Pricing
How much does a website cost in Kenya in 2026?
What a business website, an online store and a custom web app cost in Kenya, what pushes the price up, and the costs people forget to budget for.
By Gilbert Tallam · · 4 min read
"How much is a website?" is the first question almost every client asks us, and the honest answer is "it depends." That's not very useful on its own, so this article breaks down what it depends on, with real figures in Kenyan shillings.
The prices below are our own. Other studios and freelancers charge more or less, but the things that drive the cost are the same everywhere.
The short answer
At Belion Studios, projects start at these prices:
| What you need | Starting price | Typical timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Business website (up to 5 pages) | KES 50,000 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Online store with M-Pesa checkout | KES 130,000 | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Custom web app or SaaS platform | KES 180,000 | 4 to 8 weeks |
| Care and maintenance after launch | KES 15,000 per month | Ongoing |
These are starting points. The final figure depends on what you need, and you get it in a written proposal before any work begins. If you'd like a range for your own project, our cost estimator gives you one in about two minutes.
What actually changes the price
1. The type of website
This is the biggest factor. A business website explains what you do and helps people get in touch. An online store has to handle products, stock, a cart, payments and orders. A web app, like a booking platform or a client portal, has logins, user roles and business logic built specifically for you.
Each step up is more than "a few extra pages." It's a different amount of engineering, testing and responsibility.
2. How many pages you need
Our business websites include up to five pages, which covers most small businesses: Home, About, Services, a portfolio or gallery, and Contact. Each extra page adds about KES 5,000.
If you're not sure how many you need, start with the pages a customer must see before they contact you. You can always add more later.
3. Features and integrations
Some common extras and what they add to a business website:
- WhatsApp chat button: around KES 5,000
- Image gallery or portfolio section: around KES 8,000
- Booking or enquiry form: around KES 10,000
- Blog or news section: around KES 10,000
- Online payments with M-Pesa: around KES 15,000 to 30,000, depending on how payments connect to the rest of the site
Shopping carts, customer accounts and admin dashboards are a bigger job, so they're included in the online store tier rather than added on.
4. Content: words and photos
A website needs words and pictures. If you have them ready, the project moves faster and costs less. If you need help writing the text, budget roughly KES 3,000 to 6,000 per page for content writing.
Good photos matter more than most people expect. A few professional photos of your work, your team or your products will do more for your site than any design trick.
5. Branding
If you already have a logo, colours and fonts, we design around them. If you're starting from scratch, a branding and design package typically adds KES 20,000 to 40,000.
6. How soon you need it
If you need the site urgently, expect to pay a rush premium of around 20 to 30%, because other work has to move to make room for yours. A realistic deadline is one of the easiest ways to keep costs down.
The costs people forget
The build is only part of the picture. Plan for these as well:
- Domain name: your address, like yourbusiness.co.ke, renewed every year.
- Hosting: where the site lives. Simple sites can be cheap or even free to host; online stores and apps with a database cost more.
- Payment fees: M-Pesa and card payment providers charge a fee per transaction.
- Email: a professional address like hello@yourbusiness.co.ke usually comes with a small monthly fee per user.
- Maintenance: websites need updates, security patches and the occasional fix. You can do this yourself or use a monthly plan.
We list these separately in every proposal so there are no surprises later.
Cheap, expensive, or right-sized?
A very cheap website usually costs more in the end. Common problems we're asked to fix include sites that are slow on mobile data, sites the owner can't update, and developers who stop replying after launch.
On the other hand, you don't need to pay for features you won't use in the first year. The right website does the job your business needs now and can grow when you do.
A few questions to ask any developer before you hire them:
- Will I get a written, fixed-scope proposal with the full price?
- Who owns the website, the code and the domain when we're done?
- What happens if something breaks after launch?
- Can I see websites you've built that are live today?
Get a figure for your project
The quickest way to get a number for your own project is to try the website cost estimator. Answer a few questions and you'll get an estimated range, a breakdown of what's in it, and the option to send it to us for a detailed quote.
Prefer to talk it through? Send us a message and we'll reply within 24 business hours.