Website cost calculator
Use this calculator to compare the true cost of getting a website each way: DIY builder, freelancer, agency, or a managed monthly service. It includes the numbers quotes usually omit, hosting, domain renewal and paying for changes, and shows totals over one and three years so the routes can be compared fairly.
What the calculator assumes
The figures use current UK market rates: freelancer builds from £1,500 to £3,000 and agency builds from £3,500 to £7,500 depending on size, hosting and care between £220 and £400 a year, and change work billed at £85 to £95 an hour with a typical change taking three quarters of an hour. DIY assumes £300 a year for the builder plan, domain and email, with the real cost being your hours at the rate you set. Round numbers, honestly chosen; your quotes will vary around them.
The time column matters more than people expect. Sixty hours of evenings building a DIY site is real money at any honest hourly rate, and it is also sixty hours not spent on paying work.
How to read the results
Ignore the up-front figure on its own; it is the number providers advertise precisely because it is the smallest. The three-year total is the honest comparison, and even that undersells the difference if a better site wins you more enquiries. Whichever route you choose, ask the provider what happens about hosting, the domain, and the tenth small change of the year. Those answers move the totals more than the build quote does.
Frequently asked questions
Are these figures accurate for my area?
They are national mid-ranges for 2026. London and the South East price higher for agencies and freelancers; DIY and monthly services cost the same everywhere. Use the calculator for the shape of the comparison, then test it against real quotes.
Why does the DIY option show the biggest time cost?
Because you are the workforce. First builds take most owners 30 to 60 hours, and every future change is yours too. If your evenings are worth nothing to you the money total is genuinely low; the calculator lets you make that trade-off explicit instead of hidden.
What is not included in these totals?
Content extras such as photography or logo design, paid advertising, and premium features like online booking systems, which vary too much to average honestly. All routes would carry those costs roughly equally.
The short version
- Compare three-year totals, never headline prices.
- Include hosting, domain, change fees and your own hours in every route.
- DIY is cheapest in cash and most expensive in evenings.
- Ask every provider about hosting, domain ownership and the cost of change number ten.
Rather skip all this?
Our column of the calculator is short on purpose: £0 up front, £600 a year, everything included, about half an hour of your time to fill in the brief. The finished site arrives before the first payment does.
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