What does a WordPress site cost?
The full breakdown, in figures.
WordPress is free. A website is not. That gap is what makes this question confusing — so here it is, itemised with real numbers.
Build it yourself and it is under $36 a year. The software itself is zero.
A simple WordPress site — a brochure site or a blog — needs exactly three things: WordPress (free and open source), hosting, and a domain. Pick a hosting plan that includes the domain for the first year and a free theme, and your only real cost is the hosting.
In figures: the Hostinger Premium plan costs $143.52 for four full years — under $36 a year — with the domain free for year one and SSL included.
Hire someone to build it and the cost shifts from a small monthly line item to a one-off fee that depends entirely on complexity. We do not build sites and do not sell that service, so our view on this comparison is neutral — and we will tell you when hiring is the right call.
Hosting prices from Hostinger's official pricing page; technical requirements from wordpress.org. Reviewed 12 August 2026.
What exactly are you paying for?
| Item | Required? | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Required | Free | Open source, no licence fee ever |
| Hosting | Required | From $2.99/mo | The only real line item. See our comparison |
| Domain | Required | Free for year one | Then you pay renewal — details here |
| SSL certificate | Required | Free | Included on every decent plan. Do not pay for it |
| Theme | Optional | Free or paid | Start free. The official repository is enough |
| Plugins | Optional | Mostly free | Pay only when you hit a limit you need past |
| Email on your domain | Optional | Plan dependent | Some hosting plans include it |
Is WordPress genuinely free?
Yes, and that is not marketing language. WordPress is open-source software: you download, use and modify it with no licence fee. The confusion comes from conflating WordPress.org — the software you install on your own hosting — with WordPress.com, a commercial service with paid plans.
This guide is about the first one: WordPress on your own hosting, which is the option that leaves you owning your site and your data outright.
What are the technical requirements?
WordPress's own documentation recommends PHP 8.3 or greater, and either MariaDB 10.11 or MySQL 8.0 or greater, with HTTPS required for every install and Apache or Nginx as the web server.
Why does this matter if you are not running a server? Because it is the yardstick for judging a host before you buy. WordPress still runs on PHP 7.4, but its documentation states those versions are past their official end of life and a security risk. If a host does not offer you PHP 8.3, that tells you something about how current its infrastructure is.
Build it yourself, or hire a freelancer?
Our view — and remember we sell no site-building service, so we have no stake in either answer:
Build it yourself if it is:
- A brochure site for you or your company — static pages and a contact form
- A blog or a portfolio
- And you have a weekend to learn. The curve is far shorter than it was five years ago
Hire someone if it is:
- An online store — configuring payments, shipping and tax is not the place to learn by trial
- Connected to external systems: appointment booking, a local payment gateway, accounting
- A project where your time costs more than the difference. Two hours of yours may equal the whole build fee
We quote no figures for freelance rates, because they vary enormously by country, experience and scope, and we have run no survey to cite. Get three quotes and read what each one actually includes — the difference between them is usually scope, not price.
What should you refuse to pay for?
Three things that get sold often and are free or already included:
- An SSL certificate — included on every respectable hosting plan. Anyone selling it separately is trading on your not knowing that.
- "SEO" as a paid add-on at checkout — nobody sells you a Google ranking, and free plugins cover the basics.
- Backups as an extra service — many plans include them. Check before paying twice.
The steps from nothing to a working site
- Choose hosting — the most expensive and most consequential decision. Our comparison works it out over four years, not over year one.
- Register the domain — free with many plans in year one, and read the renewal trap first.
- Install WordPress — most hosts do this in one click, with no manual file uploads.
- Pick a free theme from the official repository, and start with your page content rather than design details.
- Install only the essentials — an SEO plugin, a contact form, backups. Resist installing twenty plugins.
- Turn on HTTPS and confirm your site loads over https, not http.
WordPress cost questions.
Is WordPress really free?
Yes. The WordPress software itself is free and open source. What you pay for is hosting and a domain, and sometimes a premium theme or plugin. The cheapest serious combination starts around $2.99/mo for hosting with a domain included for the first year.
What does a WordPress site cost in the first year?
If you build it yourself with a free theme: only the hosting, because many hosting plans include the domain free for year one. The Hostinger Premium plan costs $143.52 for four full years — under $36 a year.
What are the technical requirements for WordPress?
WordPress recommends PHP 8.3 or greater, and either MariaDB 10.11+ or MySQL 8.0+, with HTTPS required for every install and Apache or Nginx as the web server. Any respectable WordPress host provides all of this with no setup from you.
Should I buy a premium theme?
Not at the start. The WordPress theme repository has free themes that are perfectly adequate for a company site or a blog. Buy a premium theme when you hit a specific limit you need to get past, not before.
Should I build it myself or hire a freelancer?
We do not build sites and do not sell that service, so our view is neutral: build it yourself if it is a brochure site or a blog and you have time to learn. Hire someone if it is a store, or involves payment or booking integrations, or if your time is worth more than the difference.
Hosting is the only line item worth your time.
Everything else on this page is either free or optional. We bought 12 hosting companies with our own money and worked out the four-year cost — the gap between first and second place is wider than you would expect. And if you have not started yet, the order of the steps is in our website creation guide.