Everything ittakes to fly.
It's easy for web projects to spiral out of budget, leaving you paying for things you didn't anticipate. I have a different approach because I believe fairness and transparency is the only way to do business. I want you to know exactly what you are paying for.
Calculate your build costThe Complete Starting Point
The base
R3 500
Single page website
A complete, working website, built uniquely for you or your business.
- Strategy and structure session before anything gets designed
- Custom design
- Mobile and desktop build
- Cloudflare hosting setup and DNS
- SSL security
- Core on page SEO
- Local SEO and Google Business Profile setup
- Security hardening
- Contact form (optional)
- Google Analytics and Search Console (optional)
- Performance tuning
- POPIA compliant forms and a privacy policy
- Structured so search engines and AI assistants can read the site and quote it correctly
- Hand coded animation where it suits the site
- Two rounds of revisions
All of the above is included in the price.
Sizing Your Project
How big do you need your website to be? That is the only question that changes the price of the build itself. Pages get cheaper as the website grows.
Typical build scopes
R11 100
A consultancy or trades business
Five pages. Home, about, services and two more.
R12 600
A guesthouse
Six pages, with a gallery built to carry photographs.
R27 600
A school
Fifteen webpages with a news section parents can follow.
A 30% deposit is due before work starts, then the balance can be split over 3, 6, 9 or 12 months rather than paid upfront. Agreed in the proposal, so ask when you enquire.
Extras
Here are some of the additional services I offer to make your website shine even more.
Brand copywriting
From R1 000Most people underestimate this one. A beautiful layout means nothing if it does not sound like you. Quoted on how much writing there is to do.
Photography
From R600Real photographs of your place, your people and your work, shot and edited by me. Quoted on the shoot.
Afrikaans and English
From R1 000As a native Afrikaans speaker I can build the whole site in both languages. Quoted on how much there is to translate.
Logo and brand kit
From R5 000For when the business needs a mark, a palette and type that hold together everywhere else too. Quoted on scope.
Move an existing site across
From R3 000Not everyone needs this. More often than not I will suggest starting on a blank canvas, because carrying old content across costs more than writing it again. This is for when there is genuinely something worth keeping.
FAQ
R1 000Questions and answers added to a page you already have cost nothing. That is part of the build. This is for an FAQ page of its own, marked up so search engines and AI assistants can quote the answers directly. It does not count as one of your pages.
Blog and newsletter
R3 000A blog editor for your insights and stories.
You own your domain
Once the website is done, everything on the website is yours.
I host and maintain your website. If you ever want to leave, I will give you the website export. No additional fees.
Not sure where to start? Let me help you figure out what you need.
What counts as a page
A page is one that is uniquely built for your content. Home, about, services and each service page all count on their own.
The contact page and an FAQ do not count as pages on their own, unless there is a lot of content sitting on either of them. A privacy notice and website terms are part of the core build and are never counted.
These do not count as pages
- Privacy notice
- Cookie notice
- Terms of use
A privacy notice, a cookie notice and terms if you need them. They are required, they are mostly boilerplate and they are included.
One standard contact form is included in every build. Name, email, message, spam protection and delivery to your inbox. A conditional question or two is fine.
Standard form
R600 eachMore fields than a contact form, and it routes somewhere specific. A booking enquiry, a quote request, a consultation form that knows which service you clicked from.
Advanced form
R1 200 eachFile uploads, multiple conditional questions, multiple steps, or anything that has to store what it collects rather than just email it. A PDF submission form is the usual one.
Getting airborne is one thing. Staying in flight is another.
Every website needs well configured hosting and proactive maintenance. Structured around transparent, standard rates, your Flight Plan scales naturally alongside the unique requirements of your build.
Keeping it online
R150 a monthHosting, DNS, SSL, daily backups and uptime monitoring. One number, no usage bills and no surprises in a busy month.
Keeping an eye on it
R25 per page a monthMy time. Security patching, checking the backups restore, watching the site and fixing it when something breaks. A bigger site is more to watch, so it scales with pages rather than sitting on a flat fee. Extra forms add R15 a month each, because a form has more that can break than a page of writing does.
