If you run a small business and you've been putting off getting a website because it sounds expensive, slow and complicated — you're not wrong to be cautious. The word "cheap" hides a huge range. One quote says €3,000. A DIY builder says "free," then charges you every month once you want a real domain. And a lot of owners quietly wonder whether they even need a website at all now that they're on Google.

So let's answer the real question plainly. A cheap website for a small business in 2026 costs anywhere from €0 to €3,000+ to build, and €0 to €40 per month to keep online — and where you land depends entirely on which of four routes you take. Below is the honest breakdown of each, what you actually get, and the fastest, lowest-cost way to get a professional site live if you already have a Google Business Profile.

Do you even need a website if you're already on Google?

Short answer: yes, and here's why it's not optional anymore.

Your Google Business Profile is rented space. Google controls the layout, decides what shows, places competitors right next to you, and can change the rules whenever it likes. It's fantastic for being found — but it's not somewhere you control the story, capture bookings on your terms, or send paid-ad traffic that needs to convert.

A website is the one property you own. It's where a customer who found you on Google goes to confirm you're legit, see your full menu or service list, read reviews in one place, and take action. Businesses with even a simple site look more credible, rank in more searches, and convert more of the people who are already interested. The good news: getting that credibility no longer requires the budget it used to.

The 4 ways to get a small business website (and what each really costs)

1. Hire an agency or freelance web designer

Build cost: €800–€3,000+. Ongoing: €10–€40/mo hosting, plus fees for every change.

This is the "proper" route and it produces the best custom result — if you have the budget and the time. The catch for a small business is rarely the quality; it's the friction. You'll spend weeks on briefs, revisions and back-and-forth, then pay again every time you want to update your opening hours or add a photo. For a café, a salon or a local trade, that's a lot of money and delay for what is often a fairly simple site.

Best for: businesses that need something genuinely custom and can invest €1,000+ up front.

2. Do it yourself on a website builder

Build cost: your time (10–40 hours). Ongoing: €12–€30/mo once you want a custom domain and no ads.

The big DIY builders market themselves as "free," and technically you can start for nothing. But the free tier puts their branding on your site and gives you a clunky subdomain address. To get a professional look and your own domain, you're on a paid plan — and you still have to design the whole thing yourself from a blank canvas, write every line, and source images.

For a lot of owners this is where the project dies: the free trial gets abandoned at 60% done because the design work is real work.

Best for: owners who enjoy the design process and have the hours to spend.

3. Rely on your Google Business Profile alone

Cost: €0. But it's not a website — and Google retired its free website tool.

Google used to offer a free auto-generated website from your profile. It shut that down, and those sites now redirect to the profile itself. So "just use Google" leaves you with a listing, not a site: no control over design, no real domain, no dedicated pages, and no home for ad traffic. It's a starting point, not a destination.

Best for: literally the first week of a business, before you set up anything real.

4. Generate a site from your Google profile automatically

Build cost: €0 and about 5 minutes. Ongoing: from €9.99/mo with your own custom domain.

This is the newest option and it closes the gap between "free but fake" and "professional but expensive." Instead of starting from a blank page, a tool like Cothons takes the business information you already have on Google — your name, category, real customer reviews, photos, opening hours and location — and turns it into a genuine, SEO-optimized one-page website automatically. You paste your Google Maps link, review it, and it's live.

You get a professional site built from your real reviews (the social proof customers actually trust), a custom domain on the paid plan, and support for 50+ languages — without touching a design tool or writing a brief. For a small business that just needs to look credible and convert the traffic Google already sends, it's the cheapest fast route to a real website rather than a placeholder.

Best for: any local business that already has a Google Business Profile and wants a professional site today, not in three weeks.

Cheap website options compared at a glance

| Option | Upfront cost | Monthly cost | Time to live | Custom domain | Your effort | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Agency / freelancer | €800–€3,000+ | €10–€40 + change fees | 2–6 weeks | Yes | Low (but slow) | | DIY website builder | €0 | €12–€30 | 10–40 hrs of your time | On paid plans | High | | Google Profile only | €0 | €0 | Instant | No | Low (but it's not a site) | | Auto-generated from Google (Cothons) | €0 | From €9.99 | ~5 minutes | Yes (paid plan) | Very low |

So what's the actually cheap option?

If "cheap" means lowest possible price for something real and professional, the maths is simple:

  • An agency gives you the most control but costs the most and takes the longest.
  • A DIY builder is cheap in money but expensive in hours — and most people never finish.
  • Your Google Profile is free but it isn't a website.
  • Auto-generating from your Google profile gets you a professional, review-powered, SEO-optimized site with a custom domain for under €10 a month, live the same day, with almost none of your time spent.

For the vast majority of local businesses — cafés, restaurants, salons, clinics, shops and trades — the fourth route wins on every axis that matters: price, speed and effort. You keep the credibility of a proper website without the agency invoice or the abandoned-builder guilt.

How to get your small business website live today

If you already have a Google Business Profile, you're most of the way there:

  1. Copy your Google Maps link (the one customers use to find you).
  2. Paste it into Cothons and let it pull in your reviews, photos, hours and details.
  3. Review the generated one-page site and tweak the wording if you like.
  4. Connect your own custom domain on the Pro plan and go live.

That's a professional website — built from the reputation you've already earned — for the price of a couple of coffees a month.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a website cost for a small business? Anywhere from €0 to €3,000+ to build. A custom agency site runs €800–€3,000 plus ongoing fees; a DIY builder costs €12–€30/mo once you want a real domain; and auto-generating a site from your Google profile starts at €9.99/mo with no build cost.

What's the cheapest way to get a professional website? Generating one automatically from your existing Google Business Profile. There's no build cost, it's live in minutes, and it uses your real reviews and photos — so it looks professional without a designer, from under €10 a month.

Do I need a website if I already have a Google Business Profile? Yes. Your profile helps people find you, but it's space Google controls, sits next to competitors, and can't fully capture bookings or ad traffic. A website is the one property you own and control — and it makes your business look more credible in every search.

Can I make a small business website without any design skills? Yes. Tools that build from your Google profile require zero design work — you paste a link, review the result, and publish. No blank canvas, no brief, no learning curve.

Is a cheap website worth it for a small business? A cheap site that's professional and built from real reviews is absolutely worth it — it captures customers who are already searching for you. A cheap site that looks cheap is not; that's why review-powered, properly formatted templates matter more than raw price.

Ready to see your site before you pay anything? Paste your Google Maps link at cothons.com and watch your small business website build itself in minutes.