The short answer. Digital Legates builds custom WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce, Next.js, and headless websites for Indian brands. Marketing sites ₹1,50,000–₹6,00,000. E-commerce ₹3,00,000–₹10,00,000. Complex Next.js / headless ₹8,00,000–₹25,00,000+. Every build targets sub-1.5s LCP and passing Core Web Vitals. Full source-code and CMS handover. Ongoing maintenance retainers from ₹20,000 / month.
Three buyer profiles
we see the most.
The D2C brand replatforming to Shopify.
You're on WooCommerce, Magento, or a legacy Shopify theme built in 2020. Every change requires a developer, page speed is embarrassing, and the mobile experience is losing you conversions. You want a clean Shopify Plus or Shopify Advanced build with custom theme, proper CRO baseline, and an in-house engineering retainer for the next 12 months.
The service business finally taking their site seriously.
You're a CA, doctor, lawyer, clinic, consultancy, or B2B service with a WordPress site your cousin built in 2018. It converts because you're good — but you're not showing up on Google because it doesn't have schema, its LCP is 4.2 seconds, and half the blog is empty categories. You want a proper foundation.
The scaling brand outgrowing WordPress.
You have complex content-modelling needs, multi-region publishing, personalisation, or product-heavy front-end interactivity that WordPress isn't ideal for. You want a Next.js or Astro build with a headless CMS (Sanity, Contentful, Payload), delivered by a team that can also run the ongoing engineering — not one that hands you a Vercel project and disappears.
Right stack
for the job.
WordPress
(custom themes).
Still the right choice for most content-heavy marketing sites. But custom-themed, not plugin-Frankensteined. We build on a starter framework refined over 7 years, use ACF Pro for content modelling, and skip page builders — because Elementor is the reason your WordPress site has 4-second LCP.
What ships
- Custom theme built from our internal starter
- ACF Pro content modelling
- WPML or Polylang for multilingual
- WP Rocket / LiteSpeed for caching
- Server-side rendering baseline
- Structured data / schema per template
- Yoast or RankMath SEO configuration
- Bedrock / Sage architecture where appropriate
Shopify
& Shopify Plus.
Where we do most of our D2C work. Custom themes on Shopify 2.0 / OS 2.0 with sections everywhere, Metaobjects for content modelling, and Storefront API for headless when the product-page complexity justifies it. Plus 3rd-party app curation, because most brands are paying for 15 apps they use once a quarter.
What ships
- Custom Shopify 2.0 theme
- Metaobjects & content modelling
- Custom sections library (30–50 blocks)
- Product-page architecture (variants, reviews, bundles)
- Checkout customisation (Shopify Plus)
- Currency & region routing via Shopify Markets
- Subscription integration (ReCharge, Skio, Yotpo)
- App audit & consolidation
WooCommerce
on WordPress.
For brands committed to WordPress who need commerce added. Custom-themed like our regular WordPress builds, with proper caching, indexing, and product-page schema. WooCommerce needs more engineering discipline than Shopify — but the trade-off is total customisation and lower long-term platform fees.
What ships
- Custom WooCommerce theme
- Product schema (Product, Offer, Review, Brand)
- Object caching (Redis / Memcached)
- Payment gateway integration (Razorpay, Stripe, PayU)
- Shipping integration (Shiprocket, Delhivery)
- Subscription plugins where relevant
- Membership / access-control layers
- Advanced discount / promo engines
Next.js
& static sites.
For complex frontends, multi-region deployments, and headless architecture. Next.js when you need SSR / ISR / dynamic routing; Astro when the site is largely static content with pockets of interactivity. Deployed on Vercel or self-hosted on your own infrastructure.
What ships
- Next.js App Router or Pages Router
- Astro islands architecture
- Headless CMS: Sanity, Contentful, Payload, Storyblok
- Static generation, ISR, or full SSR per route
- TypeScript throughout
- Tailwind + shadcn/ui or bespoke design system
- Vercel deployment or self-hosted (Docker / K8s)
- Preview environments & CI/CD via GitHub Actions
Webflow
(when it's right).
For design-heavy marketing sites where the client wants to own ongoing content edits without touching code. We use Webflow when the interactivity is CMS-plus-motion; we don't when the requirements start pulling toward custom logic that Webflow can't cleanly support.
What ships
- Custom Webflow builds (not templates)
- CMS collections & relational modelling
- Interactions & page transitions
- Custom code embeds where needed
- Memberships / Ecommerce (light-weight)
- Multi-locale via Webflow Localisation
- Client CMS training
- Optional custom code + Webflow hybrid
Performance
as a feature.
Every site we ship targets sub-1.5s LCP, sub-100ms INP, and a passing CrUX (real-user) score. Speed is measured at build time, not audited after launch. We treat performance as an accessibility and business issue — faster sites convert better, rank better, and cost less to run.
