The price differences are enormous: from €0 with a website builder to €15,000 with a full-service agency. What makes sense for practitioners — and what lurks behind temptingly cheap offers? This article explains the real costs, the most common pricing traps, and why a fixed price is often the smartest choice for practitioners.
The four routes to a practitioner website
Anyone who wants a website for their practice today has essentially four options — with very different costs, effort and risks.
1. Website builders: Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo
Website builders advertise "free" websites. The reality: the free version shows the provider's adverts on your practice page. For an ad-free, professional presence you pay monthly — and you are permanently tied to the provider.
What's missing with website builders
No HWG copy help — you write at your own risk
Privacy policies without an Article 9 GDPR module
Hosting often on US servers (Cloudflare CDN, AWS, Fastly)
Google Fonts embedded directly — subject to legal warnings since the Munich Regional Court ruling of 2022
Templates that look the same for every industry — no differentiation
2. WordPress with a theme
WordPress is the world's most widely used CMS. The theme often costs €50–100, the plugins add up, and at some point you need someone for updates and maintenance. On top of that: WordPress plugins for data protection and the legal notice deliver generic text — without practitioner-specific particulars.
3. Freelancer on an hourly rate
Many practitioners hire a freelancer from their circle of acquaintances or via freelancer platforms. The hourly rate sounds cheap at first — €50 to €90 per hour. What's often missing: a clear definition of the scope.
4. Specialised web designers or agencies
Web designers who specialise in practitioners know the HWG and GDPR, bring industry experience and deliver legally sound copy. General agencies can also do good work — but rarely without additional costs for legal reviews.
The price comparison — what is really paid
| Solution | One-off cost | Ongoing cost / year | HWG + GDPR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website builder (e.g. Wix Business) | 0 – 300 € | 200 – 400 € | missing |
| WordPress + theme + plugins | 200 – 800 € | 300 – 600 € | patchy |
| Freelancer (hourly rate) | 800 – 4.000 € | depending on effort | depending on the person |
| General agency | 3.000 – 15.000 € | 800 – 2.000 € | charged extra |
| Sandhan Design | 1.490 – 3.890 € | 588 – 1.068 € | included |
The hourly-rate trap
Hourly rates sound fair — you only pay for work done. In practice, this rarely works out that way for web design projects. The reason: Scope creep.
Scope creep means: the original brief grows. You'd like to add another page. An image doesn't fit and is reworked. The contact form should look different. The mobile view needs corrections. Every change costs hours — and they add up quickly, without you keeping track.
Typical hourly-rate scenario
Quote: "approx. 30 hours at €65 = approx. €1,950"
Final invoice after 3 months of back-and-forth: 52 hours = €3,380
Plus photographer coordination, copy, change requests: +€800
Total cost: over €4,000 — for a simple one-pager website
This is not a criticism of freelancers — hourly rates are legitimate. But for practitioners commissioning a website for the first time and not knowing what they really need, cost control is almost impossible.
What a fixed price protects
A clearly defined fixed price gives you planning certainty — you know before you start what you'll pay. Change requests within the agreed scope cost nothing extra. There is no incentive to stretch out the hours. And you can weigh the budget against other expenses without risking surprises.
What a practitioner website realistically costs
The figures vary widely — depending on scope, the provider's experience and what is really included. Here are realistic guide values for a professional, legally sound solution:
These figures apply to Sandhan Design — but they also realistically reflect the market for specialised web designers in the German-speaking region (DACH). Anyone offering significantly less usually skimps on copy, legal compliance or aftercare.
The three packages in detail
Package 01
Clear
1.490 €
- One-pager with all the key sections
- HWG-compliant copy
- GDPR documentation
- Contact form
- 3 months of maintenance included
- Delivery 5–8 days
Package 02 · Popular
Impact
2.490 €
- Up to 5 pages
- HWG-compliant copy
- Complete GDPR documentation
- Appointment booking / initial-consultation form
- Google optimisation (SEO)
- 6 months of maintenance included
- Delivery 8–12 days
Package 03
Practice
3.890 €
- Up to 10 pages + blog
- HWG-compliant copy
- Complete GDPR documentation
- Advanced SEO optimisation
- Onboarding questionnaire for clients
- 12 months of maintenance included
- Delivery 12–15 days
Ongoing costs — what arises after launch
The build costs are one-off. But a website also has ongoing costs that many providers leave out of the first quote:
| Item | Typical annual cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Domain (e.g. practice-myname.de) | 10 – 20 € | One-off + annual renewal |
| Hosting (EU server, GDPR-compliant) | 80 – 180 € | For practitioners: EU hosting is essential |
| SSL certificate | 0 – 80 € | Let's Encrypt free of charge, often included in hosting |
| Maintenance & updates | 0 – 1.068 € | At Sandhan Design: 3 months included, then from €49/month |
| Legal updates | 0 – 300 € | Privacy policy and legal notice must stay current |
Realistic annual budget after launch: €90 to €250 for a solid, self-maintained website. With ongoing support from Sandhan Design: from €49 per month — cancellable monthly, with three months' notice.
What's often forgotten: the value of your time
The cheapest solution is not always the most economical. A website builder for €15 a month sounds fair — until you calculate how many hours you invest yourself:
- Getting to grips with the system: 4–8 hours
- Writing copy (HWG-compliant, without prior knowledge): 6–12 hours
- Putting together a privacy policy: 2–4 hours
- Optimising, uploading and positioning photos: 2–4 hours
- Checking and correcting the mobile view: 1–3 hours
That's 15–31 hours you don't invest in clients. At an hourly rate of €80 for a practitioner treatment: €1,200 to €2,480 in lost revenue — for a website that may still not be HWG-compliant.
The right question
Not: "What does the website cost?" — but: "What does a website I don't commission cost me?" A professional, legally sound website brings new clients, protects against legal warnings and saves you time. The ROI can usually be calculated after 3–6 new initial consultations.
Frequently asked questions about website costs
Yes — technically it's possible. But HWG-compliant copywriting and GDPR documentation with an Article 9 module require specific knowledge. Anyone without it risks legal warnings that cost more than a professional website. If you build it yourself, at least have the legal text checked by a lawyer specialising in medical or IT law.
At Sandhan Design, yes. The fixed price covers design, copywriting, GDPR documentation, HWG-compliant wording, SEO basics and three months of maintenance. What is charged separately: domain and hosting (approx. €100–180/year) and ongoing support after the three months (from €49/month, cancellable). All costs are agreed in writing in advance.
Yes, in many cases. Whether a relaunch or a targeted revision makes more sense depends on the existing technology, the design and the legal gaps. We clarify this in the free initial consultation — without obligation. Sometimes adjusting the copy and privacy policy is enough; sometimes a rebuild is faster and cheaper.
5 to 15 working days after order confirmation and a completed onboarding questionnaire. Package 01 (Clear) is usually ready in 5–8 days, Package 03 (Practice) in 12–15 days. The most common delay: missing photos or copy from the client. That's why every project includes structured onboarding that gathers all the necessary information in advance.
Let's find out together what you need.
A free initial consultation — no pressure, no obligation. I'll tell you honestly which package suits you, or whether revising your existing website is enough.
Book a free initial consultation