If you are a small business owner in the UK looking for a website, the range of prices you will see is bewildering. Some people will quote you £50. Others will quote you £15,000. Both are technically telling the truth, and both are potentially a waste of your money.
This guide breaks down what a website actually costs in the UK in 2026, with no sales pitch attached.
A basic professional website for a small business costs between £300 and £2,000. Most small businesses will pay around £500 to £1,000 for something clean, professional, and effective.
Website Costs at a Glance
| Option | Typical Cost | Ongoing Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY Builder (Wix, Squarespace) | £0 to £300 | £12 to £35/month | Hobbyists, side projects |
| WordPress (self hosted) | £100 to £500 | £5 to £30/month | Bloggers, content sites |
| Freelance Web Designer | £300 to £2,000 | £0 to £50/month | Small businesses |
| Small Agency | £2,000 to £8,000 | £50 to £200/month | Growing businesses |
| Large Agency | £8,000 to £50,000+ | £200 to £1,000/month | Established companies |
Option 1: DIY Website Builders
Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy let you drag and drop your way to a website. The upfront cost is low, sometimes free, but you will pay a monthly subscription for as long as you want the site to exist.
What you get
- Templates you can customise
- Hosting included
- Basic SEO tools
- Usually a free trial to start
What you do not get
- A unique design (your site will look like thousands of others)
- Full control over your code or hosting
- Professional results unless you have an eye for design
- Your time back (expect to spend 10 to 20 hours learning and building)
DIY builders are fine if you are testing an idea or running a hobby. For a business that needs to look professional, the results are usually underwhelming unless you already know what you are doing.
Option 2: WordPress
WordPress powers about 40% of all websites on the internet. It is free to use, but you will need to pay for hosting (£5 to £30/month) and potentially a premium theme (£30 to £80 one time) and plugins.
The total setup cost for a basic WordPress site is around £100 to £500 if you do it yourself. The catch is that WordPress has a steep learning curve, and a poorly set up WordPress site is slow, insecure, and frustrating to maintain.
Option 3: Freelance Web Designer
This is where most small businesses land, and for good reason. A freelance web designer will build you a professional site for somewhere between £300 and £2,000 depending on complexity.
| Website Type | Typical Freelancer Price |
|---|---|
| One page brochure site | £300 to £600 |
| Multi page business site (5 to 10 pages) | £600 to £1,500 |
| E-commerce site (under 50 products) | £1,000 to £3,000 |
| Custom web application | £2,000 to £10,000+ |
The advantage of a freelancer is that you get a real person who understands your business, builds something tailored to you, and charges a fraction of what an agency would.
Option 4: Web Design Agency
Agencies charge more because you are paying for a team: a designer, a developer, a project manager, and sometimes a copywriter and SEO specialist. For a small business, this is often overkill.
A small local agency will typically charge £2,000 to £8,000 for a business website. A larger agency in London or Manchester might start at £10,000 and go well beyond £50,000 for complex projects.
Hidden Costs to Watch For
- Domain name: £8 to £15 per year (.co.uk or .com)
- Hosting: £3 to £30 per month depending on the provider
- SSL certificate: Free with most modern hosting (if someone charges you for this, walk away)
- Email setup: £0 to £5 per mailbox per month
- Stock photography: £0 to £100 (use free sources like Unsplash and Pexels)
- Ongoing maintenance: £0 to £50 per month (WordPress sites need updates; static sites do not)
What Most Small Businesses Actually Need
If you run a local business you need a simple, clean website that does three things:
- Tells people what you do
- Shows them where you are
- Makes it easy to contact you
That is a one page site. It should cost between £300 and £800. If someone is quoting you more than that for a single page, they are overcharging.
For most UK small businesses, a professional website should cost between £300 and £1,000. Pay for quality, avoid monthly subscriptions where possible, and make sure you own your domain name outright.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a website for free?
Technically yes, but free websites come with adverts, limited features, and a subdomain that makes you look unprofessional. For a business, spend the money on a proper site.
How long does it take to build a website?
A one page site can be built in 1 to 3 days. A multi page business site takes 1 to 3 weeks. A complex e-commerce site can take 4 to 12 weeks.
Do I need to pay monthly for a website?
You will always pay for a domain name (£8 to £15/year) and hosting (£3 to £30/month). But the design and build should ideally be a one time cost.