369 Aether / Guides / What a website costs
Pricing, compared
What an artist's website really costs in 2026.
Short answer: $15–50 a month if you build it yourself, $1,200–4,500 with a freelancer, $4,500–12,000 with an agency. Below is what each of those buys you — including where I sit, and when you shouldn't hire me at all.
Prices checked 22 October 2026. Sources at the bottom of the page.
The options
Six ways to get a website.
| Option | Up front | Every year after | What you get | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website builderSquarespace, Wix | $0 | $210–590 | A template you fill in yourself | Your evenings. And one design shared with thousands of other sites |
| Artist platforme.g. FASO | $0 | $144–480 | A template made for artists, with galleries and sales tools | Still a template. Leave, and the site stays behind |
| Specialist artist-site designerUK example | from £700 | £135 + domain | A small site built for you, galleries of 16 images | Small by design: fine for a few series, tight for a full catalogue |
| Freelancer | $1,200–4,500 | hosting + upkeep | A custom site | Quality varies more than price. Ask to see a live site and what it achieved |
| Agency | $4,500–12,000+ | retainer | A team, a process, a contract | You pay for the process as much as for the site |
| 369 Aether — Signature | $3,500 | domain only, ~$10–15 | A page for every work, priced and findable by its title. Hosting €0 | Two projects at a time, so sometimes you wait |
The hidden cost
The number nobody puts in the table.
For most painters the biggest cost isn't the website. It's the commission.
| Where the painting sells | Platform's share |
|---|---|
| Saatchi Art | 40% of an original |
| Artfinder | 40–50%, by plan |
| Your own site, through an inquiry form | 0% — only payment fees |
A $1,500 painting sold on Saatchi Art leaves $600 with the platform. Three of those and you have paid for a Signature site — and the site keeps working after that, at €0 a month.
This isn't a hypothetical. The first site I built, for my wife, sold a painting to a collector in the UK through its own inquiry form, without ads. Read the case →
Five years
Compare what you've paid by year five.
The honest comparison isn't the first invoice.
| Year one | By year five | |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace Core, billed annually | $348 | $1,740 |
| 369 Aether Signature + domain | ~$3,515 | ~$3,575 |
| 369 Aether founding place + domain | ~$1,515 | ~$1,575 |
A builder is cheaper in cash. It stops being cheaper the day one painting sells directly instead of through a 40% platform.
Be honest with yourself
When a builder is enough.
Hire nobody if:
- you show a handful of works and don't sell online;
- you enjoy editing the site yourself, and actually do it;
- the site exists so a gallery can find your CV — and that's all you need from it.
A custom site starts paying when:
- you have more works than a template gallery handles well;
- you want each painting found by its own title in Google;
- you already sell, and part of every sale goes to a platform.
Next step
Not sure which side you're on?
Send me a link to your work. Within three days I'll make a free sketch of your homepage with your own paintings — no obligation. If a builder is the better answer for you, I'll say so.
Sources
- Squarespace — pricing · Basic to Plus, billed annually
- Wix — plans · Light to Core; Wix lists USD prices for reference
- FASO — how much does FASO cost · Intro to Platinum, billed annually
- Project Cost Estimator — portfolio website cost 2026 · freelancer and agency ranges
- Saatchi Art — why sell · 40% commission on originals
- Artfinder — how much does it cost to sell · 40%, 45% or 50% by plan