Ask three agencies in Saudi Arabia to price "a website" and you can get three quotes that look like they describe different projects. Usually they do. One is quoting a template with your logo on it, one is quoting a designed bilingual site with a content management system, and one is quoting a web application with logins and payments. The word "website" covers all three, which is why website design cost varies so widely between quotes.
So the honest answer to "how much does a website cost?" is: website design cost depends on a short list of decisions you can make before you ask for a quote. This guide walks through those decisions, separates one-off costs from recurring ones, and shows you how to compare proposals line by line. If you want a fixed price for your own project, our website design team quotes after a short call once the scope is clear.
Why website quotes in Saudi Arabia differ so much
Most of the gap between quotes comes from three things: what each agency assumed you wanted, what they left out, and who carries the risk if the scope grows. A low quote is often not a cheaper version of the same work — it is a smaller piece of work with the rest pushed to "later" or to you.
Before comparing numbers, make sure every quote answers the same question.
The factors that decide website design cost
1. What type of site you need
- Corporate or brochure site — pages that explain who you are, what you offer and how to contact you.
- Online store — products, cart, checkout, payments, shipping and stock. This is a different project with its own cost drivers; we cover them in how much an ecommerce website costs in Saudi Arabia.
- Web application or portal — user accounts, dashboards, bookings, workflows. Closer to software development than to "a website".
2. The number of page templates, not the number of pages
Designers price templates: the home page, a service page, a case-study page, a blog article, a contact page. Fifty service pages built on one template cost far less than ten pages that each need a unique layout. Count the distinct page types you need.
3. Arabic and English, designed properly
A bilingual site is not an English site with Arabic text pasted in. Arabic needs right-to-left layouts, Arabic typography that reads well at small sizes, mirrored navigation and forms, and separate SEO for each language — Arabic titles, Arabic URLs and correct language tags. When this is designed from the start it adds work; when it is bolted on at the end it adds more work and still looks wrong.
4. Content: writing, translation and photography
Who writes the copy? Who translates it, and is it translated or written natively in Arabic? Are there product or team photos, or will the site rely on stock images? Content is the item most often missing from quotes and the most common reason launches slip.
5. Functionality
Each of these adds design, development and testing:
- Contact and lead forms with notifications to the right person
- Bookings and appointments
- Customer accounts and logins
- Online payments through a local gateway
- Search, filters and multi-branch locators
6. Integrations
Connecting the site to the systems you already run is often where scope grows: your CRM, your ERP, ZATCA-compliant invoicing through your accounting system, shipping companies, or WhatsApp for enquiries. Each integration depends on the other system's API, so a good proposal names them explicitly.
7. Custom design versus a template
A licensed theme can be the right call for a small business that needs to be online quickly. A custom design built around your brand costs more but fits your content, loads lighter and does not look like hundreds of other sites. Neither is wrong — but the quote should say which one you are getting.
8. SEO setup and migration from an old site
A new site should launch with clean page titles, meta descriptions, a sitemap, structured data and Search Console set up. If you are replacing an existing site, the old URLs need 301 redirects to the new ones — otherwise you can lose the search rankings you have built. Migration takes planning and is often left out of cheap quotes. Our SEO team usually joins migration projects for exactly this reason.
9. Hosting, maintenance and ongoing costs
The site has to live somewhere, be backed up, be kept secure and be updated. Factor in the domain, hosting, SSL, any paid plugins or licences, and a maintenance plan for updates and small changes.
One-off costs versus recurring costs
Separate the two before you compare anything.
One-off: discovery and planning, design, development, content production, integrations, migration and launch.
Recurring: domain renewal, hosting, software licences and paid plugins, maintenance and security updates, content updates, and ongoing SEO or marketing.
A quote that looks low on the one-off side can be expensive over two or three years if hosting is locked to the agency or every small change is billed separately. Ask for both sides in writing.
How to compare website quotes line by line
Put the proposals next to each other and check each one against this list:
- Site type and page templates — how many distinct templates are included?
- Languages — Arabic and English both designed, or one translated?
- Content — who writes, translates and supplies photos?
- Functionality — which forms, bookings, accounts and payments are included?
- Integrations — which systems, named explicitly?
- Design — custom or template?
- SEO and migration — what is set up at launch, and are redirects included?
- CMS and training — can your team edit pages without a developer?
- Hosting and maintenance — what is included, for how long, and what happens after?
- Ownership — who owns the code, the domain and the hosting account?
- Revisions and timeline — how many rounds, and what counts as a change request?
If one quote is far below the others, it is usually missing several of these lines. Our guide on how to choose a web design company in Saudi Arabia covers the questions to ask in the meeting itself.
Red flags in cheap website quotes
- You do not own the code or the domain. The domain should be registered in your company's name, and you should receive the code and admin access at handover.
- Arabic is an afterthought. If the portfolio only shows English sites, or the Arabic versions are mirrored English layouts, expect the same for yours.
- No mention of SEO or redirects. Especially risky if you are replacing a site that already ranks.
- Hosting tied to the agency with no exit. Moving away later becomes difficult and slow.
- No written scope. "A full website" is not a scope. Pages, features and integrations should be listed.
- No post-launch support. Something always needs fixing in the first weeks.
When you do not need an agency at all
If you need a simple one-page presence while you validate an idea, a website builder may be enough for now. Spend the budget on a proper site when you know what your customers need from it.
Work with us: we design and build bilingual corporate sites, stores and web applications — see our website design and development service, or read how to choose a web design company in Saudi Arabia before you shortlist.
FAQ
Why do you not publish website prices? Because the price depends on the factors above, and a published figure would be wrong for most projects. We give a fixed price after a short call once the scope is clear.
Is a template site a bad idea? Not always. For a small business that needs to be online quickly, a well-chosen template is reasonable. Make sure Arabic is supported properly and that you own the site.
Does a bilingual site cost twice as much? No, but it is more than a single-language site: layouts, typography, content and SEO all need work for Arabic as well as English.
What should I prepare before asking for a quote? Your site type, the page types you need, the features and integrations, who will supply the content, and whether you are replacing an existing site.