A small business website does not have one price. It depends on what you are building: a normal business website, the simplest possible website, a custom app, or a server you control yourself. This guide shows the four ways to get online with Domain India, what each one includes and what it costs in the first year and after. All prices are Domain India list prices on 15 September 2026 and exclude 18% GST.
With Domain India, a small business website costs from ₹1,705 a year for a .in domain with DirectAdmin hosting (₹1,975 with cPanel), or ₹2,785 a year for a .in domain with the AI Website Builder (₹3,433 with one business mailbox). A developer app on the App Platform costs from ₹1,705 a year, and a VPS with full server control from ₹6,594 a year. Your first year is ₹50 less, because a .in domain registers at ₹575 and renews at ₹625. Choose by what you are building, not by the cheapest or the most powerful plan.
Prefer to watch? This video walks through the same four routes and what each costs a year.
1. Start with one question: what are you building?
| You are building | Best route | What you buy | First year from | Year two from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A normal business website (WordPress, PHP, company site) | Managed hosting | Domain + cPanel or DirectAdmin hosting | ₹1,655 | ₹1,705 |
| The easiest website, no technical work | AI Website Builder | Domain + AI Website Builder (+ business email) | ₹2,735 | ₹2,785 |
| An app, SaaS, API or dashboard | App Platform (PaaS) | Domain + App Platform plan | ₹1,655 | ₹1,705 |
| A custom server (root access, Docker, several apps) | VPS | Domain + VPS | ₹6,544 | ₹6,594 |
"From" prices use a .in domain (₹575 to register, ₹625 to renew) and plans billed yearly, which is 10% less than twelve monthly payments. A .com costs ₹1,150 a year, so add ₹575 to each row if you choose .com.
2. Step one for every route: your domain
Your domain is your address online, and it is a yearly rental, never a one-time purchase.
| Extension | Register (1 year) | Renew (per year) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| .in | ₹575 | ₹625 | Any business serving India |
| .co.in | ₹475 | ₹525 | Registered Indian companies |
| .com | ₹1,150 | ₹1,150 | Global reach |
Not sure what to call it? The AI Domain Advisor is free: describe your business, for example "interior design company in Chennai", and it suggests available names.
Fewer accounts to manage, simpler DNS setup, and one support team when something goes wrong, instead of two providers pointing at each other.
For the full method, read How to choose the right domain name for your business.
3. Route 1: a normal business website on managed hosting
For a company website, a WordPress site or a PHP application, shared hosting with a control panel is the practical choice. We manage the servers, security and uptime; you manage the website.
| Plan | Price | Includes | Right for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DirectAdmin Starter | ₹100/month, billed yearly (₹1,080/year) | 1 website, 10 GB NVMe, 5 email accounts, weekly backups, Softaculous | A first website on a tight budget |
| cPanel Starter | ₹125/month, billed yearly (₹1,350/year) | 1 website, 25 GB NVMe, 10 email accounts, 5 databases | Most small business websites |
| cPanel Growth | ₹200/month, billed yearly (₹2,160/year) | 5 websites, 50 GB NVMe, 50 email accounts, 10 databases | A business with a blog or several sites |
Every plan includes free SSL, CloudLinux isolation, Imunify360 security, DDoS protection, and developer tools such as Git, SSH and Node.js. Shared hosting is billed yearly at 10% off the monthly rate (15% off for 2 years, 20% off for 3 years), not monthly, and has a full refund within 30 days of purchase.
First year: .in domain + cPanel Starter = ₹1,925. With a .com and cPanel Growth: ₹3,310.
Hosting gives you the most freedom for the money, but you will look after WordPress, plugins, files, databases, DNS and backups yourself. If you deploy your own code, you will also use Git and SSH. If that sounds like work you do not want, look at the AI Website Builder next.
- 10 GB NVMe SSD Storage
- 50 GB Monthly Bandwidth
- 1 Website
- 5 Email Accounts
- 25 GB NVMe SSD Storage
- 50 GB Monthly Bandwidth
- 1 Website
- 10 Email Accounts
Compare all plans on cPanel hosting, or read The ultimate guide to choosing the best web hosting solution.
4. Route 2: the easiest website with the AI Website Builder
If you do not want to learn hosting, WordPress, DNS or plugins, and just want your business online, this is the route.
