How Much Does a Website Really Cost in Malaysia? A Simple 2026 Guide for Small & Medium Businesses

If you’ve ever Googled “website design Malaysia price”, you’ve probably seen quotes ranging from RM300 to RM10,000. That’s a 30‑fold difference—and it’s enough to confuse any small business owner trying to budget for a professional online presence.

This guide cuts through the noise. Based on real project data from Malaysian agencies and freelancers, we’ll break down the actual cost of building a website in Malaysia in 2025–2026, explain why prices vary so dramatically, and show you exactly what you’re paying for at each price point.

Why the Price Gap Is So Big (And What It Means for Your Business)

The price difference isn’t arbitrary. It reflects four core variables:

1. Design & Build Approach

DIY builders (Wix, WordPress.com) cost RM0–50/month but require your time and limit customization
Templates (premium themes) run RM1000–3,500 in setup fees but can look generic
Block-based builders (Elementor Pro, Bricks) offer flexibility at RM2,000–10,000
Custom-coded sites start at RM10,000+ and are often overkill for SMEs

2. Scope & Complexity

A one-page landing page might take 8 hours to build. A 10-page corporate site with blog, portfolio, and contact forms can take 20–40 hours. E-commerce with 50+ products, payment gateways, and shipping logic often exceeds 50 hours.

3. Provider’s Operating Model

Freelancers working from home have lower overheads. Agencies with office space, project managers, and ISO certification pass those costs on—often justified for complex enterprise projects, but unnecessary for a standard SME website.

4. Hidden Value (or Lack Thereof)

Cheap quotes often exclude essentials: mobile optimization, speed tuning, security hardening, SEO setup, and post-launch support. A RM300 site might cost you RM2,000 later when it gets hacked or breaks after a PHP update. At Solbright, we focus on Malaysian SMEs. Our packages include everything you actually need—no upsells, no missing pieces. See our transparent website design price in Malaysia (packages & details) here.

Website Pricing in Malaysia (2026)

Here’s what Malaysian businesses are actually paying in 2026, for a 5-10 page website:

Type of Service	Price Range (RM)	Best For	What’s Typically Included
DIY Website Builder	RM0–50/month	Hobby, personal use, testing ideas	Basic template, your own labour, shared hosting, limited support
Freelancer (Template)	RM1200–2,000	SMEs needing basic website	Generic template, limited support
Freelancer (Custom)	RM6,000–10,000+	SMEs wanting unique design, 5–10 pages	Custom design, 3 months support
Small Agency (SME Package)	RM2,000–6,000+	SMEs wanting reliability and 0 hassle	Generic template, limited support, basic SEO
Large Agency (Enterprise)	RM8,000-25,000+	Corporates, large companies	Full custom, dedicated PM, compliance, advanced integrations
Solbright SME Package	From RM1880+	SMEs who want professional results without enterprise overhead	Blocked-based custom design, mobile-first, SEO-ready, 1-year free maintenance

Key insight: The RM2000–4,500 range is the sweet spot for most Malaysian SMEs. Below RM1,000, you’re either doing it yourself or risking a brittle solution. Above RM6,000, you’re usually paying for project management and brand name—valuable for complex needs, but overkill for a standard 5–10 page business site.

Freelance web design Malaysia price is often 30–50% cheaper than agencies, but you lose:

Project management (if the freelancer gets sick, your project stalls)
Long-term support (many freelancers disappear after 6 months)
Quality assurance (no second pair of eyes on code/design)

DIY is cheapest but costs you time—time you could spend running your business. And the results rarely match professional standards.Small agencies like Solbright hit the sweet spot: affordable SME pricing with agency-level reliability. See our SME‑focused packages here.

Breaking Down the Cost: What You’re Really Paying For

A proper website isn’t a single product—it’s a bundle of services. Here’s the component-by-component breakdown for a typical RM2,000–4,500 SME website:

Design & Development (RM1200–1,500+)

WordPress installation and configuration
Mobile-responsive design
Contact form setup
WhatsApp/Facebook chat integration
Social media link integration
UI/UX best practices for Malaysian audiences
Brand color integration and typography selection

Hosting & Domain (RM200–300/year)

.com.my or com domain registration
Managed WordPress hosting (SSD, LiteSpeed, scheduled backups)
SSL certificate installation

Speed & Performance Optimization (RM500–1000)

Core Web Vitals tuning
Caching configuration
Image compression and lazy loading
Database optimization
Minification of CSS/JS
CDN setup

SEO Foundation (RM500–2500)

Google Search Console setup
XML sitemap submission
Meta titles and descriptions for all pages
Schema markup (LocalBusiness, Organization)
Basic keyword research and on-page optimization
Content Planning

Support & Maintenance (RM600–1,200/year)

Biannual/Quarterly plugin updates
Weekly backups
Minor content changes
Emergency recovery

At Solbright, all of these components are included in our SME packages. View Solbright’s SME‑friendly web design packages here.

