A web design package is a fixed price for a fixed list: a number of pages, a template or theme, a contact form, “mobile responsive”, “basic SEO”, and often a year of hosting and a free domain. In the Philippines most packages sit in the template range, roughly ₱50,000 to ₱100,000 for a small business site, with cheaper bundles below that.
For a small business that needs to be findable and look credible, a good package is often the right buy. The problem is rarely the price. It is the list. Two packages at the same price can contain very different things, and most of what decides whether the site still works in two years isn’t on either list.
This article goes through what a package usually includes, what it usually leaves out, when a package is the right call, and what to ask before you pay a deposit.
What a typical web design package includes
Most package tables in the Philippines are built from the same parts, arranged into three tiers called something like Starter, Business and Premium:
- A page count. Five pages, ten pages, twenty. Usually Home, About, Services, Contact, and a few more.
- A template or theme. A ready-made WordPress theme or a website-builder layout, adjusted with your logo, colours and photos.
- A contact form, sometimes a map and a WhatsApp, Viber or Messenger button.
- “Mobile responsive.” The template works on phones because the template was built that way.
- “Basic SEO.” Usually page titles, meta descriptions, and a sitemap submitted to Google.
- Hosting and a domain for the first year, bundled in the price.
- A fixed number of revisions, often two rounds.
None of that is a bad deal on its own. It is a starting point, and it is what you should compare packages against.
What affordable web design packages usually leave out
This is where cheap web design gets expensive. Read every package against this list before you compare prices.
Your content. Most packages assume you supply the words and photos. If your copy is an old company profile and your photos are from a phone, the site will look like that, no matter how good the template is. Content is often 20 to 30 percent of a properly done project. A package that is quiet about it has left it with you.
Design for your business. A template is designed for every business that buys it. If a competitor bought the same theme, your sites will look alike. That matters little for a neighbourhood clinic and a lot for a firm trying to look bigger than its competitors.
Ownership of the domain and hosting. Ask whose name the domain is registered under. If it is the developer’s, you do not own your own web address. Also ask what hosting costs from year two. “Free hosting” in a package usually means the first year only, and the renewal is often priced by the developer, not the host.
Access and a way out. Will you get the admin login, the hosting login and the domain login? If the site is on a website builder under the developer’s account, or on a theme licence in their name, moving it later can mean rebuilding it.
Speed. Templates load many features you don’t use. A package rarely includes any work on how fast the site opens on a mid-range phone on mobile data, which is how a lot of your visitors will see it.
Real SEO. Page titles and a sitemap are housekeeping, not search optimisation. Ranking for what your customers type takes pages written around those searches, and that work is rarely inside a package.
Data privacy. If your contact form collects names, numbers and emails, you are collecting personal data under the Data Privacy Act of 2012. The site should have a privacy notice and handle form data properly. Packages almost never mention it.
Maintenance. WordPress, its plugins and its theme need updates. An unmaintained site does not fail on day one. It decays, then one day it is hacked or a plugin breaks the contact form and nobody notices. Ask what happens after launch, and what it costs. We wrote about what website maintenance actually costs in the Philippines.
Changes after the revisions run out. Two rounds of revisions sounds fine until round two is the first time your boss sees the site. Ask what each extra round, extra page or extra feature costs.
When a web design package is the right call
A package makes sense when most of these are true:
- You are a small business, a new practice or a start-up, and the site’s job is to be found and to look legitimate.
- You have five to ten pages of fairly fixed content.
- You don’t need the site to do anything beyond showing information and taking enquiries: no logins, no bookings tied to a system, no online payments beyond a simple link.
- You can write your own copy, or you are willing to pay for it separately.
- You accept that you will probably rebuild when the business outgrows it.
In that case, a good freelancer or a small studio with a solid package will serve you well, and paying agency rates would be a waste of your money. Many businesses that ask whether they need a website at all are in this group. Our article on whether you need a website if you already have a Facebook page is a good place to start.
