Q: How much does a custom website cost?

A: Every project is unique. A simple portfolio for a consultant costs less than a full WooCommerce store with shipping integrations. After our initial consultation, we provide a transparent, fixed-price proposal. We typically require a 50% deposit to begin work, and the remaining 50% upon final launch.

Q: Will there be any hidden fees or unexpected monthly costs?

A: No. Your proposal outlines the exact cost of the build. For ongoing costs, websites require a domain (like a .cl) and a server to host them. You can manage this yourself, or you can opt into our Managed Hosting plans where we handle all the technical maintenance, security, and updates for a flat annual or monthly fee.

Q: How long will it take to build my website?

A: Standard business websites usually take 3 to 4 weeks, while complex online stores can take 4 to 6 weeks. However, this timeline officially starts only after we have received all your final text, logos, and high-quality images.

Q: What if I don't have professional photos or text ready?

A: We highly recommend having your content ready before we begin. If you need help, we can point you toward excellent local copywriters or photographers, or use high-quality stock imagery to get you started. We can also provide custom AI generated images at an extra cost.

Q: Once the website is finished, who owns it?

A: You do, 100%. Once the final payment is made, you own the website files, the domain, and the design. We don't hold your business hostage. If you decide to move to another developer or hosting company in the future, you are completely free to do so.

Q: Will I be able to update the website myself?

A: Absolutely. For dynamic sites, we build on platforms like WordPress and provide a training session at launch. You will know exactly how to change a photo, update a price, or write a new blog post without needing to write a single line of code.

Q: What happens if I don't like the initial design?

A: We don't just guess what you want; we use a structured design process. We will present you with an initial mockup or wireframe for your approval before we start the heavy coding. Your project includes two full rounds of revisions to ensure the final product matches your vision.

Q: What if the site breaks after it launches?

A: If you are on one of our Managed Hosting plans, we monitor the site daily and handle all security updates and backups to ensure it never goes down. If you choose to host it yourself, we offer a 30-day bug-fix guarantee after launch to resolve any immediate issues.

Q: Do you comply with legal and tax regulations in Chile?

A: Yes, we operate under current legal regulations and issue "boletas de honorarios" (professional service receipts). It is important to note that the displayed prices correspond to net amounts; the final budget total will be adjusted according to tax withholding regulations depending on whether you are a company or an individual. You will receive the exact breakdown in your personalized proposal.

Q: Wix vs. WordPress vs. Astro: Which is best for a landing page and how do costs compare?

A: Platforms like Wix have low entry costs but high mandatory recurring fees (monthly plans of $15 to $35+ USD, plus domain costs and hidden commissions). They also build heavy, slow websites that hurt your SEO and ad conversion rates. WordPress is more flexible, but requires paid themes, plugins, and constant maintenance to avoid security issues. At Calfü Digital, we build our Landing Pages with **Astro**, a cutting-edge technology focused on extreme performance. The site is custom-programmed, loads instantly (achieving a perfect 100/100 score in Google Core Web Vitals), and requires no paid plugins or expensive monthly subscriptions. With Astro, you pay once for development, and your ongoing maintenance cost is virtually zero, while your Google or Facebook ads convert significantly better because of the lightning-fast load times.

Q: Shopify vs. Your Custom Store (Faust.js / Medusa CMS): How do they compare in price over time?

A: Shopify is great for getting started quickly, but is incredibly expensive as you scale: a fixed monthly subscription (starting around $30 USD/month), transaction fees of up to 2% on top of your local payment processor fees, and monthly charges for almost every essential app (advanced upsells, custom forms, product reviews, etc.), which easily adds up to over $1,200 USD per year just in fixed software costs. At Calfü Digital, we build high-performance, self-managed stores using headless architectures like **WordPress + Faust.js** (retaining WordPress's easy admin panel but replacing the slow frontend with ultra-fast React/Next.js) or **Medusa CMS** (the premier modern and open-source commerce framework). By utilizing these technologies, you gain absolute ownership of your code, pay zero transaction fees to the e-commerce platform (saving the additional 'Shopify tax'), and eliminate monthly subscription costs for apps or plugins. Your store loads up to 10 times faster than Shopify, which directly boosts your checkout conversions, while keeping your fixed costs limited purely to standard base hosting.