Anywhere from "a few hundred quid" to "we're looking at ten grand minimum." It's one of the most confusing purchases a small business owner ever has to make — because the pricing seems completely arbitrary.

It's not arbitrary. But it is complicated. And a lot of the people quoting you have a vested interest in keeping it that way. So let's actually break it down. Every cost, every option, no fluff.

The Main Ways to Get a Website (And What Each Actually Costs)

Option 1: Do It Yourself on a Template Builder

  • What you pay: £9–25/month on average, plus extras
  • What you get: A template-based site you build and maintain yourself

This is the Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy route. The adverts make it look effortless. In practice, most business owners spend 10–20 hours getting something they're half-happy with, then discover they need to pay more to unlock the features they actually wanted.

Real monthly cost once you account for business plans, email hosting, booking tools, and marketing integrations: easily £30–60/month. Plus your time, which isn't free.

Who it suits: Someone testing a new idea with a very tight budget and time to spare.

Option 2: Buy a Premium WordPress Theme

  • What you pay: £50–200 one-off for the theme, plus hosting (£5–15/month), plus your time
  • What you get: A more polished template with more flexibility than Wix

WordPress powers a significant portion of the internet, which means there's a huge ecosystem of themes and plugins. You can get something that looks quite good.

The hidden costs here are the ones no one warns you about. Plugins conflict with each other. Themes need updating, and sometimes updates break things. Security vulnerabilities are common. You'll either spend hours maintaining it yourself, or start paying someone to do it — which often costs more than just hiring someone to build something properly in the first place.

Who it suits: Someone with technical confidence and time to maintain it.

Option 3: Hire a Freelance Web Designer

  • What you pay: £500–5,000+ upfront (varies enormously)
  • What you get: A custom or semi-custom site, built by someone else

Freelancer pricing varies wildly because freelancers vary wildly. A student doing their first few sites might charge £400. An experienced designer with a strong portfolio might charge £4,000 for the same brief.

You also need to factor in what happens after launch. Most freelancers hand over the finished site and step back. If something breaks, you're chasing them. If you need an update, that's another invoice. Hosting, domains, SSL certificates — often separate costs you have to manage yourself.

Who it suits: Businesses with a clear budget, good brief, and realistic expectations about ongoing costs.

Option 4: Hire a Web Design Agency

  • What you pay: £3,000–20,000+ upfront
  • What you get: A full-service custom build, usually with ongoing support packages

Agencies bring teams — designers, developers, project managers, copywriters. The quality ceiling is higher. So is the price. For larger businesses with complex requirements, an agency makes sense. For most small and medium businesses, it's overkill, and the cost is simply prohibitive.

Who it suits: Established businesses with larger budgets and complex website needs.

Option 5: A Custom Website with No Upfront Cost

  • What you pay: £0 upfront, £16/month all-in
  • What you get: A fully custom site, designed from scratch, with ongoing support included

This is the model we offer at Oceanit, and yes — we understand why it raises eyebrows. "How is that possible?" is a fair question. The answer is straightforward: instead of charging a large upfront fee, we build long-term relationships with clients.

You pay a flat monthly rate that covers everything — hosting, maintenance, updates, and support — for as long as you're with us. We invest in building you something excellent because our success depends on yours.

No contracts. No hidden fees. Just a custom website and everything that goes with it, for £16 a month.

Who it suits: Small and medium businesses who want something genuinely custom without the upfront financial risk.

The Costs Nobody Puts in the Headline

Regardless of which route you take, here are the costs most people don't account for until they're already committed:

  • Domain name: £10–20/year. Small, but it's there.
  • SSL certificate: Essential for security and Google rankings. Often free now, but sometimes bundled into hosting costs.
  • Email hosting: Your website host often doesn't include business email. Google Workspace starts at around £5/user/month.
  • Ongoing maintenance: Websites break, need updates, and require security patches. If no one's covering this, you're on the hook.
  • SEO: Getting your site built is step one. Getting found is step two — and that often costs extra.
  • Copywriting: Someone has to write the words. If you're doing it yourself, budget the time.

What Should You Actually Pay?

Here's the honest answer: it depends on what you need and what you value.

  • If your website is genuinely just a placeholder and customers find you through word of mouth anyway, spend as little as possible.
  • If your website is a serious part of how you attract and convert customers, it deserves a serious investment.

The trap most people fall into is treating their website like a one-time expense. It's not. It's an ongoing asset that needs to be maintained, updated, and improved over time. Whatever you pay upfront, make sure you know what the ongoing costs look like before you commit.

A Quick Comparison

Option Upfront Cost Monthly Cost Custom Design Ongoing Support
Wix / Squarespace £0 £17–25+ ✗ (templates) Limited
WordPress Theme £50–200 £5–15 Partial Self-managed
Freelancer £500–5,000 £5–20 hosting ✓ Usually extra
Agency £3,000–20,000 £20–100+ ✓ Usually extra
Oceanit £0 £16 ✓ ✓ Included

The Bottom Line

There's no single right answer to what a website should cost. But there are wrong answers — and the most common one is paying for something that doesn't actually serve your business well.

Whatever you decide, ask the right questions before you sign anything. What happens if something breaks? Who handles updates? What does the site look like in three years when technology has moved on?

A good website is one that grows with your business, reflects your brand accurately, and doesn't quietly drain your time and money in the background.