UK Pricing Guide, updated for 2026

How Much Does a Website
Cost in the UK?
The Full 2026 Guide.

From a £500 freelancer to a £15,000 agency project, here is what each option actually costs in the UK, including the running costs most quotes leave out.

See the cost breakdown Jump to FAQs
£9
cheapest subscription option/mo
£500–15k
typical UK build costs
£660+
hidden costs per year
Minutes
to build a site with AI, not weeks
A UK website typically costs £500–£3,000 one-off from a freelancer, £2,000–£15,000+ one-off from an agency, £100–£500 a year from a DIY builder such as Wix, or from £9 a month from an AI builder such as ChilledSites. On top of a freelancer or agency build, expect £660–£2,700 a year in ongoing hosting, domain and maintenance costs; DIY and AI builders bundle most of this into the subscription.

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)LOWEST MONTHLY COST £9 – £18/mo A few minutes Yes, hosting and SSL included Just describe your business

Costs are one-off build fees (freelancer/agency) or monthly subscription fees (builders). Hosting, domain, and maintenance are separate for freelancer/agency builds. ChilledSites Pro is £9/month for one live site with 120,000 build tokens and 5,000 monthly edit tokens; Pro+ is £18/month for up to three sites with 300,000 build tokens and 15,000 monthly edit tokens. There is no free tier; a done-for-you build is a one-off £299.

Ongoing running costs

How Much Does a Website Cost Per Month in the UK?

Once a site is live, the monthly bill depends on the route you took to build it.

Route Typical Monthly Cost What It Covers
DIY builder (Wix/Squarespace) £10 – £40/mo Builder subscription, hosting and SSL bundled in
AI builder (ChilledSites) £9 – £18/mo Hosting, SSL, free domain, AI edits bundled in
Freelancer/agency build, self-managed £5 – £25/mo Hosting, domain and SSL only, no support
Freelancer/agency build, with retainer £55 – £225/mo Hosting, domain, plugins and a maintenance retainer

A freelancer- or agency-built WordPress site is rarely "free" to run once it's live: hosting (£4–£17/mo), a domain (under £1.50/mo), plugin licences (£8–£33/mo) and a maintenance retainer (£50–£200/mo) add up fast if you add support on top.

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. Subscription options such as ChilledSites and most DIY builders bundle domain connection, hosting and SSL into the monthly fee instead, so these costs don't appear as separate annual bills.

Doing it yourself

How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Website Yourself?

Building your own site with a DIY builder is the cheapest route on paper, but the annual bill still adds up.

DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace)

£120 – £650 in year one

A domain (£10–£15/year) plus a builder subscription (£100–£500/year), sometimes with extra fees for a premium theme or an app from the builder's marketplace. Costs are similar or slightly lower in following years once setup is done.

Self-hosted WordPress

£60 – £215/year

A domain (£10–£15/year) plus hosting (£50–£200/year). You install WordPress yourself, choose a theme, and set up any plugins, which takes more technical time than a builder.

Your own time

Not a cash cost, but real

With any DIY route you're doing the design, writing and building yourself. Budget several evenings to a few weeks depending on how many pages you need and how comfortable you are with the tools.

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, such as case studies, team bios or 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, with unique layouts, custom illustrations and a 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

Where AI builders fit

AI Website Builders: The Lower-Cost Subscription Option

AI builders changed the economics of a basic professional website. Here is what one of them, ChilledSites, actually includes, and where it isn't the right fit.

ChilledSites, a UK-built AI website builder

An AI-generated website from £9 a month.

ChilledSites uses AI to generate a multi-page website from a text description: page structure, copy and a responsive design, with hosting included in the monthly price.

Pro is £9/month for one live site (120,000 build tokens, 5,000 monthly edit tokens). Pro+ is £18/month for up to three sites (300,000 build tokens, 15,000 monthly edit tokens, priority support). Both include hosting, SSL, a free domain registration, contact forms, analytics and AI edits, billed monthly with no fixed term. If you use up your monthly edit credits, extra AI edit credits are sold as token packs from £8. There is no free tier; a done-for-you build is a one-off £299.

It's a good fit for a brochure or service-business site you can describe in a paragraph. For a complex e-commerce store or a bespoke platform with custom functionality, an agency or freelance developer is still the better choice.

See ChilledSites plans
£9/mo
Pro plan, hosting and SSL included
  • AI generates your full website
  • Multi-page: Home, About, Services, Contact
  • Free domain registration included
  • Hosting and SSL included
  • Analytics dashboard built in
  • Contact forms included
  • AI edits included, monthly credits

If you go the agency route

How Much Does Website Design Cost in the UK?

Design-only work, meaning layout and visual identity without the build, typically costs £500–3,000 from a freelance designer. Design and build together costs £2,000–15,000+ depending on the agency and number of pages. Day rates vary by role and seniority, and 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

Selling online

E-commerce Website Costs in the UK

Adding a shop changes the pricing entirely. Here's what a UK online store typically costs to set up and run.

