You’ve got two quotes for a small business website. One says £299 up front with fees bolted on, the other charges more up front and includes everything. The cheaper headline seems obvious. But which one actually costs more over two years?
The answer might surprise you. A low build price often comes with mandatory monthly fees, paid add-ons for basic features, and extra charges for things you’d assume were included. By the end of Year 1, the “cheap” option can cost more — and from Year 2 onwards, the gap only widens.
Quick answer. The build fee is only half the cost of a website. Mandatory care plans, per-update content charges, and business-email add-ons can add £25–£70/month to a low-headline quote. Always compare the all-in Year 1 cost and Year 2+ ongoing — and ask exactly what’s bundled before you sign anything.
The build price is only half the story
Most web designers charge two things: a one-off build fee and an ongoing monthly fee for hosting, maintenance, or a “care plan.” The build price is the headline number that gets your attention. The monthly fee is where the real cost lives.
Some providers keep the build price low to get you through the door, then charge separately for content updates, business email, SSL certificates, and support. These aren’t optional extras — they’re things every business website needs. When you add them up, that bargain build starts looking expensive.
10 questions to ask before you sign up
Before committing to any web designer, ask these questions. The answers will tell you exactly what you’re paying for.
1. Is there a mandatory monthly fee, and what does it cover?
Many providers require a monthly “care plan” or maintenance fee. That’s normal — hosting and maintenance cost money. But check what’s actually included. Some base plans cover only technical maintenance (software updates, SSL renewal, backups) and nothing else.
2. Are content updates included?
If you need to change a phone number, update your opening hours, swap an image, or add a blog post — is that included in your monthly fee, or will you be charged by the hour? Some providers charge £35–£65/month extra for even minor content updates.
3. Is business email included?
A professional email address (you@yourbusiness.co.uk) should be standard. Some providers charge £5–£8/month extra for it. Over a year, that’s another £60–£96 on top of everything else.
4. Can a mistake be rolled back?
“Regular backups” is vague. Ask: what exactly is kept, how far back does it go, and who puts it back? If a change goes wrong, can your site be returned to how it was — and how long would that take? Get the answer in writing.
5. What’s protecting the site, and what needs patching?
An SSL certificate (the padlock icon) is the bare minimum — every site should have one, renewed automatically so it never lapses. Then ask what sits in front of the site to soak up floods of junk traffic, and what software behind it needs keeping up to date. A site with plugins or a database needs regular updates, so ask who does them and how often.
6. Do I own my website?
If you stop paying, what happens? With some providers, your site disappears because you never owned the code. Ask: can I export my website files and take them to another provider if I choose to leave?
7. What technology is your site built with?
A site put together from pre-made blocks in a drag-and-drop page builder and one that’s custom-coded from scratch can both look good. A page builder is quicker to put together, and it lets whoever has the login move things around. Custom code takes longer to build and gives the developer full control over what goes on each page. Ask which you’re getting, what in it needs keeping up to date, and who does that.
8. What hosts my site, and who looks after it?
Is your site on shared hosting, where many sites share one server, or on managed hosting, where someone looks after it? The platform’s name matters less than what that looking-after includes, so ask: can a bad change be rolled back, is the site checked if it goes down, and what sits in front of it? We unpack the practical differences in shared hosting vs managed AWS hosting.
9. What happens at 9pm on a Sunday?
When something goes wrong outside business hours, who do you contact? Is there a ticket system, a generic support email, or do you have direct access to the person who built your site?
10. What’s the total Year 1 cost, and what’s the Year 2+ cost?
This is the question that reveals everything. Add up the build fee plus 12 months of every mandatory and optional fee. Then calculate what Year 2 costs (no build fee, just the ongoing monthly). That’s your true cost of ownership.
A worked example
Let’s compare two real pricing models side by side (numbers based on typical UK market rates, not any specific provider). For a fuller breakdown of what each price tier delivers, see our pricing post — and for the same maths set against the “Facebook page is enough” alternative, What a £299 Website Actually Costs (And Why a Facebook Page Won’t Replace One).
| Provider A — low build, modular monthly fees | Provider B — higher build, all-inclusive monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Build (one-off) | £299 | £600 |
| Monthly hosting / care plan | £26/mo (tech only) | £20/mo (hosting, updates and email) |
| Content updates | + £36/mo add-on | Included |
| Business email | + £8/mo add-on | Included |
| Total monthly | £70/mo | £20/mo |
| Year 1 all-in | £1,139 | £840 |
| Year 2+ /year | £840 | £240 |
Provider A’s £299 build looked like a bargain. But by Year 1, Provider B is already £299 cheaper. By the end of Year 2, the gap is £1,979 vs £1,080 — Provider A has cost £899 more for the same service.
