The Short Answer
A business website in Egypt costs what the site has to do. A simple presence site that shows who you are and how to reach you is the cheapest kind. Once it takes bookings, orders or patient records, it is a system: at websquids those start around $4,000, and a full clinic system runs $13,000 to $40,000.
Who this is for: owners of clinics, shops, restaurants, law firms and service businesses in Egypt who are comparing quotes, or about to ask for their first one.
What you are actually paying for
A website quote is a bundle of four costs. Some you pay once, some you pay every year, and one most owners forget until the launch date slips.
Design and build (one time). Planning the pages, designing them, and making them work on phones and computers. This is the number most quotes lead with, and the one people compare. It is only part of what you will spend.
Domain, hosting and email (every year). Your address on the internet (yourname.com), the place the site lives, and email at your own name. These renew every year. Ask who pays the renewal and, more important, whose name the domain is registered in. If it is registered in the agency's name, you do not fully own your own address.
Content and photos (the cost people forget). The text for every page, photos of your place, your team and your work, your prices and opening hours. Someone has to write and shoot all of it. If that someone is you, plan the time. If it is the agency, it should be its own line in the quote. A site cannot go live without its words and pictures, so this is often what decides the launch date.
Maintenance and changes (monthly or per request). Updates, backups, fixing what breaks, and the small changes you will want every few weeks: a new service, a new price, a holiday notice. Many agencies include a support period after launch, then charge monthly or per change. At websquids, every project includes a support period after launch, and ongoing maintenance is available after that on a retainer basis.
Four kinds of website and what each costs
Most business sites in Egypt fall into one of four kinds. The kind, not the number of pages, decides most of the price.
A simple presence site (about 5 pages)
Home, about, services, a page of your work, and contact. It tells a new customer who you are, shows you are real, and gives them your address, map and WhatsApp number. It suits a law firm, a consultancy, or a clinic that books by phone. Example: we built the website of Ego Associates, a corporate law firm in Egypt, to present its legal services and make the firm easy to contact. Read more about the Ego Associates website.
This is the cheapest kind of site and the one where quotes vary the most, because templates, freelancers and agencies all compete here. The price depends on the scope, mainly the pages and the languages, and we quote it on a free call.
A site with booking or enquiries
The same pages, plus a way for customers to act: book an appointment, ask for a quote, choose a branch. The price depends on what happens after the customer presses send. A form that sends you an email is cheap. A booking that checks free slots, stops double bookings and reminds the customer is a small system, and is priced like one: it falls in the range we publish for a focused system, $4,000 to $13,000 over 4 to 8 weeks.
An online store
Products, prices, a cart, card payment or cash on delivery, delivery areas, and a screen where someone manages the orders. A store costs more to run than to build: product photos, stock, returns and payment fees all continue after launch. Price it on the number of products, how payment works, and who will add new products every week. The price depends on the scope and is quoted on a free call.
A system behind the site (patients, orders, staff)
Here the website is the front door and the real work happens behind it. For Derma Clinics in the UAE we built one system where staff book appointments, bill patients and open records from one screen instead of three separate logs. Read more about the Derma Clinics system. For a dental practice in Egypt we built an online system the team uses every day, designed around how the clinic works. Read more about the dental practice system. A focused system starts at $4,000 to $13,000. A full clinic management system with records, scheduling, billing and insurance tracking runs $13,000 to $40,000 over 8 to 14 weeks. See our clinic management system page and the full cost guide. Read more about custom web systems.
| Kind of site | What it does for you | websquids price (USD) | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple presence site | Shows who you are, where you are, how to reach you | Depends on scope, quoted on a free call | Mostly set by how fast your text and photos are ready |
| Site with booking or enquiries | Takes bookings or requests, not only emails | $4,000 to $13,000 when booking is a real system | 4 to 8 weeks |
| Online store | Sells, takes payment, manages orders | Depends on scope, quoted on a free call | Agreed in the written scope |
| System behind the site | Runs patients, orders or staff | $4,000 to $13,000 (focused), $13,000 to $40,000 (full clinic system) | 4 to 8 weeks (focused), 8 to 14 weeks (full) |
What changes the price most
Two sites that sound the same can be priced far apart. These are the reasons, in plain words.
| Factor | Why it matters | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|
| Pages and languages | Every page needs design, text and checking. Arabic and English means every page twice, one of them right to left. | Up with each page and language |
| Booking, orders or payments | The site starts doing work, not just showing information. | Up the most |
| Logins for staff or customers | More people with different rights means more screens and more checks. | Up |
| Connecting to tools you already use | Linking to your accounting, payment provider or delivery company adds work. | Up |
| Moving old data | Years of patient files or product lists take real time to bring in. | Up |
| Who writes the text and takes the photos | Writing and photo shoots are real work, whoever does them. | Up if the agency does it |
| Starting from a ready-made design | Less design work, fewer choices. | Down |
| Who maintains the site after launch | Monthly care or pay per change. | A running cost, not a one-time one |
Three quotes for the same site: why they differ so much
When three quotes for "the same website" look nothing alike, they are usually not quoting the same website. Put them side by side and compare line by line:
- Are the pages and languages listed by name, or is it "a 5-page website"?
- Who writes the text and who supplies the photos?
- Is the design a ready-made one adjusted for you, or designed from scratch?
- What does each form do after the customer presses send?
- Are the domain, hosting and email included? For how long, and in whose name?
- How long is support after launch, and what counts as support?
- How are changes during the build priced?
- Who owns the site and the domain at the end?
If a line is missing from a quote, assume it is not included. At websquids, scope and price are agreed in writing before we build, and any change in the middle of the project is priced as a clear add-on, not folded in silently.
Cheap, template, or custom? A one-screen decision guide
- Cheap and quick: fine when you need a page live this week and nothing behind it. The risk is a domain in someone else's name and no one to call when it breaks.
- Template (a ready-made design): good when your needs are standard: a few pages, a contact form, a map. Fast and affordable. The limits show the day you need the site to do something no template was made for.
- Custom: worth it when the site must do real work: bookings tied to each doctor's calendar, patient or order records, staff logins, or a link to your accounting.
The rule we use with owners: if the site only needs to be seen, start simple. If it needs to do work, price it as a system. If a good template will serve you better than a custom build, we will tell you that on the call. For the longer version, read Custom vs. Template Websites: When to Invest in a Tailored Platform, and if you are weighing ready-made software against a custom system, see custom software vs. off-the-shelf.
What to ask any agency before paying a deposit
- Whose name is the domain in? It should be yours, with a login you hold.
- Who owns the site at the end? At websquids you do: the code, access to it and the documentation are handed over at launch.
- What is included after launch, and for how long? Get the support period and what it covers in writing.
- Can I change text, photos and prices myself? If you want to, ask for it in the scope and ask to be shown how.
- What happens if you are not around next year? Ownership and access answer this question. Without them, you start again.
- How are payments split? A fair split is a deposit to start, then payments tied to design approval, build progress and going live, so you never pay in full before you see a working site.
- What do you need from me, and by when? Your text, photos and approvals set the pace as much as the agency does.
What a good first month looks like
A good project starts with questions, not code. This is the order we follow:
- A first call. We agree the pages, the languages and what the site must do. You get a written scope and price.
- What you provide. Your logo, your text or notes for it, photos, and access to your domain if you already have one.
- You see it before it is built. A design and a clickable preview of how the site will work, so changes happen while they are cheap.
- Build and checking. The site is built and tested on phones and computers.
- Launch and support. The site goes live, and the support period starts.
- A check-in after 30 days. We look at how the site is actually used and agree what comes next.