What Is the Cheapest Way to Build a Website in Ireland?

If you've been looking into getting a website for your business, you've probably noticed that the pricing is all over the place. Some builders say "free", agencies quote €2,000+, and everything in between seems to come with hidden costs and confusing add-ons.

Let's cut through it. Here's what every option actually costs in Ireland in 2026, with no spin. We'll start from the cheapest and work our way up.

Option 1: Free Website Builders (€0)

Platforms: Wix (free plan), WordPress.com (free plan), Google Sites

You can technically build a website for free. Wix and WordPress.com both offer free plans, and Google Sites is entirely free.

The catch: Free plans almost always come with limitations that make them unsuitable for a real business:

• Ads on your site — Wix and WordPress.com display their own ads on your free website. This looks unprofessional.
• No custom domain — Your URL will be something like yourbusiness.wixsite.com/site instead of yourbusiness.ie. Customers notice this.
• Limited storage and features — Free plans are deliberately hobbled to push you toward paid plans.
• No SSL on some platforms — Some free plans don't include the security certificate that shows the padlock icon.

Free plans are fine for personal projects or testing. For a business that wants to be taken seriously, they're not a good look.

Actual usability for business: Low.

Option 2: Budget Website Builders (€60–€200/year)

Platforms: Web60 (€60/year), Wix Light (€156/year), Squarespace Personal (€156/year)

This is the sweet spot for most small businesses. You get a proper website with a custom domain, SSL, and no third-party ads.

Web60 sits at the very bottom of this range at €60/year. That includes AI website generation, WordPress hosting in Ireland, SSL, daily backups, a website builder, and 24/7 monitoring. There are no tiers — everyone gets everything.

Wix Light at about €13/month gives you Wix's builder with a custom domain and no Wix ads. It's a good product, but it costs more than double Web60 and doesn't include some features that business customers want (like online payments or a custom favicon).

Squarespace Personal at about €13/month is similar — clean design tools, custom domain, SSL. But again, limited features at this tier and more than double the price of Web60.

Our recommendation: Web60 at €60/year gives you the most for the least. If design tools are a priority and you're happy to pay more, Squarespace and Wix are solid at this tier.

Option 3: Premium Website Builders (€200–€400/year)

Platforms: Wix Business (€240/year), Squarespace Business (€288/year), WordPress.com Business (€300/year)

At this price point, you're getting the full feature set from the major platforms — online payments, e-commerce basics, advanced SEO tools, integrations, and more.

If you need proper e-commerce (selling products online with a shopping cart), this is where Wix and Squarespace start to make more sense. Their built-in shop features at this tier are polished and easy to use.

However, if you don't need e-commerce, you're paying 4–5 times what Web60 charges for features you may never use. Web60 at €60/year includes everything a non-e-commerce business needs, including the full power of WordPress and its plugin ecosystem.

Our recommendation: Only go premium if you specifically need features like built-in e-commerce or advanced platform-specific integrations. For everything else, Web60 covers it at a fraction of the cost.

Option 4: Self-Hosted WordPress (€80–€300/year)

What's involved: Buy hosting (€60–€200/year), install WordPress yourself, find a theme, write content, configure SSL, set up backups, manage updates.

Self-hosted WordPress is the most flexible option. You can build literally anything. But it requires technical knowledge. You need to:

• Choose and configure a hosting provider
• Install WordPress
• Set up SSL certificates
• Configure backups
• Choose and install a theme
• Write all your content
• Keep WordPress, themes, and plugins updated
• Handle security

For someone technical, this is fine. For a business owner who just wants a website, it's a lot of unnecessary work. You'll spend hours on setup and ongoing maintenance.

Web60 is essentially self-hosted WordPress without the hassle. You get the full power of WordPress, but AI builds your site and we handle all the technical management. At €60/year, it's cheaper than most self-hosting options too.

Our recommendation: Only do self-hosted WordPress if you specifically want full server-level control. For everyone else, managed solutions like Web60 save time and headaches.

Option 5: Hire a Web Designer (€500–€5,000+)

What's involved: Pay a professional to design and build your website.

This gets you a custom-designed website, usually with WordPress or a similar platform. A basic 5-page business website from a freelancer might cost €500–€1,500. A more complex site from an agency could easily be €2,000–€5,000+.

On top of the design fee, you'll also need to pay for hosting (€60–€200/year) and potentially ongoing maintenance (€50–€200/month).

For businesses with specific branding needs, complex requirements, or large budgets, a designer makes sense. For a local tradesperson who needs a clean site with services and contact details, it's overkill.

Our recommendation: Worth it for complex or brand-heavy projects. For a standard small business website, Web60's AI gets you 90% of the way there for €60/year.

Option 6: Do Nothing (€0 but costs you customers)

The cheapest option is no website at all. But it's also the most expensive in the long run.

Every day without a website, potential customers are searching for your services and finding your competitors instead. They're checking for your opening hours, your menu, your services, your location — and finding nothing. Some of them move on. You'll never know how many.

A website isn't an expense. It's the most basic piece of business infrastructure in 2026, like having a phone number or a shop sign.

The Bottom Line

For most Irish small businesses, the answer is simple: Web60 at €60/year gets you a professional, AI-built website on WordPress with Irish hosting, SSL, backups, and monitoring. It's the cheapest real option — cheaper than every major competitor, cheaper than self-hosting for most people, and infinitely cheaper than a designer.

You can try it free at web60.ie/demo. Describe your business, AI builds your website in 60 seconds, and you get 24 hours to test everything. No credit card, no commitment.

Stop spending money and time on options that cost more and give you less. Get online for €60.