How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026?
Published 14 February 2026 · Sebastian
If you've started looking into getting a website built — or having your current one replaced — you've probably already noticed that prices are all over the place. One agency quotes a few hundred pounds, another quotes several thousand, and it's hard to tell what you're actually comparing.
We get asked about pricing more than anything else, so here's an honest breakdown of what goes into the cost of a website, what affects the price, and how to tell whether you're getting good value.
Why there's no single answer
Asking "how much does a website cost?" is a bit like asking "how much does a house cost?" It depends on the size, the location, the spec, and who's building it. A one-bedroom flat and a four-bedroom detached are both houses, but they're not the same thing — and neither are a five-page brochure site and a full e-commerce store with hundreds of products.
The range is wide because the work involved varies enormously. That's not agencies being evasive — it's just the reality of bespoke work.
What actually affects the price
There are a handful of things that move the needle more than anything else.
Number of pages and complexity. A simple site with a homepage, an about page, a services page, and a contact form is a different job to one with 30 pages, a blog, a resource library, and a client login area. More pages means more design, more content, more development time.
Custom design vs. templates. A website designed from scratch — where every layout, colour, and interaction is built specifically for your business — costs more than one where a designer picks a pre-built template and adjusts the colours and fonts. You get what you pay for here. A custom design reflects your brand properly and gives you something your competitors don't have. A template gets you online faster and cheaper, but you'll look like everyone else using the same theme.
E-commerce functionality. If you need to sell products online, the build gets more involved. Product catalogues, basket functionality, secure checkout, payment integration, shipping calculations, stock management, tax handling — all of that takes development time. A shop with ten products is simpler than one with five hundred, and a shop that ships internationally is more complex than one that delivers locally.
Content. Some businesses come to us with all their copy written and all their photography done. Others need help with everything. If we're writing copy, sourcing images, or commissioning photography, that's additional work and it affects the total cost. Good content takes time to produce, and it's one of the biggest factors in whether your website actually performs or just sits there.
Integrations. Does your site need to connect to a booking system? A CRM? An email marketing platform? A stock management tool? Each integration adds complexity and development time. Some are straightforward; others require custom work.
Accessibility requirements. We build to WCAG AA standards as default, so this is included in our pricing. But if you need enhanced accessibility for a specific reason — a public sector project, for example — that can add to the scope.
What's usually included in the price
This varies by agency, so it's worth asking. With us, a website project typically includes:
- Initial consultation and discovery
- Custom design (we don't use templates)
- Development and build
- Mobile-responsive design as standard
- Search engine optimisation (the technical foundations — clean code, proper structure, meta tags, sitemaps)
- WCAG AA accessibility
- Browser and device testing
- Launch and go-live support
- A handover session so you know how everything works
What usually costs extra
Some things sit outside the core build and are either quoted separately or handled by third parties:
Domain name. Your web address (e.g. yourbusiness.co.uk). This is usually renewed annually and costs between £10 and £30 a year depending on the extension. If you already own your domain, there's nothing to pay.
Hosting. Your website needs to live somewhere. Hosting costs vary from a few pounds a month for basic shared hosting to significantly more for dedicated or managed servers. We can advise on what makes sense for your site and traffic levels.
SSL certificate. The thing that puts the padlock in the browser bar and makes your site secure. Many hosting providers include this for free now. If yours doesn't, it's usually a small annual cost.
Ongoing content. Blog posts, case studies, seasonal updates — if you want us to write or manage content after launch, that's quoted separately.
Photography. Professional photos of your team, your premises, or your products make a massive difference to how your site feels. We can recommend photographers, but it's a separate cost.
Copywriting. If you need someone to write the text for your pages, that's either done by us or by a copywriter we recommend. Either way, it's additional to the design and build cost.
The cheap website trap
You can find people offering websites for a couple of hundred pounds. Sometimes less. It's tempting, especially if you're a startup or a small business watching every penny.
Here's the thing: those sites are almost always built on generic templates with minimal customisation, no SEO work, no accessibility considerations, and very little thought given to what your business actually needs. They'll get you online, technically — but they won't bring in customers, they won't reflect your brand properly, and they'll probably need replacing within a year or two.
