What does a website cost in the UK in 2026?
Honest price ranges for small business websites, the running costs nobody mentions, where the money goes, and how to compare quotes fairly.
On this page 5 sections
Key takeaways
- Template sites can cost a few hundred pounds; a custom, well-built small business site typically costs £4,000 to £8,000.
- Running costs are real: hosting, domain, licences and care add roughly £300 to £3,000 a year depending on the plan.
- On a custom build, design and development take about three-quarters of the budget; discovery and launch take the rest.
- The cheapest quote often leaves out content, training, redirects or aftercare. Compare scope, not totals.
- Estimate in hours, then fix the price: you see what drives the cost and still get certainty. Be wary of open-ended hourly billing for a whole build.
“How much does a website cost?” is the question we hear most, and the honest answer is a range. This guide gives you real numbers: our own starting prices, typical market ranges, and the ongoing costs people forget to budget for.
Typical one-off costs#
| Type of site | What you usually get | Typical cost | Typical timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template or DIY builder | A theme customised with your content | £300 – £2,000 | 1 – 2 weeks |
| Custom small business site | 5 to 10 pages, custom design and build, CMS training | £4,000 – £8,000 | 4 – 6 weeks |
| Content-rich or bespoke features | Blog or resources hub, custom post types, integrations | £8,000 – £20,000 | 6 – 10 weeks |
| Platform | Membership, e-commerce, multilingual, complex workflows | £20,000 + | 10 weeks + |
We charge one rate, £200 an hour, for every phase, and fix the price before any work starts. A ten-page custom site with a blog, replacing an old one, typically takes us 33 to 45 hours: £6,600 to £9,000. It sits at the upper end of the market range because it includes the things cheaper quotes leave out: redirects, accessibility testing, training and 30 days of fixes. Try our cost calculator for your own project, with every hour shown.
Where the money goes on a custom build#
Discovery looks small, but it is the phase that keeps the other three on budget. Skipping it is the most expensive way to save money.
The running costs#
| Cost | Typical range per year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name | £10 – £25 | .co.uk is usually cheaper than .com |
| Hosting | £60 – £600 | Managed WordPress hosting sits at the upper end |
| SSL certificate | £0 | Free certificates from Let’s Encrypt are standard |
| Premium plugin and font licences | £0 – £300 | A custom theme usually needs fewer |
| Maintenance and support | £0 – £2,400 + | Ours starts at £200 a month for updates, backups, monitoring and an hour of changes |
| Per user, per month | Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, billed separately |
What makes a quote go up#
- Number of unique templates, not number of pages. Ten service pages that share one template cost far less than ten different layouts.
- Content. Writing, photography and migrating old content often cost more than expected. Decide early who is doing it.
- Integrations. CRMs, booking systems, payment gateways and stock feeds each add design, build and testing time.
- Languages and accessibility targets add work in every phase.
- Deadlines. A fixed date that does not allow a normal schedule usually costs more.
Comparing quotes fairly#
- Is the scope written down, page by page and feature by feature?
- Who writes and uploads the content?
- Are redirects from your old URLs included?
- Is training included, and is it recorded?
- What happens after launch, and for how long is support included?
- Who owns the code, the design files and the hosting account?
If one quote is far cheaper than the others, ask what it leaves out. The gap is usually content, redirects, testing or aftercare, and those costs come back later.
Not ready to commit to a rebuild? A one-off audit costs £400 or £1,000, tells you what is worth fixing, and the fee is credited if you go ahead with us.
Sources and further reading
- Zenotia cost calculator: every hour shown
- Let’s Encrypt: free TLS certificates letsencrypt.org
- WordPress hosting requirements — WordPress.org wordpress.org