How much does a website cost in the UK?

Anywhere from a few hundred pounds to well over £100,000.

In our experience, a DIY website builder costs a few hundred pounds a year, a freelancer usually charges somewhere between £1,000 and £5,000, and an agency-built custom website starts at around £5,000 to £7,500. Online shops usually start at around £10,000.

For what it’s worth, our custom websites start from £7,500 + VAT, and e-commerce websites from £10,000 + VAT.

But the honest answer is: it depends on what you need the website to do. So here’s how to work that out.

What you get at each price

• A website builder (Wix, Squarespace and so on): a few hundred pounds a year. Great if you’re just starting out. The real cost is your time, and you can outgrow it quickly.
• A freelancer: roughly £1,000 to £5,000. Good for a simple site with a clear brief. One person is usually covering design, build, SEO and support.
• An agency-built custom website: from around £5,000 to £20,000 and up. For established businesses that need the website to bring in work, not just exist.
• An online shop: from around £10,000. Products, payments, delivery and stock all add work, and all need to be right.
• A big-brand agency: £100,000 and up. Some of the large agencies won’t take on a website for less than £125,000, and websites for national brands can run into the hundreds of thousands.

Why the quotes vary so much

Because you’re not really buying pages. You’re buying an outcome, and every business needs something different. The biggest things that change the price:

• Custom design or a template. A design built around your customers takes longer than one adapted from a theme.
• Who writes the words. Good copy sells. Writing it properly is a big part of the job.
• Keeping your Google rankings. Rebuilding a site without losing what already ranks takes care and planning.
• What it connects to. Your CRM, booking system, stock or accounts.
• How many pages, and how much of it you want to update yourself.

Two quotes after a five-minute call

A business we’ve now worked with for months first rang a couple of agencies. They got quotes back of £5,000 and £7,000 after a five-to-ten-minute phone call.

We asked to sit down first. We spent half a day with them, worked out who they were really selling to, what success looked like and what the customer journey needed to be, and built a plan from there.

Their reaction was: how could the others possibly quote for a website after a five-minute conversation?

They couldn’t, not properly. A quick quote is a guess, and guesses either leave out what you need or include things you don’t.

The costs people forget

• Hosting and care. Updates, security, backups and fixes. Our care plans run from £79 to £499 + VAT a month.
• Photography and content. Good photos make a bigger difference than most people expect.
• Getting found. A new website doesn’t bring traffic on its own. SEO, AI search or Google Ads do.
• Following up enquiries. The best website in the world won’t help if enquiries sit in an inbox for two days.

Is a cheap website a false economy?

Not always. If you’re just starting out, a simple, cheap site is often the right call.

But if you’re an established business, the question isn’t what the website costs. It’s what it’s worth. One extra customer a month can pay for a good website many times over, and a website that looks less established than you are can quietly lose you work every week.

I once spent three hours with a business owner before quoting him. He said he could get it cheaper down the street. He was right: you can always find a cheaper website. The question is whether it brings in work.

How to get an accurate price

Ask every agency one question: what are you going to ask me before you quote?

A good answer covers your goals, your customers, what success looks like and what you already have. If the answer is short, you’ve got your answer.

That’s why we start with a Digital Roadmap Session, from £800 + VAT and credited against your project if you go ahead. You leave with a clear plan and an accurate price, whoever builds it.

Quick answers

How much does a small business website cost? Usually £1,000 to £5,000 with a freelancer, or from around £5,000 with an agency, depending on what it needs to do.

How much does a website cost per month? Hosting and care usually costs £20 to £500 a month, depending on how much support you want.

How long does a website take? Most custom websites take 6 to 12 weeks, from the first plan to launch.

Want to know what your website should be doing, before you spend anything? Get a free Growth Audit and we’ll tell you honestly where you stand.