UK Pricing Guide — Updated for 2025

How Much Does a Website
Cost in the UK?
The Full 2025 Guide.

From a £500 freelancer to a £15,000 agency project — we break down every option, expose the hidden costs, and show you the cheapest way to get a professional site online.

Try the £29/year option Jump to cost breakdown
£29
cheapest professional option/yr
£500–15k
typical UK build costs
£300+
hidden costs per year
60s
to build with AI

Cost breakdown by type

UK Website Cost by Option

Your four choices — from hiring a freelancer to using an AI builder. Here's what you'll actually pay.

Option Typical Cost Time to Launch Includes Hosting Requires You
UK Freelancer £500 – £3,000 2–8 weeks Rarely Write content, review drafts
UK Agency £2,000 – £15,000+ 4–16 weeks Sometimes Briefs, approvals, meetings
DIY Builder (Wix/Squarespace) £100 – £500/yr Days to weeks Yes Design, write, build everything
AI Builder (ChilledSites)BEST VALUE £29 – £49/yr 60 seconds Yes — everything included Just describe your business

Costs are one-off build fees (freelancer/agency) or annual subscription fees (builders). Hosting, domain, and maintenance are separate for freelancer/agency builds.

What nobody tells you upfront

Hidden Costs UK Businesses Miss

The build fee is just the start. Most UK small businesses are shocked by the ongoing costs that pile up on top.

Domain Name

£10 – £15/year

A .co.uk domain costs around £10–12/year. A .com is £12–15/year. Renews annually — easy to forget until it expires and someone else buys it.

Hosting

£50 – £200/year

Shared hosting starts around £50/year from GoDaddy or SiteGround. Managed WordPress hosting (WP Engine, Kinsta) runs £200–600/year for anything serious.

SSL Certificate

£0 – £100/year

Some hosts include SSL free (Let's Encrypt). Others charge £50–100/year for a premium certificate. Without it, browsers display "Not Secure" warnings to visitors.

Plugins & Licences

£100 – £400/year

WordPress sites typically need 5–15 plugins. Premium plugins (forms, SEO, page builders, security) add up fast. Expect £100–400/year just to keep features working.

Ongoing Maintenance

£500 – £2,000/year

Updates, security patches, content changes, bug fixes. Many agencies charge a monthly retainer of £50–200 for basic maintenance. That's £600–2,400 per year on top of the build.

Content Writing

£300 – £1,500 one-off

Professional copywriters charge £50–150 per page. A 10-page site could cost £500–1,500 in copy alone. Most clients underestimate this — or try to write it themselves.

Total hidden costs per year (typical UK business):

£660 – £2,715/year

On top of the initial build fee. With ChilledSites, all of this is bundled into £29/year — domain connection, hosting, SSL, and no separate plugin costs.

Key cost drivers

What Affects Website Cost in the UK

Five factors that push quotes up — or down — when you're getting estimates from UK freelancers and agencies.

Number of Pages

A 5-page brochure site (Home, About, Services, Blog, Contact) is the baseline. Each extra page — case studies, team bios, landing pages — adds time and cost. Agencies typically quote per page or per section.

Medium impact

Custom vs Template Design

A template-based build (Divi, Elementor) is £500–2,000. A fully bespoke design — unique layouts, custom illustrations, brand-led visual identity — can add £3,000–8,000 to a project budget.

High impact

E-commerce Functionality

Adding a shop changes everything. WooCommerce or Shopify builds typically cost £2,000–8,000 just for setup. Add product photography, payment gateway integration, and inventory management and costs rise fast.

High impact

CMS Requirements

If you want to update pages yourself, you need a CMS like WordPress or Craft. Good CMS setup adds £500–2,000 to a project. Training costs extra. With AI builders, this is built in from day one.

Medium impact

SEO & Analytics Setup

Technical SEO (sitemaps, structured data, Core Web Vitals optimisation) is a separate line item at most agencies. Expect to pay £300–1,000 for proper SEO setup on top of the build cost.

Lower impact

Content Writing

Most agencies charge separately for copywriting. A professional UK copywriter charges £50–150 per page. If your site needs 10 pages of persuasive, SEO-friendly copy, budget an extra £500–1,500.

Medium impact

The smartest option in 2025

The Cheapest Professional Option:
AI Website Builders

AI-powered builders have changed the economics completely. You get a professional, multi-page website — without the agency price tag.

