Guide · 8 min read · Updated 22 October 2026

How much does a small business website cost in the UK?

In short: a UK small business website typically costs £0 to £30 a month for a DIY builder, £500 to £3,000 one-off for a freelancer, or £3,000 to £15,000+ for an agency. A growing option is a monthly plan (typically £90 to £300 a month) that rolls the build, hosting and upkeep into one bill. For comparison, a Mensia website is £295 to £995 one-off depending on pages, with no VAT added, and you can spread it over six months at no extra cost. Price yours with the website cost calculator.

Small business website costs at a glance

Route	Typical UK cost	Best for
DIY builder	£0 to £30 a month	A basic presence, if you have the time to run it
Freelancer	£500 to £3,000 one-off	Something more custom, if they stick around afterwards
Agency	£3,000 to £15,000+ one-off	Larger firms with the budget for project management
Monthly plan	£90 to £300 a month	Spreading the cost, as long as you own the site
Mensia	£295 to £995 one-off, no VAT added	Independent businesses who want a custom site they own

The four ways to get a website

1. DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy): £0 to £30 a month

Cheap and quick, and fine for a basic presence. The catch: it eats your time, the result often looks like everyone else's, and you're the one keeping it running. Good for a market stall, rarely good enough for a business competing for real work.

2. A freelancer: £500 to £3,000 one-off

You get something more custom, but quality and reliability vary wildly. The common horror story is the freelancer who builds it, hands over a login, and disappears, leaving you stuck when something breaks or needs updating.

3. An agency: £3,000 to £15,000+ one-off

Proper design and project management, but priced for businesses with budgets to match. For a typical independent shop or trade, paying five figures upfront for a website is a serious gamble, and you often still pay extra for ongoing changes.

4. A monthly plan: typically £90 to £300 a month

A newer model that spreads the cost: the build, hosting, security and ongoing edits roll into one monthly price. The thing to check, and the thing I insist on, is that you own the website, domain and Google profile from day one, so you're never held hostage. That's the difference between a fair subscription and a trap. I've broken the whole model down, bands, catches and all, in the pay monthly websites guide.

What I charge

So you can compare like with like: a Mensia website is a one-off £295 for one page, £395 for up to five pages, £645 for up to 15 and £995 for up to 30. That includes a contact form and all the words written for you. Extras are priced on the list too, so taking payments is £150, an AI chat assistant is £195, and an online shop with up to 50 products is £395. No VAT is added to any of it, you can spread the build over six months at no extra cost, and if you pay upfront you get 10% off. After launch, the optional Care plan is £40 a month for hosting, security, backups and small changes, or Found is £100 a month and adds the local SEO work on top. Tick what you need on the website cost calculator and you will have your exact figure in about a minute.

What a website costs by type

The biggest thing that moves the price is what the site has to do. Here is what each kind of small business website typically costs in the UK, next to what the same thing costs from me.

Type of site	Typical UK cost	Mensia
One page (a trade, a new business, a landing page)	£300 to £1,000	£295
Brochure site, up to 5 pages	£500 to £3,000	£395
Bigger site with a blog, up to 15 pages	£1,500 to £5,000	£645
Online shop, up to 50 products	£2,000 to £8,000	£790 (5 page site plus the £395 shop), with Care at £40 a month

What pushes a quote up anywhere you go: more pages, having the words written for you, taking payments or bookings, an online shop, moving an old site across without losing your Google rankings, and anything custom like an EPOS link or a customer portal. On my list, linking your booking system is £50, taking payments is £150, moving your old site is £75, and custom builds are quoted after a call, most landing between £1,500 and £8,000.

The running costs to budget for each year

The build is only half the bill. These are the costs that keep coming, whoever builds your site:

Domain name: roughly £10 to £20 a year for a .co.uk or .com. Make sure it is registered in your name.
Hosting and security: usually £5 to £30 a month for decent hosting. The SSL certificate (the padlock in the address bar) should be free these days, so be wary of anyone charging extra for it.
Business email: around £5 to £8 per person a month with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, if you want an address on your own domain.
Upkeep: maintenance plans for updates, backups and small changes run anywhere from £30 to £150 a month. Mine, Care, is £40 a month and covers hosting, security, backups and small changes.

So a realistic first year with Mensia for a five page site is the £395 build, plus £480 for a year of Care, plus your domain: about £890 all in, and less than that every year after, because the build is paid for.

So what should you actually budget?

For most independent UK businesses in 2026, the sensible answer is a few hundred pounds for a custom build you own outright, plus a small monthly amount so the site stays hosted, secure and current without surprise invoices. Whichever route you take, make sure "ownership" is in writing.

Mensia's prices are all on one page: the website from £295, Care at £40 a month, local SEO from £100 a month and the AI receptionist from £75 a month. You own everything from the first invoice.

Based in Lancashire? I build and look after websites for businesses right across the county, Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn, Chorley, Lytham, Burnley, Lancaster and Wigan. Start on the Lancashire web design page and I'll give you a straight price for your town.