A DIY builder costs from a couple of pounds to a few hundred a month. A basic designer-built site is a few hundred to a few thousand pounds. A small agency site is usually £5,000–£10,000, and bespoke or e-commerce work starts around £10,000. Then budget for a domain, hosting and, if you want it looked after, a monthly care plan.
"How much is a website?" is the first question almost everyone asks me, and the honest answer is a range. Below are the ranges three UK guides publish, side by side, so you can see where any quote you get sits. The figures are theirs, quoted as published; I read each one on 13 October 2026. Two of the three are written by web design businesses, who have their own prices to sell (and so am I), so read them as a market view rather than gospel.
1. DIY website builders
Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and the rest charge a monthly subscription. Startups.co.uk says builder plans "cost between £1.99 and £259 per month"[1], depending on features and e-commerce. Webpop Design puts a DIY or template site at "£0–£1,000"[2] all in.
This is the right choice if your budget is tight and you have the time to write, design and maintain it yourself. The real cost is your hours, and you rent the platform rather than own the site.
2. A freelance web designer
Startups.co.uk quotes freelance web designers at "£25–£50 per hour" and says a web designer "could cost your business around £300–£1,000 for a basic website"[1]. Webpop Design is higher, quoting freelancers at "often somewhere between £40 and £80" an hour and freelancer-built sites at "£2,000–£6,000"[2].
The spread is wide because "freelancer" covers everyone from someone installing a theme to an experienced designer-developer. Ask what is included: copywriting, mobile testing, search set-up, and who owns the site at the end.
3. A small studio or agency
Startups.co.uk lists small web agencies at "£50–£150 per hour" and large ones at "£75–£200+ per hour"[1]. Webpop Design says "most serious small business websites sit somewhere between £5,000 and £10,000"[2]. SwiftCase says "a professional website for a small business in the UK typically costs between £1,500 and £15,000"[3], and publishes its own packages from £1,500 + VAT.
4. Bespoke and e-commerce builds
Once a site needs to do things (take payments, handle bookings, connect to other systems), prices climb. Startups.co.uk says "a custom or bespoke website could cost you £10,000+"[1]. Webpop Design puts e-commerce or feature-rich sites at "£10,000–£25,000" and large bespoke platforms at "£25,000–£100,000+"[2]. SwiftCase's top tier, "£7,000–£15,000+", covers sites "with e-commerce, custom applications, extensive content, or complex integrations"[3].
5. What you pay every year after launch
- Domain name: "£8–20+ per year" (Startups.co.uk)[1]; "£8–£15 per year" for a .co.uk or .com (SwiftCase)[3].
- Hosting: "£20–£300+ per year" (Startups.co.uk)[1]; "from £5 per month for basic shared hosting to £50 or more for managed hosting" (SwiftCase)[3].
- Maintenance / care: "£50–£150 per month" (SwiftCase)[3]; "£80–£400/month, depending on what is included" (Webpop Design)[2].
- Ongoing SEO, if you buy it: "£150–£1,200+ per month" (Startups.co.uk)[1].
What Topline charges
My prices are fixed and published, the same for everyone:
- Starter — £1,250: a 5-page mobile-friendly site with a contact form, click-to-call and basic on-page SEO.
- Growth — £2,500: a 10-page custom-designed site, copywriting done for you, and an online booking or quote form.
- Pro — £4,000: everything in Growth plus e-commerce or an advanced custom build, with the SEO start-up package included.
- SEO start-up — £250 one-off on Starter or Growth: Google Business Profile set-up, local SEO and schema markup, and your details matching across directories.
- Care — £99 a month from launch, optional, cancel any time: keeps the site updated, backed up and edited, and keeps the search work going.
Half is paid on signing and half on launch, and you own the code, domain and content. Full details are on the pricing section.
Bigger projects with working parts (payments, bookings, AI assistants, dashboards) are quoted individually, typically £8k–£25k, starting with a paid Digital Roadmap. That's explained on the bespoke builds page.
How to compare quotes fairly
- Who writes the words, and who supplies the photos?
- How many pages, and what happens when you want another one?
- Is search set-up (Google Business Profile, titles, schema) included or extra?
- Who owns the site, the domain and the hosting account at the end?
- What does it cost per year to keep running, and what happens if you stop paying?
- If you already have a site: will every old page address be redirected so you don't lose your search traffic?
Quick questions
Is £1,250 cheap for a website?
It sits between a DIY builder and a typical agency project. Startups.co.uk puts a basic site from a web designer at around £300–£1,000, and Webpop Design puts freelancer-built sites at £2,000–£6,000.
What will I pay every year after launch?
At minimum a domain (roughly £8–£20 a year) and hosting. If you want someone to keep it updated, backed up and edited, expect a monthly care or maintenance plan; the guides quoted here put those at £50–£150 or £80–£400 a month depending on what is included.
Why do agency quotes vary so much?
Hourly rates differ (Startups.co.uk quotes £50–£150 an hour for small agencies and £75–£200+ for large ones), and so does what is included: copywriting, photography, integrations, testing and support.
Sources
- Startups.co.uk, "How much does a website cost?" (updated 23 March 2026). Accessed 13 October 2026.
- Webpop Design, "How much does a website cost in the UK?" (8 August 2025). Accessed 13 October 2026.
- SwiftCase, "How much does a website cost for a small business in the UK?" (15 March 2026). Accessed 13 October 2026.
Figures are quoted from each source as published on the date accessed; prices change, so check the source for the latest. Topline's prices are correct as of 13 October 2026.