Item Typical Cost Notes
Shopify or WooCommerce setup £2,000 – £8,000 Freelancer or small agency, standard theme
Agency e-commerce build £4,000 – £12,000 Custom design, product photography, integrations
Platform/hosting subscription £20 – £80/mo Shopify plans or managed WooCommerce hosting
Card payment processing Percentage + fixed fee per sale Set by the payment provider (Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal), not the web platform

Payment processing fees are charged by whichever payment provider you connect, and the exact percentage varies by provider and card type, so check their current pricing rather than a fixed figure quoted elsewhere. A shop with heavy customisation, multi-currency, or complex inventory usually needs an agency or developer rather than a DIY or AI builder.

Before you ask for a price

How to Get an Accurate Website Quote

Quotes vary wildly because most businesses ask for "a website" without specifying what they need. Prepare these before contacting a freelancer or agency:

  1. Number of pages you need, and which ones (Home, About, Services, Blog, Contact, Shop)
  2. Whether you need e-commerce, and roughly how many products
  3. Whether you already have a brand, logo and photography, or need these created
  4. Who will write the copy: you, the agency, or a copywriter
  5. Whether you need to edit the site yourself after launch, and how often
  6. Your budget range and timeline, stated upfront rather than left open
  7. Whether ongoing maintenance and support should be included in the quote or costed separately

A freelancer or agency that quotes a fixed price without asking most of these questions is guessing. Get two or three quotes for the same brief so you're comparing like for like.

Common questions

UK Website Cost: Your Questions Answered

How much does a website cost in the UK?
A website in the UK typically costs £500 to £3,000 one-off from a freelancer, £2,000 to £15,000 or more from an agency, £100 to £500 a year from a DIY builder such as Wix, or from £9 a month from an AI builder such as ChilledSites. The right price depends on how many pages you need, whether the design is custom, and whether you can update it yourself.
How much does it cost to build a website in the UK from scratch?
Building a website from scratch in the UK, meaning a bespoke design rather than a template, usually costs £3,000 to £8,000 with a mid-level agency and £10,000 to £30,000 or more for a fully custom build from a larger studio. A freelancer working from a template can deliver a basic 5-page site for £500 to £2,000.
How much does a website cost per month in the UK?
Ongoing monthly costs vary by route. A DIY builder such as Wix or Squarespace runs £10 to £40 a month all-in. An AI builder such as ChilledSites is £9 to £18 a month with hosting, SSL and a domain included. A freelancer- or agency-built WordPress site typically costs £55 to £225 a month once hosting, domain, plugins and a maintenance retainer are added together.
How much does it cost to set up a website yourself?
Setting up a website yourself with a DIY builder costs around £120 to £650 in the first year: a domain at £10 to £15 a year plus a builder subscription at £100 to £500 a year, sometimes with extra fees for premium themes or apps. Self-hosting WordPress yourself instead of using a builder adds hosting costs of £50 to £200 a year and takes more technical setup time.
How much does website design cost in the UK?
Design-only work, meaning layout and visual identity without the build, typically costs £500 to £3,000 from a freelance designer. Design and build together costs £2,000 to £15,000 or more depending on the agency and the number of pages. UK freelance day rates run £250 to £900 depending on experience, and London-based studios charge 20 to 40 per cent more than the UK average.
What are the hidden costs of a website in the UK?
Beyond the build cost, UK businesses typically pay £10 to £15 a year for a domain, £50 to £200 a year for hosting, up to £100 a year for SSL where it is not bundled free, £100 to £400 a year for plugins and licences, and £500 to £2,000 a year for ongoing maintenance. Altogether that is roughly £660 to £2,700 a year on top of the initial build.
How much do UK web design agencies charge per day?
UK web design agency day rates range from £250 to £350 for a junior designer, £350 to £550 for a mid-level designer or developer, £600 to £900 for a senior full-stack developer, and £1,200 to £2,000 for a London agency team. London rates sit at the top end of the range.
How much does an e-commerce website cost in the UK?
A Shopify or WooCommerce build typically costs £2,000 to £8,000 for setup, rising to £4,000 to £12,000 with an agency once product photography, payment integration and inventory management are included. On top of the build, expect a monthly platform or hosting fee plus card payment processing fees charged by the payment provider on every sale, the exact rate depends on the provider you choose.
Is an AI website builder like ChilledSites good for a real UK business?
For most service businesses, trades and small professional practices, yes. ChilledSites generates a multi-page website from a text description, with hosting, a free domain, SSL, analytics and contact forms included from £9 a month. It is not the right choice for a complex e-commerce store with heavy customisation or a bespoke platform with custom functionality, those still need an agency or a developer.

Comparing your options?
See where ChilledSites fits.

For a straightforward business site, ChilledSites costs £9 to £18 a month with hosting, SSL and a free domain included. For a complex shop or a bespoke platform, use the agency rates above instead.

See ChilledSites plans See all pricing