The honest answer is: it depends. But that's not helpful. So here are real numbers from a real web design company that's been quoting and building websites for 22 years. No vague ranges, no "starting from" nonsense — actual prices for actual project types.

Brochure Website: £1,500 – £3,500

A 5-10 page website with professional design, mobile responsiveness, contact forms, and a CMS so you can update content yourself. This covers most small businesses — plumbers, accountants, consultants, restaurants. At £1,500 you get a clean, professional site built on a proven framework. At £3,500 you get custom design, additional pages, and more complex functionality like booking systems or team directories.

E-Commerce: £3,500 – £10,000

An online store with product management, checkout, payment processing, and order management. At £3,500 you get a WooCommerce store with up to 100 products, basic shipping, and Stripe/PayPal integration. At £7,500-£10,000 you get a full Magento or bespoke build with thousands of products, Sage 50 integration, multi-channel sync, and advanced features like customer accounts and loyalty programmes.

Enterprise & Bespoke: £7,500+

Custom web applications, client portals, complex database systems, SaaS platforms, and anything that requires bespoke development. These projects are priced based on complexity and typically range from £7,500 to £25,000+. If your business needs something that off-the-shelf software can't do, this is where we live.

Ongoing Costs After Launch

Hosting: £25-£100/month for managed hosting with support. Domain renewal: £10-£15/year. SSL: included with hosting. Content updates: free if you do them yourself via the CMS, or £50/hour if we do them. SEO: £300-£800/month if you want ongoing optimisation.

Why the Cheapest Quote Is Usually the Most Expensive

We see it every month. A business pays £500 for a website, it doesn't rank, doesn't convert, breaks constantly, and six months later they're paying us £3,500 to rebuild it properly. They've now spent £4,000 instead of £3,500 and lost six months of potential business. Cheap websites use templates, cut corners on performance and security, and rarely come with support. You get what you pay for.

What You Should Budget

If you're a small business, budget £2,000-£4,000 for a professional website and £25-£50/month for hosting. If you're selling online, budget £5,000-£10,000 for the build. If you need custom functionality, budget £10,000+. These are real-world numbers for quality work from a UK agency that answers the phone.

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