- Describe.Tell the builder about your business in a sentence.
- Generate.AI writes the text, picks the layout and creates a logo and images.
- Edit.Change anything by chatting in plain English.
- Publish.Connect your own domain and go live.
| Plan | Price | Websites | Also includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | ₹0 | 1 | Full AI generation and a live preview on a free link. Publishing needs a paid plan. |
| Starter | ₹200/month (₹2,160/year billed yearly) | 1 | Your own domain + free SSL, AI chat editor, AI Logo Studio, contact form, SEO and Google Analytics |
| Pro | ₹599/month (₹6,469/year billed yearly) | 5 | Everything in Starter, stock photos, an AI chatbot for visitors, online cart with WhatsApp and UPI orders |
| Business | ₹999/month (₹10,789/year billed yearly) | 15 | Everything in Pro, the highest AI limits, AI drafts of replies to your enquiries |
Hosting is part of every paid plan, so you do not buy a separate hosting plan for a builder website.
First year: .in domain + Starter = ₹2,735.
Add professional business email
A customer trusts [email protected] more than [email protected]. Business email is ₹60 per mailbox per month (₹648 a year billed yearly) and includes webmail, calendar and contacts, and works in Outlook, Apple Mail and phone mail apps. Builder plans do not include mailboxes, so add the ones you need.
First year: .in domain + Starter + 1 mailbox = ₹3,383. With a .com and 2 mailboxes: ₹4,606.
[<div class="kb-product"><div class="kb-product__body"><div class="kb-product__name">AI Builder Starter</div><div class="kb-product__price">₹200/mo + GST</div><ul class="kb-product__features"><li>1 website</li><li>Publish on your own domain + free SSL</li><li>AI creates your website</li><li>AI chat editor</li></ul></div><a class="kb-product__button" href="/solutions/ai-website-builder">See plan details</a></div>
Try the AI Website Builder free](/solutions/ai-website-builder) or see business email.
5. Route 3: apps, SaaS and APIs on the App Platform
If you are building software rather than a normal website, such as a customer portal, a dashboard, an API or a SaaS product, or you are coding with an AI tool like Codex, the App Platform (PaaS) fits better. You focus on the code; we run the servers.
You can deploy in two ways:
- From GitHub: connect your repository and deploy from it.
- From your terminal: deploy directly from your computer using a deployment token.
Never commit it to a public repository, paste it in a screenshot or share it in a chat.
| Plan | Price | Apps | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| App Starter | ₹100/month (₹1,080/year billed yearly) | 1 | 512 MB RAM, 5 GB NVMe, PostgreSQL database, free SSL, custom domain |
| App Developer | ₹250/month (₹2,700/year billed yearly) | Up to 3 | 1.5 GB RAM total, 10 GB NVMe, deploy from GitHub or with a deploy token, zero-downtime deploys |
| App Pro | ₹500/month (₹5,400/year billed yearly) | Up to 6 | 3 GB RAM total, 20 GB NVMe, unlimited custom domains, priority support |
Good for Node.js, Python and PHP apps when you do not want to manage a whole server.
First year: .in domain + App Starter = ₹1,655. With a .com and App Developer: ₹3,850.
- 512 MB RAM per app
- 1 vCPU
- 5 GB NVMe SSD
- PostgreSQL Database
See the App Platform.
6. Route 4: full control with a VPS
A VPS is for when you genuinely need your own server: root access, Docker, custom software, background services, several applications or your own databases.
| Plan | Price | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| VPS Starter | ₹553/month (₹5,969/year billed yearly) | 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 64 GB NVMe, full root access, KVM |
| VPS Basic | ₹1,105/month (₹11,937/year billed yearly) | 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB NVMe, full root access, free migration |
First year: .in domain + VPS Starter = ₹6,544.
With a VPS you look after Linux, security updates, backups and deployments yourself. VPS plans are non-refundable once provisioned. Do not choose a VPS because it sounds more powerful; choose it when your project needs that control.
- 1 vCPU
- 2 GB DDR4 RAM
- 64 GB NVMe SSD Storage
- 2 TB Monthly Bandwidth
See VPS hosting.
