In short
- A do-it-yourself website builder costs from about £2 to £259 a month, according to Startups.co.uk.
- Hiring a designer ranges from a few hundred pounds for a basic site to £10,000 or more; one published guide puts a typical project at £5,500.
- Running costs, domain, hosting, upkeep, come on top, every year.
- The price is decided by the number of pages, the features, who writes the content and who builds it.
What published UK guides say
As with our guide to SEO costs, these are figures from sources you can check, not our opinion of what is typical. Both were read in October 2026.
| Route | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Website builder (do it yourself) | £1.99 to £259 a month | Startups.co.uk (updated March 2026) |
| WordPress (do it yourself) | £36 to £432 a year | Startups.co.uk |
| Hiring a web designer | £300–£1,000 for a basic website, up to £10,000 or more | Startups.co.uk |
| Freelance designer | £25–£50 an hour | Startups.co.uk |
| Small web agency | £50–£150 an hour | Startups.co.uk |
| Web design project (typical) | £5,500 | Expert Market (updated March 2025) |
A caution. Neither source sets out how its figures were gathered. Treat them as an indication of what is commonly charged.
Three ways to get a website
| Suits | Watch for | |
|---|---|---|
| Website builder | A new or very small business that needs a simple presence quickly. | Your time, the limits of templates, and monthly fees that never end. |
| Freelancer | A straightforward site and a clear brief. | One person’s skills and availability, and what happens if they move on. |
| Agency | A site that has to win customers: search structure, copy, design and tracking together. | Who actually does the work, and what is included after launch. |
None of these is wrong. The right one depends on what the website is for. A site that only needs to exist is a different purchase from one that has to bring in enquiries every week.
What decides the price
- How many pages. A page for each service and each place you serve is worth having, and each one takes time to plan and write.
- Who writes the content. Copy and photographs are usually the biggest hidden cost, and the commonest cause of delay.
- Features. Booking, payments, a shop, quote calculators and integrations with other systems.
- Design. A customised template costs less than a design drawn from scratch.
- Moving an existing site. Redirecting old addresses properly takes care, and protects the rankings you already have.
- Search and tracking set-up. Often left out of cheap quotes, and expensive to add afterwards.
The running costs
A website is never a one-off cost. Startups.co.uk gives these ranges for the usual extras:
| Item | Published range |
|---|---|
| Domain name | £8 to £20 or more a year |
| Hosting | £20 to £300 or more a year |
| Apps and plugins | Nothing to £100 or more a month |
| Security | Nothing to £1,000 or more a year |
Expert Market puts website maintenance at £50 to £100 or more a month. Ask what your quote includes after launch, and what it does not.
How to read a quote
- It lists the pages and features included.
- It says who writes the copy and supplies the images.
- It includes redirects from your old site, if you have one.
- It includes search set-up and enquiry tracking.
- It says who owns the site, the design and the domain.
- It states the running costs after launch.
- It says what happens if you want to move it elsewhere later.
The last two matter most with “pay monthly” websites. Check who owns the site and what you are left with if you stop paying.
The cost nobody quotes for
The most expensive website is one that nobody finds. A site built without thought for search often has to be restructured within a year, which costs more than doing it properly the first time. Our guides to SEO for a new website and the redesign checklist cover what to get right.
Still have a question?
Ask it. A person will answer.
Thank you, question received.
A person will reply by email. (Mon–Sat · 09:30–18:00)
Need us sooner? Call +44 7435 755127.