How much does it cost to build a restaurant website in Portugal?

The question almost always arrives the same way: how much does this cost. And the honest answer is that it depends on three or four decisions made before anyone opens an editor. This guide explains what those decisions are, so you can ask for comparable proposals instead of collecting loose numbers.

The price ranges you find in Portugal#

For a restaurant with a single location, the prices on the market fall roughly into these ranges.

At Himura, the one-page website starts at €399 and the complete website with bookings at €699. I publish the prices because the alternative, asking to talk before saying what it costs, wastes time on both sides.

What pushes the budget up#

In order of impact, with some distance between the first item and the rest:

• Online bookings. A form that sends an email is one thing. A system with time slots, capacity, closed days, automatic confirmation and a dashboard to manage requests is another, and it is the most expensive difference on the list.
• Number of pages. Every new page brings structure, copy, images and one more place to go out of date.
• A second language. It is not just translating. It doubles the maintenance of everything that changes later.
• Amount of content. A menu with 30 dishes and allergens takes more organising than most people expect.
• External integrations. Connecting to a booking platform, an ordering system or a POS adds setup and testing.
• Urgency. Delivering in half the time means stopping something else.

What is usually left out#

This is the part that causes the most arguments halfway through projects. Confirm, in writing, whether the proposal includes:

• Domain and hosting, and who registers them in whose name.
• A photo shoot. Stock photos do not show your restaurant.
• Professional translation, as opposed to adding copy the client provides.
• Writing the copy, which is different from formatting it.
• Logo and identity design.
• Online shop, orders and payments.
• Technical maintenance after launch, and for how long.

A €500 proposal that includes none of this can end up more expensive than an €800 one that includes half of it. That is why comparing only the final figure leads to bad decisions.

What it costs to maintain, once it is built#

The website is a one-off cost, but keeping a website alive is not. Typical yearly costs for a restaurant with one location:

If nobody takes care of updates, the website does not disappear overnight. What happens is slower and more expensive to fix: the form stops sending, the certificate expires, the menu goes out of date and nobody notices for months.

How to work out what you need, in five minutes#

1. Write down what you want to happen on the website, in order of importance. Booking a table, seeing the menu, finding the address, seeing photos.
2. Count how many pages that requires. Often it all fits on a single page.
3. Decide whether you need English now or a year from now.
4. Decide whether you want to take bookings on your website or keep using the phone and Instagram.
5. Gather what you already have: an updated menu, photos, copy, access to the domain.

With these five answers, any professional can give you a fixed price. Without them, they can only give you a range.

How to compare two proposals#

Put them side by side and answer these questions for each one. If you cannot answer, the proposal is not clear enough.

• How many pages or sections are included?
• How many rounds of changes, and what counts as a round?
• Who writes the copy and who provides the photos?
• Whose name is the website in, and the domain too?
• What happens if you want to change the menu three months from now?
• How much support is included after launch?