What ships
- AVIF / WebP image format migration
- Critical CSS inlining
- Font-loading strategy (font-display: swap, preload)
- JavaScript deferral & code-splitting
- Server-side rendering baseline
- Edge caching & CDN routing
- Third-party script audit & async loading
- Ongoing CrUX monitoring
Infrastructure
& hosting.
Cloudflare, Bunny, Fastly, or AWS CloudFront for the CDN layer. Hosting on the right tier for the traffic — Hostinger or Cloudways for small marketing sites, Rocket.net or Kinsta for WordPress at scale, Shopify's native CDN for Shopify, Vercel for Next.js, or your own AWS / GCP for full-stack requirements.
What ships
- CDN configuration & edge rules
- Hosting-plan recommendation & setup
- DNS & email routing (Cloudflare, Route53)
- SSL / HTTPS with HSTS preload
- Backup strategy (daily + on-demand)
- Uptime & performance monitoring
- WAF & DDoS protection
- Disaster recovery plan
Ongoing
engineering.
Websites are products, not one-off projects. We offer retainers ranging from a light "keep it secure" tier to full-time engineering coverage — matching the site's traffic, revenue, and change velocity.
What ships
- Security patches & plugin updates
- Backup verification
- Uptime & performance monitoring
- Minor content updates
- Quarterly performance reviews
- Feature additions on retainer capacity
- Seasonal campaign landing pages
- Emergency incident response (SLA-backed)
Real brands, real builds.
Shopify rebuild for India's specialist golf retailer. Custom theme, subscription bundles, catalog scale, and CRO baseline built into launch.
Platform build for a category-creating sustainability venture. WordPress with custom theming, structured content modelling, and SEO baked into every template.
Multi-region WordPress build serving India and international audiences. Hreflang architecture, market-specific content routing, and multi-currency support.
Brand-and-web build with custom theme and performance-first architecture — targeting a Pan-India professional audience.
Ranged, published,
no theatre.
Marketing site.
₹1,50,000–₹6,00,000. 6–15 pages, custom-themed CMS (WordPress or Webflow), design + build + content migration, Core Web Vitals target met. 4–8 weeks. For service businesses, professional practices, and pre-launch brands.
E-commerce build.
₹3,00,000–₹10,00,000. Shopify or WooCommerce custom theme, up to 100 SKUs, checkout customisation, subscription integration, CRO baseline, launch support. 6–12 weeks. For D2C brands ready to trade properly online.
Complex custom.
₹8,00,000–₹25,00,000+. Next.js or headless architecture, complex CMS, integrations, multi-region, personalisation, enterprise-grade infrastructure. 10–20 weeks. For scaling brands or enterprises.
Maintenance retainers from ₹20,000/month (basic security + updates) to ₹2,00,000+/month (full-time engineering coverage). Platform migrations quoted separately: WordPress → Shopify migrations typically ₹2,00,000–₹5,00,000 with 301 redirect maps and SEO preservation baked in.
Web questions without the spin.
How much does a website cost to build in India?
Marketing site ₹1,50,000–₹6,00,000. E-commerce ₹3,00,000–₹10,00,000. Complex custom ₹8,00,000–₹25,00,000+. Under ₹40,000 for a business site is either a template swap or a red flag.
How long does a website take to build?
Marketing site 4–8 weeks. E-commerce 6–12 weeks. Complex Next.js 10–20 weeks. All assume weekly reviews and content ready by week three.
Which platform should we build on?
WordPress for content-heavy marketing sites. Shopify for D2C with < 5000 SKUs. WooCommerce for WordPress + commerce. Next.js for complex frontends or headless. We recommend by scope, not by what we happen to sell.
Do you handle Core Web Vitals?
Every build targets sub-1.5s LCP, sub-100ms INP, passing CrUX score. Speed is a feature, not a phase — image formats, critical CSS, font loading, JS deferral, CDN all handled during build.
Do you offer ongoing maintenance?
Yes — from ₹20,000/month for basic (security, updates, backups, minor content) up to ₹2,00,000+/month for full-time engineering coverage.
Will I own the code?
Yes. Full source code, deployment access, CMS admin, and any custom plugins we build. Committed to your GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket. Another developer can pick up from the README without a call.
Can you migrate our existing site?
Yes. Platform migrations with URL preservation, 301 redirect maps, schema retention, pre/post SEO comparison. A well-executed migration holds rankings within 10% during transition and recovers within 60 days.
Do you build custom themes or use templates?
Custom themes. Templates cost you every time on future customisation. WordPress and Shopify builds are custom-themed from a starter framework we've refined over 7 years — unique to your brand, proven foundation.
Ready to brief us on a web build?
30-minute scoping call. Bring your current URL, the closest competitor site you admire, and the scope you're thinking — we'll come back with a written scoping brief and estimate within 5 working days.