How Much Does a Website Cost in the UK? (2026 Honest Breakdown)

Website costs in the UK range from £1,500 to £10,000 for most small businesses—but that headline figure hides massive variation in what you're actually getting. The real question isn't "how much does a website cost?" It's "what factors drive price, and how do I avoid overpaying for features I don't need?"

This guide breaks down actual UK website costs based on 2026 market rates, including the factors that push prices up or down, what different budget levels buy you, and the ongoing costs most people forget to factor in. You'll learn how to spot whether you're being quoted fairly, what hidden costs to watch for, and how to budget properly for a website that works for your business.

What Actually Affects Website Costs?

Website pricing isn't mysterious—it's determined by who builds it, what it does, and how long it takes.

Five main factors determine price: who builds it (freelancer vs agency vs DIY), design complexity, functionality needed, content volume, and ongoing maintenance requirements.

Who builds your website creates the biggest price variation. UK freelancers typically charge £35–£65 per hour, agencies charge £60–£150 per hour, and DIY builders like Wix cost £9–£50 per month but require your time investment. A simple 5-page business site takes 20–40 hours, which means £700–£6,000 depending on who does the work.

Design complexity directly impacts hours required. A clean, template-based design might take 10 hours. Custom illustrations, unique layouts, or brand-specific visual elements can add 20–50 hours. Complex animations, parallax scrolling, or interactive elements push hours even higher.

Functionality requirements multiply costs fast. A basic brochure site is straightforward. Add e-commerce and you need product pages, shopping cart integration, payment processing, and inventory management. Add booking systems, user accounts, or custom calculators, and development time doubles or triples.

Content volume affects both initial build and ongoing work. Writing 5 pages of copy differs from writing 50 product descriptions. Professional copywriting costs £50–£150 per page in the UK. Photography can add £200–£2,000 depending on whether you use stock images, hire a photographer, or shoot it yourself.

Maintenance and updates represent ongoing costs most people underestimate. Security patches, plugin updates, content changes, and technical support typically cost 15–25% of initial development cost annually. A £5,000 website might cost £750–£1,250 per year to maintain properly.

How Much Do UK Web Designers Actually Charge?

UK freelancer rates vary from £10 to £100 per hour depending on experience, but £35–£65 per hour represents the majority of the market.

Junior freelancers (0–2 years experience) charge £10–£30 per hour but often take longer to complete work. Mid-level freelancers (3–7 years) charge £35–£65 per hour and represent the best value for most small businesses. Expert freelancers (8+ years) command £70–£100+ per hour but work faster and catch problems early.

UK agencies typically charge £60–£150 per hour depending on location and reputation. London agencies sit at the top of this range, whilst regional agencies cluster around £60–£90 per hour. Agency rates include project management, quality assurance, and multiple specialists, which justifies higher costs for complex projects.

Total project costs for small business websites typically fall into predictable ranges. A basic one-page website costs £1,500–£3,000. A standard 5–10 page business site costs £3,000–£6,000. E-commerce sites start at £5,000 and easily reach £10,000–£20,000 depending on product count and complexity.

Fixed-price projects offer predictability but require detailed specifications upfront. Hourly billing works better when requirements aren't fully clear, but costs can spiral without proper controls. Monthly retainers (£500–£2,000) suit businesses needing ongoing updates and support.

According to Freelancer.com UK data, the median project cost for small business websites sits around £3,500—which aligns with 50–60 hours at mid-level rates.

What About Website Builders Like Wix or Squarespace?

DIY website builders cost £9–£50 per month but require significant time investment—you're trading money for your own labour.

Wix offers four main tiers: Free (limited features, Wix branding), Combo (£9/month), Unlimited (£14/month), and VIP (£24/month). E-commerce plans start at £23/month for Basic and go up to £120/month for Enterprise. All paid plans include a free domain for the first year.

Squarespace pricing is simpler: Personal (£12/month), Business (£16/month), Basic Commerce (£24/month), and Advanced Commerce (£75/month). All plans include hosting, SSL certificates, and 24/7 support. Squarespace templates tend to look more polished than Wix out of the box, but customisation requires more technical knowledge.

According to Website Builder Expert, building a professional site on these platforms typically takes 20–40 hours if you're not familiar with web design. At a conservative £20/hour value for your time, that's £400–£800 in hidden labour costs.

Hidden limitations become apparent later. You can't migrate your content easily if you outgrow the platform. Custom functionality requires expensive third-party apps. SEO capabilities lag behind what you get with WordPress or custom builds. Transaction fees eat into e-commerce profits (2.9% + 20p per transaction on most plans).

DIY makes sense for three situations: you genuinely enjoy web design as a hobby, you need to launch in days rather than weeks, or your budget genuinely can't stretch to £1,500. For everyone else, paying a professional saves time and delivers better results.

What About Hosting, Domains, and Ongoing Costs?

Budget £100–£300 per month beyond the initial build for hosting, maintenance, security, and updates.

Domain registration costs £10–£50 per year for a .co.uk or .com domain. Premium domains (short, memorable names) can cost hundreds or thousands. Domain renewal prices sometimes jump after the first year, so check the standard rate, not just the introductory offer.

Hosting varies wildly in price and quality. Shared hosting (£3–£10/month) works for low-traffic sites but slows down as traffic grows. VPS hosting (£10–£40/month) offers better performance. Managed WordPress hosting (£20–£100/month) includes security, backups, and updates. Cloud hosting (£20–£200+/month) scales with traffic but requires technical knowledge to manage.

SSL certificates (HTTPS security) are often included free with hosting now, but premium certificates with higher validation levels cost £50–£200 per year. Every website needs SSL—browsers flag sites without it as "not secure," which kills trust and damages search rankings.

