Web design quote template with nothing to haggle

What a website design quotation should spell out

This web design quote template splits a website job into the parts clients actually buy: discovery, page designs, the build on a content management system, forms, training and an optional care plan. Each part carries its own price, so the client sees where the money goes before they sign. Start from the filled sample in the quote maker, or take the template as a Word, Excel or PDF file.

A website design quotation has to settle three things before the client signs: how many pages and unique layouts you are designing, what platform the site runs on, and who supplies the words and pictures. The lines below cover each of those, plus the costs that sit outside your fee.

1. Page list and templatesName the pages (Home, About, Services, Contact) and say how many unique layouts you will design. Ten pages built from three layouts is far less work than ten custom designs.
2. Discovery and sitemapA paid first stage for the brief, a look at competitors and an agreed sitemap. It fixes the page list before design starts, which stops the site quietly growing.
3. Design revision roundsHow many rounds of design changes are included, usually two, and the hourly rate for any round after that.
4. Platform and build methodName the CMS, such as WordPress, Webflow or Shopify, and whether you start from a theme or build custom. This is why two prices for five pages can be thousands apart.
5. Who supplies contentSay who writes the copy, sources photos and loads products or posts. Late content is the usual reason a launch slips, so set a date for it. If you are writing it, a separate copywriting quote keeps the fees clear.
6. Third party costsDomain, hosting, premium plugins, fonts and stock photos, each marked as included, passed through at cost, or paid by the client directly.
7. Testing and go liveChecks on phones and the main browsers, basic accessibility, redirects from the old site and the launch date.
8. Care plan as an optionUpdates, backups and small edits as an optional monthly line, so ongoing work does not inflate the build price.
9. Ownership and handoverWhen the client receives admin logins and full rights to the finished design, which is normally on final payment.

Sample web design quote with example prices

Pixelwork Studio is quoting Al Noor Tutoring for a five page site on a content management system. Discovery and the five page designs sit in a Design group; development, the contact form with analytics, and a one hour training session sit under Build. A 12 month care plan at $65 a month is optional and stays out of the $3,790 subtotal. The quote asks for a 40% deposit, and every price is an example.

Edit the Pixelwork Studio quote

6 lines are filled in, from discovery and sitemap to monthly care plan. Put in your own web design rates, then download the PDF.

Open the web design sample

How to price a website design job

Web designers tend to price in one of three ways: a fixed fee for the project, a rate per page or layout, or estimated hours at a set rate. Most fixed fees are hours in disguise, so work out the hours first, then decide how to present them.

1. Fixed project feeOne price for an agreed sitemap and feature list. Clients like the certainty and it suits brochure sites you have built many times. Protect it with a firm page list and a stated number of revision rounds.
2. Per page or per layoutA rate for each unique layout, plus a smaller rate for pages that reuse one. Easy to scale up or down, and it shows plainly why extra pages add cost.
3. Hourly estimateEstimated hours by stage times your rate, quoted as a range. Best for custom features, moving content from an old site, or anything you have not built before.
4. Lower build plus monthly careA reduced build fee tied to a minimum term on a care plan. Only use it when the monthly line is real work, and say what the client owes if they cancel early.

Hosting and plugin licenses you resell should carry a margin, not just the cost, so check the figure with the markup calculator. For bigger builds where the hours are uncertain, the fixed price or time and materials guide helps you choose.

Worked example: an eight page site with online booking

Here is how the hours add up on a slightly bigger site than the sample: eight pages, a booking form and one paid plugin. The $80 hourly rate is an example only.

1. DiscoveryBrief call, competitor review and sitemap: 6 hrs.
2. DesignHomepage design 10 hrs, plus three inner layouts at 6 hrs each (18 hrs) that cover all seven inner pages: 28 hrs.
3. BuildEight pages at 3.5 hrs each (28 hrs), plus 6 hrs to connect and test the booking form: 34 hrs.
4. Launch and trainingPhone and browser testing, redirects and a training call: 6 hrs. Total: 6 + 28 + 34 + 6 = 74 hrs, and 74 × $80 = $5,920.
5. Plugin and depositA booking plugin license at $99 a year, passed through at cost, brings it to $5,920 + $99 = $6,019 before tax. A 40% deposit on that is $2,407.60.

Client supplied copy, the number of unique layouts and any data moved from an old site shift the hours more than the raw page count does.

Inclusions and exclusions for a website build

Web design quoting mistakes that cost you hours

Most website jobs that lose money looked well priced on day one. The loss comes later, from the things the quote never pinned down.

• Quoting a number of pages without saying how many unique designs that means.
• Assuming copy and photos will arrive on time, with no clause for what happens when they do not.
• Leaving revision rounds open, so the homepage gets reworked six times at no charge.
• Folding hosting, domain and plugin renewals into the build price, then paying them yourself in year two.
• Handing over admin logins before the final invoice is paid.
• Forgetting redirects and content migration when replacing an old site, which can take longer than the new pages.