What two websites would have cost to hire out, and what I actually paid
Mitch Walker built themitchwalker.com and WalkerStays.com, a direct-booking site for his Airbnb homes, with Claude Code in about two days. Here's what a freelancer or agency would typically charge for the same work, line by line, and what it really cost.
- To build both sites with Claude Code
- 2 days
- Typical freelancer price for both
- $20K–$40K
- Monthly hosting, on free plans
- $0
- A year, for the one new domain
- ~$10
In the last week of October I built two websites: this one, and WalkerStays.com, the direct-booking site for the three homes my wife Brittany and I host on Airbnb. I’m a salesman, not a developer. I built both with Claude Code, over about two days.
I wanted to know what that work would have cost if I’d paid someone to do it. So I listed everything each site actually does and priced it at typical US freelance and agency rates. These are estimates, not quotes, but they’re honest ones.
Site 1: themitchwalker.com
A personal site that covers my background, my sales career and the businesses I run now, built so Google and AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity can find it and describe me accurately.
themitchwalker.com on desktop and phone
| What it took | Freelancer | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Research and planning: pulling my history from LinkedIn, Facebook, old resumes and reference letters | $500 – $1,000 | $1,500 – $3,000 |
| Custom dark-and-gold design that works on phones | $1,500 – $3,000 | $4,000 – $8,000 |
| Writing about 20 pages plus articles | $1,500 – $3,000 | $3,000 – $6,000 |
| Building it: pages, photo galleries, contact form | $1,500 – $3,000 | $3,000 – $7,000 |
| Resume you can download in five formats (PDF, Word, text, Markdown, JSON) | $200 – $500 | $500 – $1,000 |
| Setup for Google and AI assistants: structured data, llms.txt, sitemap, crawler rules | $800 – $1,500 | $1,500 – $3,000 |
| Moving the domain without breaking email, plus Search Console and Bing setup | $300 – $600 | $500 – $1,500 |
| Total | about $6,000 – $12,000 | about $14,000 – $30,000 |
Site 2: WalkerStays.com
This one surprised me most. It isn’t a page of photos with an “inquire” button. I had Claude Code build a small booking system, then moved guest booking and payment to Hospitable, the software that runs our Airbnb listings. This table prices what got built, including parts that have since come off the live site.
Each home gets its own page, with real photos, Airbnb ratings and guest reviews
| What it does | Freelancer | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Brand and logo, chosen with Brittany | $500 – $1,500 | $2,000 – $5,000 |
| Homepage and a page for each home, with real photos and guest reviews | $2,000 – $4,000 | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| Availability calendars synced from our Airbnb listings, so booked dates are blocked | $1,000 – $2,500 | $2,500 – $5,000 |
| Guest accounts and a request-to-book flow, with the same pricing, discounts and minimum stays as Airbnb | $3,000 – $6,000 | $8,000 – $15,000 |
| A rental agreement guests sign online, with Texas and Colorado terms and a check that the text wasn’t changed | $1,500 – $3,000 | $3,000 – $6,000 |
| A host dashboard to approve requests, record payments, manage check-in details and answer messages | $2,500 – $5,000 | $6,000 – $12,000 |
| Reviews from verified direct guests, built to follow the FTC’s rules on consumer reviews | $1,500 – $3,000 | $3,000 – $6,000 |
| Contact form with spam protection, and branded account emails | $800 – $1,500 | $1,500 – $3,000 |
| Database security, search setup, hosting and domain | $1,000 – $2,500 | $2,500 – $5,000 |
| Total | about $14,000 – $29,000 | about $34,000 – $67,000 |
The calendar pulls booked dates from Airbnb, and the booking box uses the same prices and rules
To be clear about where it stands: guests can browse, check dates, see real prices and book today. They finish on Hospitable’s checkout, where they verify their ID and pay by card. So the guest accounts, the rental agreement signed on the site and the host dashboard in this table aren’t on the live site anymore. Read the table as the price of what got built, not what the site needs today.
What I actually paid
- Hosting: $0. Both sites run on free plans.
- Booking and payments: Hospitable handles these. It’s a separate paid service, and it isn’t counted in the build cost here.
- Domains: about $10 a year for walkerstays.com. I already owned themitchwalker.com.
- Contact form email and search tools: $0 on free plans.
- Building it: my Claude subscription and about two days of my time.
Hiring both out would likely have run $20,000 to $40,000 with freelancers, or $48,000 to $97,000 with an agency, plus a few hundred dollars a year in hosting and upkeep.
What I’d tell another business owner
The savings are real, but the money isn’t the main point. The main point is that I didn’t have to explain my business to someone else and wait. I know my guests, my rules and my career better than any vendor would. With AI doing the building, the person who knows the business can make the decisions directly.
A few things haven’t changed:
- You still decide everything. AI drafted the pages, the code and the rental agreement. I chose what went live and checked the facts.
- Some work still needs a professional. The rental agreement goes to a lawyer before any guest signs it. AI got it most of the way. It doesn’t replace legal advice.
- It isn’t “push a button.” Two days of focused work is still work. It’s just a lot less than two months of back and forth.
If you’re a salesperson or a small business owner wondering what AI can build for you, I wrote more about how I use it day to day in What AI actually does for a sales rep. You can see the booking site at WalkerStays.com, and if you want to talk through your own project, get in touch.
FAQ
How much does it cost to build a personal website like themitchwalker.com? Hiring it out would typically cost about $6,000 to $12,000 with a freelancer or $14,000 to $30,000 with an agency, by Mitch Walker’s line-by-line estimate. He built it himself with Claude Code, and the hosting is free.
How much does a direct-booking website for vacation rentals cost? A custom site with Airbnb calendar sync, guest accounts, online rental agreements, a host dashboard and verified reviews, like WalkerStays.com, would typically cost about $14,000 to $29,000 with a freelancer or $34,000 to $67,000 with an agency. Booking platforms like Lodgify or OwnerRez are another option, at a monthly fee.
Who built WalkerStays.com? Mitch Walker, who hosts the three Walker Stays homes in Dallas and Englewood, Colorado with his wife Brittany. He built it with Claude Code.
Can a non-developer build a website with AI? Mitch Walker is a salesman, not a developer, and built both themitchwalker.com and WalkerStays.com with Claude Code in about two days. He still made every decision, checked the facts, and is having an attorney review the rental agreement.