Website subsidies in 2026: what's left in Belgium?

There is almost no subsidy left in 2026 for building a regular SME website. Since 1 February 2026, the Flemish kmo-portefeuille (SME wallet) only covers training, and advice only if it concerns cybersecurity ^[1]. Exporters and Brussels SMEs do have options, but almost everywhere you lose your entitlement as soon as the work has started.

"Up to 30% subsidy on your website" still appears in many quotes, but for the build it was never true. About to get a website built with AI? Read this before you sign. We build websites ourselves and so are not neutral: that is why every rule comes with its official source.

What is possible in your situation?

Kmo-portefeuille: training yes, no build or advice

Since 1 February 2026, advice via the kmo-portefeuille is only supported if it concerns cybersecurity; nothing changes for training ^[1]. Small businesses get 30% support, medium-sized ones 20%, with a ceiling of €7,500 in support per year ^[1].

• The build: never. VLAIO explicitly excludes IT development projects, IT implementation without prior written advice and maintenance contracts ^[2].
• Advice about your site: no longer. A web strategy, an SEO audit or UX advice has not been supported since February ^[1]. Benjamin sets out what an SEO programme costs without a subsidy in what SEO costs per month.
• Training: yes. For example on managing your site, SEO or Google Analytics, if the provider is registered and the training concerns your company's core processes ^[3].

A training course costs at least €100 excl. VAT, and you apply for the support between your registration and fourteen days after the start at the latest ^[3], ^[4]. A small business that follows a €1,000 course therefore gets €300 in support.

Does a provider still promise you a subsidy on your website? Since June 2026, a code of conduct prohibits registered providers from making misleading promises, and you can file a complaint with VLAIO ^[5]. The kmo-groeisubsidie (SME growth subsidy) has been closed to new applications since September 2025 ^[6].

FIT: a lump sum for a multilingual website

For exporters this is the most interesting scheme. Flanders Investment & Trade subsidises the external development and translation of multilingual websites, web shops, company films and social media ^[7].

• How much: a lump sum of €3,000, or €4,500 if your company has had fewer than four approved FIT applications since 1 September 2005 ^[7].
• For whom: SMEs with an operating site in Flanders that are experienced exporters ^[7].
• What not: a site in Dutch only, anything you develop in-house and translations without development. Only external invoices count ^[7].
• Conditions: no support from another government for the same work, and the FIT logo on your site ^[7].
• Timing: apply via MijnFIT, at the latest seven days before development starts. An application after completion is never accepted ^[7].

What "experienced exporter" means exactly is set out in the subsidy regulations on the same page. Read them before you sign a quote.

Brussels: the digitalisation grant

In Brussels, the digitalisation grant covers a consultancy assignment on, among other things, "the development or technical upgrade of your company's website" ^[8].

• How much: 25% of the costs excl. VAT, with increases for start-ups and for companies that are exemplary on environmental or social matters, up to a maximum of 70% and €10,000 ^[8].
• Limits: at least €500 per application, at most two subsidised assignments per calendar year, and an assignment of at most six months ^[8].
• Timing: apply the day before the start at the latest, via MijnBEW ^[8].
• The assignment is exceptional: a one-off problem for which you lack the knowledge in-house, not ongoing subcontracting ^[8].
• The consultant has had consultancy as their main activity for at least two years, is independent of your company and invoices you directly ^[8].

A micro-enterprise that is a start-up gets 25% plus 25%, so 50% ^[8]: on a €6,000 assignment that is €3,000. The grant is taxable ^[8]. Whether a full build invoice is accepted as consultancy is decided by the administration case by case; ask in advance.

Since 12 August 2026, Brussels has temporarily suspended a series of grants, but the digitalisation grant explicitly remains available ^[9]. Check the page just before you apply.

Wallonia: the digital cheque has been scrapped

The chèque Maturité numérique no longer exists. A ministerial decree of 9 June 2026 scrapped it, with effect from 12 July 2026 ^[10]. Moreover, it only ever paid for advice, a plan and a specification, never for building a site. The page on cheques-entreprises.be still showed it on 27 September 2026 ^[11]: anyone offering it today is working with outdated information.

What remains in the "numérique" theme is the chèque Cybersécurité: 75% support, up to €50,000 over three years, for an audit and guidance by a labelled provider; the implementation itself is excluded ^[10]. The chèque Booster Export pays 50%, up to €20,000 excl. VAT over three years, including for an export web marketer ^[12]. The cheques with 90% support for e-commerce already expired on 31 August 2023 ^[13].

How to go about it

1. Check your profile: in which region is your registered office, are you an SME, and do you export?
2. Check the provider: registered for the kmo-portefeuille, labelled for the chèques-entreprises, an independent consultant for Brussels, an external party for FIT.
3. Apply in time. Don't sign a quote or let anyone start before that is sorted.
4. Make sure quote and invoice match: a clear description, amounts excl. VAT, an external invoice in your company's name.
5. Keep your supporting documents. FIT wants them six months after approval at the latest ^[7].

VAT. The support is calculated on amounts excluding VAT ^[8], ^[12]. If you fall under the exemption scheme for small businesses, you cannot recover that VAT and it is a real cost on top of your own share ^[14]. What a site costs including VAT and yearly costs is worked out in how much does a website cost in 2026?

De minimis. The kmo-portefeuille and the Brussels grant fall under the European de minimis rules ^[15], ^[8], with a ceiling of €300,000 per company over three years ^[16]. Articles that still mention €200,000 use the old ceiling.

Which questions to ask in advance and what needs to be ready on launch day is covered in the checklist for a new SME website. Already have a site? The free website scan first shows what it is leaving on the table, before you apply for a subsidy or sign a quote.