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Website costs in Botswana

Website costs in Botswana

How much does a website cost in Botswana?

The honest answer is that it depends on what the site has to do, and a quote without that context is a guess. This guide explains what drives the price, what you will keep paying for after launch, and where our own starting prices sit.

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Currency: Botswana pula (BWP)
Payments: DPO Pay by Network, Orange Money Web Payment, Mascom MyZakaPay
Data protection: Data Protection Act No. 18 of 2024
Time zone: UTC+2, 1 hour ahead of Lagos

Overview

The short answer, and the honest one.

Prices for websites in Botswana range widely because the word website covers very different things. A five-page brochure for a Gaborone consultancy and a school portal with fee payments and parent logins share a name and little else. The useful question is not the average price but what your particular site needs.

We are a WordPress team based in Nigeria, quoting in US dollars, and we publish our starting prices so you can see whether we fit your budget before a call. We do not publish local averages because we have no reliable data for them, and we would rather say so than invent a figure.

In detail

What drives the cost.

What actually drives the cost

Four things move the price more than anything else. First, the number of distinct page types, not the number of pages: a site with fifty news posts and one template is simpler than one with ten unusual layouts. Second, functionality such as payments, bookings, memberships or integrations. Third, content: whether your copy and photos are ready or need writing and producing. Fourth, ongoing care, because a site with a payment gateway or user accounts needs regular updates and monitoring that a static brochure does not.

Types of website and what each involves

A brochure site presents who you are and how to contact you, and mostly involves design, writing and setup. A content site, such as a news section or resource library, adds structure, search and editorial workflow. An ecommerce store adds product management, a checkout with pula pricing, delivery rules and a payment provider. A portal or learning platform adds user accounts, permissions and often dashboards. Each step up adds design, development and testing time, which is why quotes differ so much between them.

Payment gateways and their effect on budget

If you want to take money online, budget time for the provider as well as the build. DPO Pay by Network handles cards for Botswana merchants, with Stanbic Bank acquiring. Orange Money's web payment API requires you to be a registered Orange Money merchant first, signed up at an Orange store. Mascom MyZakaPay works over USSD, so it suits a pay-by-phone option more than an integrated checkout. Each provider charges its own transaction fees under your merchant agreement, which we cannot quote on its behalf.

Running costs to budget for

After launch you will keep paying for a few things. The domain renews every year, and a .co.bw name is registered through a BOCRA-accredited registrar whose prices vary. Hosting is paid monthly or annually depending on the plan. Business email is usually charged per mailbox by Google, Microsoft or Zoho. Payment providers take a fee on each transaction. Premium plugins and licences renew yearly. We list every one of these in your scope so nothing appears later as a surprise.

Where our starting prices sit

Our published starting prices in US dollars are: strategy and design from $1,500 per project, development from $5,000 per project, migrations from $1,000 per migration, and managed services, which include hosting and maintenance, from $2,000 per year. A straightforward brochure redesign may sit near the design starting point. A store, portal or learning platform sits in development. The written scope sets the actual figure for your project.

Compliance and tax costs people forget

Two Botswana-specific items can affect budgets. The Data Protection Act No. 18 of 2024 restricts sending personal data abroad without an exception, so a site storing customer data may need legal advice or a hosting decision that costs more than the cheapest plan. And if you sell digital services into Botswana from outside the country, the 2025 VAT amendment on remote services may apply above its registration threshold. We flag both early so they sit in the budget rather than after it.

What goes into an accurate quote

What goes into an accurate quote.

Strategy & Design from $1,500 · Development from $5,000 · Managed Services from $2,000 per year. See pricing

List of page types and the main user journeys
Features needed at launch versus later phases
Whether payments, accounts or integrations are required
Which payment provider your organisation already has or can open
Content status: ready, needs editing or needs writing
Domain, hosting and email arrangements already in place
Who will maintain the site after launch
Deadline and any fixed event or term dates

See our starting pricesThe full detail on our approach, process and what is included.

Our work

Platforms we have built.

To give a sense of scope at different levels, these projects built by our team range from a learning platform with payments in four currencies to a portal with role-based dashboards.

BFI SchoolOnline school with payments in four currenciesRead the case study

ASEP LogisticsRecruitment portal and HR dashboardRead the case study

Alvina SchoolsVirtual learning environmentRead the case study

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Why don't you publish a full price list?

Because two sites that look similar on the surface can need very different amounts of work. We publish starting prices so you know the floor for each service, then scope your project in writing. A fixed list would either overcharge simple projects or leave out what complex ones really need.

Can you quote in pula?

Our prices and invoices are in US dollars. If you need a pula figure for a budget paper or board approval, we can include an indicative conversion on the quote for reference. The agreed amount remains the dollar figure, which protects both sides from exchange rate swings during the project.

Is a cheaper website a false economy?

Not always. A simple site built well can serve a small organisation for years. The risk comes when a low price skips things you need, such as security updates, backups or a working payment flow. Ask any provider, including us, exactly what is included and what happens after launch.

Do you charge for the first consultation?

No. The first call is to understand your goals and decide whether we are a good fit. If we are, we send a written scope with the price. You only commit once you have approved that document, and you can ask questions about any line in it beforehand.

How are payments for the project split?

We agree a payment schedule in the scope, usually tied to stages such as discovery, design approval and launch. That way you pay as you see progress. Managed services are billed annually from their starting price of $2,000 per year, with the plan matched to your site's needs.

What does maintenance add to the cost?

Maintenance sits within our managed services, which start from $2,000 a year and include hosting through our partners, updates, backups, security monitoring and support. Sites with payments or user accounts need this more than simple brochures, because the plugins that handle money and logins change often.

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Tell us what you need WordPress to do.

A new website, a redesign, a client portal, a booking system, or a move from another platform. Tell us what you need and we will tell you how WordPress can carry it.