Private or international school website cost in Cork: local agencies vs Kolonell (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

In Cork, a private or international school website built by a local agency costs, as a 2026 order of magnitude, 7 000 to 30 000 EUR, while a freelancer typically charges 2 000 to 7 000 EUR for a smaller build. Kolonell delivers admissions pages, an international student section and open evening registration at a fixed price of 2 700, 4 500 or 8 200 EUR, in 3 to 4 weeks for Starter and Growth. The useful comparison is the cost over three years, plus two things Kolonell does not provide: photography on your campus and meetings in your boardroom.

How do Cork quotes compare with a remote studio?

These are cautious ranges, not official prices. They come from public price pages of agencies in Cork and Munster, minimum project sizes on Clutch.co profiles, hourly rates that Irish agencies publish (often 70 to 110 EUR an hour) and freelance rates listed on Upwork and Malt. A school project grows with year groups, the international programme, policy documents and the admissions form.

Cork freelancers can match or undercut our Starter price, and we say so plainly. Kolonell makes sense when the board wants a fixed price in writing, a named project manager and copy written for overseas families, not when it wants a creative team walking the corridors. The team works from Senegal (GMT), the same time as Cork in winter and one hour behind in Irish summer time. The packages are set out on our international websites offer.

What does a Cork school spend in total over 36 months?

The school year, uniform lists, book lists, fees for international students and staff change every August. The table uses the same maintenance assumption on both sides, since Kolonell maintenance after the support period is quoted separately.

What goes into each Kolonell package for an Irish school?

A parent portal, online fee payment or a custom enrolment workflow is an application, quoted separately, as is ongoing SEO.

Why is a Cork school website different from one in Dublin?

Cork's international families come largely through employers: the large technology campus at Hollyhill, the pharmaceutical and medical device plants around Ringaskiddy and Little Island, University College Cork and the port. Many arrive mid-year and look at fee-paying and non-fee-paying schools side by side. Fee-paying secondary schools also recruit non-EU students for a term or a full year, usually with host families, and those parents read the site from Madrid, Munich or Seoul long before a visit. What they need:

• How the Irish system works: Junior Cycle, Transition Year, Leaving Certificate, explained for parents who know none of it.
• The question of Irish: parents moving from abroad ask about exemptions from studying Irish, so the school should state its approach and point to the official rules.
• Fees, or at least their structure, for the international programme, including accommodation and host family arrangements.
• Admissions policy and key dates, published clearly, because families compare several schools at once.
• Real photos, taken with written parental consent.

Compliance, facts only. Personal data falls under the GDPR and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018, supervised by the Data Protection Commission; the Act sets the digital age of consent at 16, which matters for any pupil-facing online service. Irish schools are expected to publish their Child Safeguarding Statement, and most place it on the website. The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to certain products and services; whether it covers your site depends on what you sell online, but WCAG 2.1 AA remains the sensible technical reference. This is not legal advice.

What should the board ask every supplier?

• Who edits the August updates, and at what cost? Ask for an hourly rate or a fixed annual figure.
• Where is admissions data stored, and can you export it?
• Is the domain registered to the school? It should be, from day one.
• Who writes the international pages, and in which languages?
• What happens if we leave? You should get the code, the content and every login.

Mini case study

Illustrative example. Deirdre O. is deputy principal of a fee-paying secondary day school of 650 students in Cork, with around 40 international students a year. A local agency quotes 18 000 EUR plus 120 EUR a month. She compares Kolonell Growth at 4 500 EUR, a Cork photographer at 1 200 EUR and the same maintenance assumption.

• Agency over three years: 18 000 + (120 x 33 = 3 960) = 21 960 EUR
• Kolonell over three years: 4 500 + 1 200 + 3 960 = 9 660 EUR
• Difference: 12 300 EUR

That difference could fund the Spanish and German versions of the international pages several times over. Deirdre would still pick the agency if the board wanted video production and in-person workshops included.

FAQ

Is a Cork freelancer cheaper than Kolonell?

Sometimes, yes: freelancers in Cork often start around 2 000 EUR, below our 2 700 EUR Starter. Kolonell adds a fixed written price, a project manager and native copy.

Can you link our enrolment or school management software?

Yes, we link or embed the tool the school already uses, included from Growth at 4 500 EUR. A bespoke parent portal is quoted as a separate application.

Do you photograph the school?

No. You supply images or book a local photographer, typically 800 to 1 500 EUR for a day, with written parental consent for every pupil shown.

When should we start to be live for September open evenings?

Starter and Growth take 3 to 4 weeks, Premium usually 4 to 6 weeks. Starting in June leaves a comfortable margin before term begins in late August.

How is payment handled?

Bank transfer or Wise, 50 % at kick-off and 50 % at delivery, so 2 250 EUR at each stage for Growth.

Let's scope your project. Send us your current site, your enrolment policy and your international programme details, and we will reply with a fixed-price package and a 3 to 4 week timeline. Request your free quote or see the international offer.