How much does a therapist website cost in 2026?

The range: $432.60 to $12,595.24 over three years

Using only prices the vendors publish, a therapist website costs $432.60 over three years at the low end and $12,595.24 at the high end. That works out to about $12 to $350 a month. So how much does a therapy website cost for you? It depends on who does the work, and whether HIPAA forms and email come in the bundle.

• You build and run it: self-hosted WordPress, $432.60, or Squarespace and Wix, $1,332.96 to $1,692.96.
• The site inside your practice software: SimplePractice Starter, $2,064.24, and that includes the software itself.
• Entry plans at therapist website companies: Brighter Vision Start, $2,956.24, or TherapySites Core, $2,983.24.
• Done-for-you builds: Designed By Thrive or Empathy Sites, $4,332.96 to $6,291.24.
• Plans with HIPAA email or marketing built in: Brighter Vision Flourish, $10,812.24, or TherapySites Elite Plus, $12,595.24.

Except for SimplePractice, those totals leave out your intake and practice-management tool, paid ads and your own time.

What you pay for

• Platform or hosting. The monthly plan, or web hosting for WordPress. Bluehost Starter is $3.99 a month on a 36-month term, then renews at $9.99 a month.
• Setup or design. One-time fees, from $0 on Brighter Vision Flourish to $6,000 for Designed By Thrive’s Custom package.
• Domain. Your domain name. Namecheap’s .com is $11.28 the first year and $18.48 a year after.
• Email. A Google Workspace Business Starter inbox is $7 a month billed yearly. HIPAA-secure email costs more: Brighter Vision resells Hushmail from $14.99 a month, and TherapySites’ secure emails and forms start at $15 a month. Our email hosting entry explains the basics.
• Intake and booking. A HIPAA-ready practice-management tool, such as SimplePractice at $49 to $99 a month.
• Directory profiles. Psychology Today is $29.95 a month with no contract.
• Marketing. Optional SEO, social media and ads packages, often the biggest line.

True 3-year cost of 11 setups

Notes on each setup

• WordPress. The $3.99 price needs a 36-month term and renews at $9.99 a month, so year four costs more. A free theme is assumed, and the upkeep is your time or someone else’s fee. Add SimplePractice Starter for intake and the total is $2,196.60.
• Squarespace Core. $39 billed monthly. Core includes one Google Workspace account free for the first year, so email may cost less than shown. Its form blocks can’t be part of a HIPAA-compliant setup, so budget for a separate intake tool.
• Wix Business. The lowest current Wix plan on Wix’s list of plans that get its BAA for forms and bookings.
• SimplePractice. Its help center says the website comes at no additional cost on every plan, so if you’d pay for the software anyway, the site adds little more than a domain. Plus is $99 a month ($3,864.24 on the same method). The cost of a custom domain through SimplePractice is not published, and a 50% off promo for three months is not counted.
• Brighter Vision. Start includes two email addresses, so there is no email line. Billed monthly at $99, it comes to $3,712.24. Its FAQ page still quotes $59 a month plus $100 setup, which conflicts with the pricing page; we used the pricing page.
• TherapySites. The pricing page lists a $199 one-time design fee, but its FAQ says there are zero setup fees. Without the fee, Core comes to $2,784.24. Annual prices are not published. HIPAA-secure email and forms add at least $15 a month, or $540 over three years.
• Designed By Thrive. The studio doesn’t say which Squarespace plan you need; we assumed Core. Custom ($6,000) brings the total to $7,332.96, and Authority is quote only. A 25% partner discount on your first Squarespace year is not counted.
• Empathy Sites. The $2,499 package can be paid in four monthly installments. It doesn’t say who owns a domain it buys for you, so we priced one you buy yourself.
• Brighter Vision Flourish. Includes HIPAA-compliant forms, five HIPAA secure email addresses through Hushmail, a GoodTherapy Pro membership and one content page a month. Billed monthly at $349, it comes to $12,612.24.
• TherapySites Elite Plus. Adds SEO, AI search optimization and social media packages on top of the site.

Want to plug in your own numbers? Our website cost calculator handles the plan, domain and email lines.

One-time vs monthly costs

A high one-time fee often pays for writing and design. The real question is what that fee buys you if you leave.

Contracts and the cost of leaving

• Brighter Vision. Its Terms of Service say an order renews for periods equal to the first term, which is one year unless the order says otherwise. Either side can end it with two business days’ written notice before the term ends. Its pricing and FAQ pages add that monthly subscribers get no refunds; annual subscribers who cancel before the first draft get a refund minus the setup fee, the first month and a $100 cancellation fee. After termination it may deactivate the account and delete data. Your domain can be transferred out with no release fees.
• TherapySites. Its FAQ says most contracts are month-to-month, though a promotion picked at sign-up may commit you for several months. A domain it registers for you belongs to TherapySites and costs $15 to transfer to you. There is no FTP access, and no export is described.
• Empathy Sites. “If you cancel, your site is no longer hosted with us.” You can download your content, but the design, image pack and structure are not transferable.
• Psychology Today. No contract; you can cancel your profile at any time.

The bigger cost of leaving is the rebuild. None of these therapist companies publishes a way to take the finished website with you, so keep your own copy of every page you write. Self-hosted WordPress scores 10/10 in our exit scores tool because you own the files, and our guide to leaving your website builder explains what moves.

Hidden costs to ask about

• HIPAA-secure email. Hushmail through Brighter Vision runs from $14.99 a month or $165 a year for one account to $24.99 a month or $275 a year for up to five. Billed yearly, that’s $495 to $825 over three years.
• Extra inboxes. Brighter Vision charges $3 a month for each extra standard email address.
• Ads management. Brighter Vision charges $125 a month plus 10% of your ad budget and suggests a $1,000 monthly budget. TherapySites lists Google Ads from $600 a month and Facebook Ads from $158 a month.
• Add-ons. TherapySites lists reputation management from $40 a month, custom SEO content from $99 and social media management from $59 a month. Check reputation tools against your ethics code’s limits on testimonials.
• Directories and networks. Psychology Today is $29.95 a month ($1,078.20 over three years). Headway says you can sign up free with no membership fees and is paid from a portion of insured-session rates it doesn’t state. Alma’s page shows a $50 monthly membership, a $1,140 annual option and an “Only $600” first-year offer; the billing structure was unclear.
• Renewals. Bluehost’s intro hosting price ends after 36 months, and Namecheap’s .com goes from $11.28 to $18.48 after year one.

How to keep the cost down

1. Check your practice software first. If you use SimplePractice, its included website may be enough to start.
2. Buy your domain yourself at a registrar, so it stays yours whichever vendor you pick.
3. Pay yearly when it’s cheaper. Brighter Vision Start billed yearly saves $756 over three years, and Flourish saves $1,800.
4. Don’t pay for HIPAA twice. If your practice software already handles intake and messages, a site without HIPAA forms may do.
5. Write your own pages. Empathy Sites charges $1,000 more to write them for you.
6. Hold off on ads until your site turns visitors into consultation calls on its own.
7. Use free trials. Squarespace offers 14 days, and Showit offers 14 days with no card.

What to do next

• Start with our therapist website design guide for the ways to get a site and the rules it must follow.
• See what to copy in our therapist website examples.
• Compare general builders in our list of the best website builders for therapists.
• For general website prices, read our website cost guide.

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