A WordPress website in Australia costs about A$245 a year to run if you build it yourself with free themes and plugins, and a few thousand dollars or more once a developer builds it and someone maintains it. WordPress is free software. You pay for everything around it: hosting, a domain, premium themes and plugins, security, maintenance and the person who builds it.
Those costs are easy to underestimate because they arrive on different invoices, in different currencies, at different times of year. Hosting is often a cheap first-year deal that renews higher. Premium plugin licences are usually billed in US dollars and renew every year. Maintenance is often left out of the build quote completely.
This guide prices each part with current figures from the vendors' own pages, checked on 12 October 2026, then adds them up for three common setups. It links to our detailed guides on maintenance and plugin security where you need more depth.
WordPress is free. Running it isn't
WordPress is open-source software, licensed under the GPLv2, so anyone can download and use it without paying. A working business website on WordPress still needs six things you pay for, or spend your own time on.
- Hosting: the server the site runs on.
- A domain: your .com.au address, renewed every year.
- A theme: the design layer. Free themes exist; premium ones are a yearly licence.
- Plugins: add-ons for forms, SEO, speed, backups and security. Many are free, with paid versions billed yearly.
- Maintenance and security: updates, backups and monitoring, done by you or paid for.
- The build: your time, a freelancer or an agency.
Hosting: check the renewal price
Hosting prices are usually advertised as a first-term deal. The number to budget for is the renewal price, because that is what you pay from the second year on.
- VentraIP WordPress hosting: A$18.50 a month at the standard price, with Sydney servers. New customers get 50% off the first invoice for up to a year, so A$9.25 a month. VentraIP's terms say its published prices include government taxes, so these include GST.
- SiteGround StartUp: A$4.99 a month for the first 12 months, prepaid, then A$26.99 a month at renewal. Its Australian page shows prices excluding GST.
- SiteGround GrowBig: A$7.49 a month for the first 12 months, then A$39.99 a month at renewal, excluding GST. It adds staging, which lets you test updates on a copy of the site first.
Our guide to what website hosting is explains the difference between shared and managed hosting if you're comparing plans.
Your .com.au domain
A .com.au domain is a small cost but a yearly one. VentraIP lists .com.au names from A$9.95 a year on a first-year discount, against a standard price of A$22.95 a year, GST included. Register it in your business's name, not your developer's, so you can move the site later. Our guide to buying a .com.au domain name covers the eligibility rules.
Themes and plugins: free versus premium licences
You can build a decent WordPress site entirely with free themes and plugins. Many businesses still end up paying for a few premium licences, either because a developer chose them or because the free version leaves out a feature. These are billed yearly, usually in US dollars, with tax added depending on where you live.
Premium themes
As an example, Astra Pro (sold as Astra Pro + AI) is US$99 for the first year and renews at US$149 a year, for use on up to 3 websites.
Common premium plugins
- SEO: Yoast SEO Premium is US$118.80 a year, billed annually, before tax. The free Yoast SEO plugin covers the basics.
- Forms: Gravity Forms starts at US$59 a year for its Basic licence, with Pro at US$159 and Elite at US$259.
- Speed: WP Rocket is US$59.95 a year for one website, which covers product updates and support.
- Security: Wordfence has a free version, with Premium at US$149 a year for real-time firewall rules and malware signatures. The free version gets them 30 days later.
- Backups: BlogVault's Personal plan lists at US$99 per site a year, with a 50% discount shown when we checked.
Maintenance and security
WordPress needs regular updates to its core, theme and plugins, and those updates often fix security holes. Patchstack counted 11,334 new vulnerabilities in the WordPress ecosystem in 2025, up 42% on the year before, and 91% of them were in plugins. Our guide to WordPress plugin updates and security explains what a sensible routine looks like.
You can do the work yourself, or pay for it. Chillybin, a WordPress agency, publishes these 2026 tiers for managed maintenance plans in AUD:
- Basic, A$100 to A$200 a month: core and plugin updates, a monthly backup and uptime monitoring, for small brochure sites.
