The short answer: A small business website in the UK usually costs £700 to £4,000 from a freelancer and £3,500 to £12,000 from an agency, according to ProfileTree. Northern publishes fixed prices: £1,500 to refresh an existing site, £3,500 for a new site of up to 8 pages, £6,500 with CRM and automation, and from £10,000 for e-commerce.
| Type of website | Typical UK price | Northern's fixed price |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself on a website builder | £0 to £500 up front (ProfileTree) | Not offered |
| Fix and refresh an existing site | Varies by job | £1,500, about 2 weeks, plus £20 a month hosting |
| Small business site, up to 8 pages | £700 to £4,000 freelancer, £3,500 to £12,000 agency (ProfileTree) | £3,500, about 3 weeks, plus £25 a month hosting |
| Site with CRM, booking and automated follow-up, up to 20 pages | Varies by job | £6,500, about 5 weeks, plus £150 a month AI Suite |
| Online shop (e-commerce) | £5,000 to £10,000 for the design (GoDaddy) | From £10,000, 6 weeks or more |
Northern's prices are on our website packages page. You pay 50% up front and 50% at launch. Northern is not currently VAT registered, so there is no VAT to add.
How much does a small business website cost in the UK?
Most UK small businesses pay between £700 and £12,000 for a new website. Where you land depends mostly on who builds it.
- Doing it yourself: ProfileTree puts a self-built WordPress site at £0 to £500 up front, mostly for a theme, page builder and hosting. GoDaddy says a basic site on its own website builder can cost from about £200 in the first year.
- A freelancer: £700 to £4,000. ProfileTree says £700 usually buys a theme with your logo and colours, and £4,000 buys custom template work and a proper content structure.
- An agency: £3,500 to £12,000 for a custom build, excluding VAT (ProfileTree).
- An online shop: GoDaddy puts the design of a small to medium e-commerce site with a web designer at £5,000 to £10,000, and a large bespoke site at £10,000 or more.
- Website builder: cheapest to start and fine for a hobby or a very new business. You rent the platform, so moving away later can mean starting again.
- Freelancer: good value for a simple site. Check who looks after it if they get busy or move on.
- Agency: costs more, but you get design, build, SEO and support from one team, and the work does not stop if one person is off.
- Say what the site must do. More calls, bookings, sales or less admin?
- Count your pages and features. List the pages you need and anything extra, such as booking or a shop.
- Decide who provides the content. Will you write the copy and supply photos?
- Ask about running costs. Hosting, maintenance, licences and the cost of changes after launch.
- Ask every supplier the same questions. Then you can compare like with like.
Sources: ProfileTree: UK website design costs and GoDaddy: How much does it cost to build a website in the UK? Both are companies that sell websites, so treat their ranges as a guide.
What does Northern charge for a website?
We publish fixed prices because most agencies don't. Each price covers a set scope, so you know what you get before you say yes.
Refresh: £1,500
About two weeks, plus £20 a month hosting. For a site that works but needs fixing: broken navigation, no clear calls to action or a poor mobile layout. We audit it, fix the structure, tidy the mobile layout, add strong calls to action and move it to our UK hosting.
Standard: £3,500
About three weeks, plus £25 a month hosting. A new site built from scratch with a bespoke design, up to 8 pages and 3 templates, local landing pages, SEO foundations (schema, Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4), a lead form and booking integration, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility and two rounds of revisions. This is the right choice for most small businesses.
Premium: £6,500
About five weeks, plus £150 a month for Northern AI Suite. Everything in Standard, up to 20 pages and 5 templates, plus a CRM and sales pipeline, automated lead follow-up, a booking calendar, and email and SMS marketing, all live from day one.
Bespoke: from £10,000
Six weeks or more, priced on scope. For e-commerce, multiple locations, custom integrations, a custom or headless CMS, or anything that doesn't fit a package. You still get a fixed quote after a scoping call.
Every package includes UK hosting with SSL and daily backups, hand-coded pages, SEO foundations, and a direct line to me. Your domain stays in your name, you get the code at launch and you can leave with 30 days' notice and no exit fee. See our web design service for how we work.
What affects the cost of a website?
Number of pages and templates
A 5-page site costs less than a 30-page site. The number of different page layouts matters more than the page count. Fifty blog posts on one template cost less to build than ten pages that all look different.
