A monthly website subscription is one flat fee that covers your website's design, build, hosting, security and updates, with nothing to pay upfront. At Topos, that fee is $50 a month.
It exists because the usual routes are awkward when you're running a business. Agencies and freelancers tend to start with a big quote, then add hourly rates, surprise invoices and a six-week discovery phase. The other path is a template that looks like everyone else's. Plenty of owners put the website off, or start a template and never finish it.
That's less a budget problem than a pricing-structure problem. When the cost is a lump sum and the effort is all yours, the site slides down the to-do list. A subscription flips that: a small, predictable amount each month, and we handle the rest. Your site is custom-designed, built and hosted by us, and live in about a week.
How much does a small business website really cost in Australia?
What each option costs
Depending on who builds it, a small business website in Australia costs anywhere from $15 a month to $20,000 and up. The range is wide because the options are so different.
- DIY builders: $15 to $60 a month, plus your own time.
- Freelancers: most charge $800 to $3,000 upfront.
- Agencies: $5,000 to $20,000 and up.
- Managed flat-fee services: one fixed monthly fee with everything included. Ours is a flat $50 a month.
The costs people forget
Most quotes leave out the running costs. Hosting is $10 to $50 a month, and a .com.au domain is around $20 to $40 a year. Then there is maintenance: updates, security patches and backups. Paid changes add up too, and most sites need a rebuild every four to five years.
A cafe, tradie or solo professional seldom needs an agency budget, so ask what's included before you compare prices.
Why compare website costs over five years, not on day one?
Because the day-one price only shows part of the bill. Upfront-cost options pick up hosting, maintenance, paid changes and, in the end, a rebuild, and those extras change the maths.
A DIY builder is a good example. Wix and Squarespace advertise from about $15 a month, but a realistic plan (no ads, your own domain, an app or two) lands at $30 to $60 a month, or around $2,000 to $3,500 over five years. That's before you count your own weekends.
A freelancer or agency build starts higher, then adds hosting, a domain, security updates and a rebuild every four to five years. For comparison, $50 a month over the same five years is $3,000, with the design, hosting and updates already inside it.
How does a monthly website subscription work, step by step?
You do a 10-minute onboarding, send us your logo and photos, and we design, build and launch your site in about a week. After that, you keep running your business and the site looks after itself.
Once it's live, you can edit your own text and images whenever you like, no developer needed. Price changes and small updates are easy to make yourself, or you can ask us to do them.
If you'd like us more hands-on, we offer an optional add-on covering regular updates and SEO backlinking. It's separate from the $50 a month, and we can't promise specific search results.
Is a subscription better than Wix or hiring a designer?
It depends on who you are. If you want to validate an idea, run a side hustle, or have more time than money, DIY on Wix or Squarespace is the right call. If one job pays for a year of website, hiring a designer wins: you get written copy, a non-template design and a person to call.
A flat-fee managed service sits in between: DIY-level money, a done-for-you result, and changes handled by us instead of your weekend.
We're not for everyone, and we'd rather say so now. If you need ecommerce, user accounts, payment systems, inventory syncing or an app, or a complex tech build, look elsewhere. The price is $50 a month and it isn't negotiable.
If you're a small business owner who just wants a solid site that gets you found, we'd love to hear from you.