How to compare
quotes for a website.

Below is that list: 24 items that should be clear before you sign, a table you can fill in while you read the quotes, and questions that put two quotes on the same footing even when they are written entirely differently.

01Who this guide is for

For you, with two or three quotes on the desk, the difference is twofold or threefold, and nobody has said anything that sounds untrue. That is the usual situation, and it is most often not a sign that somebody is overcharging — but that the quotes describe different scopes of work.

What you get: the list of items quotes are compared on, a table to fill in, the four costs that most often surface after signing, and nine questions that put quotes on the same footing.

02Why quotes cannot be compared on price

The price is the one number in a quote everybody understands, so it draws all the attention. But a price is a total — and the terms that make it up differ. In our experience three differences explain most of the gap between quotes:

• Who writes the copy. A quote in which the client sends finished copy and a quote in which the contractor writes the content for eight pages are not the same job, even though the technical delivery is identical.
• A template or a bespoke design. A bought theme filled with your content and a look built for your business differ in hours, not in the quality of the ambition.
• What comes after launch. Some quotes include hosting, the domain, backups and changes for the first year; others end on launch day. Both are legitimate. But one carries costs the other leaves with you.

03A comparison table — 24 items

Fill it in while you read the quotes. Where an item is not mentioned, write “not stated” — that is the most important field in the whole table, because as a rule what is not written into a quote is not included in the price.

04The four costs that most often surface after signing

These are not scams. They are items taken as read on one side and not on the other — and that is why they never make it into the quote:

05Nine questions that put quotes on the same footing

Send the same questions to every contractor, on the same day, in writing. The differences in the answers will tell you more than the difference in price:

06Common mistakes when comparing

• Comparing the total price without the scope. The commonest and the most expensive. The table above solves it.
• Comparing the first year only. A quote that includes hosting and email in the first year looks dearer, and enters the third year cheaper.
• Accepting a verbal agreement on scope. Three months later both sides sincerely remember it differently.
• Skipping the question of ownership. The most unpleasant one, and it only comes out when you change contractor — which is why we gave it a guide of its own.
• Dismissing the cheaper quote without reading it. If it covers what you actually need, the lower price is the right choice.

07How we write a quote

So that we do not ask of others what we do not do ourselves: our prices and the contents of the packages are public on the pricing page, and the whole flow of the work, from brief to launch, is set out on the web design page. What goes into maintenance after launch is separated out in the guide on maintenance. If you want to know what the ranges on the market look like before you even ask for quotes, there is an overview of website prices in Serbia, with the sample and its limits described.

08Common questions