Custom design or a ready-made theme
A theme is cheaper up front but looks like thousands of other sites and is often slow. A bespoke design costs more but fits your brand and is built around what your customers need to do.
Features and integrations
Online booking, payments, a CRM, a members' area, property feeds or a link to your stock system all add time. That is why our Premium package, with CRM and automation built in, costs more than Standard.
E-commerce
Online shops need product pages, payments, delivery rules and stock management. They nearly always cost more than a brochure site.
Content
Copywriting, photography and video are often left out of quotes. If you need new words and pictures, budget for them or ask whether they are included.
Moving an existing site
If your current site ranks on Google, the new one needs every old page redirected to its new address. Skipping this step is the most common way a new website loses traffic.
How much does a website cost to run each year?
ProfileTree puts hosting for a small business WordPress site at £10 to £35 a month, and the total yearly running cost at £150 to £3,000 once licences, updates and maintenance are added. A domain name usually costs under £20 a year, according to GoDaddy.
Northern's hosting is £20 a month on a Refresh and £25 a month on a Standard site. That includes UK servers, SSL, daily backups and maintenance. There are no plugin licences to renew because we hand-code our sites.
Freelancer, agency or website builder: which is best value?
Northern sits between the two. We are a small, founder-led agency, so you get agency skills with freelancer-level contact: you email Dave, Dave replies.
Is a cheap website worth it?
Sometimes. A sole trader who needs a simple online presence does not need a £10,000 build. But a cheap site that is slow, looks like everyone else's and has no clear way to get in touch can cost more in lost enquiries than it saved. Judge a website by how many enquiries it brings in, not just by what it cost to build. We cover this in more detail in template vs bespoke websites.
How do I get an accurate website quote?
For a quick estimate, try our website cost calculator. It takes three questions and needs no email address. If you already have a site and want to know whether it needs a refresh or a rebuild, read how much a website redesign costs in the UK.
Website costs in Sunderland, Newcastle and the North East
Our prices are the same wherever you are in the UK. We are based at the North East Business & Innovation Centre in Sunderland and build websites for businesses in Sunderland, Newcastle, Durham and across the UK.
If your registered office is in the North of Tyne area (Newcastle, North Tyneside or Northumberland), you may be able to claim back 40 to 50% of the one-off cost through the NBSL Business Support Fund. We are a registered NBSL supplier and handle the paperwork.
FAQ
How much does a website cost in the UK?
A UK small business website usually costs £700 to £4,000 from a freelancer and £3,500 to £12,000 from an agency (ProfileTree). Northern's fixed prices are £1,500 for a refresh, £3,500 for a new site of up to 8 pages, £6,500 with CRM and automation, and from £10,000 for bespoke or e-commerce work.
How much does a 5-page website cost?
A 5-page website fits Northern's Standard package: £3,500 for a bespoke design with up to 8 pages, plus £25 a month hosting. A freelancer might charge less for a template site. A website builder can cost a few hundred pounds a year if you build it yourself.
How much does a small business website cost per month?
Running costs are usually £10 to £35 a month for hosting, according to ProfileTree, plus any maintenance. Northern's hosting is £20 or £25 a month, including SSL, daily backups and maintenance.
How much does an e-commerce website cost in the UK?
GoDaddy puts the design of a small to medium online shop with a web designer at £5,000 to £10,000. Northern's e-commerce work is quoted on scope from £10,000.
How long does it take to build a website?
With Northern, a refresh takes about two weeks, a Standard site about three weeks and a Premium site about five weeks. Bespoke and e-commerce projects take six weeks or more. The most common delay is waiting for content.
Do website prices include VAT?
Check each quote. Many agencies quote excluding VAT. Northern is not currently VAT registered, so our prices have no VAT added.
Do I own my website?
You should. With Northern your domain stays in your name, you get the code at launch and you can leave with 30 days' notice and no exit fee. Ask any supplier the same question before you sign.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
Quotes vary because of the number of page layouts, custom design versus a theme, features such as booking or payments, content creation and who does the work. Ask every supplier for an itemised quote so you can compare like with like.
Want a fixed price for your website?
See exactly what each package includes on our packages page, get a quick estimate from the cost calculator, or ask for a free website audit. The first call is free and you'll get a fixed quote before any work starts.
