Twelve costs commonly appear after a website quote, and one message surfaces all of them before you commit. Most aren’t hidden deliberately — they’re simply not in a quote that only prices the build.
The twelve
| # | Cost | Typical amount | Usually in the quote? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GST at 18% | 18% of the build | Often stated as “plus GST” or not at all |
| 2 | Domain, year one | ₹700–1,200 | Sometimes |
| 3 | Hosting, year one | A few thousand | Sometimes |
| 4 | Year-two renewal | Domain + hosting + any AMC | Rarely |
| 5 | Content writing | Varies | Rarely — usually your job |
| 6 | Photographs | Varies | Rarely |
| 7 | Revision rounds beyond the agreed number | Per round | Only if rounds were named |
| 8 | Extra pages | Per page | Only if the page list was named |
| 9 | Business email on your domain | Small monthly, or included | Rarely |
| 10 | SSL certificate | Free with most hosting | Sometimes charged anyway |
| 11 | Maintenance / AMC | Commonly ₹15,000–30,000/yr | Rarely |
| 12 | Per-change fees after launch | Often a few hundred each | Almost never |
Rows 4 and 11 cause the most complaints. One buyer’s account describes a renewal rising from ₹2,000 to ₹3,560 — the amount is small, the surprise is the problem.
Row 10 is worth knowing: free certificates via Let’s Encrypt are standard with most hosting, so a recurring SSL fee deserves a question.
The one message
Send this before paying anything. It surfaces all twelve:
Before I confirm — could you send me: the total payable including GST; whether domain and hosting for year one are included and which provider; the total payable in year two for domain, hosting and maintenance; whether content writing and photographs are included or I supply them; how many revision rounds are included and the cost of extra rounds; the cost per extra page; whether business email is included; and after launch, what a small change costs and how fast you respond.
Long, and worth it. Everything on that list becomes a number rather than a surprise, and a vendor’s willingness to answer is itself the most useful screening signal available at this stage.
The four answers that matter most
If you only ask four things:
1. “What’s the total payable in year two?” The single most common source of feeling misled. Its absence from a quote is the strongest predictor of renewal shock.
2. “Is content writing included, or do I supply it?” The biggest swing in any quotation, and the largest cause of stalled projects.
3. “How many revision rounds, and what do extras cost?” Where undefined scope turns into either a dispute or an endless loop.
4. “After launch, what does a small change cost?” The cost you’ll actually keep paying, and the one nobody mentions.
Which of these are fair to be charged for
Being even-handed, because “hidden cost” sometimes just means “cost”:
Legitimately extra: content writing you didn’t supply, photographs, pages beyond the named list, revision rounds beyond the agreed number, business email setup, and maintenance as a scoped service. All of that is real work.
Legitimately recurring: domain, hosting, and GST. Nobody can waive these.
Worth questioning: a recurring SSL fee when free certificates are standard, a “server charge” listed alongside hosting on the same invoice, and hosting billed far above the public price for a comparable plan.
Not fair: charging to fix their own errors — a form that never worked, a wrong phone number, a page built to the wrong brief.
The itemisation request
If a quote is a single number, ask for the split:
Could you send this itemised — build, domain, hosting, SSL, maintenance — with the provider name for each?
Two things follow. Genuine costs get named with a provider you can verify in two minutes. And items that exist only as a label tend to disappear or get explained as something you already knew about.
A vendor who won’t itemise is charging for something they’d rather not name. That finding is worth more than any single line.
What to do this week
- Send the long message before paying anything.
- Get the year-two total in writing, with GST included.
- Establish who writes the content, explicitly.
- Get the revision round count and the per-page rate.
- Ask what a small change costs after launch, and how fast they respond.
If you want it done the certain way
We publish the build price, the year-two total including GST, the per-page rate for additions, and the post-launch change rate — before you commit. Itemised with providers named, so you can check each line yourself. WhatsApp us; we reply in about five minutes between 9am and 7pm.
Related reading
- The hidden costs of a website
- Year-two renewal shock
- The 18% GST surprise on website bills
- What should “all-inclusive” actually include?
FAQ
What are the hidden costs of a website in India?
GST at 18%, domain and hosting for year one, the year-two renewal, content writing and photographs, extra revision rounds and pages, business email, maintenance, and per-change fees after launch. Year-two renewal and maintenance cause the most complaints.
What should I ask before paying a web developer?
The total including GST, whether year-one domain and hosting are included, the year-two total, who writes the content, the number of revision rounds and cost of extras, the per-page rate, and the post-launch change rate and response time.
Should I be charged separately for an SSL certificate?
Usually not. Free certificates via Let’s Encrypt are standard with most hosting and renew automatically. A recurring SSL fee is worth questioning unless a specific paid certificate type was requested.