Ongoing Website Costs in Malaysia

Let’s be honest: websites are not a one-time thing. If no one maintains it, it can break, slow down, become obsolete, or even get hacked. Here’s a quick view of annual costs:

Domain & Hosting: RM200–300/year
Maintenance & Updates: RM600–1,200/year depending on site complexity
Additional content updates: As needed

Your first year with Solbright includes all of this for free. Starting year 2, it’s from RM600/year, which covers all essential updates and security. This is still super affordable compared to the cost of fixing a broken or outdated site.

Watch Out for Too-Cheap Offers

If someone quotes you RM300 for a “full website,” watch out for:

Hidden Costs

Hosting usually not included, or using subpar hosting
Charges for every small change (RM50 per text edit)

Quality Issues

Stolen/pirated plugins (legal risk)
No mobile optimization (loses 50%+ of visitors)
Slow loading (bad for SEO and user experience)
No backups (lose everything if hacked)

Support Problems

Designer disappears after 3 months
No access given – you can’t export the site when the designer disappear.
No training (you can’t update content yourself)

Real story: A Johor restaurant built a website engaging a freelancer. The freelancer disappeared after handing over. When the domain and hosting were about to expire, the website owner was not able to claim both the website and domain because they were registered using the freelancer’s personal name. They paid ~RM2,000 for Solbright to rebuild it properly with security, backups, and support. The “cheap” option not only cost them money, but also a domain which consistently bring them 100+ visitors very month.

Why a Website Is an Investment, Not a Cost

While the price for building a website might seem high for start-ups, the cost of not having one is even bigger. A professionally built website delivers ROI in multiple ways:

Direct Revenue

E-commerce: Online sales (even RM1,000/month = RM12,000/year)
Lead generation: A painter in Selangor gets 2–5 qualified leads/month from Google; each job averages RM1000 = RM2,000–5,000/month

Credibility & Trust

75% of Malaysians check a business online before buying
A professional site increases trust scores by 60–80%
Without a website, you’re invisible to younger demographics

Marketing Efficiency

Organic traffic from Google is free (after initial SEO setup)
A good site converts 2–5x better than a bad one
Lower cost per acquisition vs. relying solely on Facebook/Instagram ads

2025 AI Search Reality

With ChatGPT and Google Gemini, searches are becoming conversational. A well-structured website with clear content, schema markup, and local signals is more likely to be referenced by AI. No website = no chance of appearing in AI answers.

Bottom line: A RM2,000 website that generates RM2,000/month in leads/sales pays for itself in one month. A RM300 website that generates zero leads is a waste of RM300.

Final Thoughts: Invest Smart, Not Cheap

A website is your digital storefront. You wouldn’t rent a physical shop with a collapsing roof just because it’s cheap—so don’t do that online.

The RM2000–4,500 range is where most Malaysian SMEs find the best balance: professional quality, reliable support, and features that actually drive business.

At Solbright, we’ve built 100+ websites for Malaysian SMEs. We know what works locally: Google My Business integration, mobile-first design, speed that passes Core Web Vitals, and pricing that’s transparent from day one.

Your next step: Get a detailed quote based on your specific needs. No pushy sales—just honest advice on what makes sense for your business stage.

View Solbright’s SME‑friendly web design packages.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Most SMEs pay RM2,000–4,500 for a professional 5–10 page website. Depending on agencies, this may include design, development, mobile optimization, basic SEO, and 1-year support. Prices below RM1,000 usually mean DIY templates or very limited freelancer services.

A standard 5-page corporate site (home, about, services, portfolio, contact) costs RM1,500–2,000 with a small agency. Freelancers might charge RM800–1,200 but often exclude SEO and long-term support.

Yes, typically 30–50% cheaper. A freelancer might quote RM1,500 for what an agency charges RM2,500. However, you trade off project management, reliability, and ongoing support. Freelancers are best for simple projects; agencies are safer for business-critical sites.

Most agencies include the first year of domain and hosting (RM200–300 value). Always confirm: ask if renewal fees apply from year 2 and what the annual maintenance costs are.

Budget RM600–1,200/year for professional maintenance. This covers plugin updates, scheduled backups, security monitoring, and minor content changes. DIY maintenance is possible but risky if you’re not tech-savvy.

Large agencies target enterprises. Their quotes include project managers, QA testers, account managers, and compliance documentation. For SMEs, this is usually overkill. Small agencies like Solbright offer similar quality at 50–70% lower cost by focusing on SME needs.

Only if it’s a simple one-page site from a junior freelancer or a premium DIY builder (Wix/WordPress.com). For a multi-page business site, RM1,000 is below the threshold for professional quality and support.

DIY is cheaper initially (RM0–50/month) but costs you time (20–40 hours) to build a fully optimized website. A freelancer costs more (RM1,200–2,000) but saves time and delivers better quality. For business use, freelancer is usually better ROI versus DIY.

Number of pages, custom features (booking systems, e-commerce), multilingual support, and content creation needs. Each extra page adds roughly RM200–300 to the base cost.

Within 6–12 months, you’ll likely face: outdated plugins causing errors, slow loading times, security vulnerabilities, and potential hacking. Recovery can cost RM1,000–3,000, plus lost business during downtime.

How Much Does a Website Really Cost in Malaysia? A Simple 2026 Guide for Small & Medium Businesses