The honest answer: it depends
I know that's not what you want to hear. You're trying to budget, and "it depends" doesn't help. So let me give you real numbers based on what we see in the market.
Quick summary:
- Simple brochure website: £1,500 - £5,000
- Business website with CMS: £4,000 - £15,000
- E-commerce store: £8,000 - £50,000+
- Custom web application: £15,000 - £100,000+
These are UK agency rates. Freelancers might charge less. Overseas developers will be cheaper upfront but often cost more in revisions and communication overhead.
Why the huge range?
The same way a "car" can cost £8,000 or £80,000, a "website" covers a massive spectrum. Here's what actually drives the price:
1. Design complexity
Template-based design (£500 - £2,000): You pick a pre-made template, we customise colours, fonts, and add your content. Quick, affordable, and can still look professional.
Custom design (£2,000 - £10,000+): A designer creates layouts specifically for your brand. Unique, tailored to your needs, but takes longer and costs more.
For most small businesses, a well-chosen template is perfectly fine. Custom design makes sense when your brand needs to stand out or you have specific user experience requirements.
2. Functionality
A static brochure site (here's who we are, here's how to contact us) is straightforward. Add any of these and the price increases:
- Content management system (CMS): So you can edit content yourself. Adds £1,000 - £3,000.
- E-commerce: Payment processing, inventory, shipping. Adds £5,000 - £20,000+.
- User accounts: Login, profiles, dashboards. Adds £2,000 - £8,000.
- Booking systems: Calendars, availability, payments. Adds £3,000 - £10,000.
- Third-party integrations: CRM, accounting, inventory systems. Adds £1,000 - £5,000 per integration.
3. Content
Who's writing the copy? Taking the photos? Creating the graphics?
If you provide everything, you'll save thousands. If the agency handles it:
- Copywriting: £100 - £300 per page
- Professional photography: £500 - £2,000 per day
- Custom illustrations/graphics: £200 - £1,000+ per piece
4. Who builds it
Freelancers (£30 - £80/hour): Lower overheads, often more flexible. Quality varies wildly. Good for smaller projects with clear requirements.
Small agencies like us (£60 - £120/hour): More structure, multiple skill sets, better for complex projects. You're paying for project management and reliability.
Large agencies (£100 - £200+/hour): Enterprise clients, big budgets, comprehensive services. Often overkill for small businesses.
Real examples from our work
Local service business - £2,500: 5-page website, template-based design, contact form, basic SEO. Client provided all content. Completed in 2 weeks.
Professional services firm - £7,000: 12-page custom design, CMS for blog and case studies, newsletter integration, team profiles. Completed in 5 weeks.
Retailer e-commerce - £18,000: Full online shop, 500+ products, inventory sync with physical store, custom shipping rules, customer accounts. Completed in 10 weeks.
Hidden costs to budget for
The initial build is one thing. Don't forget:
- Domain name: £10 - £50/year
- Hosting: £100 - £500/year for business sites, more for high-traffic
- SSL certificate: Often included in hosting, otherwise £50 - £200/year
- Maintenance: £100 - £500/month for updates, security, backups
- Content updates: If you're not doing them yourself
Red flags when getting quotes
Watch out for:
- Unusually cheap quotes: If someone quotes £500 for a custom e-commerce site, they either don't understand what you need or will deliver something unusable.
- No detailed scope: "Website development - £5,000" tells you nothing. Get a breakdown of what's included.
- Ownership questions: Make sure you own the code and content. Some agencies use proprietary systems that lock you in.
- No maintenance discussion: Any developer who doesn't mention ongoing maintenance isn't thinking about your long-term success.
How to get the best value
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Know what you actually need. A 50-page website sounds impressive but if you only have content for 10 pages, you're wasting money.
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Start with content. Write your copy, gather your images before development starts. You'll save time (and money) on revisions.
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Be realistic about DIY. A CMS lets you update content, but will you actually do it? If not, budget for someone to maintain it.
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Think about growth. Rebuilding in 2 years because you outgrew the platform costs more than building right the first time.
Our approach
We give fixed-price quotes after understanding your specific needs. No hourly billing that spirals out of control. No hidden fees.
If your budget is tight, we'll tell you what's realistic within it. Sometimes that means suggesting alternatives or a phased approach rather than trying to squeeze a £10,000 project into a £3,000 budget.
Want to know what your project would cost? Get in touch for a no-obligation conversation.