- Standard, A$200 to A$400 a month: adds security scanning, 1 to 2 hours of support and testing updates on a staging copy.
- Advanced, A$400 to A$700 a month: adds priority support, performance checks and monthly reporting.
- Ad hoc work: A$100 to A$150 an hour if you pay as you go instead of a plan.
If you only want security handled, Wordfence Care is US$590 a year. Wordfence installs, configures and monitors its plugin for you and handles incidents. For everything a maintenance plan should cover, see our guide to website maintenance cost.
What a developer or agency charges to build it
Build prices vary more than anything else on this list, so treat any single number with care. Two published sources give a sense of the range.
- Freelancers: freelance web developer rates in Australia run roughly A$32 to A$138 an hour, according to SoloHourly's rate data.
- Agencies: RockingWeb, an Australian web agency, puts first-year WordPress setup at A$2,000 to A$30,000 and a professional small business website at A$5,000 to A$25,000. These are its own market estimates, and the page doesn't say whether they include GST.
Ask any quote what is included after launch. A build price that leaves out hosting, licences and maintenance only covers the first month.
For comparison, Lumeen builds on a modern stack rather than WordPress. A Lumeen build is currently A$299 inc. GST on a limited-time offer, and hosting starts at A$24.99 a month inc. GST with updates, backups and 5 edits a month included.
Realistic totals for a small business WordPress site
Here are three common setups, using the standard (not first-year) prices above. AUD and USD are kept separate because the licences are billed in US dollars.
- You build it with free themes and plugins: VentraIP WordPress hosting at A$222 a year plus a .com.au domain at A$22.95, so about A$245 a year including GST, plus your time for updates.
- You build it with common premium licences: the same A$245, plus Astra Pro at US$149, Gravity Forms Basic at US$59, WP Rocket at US$59.95 and Wordfence Premium at US$149. That is about US$417 a year in licences on top.
- A freelancer or agency builds it and maintains it: a build somewhere in RockingWeb's A$2,000 to A$30,000 range, then a maintenance plan from A$100 to A$400 a month, which is A$1,200 to A$4,800 a year, plus hosting, domain and licences unless the plan includes them.
The cheapest of these is cheap only if your time is free and nothing goes wrong. The most expensive is the one most small businesses are quoted. Whatever you choose, ask for three numbers: the build price, the yearly running cost and what it costs to leave. Our Australian website cost guide compares WordPress with the other options.
Key takeaways
- (01)
WordPress is free software. Hosting, a domain, premium licences, maintenance and the build are what you pay for.
- (02)
Budget on renewal prices, not first-year deals. SiteGround StartUp renews at A$26.99 a month before GST; VentraIP WordPress hosting is A$18.50 a month including GST.
- (03)
Premium themes and plugins are yearly licences, mostly in US dollars. Four common ones add about US$417 a year.
- (04)
A DIY site can run for about A$245 a year. A built and maintained site usually means a build in the thousands plus A$100 to A$400 a month for maintenance.
Frequently asked questions
Is WordPress free?
The software is. WordPress is open source and free to download and use. A business website on WordPress still needs paid hosting and a domain, and often premium plugins, maintenance and someone to build it.
How much is WordPress hosting in Australia?
VentraIP's WordPress hosting is A$18.50 a month including GST at the standard price, with a first-year discount for new customers. SiteGround's StartUp plan is A$4.99 a month for the first year, then A$26.99 a month at renewal, before GST.
Do I need premium WordPress plugins?
Not always. Free plugins cover forms, SEO, caching and basic security. Premium versions add features and faster security updates, and they are billed yearly. Wordfence Premium, for example, is US$149 a year and gets firewall rules 30 days before the free version.
How much does WordPress maintenance cost per month?
Chillybin's published 2026 tiers put managed maintenance plans at A$100 to A$200 a month for a small brochure site and A$200 to A$400 for a growing business site. Ad hoc work runs A$100 to A$150 an hour.
More answers on price, hosting and timing in our FAQ.