Affordable website design
If money is tight, you want to know the least you can spend and still have a website that does its job. Here is what each price point buys in the UK, from free to a couple of thousand pounds, including the routes that cost less than ours.
The cheapest working options in the UK:
- Free: Wix's free plan, with Wix branding and a wixsite.com address. Fine for testing, not for a business.
- About £108 to £144 a year: Wix Light or Squarespace Basic on annual billing, built by you.
- A few hundred pounds: Duport's done-for-you site at £360, then £94 a year, or DotGO from £499 plus VAT for five pages.
- Ours: £449 setup and £39 a month, with the writing, hosting and edits included.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources at the end of the page.
What each price gets you
| Budget | What you get | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| £0 | Wix free plan | Wix branding, a wixsite.com address, and no payments |
| About £108 a year | Wix Light on annual billing, your own domain | You build it, write it and keep it current |
| £144 to £204 a year | Squarespace Basic or Core on annual billing | Same as above, with tidier templates |
| £360 once, then £94 a year | Duport's done-for-you site (home, services, about, contact) | Domain extra, from £20.99 a year. You supply the details |
| From £499 plus VAT | DotGO five-page site | Check what hosting and changes cost afterwards |
| £449, then £39 a month (us) | Five pages written for you, Google Business Profile, hosting and edits | You ask us to make changes rather than editing it yourself |
| £695 to £1,200 | Small studios: Spectra from £695 for up to five pages, Brambla at a fixed £1,200 | Running costs usually extra |
When cheap is the right answer
- You are just starting and need something live this week so people can find your number.
- Most of your work comes from word of mouth, and the site is there to confirm you are real.
- You have time, you like this sort of thing, and you are happy to write your own pages.
In any of those cases, a builder at about £9 to £17 a month is a sensible start. Our guide to the best website builder in the UK helps you pick one.
Where cheap websites usually fall short
- The words. Most low prices assume you write the pages. Whito puts professional copywriting at £50 to £150 a page, which is why it gets left out.
- One page for everything. A single services page rarely shows up for any one service. If you want to be found for several jobs or areas, you need a page for each.
- Nobody keeps it current. Out-of-date prices and hours lose work quietly.
- The domain is not yours. Some cheap deals register it in the supplier's name. Walk away from those, whatever the price.
- The renewal. Hosting and domains that look cheap in year one often cost several times more in year two. See website hosting costs.
Low cost over three years
Comparing the first-year price flatters the cheapest options. Over three years, published prices add up like this:
| Route | Three years |
|---|---|
| Wix Light, built yourself | about £324 plus your time |
| Squarespace Core, built yourself | £612 plus your time |
| Duport done for you, plus a domain at £20.99 a year | £360 + £188 + £62.97 = £610.97* |
| Our Launch package | £1,853 |
*Assumes Duport's £94 yearly renewal starts in year two and the domain is bought from year one.
Ours is not the cheapest, and we would rather say so. The difference is that we write the pages, set up your Google Business Profile and keep the site current for you, which is the part that tends to bring in enquiries. If you would rather do that yourself, the cheaper routes are good value.
Our prices
| Our tier | What it is | Setup | Monthly | First year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | A five-page site plus the Google groundwork, so local customers can find you. | £449 | £39 | £917 |
| Grow | 10+ pages and the local SEO foundations, for a business that wants to rank, not just exist. | £949 | £59 | £1,657 |
| Scale | 20+ pages for a business with a team or more than one site, so every service and location can be found. | £1,950 | £129 | £3,498 |
Every package includes hosting, SSL, updates and edits. See what is in each one, or use the website cost calculator to compare routes for your size of site.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources: Wix plans page; Startups.co.uk on Wix pricing; Squarespace pricing; Duport on small business website costs; DotGO; Spectra Web Designs; Brambla; Whito website cost research. Platforms change prices and run offers, so check before you buy. Some prices exclude VAT.
Questions people ask
What is the cheapest way to get a website?
Wix's free plan costs nothing, but it shows Wix branding and uses a wixsite.com address. The cheapest way to get a site on your own domain is a builder plan such as Wix Light, from about £9 a month on annual billing.
Are cheap websites any good?
Some are. A cheap site that is accurate, loads quickly on a phone and makes it easy to call you is better than an expensive one nobody updates. Check who writes the pages, who owns the domain and what changes cost.
What is affordable website design for a small business?
For most small businesses, a few hundred pounds up front plus a modest monthly or yearly fee. Published five-page prices start around £499 plus VAT at DotGO, and ours is £449 setup and £39 a month with hosting and edits included.
Can I get a website with no upfront cost?
Some suppliers rent websites with little or nothing up front. Check the minimum term, the exit fee and who owns the domain. Our pay monthly websites guide covers the traps.
Keep reading
Want a fixed price instead of a range?
Tell us what your business does and what the site needs to do. We'll come back with the tier that fits and the exact price, including when the answer is the cheapest one.
- Fixed price, published
- No long-term contract
- You own your domain
- Edits included