The verdict in three sentences
A mid-market corporate website in Berlin costs EUR 25,000-60,000 in 2026, far above the EUR 3,000-8,000 of a brochure site. The premium funds what a structured organisation needs: headless CMS, approval workflow, multilingual support, accessibility and security. Annual maintenance then runs EUR 4,000-9,000 to guarantee uptime, compliance and evolution.
Anatomy of a multilingual corporate site in 2026
A finance director needs a reliable envelope, not a round number. Here are the line items seen for a mid-market company (100-500 staff) in Berlin, as a 2026 order of magnitude.
| Line item | Range (EUR) | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery & UX | 6,000 - 12,000 | Workshops, IA, design system |
| Headless CMS integration | 5,000 - 15,000 | Content modelling, editor back office |
| Front-end engineering | 6,000 - 16,000 | Pages, components, performance |
| Multilingual DE/EN module | 3,000 - 6,000 | Translation handling, hreflang |
| Accessibility (BITV/WCAG) | 2,500 - 5,000 | Audit, fixes, statement |
| Security & go-live | 2,500 - 6,000 | CSP headers, EU hosting, monitoring |
| Total | 25,000 - 60,000 | 3 to 5 months |
The headless CMS is the strategic line item: it lets several departments publish without breaking the design, with roles and an approval workflow. That is what separates a corporate site from a frozen brochure.
Brochure site or corporate build: why the price gap
| Criterion | Brochure site (EUR 3,000-8,000) | Corporate site (EUR 25,000-60,000) |
|---|---|---|
| Content editors | 1 | several, roles & rights |
| Approval workflow | none | multi-level |
| Languages | 1 | 2-3 (DE/EN + option) |
| Accessibility | partial | BITV/WCAG compliant |
| Security | standard | CSP, audit, monitoring |
| Annual maintenance | EUR 600-2,000 | EUR 4,000-9,000 |
The premium is not cosmetic: it covers governance (who publishes what, approved by whom), compliance (accessibility, GDPR/DSGVO) and scalability. For a mid-market firm, a downtime incident or an accessibility failure carries reputational and sometimes legal cost.
Mini case study
Markus, finance director of a 180-person industrial company in Berlin, is weighing a EUR 8,000 brochure site against a EUR 42,000 corporate build. The old site tied up his comms team 6 hours/week per update, routed through an agency billed at EUR 90/hour. With the headless CMS and its workflow, publishing becomes self-service: 6 h × 52 weeks × EUR 90 = EUR 28,000/year saved in outsourced work, before faster turnaround. The premium over the brochure site (EUR 34,000) is absorbed in about 15 months, even before counting brand and compliance gains.
FAQ
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Why a headless CMS instead of WordPress?
Headless separates content from presentation, delivering performance, security and fine-grained role governance. Budget EUR 5,000-15,000 to integrate it, in exchange for self-service updates and a far faster site.
Is accessibility compliance mandatory?
For public-sector bodies, yes (BITV). For a private mid-market firm it is strongly advised (reputational and legal risk) and costs EUR 2,500-5,000 to build in from the design stage.
What timeline should we plan?
Between 3 and 5 months in 2026, including workshops, multilingual content production and internal approval cycles. Slippage is usually driven by content availability.
What does EUR 4,000-9,000/year maintenance cover?
Security updates, uptime monitoring, backups, minor evolutions and editor support. It is a continuity insurance, not just a hosting subscription.
Can we launch DE-only and add EN later?
Yes, provided multilingual is modelled from day one. Adding English later then costs EUR 3,000-6,000 instead of double if the architecture was not prepared.
Let's scope your project. Tell us the number of languages, page volume and your governance constraints, and we will build the envelope line by line. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
