How much does a website cost in the UK in 2026? The honest answer is that it ranges widely—from under £1,000 for a simple, template-led site to well over £250,000 for a complex, custom web application. That spread can be frustrating if you’re trying to set a budget, but the nuance is your friend: once you understand what drives the number, you can control it.
This guide breaks down typical price bands, explains the levers that push a quote up or down, and shows you how to plan for the full cost of ownership. Whether you’re launching a new small-business site, rebuilding an ecommerce store, or commissioning a bespoke platform, you’ll get the clarity needed to brief partners and protect your budget.
All figures are UK-oriented and presented as ex-VAT unless stated. If your supplier is VAT-registered, expect to add 20% VAT. Remember that geography, supplier profile, and market conditions can nudge these ranges up or down—but the framework below will keep you grounded.
Typical UK price ranges in 2026
Website budgets hinge on scope, complexity, and who builds it. As a quick anchor, many UK projects fall into the bands below. These are market-observed ranges for 2026 and represent common outcomes, not outliers. They assume a professional baseline of planning, design, development, content integration, and launch support.
Always clarify whether quotes include discovery, copywriting, images, accessibility reviews, performance tuning, QA, and launch support. These items can account for a meaningful portion of the total. Also check the CMS (e.g., WordPress, Shopify, headless) and any paid plugins or apps; licenses and third-party fees add up.
Here are typical ranges you’re likely to encounter:
- Starter/Portfolio/Brochure (very small scope): £800–£4,000 (builder-based or freelancer-led, light content)
- SME Brochure/Service site: £3,000–£12,000 (solid UX, bespoke design, CMS setup, 5–20 pages)
- Entry Ecommerce: £5,000–£25,000 (Shopify or WooCommerce, standard catalog, payments, tax/shipping)
- Advanced Ecommerce/Marketplace: £25,000–£120,000+ (custom features, integrations, complex catalogs, international)
- Custom Web App/SaaS/Portals: £40,000–£250,000+ (bespoke product, integrations, security, SSO, complex workflows)
Supplier day rates matter. In 2026, UK freelancers commonly bill around £250–£500/day depending on skill and specialization. Established agencies often quote £600–£1,200+/day across blended roles, with top-tier studios commanding more—especially for strategy, UX research, and engineering leadership. London rates trend higher than elsewhere in the UK.
Example budgets at different stages
Stage 1: Prove the concept (Lean MVP). A service brochure site might aim for £3,000–£6,000 with an opinionated template, rapid content drafting, and minimal custom features. An ecommerce MVP could land at £8,000–£18,000 if you keep SKUs, integrations, and design flourishes lean.
Stage 2: Grow efficiently. Once you validate fit, allocate £12,000–£40,000 to improve UX, expand content and SEO, add marketing automations, refine search/filtering, and harden performance. For ecommerce, this often includes custom checkout flows, subscriptions, or ERP/fulfilment integrations.
Stage 3: Scale with confidence. Expect £50,000–£150,000+ for complex catalogs, multi-market features, headless architectures, design systems, robust analytics, and continuous experimentation. For web apps, scaling often includes SSO, granular permissions, audit trails, and rigorous security testing.
What actually drives the cost
Core price drivers fall into a few buckets: scope (how much), complexity (how hard), and quality (how well). Each decision—content volume, information architecture, custom interactions, integrations, and non-functional requirements—adds shape to the final number. The craft of web design itself spans research, UX, UI, and front-end engineering; the more depth you require across those steps, the higher the budget.
Key cost levers you should understand include:
- Scope & content: number of templates and pages, content modeling, copywriting, media production, translations.
- Design complexity: bespoke visuals, animations, micro-interactions, design systems, component libraries.
- Integrations: CRMs, ERPs, PIMs, email/marketing automation, payment gateways, shipping/tax, SSO.
- Ecommerce features: subscriptions, complex variants, bundles, B2B pricing, multi-currency, marketplaces.
- CMS & architecture: monolithic vs headless, custom fields, editorial workflows, role-based permissions.
- Performance & accessibility: Core Web Vitals, image pipelines, caching/CDN, WCAG 2.2 conformance.
- Compliance & security: UK GDPR alignment, cookie consent, secure build pipelines, penetration testing.
- QA & launch: cross-browser/device testing, staging and UAT, migration, DNS/go-live support.
Two underrated drivers are content readiness and decision latency. If content is late or decisions take weeks, timelines stretch and costs rise. Likewise, unclear goals produce churn—multiple revisions across UX and UI accrue real spend. Clear objectives, prioritized requirements, and a single empowered approver can save thousands.
Fixed vs variable drivers
Some items are quasi-fixed: initial discovery, basic CMS setup, design of a core page set, and foundational build tasks. Even on a small site, you’ll incur a baseline for planning, IA, and QA. This is why a truly professional outcome rarely costs a few hundred pounds.
Others scale with scope: every additional template, integration, or custom flow adds design, build, and test time. Non-functional targets like performance and accessibility add depth as you increase page types and components—auditing and remediating 5 templates is cheaper than 25.
