If you run a small business in the UK and you've started asking around for a website, you've probably had quotes that range from "free" to several thousand pounds. Both can be honest. The price depends far more on how the site gets built than on what it ends up looking like.
This guide breaks down what a small business website really costs in the UK in 2026, what you pay up front, what you keep paying every year, and where the hidden costs tend to sit. Prices quoted here were checked in November 2026 and are linked to their sources, so you can check them yourself before you commit.
The short answer
For a typical local service business (a plumber, salon, café, accountant or consultant) wanting a professional site of four or five pages, these are the realistic routes:
- DIY website builder (Wix, Squarespace and similar): Typical up-front cost: £0. Typical ongoing cost: Roughly £100 to £420 a year for a plan, plus a domain. Who does the work: You.
- AI website builder: Typical up-front cost: £0 to start on many. Typical ongoing cost: £0 to a monthly plan, plus a domain. Who does the work: The software drafts it, you review it.
- Freelance web designer: Typical up-front cost: Roughly £300 to £3,000. Typical ongoing cost: Hosting, care plans and paid changes. Who does the work: The freelancer.
- Small web agency: Typical up-front cost: Roughly £1,500 to £10,000+. Typical ongoing cost: Hosting, maintenance retainer, paid changes. Who does the work: The agency.
Those ranges come from UK sources, not guesswork. Startups.co.uk (last updated March 2026) puts website builder plans at £1.99 to £259 a month and a web designer at about £300 to £1,000 for a basic site, rising to £10,000 or more for something bespoke. Cude Design, a UK agency, puts freelancer-built brochure sites at £500 to £3,000 and small-to-medium agency builds at £3,000 to £15,000.
The spread is wide because "a website" covers everything from a single page to a custom-built system with bookings and payments. So it helps to separate the costs out.
The costs every website has
Whichever route you take, a few costs are always there.
1. A domain name
Your address on the web, such as yourbusiness.co.uk. Startups.co.uk puts a domain at roughly £8 to £20 a year. It renews every year, so budget for it as a running cost, not a one-off. Some builders give you the first year free and then charge the normal rate.
One tip that will save you a headache later: register the domain in your own name or your company's name, not your web designer's. If you ever change provider, you want to be able to take it with you.
2. Hosting
Hosting is where your website actually lives. Website builders include it in the plan. If a freelancer or agency builds a custom site, you will usually pay for hosting separately, often bundled into a monthly "care plan" that also covers updates and backups.
3. Changes after launch
This is the cost people forget. Your prices change, you add a service, you want to put up a holiday notice. If you can edit the site yourself, that costs you time. If you can't, it costs you money, usually by the hour.
4. Your own time
A DIY builder is cheap in pounds but expensive in hours. Someone has to choose a template, write every page, source photos and set up the basic search engine settings. If you bill your own time at £40 an hour, a "free" website that takes three evenings and a weekend isn't free.
Route 1: DIY website builders
Wix, Squarespace and similar tools give you a template and an editor, and you do the rest.
What it costs. As of November 2026, Squarespace's UK pricing page lists its Basic plan at £12 a month paid annually (£16 paying monthly) and Core at £17 a month annually (£24 monthly). Startups.co.uk found Wix's cheapest plan worked out at about £9 a month paid annually, or £11.50 paying month by month. Wix has a free plan and Squarespace offers a free trial, but on both you need a paid plan to put the site on your own domain.
What you get. Hosting, a drag-and-drop editor and a large template library. Wix also lists AI creation tools on every plan.
The catch. You're still the designer, copywriter and SEO person. Most of the real cost is time, and the quality depends on how much of it you put in.
Route 2: Hiring a freelancer or agency
What it costs. Anything from a few hundred pounds for a simple site from a freelancer to five figures for a bespoke agency build. For a standard four-to-ten-page site for a local business, most of the UK sources above land somewhere between £1,000 and £5,000. Add 20% VAT if the provider is VAT-registered, and check whether the quote is shown with or without it.
What you get. Someone else's skill and time. A good designer will ask the right questions, write or polish the copy, and set the site up properly.
