# Dealer website cost: what providers actually charge in 2026 > Real published prices for used-car dealer websites in 2026 — $29 to $99+/month, who charges what, quote-only vendors flagged, and the questions to ask first. - Source: https://www.dealervlo.com/blog/dealer-website-cost - Published: 2026-08-30 - Author: Chris Abouraad - Tags: dealer software, website, comparison --- Every dealer knows the lot needs a website. What nobody can seem to find out — without sitting through three demos — is what one actually costs. Half the providers in this category publish a price; the other half want your phone number first. So here are the published numbers as of 2026, checked against each vendor's own pages the way I did for the [DMS pricing comparison](/blog/best-dms-independent-used-car-dealers): real prices where they exist, "quote-only" where they don't, and no invented figures to fill the gaps. Plus the part that matters more than the sticker — what a dealer website has to *do*, and the questions that protect you from the price you didn't see coming. ## The published prices ![Published dealer website pricing compared for 2026: DealerVLO at $29 including the full DMS, MotorcarMarketing at $39, AutoManager WebManager at $70, and Carsforsale.com at $99 with its advertising platform.](/images/post/dealer-website-cost/1) **[MotorcarMarketing](https://www.motorcarmarketing.com/car-dealer-websites/) — $39/month, website only.** Advertises unlimited listings and photos, no setup fee, no contract, and a three-year price guarantee, with exports to the major marketplaces. The budget pick if a standalone site is genuinely all you need. **[AutoManager WebManager](https://www.automanager.com/pricing/) — $70/month, website only.** The website arm of the long-running AutoManager suite; its pricing page also lists a DMS-plus-website package at $144/month. Deep feature list — marketplace exports, Facebook posting, video generation. **[Carsforsale.com](https://dealers.carsforsale.com/) — $99/month, website plus their advertising platform.** The pitch is the bundle: a dealer site plus placement on their consumer shopping platform and a stack of tools. If their marketplace pulls in your area, the bundle math can work; the website alone isn't why you'd pay it. **DealerVLO — $29/month, website included with the whole DMS.** Full disclosure, this one's mine, so weigh accordingly: the dealer website isn't a product we sell separately — it's included in the flat plan with inventory, the deal jacket, and [the paperwork](/blog/automated-dealer-paperwork-by-state). Your inventory syncs to your own domain in real time because the website and the DMS are the same system. The trade-off is the same one from the DMS list: we're the newest name here. ## The quote-only tier **Dealer Car Search** doesn't publish pricing. It's a popular product with a big footprint — and dealer reviews of quote-only vendors in this category recur on one theme: the number you start at isn't the number you end at, because features arrive as up-sells. That's exactly what the in-writing questions below are for. **DealerCenter's website module** is priced as an add-on to its DMS, and like the rest of [DealerCenter's module pricing](/blog/dealercenter-pricing-explained), the total depends on what you stack. Price the full stack, not the module. **The franchise-grade platforms** (Dealer.com, Dealer Inspire and kin) are quote-only and built — and priced — for franchise stores. If you're running a 25-car independent lot, you're not their customer, and that's fine; neither is their invoice. ## Why not just Squarespace? Fair question — generic builders run roughly $20–50 a month and look great. The problem isn't looks, it's inventory. A dealer site is really an inventory application wearing a website: every unit needs its own page, photos, and price; everything has to update the moment a car arrives or [sells](/blog/how-to-buy-cars-that-sell-fast); and the same data should flow out to marketplaces without retyping. ![Checklist of what a used-car dealer website needs: self-updating inventory, vehicle detail pages, lead capture, your own domain, mobile-first design, and marketplace feeds.](/images/post/dealer-website-cost/2) On a generic builder, every one of those checkmarks is a manual job — which means the "cheap" site quietly costs you an hour of clerical work per car. The dealer-specific products exist because that hour is worth more than the price difference. ## How to shop the quote-only vendors If a published-price product fits, the comparison is easy. When you do call a quote-only vendor, four questions protect you: ![Four steps for dealers comparing website provider quotes: get the all-in price in writing, ask for month-13 pricing, confirm domain and data ownership, and check the exit terms.](/images/post/dealer-website-cost/3) The domain question deserves the emphasis. A website provider that registers *your* dealership's domain in *its* name owns your exit: leave, and you're starting your local search presence — your [Google Business Profile](/blog/google-business-profile-used-car-dealers) points at that domain, remember — from zero. Domain in your name, data exportable on demand, no long-term contract. Those three clauses cost nothing to ask for and everything to skip. ## The website is the asset; the marketplaces are the audience One framing note, because it changes how much website you should buy: your site and your marketplace listings do different jobs. Marketplace traffic — [Facebook](/blog/facebook-marketplace-for-car-dealers), the big listing platforms — is rented audience on someone else's land. The website is the thing you own: it's where your Google profile sends people, what the AI assistants can cite when someone asks for [a dealer recommendation](/blog/get-dealership-recommended-by-chatgpt), and the only sales channel no platform can reprice on you. That's the real reason it's worth $29–99 a month — not as a brochure, but as the owned end of your marketing. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does a dealer website cost per month? Published 2026 prices run $39 (MotorcarMarketing) to $70 (AutoManager WebManager) to $99 (Carsforsale.com, bundled with its ad platform). Several vendors are quote-only. DealerVLO includes the website in its $29/month flat DMS plan. ### Can I just use Squarespace or Wix? You can, but a dealer site is an inventory application — VDPs, photo sync, marketplace feeds. On a generic builder all of that is manual, so the cheap sticker buys you a recurring data-entry job. ### What should a dealer website include? Self-updating inventory, a detail page per unit, lead capture, your own domain, mobile-first design, and marketplace feeds. No automatic inventory sync = brochure, not dealer website. ### Why is so much pricing quote-only? Usually because it's negotiable, varies by store, or grows with add-ons. Shop it with the all-in number in writing and the month-13 question. ### Who should own the domain? You. Always. Plus data export on demand and no long-term contract — that's the exit door. ## Bottom line The published market says a real dealer website costs $39–99 a month standalone, more when it's a module on a bigger bill, and unknown-until-you-call at the quote-only shops. Whatever you pick, buy the checklist — self-updating inventory, your domain, your data — not the demo. Or skip the separate bill entirely: DealerVLO's plan is [$29/month flat](/pricing) for the DMS, the paperwork, *and* the website on your own domain — one system, so the inventory you manage is the inventory your site shows. The trial doesn't take a card. --- ## FAQ ### How much does a dealer website cost per month? Published pricing for independent-dealer website products runs roughly $39 to $99 per month in 2026: MotorcarMarketing advertises $39/month, AutoManager's WebManager lists at $70/month on its pricing page, and Carsforsale.com bundles a website into its $99/month platform. Several providers — Dealer Car Search, DealerCenter's website module, and the franchise-grade platforms — don't publish pricing at all. DealerVLO includes the dealer website inside its $29/month flat DMS plan rather than selling it separately. ### Can I just use Squarespace or Wix for my dealership website? You can, and for a generic small business it's a fine answer — but a dealer site lives or dies on inventory: vehicle detail pages generated from your stock, photos synced as cars arrive and sell, and listings that flow out to marketplaces. A generic builder gives you none of that, so every arrival and sale becomes manual website work. The builders are cheap on the sticker and expensive in your Saturday. ### What should a used-car dealer website include? Inventory that updates itself from your management system, a vehicle detail page per unit with photos and specs, a lead form that lands somewhere you'll actually see it, your own domain, mobile-first layout, and feeds out to the marketplaces you list on. If the provider can't sync inventory automatically, you're not buying a dealer website — you're buying a brochure plus a data-entry job. ### Why do so many dealer website providers hide their pricing? Quote-only pricing usually means the price is negotiable, varies by rooftop, or climbs with add-ons — and dealer reviews of quote-only vendors regularly mention exactly that. It isn't automatically a red flag, but it changes how you shop: get the all-in number in writing, including every add-on you'll actually use, and ask what the price is in month 13. ### Who owns the domain and the data if I switch website providers? Ask before you sign, because the answers vary and they're the whole exit. You want the domain registered to you (not the vendor), and a full export of your inventory and leads available on demand. A provider that registers the domain in its own name effectively owns your ability to leave.