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Plumbers / HVAC / electricians / roofers
Contractor Website Design: Builder, Agency or Done-for-You
A contractor can get a website three ways: build it on a website builder, hire an agency, or pay a monthly done-for-you plan. Published prices run from $17 a month for a paid builder plan to $2,000 or more for an agency project. VantaWeb is the done-for-you route: site, AI chat, lead forms and optional phone answering in one plan.
How do a contractor website builder, an agency and a done-for-you plan compare?
Compare three things: what you pay up front, what you pay each month, and how long you are committed. A builder is cheapest and leaves the work to you. An agency charges for the build and for changes. A done-for-you plan bundles the site, hosting and updates into a monthly price, and the trade-specific ones also differ on contract length.
| Route | Published price | What you do | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website builder (do it yourself) | Wix: $17, $29, $39 and $159 a month, billed yearly. Squarespace: $19, $29, $49 and $99 a month on annual billing (a limited-time 20% offer was shown). | Choose a template, write every page, set up forms, add a chat tool and arrange phone coverage yourself. | Hosting, templates and an editor. Scheduling tools on Wix start on its second paid plan. |
| Web design agency (custom build) | Clutch: agencies typically charge $2,000 to $100,000, and most projects reviewed on Clutch cost less than $10,000. | Brief the agency, review drafts and pay for changes after launch. | Custom design. Copy, hosting, chat and phone are separate unless the quote says otherwise. |
| Trade-specific agency packages | Contractor Website Design: $1,299, $2,499 or $4,899 down, plus $49, $59 or $69 a month, 12-month commitment. Assista: from $150 a month with $0 down, or from $600 one time. | Send business details, review the build, stay on the plan for its term where one applies. | A contractor site with hosting and maintenance. Contractor Website Design packages are sized at 1 to 5, 6 to 10 and 11 to 20 pages; Assista lists 6 new pages a month on its monthly plan. |
| VantaWeb (done-for-you plan) | Monthly plans with the current prices, included voice minutes and billing terms on the pricing page. | Send your services, service area and hours, then review the site and the chat answers before launch. | Website, AI chat widget, lead forms and dashboard on every plan, and the Anna phone receptionist on plans with voice. |
Every price was read on the linked page on October 17, 2026, from a US connection. Prices exclude tax and promotions unless stated, and they change; check the page on the day you decide. Houzz Pro's pricing page did not load when checked, so it is not listed.
What the first year costs, by simple arithmetic
Add the down payment to twelve months of fees. At Contractor Website Design that is $1,299 + 12 × $49 = $1,887 for Starter, $2,499 + 12 × $59 = $3,207 for Professional and $4,899 + 12 × $69 = $5,727 for Advanced. Assista's monthly plan is 12 × $150 = $1,800 from the listed minimum, against $600 for its one-time option. A Wix plan at $29 a month is $348 a year, with the building, the writing, the chat and the phone still to do. Run the same sum for VantaWeb with the plan on the pricing page.
Where each route is the right choice
- A builder suits a one-person shop with time, a few pages to write and no need for phone coverage. It costs the least in cash and the most in hours.
- An agency suits a company that wants a custom brand, a large site or special features, and has the budget for the build and for later changes.
- A trade agency package suits a contractor who wants someone to build a contractor-specific site and is comfortable with the term. Compare the commitment as carefully as the price.
- A done-for-you plan with chat and phone suits an owner who wants the site, the chat, the form leads and the phone answered from one vendor, and who does not need jobs written into field service software.
What do contractors get in the VantaWeb package?
Every plan includes four pieces that work together: a website built from your services and service area, an AI chat widget on that site, contact and quote forms, and a dashboard where every form lead lands. Plans with voice add the Anna phone receptionist for your business line, with voice minutes included.
Contractor website
Home, services, about, contact and pricing pages, with a page for each service you list. Service-area content, your license number, a click-to-call button on mobile, and local business structured data so search engines can read your name, phone, area and services.
AI chat widget
Answers visitors' questions about your services and hours from the details you give us. When someone wants to book, needs a price or describes an emergency, it points them to your phone instead of guessing, and it takes a name and a phone number or email for your team. See how the chat works.
Lead forms
Contact and quote-request forms on the website. A submission needs a phone number or an email address, and each one is saved as a contact in your dashboard.
Dashboard
One login to see form and chat leads as contacts and to customize the chat widget: its greeting, tone and services description, plus the embed code for an existing site.
Anna phone receptionist (plans with voice)
Phone answering with trade intake questions and your emergency rules, and a written summary of each call by email. Voice minutes are included in the plan, and the pricing page lists how many.
Want to see the style before you talk to anyone? Our demo site has example contractor sites with fictional businesses for plumbing, HVAC, electrical and roofing. None of them is a client. More example designs are on our contractor website examples page.
Website design for your trade
Each trade has its own page layout and its own questions. These pages show what a site for that trade includes and how it is priced against the alternatives above.
What is in the package, and what is not?
Every plan includes the contractor website, the AI chat widget, lead forms and the dashboard. Plans with voice add the Anna phone receptionist. No plan writes jobs into field service software such as ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber, so your office enters each job from the summary.
| Piece | Website and chat plans | Plans with voice |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor website | Included | Included |
| AI chat widget | Included | Included |
| Lead forms and dashboard | Included | Included |
| Anna phone receptionist | Not included | Included, with voice minutes listed on the pricing page |
| ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber connection | Not included | Not included |
Plan names, prices, add-ons and voice minutes are on the pricing page, which is the one place they are kept up to date.
Who is this package for?
