Free Website: What It Really Costs
A free website costs on average 15 to 30 hours of build time, plus an opportunity cost of 750 to 3,000 euros if your working hour is worth between 50 and 100 euros. On top of that comes an almost systematic paid upgrade within 12 to 24 months, once a custom domain, ads, or locked features become a real problem. The "free" shown on the homepage is therefore only free on the bank statement line.
The problem: a displayed price that doesn't count everything
Free website platforms communicate a single figure: 0 euros a month. That's strictly true, but that figure only represents part of the real cost. It ignores the time spent building the site, the cost of that time to your business, and the expenses that almost always come later, once the site actually needs to produce results.
This isn't a matter of platforms acting in bad faith: their business model precisely relies on this delayed conversion. Free is used to bring the user in, then to get them to pay once they're committed — content already written, habits formed, customers who already know the address. Understanding this mechanism allows for an honest calculation before committing, rather than discovering the bill later.
Item 1: build time, never counted
Building a site on a free platform generally takes between 15 and 30 hours for a simple 4-to-6-page brochure site: choosing a template, writing the text, adjusting visuals, learning the editor, testing on mobile. This time appears on no invoice, which makes it invisible when comparing to a paid solution.
Yet if your billable hour is worth 40 to 100 euros depending on your line of work, these 15 to 30 hours represent an opportunity cost of 600 to 3,000 euros of unrealized output. This figure doesn't leave your bank account, but it corresponds to time that didn't go to your clients, your business, or your rest.
Item 2: the limits that force you to pay later
Free platforms are designed with caps that become annoying as soon as usage grows a bit:
- Forced domain name: your site shows up as
mysite.platform.cominstead ofmysite.com. For professional use, this address hurts credibility and complicates SEO, since it doesn't belong to you. - Platform advertising: banners or links to the platform appear on your pages, sometimes for indirect competitors, with no way to remove them without paying.
- Limited features: contact form capped on number of submissions, capped image storage, missing or minimal visitor statistics.
- No backup or clean export: if the platform changes its terms or shuts down a service, it's often impossible to recover the content in a format reusable elsewhere.
Each of these limits, taken alone, seems minor. But they almost always converge on the same point: after a few months, the business needs its own domain, a professional image without third-party ads, or a blocked feature. The upgrade then becomes mandatory, not optional.
Item 3: the cost of migration, once it becomes necessary
When the limits become too constraining, two options exist: pay for the same platform's higher tier, or migrate to a professional solution. Migration has its own cost, often underestimated: most free platforms don't allow exporting the design or structure, which forces you to rebuild the site rather than move it.
For a simple brochure site whose content needs to be carried over, expect generally between 300 and 1,500 euros with a freelancer or agency, depending on the number of pages and the work needed to recover text and images. This amount adds to the time already invested in the free version, which makes the overall calculation unfavorable if migration happens early.
Summary table of real costs
| Item | Displayed cost | Estimated real cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free platform subscription | €0/month | €0/month |
| Build time (15-30h) | Not counted | €600-3,000 in opportunity cost (depending on hourly value) |
| Custom domain (often added later) | — | €5-15/month |
| Ad removal / higher tier | — | €10-40/month |
| Migration to a professional solution (if needed) | — | €300-1,500 one-off |
| All-inclusive professional website subscription (VeryAppi) | — | €99 excl. VAT/month |
What to remember
- The displayed price of a free website (0 euros) reflects neither the build time nor the opportunity cost of that time.
- 15 to 30 hours of building often represent 600 to 3,000 euros of unrealized output depending on the value of your working hour.
- Structural limits (forced domain, ads, locked features) almost always force a paid upgrade within 12 to 24 months.
- Migrating to a professional solution generally costs 300 to 1,500 euros once it becomes necessary, on top of the time already invested.
- Free remains reasonable for a short test or a project with no commercial stakes, not for a site meant to durably represent a business.
- Comparing the total real cost (time + likely upgrade) to a paid offer from the start often helps avoid a double expense.
Frequently asked questions
Does a free website really cost 0 euros? On the surface, yes, the subscription shows 0 euros. But you need to count the build time (often 15 to 30 hours), the opportunity cost of that time, and the nearly inevitable upgrades once the site actually needs to work for you: custom domain, removing ads, features locked behind a paid tier.
Which limits most often force an upgrade to a paid plan? Three limits come up most: not being able to use your own domain name, the platform's ads displayed on your pages, and the feature cap (forms, emails, storage) that kicks in as soon as activity grows a bit.
How much does migrating from a free site to a professional solution cost? It mainly depends on the content to carry over. For a simple brochure site, expect generally between 300 and 1,500 euros with a freelancer or agency if the content needs to be entirely reworked, since most free platforms don't allow you to cleanly export the structure and design.
Does the opportunity cost of the time spent really matter in the calculation? Yes, and it's often the heaviest item. If your billable hour is worth 50 euros and you spend 20 hours on a free site, that's 1,000 euros of unrealized output, even though no invoice leaves your account.
In which cases does a free site remain a reasonable choice? For a test lasting a few weeks, a personal project with no commercial stakes, or a temporary presentation page, free can be enough. The calculation changes as soon as the site needs to generate leads, be found on Google, or durably represent a professional activity.
If the math on "free" leaves you more uncertain than reassured, an alternative exists with no upfront investment and no build time on your part: VeryAppi's website offer, at 99 euros excl. VAT a month all-inclusive, domain and hosting included.
Frequently asked questions
›Does a free website really cost 0 euros?
On the surface, yes, the subscription shows 0 euros. But you need to count the build time (often 15 to 30 hours), the opportunity cost of that time, and the nearly inevitable upgrades once the site actually needs to work for you: custom domain, removing ads, features locked behind a paid tier.
›Which limits most often force an upgrade to a paid plan?
Three limits come up most: not being able to use your own domain name, the platform's ads displayed on your pages, and the feature cap (forms, emails, storage) that kicks in as soon as activity grows a bit.
›How much does migrating from a free site to a professional solution cost?
It mainly depends on the content to carry over. For a simple brochure site, expect generally between 300 and 1,500 euros with a freelancer or agency if the content needs to be entirely reworked, since most free platforms don't allow you to cleanly export the structure and design.
›Does the opportunity cost of the time spent really matter in the calculation?
Yes, and it's often the heaviest item. If your billable hour is worth 50 euros and you spend 20 hours on a free site, that's 1,000 euros of unrealized output, even though no invoice leaves your account.
›In which cases does a free site remain a reasonable choice?
For a test lasting a few weeks, a personal project with no commercial stakes, or a temporary presentation page, free can be enough. The calculation changes as soon as the site needs to generate leads, be found on Google, or durably represent a professional activity.