A domain costs about £10 a year. So why does a website cost more?
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It is one of the most common questions about website prices, and a fair one. A domain name costs about £10 a year, so how can a website cost hundreds or thousands?
The short answer is that they are different things. The domain is the address on the envelope. The website is the shop you build at that address. Comparing a website quote with the price of a domain is like comparing the cost of a shop fit-out with the cost of the house number.
Here is what each part actually is, what it typically costs a UK small business in 2026, and how to compare quotes without being caught out. For the full price ranges, see how much a website costs in the UK in 2026.
The parts of a website, and what each one is
The domain: your address
yourbusiness.co.uk is a domain. You rent it from a registrar, usually for around £10 a year for a .co.uk, a little more for a .com. It lets people find you, and it is what your email addresses end in. It contains no pages at all.
Watch the renewal price. Some registrars sell the first year cheaply and charge more after that.
DNS: the signposts
DNS is the set of records that tells the internet where your domain’s website and email live. It usually comes with the domain or sits with a service such as Cloudflare. It costs little or nothing, but whoever controls it controls where your website and your email go, so it should be on an account in your name.
Hosting: the building
The website’s files have to live on a computer that is always on and always connected. That is hosting. It ranges from a few pounds a month for basic shared hosting to more for fast, secure, well-run hosting. Typical UK figures put it at £60 to £600 a year.
The website itself: the fit-out
This is where the real cost sits, because it is the work:
- Planning which pages you need and what each is for (see what pages a small business website needs)
- Design, so it looks like your business and works on a phone
- Words that explain what you do and persuade people to get in touch
- Photos of your actual work
- Forms that reliably deliver enquiries to you, without filling up with spam
- Speed, so it loads quickly on mobile data
- Legal pages, such as a privacy notice and your company details
- Search set-up, so Google can find, understand and show it
A builder like Wix or Squarespace gives you the tools to do this yourself. A freelancer or agency does it for you.
Email: your mailboxes
you@yourbusiness.co.uk needs a mailbox provider, usually charged per mailbox per month. It also needs a few DNS records set correctly, or your emails land in spam; see why business emails go to spam.
Upkeep: keeping it running
Once a site is live, someone has to update it, back it up, keep it secure, renew things before they lapse, fix a form when it stops sending, and make changes when your prices or services change. Done by someone else, maintenance typically runs at £50 to £300 a month in the UK. Done by you, it costs your time.
What it adds up to in 2026
Using current UK market figures:
| Route | Upfront | Each year after |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself on a builder (Wix Business is about £25 a month on annual billing; Squarespace £17 to £29) | Your time | Roughly £300 to £400 for the plan and domain, plus email |
| Freelancer | From about £1,500 to £3,000 for a basic five-page site, more with forms and more pages | £500 to £2,000 for domain, hosting and upkeep |
| Agency | Typically £3,000 to £10,000 | Similar running costs, often more |
Guides also put copywriting, photography and search set-up at a further 30 to 50% on top of a build quote when they are not included. Figures are from the sources listed at the end and vary by supplier.
A managed service, where one supplier builds the site and then runs it for a monthly fee, spreads the cost differently: a predictable monthly charge with the upkeep included, sometimes alongside a build fee. We compared the routes over three years in monthly website service vs agency one-off.
How to compare quotes like for like
- List what each quote includes. Hosting, domain, email, the words, the photos, forms, search set-up, security, backups, changes after launch.
- Price the gaps. If a quote leaves out hosting or upkeep, add what you would pay for them elsewhere.
- Look over three years, not one. A cheap build with expensive changes can cost more by year three than a dearer build with upkeep included; see the three-year cost of a website.
- Check who owns what. The domain, DNS and content should be in your name, whoever builds it.
The short version
The domain is the cheapest part of a website and the smallest. What you are paying for is everything that happens at that address: a site that looks like your business, works on a phone, brings you enquiries, and keeps working after launch. A quote that seems high is often just a quote that includes everything.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a domain name cost in the UK?
Usually around £10 a year for a .co.uk, a little more for a .com, depending on the registrar. Some registrars offer a cheaper first year and charge more on renewal, so check the renewal price.
Is a domain the same as a website?
No. The domain is the name people type, like yourbusiness.co.uk. The website is the pages, design, words, photos and forms that appear when they do, and it lives on hosting. Buying a domain gives you the address, not the site.
What does a small business website cost to run each year?
Typical UK figures are around £10 to £50 a year for the domain, £60 to £600 a year for hosting, and £50 to £300 a month for maintenance if someone looks after it for you, which brings real running costs to roughly £500 to £2,000 a year. A website-builder plan does it more cheaply, but you do the work yourself.
Why is a website so expensive?
Because the price covers more than people expect: planning the pages, design, writing, photos, forms that deliver to you, making it fast on a phone, legal pages, search set-up, and looking after it once it is live. The domain is a tiny part of the cost. A quote that seems high is often just a quote that includes everything.