Pricing guide · UK · 2026
How much does a tradesman website actually cost?
A professional tradesman website in the UK costs roughly £395–£900 as a one-off from an independent designer. DIY builders run £10–£30 a month, freelancers £500–£2,000, and full agencies £2,000–£10,000+. Sitework builds hand-coded, mobile-first trade sites from £395, with managed hosting at £10 a month.
Most tradespeople get quoted a number with no breakdown behind it. Here's exactly what you're paying for at each price point — and how to tell when a cheap site is a bargain and when it's a waste.
The four ways to get a trade website — and what each really costs
There are four realistic routes, and the price gap between them is huge because you're buying very different things. Here's the 2026 UK picture side by side.
| Option | Typical UK cost | You get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy) |
£10–£30 / month (ongoing, forever) |
A template you build and maintain yourself | Hobbyists with spare evenings |
| Independent designer (e.g. Sitework) |
£395–£900 one-off + ~£10/mo hosting |
A hand-built, mobile-first site made for your business | Working trades who want it done for them |
| Freelancer | £500–£2,000 one-off | A custom build, quality varies widely | Trades wanting something bespoke |
| Agency | £2,000–£10,000+ | Strategy, multi-page build, ongoing retainer | Larger firms with marketing budgets |
The honest take: a sole-trader sparky or plumber almost never needs the £5,000 agency build. You need one fast page that loads on a phone, shows your reviews, and has a tap-to-call button. That's a few hundred pounds — not a few thousand.
Why DIY builders cost more than they look
A "£12 a month" website builder sounds cheapest, but it's a rental that never ends — over three years that's £430+, and you've done all the work. You also inherit the two jobs that actually make a site convert: writing copy that books jobs, and making it fast on mobile. Most DIY trade sites stall at "a logo and a phone number on a template," which is exactly the site that doesn't make the phone ring.
What makes a trade website worth paying for
Price should track scope, not polish. The non-negotiables for a site that wins work:
- Mobile-first — most trade searches happen on a phone, so the phone layout is the real design.
- Fast load — a slow site loses the click before your number even shows.
- Click-to-call & WhatsApp — one tap to reach you, no contact form friction.
- Google reviews on the page — your reputation is your strongest sales pitch.
- Service & area clarity — what you do and where, so Google and customers both get it.
A tight one-pager that nails these beats a sprawling ten-page site that doesn't. Scope down, build well, spend less.
Do you need a website if you already pay for Checkatrade?
A directory is rented visibility — you pay monthly to appear on a page shared with your competitors, and the lead often comes with a fee. Your own website is an asset you own: it ranks in Google for your name and your town, every enquiry comes straight to you, and there's no per-lead charge. Directory membership costs recur every month whether the phone rings or not — see Checkatrade's own membership pricing. Most trades do best with both, with their own site as home base. The government's guidance on setting up a business and the Federation of Small Businesses both point small firms toward owning their own online presence rather than renting it.
The ongoing costs nobody mentions
Beyond the build, two costs recur: a domain name (around £10–£15 a year) and hosting. With most setups these arrive as separate, easy-to-forget bills. Sitework rolls domain renewal, SSL, secure hosting, backups and unlimited minor updates into one £10/month — so a typo fix or a new phone number is a message, not an invoice.
So — what should a tradesman actually pay in 2026?
For a single, well-built, mobile-first site that does the job, budget £395–£595 one-off plus £10/month. Anything under that is usually a DIY template you'll maintain yourself; anything over £2,000 is agency scope most sole traders don't need. Sitework sits at the bottom of that range — £395 for a hand-built site, with free mockups of your real business before you pay a penny.