The first question on almost every website call is "how much?", and the honest answer is always "it depends", which helps nobody. So here is the longer answer, from twenty years of quoting, scoping and delivering sites for agencies, brands and small businesses: the price bands you will actually see in the UK, what pushes a project from one band to the next, and how to tell whether a quote is pricing your site or just selling a package.
UK website design price bands in 2026
These are typical ranges for UK marketing websites, excluding VAT. They are not a quote, and good suppliers exist at every level. The point is to show what each band normally includes, and what it usually leaves out.
| Type of site | Typical UK price | What you usually get | What is usually missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, Shopify basic) | £0 to £500 plus monthly fees | Your own time, a template and hosting | Strategy, SEO migration, anyone to call |
| Template site from a freelancer or package agency | £500 to £2,000 | A theme set up with your content, contact form, basic SEO settings | Custom structure, content help, redirects, training |
| Small business marketing site | £2,000 to £6,000 | Custom design on a proven structure, 5 to 15 pages, CMS, analytics, launch support | Large content migration, integrations, ongoing optimisation |
| Marketing site rebuild with migration | £6,000 to £15,000 | UX and wireframes, custom design and build, content restructure, redirect map, SEO carried over, training | Complex integrations, multi-language, e-commerce at scale |
| Complex or integrated site | £15,000 upwards | Many templates, CRM and booking integrations, large migrations, accessibility and performance targets | Usually nothing, if scoped properly |
Ongoing care is separate in almost every case. Hosting, updates, security and small changes typically run from £30 to £300 a month depending on the platform and how much help you want.
What actually moves the price
Most of the difference between a £1,500 site and an £8,000 site is not the design. It is the work around it.
- Number of unique templates. Ten different page layouts cost far more than three layouts used across thirty pages. Page count matters less than people think; template count matters more.
- Content readiness. If your copy is written, approved and still accurate, the project moves quickly. If every page needs rewriting and three people need to sign it off, that time is part of the cost whether it appears on the quote or not.
- Migration risk. An existing site with pages that rank needs a URL inventory, a redirect map and post-launch checks. That is a day or two of careful work, and far cheaper than recovering lost traffic later. I cover the steps in how to redesign or migrate a site without losing rankings.
- Integrations. Booking systems, CRMs, payment, membership areas and marketing automation all add build and testing time.
- Who edits it after launch. A site your team can update confidently needs a properly set up CMS and some training. A locked design that needs a developer for every change looks cheaper and costs more over two years.
- Accessibility and performance targets. Meeting WCAG properly and hitting good Core Web Vitals on a phone is not free, but it pays back in search and conversion.
How much does a website cost for a small business?
For most UK small businesses that sell services, the sensible range is £2,000 to £6,000 for a site that explains the offer clearly, loads quickly on a phone, and can be updated without calling a developer. Below that you are usually buying a template, which is fine if you are happy to write the content and live with the structure. Above it, you should be seeing real strategy, content work or integrations in the scope, not just more pages.
If you already have a site that ranks for anything useful, budget for migration work on top. It is the part cheap packages skip, and the part that decides whether the new site starts ahead or behind.
When a redesign is not the answer
Not every tired site needs replacing. If the structure is sound and the problems are speed, a handful of confusing pages, or an offer that has drifted, a targeted set of fixes can cost a fraction of a rebuild and keep everything that already works. The decision is covered in more detail in when a UK site needs a redesign. A ranked SEO audit or UX and CRO audit is often the cheapest way to find out.
How to read a quote
- Is there a written scope? A price tied to a page list, template list and set of integrations can be compared. A package name cannot.
- What happens to your existing URLs? If the answer is vague, the quote does not include migration.
- Who writes and enters the content? This is the most common source of delays and surprise costs.
- What does launch support include? Two weeks of fixes is normal. "Handover" should mean documentation and training, not a login.
- Who owns the site, the domain and the analytics? You should, in every case.
- What is the monthly cost after launch? Hosting, licences and support add up over three years.
If a supplier gives you a fixed low price before seeing your current site, your analytics or your sitemap, they are pricing a package, not your project.
How I price website work
I quote a fixed price once the scope is clear, usually after a 30-minute call and a look at your current site. Most of my projects fall into the small business and rebuild bands above, and the quote always includes redirects, basic SEO carried over from the old site, and a proper handover. Live examples are Neurowarriors and Brain X Movement, and the process is on the website design and build page.
If you want a realistic band for your own site before anyone writes a proposal, send me the URL and a line about what is not working. I will tell you which band you are likely in, and whether you need a rebuild at all.
