A small business website in Nigeria typically costs ₦150,000 to ₦600,000 to build, an e-commerce store runs ₦400,000 to ₦1,200,000, and a fully custom web application starts around ₦1,500,000 and can go well beyond ₦10,000,000 depending on complexity. The single biggest reason two quotes for what sounds like “the same website” can differ by a factor of five isn’t the developer — it’s that they’re quoting different scopes without saying so.
Website Costs by Type
| Website type | Typical cost | What’s usually included |
|---|---|---|
| Basic brochure site (3–5 pages) | ₦120,000 – ₦300,000 | Template-based design, mobile-responsive, basic SEO setup, standard contact form |
| Small business site with blog | ₦250,000 – ₦600,000 | Custom design elements, blog/CMS functionality, lead-capture forms, more thorough on-page SEO |
| E-commerce store | ₦400,000 – ₦1,200,000 | Product pages, Paystack/Flutterwave payment integration, cart and checkout flow |
| Corporate site for an established brand | ₦800,000 – ₦2,500,000+ | Fully custom design, more pages and functionality, often multi-stakeholder revisions |
| Custom web app (Next.js, dashboards, SaaS) | ₦1,500,000 – ₦20,000,000+ | Custom-coded functionality, logins, integrations — this is software, not a template site |
Recurring Costs Quotes Often Leave Out
The build price is rarely the full cost of owning a site. Budget for these separately if a quote doesn’t already include them:
- Hosting and domain: commonly ₦80,000 – ₦200,000 per year for a small business site, more for higher-traffic or e-commerce sites
- SSL, security, and backups: often bundled with hosting, but confirm this rather than assume it
- Premium plugins or themes: ₦70,000 – ₦300,000 per year on WordPress builds that rely on paid tools
- Ongoing maintenance: updates, security patches, and small changes, typically priced as a monthly or annual care plan separate from the build
- How many pages and what functionality, exactly? “A website” means different things to different developers — get the page count and feature list in writing.
- Is hosting, SSL, and the first year of maintenance included, or separate? This is where low quotes often catch up to the market average once the first renewal invoice arrives.
- Who owns the code, domain, and hosting account when the project ends? Some cheaper builds keep these under the developer’s account, which becomes a problem if you ever want to switch providers.
- Is basic SEO setup included, or a separate line item? A site with no on-page SEO at launch needs that work done immediately afterward anyway, so it’s worth knowing upfront whether it’s already covered.
WordPress vs. a Fully Custom Build: Why the Price Gap Is So Large
Most of the price spread in the table above comes down to one decision: WordPress or a custom-coded build like Next.js. WordPress reuses an existing platform and ecosystem of themes and plugins, which is why a WordPress build sits in the ₦150,000 – ₦1,500,000 range depending on customization. A custom-coded site or web app has none of that reuse — every piece of functionality is built specifically for you, which is exactly why it costs more and why it’s the right choice mainly when performance or custom functionality genuinely can’t be achieved another way.
Questions to Ask Before Accepting a Quote
How This Site Prices Development Work
Web development work here starts with a free 20-minute discovery call to scope the actual page count, functionality, and platform choice (WordPress or Next.js) before any price is quoted — not a fixed package matched to your budget after the fact. For an existing site that’s simply slow or underperforming, a scoped fix is usually far cheaper than a full rebuild, and worth ruling out first.
Building specifically in Lagos? See how Lagos web design pricing compares to the national numbers above. And once your site is live, budget for ongoing maintenance separately from the build cost.
Is WordPress or a custom-coded website cheaper in Nigeria?
WordPress is cheaper for most small and mid-size business sites because it reuses existing themes and plugins. A fully custom-coded site only becomes worth the higher cost when you need functionality or performance that a WordPress build genuinely can’t deliver.
Why do website quotes in Nigeria vary so much for what sounds like the same project?
Most of the variation comes from undefined scope u2014 page count, functionality, and what’s included after launch (hosting, maintenance, SEO setup) rarely match between quotes, even when both developers describe the project the same way in a sales call.
Should I hire a freelancer or an agency for my website?
A freelancer is often more cost-effective for a straightforward brochure or small business site. An agency or a developer with a proven process makes more sense for e-commerce, custom web apps, or projects with multiple stakeholders and revision rounds.
Want a written quote scoped to your project? See web development services