How much does a website cost in the UK?
The honest answer is anywhere from about £100 a year to well over £10,000, and the spread is real. This guide breaks it down by who builds the site, shows the published prices behind every figure, and adds the running costs most quotes leave out.
For a small business website in the UK, expect roughly:
- Build it yourself: about £108 to £204 a year on Wix or Squarespace, paid annually.
- A freelancer: £500 to £3,000, in published UK ranges.
- A small or medium agency: £2,000 to £10,000.
- Running costs if hosting is not included: roughly £90 to £180 a year for hosting and a .co.uk domain.
Our own price is £449 setup and £39 a month, with hosting, updates and edits included.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources at the end of the page.
Website cost by who builds it
| Route | Up front | Running costs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build it yourself on a builder | Your time | About £9 to £17 a month (Wix Light to Squarespace Core, annual billing) | Simple sites, tight budgets, people who enjoy it |
| Freelance web designer | £500 to £3,000 | Hosting, domain and any changes, usually extra | A one-off build when you will manage it afterwards |
| Small or medium agency | £2,000 to £10,000 | Often a support contract on top | Bigger sites, strategy and ongoing support |
| Done for you, setup plus monthly (us) | £449, £949 or £1,950 | £39, £59 or £129 a month, hosting and edits included | Businesses that want it handled, at a known price |
The designer and agency ranges are from Brilliant Digital's UK pricing guide and are broadly in line with the other published sources below.
How much a five-page website costs
A five-page site (home, about, services, prices or reviews, contact) is the most common small business website, so it is the easiest to compare. Here is what UK designers and researchers publish:
| Source | What they publish |
|---|---|
| DotGO | Five-page sites from £499 plus VAT |
| Spectra Web Designs | Up to five pages from £695 |
| Brambla | A custom five-page site at a fixed £1,200 |
| Whito research (May 2026 data) | Freelancer £1,500 to £3,000, agency £3,000 to £5,000 |
| Cude Design | Freelancer £1,500 to £3,000, agency £3,000 to £5,000 |
| Media Village | £1,500 to £5,000 |
| GoDaddy UK (their example) | About £4,500 for design with a web designer |
So the published range for the same five pages runs from about £500 to about £5,000. That gap is mostly about who writes the words, how much is custom, and what support comes after launch, which is why "what is included?" matters more than the headline price.
What pushes the price up
- Number of pages. Each service that you want found on Google needs its own page.
- Writing. Whito puts professional copywriting at £50 to £150 a page. Many quotes assume you supply the words.
- Selling online. Products, payments, delivery and stock add real work. See what an ecommerce website costs.
- Custom design. A design drawn from scratch costs more than a well-chosen layout adapted to you.
- Integrations. Booking systems, CRMs, quote calculators and member areas.
- Moving an old site. Redirecting old pages so you keep what you have earned in Google.
The running costs nobody mentions
Whito's research found hidden costs add 30 to 50% on top of the build price. The usual ones:
- Hosting. From about £7 a month at Krystal. SiteGround's StartUp plan is £1.99 a month to start, then £13.99 a month on renewal.
- Domain. A .co.uk is often a few pounds for the first year, then £7.40 to £12.99 a year to renew, depending on the registrar.
- Maintenance. GoDaddy's UK guide gives about £600 a year as an example for a designer-built site.
- Platform fees. Builders charge monthly, and some charge a percentage on online sales on their cheaper plans.
- Changes. A new page, a price change, a new service. Ask how these are charged before you sign.
Use the website cost calculator to see these added up over one year and three.
What we charge
Our packages include the writing, the build, hosting, updates and edits, so the setup and monthly fee is the whole cost.
| 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 |
See everything included, or read how pay monthly websites work before you compare.
How to get a quote you can compare
- List your services and areas. That sets the number of pages.
- Say who writes the words. It is the biggest hidden cost.
- Ask for the three-year cost, including hosting, domain, maintenance and edits.
- Ask who owns the domain and the site, and what happens if you leave.
- Ask what a typical change costs, such as adding a page or updating prices.
More on this in how to choose a web designer.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources: Squarespace pricing; Startups.co.uk on Wix pricing; Brilliant Digital; Whito website cost research; DotGO; Spectra Web Designs; Brambla; Cude Design; Media Village; GoDaddy UK website cost guide; Krystal hosting; SiteGround current rates; 123 Reg on domain prices. Platforms change prices and run offers, so check before you buy. Some prices exclude VAT.
Questions people ask
How much does a 5-page website cost in the UK?
Published UK prices for five pages run from about £500 to about £5,000. The difference is mostly who writes the content, how custom the design is, and what support you get afterwards. Ours is £449 setup and £39 a month, with the writing, hosting and edits included.
How much does a website cost per month?
From about £9 a month for a builder you run yourself, to £39 a month and up for a site that someone else hosts, updates and edits for you. Designer-built sites usually add hosting at roughly £7 to £14 a month plus maintenance.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
Because they include very different things. One quote may include writing, local search setup and a year of support. Another may be a template with your logo on it. Compare what is included and the three-year cost, not the headline figure.
Is it cheaper to build my own website?
In money, yes. A builder costs from about £108 a year. In time, no, and the parts that bring in customers, the writing and the local search work, are still yours to do. Our builder guide covers when DIY makes sense.
Do I pay VAT on a website?
If the supplier is VAT registered, yes, and some prices are quoted before VAT. Always check whether a quote includes it.
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