What a small business website actually costs in London
In London in 2026, a small business website costs between roughly £1,200 and £10,000 to build, plus £500 to £2,000 a year to run. The spread is that wide because the phrase covers several genuinely different jobs. Here is what sits behind each number.
Every figure below is a market rate from published 2026 UK pricing research, not our own prices. Ours appear once, near the end, clearly marked, so you can see where they sit rather than having to take a sales page on trust.
The market rates
| Route | Typical build cost | Yearly running cost |
|---|---|---|
| London agency, 5 page site | £8,000+ | £1,000 to £2,000 |
| UK agency outside London | £2,500 to £10,000 | £500 to £2,000 |
| Freelancer, 4 to 5 pages | £1,200 to £2,000 | £300 to £800 |
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | Your time | £110 to £300 |
Two things stand out. A central London studio charges roughly four times what the same specification costs elsewhere in the UK, for reasons that have more to do with their rent than your website. And the running cost column, which most quotes leave out entirely, can exceed the build cost within three years.
The costs that are not in the quote
A build quote usually covers design and development, and stops there. The things that follow you afterwards:
- Hosting, £60 to £400 a year depending on how the site is built.
- Domain renewal, £10 to £20 a year, and it must stay in your name.
- Platform and plugin updates. On WordPress this is the one that bites. Skip it and the site eventually breaks or gets compromised.
- Backups, which you only discover you did not have on the day you need one.
- Changes. New prices, new hours, a new photo. Usually billed by the hour, typically £50 to £100, with a minimum charge.
That last one is where most small business owners actually get stung. Not by the build, but by discovering that changing a phone number costs them £75 and takes a fortnight.
What actually drives the price
If you want to compare two quotes properly, these are the five things that explain almost all of the difference:
- Page count. The single biggest driver. Five pages is not five times one page, but it is not the same job either.
- Bespoke or template. A design drawn for your business costs more than a theme with your logo dropped in. Both are legitimate, they are just not the same purchase.
- Copy and photography. Frequently excluded, frequently the thing that decides whether the site works.
- Selling online. Payments, stock and tax turn a brochure site into software.
- Who manages it. On larger projects, a meaningful share of the fee is coordination rather than building.
Look at three years, not at the quote
A £1,500 freelancer build with £400 a year running costs is £2,700 over three years. A £4,000 agency build with £1,200 a year is £7,600. The gap between the quotes was £2,500. The gap over three years is nearly £5,000.
Work out the three year number before you decide. It is the only figure that compares two different shapes of deal honestly.
Where our own pricing sits
For transparency, since this page is on our site: Solid Starr charges £240 to set up and £179 a month, which is £2,388 in year one and £6,684 over three years. That is in the same territory as a mid range agency build over three years, and more than a freelancer or a DIY builder.
What that buys, and it is the only honest way to justify the difference, is no large upfront payment, unlimited changes with no hourly rate, hosting and backups, the Google Business Profile set up and maintained, and ownership of everything from day one. If you would rather pay once and manage it yourself, a freelancer or a builder is genuinely the better buy, and we will tell you so on the call.
What to ask before you sign anything
- What is the total cost over three years, including running costs?
- Whose name is the domain registered in?
- Who owns the design files and the site if we part ways?
- What does a small change cost, and how long does it take?
- Is the Google Business Profile included, and in whose name?
- Who updates the platform, and what happens if that stops?
The answers to those six questions tell you more than any portfolio will.
Sources
- UK agency and freelancer build ranges: published 2026 UK web design pricing surveys.
- Builder subscription pricing: Wix UK Classic tiers, £9 to £119 a month; Squarespace UK, £12 to £79 a month on annual billing. Checked September 2026.
- Broken website statistics: our study of 10,862 London businesses.
Questions about this study
How much does a small business website cost in the UK in 2026?
A London agency typically charges £2,500 to £10,000 for a standard small business site, and a central London studio often starts around £8,000 for five pages. A freelancer is usually £1,200 to £2,000. A DIY builder like Wix or Squarespace runs £9 to £25 a month, but you do the building. On top of any of these, expect £500 to £2,000 a year in running costs.
Why do website quotes vary so much?
Because "a website" is not one thing. The main drivers are the number of pages, whether the design is bespoke or a template, whether copy and photography are included, whether e-commerce is involved, and how much of the work is project management rather than building. Two quotes ten times apart are usually quoting two genuinely different jobs.
What is not included in a website quote?
Usually hosting, the domain renewal, an SSL certificate, backups, plugin or platform updates, and any change you want after launch. Those add up to roughly £500 to £2,000 a year. Ask for the running cost in writing before you compare two quotes, because the cheaper build is often the more expensive site.
Is it cheaper to build it myself?
In cash, yes, and by a wide margin. A builder subscription is a few hundred pounds a year against a few thousand for a build. The cost is your time, and the risk is that a site nobody maintains quietly breaks. In our research on 10,862 London businesses, twice as many had a broken website as had no website at all.
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.