In this article
Ask three Dubai agencies to quote for a website and you will probably get three very different numbers. Usually that is not because one is overcharging and another is cheap; it is because each of them understood "a website" differently. This article explains what actually drives the price, so you can compare quotes on the same basis and know what you are paying for.
Start with the type of site: each has a different scope
The first thing that sets the cost is what the site has to do. The common types for UAE businesses:
- Company profile website: pages about the company, its services, its work and how to get in touch. The most requested type, and enough for most service businesses at the start.
- Campaign landing page: one focused page for an offer or a service, built to turn ad visitors into calls and enquiries.
- Online store: products, cart, online payment, order management and shipping, a larger scope by nature.
- Booking platform or customer portal: appointments, user accounts, role-based dashboards and integrations with other systems.
The further down the list you go, the more there is to design, build and test, so cost and timeline grow.
The factors that drive cost
Number and kind of pages
Not all pages are equal. An "About us" page is simple; a persuasive service page with explanations, FAQs and an enquiry form needs more planning. What matters for pricing is the number of different page templates (home, service page, project page, blog) more than the total page count, because similar pages are built from the same template.
Arabic and English
A bilingual site is the norm in the UAE, not the exception. But the second language is more than a translation: the design has to work right-to-left and left-to-right, Arabic fonts need careful tuning, and content should be written for each audience in its own voice. If you care about Google, each language also needs its own URLs and correct settings, as we explain in SEO for Arabic and English websites in the UAE.
Template or custom design
A template is quicker and cheaper, and works for a first site if it is adapted carefully to your identity. Custom design starts from understanding your audience and organising the content, then designing the screens before any code is written. The result looks like your brand rather than dozens of other sites. The price difference comes from design hours and revision rounds, so ask how many rounds of changes the quote includes.
Features and integrations
Every extra feature has a design, development and testing cost. Common examples:
- Quote request forms that reach your inbox or your CRM.
- WhatsApp and call buttons with click tracking for your ads.
- Appointment booking, or online payment through a payment gateway.
- Integration with a CRM, accounting or inventory system.
- Search and filters across a product or project catalogue.
The control panel
If you want to add news and projects or change prices yourself, the site needs a clear control panel, ideally in Arabic too. A simple panel for pages and articles is one thing; a panel that manages orders, staff permissions and reports is a very different amount of work.
Content: who writes it and who shoots it?
This line item is often forgotten, and it delays projects more than the development itself. Do you have ready texts in Arabic and English? Real photos of your team and your work? If not, writing, editing and preparing images is extra work that should appear clearly in the quote, or that you should plan for on your side before the project starts.
Speed and technical SEO
A good website is built to be indexed from day one: a title and description for every page, clean URLs, structured data, a sitemap, compressed images and solid mobile speed. These basics cost far less during the build than added later. An ongoing SEO plan with content and monitoring is usually a separate service.
Price examples from our offers
To make this concrete, here are starting prices from our current offers. They are offer prices that may change, and the final price always depends on your scope:
- Company website in two languages, with official email addresses and a control panel: from AED 1,600. See the company website offer.
- E-commerce website that takes orders and online payments around the clock: from AED 2,800. See the e-commerce website offer.
Sites that need a fully custom design, bookings or integration with internal systems are priced after a session where we understand what you need, followed by a documented, itemised quote.
The yearly costs to budget for
The build price is not the whole picture. There are recurring costs you should know from the start:
| Item | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Domain name | Is it registered in your name? When does it renew? Do you need a .ae domain alongside the .com? |
| Hosting | Where is the server? Are backups and an SSL certificate included? What does renewal cost? |
| Business email | How many mailboxes are included, how much storage, and the cost of extra accounts. |
| Licences and plugins | Does the site rely on paid plugins or themes that renew every year? |
| Support and updates | Who fixes bugs and updates the site after handover, and at what cost? |
Time is part of the cost
The timeline follows the scope and how quickly decisions are made. A company profile site with ready content finishes far sooner than one waiting for texts to be written or for several people to approve every page. Ask for a schedule with clear stages: planning, design and sign-off, development, testing on mobile and desktop, then launch. On your side, agree who has the final say in your company, because slow replies stretch the project and raise its cost for both sides.
How to compare quotes
Put the quotes side by side and ask every agency the same questions:
- Exactly which pages and features are included? Ask for them as a written list.
- Is the design custom or an adapted template, and how many revision rounds are there?
- Are both languages covered in design and development, and who writes the content?
- Will the domain, hosting and all accounts be in your name?
- Is the site delivered ready for indexing: titles, sitemap, speed and Google Search Console set up?
- If you have an old site, does the plan include redirecting the old URLs so you keep your rankings?
- How long will it take, and what happens after handover?
The cheapest quote that skips these points can become the most expensive one later, when you find that content was not included, the domain is registered to someone else, or every small change needs a new quote.
How to reduce cost without hurting the site
- Start with what brings customers: the home page, your core service pages and a contact page; add the blog and other sections later.
- Prepare content early: ready texts and photos shorten the timeline and reduce revisions.
- Do not cut the fundamentals: speed, the mobile version, correct Arabic and account ownership are hard to fix afterwards.
Next step
At Comedia we have designed and built more than 500 websites and online stores since 2012, with an in-house team in Dubai. We listen to your idea, organise the pages and priorities with you, then send a documented, itemised quote, and the domain and accounts stay in your name. See our web design and development service, and if you are planning a store, read our guide to launching an online store in the UAE. The first consultation is free, so get in touch and we will agree the right scope for your budget together.
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