Finally, uncertainty increases variable spend. If you expect material changes mid-build, consider a change budget or adopt a time-and-materials approach with tight sprint goals and weekly demos. This turns surprises into managed choices.
Ongoing costs and total cost of ownership (TCO)
A launch budget is only part of the story. Plan for hosting, domains, SSL, maintenance, updates, security monitoring, backups, and continuous improvements. Ecommerce and web apps also incur payment processing, app/plugin fees, and potentially DevOps.
Typical annual figures vary by site type. A small brochure site might run £300–£1,200/year for hosting, domains, and basic care. A midsize ecommerce store commonly spends £2,000–£10,000/year on hosting, app fees, support, and optimizations. A custom SaaS or portal can exceed £15,000–£60,000/year depending on infrastructure, observability, and compliance.
- Hosting/CDN: £10–£200+/month depending on traffic, stack, and redundancy.
- Domain & SSL: £10–£300/year (more for premium or multi-domain setups).
- Maintenance retainer: £150–£1,500+/month (updates, monitoring, small enhancements).
- Apps/Plugins/Licenses: £10–£500+/month (email, search, reviews, subscriptions, PIM).
- Payment fees: ~1.5–2.9% + fixed cost per transaction, negotiated at scale.
- Marketing/SEO: highly variable; many SMEs invest £500–£5,000+/month.
Think in 3-year cycles. A practical TCO estimate might be: brochure site £4,000–£12,000 initial + £1,000–£3,000/year; ecommerce £15,000–£60,000 initial + £3,000–£20,000/year; custom app £40,000–£250,000+ initial + £15,000–£60,000/year. These envelopes help you evaluate ROI and plan approvals.
Maintenance contract options
Break/fix on demand. Pay only when something breaks or needs a minor update. Lowest commitment, but response times vary and deferred updates can create larger problems later.
Care plan/retainer. A monthly package combining monitoring, updates, backups, security patches, and a bucket of enhancement hours. Predictable spend and better site health; ensure SLAs are explicit.
Managed DevOps (for apps). Infrastructure-as-code, observability, autoscaling, staged rollouts, and incident response. Costs more, but supports reliability, compliance, and faster iteration.
Who should build it: builder vs freelancer vs agency
Site builders (e.g., Wix, Squarespace, Shopify). Fast and cost-effective for small scopes. You’ll pay platform fees and potentially app fees, but the total can be very reasonable. Limitations appear with complex data models, unique UX, or deep integrations. Great for a lean launch if your needs are conventional.
Freelancers. Ideal when you need focused expertise and hands-on collaboration. Typical 2026 day rates are £250–£500; overall projects can sit in the £3,000–£25,000 band depending on scope. Ensure you have coverage for strategy, UX, UI, development, and QA—one person may not span everything.
Agencies. Best for multi-disciplinary needs, larger scopes, and accountability across research, design, engineering, and delivery. Day rates often £600–£1,200+, but you gain process, resilience, and quality controls. Look for proven workflows: discovery, content design, component libraries, performance budgets, accessibility reviews, and structured QA.
- Choose a builder for speed-to-market and simplicity.
- Choose a freelancer for cost-effective custom work with tight scope.
- Choose an agency for complex features, integrations, or when you need an end-to-end partner.
Whichever route you take, insist on clear deliverables, a communication cadence, and a change process. Ask for references and examples aligning with your technical stack and sector. Value a supplier who asks hard questions: it’s a sign they’re protecting your outcomes.
How to budget, timeline expectations, and closing guidance
Match timeline to ambition. A small brochure site can be turned around in 2–4 weeks if content is ready and decisions are fast. A thorough SME site usually needs 6–12 weeks to do research, design, build, content, and QA properly. Advanced ecommerce and custom apps often run 3–6 months or more, especially with integrations and compliance.
Pick a pricing model that fits uncertainty. Fixed-price works when scope is crystal-clear; it demands rigorous discovery and change control. Time-and-materials suits evolving needs; mitigate risk with sprint goals, burn reports, and a capped monthly budget. Retainers are excellent for continuous improvement post-launch. Value-based pricing can make sense when outcomes (e.g., conversion uplift) are measurable and shared.
- Define outcomes: traffic, conversion, lead quality, average order value—be specific.
- Prioritize must-haves: separate v1 essentials from nice-to-haves; park the rest for post-launch sprints.
- Prepare content early: draft copy, collect assets, and nominate a single approver.
- Set non-functional targets: performance budgets, WCAG level, SEO constraints, security requirements.
- Demand transparency: weekly demos, issue tracking, clear acceptance criteria, and a change log.
In practical terms, expect 2026 UK website projects to cluster around the ranges above. The fastest way to control cost is to control complexity—reduce templates, simplify flows, delay advanced features, and ship sooner. Then invest in iterative improvements guided by data. With clear goals, disciplined scope, and the right delivery model, you’ll get a site that performs now and scales sensibly—without budget surprises.
