Updated June 2026
A therapist website costs $0–$15,000+ to build and $100–$500/year to keep running. DIY builders run $0–$500 upfront; a freelancer typically charges $1,500–$5,000; an agency starts at $5,000–$15,000+; a done-for-you service like GrowLocal sits between freelancer and agency cost with no build fee. The right tier depends on your practice size, how fast you need to go live, and how much ongoing control you want.
This is based on GrowLocal's proprietary research into top-ranking local business websites.
Below you'll find a full cost comparison table, a breakdown of what actually drives price for a therapy practice, what you get at each tier, and the honest truth about ongoing costs most builders don't mention upfront.
How much does a therapist website cost to build?
Here's a plain side-by-side view of every realistic option:
| Option | Upfront Build Cost | Annual Ongoing | Who It Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder (Wix, Squarespace, Weebly) | $0–$500 | $144–$384/yr (paid plans) | Solo practice, tech-comfortable, willing to spend 20–40 hrs |
| WordPress + hosting | $200–$1,000 | $100–$300/yr | Practice with a tech-savvy owner or staff member |
| Freelance web designer | $1,500–$5,000 | $100–$500/yr (hosting + domain) | Small group practice, no time for DIY |
| Marketing agency | $5,000–$15,000+ | $200–$500+/yr (sometimes retainer) | Multi-location practice, full marketing budget |
| GrowLocal (done-for-you) | No build fee | Subscription (see live pricing at growlocal.site/websites-for/counseling-therapy) | Any practice size — live in days, not weeks |
Key takeaway: Across our research into top-ranking local business websites, 92% of local business websites hide pricing entirely — funneling visitors to a quote form or contact step. A therapy practice website needs to do the same for session rates while surfacing insurance acceptance front and center. The tier you choose determines how quickly you can get this right — not whether you can.
What drives the price of a therapist website?
Not all websites cost the same — even in the same tier. Here's what actually moves the number for a counseling or therapy practice:
Number of therapists / bios pages
A solo practice needs one bio. A group practice with 8–35 licensed clinicians needs individual pages for each — and that multiplies both design time and content work. Freelancers and agencies typically charge per page.
Service sub-pages
In our analysis of top-ranking counseling sites, the strongest practices break services into individual sub-pages by specialty — anxiety, EMDR, couples, trauma, teen therapy, LGBTQ+ affirming, grief, postpartum, and more. Each sub-page = more hours if you're paying per-page rates.
Booking integration
Most top therapy websites use an external scheduling platform (SimplePractice, TherapyNotes, Jane) for appointments. Embedding that adds $200–$800 to a freelancer quote. It's not built into most done-for-you packages, including GrowLocal's — which includes a fast contact/intake form so new clients can reach you in under 30 seconds.
Copywriting
Therapy copy is among the most nuanced in local business — warm, never clinical in the hero, carefully inclusive. If a designer or agency writes it, budget $500–$2,000 extra. DIY builders leave this entirely to you.
Photography
Across our research into top-ranking local business websites, real photography is the dominant pattern — the one analyzed practice using blurred nature stock scored noticeably lower on warmth and trust. A professional headshot session runs $200–$600. This is outside the website build cost at every tier.
What does a DIY builder get you for a therapy practice?
Wix, Squarespace, and similar platforms let you launch for under $200/year — but there are trade-offs specific to therapy websites:
- Time cost is real. A proper therapy site — with bio pages, services sub-pages, rates page, FAQ, and a contact form — takes 20–40 hours to build in a DIY tool if you've never done it.
- No built-in SEO expertise. The free plans include GoDaddy-branded or platform-branded URLs, which hurt local SEO. You'll need to upgrade to remove them ($16–$32/month on most platforms).
- Booking integrations work, but you wire them yourself. Embedding SimplePractice or TherapyNotes on a DIY builder is doable — but you're configuring it alone.
- Generic templates. The calming, trust-forward design a therapy practice needs takes real customization to achieve in a drag-and-drop editor.
Best fit: a solo therapist who's tech-comfortable and has 30+ free hours to invest.
What does a freelancer get you?
A freelance web designer in the $1,500–$5,000 range can build a custom therapist site in 3–6 weeks. What to expect:
- Included: custom design, mobile-responsive layout, bio pages, services pages, contact form, basic on-page SEO
- Usually extra: booking platform integration, ongoing edits, blog setup, copywriting
- Watch for: hosting lock-in — some freelancers charge $50–$100/month for hosting you could own for $10; ask upfront who controls the hosting account
Freelancers are a solid fit for small group practices (2–6 therapists) that want a custom look without agency pricing.
For cost comparisons across healthcare-adjacent practices, see our breakdowns for acupuncturist websites and chiropractor websites.
What does an agency get you?
Marketing agencies start at $5,000 and go up — sometimes past $15,000 for a multi-location group practice. You get: full brand strategy, custom design, copywriting, technical SEO, and a project manager. Ongoing retainers run $500–$2,000/month.
