How much does a small business website cost in the UK?

For a straightforward site explaining your business and taking enquiries, the DIY examples below start at roughly £10 to £17 a month at their displayed standard or annual-equivalent prices. A freelancer budget might run from about £400 to £2,500, with more complex work above that. Agency packages in the examples below run from £1,500 for one page to around £5,000 for a larger site.

These are planning ranges based on published offers and clearly identified provider estimates, checked on 13 October 2026. They are not a survey or a UK average. A one-page template build and a five-page site with researched copy and a custom design are different purchases. Shops, customer accounts and connections to other business systems can need a larger budget.

Check VAT before comparing quotes. IONOS and Mythic Beasts explicitly show prices excluding VAT. Where another provider's page does not settle the tax treatment, confirm the final bill rather than assuming every figure below includes it.

A website builder gives you an editor and hosted pages. You still choose the layout, write the words, prepare the images and test the contact route. It can be a sensible option when cash is tight, your requirements are ordinary and you have time to finish it.

These are prices displayed on the providers' own pricing pages on 13 October 2026. An annual-equivalent monthly figure means a yearly payment, not twelve freely cancellable monthly payments. Promotions and longer commitments can change the advertised starting price.

• Squarespace Basic is £12 a month billed annually, £144 a year, or £16 with monthly billing. Core is £17 a month billed annually, £204 a year, or £24 with monthly billing.
• Squarespace Plus is £29 a month billed annually or £36 monthly. Advanced is £79 a month billed annually or £89 monthly. Those higher tiers are not a necessary starting point for every small brochure site.
• IONOS MyWebsite Starter shows £6 a month for the first six months, alongside a £10 standard comparison price. Plus shows £1 a month for the first twelve months, alongside £16. All these IONOS figures exclude VAT. Confirm the later charge and contract term at checkout; the offer headline is not a permanent running cost.
• Hosting is included in these builder plans. Squarespace annual plans include an eligible domain for the first year. IONOS lists a first-year domain and one professional email address with its paid plans. Check domain renewal prices and email limits before buying.

A freelancer can be a good fit when you want one person to build a relatively small site. Their fee depends on whether they adapt an existing layout or create a new design, whether you supply finished content and how much functionality the site needs.

As a published low-cost example, freelance designer John Hitchens advertises a £400 fixed website build. His own guide estimates £800 to £2,500 for more custom or larger freelance work. That upper range is his estimate, not independently measured market data. His build fee does not make domain registration, hosting or paid extensions disappear.

For another fixed-scope example, Lagden Ltd's Essential website is £449 for up to five pages with free hosting. Compare the included work and limits with any other quote rather than treating a low headline as proof that two services are identical.

• Ask whether the price includes writing or only adding words you supply.
• Confirm the number of pages, forms and revision rounds, plus who prepares images.
• Ask how you will make changes after launch and whether training is included.
• Agree the support arrangement if the person is unavailable or a third-party feature breaks.

An agency may provide design, development, copywriting and project management through a team. That can suit a business needing several skills or a more involved launch. The agency label alone does not tell you how much research, original design or content work is included.

Media Village says most of its five-page brochure sites sit between £3,000 and £4,500. Melt Creative publishes packages from £1,500 for one page, £3,500 for eight pages and £4,900 for sixteen pages, with copywriting included. These are their own published prices, not our estimate of what every agency charges.

Expect a separate quote for unusual functionality, substantial content work or a larger shop. Compare a team's fee against the work you would otherwise need to organise yourself. Ask whether photography, branding and ongoing marketing are included or separate.

Check the renewal bill as carefully as the launch fee. Some services bundle several costs together. Do not add separate hosting or email to your budget if the chosen plan already covers what you need.

• Domain registration pays for your website address. Mythic Beasts lists one-year .co.uk registration and renewal at £6, and .com at £13.50, excluding VAT. Other registrars and extensions cost different amounts. A premium domain can cost much more, and a first-year promotion does not establish the renewal price.
• Hosting runs the website. It is bundled with the builders above. For a separately hosted site, Krystal displays entry shared-hosting plans at £7, £11 and £19 a month. Use its VAT setting to compare the bill you will pay. A dedicated application or heavily used shop may need different hosting.
• Business email may be included or charged per person. Google Workspace Business Starter displays £5.90 per user per month with a one-year commitment, compared with £7 without that commitment. Confirm taxes and the billing arrangement. Three separately licensed users cost more than one mailbox.
• Upkeep means more than paying the hosting bill. Melt Creative lists hosting and protection from £35 a month and optional support and improvements from £85 a month. Check whether a package includes software updates, tested backups, fault investigation and content changes. Doing these yourself avoids a retainer, not the work.
• Paid booking tools, website extensions, payment processing and stock images can add their own charges. List each subscription, its renewal date and who owns the account. A shop's transaction costs also depend on sales, so they are not a fixed hosting fee.

Page count matters, but it is not the only measure of effort. Ten pages using one agreed layout may need less work than a single complex quoting tool. A designer cannot price connections between systems properly without knowing what data moves and what should happen when a connection fails.

A written brief reduces guesswork. Say what customers should be able to do, which content already exists and who approves it. If your budget is limited, ask for a useful first version with optional work priced separately.

• Content work, including interviews, copywriting, photography and product descriptions.
• Custom layouts, branding work and accessibility testing.
• Online payments, stock management, bookings or customer logins.
• Connections to accounting, customer records or other business tools.
• Moving existing content while preserving useful page addresses and redirects.

Use a simple calculation: the build fee, plus twelve months of recurring charges, plus annual renewals and any usage fees. Calculate year one and the following year separately. A free first-year domain or introductory discount can make them different.

This example uses the published subscription figures above. It does not include your time, paid images or a domain renewal. Use the actual checkout and renewal totals for your own budget.

Squarespace Basic on annual billing is £144 for the year. One Google Workspace Business Starter user at £5.90 a month adds £70.80 with a one-year commitment. Together that is £214.80 before any applicable tax added at checkout and before extras. Basic does not include the first-year Workspace offer shown on Squarespace's higher plans.

Send the same brief to each provider. Ask for the one-off total, the expected recurring bill and the work that sits outside both. Then compare the result you need and the responsibility you are taking on.

• A clear list of pages and functions, with the content work included.
• The full price, VAT treatment, payment stages and extra-work rates.
• Hosting, domain, email and paid-tool renewal charges.
• The editing arrangement, support cover and backup responsibilities.
• Control of the domain and accounts, plus the rights to use the design, content and code.
• The agreed launch checks, including mobile use and enquiry delivery.