Getting a website built in Split has one trait that surprises people looking for a developer for the first time: the range of quotes for what looks like the same job goes from two hundred to several thousand euros. This post explains why, how to recognise what you're really getting, and what has to be in the quote before you sign anything.
How much does a website cost in Split
In practice, prices fall into four groups:
- €150 – €500: a template, usually on WordPress. Quick, looks like someone else's site, more expensive to keep in the long run.
- €500 – €2,000: a site made for you, hand-coded, with a design that wasn't bought. Most jobs for small and medium businesses end up here.
- €2,000 – €3,000: sites that have to remember something: a web shop, bookings, customer accounts.
- €3,000 and up: an agency, or a project that's really an application.
My ranges are on the pricing page. The breakdown by level and the hidden costs after launch are in what goes into the price of a website.
Freelancer, agency or small development team
A freelancer is the cheapest and the quickest to agree terms with. The risk is simple: one person, one schedule, and if that person moves on to other work, yours stops.
An agency has a process, people and a replacement if someone leaves. You also pay overhead that has nothing to do with your site: project managers, sales, an office.
A small development team is the middle: you deal directly with whoever does the work, with no layer of middlemen, but with more than one pair of hands.
There's no universally right answer. If the site is secondary, a freelancer is reasonable. If customers decide from it whether to call you, take someone who'll still be looking after it in a year.
How to tell someone knows the job
A portfolio is useful, but not on its own: nice images can be bought too. Look for this:
Projects that are still live. Open them. Do they work? Do they load on a phone? If half the portfolio is dead, the sites either weren't theirs or didn't last.
Numbers, not adjectives. "A modern, responsive website" means nothing. "Start lists for a meet built in three minutes instead of three days" does. Numbers like that appear next to my projects where they were measured.
A measurable result. Run their projects through PageSpeed Insights. If a developer sells speed, their projects have to show it.
The answer to "what if we need a change later". If the answer avoids the question of ownership, that's the answer.
What has to be in the quote
Before you sign, the quote should state:
- A fixed price, not an hourly estimate. An hourly estimate is a risk you carry.
- Exactly what's included: number of pages, languages, forms, content editing.
- The deadline and what can move it. Most often that's content: texts and photos arrive more slowly than everyone thinks.
- Who owns the code and design after delivery. The answer should be: you.
- What happens after launch: how long support lasts and what it covers.
- Where the site is hosted and who pays for hosting and the domain.
If the developer hesitates over ownership or over where the domain sits, that's more important information than the price.
Red flags
- A price without a conversation about scope. Someone who gives a number before asking what the site has to do is guessing.
- Domain and hosting registered to the developer. It's common practice, and it means your site isn't entirely yours.
- "Unlimited pages" in a package. It sells a number nobody needs instead of what the site has to achieve.
- No written scope. Without it, every later discussion ends in "that wasn't agreed".
- A monthly subscription for the site itself, with no clear service behind it.
How long a build takes
Realistically, in weeks: one to two for a simple site, three to four for a site with subpages, five to eight if it has bookings or payments.
Most of the waiting usually isn't development. Content is the bottleneck: texts, photos, details of the services. Projects where the client has the content ready finish noticeably sooner.
Does the developer have to be from Split
No, and it's fair to say so even though I'm based in Split.
Meeting in person helps at the start, when the scope is being agreed. Everything after that works just as well online. I work with clients across Croatia and abroad, online or in person, whichever suits them.
What being local really brings is knowing the market: a tourism website in Dalmatia doesn't solve the same problem as a manufacturer's site, and you only see the difference once you've seen both.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need WordPress?
For a blog that publishes every day and has several editors, maybe. For a ten-page business site, usually not. The reason is in why WordPress is slow.
Who owns the site after delivery?
With me: you. You get the code, the design and access to everything. No subscription for the site itself and no tie to the developer.
What if I want to change developers?
If the code is yours and the domain is in your name, it's a few hours' work. If not, it's a new site.
Do you do maintenance?
Yes. The first 30 days are free, and after that monthly maintenance depends on the size of the project. But a site on a modern stack doesn't need monthly maintenance to keep working; that's the difference from WordPress.
Where to start
The first call is free and takes half an hour. We go through what the site has to do, how much content there is and what the deadline is, and you get a fixed price in writing.
Tell me what you're building or see my work.