For a solo or small group practice, an agency is usually overkill. It makes sense for a multi-location practice with a full marketing budget already in play.
What does GrowLocal include — and what does it cost?
GrowLocal is a done-for-you website service built specifically for local practices and trades. For counseling and therapy practices, a GrowLocal therapist website includes:
- Specialist service pages — individual pages for your key therapy modalities and specialties
- Therapist bio pages — as many clinicians as your practice has, with headshots and warm copy
- Rates & Insurance page — with your insurance accepted listed and sliding-scale language if applicable
- Contact / intake form — short and fast; designed to get a new-client inquiry in under 30 seconds
- FAQ section — pre-populated with the questions therapy clients actually ask
- Manual testimonials — client stories (with permission), displayed as clean pull-quote testimonials
- Fast, static hosting — pages load in under a second; no shared servers
- SEO fundamentals — local meta tags, clean URLs, structured headings
What GrowLocal does not include: online booking / scheduling integration (you'd keep your existing SimplePractice or TherapyNotes for that), live Google Reviews integration, or live chat. If your primary conversion action is a booking widget, you'd wire that separately or use a contact form as the bridge.
Check the live pricing page for current subscription rates — we don't publish specific monthly figures here because they're updated regularly.
See what's included across all GrowLocal practice types at growlocal.site/websites-for.
What are the ongoing costs after launch?
Every website — at every price tier — has ongoing costs. Here's what therapists typically pay after the build:
| Cost Item | Typical Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Domain name (yourpracticename.com) | $10–$20/yr |
| Website hosting (if not included) | $60–$300/yr |
| SSL certificate | Usually free with hosting |
| Email hosting (professional @yourpractice.com) | $72–$180/yr (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) |
| Annual edits / updates | $0 (DIY) to $500–$2,000/yr (agency retainer) |
| SimplePractice / TherapyNotes (scheduling software) | $39–$99/month (separate from the website) |
The biggest overlooked cost: your time. A DIY site that takes 30 hours to build at your billing rate of $125–$215/session is a $3,750–$6,450 opportunity cost. Done-for-you services that launch in days pay back that gap quickly.
Common Questions About Therapist Website Costs
How much does a basic therapist website cost?
A basic therapy practice website — home page, about/bio, services overview, rates page, and contact form — typically costs $500–$3,000 depending on the tier. A DIY builder with a premium plan runs $200–$500 upfront plus $144–$384/year. A freelancer building a clean custom site starts around $1,500. Done-for-you services like GrowLocal fall in that range without requiring your own build time.
Do I need a separate booking system, or can my website handle it?
Most therapy websites separate the website from the booking system. The website handles marketing, trust-building, and initial contact; the booking software (SimplePractice, TherapyNotes, Jane) handles scheduling, intake forms, and client records. Your website links to your booking system — or includes a short contact form for new clients who aren't ready to book directly. GrowLocal includes the contact form; the booking software is a separate subscription.
Why do therapy websites cost more than a basic business website?
Three reasons: the copy is harder to write (warm, inclusive, non-clinical), the site needs more pages (one per therapist, one per specialty), and clients scrutinize these sites more carefully than they would a plumber's or a gym's. Cutting corners on the bio pages or the rates page specifically tends to kill conversions.
What should a therapist website cost per year to maintain?
Budget $100–$500/year for hosting and domain if you're self-hosting. If you're on a done-for-you subscription service, the hosting is typically included. Either way, budget separately for your scheduling software ($39–$99/month is typical for SimplePractice-tier tools). Across our research into top-ranking local business websites, 92% of sites in professional-services categories hide all pricing — a rates page with clear insurance information is one of the highest-conversion pages on a therapy site and worth keeping current.
Is it worth paying for a professional photographer for my therapist headshots?
Yes, for therapist websites more than almost any other local service category. Clients choosing a therapist are making a deeply personal decision — they're looking at your photo and deciding whether they'd feel comfortable talking to you. Across our research into top-ranking local business websites, the one analyzed practice using stock/blurred imagery scored noticeably lower on warmth and trust. A professional headshot session costs $200–$600 and is the single highest-ROI investment outside the website itself.
Should I hire a web designer or use a website builder for my therapy practice?
It depends on your available time and practice size. A solo therapist with 30+ free hours and basic tech comfort can build a clean, functional site on Squarespace or Wix in a premium plan — budget $500 for the first year. A group practice with multiple clinicians and specialties will get a faster, more polished result from a freelancer ($1,500–$5,000) or a done-for-you service. If every hour you spend on a website is an hour you're not billing at $125–$215/session, the math often favors paying someone else to build it.
For a complete list of what the strongest counseling and therapy websites include, see our breakdown: What a Counseling & Therapy Website Needs to Win Local Customers.