Web development

What A Website Actually Costs In Dubai.

Ask three companies and you will get three answers that differ by a factor of ten. Here is what drives that gap, what the published ranges are, and what most quotes leave out.

The short answer

Why One Website Has Ten Prices.

Dubai has more than four thousand registered digital agencies and a large freelance market on top of that. Published 2026 guides put a basic business website anywhere between three thousand and eight thousand dirhams, and a custom build anywhere between twenty five thousand and well past two hundred thousand. Those are not different qualities of work. They are frequently the same website.

A good part of the spread has nothing to do with the site you end up with. An agency carrying a central office, a sales team and a layer of project managers has to recover those costs, and they are inside the quote before anyone opens a design tool. That is not a criticism. On a large build with many stakeholders, that structure is exactly what you are paying for and it earns its money. It does mean the number on its own tells you almost nothing about what you will receive.

The useful question is not what a website costs. It is what is inside the number, and who is being paid along the way.

The market

The Published Ranges.

Figures compiled from 2026 pricing guides published by Dubai agencies. Treat them as the shape of the market rather than as a quotation.

01

Brochure site

AED 3,000 to 8,000
Up to roughly eight pages, responsive, contact form. Typically two to four weeks.

02

Business site with CMS

AED 8,000 to 18,000
Up to around twenty pages with a blog and on page SEO. One to two months.

03

Online store

AED 8,000 to 25,000
Rises sharply with payment gateways, inventory and logistics integrations.

04

Custom build

AED 25,000 upwards
Bespoke interface, system integrations, unusual functionality. No sensible ceiling.

Read the small print

What The Quote Leaves Out.

01

Hosting and domain

Commonly AED 200 to 1,500 a year depending on the platform and traffic. Small, but it is rarely in the headline figure.

02

Maintenance

A widely used rule of thumb in this market is fifteen to twenty per cent of the build cost per year. Plans commonly run AED 100 to 500 a month.

03

Words and pictures

The most frequent reason a launch date slips. If copy and photography are not ready, either you write them or somebody bills you to.

04

Ownership

Ask directly whether the domain, the hosting and the source files end up in your name, and whether you can edit the site without going back to the builder.

How I quote

What Moves The Number.

There is no standard package here, because no two jobs are the same size. Four things decide the figure, and you get it in writing before anything starts.

  • How many pages, and how many of them are genuinely different from one another.
  • Whether the text and images already exist, or need to be made.
  • How much of your current site can be kept rather than rebuilt.
  • How much is running every month afterwards, if anything.

The figure does not change unless you ask for something new. If a smaller scope would do the job, I will say so rather than quote the larger one.

Tell Me What You Need
Questions

Answered Before You Ask.

What Is A Fair Price For A Small Business Website In Dubai?
For a straightforward business site of up to about twenty pages with a CMS, published 2026 guides cluster between AED 8,000 and 18,000. Below roughly AED 3,000 you are usually buying a template with your logo dropped into it, which is a reasonable choice for some businesses as long as you know that is what it is.
Why Is A Freelancer Cheaper Than An Agency?
Usually overheads rather than quality. An office, a sales team and project managers are recovered through the quote. The trade is that an agency has depth of staff, so ask any independent how they handle capacity before you sign.
Should I Pay A Fixed Fee Or Monthly?
Fixed fee for a defined build, because the scope is knowable and you should carry no risk on it. Monthly only for work that genuinely continues, such as SEO, advertising or content. Be wary of a monthly figure for a one off build unless you have read what happens if you stop paying.
What Should Every Quote Include?
A page count, who supplies the words and images, how many rounds of changes are covered, what happens when scope changes, the launch date, and a plain statement that the domain, hosting and files are transferred to you.
How Long Should A Website Take?
A brochure site is typically two to four weeks. A larger business site with a CMS and content work is one to two months. Anything quoted at a few days is a template, and anything quoted at six months should come with an explanation you find convincing.
Does A More Expensive Website Perform Better?
Not on its own. Speed, clear structure and being findable in search do more for enquiries than budget does, and all three are a matter of how a site is built rather than what it cost. Ask for the numbers on anything you are shown: load times and mobile scores are public and take a minute to verify.
Get in touch

Want The Number For Your Project?

Tell me what the business does and roughly what you need. You get a written figure and a plan before anything starts, whether or not it turns into work.

One reply, from me, within one business day.

WhatsApp +971 55 811 6835 emailme@amarsb.com
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