If you’re trying to work out website cost UK-wide, the honest answer is “it depends,” but that’s not much help when you’re trying to set a budget. Here’s what the real ranges look like in 2026, and what actually moves the price up or down.
DIY website builders
Squarespace and Wix start from around £12 to £20 a month, so roughly £150 to £250 a year once you add a domain. This is the cheapest way to get online, but the real cost is your own time rather than money. Budget several weekends minimum if you want it to look properly finished.
Website cost UK: semi-custom
This is the middle option, and where most small businesses actually land. My own semi-custom sites start from £850, covering a professionally designed template tailored to your brand, content and images, fully set up and ready to launch. You get a designer’s eye without the price or timeline of a full custom build.
Fully custom websites
A bespoke build from scratch typically starts from around £1,500 to £5,000 for a small business site, climbing higher with more pages, e-commerce, or custom functionality. This is worth it once your business has outgrown a template, or needs something a template genuinely can’t do.
What actually changes your website cost
Number of pages, whether you need e-commerce, custom functionality like bookings or memberships, and how much content you already have ready versus needing written from scratch. A five-page site with your copy and photos ready to go will always cost less than the same site built from nothing.
Ongoing costs to budget for
Hosting (£5 to £20 a month depending on provider), your domain (around £10 to £15 a year), and if you’re on a semi-custom build, your own Elementor licence. None of these are large individually, but they’re easy to forget when you’re only looking at the upfront design fee.
If you’re not sure which option fits your budget, get in touch and we can figure it out together. And if you want a proper walk-through of DIY versus done-for-you before you decide, this post covers it in more depth.