Maintenance typically costs 15–25% of initial development cost annually. A £5,000 website needs £750–£1,250 per year for security patches, plugin updates, broken link fixes, and minor content updates. Skipping maintenance creates security vulnerabilities and technical debt that's expensive to fix later.

Email hosting costs £3–£10 per mailbox per month for professional email addresses (yourname@yourbusiness.co.uk). Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) costs £4.60–£10.50 per user per month. Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs £4.40 per user per month. Free email services like Gmail look unprofessional on business cards.

Backups should be automated and stored off-site. Many hosting providers include daily backups, but verify that you can actually restore them. Premium backup services cost £5–£20 per month and provide better reliability for business-critical sites.

What About VAT and UK-Specific Costs?

Add 20% VAT to all website costs if your developer is UK-based and VAT-registered.

VAT applies to all digital services in the UK. A £3,000 project becomes £3,600 including VAT. A £5,000 website becomes £6,000. Always ask upfront: "Is your quote including or excluding VAT?" Many providers quote ex-VAT, which creates nasty surprises when the invoice arrives.

If you're VAT-registered yourself, you can reclaim the VAT on website costs as input tax. If you're not VAT-registered (many small businesses aren't), you absorb the full 20% cost. According to GOV.UK guidance, website design and development services are standard-rated for VAT purposes.

Overseas developers (EU, US, India) don't charge UK VAT, which makes them appear cheaper. A £3,000 quote from an Indian developer costs £3,000. A £3,000 quote from a UK developer costs £3,600 including VAT. But consider time zone differences, communication challenges, and potential quality issues before choosing based on price alone.

Currency exchange fees add hidden costs when paying overseas developers. Wise (formerly TransferWise) charges 0.35–1% for international transfers, which beats most UK banks (2–4%), but it still adds up on large projects.

IR35 rules affect freelancers operating through limited companies. This doesn't change your cost directly, but legitimate freelancers factor IR35 compliance into their rates. Rates that seem too good to be true might indicate corner-cutting on tax obligations, which could become your problem if HMRC investigates.

How Can You Tell If You're Being Overcharged?

Compare quotes against UK market rates: £35–£65/hour for freelancers, £60–£150/hour for agencies.

Break down quotes into hours and hourly rate. A £6,000 quote for 40 hours works out to £150/hour—which sits at the top end of UK agency rates. A £2,000 quote for 50 hours is £40/hour—reasonable for a mid-level freelancer. If the maths doesn't make sense, ask for a detailed breakdown.

Red flags include vague project scope ("we'll build everything you need"), requests for 100% upfront payment (standard is 25–50% deposit), no portfolio shown, and prices that seem too good to be true. According to Media Village, a UK digital agency, legitimate providers always show previous work and explain their pricing structure.

Watch for feature creep in estimates. Some providers quote low initially, then add charges for "extras" like mobile optimisation (should be standard), SSL certificates (often free), or basic SEO (should be included). A legitimate quote includes all necessary features upfront.

Check what's included in ongoing costs. Some providers quote low initial prices but lock you into expensive monthly fees. Others quote higher upfront but include six months of free updates. Total cost of ownership over two years matters more than initial price.

Compare multiple quotes on an apples-to-apples basis. If one quote is £2,000 and another is £5,000, look at what's different. Does the cheaper quote assume you'll provide all content? Does the expensive one include features you don't need? Specification differences explain most price variations.

What Should You Budget for Your Website?

Most UK small businesses should budget £3,000–£6,000 for initial development plus £100–£300/month ongoing.

New local service businesses like tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, builders) or solicitors can start at £1,500–£3,000 for a simple business website with 5–7 pages. This gets you professional design, mobile optimisation, contact forms, and basic SEO. It won't win awards, but it establishes credibility and captures enquiries.

Established businesses replacing outdated sites should budget £3,000–£6,000. This range includes custom design, 10–15 pages, blog functionality, better SEO setup, and more sophisticated features. You're competing with other businesses in your sector, so the website needs to look professional and function flawlessly.

E-commerce businesses need £5,000–£15,000 depending on product count and complexity. A small shop with 20–50 products sits at the lower end. Large catalogues, multiple payment options, shipping integrations, and sophisticated checkout flows push costs higher. E-commerce isn't a category where you want to go cheap—cart abandonment costs you real revenue.

Budget for the website you need in two years, not just the one you need today. Growing businesses quickly outgrow basic sites. Building in room for expansion costs less than rebuilding from scratch in 18 months. Ask your developer: "How easily can we add features later?" That answer matters as much as initial price.

Ongoing costs shouldn't be an afterthought. Include hosting (£10–£40/month), maintenance (£50–£200/month), content updates (£100–£300/month if you're paying someone), and SEO services (£300–£1,500/month if needed). A £5,000 website with £0 ongoing investment becomes outdated and insecure within a year.

Ready to Build Your Website?

Website costs in the UK depend primarily on who builds it, how complex it is, and what ongoing support you need. Most small businesses should budget £3,000–£6,000 for initial development plus £100–£300 per month for hosting, maintenance, and updates. Those numbers get you a professional site that works properly, looks good on mobile, and won't become a security liability.

At Outcome Digital Marketing, we're transparent about pricing from the start. We build websites for Cornwall businesses that balance functionality, design, and budget. Our approach focuses on creating sites that actually generate business, not just tick technical boxes. We explain everything in plain English, show you what you're getting, and deliver websites that you're proud to show customers.

If you're ready to discuss your website project honestly—including what it'll cost and what that money actually buys—get in touch. We'll talk through your needs, show you examples of what different budgets deliver, and give you a clear, detailed quote with no hidden surprises.