We've rebuilt a lot of websites that were done cheaply the first time round. The clients always say the same thing: they wish they'd invested properly from the start. The "cheap" option ended up costing more in the long run — both in direct costs and in the business they didn't win because their site wasn't up to scratch.
That's not to say expensive always means good, either. Some agencies charge eye-watering fees because they've got big teams, a city-centre office, and layers of account management between you and the person doing the work. You're paying for their overheads, not necessarily for a better website.
What to look for when comparing quotes
When you're weighing up different quotes, it helps to look beyond the headline number. Ask these questions:
What's included? Some agencies quote for design and build only, then charge extra for hosting setup, SEO, content, or training. Make sure you're comparing like with like.
Who's doing the work? Are you dealing with the person who'll actually design and build your site, or is your project being handed off to a junior developer or an outsourced team? That matters for quality and communication.
What happens after launch? Is there ongoing support? How much does it cost to make changes? Some agencies lock you into expensive monthly retainers; others charge by the hour; others (like us) keep it simple and transparent.
Can you see examples? Any agency worth hiring should be able to show you recent work. If they can't, or if their portfolio all looks the same, that tells you something.
What platform are they building on? This affects long-term costs. A site built on a platform that needs dozens of plugins and constant updates will cost more to maintain than one built on a clean, modern framework. Ask about ongoing maintenance before you commit.
So what should you budget?
Without getting into specific figures — because every project is different — here's a rough framework for thinking about it.
If you're a small business that needs a clean, professional online presence with a handful of pages, you're looking at the lower end of the scale. It's still an investment, but it's a manageable one, and a good agency will make it count.
If you need something more involved — multiple service pages, a portfolio section, a blog, and solid SEO foundations — expect to pay more. The additional pages and functionality take more time to get right, and cutting corners here usually means cutting results.
If you're selling products online, the price goes up again. E-commerce is more complex by nature, and getting it wrong costs you sales. This isn't the area to economise.
And if you need something genuinely bespoke — a web application, a customer portal, complex integrations — that's custom development and it's priced accordingly.
The consistent truth across all of these is that a good website pays for itself. It brings in enquiries, it builds trust, it converts visitors into customers. A poor website costs you more than what you saved on the build.
A word on ongoing costs
Your website isn't a one-off expense. After launch, there are running costs to think about: hosting, domain renewal, SSL, and periodic updates to keep things secure and working smoothly. Some businesses handle this themselves; others prefer to have their web agency take care of it.
We offer ongoing support without locking anyone into long-term contracts. If you need something, you get in touch and we sort it. Simple as that.
Ready to find out what your project would cost?
We don't do ballpark quotes over email. Not because we're being difficult — but because a proper quote requires a proper understanding of what you need.
Get in touch, tell us about your project, and we'll come back to you within one working day with a clear plan and a fixed price. No obligation, no surprises, and no hard sell.
Common questions about website costs
Does a more expensive website guarantee better results?
Not automatically, no. A higher price usually means more time, more customisation, and more expertise — but it's possible to overpay for something that doesn't deliver. What matters more than the price tag is whether the agency understands your goals and builds something designed to achieve them. Ask to see results from previous projects, not just screenshots.
Can I build my own website instead?
You can. Platforms like Wix and Squarespace make it possible to put something together yourself for relatively little money. For some businesses — especially very early-stage ones testing an idea — that can make sense as a starting point. The trade-off is that you'll be limited by the platform's templates and features, the SEO will be basic at best, and you'll spend your own time building and maintaining it instead of running your business. Most clients come to us after trying the DIY route and realising it wasn't getting them where they needed to be.
Should I pay monthly or a one-off fee?
Some agencies offer "free" websites with a monthly subscription. Read the small print carefully. You'll often find you don't own the site, you can't move it, and the total cost over three or four years is more than you'd have paid for a proper build upfront. We prefer a straightforward model: you pay for the build, you own the website, and ongoing costs are separate and transparent.
When should I invest in a new website?
There's no universal rule, but a few signs that it's time: your site looks dated compared to competitors, it's not appearing in Google for the terms that matter to your business, it doesn't work well on mobile, you're embarrassed to send people to it, or it simply isn't generating the enquiries and sales it should be. If any of those ring true, it's probably costing you more to keep the old site than it would to invest in a new one.