How much does a website cost in the UK? 2026 guide

Ask ten web designers what a website costs and you will get ten different answers. Most of them start with 'it depends'. That is true, but it is not helpful when you are trying to work out whether you can afford one this quarter.

So here are real numbers. These are UK prices for 2026, based on what small businesses actually pay and what I charge myself. No games.

The short answer

• One page site or landing page: £300 to £600
• Small business site, four to six pages: £600 to £1,500
• Larger site with booking, blog or lots of content: £1,500 to £3,000
• Online shop: £2,000 upwards, depending on how many products
• Agency built custom site: £5,000 to £25,000

Most local businesses land in the £600 to £1,500 bracket. That gets you a proper site with your own design, real copy, mobile layouts, contact forms and search basics done correctly. If you want to sketch out a budget before you speak to anyone, the website cost calculator will give you a rough figure in about a minute.

What actually drives the price

Number of pages

Every page needs a layout, copy and testing. A five page site is not five times the work of a one page site, because the design system is shared, but it is not the same job either. Be honest about how many pages you really need. Most trades and service businesses need fewer than they think.

Who writes the words

Copy is the single biggest thing that slows a build down and pushes the cost up. If you write it yourself, you save money. If you want it written for you, expect to add a few hundred pounds. Neither is wrong. Just decide up front.

Photography

Good photos of your actual work will do more for your enquiries than any design trick. Stock photos are free and look it. A local photographer for half a day is usually £150 to £400 and worth every penny for a trade business.

Functionality

A contact form is standard. Online booking, payments, customer logins, stock, delivery rules and integrations with your other software all add real hours. If someone quotes you the same price for a brochure site and a shop, be careful.

The running costs nobody mentions

The build price is not the whole picture. Budget for these every year:

• Domain name: £10 to £20 a year for a .co.uk or .uk
• Hosting: £0 to £180 a year depending on the setup
• Business email: around £5 to £12 per mailbox per month
• Updates and care: £0 if you do it yourself, £40 to £120 a month if someone looks after it

A realistic all in running cost for a small business site is somewhere between £100 and £600 a year. Anyone telling you a website is free is either selling ads on it or is about to charge you later.

What you should never pay for

• A monthly fee that never ends and never gives you the site. Some 'website subscription' deals mean you never own anything. Stop paying and it vanishes.
• Being locked out of your own domain. The domain should be registered to you.
• Charges for tiny text changes, unless you knowingly signed up for pay as you go support.
• Guaranteed number one on Google. Nobody can promise that. Walk away.

Cheap versus good value

A £300 site is not automatically bad and a £3,000 site is not automatically good. The question is whether the site brings in work. A joiner who spends £900 and wins two kitchens from it has made a brilliant investment. A £5,000 site that nobody can find has not.

Judge a quote on three things. Does the designer understand what you sell? Can they show you sites they have built that are live right now? Is the price fixed before work starts?

How I price it

I quote a fixed price before anything starts. You know the number, what is included and when it is due. If the job grows because you want something extra, I tell you what it costs before I do it. No surprise invoices at the end. Most of my work is local, web design in Rugby and the towns around it, so you can even ask the businesses I name what the process was like.

If you want the actual figures, they are all on the pricing page. Nothing hidden behind a call.