Intranet Cost 2026: $500-$50K/Month + 3-Month Setup Guide

How to Build One (5 Steps)

Your intranet is where all your company stuff lives—resources, updates, news, everything. Here’s how to build one that people will actually use.

Step 1: Figure Out What You Actually Need

What Problems Are You Solving?

Start with problems, not features:

• People can’t find anything (it’s scattered everywhere)
• Important news gets buried
• New hires have a terrible onboarding experience
• Teams can’t work together across offices
• Remote culture feels disconnected
• HR/IT keeps answering the same questions
• Knowledge disappears when people quit

Pick your top 3-5. Solve those first. Everything else is extra.

Who Will Use Your Intranet?

Map your audience:

Build mobile-first for shift workers and frontline employees. Traditional intranets fail them because they’re desk-focused. Include offline access if your workforce doesn’t have constant computer access.

What Features Do You Actually Need?

Essential features (must-have for all intranets):

• Search: Robust, fast search across all content
• Content management: Easy publishing and editing for non-technical users
• Employee directory: Find colleagues with contact info, roles, location
• Document storage: Centralized, organized file repository
• News/announcements: Company updates and communications
• Mobile access: Responsive design or mobile app
• Permissions: Role-based access control for sensitive content
• Integration: Connect to existing systems (HR, calendar, email)

Valuable features (add based on needs and budget):

• Collaboration spaces for teams and projects
• Social features (comments, likes, employee profiles)
• Workflow automation (approvals, requests)
• Analytics showing usage and engagement
• Personalization based on role, department, location
• Video hosting and streaming
• Multi-language support for global teams

Step 2: Pick Your Platform

What Are Your Platform Options?

Cloud-based intranet platforms:

Platform selection criteria:

For small organizations (under 100 employees):

• Choose cloud platform or collaboration tool
• Prioritize ease of use and fast setup over customization
• Budget: $500-2,000/month total
• Recommended: Notion (flexible, low learning curve), Google Sites (free for Google Workspace users), or Staffbase (employee-focused)

For mid-size organizations (100-1,000 employees):

• Cloud platforms or SharePoint if already using Microsoft
• Balance features, customization, and IT requirements
• Budget: $2,000-15,000/month
• Recommended: Simpplr, Happeo, or SharePoint Online with customization

For enterprises (1,000+ employees):

• SharePoint, enterprise cloud platforms, or custom development
• Require advanced integration, security, scalability
• Budget: $15,000-50,000+/month
• Recommended: SharePoint with intranet accelerators, Simpplr, Workvivo, or custom solution

How Much Does an Intranet Cost?

Total cost of ownership breakdown:

Platform costs:

• Cloud subscription: $5-15/user/month ($500-15,000/month for 100-1,000 users)
• SharePoint: Included with Microsoft 365 E3/E5 or ~$10/user/month
• Custom development: $100,000-500,000+ initial build
• Hosting (for custom): $100-5,000+/month depending on traffic and storage

Implementation costs:

• Platform configuration: $5,000-50,000 (cloud) or $30,000-100,000+ (SharePoint)
• Content migration: $5,000-30,000 depending on volume and complexity
• Custom development/integration: $10,000-100,000+
• Training and change management: $5,000-30,000

Ongoing costs:

• Content management: 0.5-2 FTE ($30,000-120,000/year)
• Technical administration: 0.25-1 FTE ($15,000-80,000/year)
• Continuous improvement and updates: $10,000-50,000/year

Realistic budget examples:

• Small org (50 employees): $1,000-1,500/month total ($12,000-18,000/year)
• Mid-size org (300 employees): $5,000-10,000/month total ($60,000-120,000/year)
• Enterprise (2,000 employees): $30,000-75,000/month total ($360,000-900,000/year)

Step 3: Plan It Out

What’s a Realistic Implementation Timeline?

3-month timeline:

• Month 1: Planning, platform setup, configuration
• Month 2: Build architecture, migrate content, configure integrations
• Month 3: Pilot, training, full launch

SharePoint takes 4-6 months; custom development 9-15 months.

Who Needs to Be Involved?

Team: Executive sponsor, project lead (0.5-1 FTE), IT lead (0.25-0.5 FTE), content lead (0.5-1 FTE), change management lead (0.25-0.5 FTE), plus department reps, HR, communications, IT security.

How Do You Design Information Architecture?

Content organization approaches:

By audience: New employees, managers, all staff, specific departments By topic: HR & Benefits, IT & Support, Company News, Resources & Tools By task: Getting started, doing my job, finding information, staying connected

Best practice: Hybrid approach

• Primary navigation by topic (clear, predictable)
• Secondary navigation by audience or task (personalized, relevant)
• Robust search compensating for imperfect organization

Keep navigation simple: 5-7 main sections maximum.

Track which intranet pages employees access most frequently using built-in analytics—guiding information architecture and content prioritization decisions based on actual usage patterns. Organizations can integrate internal knowledge bases and wikis into intranets creating unified information portals.

Step 4: Build and Connect Everything

How Do You Migrate Content?

Migration: Audit content, migrate 20% most-used, improve during migration, assign owners, archive old content.

Migrate first: Policies, employee handbook, org chart, benefits, IT docs, templates, onboarding

Create new: Welcome page, company news, team pages, recognition

What Integrations Matter?

