The range is wider than most people expect. You can get something online for free, or you can spend $10,000 with an agency. Neither of those is necessarily wrong. It depends on what you actually need and how much your time is worth.
Here's what everything actually costs in 2026, with no fluff.
Option 1: Free (Google Business Profile and Facebook page)
Cost: $0
A Google Business Profile gets your business showing up in map searches. It takes about 30 minutes to set up. It's free. You should have one regardless of anything else.
A Facebook page is also free and takes 20 minutes. It gives you a place to post photos and collect reviews.
The limits: neither of these is a website. You can't rank on Google for search terms like "plumber Hamilton" with a Facebook page. You don't own these profiles. Meta can change the algorithm. Google can show or hide your listing based on factors you don't control. They're a start, not a solution.
Option 2: DIY website builders (Wix, Squarespace)
Cost: $20 to $65 NZD per month ($240 to $780 per year)
Wix and Squarespace let you build a site yourself using drag-and-drop editors. Wix's paid plans start at around $20/mo. Squarespace starts at $23/mo and runs to $65/mo depending on features.
The time cost is real. Budget 20 to 40 hours to get a tradie site looking decent on these platforms. The templates weren't designed for trade businesses. You'll spend time removing elements that don't apply, adding the ones that do, figuring out SEO settings, and testing on mobile. Then you'll pay monthly, every year, for as long as you want the site.
Over three years, a $25/mo Wix plan costs $900. Over five years, $1,500. That's before any time investment.
Option 3: Rocketspark (NZ-made)
Cost: $39 to $69 NZD per month ($468 to $828 per year)
Rocketspark is a New Zealand-built website builder. The support team is local, the templates are clean, and it's a reasonable DIY option for NZ businesses. The setup process is similar to Wix. You'll need several hours to get it right.
The ongoing cost is higher than the big international platforms. Over three years at $50/mo, that's $1,800. It's a legitimate option, but the monthly fee adds up.
Option 4: Freelance web designer
Cost: $1,000 to $3,000 NZD
Hiring a freelancer gets you a custom-built site without doing the work yourself. The quality varies. A good freelancer will build you something clean and functional. A mediocre one will hand you a site that breaks when you try to update it.
Things to watch: make sure you own the domain and hosting account yourself, not the freelancer. Some freelancers retain control of your hosting, which gives them leverage if you ever want to move or need updates. Get this in writing before paying anything.
Ongoing costs: you'll typically pay for hosting separately ($10 to $20/mo) and may need to pay the freelancer again for any updates. Ask about this upfront.
Option 5: Web design agency
Cost: $3,000 to $10,000+ NZD
Agencies charge more because they have teams, overhead, and account managers. For a basic tradie site, there's usually no reason to pay agency rates. The output is often similar to a good freelancer's work, just with more meetings and a longer timeline.
Agencies make sense for complex projects with specific requirements, e-commerce, or businesses that genuinely need custom functionality. A five-page tradie website isn't that.
The timeline is also longer. Agency projects typically take four to eight weeks from brief to launch. You'll spend time in review cycles, approvals, and revisions. That's weeks of back-and-forth for a site you needed last month.
Option 6: Site Sorted
Cost: $299 one-time payment. No monthly fees. Hosting included.
You answer a short set of questions about your business: your trade, your service areas, your contact details, and a bit about the jobs you take on. Your site gets built in about 15 minutes. You keep it and update it. No monthly charge, ever.
See the full pricing page for what's included.
The limitation is flexibility. You're not building from scratch. If you need something highly custom, Site Sorted isn't the right tool. But for a tradie who wants a professional site that ranks locally, works on mobile, and doesn't cost $50 a month in perpetuity, it's the practical choice.
The cost most people forget: your time
Pricing comparisons usually ignore the most expensive input: your time.
DIY with Wix or Squarespace takes 20 to 40 hours. If your hourly rate on a job is $80, that's $1,600 to $3,200 of your time spent on something that isn't your trade. You'll also need to revisit it every time something changes, every time a plugin needs updating, every time the design starts looking dated.
An agency saves your time but costs more upfront and takes weeks to deliver. The back-and-forth alone can take hours of your schedule.
Site Sorted takes about 5 minutes of your time. You fill in the form, your site gets built, you review it, and you're live. That's the real value proposition.
Things to watch out for
Before signing up to anything, check:
- Monthly fees that aren't obvious upfront. Some "cheap" plans lock features behind higher tiers
- Who owns your domain. Your domain should be registered in your name, to your email address
- Contract lock-ins. Some agencies require 12-month contracts for hosting or maintenance
- "Free" website offers that redirect you to pay for hosting after the first year
- Sites built on platforms that are hard to migrate if you want to move later
The honest summary
If you want to DIY and have the time: Wix or Rocketspark work, but budget 20+ hours and $400+ per year ongoing.
If you want someone to do it for you: a good freelancer at $1,500 to $2,500 is usually better value than an agency at $5,000+.
If you want it done fast, with no ongoing fees, and purpose-built for tradies: Site Sorted at $299 is the straightforward option. One job covers the cost.
Want to compare the platforms directly? Read Best Website Builder for Tradies in NZ for a full breakdown of each option.
Not sure if you need a website at all? Does My Trade Business Need a Website in 2026? is the honest answer.
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