Pillar · $997 Affordable Websites

$997 small business websites that don't look $997

What small business websites actually cost in 2026

Industry pricing for small business websites in 2026 sits in a wide range with substantial variance:

• WebFX 2026 industry pricing report: $500 to $50,000+ from agencies and freelancers depending on scope and provider type.
• OneLittleWeb 2026 pricing study: $3,000 to $15,000 minimum for professional builds from established agencies.
• Cyclone Solutions 2026: $2,500 to $7,500 typical for most small businesses working with regional agencies.
• Wix and Squarespace: $14 to $40+ per month indefinitely (which over five years totals $840 to $2,400 in subscription fees, plus the cost of any premium templates).
• WordPress agency builds: $5,000 to $25,000 with ongoing maintenance retainers of $200 to $1,500 per month.
• Freelancer marketplaces (Fiverr, Upwork): $200 to $5,000 with quality ranging from "unusable" to "good," typically with no SEO or schema infrastructure.

The market gap that ThatDeveloperGuy fills is the under-$1,500 price point with real custom code, real SEO infrastructure, and a verified developer behind the work. Sub-$1,500 with hand coded delivery, schema markup, accessibility compliance, and Core Web Vitals optimization is a category nobody else owns.

How $997 actually works

The $997 Foundation tier works for three structural reasons.

• One engineer, no agency overhead. ThatDeveloperGuy is one person: Joseph W. Anady, computer engineering graduate, 100 percent disabled veteran, sole developer. There is no project manager, account manager, sales team, designer-to-developer handoff, or quality assurance team. The 30 to 50 percent overhead that agencies charge does not exist.
• Hand coded delivery, not WordPress configuration. A hand coded site does not need plugin configuration, theme customization, or WordPress-specific QA. The site is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. Build time is shorter and the result is durable.
• Transparent fixed pricing, not billable hours. The Foundation tier is $997 fixed. There is no scope creep allowance, no overrun buffer, no uncertainty multiplier. The scope is documented (up to 5 pages, hand coded, schema, accessibility, Core Web Vitals); the price is the price.

What's included in the Foundation tier ($997)

• Hand coded HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (no WordPress, no Wix, no Webflow, no plugins)
• Up to 5 pages of original content (home, about, services, contact, plus one custom page)
• Schema.org structured data: Organization, Person, Service, BreadcrumbList
• FAQPage schema for AEO citation by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Grok
• Core Web Vitals optimization: LCP under 1.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS at 0.0
• WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility compliance
• Mobile-first responsive design
• sitemap.xml, robots.txt, and llms.txt
• Open Graph and Twitter Card meta for social sharing
• Favicon, apple-touch-icon, and theme color
• SSL certificate and HTTPS enforcement
• One round of revisions before launch
• 30-day post-launch support for fixes

What is NOT included in the Foundation tier (added at higher tiers): multi-page architecture beyond 5 pages, custom CSS animations, integrated forms with backend processing, multi-language support, e-commerce, custom backend functionality.

Full pricing tier breakdown

• Foundation — $997 one time. Up to 5 pages, hand coded, schema, accessibility, Core Web Vitals, one round of revisions. The starter tier for service businesses, sole proprietors, and small operations that need a credible web presence.
• Plus — $1,497 one time + $200 monthly. Multi-page (up to 10 pages) with monthly SEO retainer included. Best for service businesses competing for local search rankings.
• Pro — $1,997 one time + $250 monthly. Multi-page plus AEO infrastructure, expanded schema, content authority page templates. Best for businesses competing in AI search and organic search simultaneously.
• Premium — $2,497 one time. Advanced custom site with CSS animations, integrated forms with backend processing, custom interactive elements. Best for businesses where the website is itself a primary brand surface.
• Advanced — $2,997 one time. Enterprise-grade bespoke functionality, custom integrations, multi-language support, advanced analytics. Best for businesses with specific technical requirements that exceed the standard tiers.

All tiers include the same hand coded delivery, schema markup, Core Web Vitals optimization, and accessibility compliance. The differences are scope, page count, and advanced features.

Monthly options (none required)

The website is purchased once. Optional monthly engagements are available for clients who want ongoing visibility and content management:

• $397 per month — Full Visibility Stack. All four pillars (SEO, AEO, AIO, GEO) covered in one monthly fee. Best for businesses competing in both traditional search and AI search.
• $250 per month — SEO only. Traditional search engine optimization without the AI layer. Best for local service businesses where Google search is the primary acquisition channel.
• $200 per month — AEO only. Answer Engine Optimization for AI search citation in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok. Best for businesses where decision-makers are using AI for research.
• $99 per month — Maintenance only. Content updates within 24 hours, accessibility audits, schema refresh, performance monitoring. Best for businesses that want managed updates without active SEO investment.

Hosting is pass-through at $5 to $15 per month depending on traffic volume. Domain registration is pass-through at $12 to $20 per year. Neither is required to be purchased through ThatDeveloperGuy.

Compared to alternatives

• $997 ThatDeveloperGuy vs $5,000 WordPress agency. Same end result (a small business website that ranks). Differences: ThatDeveloperGuy site loads 5x faster, has zero plugin attack surface, requires no ongoing platform maintenance, and costs 80 percent less. The agency site has a familiar WordPress admin dashboard and broader template ecosystem if those matter to your operation.
• $997 ThatDeveloperGuy vs $480 over 24 months Wix/Squarespace. Same nominal cost over 2 years. Differences: ThatDeveloperGuy site is owned outright (works forever), faster to load, better-ranked. Wix/Squarespace site requires ongoing subscription, locks content to the platform, has weaker SEO posture.
• $997 ThatDeveloperGuy vs $200 Fiverr. Different categories. Fiverr at $200 typically delivers a stitched-together template with no schema, no accessibility, no Core Web Vitals optimization, and no SEO infrastructure. ThatDeveloperGuy at $997 delivers a verified-credential SDVOSB engagement with full SEO and AEO infrastructure built in.
• $997 ThatDeveloperGuy vs $14 monthly Squarespace. Different commitment shapes. Squarespace at $14/month is $168 annually with no upfront cost and platform-managed everything. ThatDeveloperGuy at $997 is one-time with full ownership. Over 5 years, ThatDeveloperGuy saves about $500 in subscription fees plus you keep the website.

Free demo first

Pricing alone does not buy trust. The free demo program addresses that.

You send your business URL and email through the free demo form. Within 48 hours you receive a working hand coded homepage demo on a staging URL. You see exactly what the website will look like and how it will perform before you pay anything. If you want to proceed, you pay the $997 (or your chosen tier) and the work expands into the full multi-page site. If you do not want to proceed, you owe nothing and we delete the demo. This is the simplest possible risk reversal: see it before you buy it.

Who $997 websites work for

Service businesses (HVAC, plumbing, legal, healthcare, construction, real estate, photography, consulting). Federal contractors and SDVOSBs needing a credible web presence for procurement officers and prime contractors. Solo founders and freelancers building a brand for the first time. Small businesses migrating off broken WordPress, expensive Squarespace, or limiting Wix sites. Anyone who needs a real custom website without paying agency rates.

Frequently asked questions