Key integrations: SSO (critical), HR systems, calendar, file storage, Teams/Slack, analytics.

How Do You Design for Adoption?

Design principles that drive usage:

• Speed: Pages load in under 2 seconds (slow intranets get abandoned)
• Simplicity: Core tasks achievable in 3 clicks or less
• Findability: Information discoverable through multiple paths (search, browse, links)
• Mobile-friendly: Readable and functional on smartphones (test extensively)
• Visual appeal: Modern design, real employee photos, appropriate branding
• Personalization: Show relevant content based on role, location, interests

Step 5: Launch and Get People Using It

How Do You Successfully Launch an Intranet?

Pre-launch (2-4 weeks before):

• Pilot with 20-50 employees representing different roles and departments
• Fix critical bugs and usability issues from pilot feedback
• Seed with valuable content so intranet isn’t empty at launch
• Create launch communication campaign building anticipation
• Train managers and champions who will support their teams

Launch week:

• Executive announcement emphasizing priority and benefits
• Training sessions for all employees (live and recorded)
• Quick start guides and video tutorials
• Champions available in departments for support
• Make intranet homepage the browser default
• Integrate into existing workflows and tools

Post-launch (first 3 months):

• Weekly usage reports showing adoption progress
• Rapid response to feedback and issues
• Additional training for struggling groups
• Highlight quick wins and success stories
• Iterate on content and features based on usage data
• Celebrate milestones (10,000 page views, 80% employee login)

How Do You Drive Ongoing Adoption?

Make it essential:

• Move critical information exclusively to intranet (don’t duplicate elsewhere)
• Require intranet use for key processes (PTO requests, expense reports)
• Publish company news only on intranet first
• Integrate into onboarding as primary resource for new hires

Make it valuable:

• Regular fresh content (news, updates, recognition)
• Solve real problems employees have (answer FAQs, provide templates)
• Spotlight employee contributions and achievements
• Make it easy for people to actually collaborate and connect
• Surface relevant content based on role and interests

Make it easy:

• Prominent links from everywhere employees already go
• Mobile app or responsive design for on-the-go access
• Search that actually finds what people need
• Minimal clicks to accomplish common tasks
• Intuitive navigation requiring no training

Measure what matters:

• Unique visitors and return visit frequency
• Search usage and success rate
• Most viewed content (reveals value)
• Time to find information (track improvement)
• Employee satisfaction with intranet (quarterly surveys)

Mistakes You’re Probably Making

Mistake 1: Building intranet for executives, not employees Fix: Design for actual user needs, not what leadership thinks they want. Test with real employees early and often.

Mistake 2: Launching with minimal content Fix: Seed with valuable content before launch. Empty intranet has nothing to attract users.

Mistake 3: Over-engineering with unnecessary features Fix: Start simple. Add features based on actual demand, not hypothetical use cases.

Mistake 4: Expecting adoption without effort Fix: Plan and execute deliberate adoption strategy with training, communication, and integration into workflows.

Mistake 5: Set-it-and-forget-it approach Fix: Assign ongoing content management and continuous improvement. Stale intranets die quickly.

Mistake 6: Forgetting frontline workers Fix: Ensure mobile access for employees without desk jobs through responsive design, progressive web apps, or dedicated mobile applications.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to build an intranet?

$5-15/user/month for cloud platforms ($500-15K/month for 100-1,000 people). $30K-$100K+ for SharePoint. $100K-$500K+ for custom. Don’t forget ongoing costs—hosting, maintenance, content management, training. Small companies typically spend $1K-$1.5K/month total.

How long does it take to build an intranet?

Cloud platforms: 1-3 months (planning, setup, migration). SharePoint: 3-6 months with customization. Custom: 6-12+ months to build. Then add 2-3 months after launch for adoption and refinement.

What platform should I use to build an intranet?

Cloud platforms (Simpplr, Staffbase, Happeo) for fast deployment. SharePoint if you’re on Microsoft and need deep integration. Notion or Confluence if you want collaboration focus. Custom only if you have unique needs that justify the cost and time. Pick based on budget, technical resources, and what you need.

What features does an intranet need?

Good search. Easy content publishing. Employee directory. Document storage. Company news. Mobile access. Permissions and security. Integration with your other systems. Analytics to see what people use.

How do you get employees to use an intranet?

Make it essential (move critical info there exclusively). Make it valuable (solve real problems, keep content fresh). Make it easy (prominent access, mobile-friendly, intuitive). Launch with exec support, train everyone, integrate into daily workflows. Track usage and improve based on feedback.

Can small businesses build an intranet?

Yes. Under 100 people? Use cloud platforms like Notion, Google Sites, or Staffbase. Minimal IT needed, $500-$2K/month. Focus on essentials: search, content, directory, news. Start simple.

What’s the difference between intranet and SharePoint?

SharePoint is one platform you can use to build an intranet. Others include Simpplr, Happeo, Notion, custom solutions. SharePoint works great if you’re on Microsoft but needs customization.

How do you maintain an intranet after launch?

Assign someone to manage content (0.5-2 people) for news and updates. Technical admin (0.25-1 person) for platform maintenance. Budget for continuous improvement. Stale intranets die—you need ongoing investment.