How long does it take to build a website? Real timelines in 2026.
From 7 business days to 4 months, what determines your project timeline, the five phases every website goes through, and what really delays the launch (spoiler: it is almost never the coding).
In 2026, a landing page takes 2–3 weeks, a brochure website 4–6 weeks, an online store 6–10 weeks and a web app 8–16 weeks. The clock starts when your content arrives, texts, photos and logo, and what delays projects most is not the coding: it is gathering materials and slow feedback.
| Project type | Typical timeline | With everything ready |
|---|---|---|
| Landing page | 2–3 weeks | 5–7 business days |
| Brochure website | 4–6 weeks | 7–14 business days |
| Online store | 6–10 weeks | 3–4 weeks |
| Web app / platform | 8–16 weeks | 4–8 weeks |
Swipe the table sideways →
Timelines in business days/weeks, counted from receipt of all materials, the Portuguese market standard, and the one used in Nuno Costa’s projects.
Why do timelines vary so much?
The difference between "1 week" and "4 months" is not work quality; it is scope. A landing page has one goal, one page and a small set of decisions. A web app has users, permissions, databases and use cases that must be thought through, designed and tested. More decisions mean more weeks; which is why nobody serious can promise "your system in 7 days".
The second factor is you, in the best sense. Every website timeline runs from receipt of the materials: texts, photographs, logo and access credentials. A project with everything ready starts the next day; a project waiting for content does not start at all.
The five phases of any website
Regardless of project type, the path is always the same. Know the phases, and how much each one weighs on the timeline:
- Discovery and strategy (2–5 days). Goal, audience, page structure and references. It is the cheapest phase and the one that saves the most time later.
- Content (in parallel, the wildcard). Texts, photos and logo. When the client already has them, this phase does not exist; when they do not, it doubles the timeline.
- Design (3–10 days). Layout of the home page and key pages, with one or two revision rounds agreed in the quote.
- Development (5–20 days). Turning the design into a fast, responsive, SEO-optimised website, with forms, integrations and tests on real devices.
- Launch (1–2 days). Domain, hosting, SSL certificate, search engines and analytics. After this, the site is live, and starts working.
What really delays projects
After dozens of projects, the pattern is unavoidable. The four most common delays rarely have anything to do with code:
- Late materials. The classic: "the clock starts when everything arrives" is forgotten by week three. Without texts and photos, there is nothing to design.
- Decisions by committee. Every version reviewed by five people multiplies the feedback, and contradictory feedback is what makes a project spin in place.
- Scope changes. "What if it also had a store?" is a legitimate question, but mid-project it means reopening closed phases, and that costs time and money.
- Vague feedback. "I do not know, take a look at it" cannot be answered. "The button should sit above the text and be orange" is solved in minutes.
How to speed up your project
- Name a single decision-maker, one person who aggregates opinions and answers for the client.
- Deliver the materials at the start: texts in a document, photos in original files, logo as a vector, domain and social access credentials.
- Answer feedback in aggregate: a single email per revision round with everything flagged. Feedback in fragments, across different channels, gets lost.
- Ship version 1. Perfect is the enemy of launched: the first version exists to start measuring real results, everything else is continuous evolution.
In a real hurry? Subscription websites go live in 7–14 business days, with a professional template adapted to your brand and revisions included, the shortest path between decision and launch. I break the model down in the website subscription guide.
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