UK website prices

How much should a small business website cost in the UK in 2026?

A small business website can cost very little when it is one focused page with ready content. It can cost much more when it needs strategy, writing, photography, ecommerce or custom software. The useful question is not “What does a website cost?” It is “What work and outcome are included in this price?”

By Kieran Lewis · Published 17 July 2026 · Prices on this page are in GBP

See the quick answer View Cheap as Chips prices

The short answer

Price follows scope, responsibility and risk

A one-page brochure site using supplied words and images is a small job. A five-page site needing content planning, copy help, forms, galleries, redirects and launch support is a different job. An online shop or custom booking system is different again. Treating them as interchangeable because they all appear in a browser is like comparing a bicycle, a van and a chip shop fryer because they contain metal.

Cheap as Chips publishes three productised brochure ranges: Launch at £99–£149, Standard at £150–£399 and Growth at £400–£699. These are deliberately narrow packages with page and revision limits. They are not a claim that every website in Britain should cost under £700.

A bespoke freelancer or agency may quote much more because the work includes deeper research, original design systems, specialist content, complex features, multiple stakeholders or extended support. That can be perfectly reasonable. The bollocks begins when the quote hides what is included and asks you to judge quality from adjectives such as “premium” and “impactful” alone.

Route one

Build it yourself

A do-it-yourself builder can reduce the cash paid to a designer. You still pay for a domain, a plan, optional templates or apps and your own time. This route works when the job is simple, you enjoy learning the tool and you can write and organise the content. It is less cheap when six weekends disappear and the contact form still sends messages into the void.

Check whether the platform lets you export content, connect your own domain, control metadata and cancel without losing everything. The cheapest introductory rate may not be the renewal price.

Route two

Use a fixed-scope service

A productised service keeps cost down by limiting pages, revisions and unusual features. The process is repeatable. You know the rough price before a long sales conversation. This fits a normal brochure site where clarity matters more than months of bespoke strategy.

Read the limits. A low headline price is only honest when the page count, revisions, forms, content work, hosting and ownership are clear. If every useful feature is an undeclared extra, the package is wearing a fake bargain hat.

Route three

Hire a bespoke freelancer

A freelancer can shape the process around the business. This makes sense when the visual identity, structure or functionality needs more original thought than a fixed package allows. You may also get closer collaboration with the person doing the work.

Ask what happens if the freelancer is unavailable. Confirm access, backups, documentation and ownership. A personal service is useful. A website that only one human on Earth can maintain is less charming.

Route four

Hire an agency or specialist team

An agency can bring strategy, design, development, copy, search, photography and account management into one project. That coordination has value when the business and risk justify it. It also creates overhead. A three-page local service site may not need the same machinery as a national ecommerce platform.

Pay for useful capability, not theatre. More people in a kickoff call do not automatically create a better homepage. They do create more calendar invitations.

What changes the website price?

The work hiding behind the page count

Page count is a useful starting point, but two five-page sites can require very different effort. A quote should account for the condition of the source material, the number of layouts, the integrations and the launch risk. Ask which of the following jobs are included.

Planning: deciding the pages, navigation, priorities and customer routes
Copy: using supplied final text, tidying rough notes or writing from scratch
Design: adapting a proven system or creating a bespoke visual direction
Images: using supplied photos, sourcing licensed stock or arranging original photography
Features: forms, galleries, maps, menus, booking tools, payments or member access
Migration: moving content, preserving URLs and redirecting retired pages
Quality checks: phones, browsers, accessibility, links, forms, certificates and metadata
Launch: domain changes, hosting setup, backups, analytics and post-launch checks

Complexity matters more than decorative busyness. A restrained booking flow may require more careful work than a visually loud brochure page. Conversely, a designer should not turn a straightforward contact site into a “digital ecosystem” simply to make the proposal heavier.

One-off costs

The build and agreed extras

The project price may cover planning, design, development, content setup and launch. Separate extras can include copywriting, extra pages, licensed media, email migration or a paid booking tool. Ask for these in writing. A clear extra is fine. A surprise extra is not.

Cheap as Chips uses a 50% deposit to start, with the balance due before handover or launch. Ownership of the completed work passes after final payment, subject to third-party licences. Other providers may use different terms, so compare payment schedules as well as totals.

Ongoing costs

Domains, hosting and care do not disappear

A domain normally renews. Hosting normally renews. Paid software, email, booking systems and stock licences may renew too. Maintenance or small edit plans can be optional, but somebody still needs to keep the site secure, backed up and accurate. Ask for an annual list, not only a first-month teaser price.

Cheap as Chips hosting starts from £4.99 a month and stays separate from the build. Monthly care is £19–£49 for roughly 30 minutes of minor edits or content swaps. Redesigns and new features are separate work. Current details are on the pricing page.

Example project shapes

Three hypothetical briefs, not invented case studies

These examples show why scope changes price. They are not client claims or quotes.

One-page launch: ready logo, supplied text, contact links and one revision round. Small scope.
Four-page trade site: home, services, work gallery and contact form, with rough copy needing a tidy. Medium scope.
Eight-page service site: several service pages, content reorganisation, forms, redirects and two revision rounds. Larger brochure scope.

Add a shop with hundreds of products, live stock, delivery rules and payments, and it is no longer the third brief with a basket icon. It is a different type of project with different testing and support needs.

Compare quotes properly

Put the same questions in front of everyone

Which pages and features are included?
Who writes, edits and approves the content?
How many revision rounds are included?
What counts as extra work, and how is it approved?
Who owns the domain, accounts and finished work?
What renews monthly or annually?
What testing, redirects and launch support are included?
What happens if the provider is unavailable later?

Red flags

Cheap can be honest. Vague cannot.

A headline price with no page or revision limits
Pressure to pay before seeing the scope or terms
Guaranteed Google positions or guaranteed lead numbers
No clear answer about domain, hosting or ownership
Essential features revealed as extras only after the deposit
A monthly contract nobody can explain in plain English

Make your budget go further

Prepare facts, not a fifty-page creative brief

Write a short list of services, customer questions, locations, contact routes and must-have pages. Gather the logo, usable photos, current domain details and examples of sites whose tone you like. Decide who can approve the work. One decision-maker and one tidy feedback batch save more time than a folder called FINAL-final-v7-really-final.

Be honest about the deadline. Separate a real event date from “as soon as possible”. Ask which content is needed before the clock starts. A provider cannot finish a service page while the service description is still trapped inside the owner's head.

Check the invoice details

Confirm what the displayed total really means

Ask whether quoted figures include any applicable VAT, what currency is used and when each payment is due. Confirm whether card fees, software purchases or foreign-currency subscriptions can appear separately. Keep the accepted scope and invoice together. This is not glamorous website advice, but it prevents two providers using the same headline number to mean different totals. If tax status or invoicing wording is unclear, ask the provider directly rather than guessing from a price card.

Is a £99 website too cheap to be real?

It can be real when the scope is genuinely small: one page, supplied essentials and one revision round. It is not a realistic price for a custom shop, booking platform or endless content work. Read the limits.

Should hosting be included in the website price?

It can be included or separate. Either approach is fine when the renewal amount, service and ownership are clear. Separate pricing makes it easier to see the one-off build cost and the ongoing running cost.

Do I need a monthly SEO package after launch?

Not automatically. A small brochure site needs sound launch foundations and accurate content. Ongoing search work is useful when you have competitive goals, regular content, local visibility or measurement needs. Read what SEO-ready includes before buying a retainer.

Get a clear price

Compare the exact Cheap as Chips packages, then use the enquiry form if the job fits. Select “Not sure” if you want the simplest sensible option recommended without an upselling pantomime.