It suits owner-operators and small crews in the trades who have no website, or an old one, and who want leads from the site, the chat and the phone in one place. It is a poor fit for shops that need jobs booked straight into field service software, or whose callers expect a person on every call.
A good fit
- Plumbers, HVAC contractors, electricians, roofers and other trades with one to a few crews.
- Owners who answer the phone themselves between jobs and lose web inquiries in email.
- Businesses that rely on word of mouth and want a site that states their services, service area and license clearly.
- Contractors who want the website, chat and phone answering from one vendor.
Not a good fit
- Shops that need leads or bookings written into ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber automatically.
- Businesses whose callers expect to reach a person on every call.
- Multi-location operators who need a custom rollout; those are scoped separately through the contact page.
Unsure whether a website is worth having? Our study of website coverage among state-licensed service businesses explains the data source, the method and its limits.
How does it work for plumbers, HVAC companies, electricians and roofers?
The website builds a page for each service you list, and the chat widget answers from the services description you set in the dashboard, so a plumber's site covers plumbing services and an HVAC contractor's covers theirs. On plans with voice, the intake script is written for your trade. Each guide below lists the questions and emergency rules.
- Plumbers: burst-pipe triage, after-hours calls and water heater intake in AI answering for plumbers. Website examples: plumber website design.
- HVAC contractors: system details, call scripts and the heat-wave surge in AI answering for HVAC contractors. Website examples: HVAC website design.
- Electricians: the safety-triage script and permit and quote intake in AI answering for electricians. Website examples: electrician website design.
- Roofers: storm-surge calls and insurance-claim intake in AI answering for roofing contractors. Website examples: roofing website design.
How AI call handling works across the trades, including emergency rules and how it compares with answering services, is covered in our AI answering service for contractors guide.
How do you launch a contractor website in four steps?
Pick a plan in the online builder, send us your business details, review the website and the chat answers, and publish. The chat widget is set up from the same details and connected to your dashboard. If you choose a plan with voice, you also agree your call forwarding and emergency rules before the phone setup is finished.
- Choose a plan in the plan builder, or contact us with questions first.
- Send your details: services, service area, hours, phone, license number, logo and photos.
- Review the draft site and the chat answers, and tell us what to change.
- Publish the site, with the chat widget answering visitors and form leads arriving in your dashboard.
Can I see the chat and the booking hand-off before I buy?
Yes. VantaWeb's own site runs the same chat widget, and a page of sample conversations shows how it handles a leak, a no-cool call, a storm leak and a flickering breaker. The chat takes a name and a phone or email and passes the request to your team; it does not put appointments on your calendar.
Open the AI chatbot for contractor websites page to try the widget, read the sample transcripts for each trade and see the lead fields it captures.
How is this different from hiring a web designer or agency?
An agency usually charges for the build and then bills changes, hosting and add-on tools separately. A VantaWeb plan is monthly and includes the site, the chat widget, the forms and the dashboard, already connected to each other, with the voice receptionist on plans that include it. You compare one monthly price against several bills.
If you already have a designer you like, you do not have to choose. Keep your site and add the chat widget, and use the dashboard for form leads. If your current site is out of date, slow or missing your service area, the VantaWeb website replaces it. If you want a fully custom design, an agency is the better route, and the table above is a fair place to start the quotes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a contractor website cost with a builder, an agency or a done-for-you plan?
On their pricing pages on October 17, 2026, Wix listed plans from $17 to $159 a month and Squarespace from $19 to $99 a month, both on annual billing. Clutch says web design agencies typically charge $2,000 to $100,000. Trade agencies that publish prices ranged from $49 a month plus $1,299 down at Contractor Website Design to $150 a month with nothing down at Assista. VantaWeb lists its plans on its pricing page.
When is a website builder the better choice for a contractor?
When you have the time to build and maintain the site yourself, have no need for phone answering or lead routing, and are happy to write your own service pages. A builder costs the least. What it leaves to you is the copy, the service-area pages, the forms, the chat tool, the phone coverage and the work of connecting them.
Can I keep my current website and only add the AI chat widget?
Yes. The VantaWeb website is optional. The dashboard gives you the embed code to add the chat widget to the website you register with us, and you set its greeting, tone and services description in the same place.
How does phone answering get set up on a voice plan?
Phone answering is part of the plans that include voice. During onboarding you agree your call forwarding, intake questions and emergency rules, and the phone setup is finished once those are in place. The pricing page lists the voice minutes each plan includes.
Does the website show reviews and star ratings?
Only real ones. The website shows a rating or review count only when it comes from a named platform such as Google, BBB or Yelp. Without a named source, the reviews section stays hidden and no rating is added to the page code.
Does it work with ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber?
No. VantaWeb does not connect to ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber and does not create jobs in them. Leads arrive in the VantaWeb dashboard, and your office enters the job in your own system.
Is there a contract or setup fee?
Check the pricing page for the current billing terms and any prepay discount, and read the Terms before you buy. Compare the term first: some trade agencies tie their monthly fee to a 12-month commitment, and others advertise month-to-month.
What do I need to provide to get the website built?
Your business name, phone number, services, service area, hours, logo and photos if you have them, and your license number if your trade displays one. The more specific the service list, the better the service pages and the chat answers.
Sources
- Wix, Plans and pricing (accessed October 17, 2026).
- Squarespace, Pricing (accessed October 17, 2026).
- Clutch, Web design company pricing guide (accessed October 17, 2026).
- Contractor Website Design, Pricing (accessed October 17, 2026).
- Assista Marketing, Websites for contractors (accessed October 17, 2026).
Start with a website built from your services
Pick a plan in the builder, or contact us to talk through your services and service area.