7. Six example budgets
All figures are Domain India list prices for the first year with plans billed yearly, excluding GST.
| Business | Route | What they buy | First year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinic that wants the simplest website | AI Website Builder | .in + Starter + 2 mailboxes | ₹4,031 |
| Interior designer with a WordPress site | Managed hosting | .com + cPanel Starter (10 email accounts included) | ₹2,500 |
| Shop with a blog and two side projects | Managed hosting | .com + cPanel Growth | ₹3,310 |
| Home business taking WhatsApp and UPI orders | AI Website Builder | .in + Pro | ₹7,044 |
| Startup launching a SaaS MVP | App Platform | .com + App Developer | ₹3,850 |
| Company running a custom Docker stack | VPS | .com + VPS Basic | ₹13,087 |
8. What you pay after the first year
Nothing is a one-time payment. From year two you pay the renewals:
- Domain: ₹625 for a .in, ₹525 for a .co.in, ₹1,150 for a .com.
- Hosting: the same yearly plan price again, for example ₹1,350 for cPanel Starter.
- AI Website Builder: ₹2,160 a year on Starter, billed yearly.
- Business email: ₹648 a year per mailbox, billed yearly.
- App Platform: from ₹1,080 a year, billed yearly.
- VPS: from ₹5,969 a year, billed yearly.
Turn on auto-renewal for your domain. A domain that lapses can be recovered only for a short time and at a much higher restoration fee, and after that anyone can register it.
9. How to avoid overspending
- Do not buy the most powerful plan first. Start with what you need today; upgrading later is quick.
- Do not buy the cheapest plan if it means work you cannot do. Cheap hosting you cannot manage costs you time. The AI Website Builder may be the better deal.
- Check the renewal price, not only the first-year price.
- Remember GST. All prices here exclude 18% GST, which is added at checkout.
- Hiring a designer or developer? Quotes vary widely. Get two or three quotes, and ask what the yearly renewal and maintenance will cost, not only the build.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a small business website cost in India?
With Domain India, about ₹1,700 to ₹4,600 a year for most small businesses: ₹1,705 a year for a .in domain with DirectAdmin Starter hosting (₹1,975 with cPanel Starter), or ₹2,785 a year for a .in domain with the AI Website Builder (₹3,433 with one business mailbox). The first year is ₹50 less, because a .in domain registers at ₹575 and renews at ₹625. Prices exclude 18% GST.
Can I build a website for free?
You can build and preview a website free with the AI Website Builder. Publishing it on your own domain needs a paid plan (from ₹200 a month) and a domain (from ₹575 a year).
Do I need separate hosting for the AI Website Builder?
No. Hosting, SSL and connecting your own domain are included in every paid builder plan. You only add the domain and, if you want it, business email.
Which is easier: cPanel hosting or the AI Website Builder?
The AI Website Builder. You describe your business and edit by chat, with no WordPress, plugins or server settings to learn. cPanel hosting gives more flexibility and includes email accounts, but you manage the website yourself.
Do I need a business email address?
For a business, yes. An address at your own domain looks more trustworthy than a free email account. cPanel and DirectAdmin plans include email accounts; with the AI Website Builder, add business email at ₹60 per mailbox per month.
Should I choose the App Platform or a VPS for my app?
Choose the App Platform if you want to deploy code without managing a server; it starts at ₹100 a month. Choose a VPS, from ₹553 a month, only if you need root access, Docker or a custom server setup.
How much does it cost to keep a website running each year?
From year two you pay renewals only: a .in domain at ₹625 plus your plan billed yearly, for example ₹1,705 a year with DirectAdmin Starter, ₹1,975 with cPanel Starter or ₹2,785 with the AI Website Builder Starter. Add ₹648 a year for each business mailbox.
Are there hidden costs?
The common ones are GST (18%, added at checkout), renewal prices that differ from the first-year price, and paid themes, plugins or design work you choose to buy. Domain India shows registration and renewal prices side by side.
Can I upgrade later?
Yes. Start small and move up when your business needs it, for example from cPanel Starter to Growth, or from the App Platform to a VPS. For a move that needs migration, open a support ticket and our team will plan it with you.
Ready to choose? Compare DirectAdmin and cPanel hosting, the AI Website Builder, the App Platform and VPS plans.
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