Craft is a highly specialised software product, and developers have to spend considerable time learning the ropes and getting competent in it. So what are typical costs for a Craft site?
3 different sets of costs for Craft CMS
- License costs
- Build costs
- Maintenance
What do Craft licenses cost?
Craft is fairly priced; in fact, if you are a developer, you get the license for free. That's right, single-use licenses are free. So you can build your own personal projects for free with Craft.
Single-use licenses mean you have one user per install; for client projects, you will have at least yourself, the developer, and a client. So then you have costs of $279 (£205) for a team account (up to 5 users) and $399 (£295) for unlimited users.
I'm in the process of building a community site with visitors having their own logins. So whilst I might be the sole developer, those accounts make for the unlimited package. Still, with what I'm building, it's excellent value for money.
If you are creating an e-commerce site with Craft, then A Craft Commerce license starts at $1,199(£885)
You also have plugin costs to add, which, depending on the build, can cost as much as a full Craft license itself.
Build costs
Build costs are the largest of the three sets of charges for a Craft CMS Developer. It naturally depends on the size of the project how much it will cost you.
A typical Craft build with 5-7 sections will take a few months and is normally charged at a day rate of £200-£800 per day. So that gives a rough cost of 30 days' development time, ranging from £6,000 to £24,000. That's a huge variation in costs, you may say. Well, yes, it is, but it generally comes down to experience. Developers starting with Craft and maybe having built 1 or 2 hobby sites under their belt can charge as little as £200 per day. Also, some foreign developers from third-world countries can charge along those lines. Don't get me wrong, you get your good developers from other countries, but web-general experience and communication skills can be detrimental factors.
On the high end of those fees, you will get senior developers who charge £800 (and even higher) per day of development. These guys are at the top of the tree, work efficiently given their experience, and charge less time, so they are not necessarily more expensive than a mid-range developer charging £600 per day.
What do Craft agencies charge?
Agencies can have large city-centre offices and work in teams of 6-12, with project managers and the like. Naturally, they have higher costs and can charge anywhere from £800 to £ 1,500 per developer day. If you have a budget of £150,000+ then these guys can deliver the goods for you. I personally don't work on projects of that size.
Maintenance fees
The third set of costs you will find is maintenance fees, which are generally included in a monthly retainer. These can range from £300 per month to £2,000 or more. Large agencies, with their higher overheads, can charge substantially more than this too. Banked hours can be included, which cover general template and feature updates. Security and updates to Craft are important and are included in the maintenance fee as well.
Overall costs
As we have explored, you get a variety of pricing when it comes to Craft builds and costs. License costs are not a major factor in the total price. Questions about your skills and experience, and whether you want to have a large team in an agency, are ones you may want to answer.
What are Media Surgery rates?
I'm the sole developer at Media Surgery, so I certainly don't charge high agency fees of £1,500 per day. My basic rate is £350 per day, which is very fair given my experience and the care I give to projects. Maintenance fees start at £350 per month.
I'm not in this to make lots of money; I do Craft development because I like working with the platform and love seeing small businesses compete and win against larger businesses. Craft CMS allows for small teams to create powerful and successful websites.
Written by John Macpherson