City managers, county IT directors and special-district administrators ask us the same thing: "What should a government website cost us, and how do we buy one without a year-long ordeal?"
Public-sector web work is scoped and purchased differently from a commercial project. Here's what shapes the cost, how we work as a vendor, and how procurement actually flows. When you're ready for numbers, our government & public-sector page and a quick call get you a fixed-price proposal.
Why government work isn't priced like a normal job
A small business buys a website. A government buys a vendor relationship, with obligations a private client never thinks about:
- WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508 on every page
- A written scope, milestone billing and a paper trail
- Formal solicitation responses when required
- Public records, retention and transparency
- A higher security and uptime bar
- Defensible pricing, deliverables and ownership
A government site going down or getting defaced is a public incident, not a bad day. So we quote like a vendor: scoped, fixed-price where possible, and built to survive an audit.
What actually drives the cost
There's no single sticker price, because scope drives everything. A single-department site is a fraction of the work of a municipal site with many departments and content owners.
Content migration, moving years of pages and documents over cleanly and accessibly, is the step most agencies underestimate. And if one bid comes in far below the rest, ask: what are we not getting?
What you get at each engagement
We scope and quote each engagement individually, with milestone billing and a fixed-price proposal so finance and procurement see no surprises.
| Feature | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and proposal planning | Stakeholder map, content audit, fixed-price scope | Agencies before a solicitation |
| Small government website | Accessible, responsive, staff-editable CMS | A district or single department |
| Medium municipal website | Multi-department CMS, forms, search, payments | Most cities and counties |
| Dashboard or internal app MVP | Permitting, 311 requests, transparency data | Replacing spreadsheets and paper |
| Maintenance retainer | Hosting, patching, monitoring, SLA | Every launched site |
| Hourly and consulting | Emergency fixes, architecture, security reviews | Agencies wanting a vendor on call |
The medium municipal site is what most cities and counties mean when they say "we need a new website." The dashboards and internal apps are where the real efficiency wins live; we scope those as an MVP first, prove the value, then expand.
Most site failures happen in months 2–24, not on launch day, which is why the retainer matters. Current pricing for each is on our government & public-sector page.
How agencies actually buy from a vendor like us
The buying process trips up more projects than the technical work does. The cleanest projects we've seen start with a paid discovery phase: we map stakeholders, audit your content and information architecture, and hand back a fixed-price scope you can take straight to procurement. It also helps you write clean, vendor-neutral requirements before a formal solicitation goes out.
- 1Check thresholdsSmaller engagements often fall under a quote or small-purchase threshold.
- 2Scope before you solicitPaid discovery turns guesses into real requirements.
- 3Issue the solicitationRFP, RFQ or ITB. Send it with the deadline and we'll respond on the record.
- 4Award and contractMilestone billing keeps spend tied to delivery.
- 5Build, launch, hand overYou own the code, domain and hosting, and can change vendors anytime.
That last point is non-negotiable on our side, and it should be on yours: you should be able to move the site or switch vendors without our cooperation.
Frequently asked questions
What does a government website cost?
It depends on scope. We quote every project individually with a fixed-price proposal; see our government & public-sector page for current pricing.
Do you respond to RFPs and RFQs?
Yes. Send the solicitation and deadline and we'll prepare a written response, or help shape requirements first through paid discovery.
Are your government websites ADA compliant?
Yes. We build to WCAG 2.1 AA and align with Section 508, verified before launch.
Who owns the website after it's built?
You do: source code, domain, hosting account and any third-party accounts, on final payment.
Planning a new site or internal tool, or have an open solicitation? See our government & public-sector page, review our overall pricing, or get in touch with your requirements for a fixed-price proposal.
