Why website quotes differ so much for the same brief
Five suppliers, five prices for one brief: all honest. What each quote actually assumed, and how to make the numbers comparable before you choose.
The short answer
Five suppliers receive the same two-paragraph brief and return five prices that differ by a factor of three or more. None of them is lying. Each one read the brief, filled in the gaps with their own way of working, and priced the product they imagined. You received five quotes for five different websites.
The fix is not to pick the middle one. It is to make the assumptions visible so the products become comparable.
Where the spread comes from
| Assumption | Cheaper end | More expensive end | Why it matters later |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it is built | Template or page builder | Custom code | Speed, accessibility, and whether you can leave |
| Design | Theme with your colours | Designed for your business | Whether it looks like you or like everyone |
| Content | You supply everything | Written and structured for you | Launch date, and whether the site says anything |
| Images | Stock | Photography or produced visuals | Trust, and rights |
| Hosting | On the supplier’s account | In your name, set up for you | Ownership and exit |
| Aftercare | None, hourly on request | Monthly scope with monitoring | What month four costs |
| Speed and accessibility | Not mentioned | Committed and verified | Whether it works on phones and for everyone |
| Exclusions | Not listed | Listed | Whether launch ends in an argument |
Make them comparable
- Send one brief to everyone, one page, with the questions you want answered in the quote: what is included, what is excluded, how it is built, ownership of code and accounts, hosting and running costs, aftercare and response times, speed and accessibility commitments, how you would leave.
- Put the answers in a table. Suppliers in columns, questions in rows. Gaps are answers too.
- Add three-year running costs. Hosting, licences, content system fees, aftercare estimate, times thirty-six months.
- Add the cost of leaving. Can you take the code and content? If not, add a rebuild.
- Now compare totals. The spread usually shrinks, and the order often changes.
Reading the honest signals
- A supplier who lists exclusions has done this before and wants no argument at launch.
- A supplier who states speed and accessibility targets with a tool to verify them builds for those targets.
- A supplier who puts hosting and code in your name is not depending on lock-in.
- A supplier who quotes aftercare as a monthly scope has a routine; one who quotes it hourly has a queue.
What this means for you
Do not compare the five numbers you have. Send the one-page brief with the questions, build the table, add three years and the cost of leaving, and compare again. You will find that the quotes were never for the same website, and that the right one is the one whose assumptions match how much your business depends on it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the cheapest quote a bad sign?
Not automatically. It usually means a template or builder, no content work, hosting on the supplier's account, and aftercare by the hour. That can be exactly right for a small, temporary or experimental site. It is the wrong product for a site the business depends on. Judge the fit, not the price.
Is the most expensive quote the best?
Sometimes it includes things you need, such as content, accessibility verification, monitoring and a monthly scope. Sometimes it is an agency overhead. The eight questions tell you which. A high price without clear answers on ownership and aftercare is the worst of both worlds.
Should I send suppliers a more detailed brief?
Yes, and include the answers you want in the quote: ownership, hosting, aftercare, running costs, exclusions. A one-page brief with those points produces quotes that can be compared. A two-line email produces five different products.