How Much Does Website Development Cost In 2025?

Every business needs a website to compete in the modern corporate landscape. The type of website you need, as well as its complexity, depends on the industry you operate in and the expectations of your target audience.

Still, website development costs are a vital part of any business’s budget. Whether you run a start-up that’s new to the market or an existing business looking to upgrade its website, you need to make sure you get the right website at the right price.

It’s important to remember that not only will you face upfront costs to build your website, but you will also have to pay ongoing website costs, such as hosting fees, SEO costs and others.

As an experienced website development agency, Right Hook understands that there’s no easy answer to the question: how much does a website cost? Every site is different, and your preferences will have a major influence on the cost of your new website. Keep reading to find out more about the costs involved with building a website and the factors that influence them.

Rough Costs For A New Website

You’re all here for the same thing: you want numbers. As much as we can drone on and on about what it takes to build a website – and we will- now is the time for numbers.

While we can’t give you accurate costs for your new site, here’s a rough outline of the different options available and the prices you can expect to pay.

Website Type	Rough Costs For Initial Build	Pros	Cons
Self-Build CMS (Wix, Squarespace etc)	£0-£200+	Low costs Easy to use	Limited functionality Not fully-customisable Heavy reliance on plug-ins for extra functionality can lead to a slow, poorly performing site
WordPress Or Shopify Pre-Made Theme	£500-£2000+	Low costs Easier to use than more complex options but still requires skill More options than cheaper self-build providers	Limited functionality and customisation options Heavy reliance on plug-ins for extra functionality can lead to a slow, poorly performing site
Custom-Build WordPress Brochure Website	£6000-£10000+	Flexible with a range of options Can be customised to suit your needs Few limitations when it comes to design or functionality	Requires the skills of an experienced website developer Higher cost than pre-made themes
E-Commerce Websites With Custom Features	£10,000- £15000+	A variety of options to suit your needs Custom shipping solutions to ensure customer satisfaction Easily scalable to allow for a large number of product pages	High costs

The Basic Tools You Need To Create Your Website

Every website requires certain tools or services, many of which cost money. Some you might be able to get for free or do yourself, but often, free solutions come with caveats, and doing a lot of the work yourself can take time and resources that are better spent running your business.

The main tools you will need to create your business website are:

• Website Hosting: Every site needs web hosting, which is the process of allowing you to store your site files and publish them on the internet. Hosting costs depend on several factors, such as the complexity of the website, the resources required (e.g., caching, bandwidth, storage), and the anticipated level of traffic. Costs can range significantly, from less than £10 per month for basic brochure websites using shared hosting to several hundred pounds per month for complex sites that need advanced cloud hosting solutions and extensive resources.
• Domain Name: Part of your website hosting costs, your domain name is the name of your website and can be an annual purchase cost. Like a car number plate, the cost of your domain name depends on its popularity, so domains with high search volume keywords in them are more expensive.
• Content: Every website needs some form of content. Whether it’s written, visual or video, you need something on your site to make it worth having. While you might already have content, any fresh creations may incur a cost.
• Website Security: Security is essential for any website, as you need to protect your site to make it accessible. For ecommerce websites and sites that require the storing or sharing of personal details, website security is even more important, and the more security parameters that are required, the higher your overall web development cost is likely to be.
• SEO: Search engine optimisation is crucial to get any website ranking for relevant search terms. While it isn’t essential, and you can build a website without it, SEO can provide long-term ROI. If your business is investing in a top-quality website, it pays to get professional digital marketing as well.
• Ongoing Maintenance: Over time, your website will need updating, and errors might occur that need to be fixed. These issues will affect your ongoing website costs and the overall price of your new site.

Factors That Influence Your Website Development Costs

There are many factors that affect your website costs, and the ones that apply to your business will be unique. Here. are some of the main influences that will change the cost of your new website, so you can make informed decisions.

How You Choose To Build Your Website

The way you choose to build your website will contribute to its costs. If you choose to use a website builder tool with free templates to create a basic website, then you can expect minimal costs. However, you’ll still need to buy your domain, and you might face limitations when using free tools.

