Research · August 2026 · Next update Feb 2027
The real cost of running a website in the UK in 2026
Over five years, running a typical UK business website costs more than building it.
A £3,000 build becomes £5,000–£12,500 in running costs over the same period. Most owners budget for the build and underestimate the rest.
I've run websites commercially for 13 years. This is the research I wish existed: current UK prices, three realistic budgets, the hidden costs people forget, and a calculator to build your own estimate. Every figure is sourced.
The quick answer — ongoing cost per year (ex-VAT)
£90 – £250
£8–£21/mo
Basic personal / brochure site
£1,000 – £2,500
£85–£210/mo
Professional small-business site
£3,000 – £10,000+
£250–£850+/mo
Content-heavy / ecommerce site
Excluding VAT and one-off build costs. Full breakdowns and methodology below.
The build is the cheap part
Ask someone what their website cost and they'll quote the build: “two grand”, “five hundred quid”, “my nephew did it for free”. Ask what it costs per year and most owners genuinely don't know.
That gap matters. A professional small-business website costs £1,000–£2,500 a year to run properly — hosting, email, security, backups and maintenance — before you spend a penny on marketing. Over five years, the running cost of a typical business site comfortably exceeds the original build.
The industry doesn't help. Intro pricing hides renewal jumps of up to 700%. Build quotes rarely mention email, plugin renewals or maintenance. And almost every published price excludes VAT.
So we checked the current prices — domains, hosting, email, platforms, security, maintenance plans, developer rates, SEO and content — across published UK provider pricing and industry rate surveys, all verified in August 2026. Every number on this page is sourced in the methodology section.
Finding 1
Running costs overtake the build within 3–5 years
The chart below shows cumulative cost over five years for each site type. The one-off build is a bar; the running costs climb every year. By year three, a professional small-business site has spent more on running than on building.
Build cost shown as grey bar; running costs shown as blue bars darkening by year. Figures use mid-range estimates. Excludes VAT.
Finding 2
Intro hosting deals renew at up to 700% of the advertised price
Six major UK hosting providers, their published intro price versus the renewal price you actually pay from year two. This is the table journalists should screenshot.
| Provider | Plan | Intro /mo | Renewal /mo | Jump |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SiteGround | GrowBig | £2.99 | £14.99 | +401% |
| Hostinger | Premium | £1.99 | £6.99 | +251% |
| IONOS | Business | £1.00 | £8.00 | +700% |
| GoDaddy | Deluxe | £4.99 | £11.99 | +140% |
| 123-Reg | Premium | £2.49 | £9.99 | +301% |
| Fasthosts | Standard | £1.00 | £7.99 | +699% |
Prices checked August 2026 from published UK provider pricing. Excludes VAT. Intro prices typically require annual commitment; renewal prices apply from month 13.
Finding 2 — visualised
What you pay in year 1 vs year 2
The same six providers, side by side. The gap between the blue bar and the red bar is money most owners don't know is coming.
Monthly hosting prices from published UK provider pricing, August 2026. Excludes VAT.
Interactive
Build your own estimate
Select what applies to your site. The calculator shows your ongoing yearly cost, monthly equivalent, first-year total, and the split between essential and optional spending.
UK Website Cost Calculator
Domain name
essentialHosting
essentialCMS / platform
essentialSecurity & backups
essentialMaintenance
optionalSEO & content
optionalDeveloper support
optionalPlugins & software
optionalOne-off build (first year only)
one-offYour estimate
Ongoing cost per year
£94
≈ £8 per month
First-year total
£94
All figures are typical UK prices excluding VAT, based on published provider pricing and industry rate surveys checked August 2026. See methodology below.
Press kit
For journalists & bloggers
Everything below is free to use with attribution and a link to jamesallsopp.com/research/website-running-costs. Need commentary, custom data cuts or an interview? Get in touch.
Ready-to-use headlines
- 1Over five years, running a UK business website costs more than building it
- 2£2.99 hosting that becomes £15: the UK intro deals renewing at up to 700%
- 3Most UK website build quotes omit email — that alone is £70–£210 a year
- 4UK SMEs spend £85–£210 a month just to keep a professional website online
Expert quotes — James Allsopp
Founder, iNet Ventures (est. 2013, 25,000+ editorial links delivered). 13 years running websites commercially.
“Most owners can tell you what their website cost to build. Almost none can tell you what it costs to run. That gap is where the real money is.”
