"How much is a website?" is a bit like asking "how much is a pint?" Depends where you are, what you're drinking, and whether you want a packet of crisps with it.
But that's a rubbish answer when you're trying to plan a budget, especially right now, when every penny in hospitality is spoken for. So here are honest, ballpark UK price ranges for 2026, what you get at each level, and the running costs that tend to get left out of the quote.
These are typical UK market ranges, pulled together from published UK industry pricing guides. They're a guide, not a price list. Prices exclude VAT unless stated.
Level 1: DIY website builder
Typical cost: your time, plus roughly £10–£40 a month for the platform.
Squarespace, Wix and similar. You pick a template, add your photos and words, and publish.
Good for: new pubs, micropubs and small breweries with simple needs and someone on the team who enjoys it.
What you get: a decent-looking site with your hours, location, menu and contact details.
What you don't get: much flexibility, integrations with your other tools, or anyone to call when it breaks.
Level 2: Freelancer brochure site
Typical cost: around £500–£3,000.
A freelancer builds a small site (usually 5–10 pages), often from a premium theme or template customised to your brand.
Good for: a single pub or taproom that needs a step up from DIY on a modest budget.
What to check: who hosts it, who updates it, what happens if the freelancer moves on, and whether you own the site and domain.
Level 3: Specialist or agency custom site
Typical cost: around £3,000–£12,000 for most small hospitality businesses (more in London or for bigger agencies).
A site designed and built around your venue rather than a template, with proper integrations and setup for search.
Good for: established pubs, taprooms and breweries that want a site that actively brings in bookings, events trade and footfall.
Typically includes:
- Custom design that fits your brand and story
- Tap list or menu integration
- Table booking and events
- Local SEO foundations and structured data
- Mobile-first build that loads fast
- Training so your team can update it
- Support after launch
Level 4: E-commerce and webshops
Typical cost: around £2,000–£5,000 for a straightforward freelancer webshop, £5,000–£15,000 for a standard agency build, and more for complex custom work.
Shopify, WooCommerce or headless builds for breweries selling direct.
Good for: breweries selling mixed cases, subscriptions, merch and gift boxes online.
Extra things that affect the price:
- Mixed case builders
- Beer club subscriptions
- Age verification at checkout
- Delivery zones (local van vs national courier)
- Integration with stock, EPOS or brewery management software
Level 5: Headless or fully custom
Typical cost: from around £15,000 upwards.
For bigger operations with serious online sales, lots of content, multiple sites or brands, and the budget for ongoing developer support. Most independents don't need this. (See What is a headless website?)
The running costs nobody mentions
The build is only part of it. Budget for these every year:
| Cost | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Domain name (.co.uk) | About £10–£15 a year |
| Hosting (decent managed WordPress) | About £10–£30 a month |
| Shopify plan (if using Shopify) | About £19–£259 a month |
| Payment processing | A percentage of each online sale |
| Premium plugins or apps | £0–£50+ a month |
| Maintenance and security updates | About £25–£100+ a month |
| Ongoing marketing or content support | Varies a lot, from £100s a month |
For most small hospitality sites, £500–£2,500 a year in running costs is a sensible ballpark. Webshops cost more.
Where cheap gets expensive
A few things that look like savings but usually aren't:
- No support plan. WordPress sites that don't get updated get hacked. Fixing a hacked site costs far more than a year of maintenance.
- Bargain hosting. Slow hosting means a slow site, which means fewer bookings.
- Not owning your domain. If someone else registered it "for you", make sure it's in your name.
- Template sites with no SEO setup. A site nobody can find isn't cheap, it's just a cost.
- "Free" websites from booking or EPOS providers. Handy to start with, but often limited, and hard to leave.
What should you spend?
A simple way to think about it: what's one extra booking, one extra event or one extra online order worth to you each week? Multiply that by 52. That's roughly what a website that actually works could be worth each year. It gives you a sensible ceiling for what to invest.
And ask every web company the same questions:
- What exactly is included?
- What will it cost to run each year?
- Who owns the website and the domain?
- What happens after launch?
- Can my team update it themselves?
- Have you worked with pubs, taprooms or breweries before?
How BEVV prices
We don't do fixed packages, because no two venues are the same. We do:
- A free 30-minute health check to see where you are.
- A clear quote for your project, with nothing hidden.
- Month-to-month ongoing marketing after the initial period, so you're never locked in.
Premium work at a fair price, because we know what margins look like behind the bar.
Want an honest number for your venue? Start with a free chat. The first pint's on us.