Quotes around here commonly land between $3,000 and $8,000 for a basic business site. That number usually covers design, a handful of pages, some stock photos, and a handoff. Then you own the problem. Hosting gets billed separately. Updates get billed separately. The agency moves on. You are left with a static file and a retainer pitch six months later when something breaks.
We run the other model. Flat monthly. Essentials at $149/mo, Premium at $249/mo, Enterprise at $399+/mo. Those are introductory rates. Custom build fees (normally $1,499 to $2,499+) are waived right now. Month to month. Cancel anytime. The site is built before you pay the first invoice. That is the whole offer.
The $3k–$8k build vs a flat monthly check
The big upfront invoice exists because agencies front-load labor and then disappear. A typical Sioux Falls quote in that range buys you a brochure site, maybe a contact form, maybe basic SEO tags. It rarely includes ongoing content edits, security patches, uptime watch, or real support after launch. When Google changes something or a plugin dies, you pay again. Or you learn to fix it yourself.
Our structure flips the cash flow. You do not write a large check to start. We design and build first. You review. Only after you are satisfied does the monthly clock start. $149, $249, or $399+ covers the site, hosting, maintenance, and the work of keeping it current. No surprise rebuild invoice in year two. If you leave, you leave. No contract theater.
That difference matters more in 2026 than it did five years ago. Sites need regular attention. Core updates, form spam, mobile quirks, speed work, accessibility fixes. A one-time build assumes the internet stands still. It does not.
What hosting and maintenance actually cost
Raw hosting for a small business site is cheap. A solid VPS or managed platform runs $10 to $40 a month depending on traffic and backups. SSL is free or nearly free. The money is not in the server.
The money is in the human time that keeps the server from becoming a liability. Someone has to apply updates without breaking the layout. Someone has to watch uptime. Someone has to fix the contact form when a bot floods it. Someone has to adjust copy when you change hours or services. That labor is what agencies hide inside vague “care plans” that start at $100 to $300 a month on top of the original build.
We fold it into the flat rate. Essentials ($149/mo) is for straightforward sites that need to stay fast, secure, and editable. Premium ($249/mo) adds more pages, more frequent changes, and tighter support. Enterprise ($399+/mo) is for heavier needs, custom features, or higher stakes. You are not paying a mystery retainer. You are paying for the site to remain a working tool instead of a decaying PDF in browser form.
If a shop cannot tell you what portion of their fee is hosting versus labor, walk. Hosting is a commodity. Judgment and response time are not.
Why we waive the build fee right now
We are still establishing in Sioux Falls. That is the honest reason. The waived build fee ($1,499–$2,499+ under normal conditions) lowers the barrier so you can judge the work on merit instead of sunk cost. We build the site first. You see it live. Then you decide whether the monthly makes sense.
This is not a forever policy. It is current. It lets us stack real examples instead of slide decks. You can already see what we ship at legacyforgeai.com/work. When the portfolio is deeper, the build fee returns. Until then, the risk sits on our side of the table.
One more practical point. Call (605) 315-3900. An AI receptionist answers. That line is live. It is a small proof that we use the same tools we put in client sites. No hold music theater.
What you should refuse to pay for
Refuse large discovery fees that produce only a PDF. Refuse “custom” everything when a clean, fast theme structure would do the job better. Refuse lock-in contracts that punish you for leaving. Refuse ownership tricks where the agency keeps the keys or the domain. Refuse per-edit nickel-and-diming after you already paid thousands to launch.
Also refuse the opposite extreme: the $99 special that is just a template with your logo dropped in and zero ongoing care. Cheap abandoned sites cost more in lost calls and lost trust than a coherent monthly plan.
Pay for clarity. Pay for a site that loads quickly on a phone, states what you do, and lets people contact you without friction. Pay for someone to keep it that way. Do not pay for theater, layers of account managers, or stock animations that impress other designers and annoy actual customers.
We publish the numbers so you can compare without playing poker. Essentials $149/mo. Premium $249/mo. Enterprise $399+/mo. Build fees waived at the moment. Month to month. Cancel anytime.
Look at the work first. legacyforgeai.com/work. Then look at the pricing page. If the math fits a real Sioux Falls business that needs a site that simply works, you know how to reach us.