And from Year 3 onwards, you’re paying £840/year vs £240/year. That’s 3.5x more, every year, indefinitely.
Our own pricing goes further than Provider B: one £50-a-month payment covers the build as well as the hosting, nothing up front — £600 a year.
What’s included at GrantOps
While our £50 a month plan runs, hosting is included in it. Once all 24 payments are made, or if you’d like us to host a site on its own, it’s Starter Managed Hosting at £20 a month. Either way, hosting includes:
- Small content updates — email us text changes, photo swaps and small tweaks, and we update your site: about 30 minutes of work a month, no hourly charges. Bigger work is quoted first.
- Business email — an info@yourbusiness address forwarded to the inbox you already use, and one mailbox to send from it set up on request. Extra mailboxes for staff are charged.
- 60 days of change history — earlier versions of every file on your site are kept for 60 days, so if a change goes wrong it can be rolled back. We also keep a separate copy of your site’s code, with its history of changes.
- The HTTPS padlock — your SSL certificate is issued and renewed automatically, and its expiry is checked every day.
- A check every morning — your site is checked once a day, and we’re alerted if it’s down.
- AWS with Cloudflare in front — Cloudflare’s standard protection against floods of junk traffic, and your photos and files cached close to your visitors.
- Nothing to patch — your site is static: no plugins, no database and no server software to keep updated.
- Direct access — you contact the engineer who built your site, by email or phone, not a support ticket queue.
One monthly fee, and anything bigger is quoted before it starts. No surprises.
The bottom line
A low build price isn’t a bargain if it comes with expensive monthly fees for features that should be standard. Before you sign up with any web designer, add up the total Year 1 cost and the Year 2+ cost. That’s the number that matters.
For a concrete example of a build delivered end-to-end, see the KAP Joinery case study — a Glasgow joiner on a custom AWS-hosted site, with hosting included from day one.
Ready to see transparent pricing? See what’s included or get a free mockup.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare two web design quotes fairly?
Put both quotes onto the same total-cost-of-ownership basis: build fee + 12 months of any mandatory care plan + add-ons (content updates, business email, SSL). The cheaper headline can lose by Year 1 once monthly fees stack up. Compare the all-in Year 1 number AND the Year 2+ ongoing cost — and what you actually own at the end.
What hidden costs typically aren't in a £299 website quote?
Mandatory monthly care plans (£25–£70/mo on top of the build), per-update content charges, business email as a paid add-on (£5–£8/mo), and sometimes SSL certificates billed separately. Over Year 1, a £299 build with these add-ons typically costs ~£1,139 — nearly double what our £50/month plan costs in the same year (£600), with hosting, small content updates and an info@ email address forwarded to your inbox included.
Should I get a website built on AWS or shared hosting?
Managed hosting on AWS (£20–£75/mo across the market) costs more than shared hosting (£3–£10/mo). The platform's name isn't what you're paying for — the looking-after is, so ask what it includes: can a bad change be rolled back, is the site checked if it goes down, what protection sits in front of it, and who makes changes for you. Shared hosting suits simple sites when you, or whoever built the site, are happy to look after it; managed hosting is worth it when you'd rather someone else kept the site up to date and put things right when something goes wrong.
What's a fair monthly cost for a small business website?
Across the UK market, £20–£75/month is typical for a small business with managed hosting. Below £20/mo usually means hosting you look after yourself; above £75/mo should come with active management or e-commerce features. The all-in number — including content updates and business email — matters more than the headline monthly rate.
What's the single most important question to ask a web designer?
'What's the all-in Year 2 cost?' Add up the build fee plus 12 months of every mandatory and optional fee, then strip out the build fee for Year 2. That single number is your true cost of ownership and reveals whether a low headline price is a real saving or a loss-leader for expensive add-ons.