“The hosting industry has trained people to look at the monthly price in year one. The number that matters is year two onwards — and it is often four times higher.”
“I pay these costs across my own sites. A hack cleanup on a single WordPress install cost me more than three years of maintenance would have.”
Story angles by desk
| Desk | Angle | Key stat |
|---|---|---|
| Small business / money | The website bill nobody puts in the forecast | £1,000–£2,500/yr to run a business site — more than the build over 5 years |
| Consumer / personal finance | £2.99 hosting that becomes £15 | Intro deals renew at up to 700% of the advertised price |
| Tech / cybersecurity | Skipping maintenance: £500–£2,000 hack clean-up | Outdated plugins are among the most common causes of WordPress compromises |
| Ecommerce / retail | Shopify app stack quietly adds £100–£200 a month | Active stores typically spend £1,200–£2,400/yr on apps alone |
| Regional business | What a UK SME actually spends to stay online | £85–£210/month for a professional small-business site, ex-VAT |
Key statistics — free to quote with attribution
A basic UK website costs £90–£250 a year to run (£8–£21/month)
↗ domain + hosting pricesA professional small-business website costs £1,000–£2,500 a year to run (£85–£210/month)
↗ hosting + email + maintenanceA content-heavy or ecommerce website costs £3,000–£10,000+ a year to run
↗ platform + hosting + maintenancePublished UK website maintenance plans range from £29 to £379 a month; most small-business plans sit at £40–£99
↗ 12 UK plans surveyedUK freelance web developers charge £30–£80/hour; agencies £75–£150/hour
↗ YunoJuno rate reportSome introductory hosting deals renew at around four times the promotional rate (e.g. £2.99/mo renewing at £14.99/mo)
↗ SiteGround published pricingOver five years, the running costs of a typical business website exceed the original build cost
↗ see TCO chart
Source: The Real Cost of Running a Website in the UK in 2026, jamesallsopp.com/research/website-running-costs (August 2026)
Dataset licensed under CC-BY 4.0. Cite as: “UK Website Running Costs 2026, jamesallsopp.com”.
Three realistic budgets
What each type of website actually costs
Three packages built from current UK prices — what's essential, what's optional, and what the first year looks like versus every year after.
Basic personal or brochure site
Portfolio, CV site, local trade, simple 'we exist' site
First year (incl. build)
£90 – £900
Ongoing /yr
£90 – £250
Monthly
£8 – £21
Essential
- .co.uk domain — ~£10/yr
- Shared hosting — £60–£120/yr
- SSL certificate — £0 (Let's Encrypt)
- Email forwarding or basic mailbox — £0–£24/yr
Optional
- Template setup by a freelancer — £300–£800 one-off
- Basic care plan — £29–£49/mo if you don't want to DIY
Professional small-business website
Service businesses, consultancies, firms that win work through the site
First year (incl. build)
£2,500 – £7,500
Ongoing /yr
£1,000 – £2,500
Monthly
£85 – £210
Essential
- Domain(s) — £10–£45/yr
- Quality or managed hosting — £120–£720/yr
- Business email (2–3 users) — £140–£210/yr
- Security & backups — £70–£200/yr
- Maintenance plan — £480–£1,200/yr
Optional
- Professional build — £1,500–£5,000 one-off
- Premium plugins & software — £100–£300/yr
- Ad-hoc developer support — £150–£500/yr
- Content & SEO — £3,600+/yr if outsourced
Content-heavy or ecommerce site
Online shops, publishers, membership sites, high-traffic content
First year (incl. build)
£6,000 – £20,000+
Ongoing /yr
£3,000 – £10,000+
Monthly
£250 – £850+
Essential
- Domain(s) — £10–£45/yr
- Ecommerce platform or premium hosting — £600–£3,100/yr
- Business email (3+ users) — £210+/yr
- Security, backups & compliance — £150–£400/yr
- Maintenance / agency retainer — £1,200–£4,500/yr
Optional
- Ecommerce or custom build — £2,500–£10,000+ one-off
- Apps, plugins & extensions — £300–£2,400/yr
- Developer support — £500–£2,000/yr
- SEO & content — £3,600–£24,000/yr
- Payment processing — 1.4–2.5% + 25p per transaction
The bit nobody budgets for
Six hidden costs people forget
Renewal price jumps
That £0.99 first-year domain renews at £10–£15. SiteGround's published £2.99/mo intro plan renews at £14.99/mo — a 401% increase. Budget for the renewal price, not the promo.
