Website cost calculator
My prices are £750 for Essentials, £1,450 for Signature and from £2,250 for Bespoke, fixed before any work starts. This page works out the month a one-off build overtakes whatever you pay monthly now, and which of the three tiers your business actually needs.
Written by Danny Andrews. Nothing here is gated. No email address, no form, no follow up unless you ask for one.
When does owning beat renting
Put in what you pay now, or what you have been quoted, and the sums are done against my published prices.
Owning costs less from
Month 39
Five years, rented
£2,700
Five years, owned
£1,834
At £45 a month, a £1,450 build costs less from month 39 onwards. Over five years that is £2,700 rented against £1,834 owned.
Rented sites usually include hosting and updates. A one-off build does not, unless you add a care plan. This compares what you pay, not what you get, so read both columns. The owned figure counts the £96 a year hosting that starts once the first twelve months are up.
Which tier fits
Five questions, no email address, and the price you see is the price on my pricing page.
Answer all five and the tier appears here. 0 of 5 so far.
The same sums, in plain text
A calculator that only exists once the page has loaded is no use to anyone reading rather than clicking, so here are the conclusions written out. Every figure below is produced by the same arithmetic the tool above uses.
The worked example. At £45 a month, which is a common local rate for a rented site, you have paid £540 by the end of year one, £1,620 by the end of year three and £2,700 by the end of year five, and you own nothing at any point. A £1,450 Signature build costs £1,642 over three years and £1,834 over five, counting the £96 a year hosting that begins once the first twelve months are up. It overtakes the rented site in month 39, and from there the gap widens every month, because one of the two numbers has stopped growing.
The crossover table. The month at which each of my three prices overtakes a monthly fee, hosting counted, no care plan.
| Build | At £30 a month | At £45 a month | At £60 a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials, £750 | Month 32 | Month 19 | Month 15 |
| Signature, £1,450 | Month 65 | Month 39 | Month 28 |
| Bespoke, From £2,250 | Month 101 | Month 59 | Month 43 |
Read the Bespoke row as a floor rather than a figure, since £2,250 is where that tier starts rather than where it lands.
What the table does not say. A rented site usually includes hosting and someone to make your changes. A one-off build includes twelve months of hosting and then £96 a year, and changes are either yours to make or a care plan at £65, £95 or £150 a month. Turn a care plan on in the tool above and the comparison changes shape, sometimes to the point where renting stays cheaper forever. That is the honest answer for some businesses and the tool will tell you so.
The longer version of this argument, with the other routes priced up, is in what a website actually costs in the UK, and the full tier detail is on the pricing page.
Common questions
How much does a small business website cost in the UK?
A professionally built small business site is usually £750 to £5,000 as a one off. My own prices are £750 for Essentials, £1,450 for Signature and from £2,250 for Bespoke, fixed before any work starts. DIY builders sit below that at £150 to £400 a year, and agency work starts around £5,000.
When does buying a website beat renting one?
At £45 a month, a £1,450 build overtakes what you are paying in month 39, counting the £96 a year hosting that starts after the first twelve months. Over five years that is £2,700 rented against £1,834 owned, and at the end of the rented five years you own nothing.
Does the calculator include hosting?
Yes. Twelve months of managed hosting is inside every build, then hosting is £96 a year and stays at £96 for as long as you are with me. If you add a care plan, hosting sits inside the plan instead, so you are not paying both.
Will the price change after I get in touch?
No. The figure the calculator gives you is the published price, and the quote is fixed and agreed in writing before any work begins. Extra pages are £95 each, and anything outside the tier, like copywriting or brand work, is quoted separately before I start it. There is no hourly billing.
Bring me the number you have been quoted
If the sums above put you somewhere you did not expect, tell me what you do and what you are paying, and I will tell you straight whether moving is worth it. Sometimes it is not, and you will get that answer too.
Talk to Danny