Website quote comparison template with three example quotes

Three website quotes arrive for the same project, and the totals are far apart. Before you decide which one is expensive, check what each total actually contains. The quickest way to find out is to line each quote up against your brief, one requirement at a time, and write down what it says.

This page does that with three quotes for one brief, then gives you the blank template. If you're still working out a budget, the custom website cost guide explains what changes the price. For Toronto examples in CAD, see the Toronto website design cost guide. This page is for when the quotes are already in your inbox.

What if every provider prices the same brief?

A comparison only works when every provider priced the same brief. Split it into what must work at launch and what you might add later, priced on its own line. That second list keeps later work from hiding inside a total, and it gives you a fair way to read a quote that adds things you didn't ask for.

If you haven't separated the two yet, the extend or rebuild record helps you decide what's required. If the current site's problems are still unclear, have the current site audited first. Here is the brief used in the rest of this page.

What do three quotes for the same brief include?

Quote A has the lowest total and Quote B the highest. Each card sorts the quote into three piles: what the total pays for, what the quote names but leaves outside the total, and what it hands back to the clinic or doesn't mention.

How do the quotes line up against the brief?

Give every requirement the same label on each quote, using the status words from the template below. The cards use only what each quote says.

Read down each card and the totals start to make sense. Quote A is lowest because its total is partial: two required items sit outside it, waiting for discovery. Quote B is highest partly because it bundles an optional brand refresh and a sign-up form nobody asked for, and it still hands the blog move back to the clinic. Quote C prices most of the required list and keeps photography on its own line, but its booking link falls short of the brief, its currency is wrong for this comparison and its support has no ceiling.

Ask for the redirects to be priced before you approve the quote. Google's Site Moves and Migrations page lists a mapping from current URLs to new ones as a core step in a move, so it is part of the job rather than something to settle later.

Which questions are worth sending back?

Every "Not priced yet", "Partly", "Your job" and "Not mentioned" cell in a required row becomes one question to that provider. Where optional or unrequested work sits inside a total, ask for the total without it. Send the questions in writing and keep the answers with the quote, so the version you sign matches the version you compared.

1. Quote A.

   Can you price the intake form and the redirects now, or give a range, so the total covers the whole required list? What will the discovery session decide? What support comes after launch?

2. Quote B.

   What is the total without the brand refresh and the sign-up form? What would it cost for you to move the 25 posts? Whose name will the accounts be in?

3. Quote C.

   Can you quote in CAD? Can each service page have its own Book button and the phone number? Roughly how many support hours should the clinic expect in the first months?

When the answers come back, each quote should price the whole required list in the same currency, with optional work on separate lines. Then the decision is about fit as much as price. BDC's guide to choosing a website agency suggests weighing technical skills, fee structure and how much of your own time the project will need, alongside the estimate.

How do you fill in the blank template?

Make one copy for each quote. List your required items first, then what you might add later, and fill the status column with the same words every time.

Copy the rows below once for each quote. One row is one requirement. The middle column takes a status word. The last column is the question you will send when the status is not Included.

Record the money the same way for every quote, on its own list under the requirements.

How do you get your own planning range?

If you don't know yet what the required list should cost, get a planning range before the quotes arrive. The website cost calculator gives a Jardine Studio range in USD or CAD for the pages and features you choose. This is a planning range. Your written quote confirms the final price.

Then take the required list to the service that fits it. A platform change is a website redesign or rebuild, an intake form or booking connection on its own is custom web development, and a site with URLs worth keeping needs an SEO migration plan.

What sources does this page use?

Reviewed October 8, 2026. Jardine Studio pricing statements come from the website cost calculator and the pricing page.

References (4)

1. Jardine Studio. Pricing and engagement approach. https://jardinestudio.com/pricing
2. BDC. Choosing the right agency to build your website. https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/technology/create-website/choosing-right-agency-build-your-website
3. Google Search Central. Site Moves and Migrations. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes
4. Markus Spiske. Blank page hero photograph. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/white-printer-paper-beside-black-pen-IqVqS1V1ch8