When a package will cost you more
A package stops being affordable when the site has to do more than a template was designed for. Watch for these signs:
- The site has to connect to something. A booking system, an inventory list, a CRM, a payment gateway, an HR or member portal. Every connection is custom work, and in a package it is either excluded or squeezed in.
- You sell online. An online store needs product management, payments, shipping rules and someone watching the checkout. That is not a page count.
- Several people must approve it. A company with a marketing team, a legal reviewer and a board will need more than two rounds of revisions. In a package, every extra round is billed.
- The site carries your credibility with large clients. If you sell to corporations or government, or you are a listed or regulated company, a template that looks like a hundred other sites works against you.
- You plan to grow the site. New service pages, campaign landing pages, a second language, a new division. A themed site gets harder to extend with every addition.
If two or more of these apply, compare custom quotes, not packages. A package that has to be rebuilt in eighteen months costs more than a properly scoped site that lasts five years. See how long a well-built website should last.
How to compare web design packages before you pay
Ask every provider the same questions, in writing:
- Whose name will the domain and hosting be registered under? The answer should be yours.
- What does hosting cost from year two, and can I move it?
- Will I get every login: admin, hosting, domain, and any theme or plugin licences?
- Is this a template? Which one? Can I see other sites you built on it?
- Who writes the content, and who supplies the photos?
- What does each extra revision, page or feature cost?
- What is included after launch, and what does maintenance cost per month?
- What “SEO” is included, exactly?
- How fast does a site you built recently load on a phone? Ask for a live link and test it yourself on mobile data.
A provider who answers all nine clearly is worth more than one who is ₱10,000 cheaper and vague. If you want a fuller shortlist process, see how to choose a web design company in the Philippines.
Packages vs custom: what the price gap pays for
In our honest breakdown of website costs in the Philippines, the bands look like this: about ₱50,000 to ₱100,000 for a template site from a freelancer, ₱100,000 to ₱250,000 for a small agency, and ₱250,000 and up for boutique and enterprise work.
The gap isn’t paying for more pages. It pays for research into who visits the site and why, a design made for your brand rather than adjusted from someone else’s, content written for the searches your customers actually make, a build that loads fast and can grow, and a team that keeps maintaining what it built. If none of that matters to your business yet, the package is the better choice. If it matters, buying the package means paying twice: once now, and again when you rebuild.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are web design packages in the Philippines?
Most small business packages sit roughly between ₱50,000 and ₱100,000, with cheaper bundles below that from solo freelancers. The price usually depends on page count and on whether hosting, a domain and content writing are included. Compare what is in each package, not only the price.
Is cheap web design worth it?
For a simple five-page site that only needs to present your business and take enquiries, yes, as long as you own the domain, get every login and know what maintenance costs. It is not worth it when the site has to connect to other systems, sell online, or carry your credibility with large clients.
Do web design packages include hosting and a domain?
Often for the first year. Check what renewal costs from year two, whose name the domain is registered under, and whether you can move the site to another host without rebuilding it.
Can I upgrade a package website later?
Usually only up to a point. Adding pages is easy. Adding features the template was never designed for, such as a member area, a booking system tied to your operations, or a second language, often ends in a rebuild.
Does designblue offer web design packages?
No. We scope each project to what the site has to do, and our engagements start at ₱350,000. For a small, simple site, a good package from a freelancer or a small studio is usually the better buy, and we will tell you so.
Where designblue fits
We are a boutique web and branding studio in Makati, working with Philippine and regional organisations since 2007. Our web design and development work is for sites that carry real business weight: corporate sites, eCommerce, portals and anything that has to connect to the systems behind it. We build on WordPress, Shopify or custom Laravel, whichever your IT team requires, and the team that builds your site is the team that maintains it.
If you are weighing a package against a custom site and are not sure which you need, talk to us. The first consultation is free, and if a package is the right answer for you, we will say so.
