'How much should our new website cost?' is the question we get asked most often on the first call. Most agencies dodge it. We won't.
Here's what each budget realistically buys in 2026, from a Manchester-based agency's perspective. Prices are ex-VAT and assume a UK-based team, not offshore.
Under £800: template or DIY territory
At this level you're getting a DIY builder, a lightly customised template on Wix or Squarespace, or a cheap WordPress theme. If the freelancer is honest and quick, you'll get a usable five-page site with your photos and your copy plugged in.
Traps: promises of 'bespoke design' at this price aren't real. Someone is either losing money, cutting corners, or drop-shipping the work to someone paid £3 an hour. It shows.
When it makes sense: brand-new business, tiny budget, needs a site to exist so people can find you. Fine. Just don't expect it to sell for you.
£799–£1,499: a proper starter site
This is our entry point at Taprave, and it's deliberately tightly scoped. For £799 + VAT you get a small brochure website: custom design, core pages, mobile-first build, and the SEO basics done properly. For £1,499 + VAT you get an entry-level Shopify or WooCommerce store with a small catalogue and standard checkout.
You should get: a clear list of what's included, a design that doesn't look like a template, fast performance on mid-range Android, and someone who'll pick up the phone six months later.
Traps: 'from £799' that turns into £2,500 once you ask for a contact form. If an agency quotes an entry price, the scope should be written down before you sign.
£3,500–£7,500: a tailored site for a growing business
This is not the entry point. It's where larger or more specific work lives: ten to twenty pages, custom functionality, advanced SEO, proper photography direction, or integrations with tools you already use.
You should get: a real discovery session, a design system (not just a Figma file), fast performance on mid-range Android, and a fixed quote that covers the full scope.
Traps: agencies bundling in 'monthly SEO' at this price that's really just a plugin auto-generating meta descriptions. Ask what's actually being done each month.
£8,000–£15,000: e-commerce, bookings, or a serious marketing site
At this level you're either building a substantial Shopify or WooCommerce store, an appointment booking flow for a multi-location practice, or a content-driven marketing site with genuine SEO ambition.
You should get: a proper discovery and audit, custom design, CRO thinking baked in, analytics set up correctly, and a launch plan — not just 'we'll push it live on Friday'.
Traps: scope creep on both sides. The best £15k projects have a written spec that both parties actually stick to. The worst turn into a nine-month drift.
Above £15,000
Now you're paying for either a lot of custom development, multiple integrations (CRM, ERP, subscription billing), or an agency's senior team spending significant time with yours. All of these can be worth it — but ask precisely where the extra money is going.
What we do at Taprave
We offer two tightly defined entry prices — £799 + VAT for a small brochure website and £1,499 + VAT for an entry-level ecommerce store — for predictable, small-scope work. Larger or variable-scope projects get a tailored fixed quote after discovery. We're transparent about what's included and what isn't, and if your brief doesn't fit an entry package we'll say so on the first call rather than pretend.
The takeaway
Under £800 gets you a template or DIY site. £799–£1,499 gets you a proper starter site from Taprave. £3.5k–£7.5k is tailored work for a growing business. £8k+ is where complex ecommerce and integrations live. Anyone charging more should be able to explain, line by line, exactly what you're getting for it.
Questions people ask
A simple template or DIY site can cost under £800. Taprave's custom starter websites begin at £799 plus VAT, while larger websites, ecommerce and software are quoted around the actual scope.
The quote should state the pages, design and build scope, forms or integrations, mobile testing, analytics, SEO foundations, content responsibilities, revision limits and post-launch support.
For Taprave's preview-first offer, the proposed direction is shown before payment. If the preview is approved, the project scope and launch work are agreed before the build continues.