If you've ever tried to price a website in Nigeria, you already know the problem: quotes range from ₦50,000 to ₦5,000,000 for what sounds like the same thing. This guide breaks down why that gap exists and what you should actually pay.
The three pricing tiers in the Nigerian market
Tier 1: ₦30,000 – ₦200,000 (freelancers, Fiverr locals, WhatsApp builders)
These are typically:
- WordPress templates modified with your logo and color
- No mobile responsiveness guarantee
- Hosted on shared ₦3,000/year cPanel hosting
- No analytics, no SEO setup, no proper domain configuration
- Support ends when they stop picking up your calls
You get what you pay for. The site will usually look fine on day one. Six months later, it'll be down and your "developer" will be unreachable.
When it's OK: If you need a one-page landing page for an event or a simple "we exist" page for a small NGO, this tier works.
Tier 2: ₦200,000 – ₦800,000 (small agencies, mid-level freelancers)
This is where quality splits dramatically. Good agencies in this range deliver:
- Custom-designed sites (not templates)
- Mobile-first, tested on Chrome, Firefox, Safari
- Basic SEO: meta tags, sitemap, robots.txt
- Google Analytics or similar wired up
- 3–6 week turnaround
- 1–3 months of post-launch support
Bad actors in this range will still use templates and charge you agency rates. Red flag: if they can't show you a live portfolio with actual client names, skip them.
This is TrueWeb's primary range (₦150,000 – ₦800,000 for most projects).
Tier 3: ₦800,000 – ₦5,000,000+ (large agencies, SaaS products)
Full custom development, often built on Next.js, React, or similar modern stacks. Includes:
- Custom backend, database, user authentication
- Payment integration (Squad, Paystack, Flutterwave)
- Admin dashboard
- Automated email sequences
- Ongoing retainer for development
If you're building a fintech app, a marketplace, or a SaaS product, this is where you'll land.
What drives the price up?
- Features vs. pages: A 20-page brochure site is simpler than a 5-page site with booking, payments, and a member portal.
- Custom design: Starting from a blank canvas versus adapting a template is 3–5x more work.
- Integrations: Paystack, Square, WhatsApp Business API, CRMs — each adds dev time.
- Content: Does the developer write the copy? Source photos? Usually not included unless you ask.
- Hosting setup: Vercel + Neon + domain config done properly takes 4–6 hours.
Red flags when hiring a Nigerian web developer
- No written contract or scope of work
- Requests full payment upfront (50/50 is standard)
- Can't explain what tech stack they'll use
- Portfolio sites are all down or look identical
- No mention of hosting, domain, or maintenance costs
- Promises "unlimited revisions" (no one does unlimited anything for free)
TrueWeb's pricing (so you have a real anchor)
| Project type | Price range | Timeline | |---|---|---| | 5-page brochure site | ₦150,000 | 2 weeks | | 10-page custom CMS | ₦450,000 | 4 weeks | | E-commerce (products + cart + payments) | ₦700,000 | 5 weeks | | Custom SaaS / web app | ₦1,200,000+ | 8 weeks | | Care plan (hosting + updates + monitoring) | ₦25,000/month | Ongoing |
These are fixed prices. No hidden fees, no "it depends."
How to get a quote
- Know what pages you need
- Know what functionality matters (bookings? payments? a blog?)
- Know your budget range
- Ask for a written quote with deliverables, timeline, and payment terms
If a developer won't give you a written breakdown, don't pay them. A professional always puts it in writing.
The total cost of ownership
Building the site is usually 60% of the real cost. The remaining 40% over 2 years is:
- Domain: ₦5,000–₦20,000/year (depending on TLD)
- Hosting: ₦0–₦50,000/year (Vercel free tier works for most, paid plans for high traffic)
- Maintenance: ₦25,000–₦60,000/month for active development
- Plugins/subscriptions: Forms, email marketing, analytics, SEO tools
Build in a maintenance budget from day one. Websites are not a one-time cost.
Bottom line
A website that actually helps your business costs at least ₦150,000 in Nigeria in 2026. If someone quotes below that for a "professional" site, they're either cutting corners on design, hosting, or the relationship will fall apart post-launch.
Budget honestly, get everything in writing, and choose a developer who picks up the phone after deployment.