Compared · 3 minute read
Appetite Host or a freelance web designer?
Most South African small businesses get their first website from a freelancer: a friend of a friend, or someone found online. It can work well. It can also leave you with a website nobody looks after, and a phone number that stops answering.
The short answer
A freelancer gives you a website. Appetite Host gives you a website and someone looking after it: your .co.za, keeping it online, and changes when you ask, all in one rand price from R5 000. Your website is live within 1 working day of payment.
Side by side
| Appetite Host | A freelancer | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | R5 000 to R15 000 once-off with your first year included, then R249 to R499 a month | South African price guides put a small-business website from a freelancer at R3 000 to R10 000 (Sytehub: what a website costs in South Africa (2026)), then keeping it online and any changes on top |
| How long it takes | Your website is live within 1 working day of payment. Your own .co.za address follows as soon as you confirm your email, usually the same day. | Usually quoted in weeks, depending on the freelancer’s other work |
| Your .co.za | Registered in your name and renewed for you, included | Sometimes included, sometimes registered in the freelancer’s name, so ask |
| Changes after launch | Ask Naya: 20, 50 or 100 a month, depending on your plan | Quoted per change, or a monthly fee, if the freelancer is still available |
| Help | a real person in Durban, replying within 1 working day | One person, when they are free |
| If you are not happy | If you are not happy, tell us within 30 days of paying and we refund you in full, no reason needed | Depends on the freelancer |
What it costs
- Appetite Host
- R5 000 to R15 000 once-off with your first year included, then R249 to R499 a month
- A freelancer
- South African price guides put a small-business website from a freelancer at R3 000 to R10 000 (Sytehub: what a website costs in South Africa (2026)), then keeping it online and any changes on top
How long it takes
- Appetite Host
- Your website is live within 1 working day of payment. Your own .co.za address follows as soon as you confirm your email, usually the same day.
- A freelancer
- Usually quoted in weeks, depending on the freelancer’s other work
Your .co.za
- Appetite Host
- Registered in your name and renewed for you, included
- A freelancer
- Sometimes included, sometimes registered in the freelancer’s name, so ask
Changes after launch
- Appetite Host
- Ask Naya: 20, 50 or 100 a month, depending on your plan
- A freelancer
- Quoted per change, or a monthly fee, if the freelancer is still available
Help
- Appetite Host
- a real person in Durban, replying within 1 working day
- A freelancer
- One person, when they are free
If you are not happy
- Appetite Host
- If you are not happy, tell us within 30 days of paying and we refund you in full, no reason needed
- A freelancer
- Depends on the freelancer
The build is the easy part
A website is not finished on the day it goes live. Prices change, you add a service, you move premises, the photos get old. Every one of those is a message to your freelancer, a quote, and a wait. Many owners stop asking, and their website quietly goes out of date.
With Appetite Host, changes are part of the price. You tell Naya what to change, in plain words, and it is done. Founder includes 20 Naya credits a month, Professional Plus 50 and Professional Turbo 100, and a change uses 1.
What happens when your freelancer moves on
Freelancers are usually one person. People take full-time jobs, emigrate, or simply get too busy. If the freelancer registered your web address in their own name, or holds the only login, getting your website back can take weeks.
With us, your .co.za is registered in your name at the registry, from day one. You never depend on one person’s availability: Appetite Host is a registered South African company, and your website is backed up every day.
One price, in rand, that you can plan around
Price guides do the sums for you. SME Rocket: website design prices in South Africa (2026) found 5-page websites averaging about R6 250 to R6 650 across 56 providers, with monthly packages averaging R399 on top. With Appetite Host, R5 000 to R15 000 once-off with your first year included, then R249 to R499 a month, and that monthly price already includes your web address, keeping your website online and safe, and your changes.
When a freelancer makes sense
- You need something unusual that no ready-made business website covers, like a booking system built around how you work.
- You already have a freelancer you trust who answers quickly and charges fairly for changes.
Why owners choose Appetite Host instead
- They see their website being built while they chat, before paying anything.
- It is live within 1 working day of payment, not weeks.
- Changes are included and done when they ask, without a quote.
- Their .co.za is theirs, in their name, renewed for them.
- There is always someone to call, and a 30-day money-back promise if it is not right.
Questions
Is a freelancer cheaper than Appetite Host?
Sometimes, on the day. Guides put a freelancer’s small-business website at R3 000 to R10 000, and that is usually the build only. Add a year of a monthly package at the R399 average one guide found, and the first year comes to about R7 800 to R14 800. Appetite Host is R5 000 to R15 000 once-off with that first year already included.
Who owns my website address if a freelancer registers it?
Whoever is named as the registrant at the registry. Ask any freelancer to register your .co.za in your name or your company’s. Appetite Host always registers it in yours.
Can Appetite Host take over a website a freelancer built?
Naya builds you a new website from a conversation, and can read your current one so she starts from what it already says. If the web address is in your name, you can point it at your new website from your account.
Prices checked on 8 October 2026, as each provider showed them to a visitor in South Africa. They change; check with the provider before you decide.
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See yours before you decide
Tell Naya about your business and watch her build it. Free to try.