A care plan, Wix, or an agency build
Over three years, a DIY builder costs roughly £900, a freelancer build roughly £2,700, an agency build roughly £7,600, and our care plan £6,684. Cheapest is not the same as best value, and this page is about which of those genuinely suits which business. Including the cases where ours is the wrong answer.
What each actually costs
| Route | Up front | Per year after | Three year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix Business) | £0 | £300 | £900 |
| Freelancer build | £1,500 | £400 | £2,700 |
| Solid Starr care plan | £240 | £2,148 | £6,684 |
| Agency build | £4,000 | £1,200 | £7,600 |
Two of those numbers usually surprise people. A care plan is not the cheap option, it is mid table. And an agency build is not a one off cost, because the running and change costs continue long after the invoice is paid.
What is included, and what you do yourself
| What | DIY builder | Freelancer | Care plan | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design and build | You | Included | Included | Included |
| Hosting and backups | Included | Usually extra | Included | Usually extra |
| Domain in your name | Yes | Ask | Yes | Ask |
| Content changes | You | Hourly | Unlimited | Hourly |
| Platform updates | Automatic | You or hourly | Included | Retainer or hourly |
| Google Business Profile | You | Rarely | Included | Sometimes |
| Someone answers the phone | No | Varies | Yes | Account manager |
Where each one genuinely wins
A DIY builder wins on cash, decisively. £900 against £6,684 over three years is not a close call. If you have a few free evenings, simple needs and the discipline to actually finish it, this is the right answer and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. It stops being the right answer the moment the site sits half built for six months, which is the common failure mode.
A freelancer wins on value for a one off build. You get a bespoke site for a fraction of agency money. The trade offs are availability, which varies, and that changes are billed by the hour, so small updates tend not to get made.
An agency wins on capacity. If the project is large, involves e-commerce or needs several people, an agency is built for that and a one person operation is not. You pay for that capacity whether this particular project needs it or not.
A care plan wins on two specific things, and it is worth being precise rather than vague. First, no large upfront payment, which matters if £4,000 is not sitting there. Second, the site stays current, because changes are included rather than billed, so they actually get made. The businesses this suits are the ones who would otherwise let a site go stale, which our research suggests is a great many of them.
What about Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Rated People?
For trades, these are the other common choice, and they are a different kind of thing. They do not build you a website. They sell you a place in front of people who are already looking for a trade, which is something a brand new website cannot do in its first weeks.
| Platform | How you pay | Published price | Who keeps it if you leave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade | Monthly membership | From £30 + VAT a month (listing only), lead plans from £59 | Checkatrade |
| MyBuilder | A fee when a customer shortlists you | From £7 per shortlist | MyBuilder |
| Rated People | Pay per lead, optional subscription | Not published | Rated People |
| Solid Starr care plan | Setup, then monthly | £240, then £179 a month | You |
The starting prices are not the whole story. Tradespeople report Checkatrade bills of roughly £80 to £500 a month once lead volume and postcode coverage are added, often on a 12 month contract. Rated People leads are shared with up to three trades, so you are paying to compete for the job, not to win it. Get a written quote for your own trade and area before you compare.
Where they genuinely win: speed. If you need enquiries this month, a lead site can deliver them and a new website usually cannot. Where they lose: everything you build there, the profile, the reviews, the ranking, stays on their platform. Stop paying and it is gone. Many trades run one alongside their own site while the site builds up, then decide which is still worth paying for.
The ownership question, which decides more than price
Whatever you choose, the same three things need to be in your name: the domain, the website, and the Google Business Profile. If any of them sit in the provider's name, leaving costs you that asset, and the monthly fee stops being a service and starts being rent.
This is not a hypothetical. It is standard practice across large parts of the industry, including some very well known names, and it is almost never volunteered. Ask directly, and ask for it in writing.
So which one
- Time but no money: a builder. Genuinely.
- Money but no time, one off need: a freelancer.
- Complex project or e-commerce at scale: an agency.
- No upfront capital and no appetite to maintain it: a care plan.
- A site that already exists and works: possibly none of the above. Spend the money on your Google listing and your reviews instead.
Related reading: what a small business website actually costs in London, and our study of how 10,862 London businesses actually appear online.
Questions about this study
Is a monthly website care plan better than paying once?
It depends on cash and on who does the upkeep. A care plan spreads the cost, includes maintenance and changes, and avoids a large upfront payment, but over three years it usually costs more than a freelancer build. Paying once is cheaper in total if you are willing to handle updates and changes yourself or pay by the hour.
Is Wix good enough for a small business?
For a lot of businesses, yes. If you have a few hours to spare, reasonable patience and simple needs, a builder subscription at £9 to £25 a month is by far the cheapest route and the result can be perfectly good. The costs are your time and the risk that nobody maintains it. It is the wrong choice if you will never actually get round to it.
What is the cheapest way to get a small business website?
Building it yourself on Wix or Squarespace, at roughly £110 to £300 a year plus your own time. Nothing else comes close on cash cost. Whether it is the best value depends entirely on what your time is worth and whether the site will get finished and maintained.
Do I own my website on a care plan?
That depends entirely on the provider, and it is the question most people forget to ask. Some register the domain and the Google listing in their own name, which means leaving costs you both. Ask whose name everything is in before you sign, and get the answer in writing.
Is Checkatrade better than having my own website?
They do different jobs. Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Rated People can send you enquiries from the first week, which a new website cannot. But you rent that position: the leads are often shared with other trades, the price rises with the work you want, and the profile and reviews stay on their platform when you stop paying. A website and Google Business Profile in your own name are slower to build up and keep working after you leave. Plenty of trades sensibly use both.
Is your site one of the broken ones?
Send me the link and I will tell you straight what a visitor actually sees. No charge and no pitch if it is fine.