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An Astro site gets built through the same three options as any website: an agency, a freelancer, or someone on your own team. The difference lies in what Astro requires, and not every provider can deliver it.
What each option costs you, and gives you#
| Option | Typical cost | What you get | The risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | $30–80/hour in India or Eastern Europe $100–200+/hour in North America or Western Europe | One contact, who does the work themselves. Flexibility. | Everything rests on one person: holidays, overload, a change of career. |
| Agency | $1,500–5,000 for a simple static site $5,000–15,000 for a small business marketing site | Several skills together: design, development, SEO. Continuity. | A higher price, and sometimes a salesperson who is not the person writing the code. |
| In-house | A salary, and time | Full control over the site and the schedule. | Astro needs a developer profile, and SEO expertise does not come with it. |
The rates and ranges are estimates published in July 2026 by EnactOn, itself an Astro development company. They are a seller’s figures, as ours would be: use them as an order of magnitude, not a quote.
What an Astro site demands from whoever builds it#
Astro is younger than WordPress, and fewer providers know it. But knowing the framework is not enough. A well-delivered Astro site takes four skills, and those are what to judge a provider on.
Technical SEO. Astro serves fast pages, but handles neither title tags, nor hreflang, nor the sitemap, nor structured data. They have to be built: what Astro does for you, and what is left to do.
Redirects, if it is a rebuild. Every old indexed URL must point to its new equivalent. It is the step where traffic gets lost, and the migration guide shows what it means on a real site.
A tool that makes you independent. Without an editing tool, every text change goes through the developer. Decap CMS solves that with no subscription.
Hosting and deployment. An Astro site is published on static hosting, which often costs nothing. The provider still has to set it up in your name: why we deploy on Cloudflare.
When a freelancer is enough#
A freelancer is the right choice if your site fits in a few pages, if your copy and photos are ready, and if you have no existing search rankings to protect. The best case: a freelancer who knows both Astro and SEO, and can show you sites they have delivered and that are live.
Check two things before signing: that they deliver the code to your own account, and that someone can step in if they fall ill the week of the launch.
When to go with an agency#
An agency makes sense as soon as several skills have to work together. A rebuild that must keep existing rankings, a site in several languages, a design to create, copy to write: each of these needs a different trade. An agency coordinates them, and is still there after delivery.
Watch for two signals: an agency that publishes no prices, and an agency that cannot tell you who, in-house, will actually write your site’s code.
Doing it in-house: on what conditions#
If you already have a developer on the team, Astro is easy to pick up: its documentation is thorough, and a content site only uses a small part of it. Two blind spots remain. Technical SEO, which a developer does not necessarily master. And availability: an in-house site gets built between two other projects, rarely in three weeks.
The questions to ask before you sign#
They apply to an agency, a freelancer or an in-house team alike.
Eight questions for any Astro provider
- Who owns the code repository?The right answer: you do, on your own account.
- Where is the site hosted, and who pays?Hosting should be in your name, even when it is free.
- How will I edit my content?An editing tool should come with the site, not as an add-on.
- What happens to my old URLs?For a rebuild: one 301 redirect per indexed page, checked after launch.
- What performance commitments, and measured how?A PageSpeed score can be checked; a promise of a “fast site” cannot.
- Which steps, and on which dates?A deadline with no intermediate milestone is an intention, not a commitment.
- What costs money after delivery?Maintenance, hosting, editing tool: the 3-year cost matters more than the quote.
- Is SEO included, and what exactly?Tags, sitemap, hreflang, structured data: ask for the list.
What Astro4B does#
We are an agency, specialised in Astro and rooted in SEO. Our prices are public, in the configurator. A site is delivered in 2 to 4 weeks from confirmed quote to launch, content transfer included. The code belongs to you, in your Git repository, Decap CMS is included, and hosting costs EUR 0 a month.
If your project fits the freelancer row of the table above, a skilled freelancer will do the job very well. We would rather tell you now.
Frequently asked questions#
How much does a freelancer cost for an Astro site?
It depends mostly on where they are. According to estimates published in July 2026 by EnactOn, itself an Astro development company, an experienced Astro freelancer charges $30 to $80 an hour in India or Eastern Europe, and $100 to $200 or more in North America or Western Europe.
Can I build my own Astro site without being a developer?
Not really, at the start. Astro is a developer's tool: it means working with code, Git and hosting. Once the site is delivered with an editing tool such as Decap CMS, you can update your content on your own.
How do I find an Astro provider?
Through freelance platforms, through Astro's official list of partner agencies, or through the credits at the bottom of sites you like. Either way, test their work in PageSpeed Insights before you get in touch: a badly built Astro site shows immediately.
What happens if my provider disappears?
Nothing serious, if the code is on your own GitHub account and the hosting is in your name. An Astro site is a folder of files: any developer who knows the framework can pick it up. It is the first thing to check before you sign.
Is an agency always more expensive than a freelancer?
On average, yes. But the ranges overlap, and a specialist agency that publishes its prices can cost less than a generalist freelancer billing for time spent.