Contents6 sections
Most UK businesses get wildly different quotes for what sounds like the same website. This guide breaks down real 2026 UK pricing across DIY builders, freelancers, and studios, what drives the number up or down, and how to tell a fair quote from an inflated one.
Quick answer: A professional small business website in the UK typically costs between £1,000 and £8,000 as a one-off build, with most straightforward projects landing around £2,000 to £5,000. DIY builders run £100 to £500 a year. Freelancers charge £800 to £5,000. Boutique studios and small agencies sit at £2,000 to £12,000. Complex or ecommerce builds go higher, £5,000 to £30,000 or more. On top of any build, budget £50 to £300 a month for hosting, maintenance, and updates.
Ask three web designers for a quote and you'll often get three wildly different numbers back, £500, £4,000, £18,000, for what sounded like the same project. The problem is that "website" means completely different things depending on who's building it and what's actually included. Here's what drives the price, and how to tell a fair quote from an inflated one.
What actually drives the number
Custom vs. template. A site built on a Wix or Squarespace template starts cheap because someone else already did the design work. A fully custom build costs more because it involves real strategy, UX planning, and development time spent on your business specifically, not a layout thousands of other sites are also using.
Pages and content. More pages means more design and development time. A five-page brochure site is a different job to a fifteen-page site with a CMS for a blog, case studies, and resource library.
Functionality. Ecommerce, booking systems, member logins, or CRM integration all add real development time on top of the base build. This is usually where a quote jumps from "a website" to "a website that runs part of your business."
Who's actually building it. A freelancer working solo has lower overhead than an agency with account managers, project managers, and a studio to run. That overhead buys you redundancy, if one person's unavailable, the work still moves, but you're paying for the structure around the work, not just the work itself.
The £ ranges
£ DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace etc): £100 to £500 a year, once you include a proper domain and business email. The base plan usually looks cheaper than it is, a custom domain and email usually cost extra.
£-££ Freelancer: £800 to £5,000 for most small business projects, with a straightforward four or five-page site commonly landing around £1,200 to £2,000. You're paying for one person's time directly, with less overhead but less redundancy if something goes wrong mid-project.
£-£££ Boutique studio or small agency: £2,000 to £15,000. This is where most established small businesses land, professional design and build, a proper process, and a team rather than one person carrying the whole project.
££-£££+ Full agency or complex build: £5,000 to £30,000+. Custom ecommerce, larger content-heavy sites, and anything with genuine technical complexity sit here, regardless of who's building it.
What the sticker price doesn't include
The build cost is rarely the whole story. Hosting typically runs £10 to £50 a month depending on what the site needs to handle. Ongoing maintenance, security updates, backups, and small content changes, usually adds another £50 to £300 a month if you're paying someone else to manage it. A domain renews annually, £10 to £20 in most cases. None of this is hidden, but it's easy to miss when you're focused on the headline build number.
How to tell if a quote's fair
Ask for exactly what's included, not just the price. A £500 quote that doesn't include proper mobile optimisation, basic SEO setup, or a content-writing pass usually costs more in the long run, either in a redesign within a year or in enquiries you never got because the site didn't work well enough. On the other end, a £15,000 quote for a straightforward five-page brochure site is worth questioning too, ask exactly what that price is buying beyond the design and build itself.
The right price is the one that pays for itself. A £4,000 site that brings in real enquiries every month is worth more than a £500 site that brings in none.
Where we sit
At Studio Tigris, we design and build every site in-house as one team with no handoff between a design agency and a separate dev shop. That keeps our process streamlined and closer to a freelancer's directness while retaining a studio's ability to see the project through. We quote every project individually based on what it actually needs, not a fixed package, because
the answer to "how much does a website cost" is always "it depends what you're trying to do with it."
FAQ
How much does a website cost for a small business in the UK? Most small businesses should budget £1,000 to £8,000 for a professionally built website, with £2,000 to £5,000 covering the majority of straightforward projects in 2026.
Is a cheap website worth it? Sometimes, if your needs are simple. But a cheap site often lacks proper mobile optimisation, SEO setup, or a real conversion structure, and ends up needing a redesign within a year or two, which costs more in the end.
What's the difference between a freelancer and an agency on price? Freelancers are usually cheaper, £800 to £5,000 for most projects, because you're paying one person directly. Agencies and studios cost more, £2,000 to £12,000+, because that price includes a team, a defined process, and continuity if one person's unavailable.
What ongoing costs should I expect after the build? Budget £50 to £300 a month for hosting, maintenance, and updates, plus £10 to £20 a year for your domain. These are separate from the one-off build cost and easy to forget when comparing quotes.
Does ecommerce cost more than a standard website? Yes, significantly. Product listings, payment integration, and inventory management all add development time, which is why ecommerce builds commonly start around £5,000 and can run well past £20,000 for larger stores.