Freelance web designer: price, contract and pitfalls in 2026
A freelance web designer usually charges DKK 500–900 an hour excluding VAT, and a five-page website costs DKK 12,000–30,000 to have made. You get one contact person and a lower price than an agency. In return, everything rests on that one person. Here are the prices, the contract and what to make sure of.
What does a freelance web designer cost?
A freelance web designer costs DKK 500–900 an hour, and most quote a fixed price for a website. The table shows what each part usually costs. If the freelancer is VAT-registered, 25% VAT comes on top.
| Job | Freelancer price, excl. VAT |
|---|---|
| A five-page website | DKK 12,000–30,000 |
| Each page beyond five | DKK 1,000–2,500 |
| Copywriting, per page | DKK 1,000–2,500 |
| Blog | DKK 3,000–8,000 |
| Online booking | DKK 3,000–10,000 |
| Web shop | DKK 15,000–40,000 |
| Running per year: hosting, domain, licences and updates | DKK 4,500–15,500 |
The prices come from our website cost calculator, where you can work out your own website.
Freelancer, web agency or website builder: which suits you?
A freelancer sits in the middle: cheaper than an agency, dearer than building it yourself, and with one person to help you. The differences are here:
| Freelancer | Web agency | Website builder (Striive) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build | DKK 12,000–30,000 | DKK 35,000–90,000 | No build fee |
| Running per year | DKK 4,500–15,500 | DKK 9,000–34,000 | DKK 2,000–3,000 |
| Who does the work | One person | A team | AI makes the first version, you edit |
| Small changes | An email and a wait, often by the hour | Through the service agreement | You do it yourself, straight away |
| Biggest risk | The person gets busy or stops | The price and the lock-in | Your own time: 8–16 hours for five pages |
The amounts in the table exclude VAT. Striive is DKK 99 a month incl. VAT for the first 4 months, then DKK 249 a month incl. VAT, plus your domain. More on web agencies.
How do you brief a freelance web designer?
A good brief gets you a more precise price and fewer revision rounds. Send it before you ask for a quote:
- Describe your business in three sentences: what you do, for whom and where.
- List the pages you expect, such as home, services, prices, about and contact.
- Send links to two or three websites you like, and say why.
- Say what you’ll supply yourself: logo, photos and texts, or whether they need making.
- Mention features such as booking, a newsletter or a shop, including those that come later.
- Give a budget and a deadline, so the quote fits reality.
- Write down what you want to be able to edit yourself afterwards.
What should the contract with a freelancer say?
The contract should make sure you get what you pay for, and that you can manage without the freelancer afterwards. Get these points in writing:
- A fixed price, and exactly which pages and features it covers.
- The number of revision rounds, and the hourly rate for extra work.
- That the domain, texts, photos and design belong to your business.
- Handover of every login: domain, hosting and the website’s admin, in your name.
- Who pays for themes, plugins and licences, and whose name they are in.
- What running and updates cost after launch, and how to end that agreement.
- A deadline, and what happens if it’s missed.
What do you do if the freelancer disappears?
If you have the logins and the domain in your own name, someone else can take the website over. If you don’t, start with the domain: contact your domain provider and have it transferred to the business. Hosting and the admin can usually be moved too, but it can take time.
If there’s no way in, you can move the content without logins. Striive’s site import reads the public site and rebuilds it, with text, photos, colours, prices and opening hours. Blog posts, shops and booking systems don’t come along, so check every page before you publish.
When is a freelancer the right choice?
A freelancer suits you when you’d rather pay to avoid the work than spend a few evenings on it, and the budget doesn’t stretch to an agency. Especially:
- When you need something special a website builder can’t do, such as an integration with a particular system.
- When you rarely change anything and are happy to pay by the hour for it.
- When you know the freelancer and know they’ll still be around in a few years.
If you want to make changes often, a website builder is usually the better choice. Read how to update your website yourself.
Frequently asked questions
A freelance web designer usually charges DKK 500–900 an hour excluding VAT. At an agency it’s DKK 900–1,400.
Rarely an experienced one, unless it’s a single page from a template. What is possible is in website under DKK 5,000.
Usually, unless you have your own login and can find your way around the system. Agree an hourly rate for changes, or choose a solution where you edit yourself.
Usually 2–6 weeks for a small website. Most of that time goes on waiting for texts, photos and feedback.
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