Those that are new to having a Web site professionally developed are often completely in the dark when it comes to the actual costs of doing so. From free web site 'generators' to expensive downtown firms and everything in-between, it can be tough to ballpark how much any given project might cost.

While it's not possible to provide exact figures without the particulars, below are some quick guidelines on average Web development costs with us at Greenstick.

Initial Design Work:

Projects generally begin with an initial design phase, during which we work out with the client how the site will look through the creation of visual 'mock-ups'. Depending on the complexity of the design, the number of alternatives required for inner pages/sections, and the number of initial design concepts provided, costs normally vary between about $500 - $3,000, with the average being on the lower to middle of the scale.

Occasionally, clients have an in-house or third-party designer provide either sample concepts or a complete design, both of which we're happy to work with in order to reduce or eliminate the aforementioned design costs.

Design Integration:

Following design completion, the finalized templates are transformed into valid XHTML/CSS documents for further use. The price varies depending on the complexity of the design being used and the number of individual templates required, but generally runs in the range of $200 - $500.

Project Development:

The main development phase can involve anything from setting up a simple 'brochure-style' site with only a few pages to intricate content management systems with thousands of content pieces, so it's difficult to generalize a price range as the amount of work required can vary so significantly.

We've developed sites from the ground up that cost anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000+ on either side of the scale. With that said, there's literally too many variables for any given project to simply ballpark a general number that would apply to everyone we may be working with. Below are some general averages for common types of sites we've developed - though costs can certainly vary outside of the averages depending on your particular needs.

Of course, there's infinite possibilities for all kinds of sites, from integration with various external services to sites containing tens of thousands of well organized pages. The best way to find out what your particular web site/project would cost is to contact us. Give us a call or send us an email and we'll be able to give you a quick estimate or quote on your project. No obligation and no hard sales; we promise!

Mobile Costs & Considerations

The costs for building a mobile application vary just as much (arguably more so) than Web development, and depending on your needs can vary anywhere from a couple thousand dollars for a simple application into six figures for complicated games with various external integrations. Here's some ballpark figures:

While the tools we use for mobile development allow for largely cross-platform builds using the same code, each mobile platform and device resolution does require additional work such as tweaking code particulars and re-sizing assets. While the extra cost is marginal compared to rebuilding from scratch, it's still slightly more expensive to build for iOS and Android than just iOS for example, as is deploying on both phones and tablets (even on the same platform/operating system) due to screen size differences.

Keeping Costs Down:

Know what you want and what you need. Clear direction is the best way to ensure price estimates are accurate, and those initial expectations will be the basis for any contract price moving forward. (We do our best to ensure we're on the same page with our clients before commencing work, but it's not uncommon for clients to introduce extra needs during development - which will normally increase costs.)

Consider 'phasing in' particular developments. If there's some functionality you'd like to have but can't afford to develop right now, there's always the opportunity to add it later while building phase 1 with said expansions in mind.