How much does a restaurant website cost? Four routes, real totals

How much does a restaurant website cost in 2026?

Software costs $17 to $499 a month on the vendor pages we read on 6 November 2026. A DIY builder costs $17 to $39 a month on its entry and mid plans. Restaurant platforms list $159 to $499 a month, plus order fees on some plans. A freelancer bills by the hour. Our studio retainer starts at $1,200 a month.

First-year figures are our arithmetic from the published prices: twelve months of the plan, plus setup where the vendor or studio charges one. They leave out card processing, domain renewals, hardware and your own time.

What does a DIY builder like Squarespace or Wix cost?

Squarespace lists Basic at $19 a month paid yearly or $25 paid monthly, and Core at $29 yearly or $39 monthly. Wix lists Light at $17, Core at $29 and Business at $39 a month on yearly plans paid up front. Both pages were read on 6 November 2026. Your time is the real cost.

Squarespace lists card rates from 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic and Core, and a 2% online store transaction fee on Basic (Squarespace pricing). Wix says its displayed prices are for yearly subscriptions paid in full at purchase, that other billing periods are available, and that tax is extra (Wix plans). Both list a free custom domain for the first year: Squarespace on yearly plans, Wix on the plans above.

A builder is the cheapest route that works, if someone on your team will keep the menu, hours and photos current. If your point-of-sale or booking system already offers an ordering or reservation link, the site only needs to link to it; check that before paying for a store plan.

What do Owner.com, Popmenu, BentoBox and Toast cost?

Owner.com lists $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee per order, or $499 a month flat. Popmenu lists $179 to $499 a month, or $159 to $449 prepaid yearly, plus $1 per online order. BentoBox and Toast publish no separate website price: BentoBox now sells only to Clover customers, and Toast quotes its bundle.

Owner.com says it runs month to month with no long-term contract, that both of its plans include the same features, and that partnering with it means "giving up some control over how your digital presence looks and feels" (Owner.com pricing). On the Flexible plan, the 5% fee scales with sales: every $1,000 of online orders adds $50 to your bill. Owner.com itself suggests the Flat Rate plan for restaurants doing $5,000 or more a month in online sales.

Popmenu's online ordering and catering is listed as an add-on, not part of the plan price, and its FAQ says you can switch plans at any time (Popmenu pricing).

BentoBox's pricing page now reads "BentoBox is now Clover" and says its products are only available to Clover POS customers (BentoBox pricing page). Toast lists Toast Websites inside its Digital Storefront Pro features, with no separate price; its point-of-sale plans start at $0 a month for the Starter Kit and $69 a month for Point of Sale, and custom bundles are quoted (Toast pricing, Toast Websites).

What does a freelance web designer cost?

Upwork's cost page, read on 6 November 2026, lists median web designer rates of $15 to $30 an hour, and $45 to $75 or more for full custom design. It says small projects take about 10 hours and large custom ones several dozen. Those figures come from worldwide contracts, so local rates may differ.

As arithmetic on those ranges: a 10-hour job at $45 to $75 an hour is $450 to $750, and a 30-hour custom build at the same rates is $1,350 to $2,250. Upwork lists $15 to $40 or more an hour for a basic one-page site and $20 to $50 or more for themes on an existing content system (Upwork web designer rates).

Add the builder or hosting plan the site runs on, and budget for changes: a new menu, holiday hours or a seasonal special is billed at the same hourly rate unless you make the edits yourself. A freelancer suits a one-time build that someone in-house will keep up.

What does a studio retainer cost?

Ours costs $1,200, $2,400 or $3,300 a month, with setup fees of $2,500, $5,200 or $6,500 and a 3-month minimum. The first year comes to $16,900, $34,000 or $46,100. It's the most expensive route here, because it pays for the ongoing work, not just the site.

That ongoing work is the email flows and campaigns, the Google profile and review replies, listings, the monthly report and, on the larger plans, social, texts, rewards and ads. If you only want a site, one of the first three routes costs less. We haven't priced other studios here; we can only vouch for our own prices. The full list of what each plan includes is in what a $1,200 to $3,300 monthly package includes.

Which route fits which restaurant?

If someone on staff can spend a few hours a month on menus, hours and photos, a builder is the cheapest working option. If online orders are a large share of sales, compare a platform's per-order fees with its flat plan. Hire a freelancer for a one-time build, and a studio when you want the ongoing work done.

• A small cafe with a short menu: a builder plan, with ordering through your point-of-sale system's link, if it has one.
• A takeout-heavy kitchen: price a platform's flat plan against its per-order plan at your real monthly online sales.
• A new place with a strong look to set: a freelancer or studio build, then decide who keeps it current.
• A restaurant adding catering, events or a second location: this is where ongoing help starts to pay for the hours it saves.

What do the price pages leave out?

Card processing, domain renewal after the free first year, point-of-sale hardware beyond the first terminal, photography, and your own time. Squarespace lists card rates from 2.9% plus 30 cents. Toast notes that its pricing covers the first hardware terminal and that later devices cost extra. Owner.com guests also pay a 5% order fee.

Time is the cost most owners undercount. Whoever updates the menu, the holiday hours and the photos is spending hours that the monthly price doesn't show, whichever route you pick.

Do the same routes apply to a bakery, salon, gym or trades business?

Builders, freelancers and studios work the same way for any local business. The restaurant platforms are built for restaurants, so a salon or gym can compare a builder against its booking app's own pages instead. A bakery taking custom cake orders needs order forms and pickup windows, which changes what a builder plan must include.

A plumber or electrician needs fewer pages but a correct service area on Google, which no website plan fixes on its own. Our guide why isn't my business on Google Maps? covers that part.