Ask three web companies what a website costs and you will get three very different answers, often with the real number hidden behind a monthly subscription. This guide cuts through it so you know what is fair, what is overpriced, and what you should actually be getting for the money.
We will cover the genuine cost ranges in 2026, the one-off versus monthly question, what should always be included, and the traps that catch tradesmen out.
The honest price ranges in 2026
A DIY builder like Wix or Squarespace costs you little in money but a lot in time, and usually looks it. A freelancer or small studio building a proper custom site for a tradesman typically ranges from around £500 to £2,000 depending on size and who is doing it. Larger agencies charge several thousand and up, often for more than a trade business needs.
For most tradesmen, the sweet spot is a focused, professionally built site in the few-hundred to low-four-figure range. Beyond that you are usually paying for an agency's overheads, not a better result. A trade website should be judged on whether it wins work, not on how much it cost.
One-off fee versus monthly plan
This is the big one. Many web companies advertise a low monthly fee, often £40 to £80 a month, instead of a price. It sounds affordable, but over three years that is £1,500 to nearly £3,000 for a site you never actually own. Stop paying and it usually disappears.
A one-off fee costs more on day one but far less over time, and the site is yours. For a business that plans to be around for years, owning a site outright almost always works out cheaper and safer than renting one forever.
What should always be included
Whatever you pay, certain things should never be extras: a mobile-first design, copy written for you, your real photos used properly, basic on-page SEO, a contact form and click-to-call, and fast hosting. If these are sold as add-ons, the headline price is not the real price.
You should also get the domain and the site files in your own name. If a company keeps your domain or refuses to hand over the site, that is a warning sign, not a service.
The traps that catch tradesmen out
Watch for three things. Lock-in, where a low monthly fee hides the fact that you never own anything. Hidden extras, where SEO, edits or hosting are billed separately on top. And ransom, where leaving means losing your domain or your content.
Ask two questions before you pay anyone: do I own the website and domain outright, and is there anything I have to keep paying for. Clear answers mean a fair deal. Vague ones mean walk away.
What you are really paying for
A cheap site that wins no work is expensive. A fair-priced site that brings in one extra job a month has paid for itself many times over within a year. The right way to think about the cost is against the work it generates, not as a bill to minimise.
One bathroom, one rewire, one new boiler from the website usually covers the whole cost of building it. After that, every enquiry it brings in is profit on an asset you own.
Want a website that a fair, one-off price?
I build websites for Hertfordshire tradesmen for a one-off £500, with everything included and no monthly fees. You own the domain, the design and the lot. Based in Watford, and I build it myself, no agency markup.
The bottom line on cost: expect a few hundred to low-four-figures for a proper custom site, prefer a one-off fee you own over a monthly plan you rent, insist the essentials are included, and judge the price against the work it wins.