How much does a website cost in the UK?

Most small business websites in the UK cost £500 to £3,000 from a freelancer or £2,000 to £8,000 from a small agency (ExpertSure, Bark estimates), plus about £80 a year to run. It is a range, because “a website” can mean a one-page builder site made on a Sunday or a large site built by a team. The useful question is what each option costs in year one, once you add the cost of keeping it online. Coltura's fixed £1,400 is in the table too, so you can see where it sits.

The ranges overlap: a busy freelancer can charge more than a small agency. And running costs are small next to the build unless you pay someone to look after the site. The guide to what a website costs per year to run breaks them down line by line.

Most small service businesses need a handful of pages: home, one page per main service, the areas you cover, about, and contact. ExpertSure separates a simple 3 to 5 page brochure site (£500 to £1,500) from a fuller 5 to 10 page business site (£1,500 to £3,000). The difference is usually the number of pages, who writes the words, and how much thought goes into getting people to call.

Two quotes for “a five-page website” can describe very different jobs. Before you compare prices, check that each quote says whether it includes:

• Writing the words, or only laying out words you supply.
• A design made for you, or a ready-made template with your logo.
• Working properly on a phone, with phone numbers that dial on a tap.
• Basic search setup: page titles, descriptions, one page per service.
• Moving your domain and redirecting old pages if you already have a site.
• Hosting for the first year, and what it costs after that.
• Who owns the site, the domain and the accounts. See who owns your website and how to check.
• How many rounds of changes, and what happens if something breaks after launch.

A cheaper quote that includes the same things is simply a better deal. Check that it does not leave out work you would then pay for separately.

That depends on what “good” has to do for your business. ExpertSure and Bark describe each price band in a few words. Put together, this is roughly what each budget buys. “Not stated” means neither source says, so ask.

Against this table, Coltura's fixed £1,400 sits in the £1,500 band, and it includes writing the words and a design made for your business.

Within any band, a quote goes up with more pages, copywriting, bookings or payments, moving an existing site, and links to other software.

More than a brochure site, because a shop needs product pages, a basket and payments. Bark says ecommerce “can leap higher, often starting at £5,000”. ExpertSure puts an ecommerce build at £3,000 to £10,000, describing it as “Shopify/WooCommerce, payment integration”.

Ask whether a shop quote includes loading your products, setting up payments and delivery charges, and who adds new products after launch. Then ask what the shop will cost to run each year, and add that to the build.

Website builders charge a subscription instead of a build fee. Hosting is in the plan. You do the building yourself, or pay a designer to do it on the builder.

The trade-off is leaving: Wix says its sites must stay on its own servers and Squarespace exports only part of a site, as our Wix vs custom websites comparison explains.

WordPress itself is free software. You pay for three things: someone to build the site (or your time), hosting, and the paid add-ons many WordPress sites rely on.

• Build: the same freelancer and agency estimates as any other site, or your own time.
• Hosting: shared hosting from IONOS at £6 a month ex VAT once its intro offer ends, or managed WordPress hosting from 20i from £10 a month.
• Add-ons: common paid plugins renew every year. Yoast SEO Premium is $118.80 a year ex VAT for one site, Gravity Forms starts at $59 a year and Elementor Pro from $60 a year.

Those are US dollar prices. Ask which paid plugins your site will need, and whose name the licences are in.

Add the build to what you pay every year after it. Every website, however it is built, needs a domain and hosting. Email on your own domain is usually extra. Security certificates (SSL, the padlock) are free on all plans at IONOS, Krystal and 20i.

• Domain: Krystal charges £7.99 a year ex VAT for a .co.uk, and 20i £9.99.
• Hosting: from about £6 to £10 a month for a small site.
• Email: Google Workspace Starter is £5.90 per user per month on an annual plan, ex VAT.
• Looking after it: from nothing (you do it) to a monthly care plan.

Coltura's Growth Care is £149 a month, optional, and includes hosting, SSL, backups, updates, monitoring and content changes within a fair monthly allowance. Compare other website maintenance plans.

If you would prefer to spread the build over monthly payments, paying monthly vs paying once for a website adds up both over 1, 3 and 5 years, including what you own if you stop.

Mostly because people price their time differently, and quote for different amounts of it. Published hourly rates show the spread:

• Bark: about £35 an hour for newer designers to over £150 for experienced ones.
• ExpertSure: £25 to £120 an hour for freelancers.
• Wise, citing Expert Market: £40 to £70 an hour, or £180 to £550 a day.

An hourly quote can grow if the job grows. A fixed price cannot, as long as the scope stays the same. Either is fine if you know which one you have. How much web designers charge in the UK covers how to compare hourly, day-rate and fixed quotes.

A fixed price: £1,400 for the Growth Website build, up to 6 pages (a bigger scope is the Signature Website at £3,500, with the same parts plus more). That covers a free Growth Audit first, rewriting how your business is explained, the design and build, phone-friendly pages, search groundwork, tracking and launch. Build takes about 14 working days once the direction is agreed and you have got us your content. There is one round of considered changes, and anything that does not work in the first 30 days after launch is fixed at no charge. The Growth Website page lists everything included.

You own the website, the domain, the content and the accounts, in your name from day one. Hosting and care are £149 a month if you want them. If you would rather host it yourself, you can, and you pay a hosting company instead of Coltura.

Not every business needs a designed site, and it is better to say so than to sell one.

• A DIY builder makes sense if you are just starting, work mostly from word of mouth, and have the time to build and update it. £108 to £300 a year, plus VAT, is a small risk. If you are not sure you need a site yet, read whether your business needs a website first.
• A freelancer at the lower end makes sense if you need a few simple pages, will write the words yourself, and know someone with good references.
• A larger agency makes sense if you need online booking, a shop, integrations or many people signing things off.
• Coltura fits a service business that already gets work and wants the website to bring in enquiries: written for you, built in about 14 working days, at a fixed price.

If you already have a site, start with what you have. A free Growth Audit gives you a written, prioritised list of what is costing you enquiries and what we would do about it, whether or not you go ahead. If you are weighing up a fix against a rebuild, see whether to redesign or build a new website and what a website redesign costs in the UK.