A trade website in the UK can cost anywhere from nothing to over £10,000. That range sounds useless — but it’s genuinely accurate, because the price depends entirely on how you get it built. DIY website builders are free or close to it. A proper agency with a decent brief can hit five figures. And there’s a whole lot in between.
The question isn’t really “how much does a website cost?” — it’s “which option makes sense for a sole trader or small trade business?” This guide breaks down each route, what you actually get, and where the value is.
Key Takeaways
- DIY website builders (Wix, Squarespace) start free but typically cost £12–£25/month — you do all the work yourself
- Freelance web designers charge £500–£3,000 upfront for a basic trade website, but ongoing updates and hosting are usually extra
- Web agencies charge £2,000–£10,000+ for a custom site with more pages and features
- Managed monthly plans — like Digital Tradies at £49/month — include design, hosting, and ongoing support for a flat monthly fee with no upfront cost
- Hidden costs (domain, hosting, SSL, updates) often add £300–£600/year to DIY and freelance builds
The Four Main Routes
1. DIY Website Builders
Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy Website Builder let you build a site yourself using drag-and-drop templates. The free tiers usually show ads on your site and won’t let you use your own domain name. A usable plan typically runs £12–£25/month.
What you get: A functional site if you put the time in. Most templates are mobile-responsive. You control every change.
What you don’t get: Any help with SEO, a professional design that stands out, or someone to call when something breaks. For tradespeople who aren’t comfortable with tech, the time cost is the real issue — setting up a proper site with all the right pages can take 20–40 hours if you’ve never done it before.
Best for: Tradespeople who are comfortable with technology and have time to spare.
2. Freelance Web Designer
A UK freelance web designer typically charges between £800 and £3,000 for a straightforward 4–5 page trade website. Prices vary based on experience — junior freelancers often come in under £1,000, while experienced designers with a portfolio of trade sites charge £2,000–£3,000 or more.
What you get: A custom design built to your brief. Usually includes initial setup, basic SEO, and a handover. Some freelancers include a year’s hosting; most don’t.
What you don’t get: Ongoing support unless you pay for it. Once the project is delivered, changes and updates cost extra — typically £50–£150/hour. If your contact moves on or the working relationship ends, you may need to start again with someone new.
| Cost type | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Upfront build | £800–£3,000 |
| Domain name | £10–£20/year |
| Hosting | £80–£200/year |
| Annual updates | £200–£600/year |
| Total year one | £1,090–£3,820 |
3. Web Agency
Full-service agencies charge more because they bring a team — designer, developer, project manager — and usually a more thorough process. For a custom 5–10 page trade website with SEO setup, expect £2,000–£8,000. Complex sites with booking systems, CRMs, or advanced features can hit £10,000–£20,000.
What you get: A polished, well-structured site. Usually includes proper keyword research, schema markup, and a build process with proper sign-off stages.
What you don’t get: Much ongoing attention once the project closes. Agencies typically move on to the next client. Hosting and maintenance contracts are often sold separately, adding £500–£1,500/year on top.
Best for: Trade businesses spending heavily on marketing with a budget to match.
4. Managed Monthly Plan
Some providers — including Digital Tradies — offer a fully managed website for a flat monthly fee with no upfront cost. You get a professional site built for your trade, hosting, SSL, and ongoing support included. Changes happen via WhatsApp or email. If something breaks, it gets fixed.
Digital Tradies builds trade websites from £49/month with no setup fee. The site is live in three days. If you don’t like it after a year, you can cancel and keep the files.
What you get: A professional site up and running quickly, without a large upfront cost. All technical maintenance, hosting, and updates are included.
What you don’t get: Full design control — you work within a structure built for trade businesses. That’s usually fine, because what converts work for a plumber is the same as what converts for an electrician: clear service info, visible phone number, and Google reviews.
| Route | Upfront | Monthly | Year-one total |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | £0 | £12–£25 | £144–£300 |
| Freelancer | £800–£3,000 | £10–£20 (hosting) | £920–£3,240 |
| Agency | £2,000–£10,000 | £50–£150 (maintenance) | £2,600–£11,800 |
| Managed monthly | £0 | £49–£79 | £588–£948 |
What Drives the Cost Up
A few factors push web design costs higher regardless of which route you take:
Number of pages. A 10-page site takes roughly twice as long to build as a 5-page one. Each service page, location page, or gallery section adds to the brief.
E-commerce or booking systems. If you want customers to pay online or book jobs directly through the site, expect to add £500–£2,000 to the cost. These integrations require more development and ongoing maintenance.
Custom design. Bespoke design work — not using a template or framework — costs more because it’s genuinely hand-crafted. For most trade websites, a well-built template outperforms a bespoke design in terms of leads generated, simply because what works for trade sites is well-established.
Content writing. Most website quotes don’t include copywriting. If you can’t supply your own text, expect to pay a copywriter £50–£150 per page on top.
Hidden Costs to Watch For
Whether you’re building it yourself or hiring someone, these extras add up:
- Domain name: £10–£20/year for a
.co.ukor.com - Hosting: £80–£200/year for a basic shared server, more for VPS
- SSL certificate: Often included with hosting now, but worth confirming
- Stock photos or image licences: £0 (if you use your own work photos) to £200+/year
- Google Analytics / tracking setup: Usually included with a professional build; a separate cost on DIY
- SEO tools: Platforms like Ahrefs or SEMrush cost £80–£200/month if you want to track your rankings — not necessary for most sole traders
A managed plan bundles most of these into a single monthly fee, which makes the total cost more predictable.
What’s Actually Worth Paying For
The most common mistake is overspending on design and underspending on the basics. A beautifully designed site with no phone number above the fold, no Google reviews, and poor SEO won’t generate work. A functional site with clear contact details, proper service pages, and real customer reviews will. For a full breakdown of what a trade website should actually contain, see What Should a Tradesman Website Include?.
According to BrightLocal’s 2024 Local Consumer Review Survey, 98% of UK consumers used the internet to find a local business in the past year. What they’re looking for when they land on a trade website is simple: can you do the job, do you cover their area, and are you trustworthy? Everything worth paying for on a trade website contributes to answering those three questions faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a reasonable price to pay for a trade website? For a sole trader or small trade business, £500–£1,500 for a one-off build from a freelancer is reasonable. Managed monthly plans at £49–£79/month are often better value because hosting, support, and updates are included — the year-one total is lower, and there’s no large upfront cost.
How much does it cost to run a website in the UK? Beyond the build cost, running a website typically costs £90–£220/year in hosting and domain fees. If you use a managed plan, those costs are included in the monthly fee. If you’re with a freelancer or built it yourself, you’ll pay those separately.
How much does a 5-page trade website cost? A basic 5-page trade website — homepage, services, about, contact, and one additional page — typically costs £800–£2,000 with a freelancer, or around £49/month on a managed plan with no upfront fee.
Do I need to pay for ongoing maintenance? Yes. Websites require software updates, security patches, and occasional content changes. With a DIY builder, the platform handles this automatically. With a freelancer or agency build, you’ll usually pay £50–£150/hour for changes, or take out a maintenance contract.
Can I get a free trade website? Platforms like Wix and Google Sites offer free tiers, but they include adverts, don’t allow a custom domain, and look unprofessional. For a trade business trying to win work, a free website usually costs more in lost credibility than you’d save.
If you’re a plumber, electrician, or builder wondering what a good site actually looks like before you commit, check out our guides to web design for plumbers and web design for electricians for trade-specific examples and advice.
If you’re ready to get a proper trade website without a big upfront cost, Digital Tradies builds professional websites for UK tradespeople from £49/month — no setup fee, live in three days.
