Guide · 5 min read · by Somers Design
Rent or buy a website – which really pays off?
“Your website for just €49 a month” – offers like this sound tempting because the barrier to entry is low. No big sum at once, just get started. But if you calculate the models honestly, you come to a clear result. We show the calculation – including our own.
The simple calculation
Let's take a typical subscription offer: €49 a month for a business website, often with a minimum term of 12 or 24 months. Next to it, our model: €990 once for the website, hosting and care included in the first year, then, for example, the Basic plan for €29 a month, cancellable monthly. If you hardly change anything, you can even manage without any base fee at all.
| After | Subscription at €49 a month | Website from €990 + Basic €29 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | €588 | €990 |
| 2 years | €1,176 | €1,338 |
| 3 years | €1,764 | €1,686 |
| 5 years | €2,940 | €2,382 |
What the table doesn't show
In the first two years the subscription is cheaper; from the third year on, the purchased website is. But more important than this difference is what lies behind the figures: with a subscription you pay permanently for a site that never belongs to you. With us you pay once for the actual work – concept, design, text, build – and after that only for running it.
The point nobody talks about: you own nothing
The biggest drawback of many subscription models isn't the price – it's the dependency. If you cancel the subscription, in most cases your entire website disappears. Text, design, structure: all gone. You have paid for years and own nothing in the end. It's like renting your shop sign.
This dependency has a second effect: it weakens your negotiating position. A price increase? Poor support? You can hardly switch without starting from scratch – and your provider knows it.
When running costs are justified
To be fair: ongoing payments are justified when real work comes up on an ongoing basis. An online shop with new products every week, a site with constantly changing content or extensive support: here you pay for continuous work, not for the mere existence of the website. The deciding question is: what exactly am I paying for every month?
That is why we scale our care by effort: if you rarely change anything, you pay no base fee, only for changes by time. Basic for €29 covers backups, monitoring, technology and 30 minutes of changes a month. If you need changes regularly, you take Care (€59, 60 minutes a month) or Care Plus (€89, 120 minutes). Shops have a plan of their own. All plans can be cancelled monthly.
The alternative: pay fairly once, own it for good
With a one-off payment you pay for the actual work exactly once. After that the website belongs to you. If you want to leave, we hand the site over with all its files and help you move – you don't start from scratch.
Conclusion
A website subscription is convenient for the provider: predictable income, tied-in customers. For you as a business owner, it doesn't pay off in most cases. If you plan to keep your website for more than two or three years – and every business should – you are better off with a purchased website and, above all, you stay independent.