How much does a website cost in the UK? (2026)
Website prices in the UK range from a few pounds a month to tens of thousands. Here's what each price buys, what it costs to keep a site running, and a calculator to compare the options over the years you'll keep it.
→The short answer
A small business website in the UK costs anything from about £16 a month on a DIY builder to £300–£1,000 for a basic site from a web designer, £2,000–£7,000 for a custom WordPress build, and £10,000 or more for bespoke work. Running costs come on top: hosting at roughly £5–£60 a month, a domain, and paid changes.
(01)Prices by type
Published UK figures, each linked to its source below.
UK website prices in 2026
| Route | Typical cost | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder (Wix, Squarespace) | £16–£17 a month on their core plans, billed yearly | 1,2 |
| Basic site from a web designer | Around £300–£1,000 | 3 |
| Basic WordPress site | Around £400–£800 | 4 |
| Advanced WordPress site | Around £1,000–£4,000 | 4 |
| Custom-designed WordPress site | Around £2,000–£7,000 | 4 |
| Bespoke website | £10,000 or more | 3 |
| Adding an online shop to WordPress | £300–£2,000 on top | 4 |
| Shopify online shop (Basic) | £19 a month, billed yearly, plus card fees | 5 |
Builders and designers set their own prices, and many quote before VAT. Treat these as ranges to check quotes against, not quotes.
| Who | Hourly rate |
|---|---|
| Freelance web designer | £25–£50 |
| Small web agency | £50–£150 |
| Large web agency | £75–£200 or more |
Source: Startups.co.uk3. Hourly rates matter most for changes after launch, which is where many one-off builds get expensive.
(02)Running costs
The part most quotes leave out.
What a website costs to keep running
Domain nameEvery year
A .co.uk or .com usually costs around £3–£10 a year to renew4. Make sure it's registered in your name.
HostingEvery month
Plugins, apps and themes
A WordPress site's paid plugins and themes can add £20 to £300 or more a year4. Builders charge for apps in a similar way.
Changes and updates
On a one-off build, every change after launch is usually charged at the designer's hourly rate.
An address at your own domain, from a provider such as Google or Microsoft, is a separate monthly cost per mailbox.
SEO
Being found on Google rarely comes free with a one-off build. Our SEO cost guide covers what it costs.
(03)Total cost calculator
The fair comparison is the total over the years you'll keep the site.
Compare the total cost over 1 to 5 years
One-off build
Pay monthly
DIY builder
One-off build
£3,800
£2,000 up front, then £600 a year
Pay monthly
£3,564
£99 a month, nothing to start
DIY builder
£3,312
£612 in plan fees and £2,700 of your time
Starting figures: a £2,000 custom build (the bottom of the £2,000–£7,000 range4) with £15 a month of hosting and one £35 hour of changes a month (£600 a year); our £99 plan; Squarespace Core at £17 a month2 plus three hours a month of your time. Your time at £25 an hour is a placeholder: put in what an hour of yours is really worth. Domains are left out because they cost the same every way.
(04)What each price buys
What you get at each price
Under £500
A template filled in with your details, or a DIY site you build yourself. Fine for getting something online; rarely written around how your customers search, and rarely fast or distinctive.
£500 to £2,000
A designer's site on a template or theme, with a few pages and your content. Check who writes the words, how many changes are included, and what happens after launch.
£2,000 to £7,000
A custom design, more pages, proper structure for search, and often some copywriting. Ask what ongoing support costs once it's live.
£10,000 and up
Bespoke design and features: booking systems, customer accounts, integrations. Usually more than a small service business needs.
Pay monthly
Design, hosting, changes and, with good providers, SEO for a monthly fee and no big upfront cost. Check the minimum term and what you keep if you leave. See pay monthly websites.
(06)Red flags
Tick any you spot in a quote.
Red flags in a website quote
(07)Our prices
No build fee. You see the site before you pay.
What a website costs with us
SEO WebsiteFits this best
£99
a month
For getting a proper, findable website live.
- Website design and build
- Hosting and maintenance
- Mobile-first design
- Keyword research and on-page SEO
- Sitemap and indexing set-up
- Local SEO and Google Business Profile support
Traffic Growth
£199
a month
For turning the site into a steady source of enquiries.
- Everything in SEO Website
- New SEO content and service pages each month
- Location pages where they're justified
- Better calls to action and enquiry forms
- Monthly report with recommendations
Growth Partner
£499
a month
For businesses ready to push hard on growth.
- Everything in Traffic Growth
- Competitor and market analysis
- Strategic landing pages and customer journeys
- Monthly performance review call
- A prioritised growth plan
Questions
(08)Questions
For a small business brochure site, somewhere between a few hundred pounds for a basic designer-built site and a few thousand for a custom one is normal in the UK, plus running costs. The right price is the one where you know exactly what's included after launch.
Less than a full site, but the design and words still take time. On a DIY builder it's the monthly plan; from a designer, expect the lower end of their prices. A single page can work for a very simple business, but it limits how many searches you can be found for.
Only if your designer is VAT-registered, so check whether a quote includes VAT or adds it on top. We aren't VAT-registered, so our prices are what you pay.
For a simple site, hosting and a domain alone might be anything from under £100 to several hundred pounds a year, before plugins, changes or SEO. Startups.co.uk puts a WordPress site's running costs at £36 to £432 a year depending on hosting, apps and theme4.
Sources
(09)Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked on the date shown.
- 1Wix pricing explained, Startups.co.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 2Squarespace pricing, Startups.co.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 3How much does a website cost?, Startups.co.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 4How much does a WordPress website cost?, Startups.co.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 5Shopify pricing (UK), Shopify. Checked 26 October 2026.
(10)Start a project
Let's build your
free preview.
Tell us about your business. We'll come back with a plan and start on your preview. You pay nothing until you give it the nod.