Pricing guide
How much does an interactive website cost?
Short answer: an animated one-pager runs about $3,000–$12,000, and a true 3D / WebGL experience runs $20,000–$200,000+. The number is driven by complexity, not page count. Here's the honest 2026 breakdown.
Last updated July 2026 · All figures USD, expressed as ranges (not quotes).
Price ranges by site type
| Site type | What you get | Typical price | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template / DIY | Wix, Squarespace or Shopify on a subscription; you assemble it | $150–$1,200/yr all-in | 1 day–1 week |
| Custom small-business | Freelancer-built, custom design, a handful of pages | $3,000–$15,000 one-time | 2–6 weeks |
| Custom agency | Agency corporate/marketing site: strategy + design + build | $5,000–$30,000+ | 1–3 months |
| Interactive / animated / 3D | Custom motion, scroll effects, or real-time 3D/WebGL | $20,000–$200,000+ (animated one-pagers from ~$3,000) | 3 weeks–7+ months |
The interactive premium, plainly: an interactive/animated/3D site typically costs 2× to 10×+ more than an equivalent static custom site. A standard custom site runs $3,000–$15,000; a genuinely interactive build starts around $20,000 and scales into six figures. The single biggest line item is custom 3D/WebGL development, which adds roughly $15,000–$80,000.
The interactive / 3D tier ladder
| Tier | Scope | Price | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry animated one-pager | Custom design + light animation (Lottie/GSAP), no 3D | $3,000–$12,000 | 2–4 weeks |
| Hero Visual | 1–2 Three.js scenes, GLTF/Draco asset pipeline | $20,000–$40,000 | 3–8 weeks |
| Advanced | Primarily-3D site; multiple scenes, custom shaders, LOD streaming | $50,000–$200,000 | 8–16+ weeks |
| Complex | 3D tools, advanced web games, multi-scene systems | $200,000–$500,000+ | 16–28+ weeks |
Key insight: for interactive work, complexity — not page count — drives price. A single animated one-pager can cost more than a 20-page static brochure site.
What drives the cost
- Who builds it. DIY → offshore freelancer ($25–$60/hr) → domestic freelancer → agency ($100–$150/hr). Consistently the biggest single driver.
- Custom interactivity & motion. Lottie, GSAP, or complex scroll effects add 20–50% to build cost. Custom 3D/WebGL adds $15,000–$80,000 — here is what motion & 3D actually involves.
- Scope. For static sites, page count scales price ($300–$1,500 one-pager up to $6,000–$12,000+ for 30+ pages). Interactive sites break this rule — complexity rules.
- E-commerce. Custom store $3,000–$20,000+; DIY via Shopify from $39/mo plus apps. Ours is an e-commerce build from $900 added.
- Content. Copywriting $50–$150/page · photography/graphics $500–$2,000. Copywriting is included in our design stage.
- Integrations. CRMs, custom CMS, and third-party APIs each add development hours — all part of the build.
- Ongoing maintenance. Care plans $95–$195/mo · full-service $100–$300/mo · agency retainers $500–$5,000/mo. Compare our launch & care plans, from $25/mo.
Why interactive costs more
Interactive sites cost more because they are software, not just pages. A static site is design and content laid into a template. An interactive site adds custom engineering: real-time rendering, an asset pipeline (compressing and streaming 3D models via GLTF/Draco/KTX2), custom shaders, animation timelines, performance tuning so it stays smooth on phones, and cross-device QA.
That work needs specialist developers (WebGL/Three.js, GSAP) who command higher rates and more hours. Motion and 3D can't be bought off the shelf the way a theme can — each scene is bespoke. The result: a 20–50% premium for rich animation and a $15,000–$80,000 add for genuine 3D.
The industry is overcharging — and it’s getting worse
Look at the tables above honestly and something jumps out: the work hasn’t got ten times harder, but the invoices have. Three things are driving that, and none of them are about your website getting better.
- You’re paying for the agency, not the site. An account manager, a strategist, a producer and a project manager all bill to your job before a designer opens a file. On a $20,000 build, a large share of it never touches your website.
- “Enterprise” pricing applied to small businesses. The $20,000–$200,000 ranges you see quoted come from studios built to serve funded tech companies. Those same numbers now get quoted to restaurants and contractors who need a fraction of the scope.
- Hours billed for things that are now faster. Modern tooling has collapsed the time it takes to build, animate and ship a site. Most shops kept the old rate card anyway and simply pocketed the difference.
We think that gap is indefensible. So we priced against what a site actually takes to build today — not against what the market has trained people to expect.
Where Webs By Spider fits
Cinematic, custom-built sites from $1,100.
Most studios doing motion-led, animated work start at $20,000. We deliver the same cinematic approach — ambient film, scroll motion, real interaction, SEO built in — starting at $1,100, because we run lean, skip the account-management layer, and build with modern tooling instead of billing you for the slow way. You get a senior-level build without the agency overhead stapled to it.
