How much does a website cost in the UK in 2026? Honest numbers
Easy Insight Team ·
There is no single price, because "website" describes both a five-page brochure and a booking platform. What you can do is place your project in the right band, check it against the going rate for the people who will build it, and add the running costs the proposal leaves out. This guide does all three, with current UK figures.
What are the realistic price bands?
The bands below are our own scoping assumptions rather than survey data — they reflect what we see quoted in the UK market and how we scope work ourselves. The build-cost column is arithmetic at the median UK web developer contract rate, shown so you can sanity-check any quote you receive.
| What you are buying | Typical scope | Planning band (days) | Build cost at £494/day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-serve template site | You choose a theme, write the copy, launch it | 0 (your time) | Subscription only |
| Designed brochure site | 5–10 pages, custom design, responsive, basic SEO | 8–15 | £3,950–£7,400 |
| Content-managed marketing site | Above plus a CMS, blog, landing pages, analytics | 15–30 | £7,400–£14,800 |
| Site with real functionality | Logins, bookings, payments, CRM integration | 30–60 | £14,800–£29,600 |
| Custom web application | A tool, not a site — see our separate breakdown | 40+ | £8,000–£40,000 |
Note the overlap in the last two rows. That is deliberate, and it is where most confused quotes live: once a "website" has accounts and workflow, it has stopped being a website. Our guide to whether you need a website or a web app is the cheapest half-hour you can spend before commissioning anything.
What does the rate data actually say?
The median contract day rate for a web developer in the UK was £494 in the six months to 1 September 2026, with the tenth percentile at £411 and the ninetieth at £725. London sat at a £600 median against £450 for the UK excluding London, and the median rose 20.43% year on year from £410 (IT Jobs Watch).
Two caveats worth stating plainly. That sample is thin — 31 advertised contract vacancies — so it is directional rather than definitive. And contract day rates are not agency prices: an agency's figure includes design, project management, testing and a warranty, which a contractor's does not.
The useful thing about the number is as a floor. If a quote implies a blended day rate far below £400, someone junior is doing the work, or the hours are optimistic, or both. Neither is automatically wrong — but you should know which you are buying, because it is the difference the no-junior-developers model exists to address.
Why do quotes vary so much?
Four reasons, and only one of them is greed:
Scope, wearing the same word. A brochure site and a multi-language site with a booking engine are both "websites". Until the scope is written down, the quotes are not comparable.
Who does the work. Senior time costs more per day and usually less per outcome. Junior time is cheaper per day and slower, with more rework.
How much is bespoke. Design from scratch, custom components and unusual integrations all cost more than sensible defaults.
What is included. Copywriting, photography, SEO setup, accessibility testing and analytics are either in the price or they are your job later. They are real work either way.
What is not in the quote?
Almost every first-time website budget misses the running costs. Expect at least:
The domain. Trivial annually, but it must be in your company's name, not your agency's. This matters more than it sounds when a relationship ends.
Hosting. Anywhere from nothing to a meaningful monthly figure depending on traffic and architecture. Ask what it will be at your expected volume, in writing.
Third-party services. Booking systems, email marketing, forms, CRM connectors — each with its own subscription that grows with usage.
Keeping it current. The one that decides whether the investment pays back. A site nobody has touched in eighteen months quietly stops earning. Budget either internal time or a modest retainer.
Ownership of the code. Ask, before signing, who owns what you paid for and whether you can take it elsewhere. A surprising number of "custom" builds are locked to the agency that made them.
When is a template the right answer?
Often, and we would rather say so than sell a build.
If your site's job is to look credible, explain what you do and collect enquiries, and your business does not work in an unusual way, a good template on a mainstream platform is a sound commercial decision. You will get to market in days instead of months and spend the difference on something that compounds.
Custom earns its keep in three situations: when the site has to reflect a process that is genuinely specific to your business; when performance, accessibility or search visibility are commercial priorities rather than boxes to tick; or when the site is really an application in disguise, in which case see web apps. We build custom sites on Next.js; why we build on Next.js explains what that buys you.
If none of those apply, the honest answer is a template and a good copywriter.
What should you ask before signing?
Five questions that separate proposals faster than the totals do:
- Who, by name, will build this — and will they still be on it in week six?
- What is explicitly out of scope? The gaps are where change requests are born.
- What will hosting and third-party services cost me a year from now?
- Do I own the code and the domain outright?
- What happens if I want to change something myself?
A supplier who answers all five without flinching is usually worth the money, whatever the number says.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a website cost in the UK in 2026?
It depends on who builds it and how much of it is bespoke. A template site set up by its owner costs little more than the subscription; a designed, built and copywritten marketing site from a UK agency is typically a four-figure to low five-figure project; anything with logins, integrations or custom functionality moves into web app territory, which we have costed separately at £8,000 to £40,000.
What is the UK day rate for a web developer?
The median contract day rate for a web developer in the UK was £494 in the six months to 1 September 2026, with the tenth percentile at £411 and the ninetieth at £725 (IT Jobs Watch). London sat at a £600 median against £450 outside London. That is contract rate data from a thin sample of advertised roles, so treat it as directional.
Why are website quotes so far apart?
Because the word "website" covers a five-page brochure and a twelve-language platform with a booking engine. The other reason is who does the work: a quote built on senior time and a quote built on junior time can differ by half and look identical on paper.
What ongoing costs should we expect?
A domain, hosting, any SaaS the site depends on, and — the one people forget — someone to keep it current. A site nobody updates loses its commercial value within a year or two, so budget either internal time or a small retainer from the start.
Is a template site ever the right answer?
Frequently. If your site's job is to look credible and take enquiries, and your process is not unusual, a good template on a mainstream platform is a sound decision. Custom earns its keep when the site has to do something specific to how your business works.
Easy Insight is a UK consultancy for AI, web, apps and data — senior specialists only, no juniors.
Next step
Thinking about a site or a web app?
One scoping call with the developer who would build it, then a fixed written estimate before any work starts. Websites from £3,500, custom web apps from £8,000, on the same stack as the page you're reading.