How much does a website cost in Kenya in 2026? Real KES ranges

Short answer: in 2026 a small business website in Kenya typically costs KES 15,000–50,000 from a freelancer and KES 40,000–180,000 from an agency. An online store with M-PESA checkout usually runs KES 80,000–450,000. On top of the build, budget for a domain, hosting and, if you want it, a maintenance plan.

Those ranges come from Kenyan studios that publish their prices (sources at the end). Here is what sits behind the numbers, so you can read a quote properly.

Market ranges at a glance

What you are buying	Typical published range (KES)
DIY website builder, first year	3,000 – 15,000
Basic brochure site, 1–5 pages	15,000 – 50,000
Freelancer, 5–7 page business site	20,000 – 50,000
Agency, 5–10 page business site	40,000 – 180,000
E-commerce with M-PESA checkout	80,000 – 450,000
Custom web application or portal	200,000 – 1,500,000+
.co.ke domain, per year	about 1,000 – 2,500
Shared hosting, per year	about 2,500 – 12,000
Maintenance plan, per month	about 5,000 – 25,000

Some studios advertise lower entry prices (for example starter sites from KES 15,000–20,000), usually on templates with tighter scope. Always compare what is included, not just the headline number.

What actually changes the price

1. Number of pages and who writes them. Writing or rewriting content is real work. A 5-page site with your copy ready costs less than a 20-page site where the studio writes everything.
2. Template or custom design. Templates are faster and cheaper. Custom design costs more but makes you look different from the competitor down the road who bought the same theme.
3. Payments and integrations. M-PESA STK Push, card gateways, SMS, delivery APIs and booking systems each add scope. See our M-PESA e-commerce setup guide.
4. Custom functionality. Customer accounts, dashboards and portals are software projects, not pages.
5. SEO setup. A site with proper titles, schema, a sitemap and fast loading is worth more than a pretty site Google can't read. Our local SEO checklist lists what should be included.
6. Support after launch. Ask who fixes things in month six and what it costs.

The running costs most quotes leave out

A website has three costs: the build (once), the domain and hosting (yearly) and maintenance (monthly, optional). Over three years the running costs can approach the build price. Ask for all three in writing before you sign.

Modern frameworks change this maths a little. A Next.js site hosted on Vercel or Netlify often fits inside a free or low-cost tier for a small business, and there are no plugins to keep patching. A WordPress site needs hosting and regular updates. Our Next.js vs WordPress comparison explains when each makes sense.

How Captivart's prices compare

We publish fixed KES packages because guessing at a quote wastes everyone's time:

Captivart package	Price	Typical time
Landing page	KES 14,900	about 5 working days
Business site, up to 8 pages	from KES 39,000	about 14 days
E-commerce with M-PESA	from KES 65,000	2–3 weeks
M-PESA added to an existing site	KES 18,000	about a week
Monthly care	from KES 4,500 / month	ongoing

That places a Captivart business site at the lower end of the agency range, with custom design, Next.js and on-page SEO included. The trade-off is honest: we are a small studio led by one developer, Kevin Milo, so we take on a limited number of projects at a time.

Five questions to ask before you pay a deposit

• Is the price fixed, and what exactly is included?
• Who owns the domain, the code and the hosting account? (It should be you.)
• What will hosting, domain and maintenance cost each year?
• Can I see live sites you built, not just screenshots?
• What happens if I need a change after launch?

For more on choosing a studio, read what to look for in a Nairobi web studio.

Sources

Ranges checked in October 2026 against these published Kenyan price guides:

• Mocky, "Website Cost in Kenya 2026: Complete Pricing Guide", mocky.co.ke
• Digital4Africa, "How Much Does a Website Cost in Kenya? 2026 Prices (KES)", digital4africa.com
• J&M Digital Solutions, "Web Design Agency vs Freelance web designer in Kenya", jmdigitalsolutionske.com
• IT Kenya, "How Much Does a Website Cost in Kenya? (2026)", itkenya.com
• PrimeCode, "Website Prices in Kenya 2026", primecode.co.ke

Want a fixed quote for your project? See website design packages or message Kevin on WhatsApp.