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Pricing
What a website actually costs in the Maldives.
In rufiyaa, with the reasoning attached. These are ranges rather than prices, because the honest answer to “what does a website cost” is a question about scope — and the thing that moves it is what the site has to do, never how many pages it has.
One page, one job
MVR 3,000–7,000≈ USD 195–455
A single page built around one conversion: a product, a campaign, an event.
- Custom design, no template
- Enquiry or signup form
- Responsive and fast on mobile
- Metadata, share card, analytics
Many pages, real content
MVR 15,000–25,000≈ USD 975–1,620 · wider where the content model is
A multi-page site with a CMS you operate yourself, and content that keeps changing.
- Everything above
- CMS modelled on your content
- Search, filtering, directories
- Bilingual Dhivehi and English
- Training and documentation
When the site becomes a system
Above MVR 25,000no ceiling quoted · priced only against a written spec
Accounts, databases, dashboards, payments, integrations. Priced on the specification.
- Everything above
- Authentication and roles
- Admin dashboards for staff
- Payments and integrations
- Source code and full handover
Rufiyaa figures are the quoted currency. Dollar equivalents are indicative only, at roughly MVR 15.42 to the dollar. A range is not a quotation: yours is written against your scope, and it is the figure that binds.
What actually moves the price
If someone quotes you per page, they are guessing. Two five-page sites can differ by a factor of four, and the pages are not the reason. These are:
- Distinct templates, not pages. Forty news articles sharing one layout is one template. Six pages that each look different is six.
- Editable content. Who needs to change what, how often, and without calling me. A CMS is most of the difference between tier one and tier two.
- Search, filtering and directories. The moment content has to be found rather than browsed, there is a data model behind it.
- Bilingual Dhivehi. Done properly — right-to-left throughout, Thaana typography, per-language content — this is real work, and it is not a plugin.
- Integrations. Anything that has to talk to a system you already run is scoped and named individually.
- Payments. Money moving means reconciliation, receipts and every failure case handled.
- How much design is bespoke. A systematised design costs less than one where every section is its own composition.
What is always included
These are part of building the thing properly, not a premium tier. Nobody should be charging you extra for them:
- Responsive design, tested on real phones
- Fast on Maldivian mobile connections
- Accessible markup, keyboard navigation, real contrast
- SEO foundations: clean URLs, headings, structured data, sitemap, editable metadata
- Security and testing as part of the build
- Documentation and a handover you can act on
What it costs to run
Quoted before the build begins, as a monthly or annual figure, itemised by name. A static business site can run for very little; an application with a database, file storage and metered APIs costs more, and you will know which before you commit.
The payment schedule
Projects are divided into agreed checkpoints. A deposit before development begins, the rest on milestones or on completion. No 100% upfront, and no building for weeks on a promise — the risk is split, deliberately.
The schedule is fixed in the quotation before development begins and does not move afterwards. Delivery follows the agreed payment terms.
What you own at the end
Ownership is settled in writing before the build, not argued about after it. On final payment you receive the live deployed site, the source code and repository, the admin dashboard and accounts, hosting and domain access, DNS configuration, credentials transferred securely, and documentation.
Common questions
How much does a website cost in the Maldives?
A single-purpose landing page usually falls between MVR 3,000 and MVR 7,000. A multi-page business website with a CMS usually falls between MVR 15,000 and MVR 25,000, depending on how much of it is bespoke and how much content has to be modelled. A custom web application sits above that range and is quoted only against a written specification, never against a page count — so there is no useful single number to give until the scope exists.
Why is a custom site more expensive than a template?
Because you are paying for a different thing. A template is a layout somebody else designed for somebody else’s content, and the cost of fitting yours into it is paid later, by you, in the things it will not do. A custom build starts from your content, your users and your actual workflow. It is more work up front and less work forever afterwards.
What moves the price?
Scope, and almost nothing else. The number of distinct templates rather than pages; whether content is editable and by whom; whether there is search, filtering or a directory; bilingual Dhivehi content; integrations with systems you already run; payments; and how much design is bespoke versus systematised. Page count on its own moves the price very little.
What does it cost to run each year?
Itemised in the quotation before the build starts: hosting, domain renewal, database if it needs one, metered third-party APIs by name, file storage per gigabyte, and upkeep only where it was agreed. A small business site can run for very little; an application with a database and file storage costs more. Nothing recurring appears later as a surprise.
Do you take payment upfront?
Never the full amount, and never nothing. Smaller projects are 50% to start and 50% on completion. Medium projects are 40/40/20 across deposit, milestone and completion. Larger applications take a 30–40% deposit and then payments tied to delivered milestones. The schedule is fixed in the quotation and does not move afterwards.
Do I own the code when it’s finished?
Yes, per the terms agreed before the build. Source code and repository, admin dashboard and accounts, hosting and domain access, DNS configuration, credentials transferred securely, and documentation. The domain can transfer to you on completion.
Do you work with businesses outside Malé?
Yes. Most of the work happens remotely regardless, and I work with clients across the atolls and outside the Maldives entirely.