Exactly what we charge, line by line
No “contact us for a quote.” Here is the whole card — what each capability costs with us, and what the same thing typically costs elsewhere.
| What you want | Webs By Spider | Typical market | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focused custom build Custom design, ambient film, scroll motion, SEO | from $1,100 | $3,000–$12,000 | ~63–91% |
| Multi-page custom site Several pages, motion & hover interaction, copywriting | from $2,500 | $5,000–$30,000 | ~50–92% |
| Flagship build 3D/WebGL centerpiece, CMS or client portal, analytics | from $4,700 | $20,000–$200,000 | ~77–98% |
| 3D / WebGL centerpiece Interactive product model or hero scene | included in Flagship | +$15,000–$80,000 add-on | ~100% |
| Rich animation & scroll motion | included | +20–50% on build cost | ~100% |
| Copywriting | included | $50–$150 per page | ~100% |
| Technical SEO, schema & indexing | included | $500–$3,000 setup | ~100% |
| E-commerce / online ordering | from $900 added | $3,000–$20,000+ | ~70–95% |
| Client portal or dashboard | from $1,200 added | $8,000–$40,000 | ~85–97% |
| Care & maintenance Hosting, backups, edits, monitoring | $25–$175/mo | $95–$5,000/mo | ~74–96% |
Ranges are honest starting points, not bait. Scope changes the number — but it changes it from these figures, and we tell you the full cost before anything begins. No hourly creep, no surprise invoices.
See the full packages and capabilities →
What it costs in your industry
Scope — and therefore price — changes with the trade. These pages break down the build decisions, timelines and numbers for each one:
- Restaurant website design — ambient film, motion menus, reservations
- Med spa website design — treatment pages, online booking, before-and-afters
- Law firm website design — attorney profiles, practice areas, intake
- Manufacturing website design — 3D product models, capability pages, client portals
- Home services & trades — service-area pages, CRM-connected quote forms
- Real estate website design — listing film, immersive galleries, IDX
- Retail & e-commerce — product motion, fast checkout
- Gym & fitness website design — timetables, free-trial booking
Or start from the capability you are pricing: design, motion & 3D, build, SEO & AI search and launch & care — or browse every service and every industry.
FAQ
How much does an interactive website cost?
A genuinely interactive website — custom animation, scroll effects, or 3D/WebGL — typically costs $20,000 to $200,000+. Simpler animated one-pagers start around $3,000–$12,000; complex 3D experiences can exceed $500,000. Price is driven by complexity, not page count.
Why does an interactive site cost more than a regular website?
It requires custom software engineering — real-time rendering, asset pipelines, shaders, animation — built by specialists. Rich animation adds a 20–50% premium, and custom 3D/WebGL adds roughly $15,000–$80,000, making interactive builds 2×–10×+ a comparable static site.
Template site vs. custom interactive — what's the price gap?
A DIY template runs about $150–$1,200/year on a builder subscription. A custom interactive site is a one-time build starting near $3,000 for a simple animated one-pager and $20,000+ for true 3D.
How much does a 3D or WebGL website cost?
A Hero Visual (1–2 scenes) runs $20,000–$40,000; an Advanced multi-scene build $50,000–$200,000; Complex systems $200,000–$500,000+. Custom 3D alone adds ~$15,000–$80,000 over a standard build.
How long does an interactive site take to build?
A Hero Visual 3D build takes 3–8 weeks, an Advanced build 8–16+ weeks, and a Complex project 16–28+ weeks. A static custom site is 2–6 weeks (freelancer) or 1–3 months (agency).
What are the ongoing costs after launch?
Maintenance runs $95–$195/mo for a care plan, $100–$300/mo full-service, and $500–$5,000/mo for agency retainers. Interactive and 3D sites trend to the higher end for performance monitoring and browser upkeep.
We asked three AI assistants what a build like Trend Contract Furnishings’ should cost
- ChatGPT est.$65k–$80k
- Claude est.$25k–$45k
- Perplexity est.$50k–$75k
- Our price$2,500
Same prompt to each, with the finished site as the example. ChatGPT and Perplexity re-asked 19 August 2026; Claude’s figure is from 29 July 2026. The $2,500 is what a build like this costs today, and the client reported 147% more quote requests after we made their new website.
- 01 · Day oneTell us what you runA short call or the form. A fixed price and a start date, in writing.
- 02 · DirectionSee it before we build itDesign direction approved first. Changes at this stage cost nothing.
- 03 · The buildMotion, film, 3D — from scratchThree rounds of revision. One person on it, start to finish.
- 04 · LaunchLive, indexed, and yoursSEO and AI-search structuring on. Code, domain and every account in your name.
Want a cinematic site without the six-figure quote?
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Sources
- Utsubo — Top Three.js Agencies 2026 (Hero Visual / Advanced / Complex tiers + timelines)
- Utsubo — Premium Website Cost & Budget Guide (3D/WebGL +$15K–$80K; maintenance $500–$5,000/mo)
- Leadpages — Average Cost of Website Design 2026 (DIY, freelancer, agency ranges)
- The Web Factory — How Much Does a Website Cost 2025 (page-count bands; e-commerce)
- Blankboard — Webflow Project Cost 2025 (animation +20–50% premium)
- Journeyh — Developer Hourly Rates 2026
Straight answers to the three questions that come before this one
This guide covers what interactive and 3D work costs. Most people arrive with a blunter question first, so those have their own pages — same prices, no pitch, and every outside figure carries the source it came from.
- How much does a website cost — the real market spread from DIY to agency, and what our $1,100 tier genuinely can’t do.
- Is it worth hiring a web designer — including the situations where hiring anyone, us included, is the wrong call.
- Squarespace vs a custom website — a three-year cost comparison, and which businesses should just use Squarespace.