Your domain
Billed by the registrarThe domain is registered in your name and renewed on your own card, not mine. I set it up and point it where it needs to go. It is the part of this that makes owning your website true rather than a phrase on a page, because if you ever walk away, you walk away with the address.
Small changes
FreeA phone number, a price, a paragraph, a new photo. Send the wording and it gets changed. No charge and no waiting queue.
Anything bigger
R550 an hourA new page, a new section, a restructure, a new feature. You get an estimate in hours before I start, and you are billed for the hours worked rather than the estimate.
What that comes to
R200 a month
A one page site
R275 a month
A five page site
R525 a month
A fifteen page site
No tiers and nothing to compare. The number comes from the size of your site, R200 a month at the smallest, and it is the same number in the calculator.
Things that carry their own monthly
Some websites need extra infrastructure to keep running, and that can carry its own monthly cost. Extra security, a content editor, a booking engine, that kind of thing. Where a site needs it, the cost is added to the base Flight Plan and quoted on what the site needs. Official quotes are worked out after we have met and talked through your website.
Photography
From R600
Quoted on the occasion, how long it runs and how far I travel.
Photography is not the main service here, but I shoot with a professional camera and I know what I am doing. Available as a standalone service too, without a website attached.
Warm and unposed, shot in natural light. You get the edited set in full resolution, ready to use, with no watermark and nothing to renew.
- Farms, guesthouses and businesses
- Family occasions and events
- Product, food and interiors
- Clear on lead times and what to expect
FAQs
What does a website cost in South Africa?
At Takeflight every website starts from the same base of R3 500, which covers one complete page. Pages after that are R1 900 each up to five, then R1 500 to page ten, then R1 200. Only content pages are counted. A privacy notice, a cookie notice and terms are included free, and forms are priced on what they do rather than counted as pages. A five page business website works out to R11 100 and a fifteen page school website to R24 600 before any extras. Prices are in South African rand. Takeflight is not registered for VAT, so the price quoted is the price paid. Every build includes hosting setup, SSL, security hardening, local SEO and core on page SEO.
How long does a website take to build?
One page runs two to three weeks. A five page website runs four to six. The clock is set by how fast content comes back from you rather than by how fast I type, so you control most of it.
What is included in the base price?
A strategy and structure session, custom design, the mobile and desktop build, Cloudflare hosting setup and DNS, SSL security, core on page SEO, local SEO and Google Business Profile setup, security hardening, a contact form, Google Analytics and Search Console, performance tuning, POPIA compliant forms and a privacy policy, hand coded animation where it suits the site, and two rounds of revisions. All of it is in the price. None of it is charged for separately.
Can I pay for a website over a few months?
Yes, after a 30% deposit. That deposit is due before work starts, and the balance can be split over 3, 6, 9 or 12 months rather than paid all at once. The calculator on the site works out the monthly figure for each term. It gets agreed as part of the proposal, so ask when you enquire. The monthly Flight Plan is separate from this and starts once the site is live.
Do you work with businesses outside Cape Town?
Yes. Takeflight works with businesses across South Africa, including farms, tourism operators and small businesses in the Western Cape and further afield. Most of the work happens over email and calls.
Do you keep the website running after it launches?
Yes. Every website runs on a Flight Plan, which is the monthly cost of keeping it online and looked after. It is worked out rather than picked from a list: R150 a month covers hosting, DNS, SSL, backups and monitoring, then R25 per page a month covers my time watching and patching it. The minimum is R200 a month, whatever the size of the site. A one page site is R200, a five page site is R275 and a fifteen page site is R525.
Who owns the website once it is live?
You do. Once the website is done, everything on it is yours, including the domain. I host and maintain it, and if you ever want to leave I give you the website export at no additional fee.
What happens when something needs changing after launch?
Small things are free. Send the text and it gets changed, whether that is a phone number, a price, a paragraph or a new photo. Within reason there is no charge and no long waiting queue. Bigger things like a new page, a new section or a restructure are billed by the hour at R550, and you get an estimate in hours before I start. Businesses that need work most weeks move onto an agreed monthly retainer instead, which starts at R4 000 a month.
Will a new website grow my business?
A website cannot do your operations for you. Your workmanship is ultimately the final factor judged by clients. What a good website does is make sure that when someone comes looking, what they find is fast, clear, easy to find and looks professional.