For large, complex websites, you may have to use a website developer, which will incur higher costs. Still, there are options. A freelance web designer may offer lower hourly rates than a website design agency, but you may find it harder to find someone reliable and with the skills you need. Also, some freelance website developers won’t do all the work, so you may have to find a freelance designer and content creator as well.

Working with a web development company might be more expensive in the short term, but it is usually easier to find one with good reviews and a large portfolio of custom websites. Also, if you use a company that also offers digital marketing services and full website design, then you’ll only need to work with one organisation to build your new business website.

Website Size

The size of your website, including the number of blocks needed per page and the number of archive pages, will affect how much you pay for your new site.

More pages with a lot of blocks will require additional development time, and this will contribute to the cost of your website.

As well as the number of pages, you also need to consider how much storage you need for large files, such as videos and PDF documents.

Additional Features Needed

If you require multi-step forms, blocks that interact with one another or extensive content, then this can affect the amount of development time needed.

Many of these features, including membership areas, intergrated portals and complicated forms aren’t available from DIY website builders, as they need to be created using custom code.

As such, you will need to work with a professional website developer, who will charge more. The longer the additional features take, the higher your website costs will be.

Ongoing Website Maintenance Costs

Website development costs are the upfront fees paid to build your site in the first place. Once the site is live and functional, there are still ongoing costs that need to be factored into your budget.

These include your annual domain fee, hosting costs, and the cost of any improvements or changes to your website’s content or code. Also, your site will need ongoing security solutions, which may incur a subscription fee.

If you carry out SEO on your site, then you might also have to pay for subscriptions for content management systems and other SEO tools.

Your website’s ongoing costs depend on the solutions you use and the size of your website and usually start from £100 for the hosting and domain on a basic website through to hundreds of pounds or more for a larger, more complex website.

Here’s a rough overview of some of the ongoing website maintenance costs you can expect.

Service	Rough Costs
Domain Fees	£10-£20+ per year
Hosting Fees	£50-£200+ per month depending on website size
Security	£100-£500+ per year, depending on website size
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate	£10-£200+ per year, depending on your provider
SEO	£100- £5000+ per month, depending on website size
Email Services	£100-£300+ per month, depending on email list size and other factors

DIY Website Development VS Professional Web Design

DIY web development tools that promise you a free or cheap website might seem like an ideal way to cut your website development costs considerably.

Many of these website builders offer you a free domain and templates, which you can use to build your site, but you should be aware that if you use a free domain hosted by your website builder, then you don’t own your website’s name or code. All you will own is the content you uploaded.

If you buy your own website domain, you can still make use of DIY website builder tools, many of which will offer you templates to reduce design costs.

In some cases, these website builders can be useful. For a small business website with limited functionality, a DIY website builder tool can save you time, effort and money.

Unfortunately, these solutions have their limitations. Even the paid plans give limited functionaility, and there might be UI or UX issues that you can’t fix.

Also, if you require additional solutions, such as a membership platform, online course database or an API integration that links to your project management software, then a DIY website builder will probably be inadequate.

Ecommerce websites that need payment gateways and other solutions might find that a DIY website builder doesn’t provide them with the security or software they need to be compliant with relevant regulations and give customers the peace of mind they need when buying from their website.

For higher-specification websites and better design solutions, you need a professional website development agency with a large portfolio of stunning websites, like Right Hook.

How To Find The Right Web Designer For Your New Site

If you’re considering a new website for your business and want something beyond a basic solution, then you need to find the right company that can provide everything you need and create a custom website that suits your needs.

At Right Hook Studio, we specialise in bespoke website development, hosting and ongoing maintenance. Our team can carry out specialist tasks for you, including WordPress development, ecommerce website development, API integration, membership platform builds and more.

Whatever services you need, we’re here to help you build a website that suits your needs and has you fighting off your competitors. Everything from search engine rankings to online sales and revenue numbers is influenced by your website, so making sure you build one that fits your requirements is essential.

While our initial costs are higher than free solutions and template website builders, we offer exceptional value and a strong return on your investment. Our websites are designed to last and are custom-coded for maximum versatility.

If you’d like to find out more about the website development costs involved in building your ideal business website, book a call today.