The catch. Timelines are usually measured in weeks, and you'll often pay for every change after launch. Ongoing care plans add a monthly cost. As an example, the UK agency Orange Jelly publishes a care plan at £60 a month plus VAT, with changes charged by the hour.
If your business needs something genuinely custom, such as complex bookings, an online shop with hundreds of products, or integrations with other systems, a professional is often the right call. For a straightforward local services site, it can be more than you need.
Route 3: AI website builders
This is the newer option. Instead of starting from a blank template, you describe your business and the software drafts the site for you.
They vary a lot. Some produce a single landing page. Others build a full multi-page site with copy, design and search engine basics already in place.
Stack48 is one of these, so here is exactly what it costs, taken from the Stack48 pricing page:
- Free, £0. One website, limited AI usage, and your own custom domain included. Hosting, working enquiry forms and chat or point-and-click editing are all included. No credit card is needed to start.
- Pro, £9.99 a month. Five websites, higher AI usage, priority generation, email support and no Stack48 branding on your site.
- Agency, £55 a month. Unlimited websites, bulk generation and an agency dashboard, aimed at people building sites for clients.
You describe what the business does, and Stack48 plans the pages, writes the copy and builds a working site with meta titles, descriptions and structured data generated for each page (how it works). You can then change anything by asking in chat or clicking on the page.
The catch. You still need to buy a domain from a registrar, and you should read every page before you publish. AI writes a good first draft, but only you know your prices, service area and the things that make you different. On the Free plan the site carries Stack48 branding; Pro removes it.
Hidden costs to watch for
Whatever route you choose, ask about these before you sign anything:
- Domain transfer fees or ownership. Who owns the domain? Can you move it?
- Email. A professional address like [email protected] is usually a separate cost from your website, through a provider such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
- Copywriting and photography. Cude Design puts professional copywriting at £300 to £1,500 or more. Many quotes assume you'll supply the words and photos.
- Plugins and licences. WordPress sites in particular can depend on paid plugins for forms, bookings or security.
- SEO. Setting up the basics should be part of any build. Ongoing SEO work is a separate monthly service and isn't part of the website price.
- Exit costs. If you leave a freelancer or platform, can you take your site with you, or do you start again?
So what should a small business budget?
A rough rule of thumb for 2026:
- Just starting out, or testing an idea: £0 to £200 for the first year. A free plan on a builder that lets you use your own domain, plus the domain itself.
- Established local service business: £100 to £500 a year on a builder, or £1,000 to £3,000 up front with a freelancer plus their running costs.
- Complex needs (shop, bookings, integrations): a proper quote from a professional. Expect four figures or more.
Whatever you spend, the money is only well spent if the site does its job: helping people find you on Google, trust you, and get in touch. A cheaper site that is clear, fast and on your own domain will usually beat an expensive one that's out of date.
If you'd like to see what a free route looks like for your business, you can describe your business to Stack48 and get a working draft without entering card details. If it isn't right for you, you've lost nothing but a few minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- How much should a small business pay for a website in the UK?
- For a simple local services site, most UK sources put a freelancer build at roughly £300 to £3,000 and a small agency build from around £1,500 to £10,000 or more. DIY and AI website builders can cost from nothing up front to a few hundred pounds a year. The right figure depends on what the site needs to do.
- What are the ongoing costs of a website?
- Expect to pay for a domain name every year (roughly £8 to £20 according to Startups.co.uk), hosting or a builder plan, and any changes you can't make yourself. Business email, paid plugins and ongoing SEO are usually separate costs.
- Can I get a small business website for free?
- Yes, with limits. Some builders have free plans, but many only let you use your own domain on a paid plan. Stack48's Free plan includes one website, hosting and your own custom domain, with limited AI usage and Stack48 branding on the site. You still need to buy the domain from a registrar.
- Is VAT included in website quotes?
- Not always. If your web designer or agency is VAT-registered, they'll add VAT at the standard rate of 20%. Check whether a quote is shown with or without VAT before comparing prices.
- Who should own my domain name?
- You or your business should. Register the domain in your own name or your company's name, even if someone else builds the site, so you can take it with you if you change provider.
