The verdict in three sentences
An institutional website for a multi-entity mid-market group in Amsterdam sits in 2026 between 25,000 and 70,000 EUR, depending on the number of subsidiaries, headless CMS complexity and editorial governance level. The CMS (Sanity or Strapi) accounts for around 20% of the budget, translation adds 3,000 to 6,000 EUR, and SLA-backed hosting costs 400 to 900 EUR/month. The project runs over 12 to 20 weeks of agile sprints with a dedicated project manager.
The breakdown of an institutional budget
An institutional budget diverges from a corporate site on three axes: governance, accessibility and security. Here is the structure of a 45,000 EUR project in 2026.
| Line item | Share | Range EUR | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoping & governance | 12% | 3,000 - 5,400 | Workshops, approval workflow |
| Multi-entity design system | 20% | 5,000 - 9,000 | Brand, components, tokens |
| Headless CMS (Sanity/Strapi) | 20% | 5,000 - 9,000 | Models, roles, workflow |
| Next.js development | 26% | 6,500 - 11,700 | Front, integrations, perf |
| WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility | 8% | 2,000 - 3,600 | Audit, fixes |
| Translation (EN/NL) | 8% | 3,000 - 6,000 | Bilingual content, hreflang |
| QA, security, launch | 6% | 1,500 - 2,700 | Testing, CSP, deployment |
Editorial governance (draft-review-publish workflow) and the WCAG 2.1 AA audit are what separate a true institutional site from a premium corporate one: both determine the group's legal compliance.
Upfront cost versus 3-year cost of ownership
A CFO reasons in total cost of ownership. 2026 orders of magnitude for a mid-market institutional site.
| Line item | Year 1 | Years 2 and 3 (each) | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design & development | 45,000 EUR | 0 | 45,000 EUR |
| Hosting SLA 99.9% | 7,200 EUR | 7,200 EUR | 21,600 EUR |
| Support & changes | 6,000 EUR | 9,000 EUR | 24,000 EUR |
| CMS & tooling licences | 2,400 EUR | 2,400 EUR | 7,200 EUR |
| Annual accessibility audit | 2,000 EUR | 2,000 EUR | 6,000 EUR |
| Total | 62,600 EUR | 20,600 EUR | 103,800 EUR |
The three-year cost of ownership far exceeds the upfront quote: that is why the SLA and support must appear in the quote from the outset, never as a surprise.
Mini case study
Claire, CFO of a 320-person industrial mid-market group in Amsterdam, leads the corporate site redesign covering the parent and 3 subsidiaries. Quote agreed: 48,000 EUR, 16 weeks, Sanity CMS with a two-level approval workflow. Before, every update went through the agency at 90 EUR/hour, roughly 40 hours/month (3,600 EUR/month). After, the comms team publishes autonomously via the CMS: update costs fall to 6 hours/month of support (540 EUR/month), i.e. 36,720 EUR saved per year. The CMS investment pays back in under 15 months.
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FAQ
Why does an institutional site cost 3 to 5 times more than a premium corporate one?
Because it adds editorial governance, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, multilingual support and a role-based CMS. Those items alone make up 35 to 40% of the budget and are required for a group's compliance.
Sanity or Strapi: which to choose?
Sanity excels at collaborative editorial workflows and real-time editing; Strapi reassures IT teams that want a self-hosted, open-source CMS. Both represent around 20% of the project budget.
How much does bilingual content really cost?
Budget 3,000 to 6,000 EUR for professional translation and hreflang implementation. Adding a 3rd language (often Arabic, with RTL support) adds 30 to 40% to that line.
Is a hosting SLA essential?
For a group, yes: 99.9% uptime, 24/7 monitoring and automatic backups cost 400 to 900 EUR/month. A corporate site outage carries a reputational cost far above that amount.
How long should I plan for an institutional project?
12 to 20 weeks in 2026, in 2-week sprints with weekly reviews. The bottleneck is rarely development but content approval by internal stakeholders.
Let's scope your project. Multi-entity institutional site, headless CMS, WCAG 2.1 AA, indicative budget 25,000-70,000 EUR, delivered in 12-20 weeks. 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.