Email isn't included
A professional you@yourbusiness.co.uk address costs £70–£210+ a year for a small team on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Most build quotes never mention it.
Plugin & app subscriptions
Premium plugins renew annually, and industry analyses of active Shopify stores put typical app spend at £100–£200 a month. These costs stack silently.
The cost of doing nothing
Skipping maintenance isn't free. Published UK agency rates put a single hack cleanup at £500–£2,000, and outdated plugins are among the most common causes of WordPress site compromises.
VAT
Almost all published prices exclude VAT. If you're not VAT-registered, add 20% to nearly every figure on this page.
Your own time
DIY maintenance takes 2–3 hours a month. At a typical trade charge-out rate, that alone often exceeds the cost of a £45/mo managed plan.
Common questions
How much does it cost to run a website in the UK?
In 2026, a basic personal or brochure website costs £90–£250 a year to run. A professional small-business website costs £1,000–£2,500 a year (£85–£210 a month). A content-heavy or ecommerce site costs £3,000–£10,000+ a year. These figures exclude VAT and the one-off build cost.
How much does a website cost per month in the UK?
A basic site costs £8–£21 a month to run. A professional small-business website costs £85–£210 a month including hosting, email, security and maintenance. Ecommerce sites typically run £250–£850+ a month before marketing spend.
What are the hidden costs of running a website?
The most commonly forgotten costs are renewal price jumps (some intro hosting deals renew at around four times the promotional rate), business email (£70–£210+/yr), premium plugin renewals, VAT (20% on top of nearly all published prices), and maintenance — published UK agency rates put a single hack cleanup at roughly £500–£2,000.
How much does website maintenance cost in the UK?
Published UK maintenance plans in 2026 range from £29 to £379 a month. Most small-business plans cluster between £40 and £99 a month, covering tested updates, backups, security monitoring and a small amount of development time.
Is it cheaper to use a website builder or WordPress?
For a simple site, they cost roughly the same once everything is counted: a website builder at £10–£25/mo includes hosting, while self-hosted WordPress is free software plus £5–£25/mo hosting. WordPress becomes cheaper at scale but carries more maintenance responsibility; builders trade flexibility for simplicity.
Methodology
Where every price came from
All prices were checked in August 2026, are quoted in GBP and exclude VAT unless stated. Where providers use introductory pricing, we quote the renewal price — the number you actually live with — not the promo.
- Domains: published registration and renewal pricing from Namecheap, GoDaddy, 123-Reg, IONOS and Fasthosts. Typical .co.uk renewal £7.50–£15/yr; .com renewal £11–£17/yr.
- Hosting: published UK pricing across budget shared (£2–£5/mo), quality shared (£5–£15/mo) and managed WordPress tiers (£15–£60/mo), including SiteGround, Krystal, IONOS, Hostinger, Kinsta and WP Engine. Renewal rates used where they differ from intro rates.
- Email: Google Workspace UK (Business Starter £5.90/user/mo) and Microsoft 365 UK (Business Basic £5.75/user/mo) published annual-commitment pricing, plus per-mailbox pricing from UK hosts (£1–£3/mo).
- Platforms: Shopify UK published pricing (Basic £19/mo, Grow £49/mo, Advanced £259/mo on annual billing) and mainstream website builder pricing from Wix and Squarespace (£10–£25/mo).
- Maintenance: twelve live published UK maintenance plans, verified July–August 2026, ranging £29–£379/mo with most small-business plans at £40–£99/mo.
- Developer rates: IPSE freelancer survey data and YunoJuno platform rate reports — UK freelance web developers typically £30–£80/hr (average day rate £438), agencies £75–£150/hr.
- SEO & content: UK agency and freelancer published pricing surveys — local SEO £300–£800/mo, small agency retainers £1,000–£2,500/mo, quality 1,000-word blog posts £150–£350.
- Security: Let's Encrypt (free SSL), premium backup services such as UpdraftPlus (~£70/yr) and security suites such as Wordfence and Sucuri (~£200/yr). Hack cleanup costs (£500–£2,000) from published UK agency rates.
Package totals are the sum of category ranges, rounded for readability. This page will be re-checked and the date above updated when prices are re-verified. Next scheduled update: February 2027. Prices change — if you spot something out of date, tell me and I'll fix it.
About this research
I'm James Allsopp. I've run websites commercially since 2013 — an SEO agency, media sites and AI products — so these are costs I pay, not just costs I researched. Journalists: you're welcome to quote any figure on this page with attribution.