The verdict in three sentences
A trilingual French, English and Arabic corporate website for an industrial group costs a 2026 ballpark of 35,000 to 80,000 GBP in London (2.5 to 6 million DZD for a group in Algiers), for 12 to 16 weeks of work. Arabic is not a simple translation: the right-to-left (RTL) layout adds 15 to 25% to the budget and must be designed in from the first mock-up. The real longevity issue is a CMS with per-language approval workflow, without which the three versions drift apart in under six months.
What a trilingual site with Arabic really costs
The CEO of an industrial group speaks to three audiences at once: European partners and lenders who read English or French, Gulf and North African authorities and clients who expect Arabic, and candidates comparing employers. A bilingual site with an Arabic "summary" page sends the wrong signal to all three.
The ranges below are 2026 market estimates, not Kolonell prices. The London column covers a British group with Gulf operations; the Algiers column a comparable group in Algeria.
| Component | Algiers (DZD excl. VAT) | London (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate site, 20 to 40 pages, one language | 1,800,000 to 4,000,000 | 25,000 to 55,000 |
| Arabic RTL layout surcharge | + 15 to 25% | + 15 to 25% |
| Professional translation per page | 1,200 to 2,000 | 50 to 120 |
| Multilingual CMS with per-language workflow | 300,000 to 700,000 | 4,000 to 9,000 |
| Total trilingual site delivered | 2,500,000 to 6,000,000 | 35,000 to 80,000 |
| Delivery time | 12 to 16 weeks | 12 to 16 weeks |
| Annual maintenance | 15 to 20% of build | 15 to 20% of build |
Watch the translation line: it looks marginal, but review by a sector specialist (technical terms in cement, steel or food processing) is what prevents embarrassing mistranslations in front of a ministry or a sovereign fund.
Arabic RTL: where the 15 to 25% surcharge goes
An Arabic site reads right to left. Menus, arrows, carousels, forms, tables, directional icons: everything must flip in mirror image without breaking the English version. Developers who have shipped RTL before use CSS logical properties from day one; those who discover it at the end of the project double the planned time.
| Technical point | Estimated effort | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Mirrored layout | 3 to 5 days | margins hard-coded to the left |
| Arabic web typography and line height | 1 to 2 days | Latin font forced on Arabic text |
| Numbers, dates and units | 1 day | Gregorian and Hijri dates mixed up |
| Forms and error messages | 1 to 2 days | phone fields reversed |
| Hreflang tags and per-language sitemaps | 0.5 to 1 day | hreflang without reciprocity |
| Testing on Android and iOS | 2 to 3 days | Arabic words broken across lines |
| Tagged Arabic PDF documents | 1 to 3 days | scanned PDFs that cannot be read |
For SEO, each page exists at three URLs (for example /en/, /fr/, /ar/) linked by reciprocal hreflang tags plus an x-default. A misconfigured hreflang shows the English version in Arabic-language results, which wipes out the translation effort.
Governance: a per-language approval workflow
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The classic scenario: English is updated weekly, French monthly, Arabic never. To avoid it, the CMS must automatically flag pages whose translation is behind, assign each language to an owner and block publication until approval. Budget 1 to 2 days of training for communications teams. On personal data, UK GDPR governs forms on a London site, and Algeria's Law 18-07 governs collection and transfers for an Algerian group: publish a privacy policy in all three languages.
Mini case study
Omar, CEO of a London-based building materials group with Gulf operations (illustrative scenario), wants a 30-page site in three languages. Site base: 45,000 GBP. RTL surcharge at 20%: 9,000 GBP. Translation of 30 pages into two languages at 90 GBP a page: 5,400 GBP. Total: 59,400 GBP, with maintenance at 18%, or 10,692 GBP a year.
The alternative his team considered, an English and French site followed by a separate Arabic site, would have cost about 45,000 + 36,000 = 81,000 GBP, with two CMSs to maintain. A single trilingual site saves 21,600 GBP on the build and avoids double maintenance.
FAQ
Do all pages need to be translated into Arabic? For a group dealing with Gulf or North African authorities, yes for corporate, ESG and contact pages. News can start in two languages, but aim for 100% within 12 months.
Is machine translation enough? Not for a corporate site. It can serve as a first draft, but human review at 50 to 120 GBP a page remains essential.
How much time does Arabic add? About 2 to 3 weeks on a 12 to 16 week project, if RTL is planned from the mock-ups.
Which CMS should we choose? One that natively handles languages and RTL, with per-language roles: Sanity, Strapi or WordPress with a serious multilingual plugin. Configuration costs 4,000 to 9,000 GBP.
Where should the site be hosted? In the UK or EU for a London group, with a check on local rules where data comes from the Gulf or Algeria. With job application forms, verify cross-border transfer requirements first.
Let's scope your project. Send us your sitemap, page count and priority languages: we price the RTL work, translation and approval workflow with a 12 to 16 week plan. 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.
