How much does a website cost in the UK?
In 2026 a UK small business website costs roughly: £240 to £360 a year on a DIY builder, £800 to £3,000 up front from a freelancer, £2,500 to £10,000 from an agency, or £30 to £100 a month from a managed subscription service. Add running costs to any up-front quote: hosting at £5 to £30 a month, domain renewal, and £60 to £120 an hour for changes. Compare three-year totals, not headline prices.
The headline prices, route by route
- DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace): £240 to £360 a year for the plan that removes their branding, plus a domain and email. Your time is the real invoice: 30 to 60 hours for most first-timers.
- Freelancers: £800 to £3,000 for a typical small business site, with straightforward four or five page builds mostly landing between £1,200 and £2,000.
- Agencies: £2,500 to £10,000 for a standard small business site; £3,000 to £4,000 is the most common quote range. London postcodes add a premium for the same work.
- Managed monthly services: £30 to £100 a month with design, hosting and updates bundled. Ours is £50 a month with no setup fee; some competitors charge £150 to £300 up front then a lower monthly.
The costs that are not in the quote
Up-front prices hide the running costs, and the running costs are where budgets quietly leak. Hosting adds £60 to £360 a year. The domain renews at £10 to £30 a year. SSL is often free but some hosts charge up to £70 a year. And changes are the big one: at typical rates of £60 to £120 an hour, updating opening hours, swapping photos and adding a new service a few times a year easily adds £300 to £800 annually. A "£1,500 website" is rarely £1,500 by its third birthday.
A realistic three-year total for a professionally built and maintained site bought the traditional way is £3,000 to £6,000 once you include the build, hosting and a modest amount of change work. That is the honest number to compare against any monthly service.
How to judge value rather than price
Work out what one new customer is worth to you across a year, not just their first job. A £50 monthly website costs £600 a year. If your average customer is worth £300, the site pays for itself with two enquiries a year that would not otherwise have found you. Most functioning local business sites generate far more than that; the question to ask any provider is not "why does it cost that?" but "what will it win me?"
Then check the exits. Good value includes being able to leave: month-to-month terms, your content staying yours, and a stated price for taking full ownership. A cheap site you are trapped in is expensive.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 5 page website cost in the UK?
From a freelancer, typically £1,200 to £2,000. From an agency, £2,500 to £4,000. On a managed monthly plan, usually £30 to £100 a month with no build fee. Always add hosting, domain and change costs to up-front quotes before comparing.
How much does website maintenance cost per month?
Care plans from UK providers typically run £30 to £120 a month for updates, backups, security and small changes. Buying the pieces separately, hosting plus ad hoc changes at hourly rates, usually costs more and reacts slower. Some monthly services, ours included, fold maintenance into the single fee.
Why do website quotes vary so much for the same job?
You are shopping across three different markets: hobbyist and offshore pricing, freelancer pricing, and agency pricing with office overheads. The specification barely differs for a small business site; the business model behind the quote is what you are really comparing.
Is a cheap £200 website worth it?
Usually not. At that price it is a template filled quickly, often with hosting lock-in and hourly fees for every change. It tends to cost more in lost enquiries than it saves in build cost. If budget is that tight, a DIY builder is more honest, or a monthly service spreads proper quality into an affordable payment.
The short version
- DIY: £240 to £360 a year plus your time. Freelancer: £800 to £3,000. Agency: £2,500 to £10,000. Monthly services: £30 to £100 a month.
- Add hosting, domain and £60 to £120 an hour change fees to any up-front quote.
- Compare three-year totals: traditionally bought and maintained sites run £3,000 to £6,000.
- Judge value by cost per enquiry, and always check you can leave.
Rather skip all this?
Our answer to all of this is one number: £50 a month, no setup fee, with design, hosting, domain, SSL, backups and unlimited changes included. Three-year total: £1,800, and you saw the finished site before paying anything.
Claim your spot →