ChilledSites — UK-built AI website builder

A complete website. Built in 60 seconds. £29/year.

ChilledSites uses AI to generate a full, professional website from a single text prompt. Multi-page structure, custom copy, responsive design, and everything hosted — all included in the annual price.

No hidden costs. No separate hosting bill. No designer. No developer. No waiting weeks for a freelancer to respond.

Build my site — £29/year
£29/yr
everything included — no upsells
  • AI generates your full website
  • Multi-page — Home, About, Services, Contact
  • Custom domain connection included
  • Fast hosting + SSL included
  • Analytics dashboard built in
  • Contact forms with email alerts
  • AI editing — change anything by typing

If you go the agency route

UK Web Design Agency Rates in 2025

Day rates vary by role, seniority, and location. London rates are 20–40% higher than the UK average.

Junior Web Designer
£250 – £350
day rate
Typical project: £500 – £2,000
Template-based, simple brochure sites
Mid-Level Designer / Dev
£350 – £550
day rate
Typical project: £2,000 – £6,000
Custom designs, WordPress builds
Senior Full-Stack Developer
£600 – £900
day rate
Typical project: £5,000 – £15,000
Bespoke builds, e-commerce, integrations
London Agency (Team of 3+)
£1,200 – £2,000
day rate
Typical project: £8,000 – £30,000+
Brand-led, enterprise, complex platforms
Project Type Typical Cost (UK) Timeline Who It's For
Starter brochure site (3–5 pages) £500 – £2,000 1–3 weeks Sole traders, new businesses
Professional business site (5–10 pages) £2,000 – £6,000 4–8 weeks SMEs, service businesses
WordPress with blog & CMS £3,000 – £8,000 6–10 weeks Content-led businesses
E-commerce (WooCommerce/Shopify) £4,000 – £12,000 8–16 weeks Online retailers
Bespoke custom build £10,000 – £30,000+ 12–24 weeks Larger businesses, platforms
Skip the agency — get a professional site today

Why pay £3,000 for a website
when AI builds one for £29?

ChilledSites generates professional, multi-page websites in 60 seconds. Same quality. A fraction of the cost. No waiting for a freelancer, no agency briefs, no back-and-forth revisions.

Build mine now — £29/year

Common questions

UK Website Cost: Your Questions Answered

How much does a basic website cost in the UK?
A basic 5-page business website in the UK costs £500–2,000 from a freelancer, £2,000–6,000 from an agency, or £29–49/year from an AI website builder like ChilledSites. The AI option includes hosting, custom domain, forms, and analytics — making it by far the cheapest professional option for most small businesses.
What is the cheapest way to get a professional website in the UK?
AI website builders are the cheapest professional option in 2025. ChilledSites costs £29/year and generates a complete multi-page website in 60 seconds — including hosting, SSL, custom domain connection, analytics, and contact forms. There are no additional hidden costs and no technical skills required.
Are there ongoing costs after a website is built?
Yes — and most businesses underestimate these. For a freelancer or agency-built site, expect to pay £10–15/year for the domain, £50–200/year for hosting, £0–100/year for SSL, £100–400/year for plugins, and £500–2,000/year for maintenance. That's potentially £660–2,700/year on top of the initial build cost. With an AI builder like ChilledSites, all of this is bundled into the annual fee.
How much do UK web designers charge per hour?
UK freelance web designers typically charge £25–75 per hour depending on experience and location. Specialist developers (React, custom CMS, e-commerce) charge £50–120/hour. London-based freelancers sit at the top end. Most projects are quoted as fixed-price rather than hourly to manage expectations on both sides.
Is a £29/year AI website any good for a real business?
Yes, for the vast majority of UK small businesses. AI website builders like ChilledSites generate professional, multi-page websites that include proper copywriting, mobile-responsive design, custom domain support, fast hosting, analytics, and contact forms. The low price reflects AI efficiency — not lower quality. If you need a complex e-commerce store or a bespoke platform, an agency is still the right choice. But for most service businesses, trades, and professional services, an AI builder is more than sufficient.

Stop paying agency prices.
Start building smarter.

The UK web design market hasn't changed in 20 years. ChilledSites has. Get a professional, AI-generated website for less than your monthly broadband bill — all in.

Build my website — £29/year See all pricing