. Heavier sites — busy stores, web apps — need better servers, from a few thousand shillings per month.
- SSL certificate: the padlock in the browser. Often free (Let’s Encrypt) or bundled with hosting — be suspicious of anyone charging a premium for it as a line item.
Typical project ranges in 2026
- Starter business site (KSh 20,000–60,000): roughly five pages — home, services, about, contact — built on a template or lightly customised. Right for a new business that needs a credible online presence fast.
- Custom business website (KSh 60,000–150,000): designed around your brand rather than a template, with proper copywriting support, photography guidance, on-page SEO, fast load times and room to grow. This is the sweet spot for most established SMEs.
- E-commerce with M-Pesa (KSh 100,000–300,000+): product catalogue, cart, delivery options and integrated payments — where the price varies most is the payment and inventory work; our M-Pesa checkout guide explains why a proper STK Push integration costs more than pasting a Paybill number on a page.
- Web applications & custom systems (KSh 300,000 and up): booking platforms, member portals, dashboards, marketplaces. At this level you’re paying for software engineering, not pages, and the range is genuinely wide.
Where does a given project land within a range? Mostly on these levers: number of pages and languages, custom design vs template, integrations (payments, booking systems, CRMs), content — whether you provide it or we write it — and how much is custom-engineered rather than assembled.
The ongoing costs nobody mentions
A website is a vehicle, not a statue. Budget for:
- Domain + hosting renewals — every year, as above.
- Maintenance — software updates, security patches, backups, small content changes. Plans typically run from a few thousand shillings a month, or pay-as-you-go.
- Marketing the site — a website nobody finds is a brochure in a locked drawer. SEO and ads are separate budgets; our guide to ranking on Google in Kenya covers the parts you can do free.
Why is that other quote so cheap?
You will get a quote for KSh 10,000 from someone. Sometimes that’s a hungry student doing honest work — and sometimes the maths only works because of what’s missing: no contract, no testing on real phones, a template with the previous client’s colours barely changed, stock content, no SEO basics, and silence the day after you pay the balance.
The most expensive trap is ownership. If the “cheap” developer registers the domain and hosting under their own account, you don’t own your website — you rent it from them, and the price of leaving is whatever they say it is. We meet businesses every month held hostage this way.
Questions to ask before you pay anyone (including us)
- Will the domain and hosting be registered in my name, with credentials handed to me?
- Is there a written quote and agreement — scope, timeline, number of revisions, payment schedule?
- Can I see live sites you’ve built — not screenshots — and may I contact one of those clients?
- Will my site be tested on phones, and will it load fast on mobile data?
- What exactly happens after launch — support, updates, and at what cost?
- If we part ways, do I keep everything — files, content, access?
Anyone offended by these questions has answered them.
So what will your website cost?
The only honest answer is a real quote against your actual requirements — which is why ours are free and itemised. Tell us what you need via the quote form, look at our web design & development services, or check the portfolio to see what the money buys. We’ll give you a fixed price, in writing, with everything above answered before you pay a shilling.
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