Website Design Packages: How to Compare Like for Like
A website design package is a fixed bundle: a set number of pages, a list of features, and a price. Two packages at the same headline figure can differ on ownership, aftercare and what you still pay extra for. Use the checks below to compare any quote like for like before you sign.
What a typical package contains
Most UK studios sell packages for website design as three or four tiers. Under the name you usually get a page allowance, a contact form, a mobile layout, a content management system so you can edit text, and some launch support.
Typical headline prices for small UK business sites sit in these bands:
- Template or builder packages: £300 to £900. Fast, limited, and often locked to the supplier's platform.
- Small brochure packages: £1,000 to £2,500. Five to eight pages, a form, basic titles and alt text.
- Mid-range custom packages: £2,500 to £6,000. More pages, a blog, light branding, and a proper handover.
- Heavier custom or agency work: £6,000 to £15,000 plus. Custom layouts, more copy help, integrations, and a longer project.
In my experience those bands overlap because one person prices pages and another prices days. A £2,000 freelancer package is not the same product as a £2,000 agency package.
The numbers that look the same but are not
Page count is the favourite comparison and the least useful. Eight thin pages with placeholder text is not eight pages of usable copy, photos and calls to action. Ask whether a page means a unique layout or another inner page on the same template.
Use this grid when two quotes land in the same price band:
| Check | Often in the price | Often extra |
|---|---|---|
| Home, about, services, contact | Yes | Service pages beyond a set number |
| Mobile layout | Yes | A true design pass for phone, not just shrink-to-fit |
| Contact form | Yes | File upload, booking or payment |
| On-page titles and headings | Sometimes | Keyword research, local landing pages, ongoing SEO |
| Stock photos | Sometimes | A shoot or even a morning of original photos |
| Copy | Rarely in full | Writing or a proper edit of what you send |
| Hosting, domain, email | Mixed | Email mailboxes in particular |
| Edits after launch | A short window | Anything after 14 to 30 days |
If a quote does not say who writes the words, assume it is you. If it does not say who supplies photos, assume it is you. Those two jobs are where cheap packages pass cost back to the client.
One-off builds and pay-monthly plans
There are two honest ways to buy. A one-off build: you pay a project fee, the site is yours, and hosting plus any care plan sit on top. A pay-monthly plan: you pay a setup fee, then a monthly amount that covers hosting, updates and ongoing management so you are not the person patching plugins at night.
Pay monthly suits small businesses that cannot or will not drop two to five thousand pounds before the site exists. Over three to five years the monthly route often costs more in cash. In return you get someone else handling updates, backups and small changes, and you avoid a lump sum. Read what happens if you stop paying: some firms hand over a copy of the site, some do not.
One-off suits you if you want the asset paid and portable from day one, or you already have someone who can look after it. You still need hosting, typically £8 to £30 a month for a small UK business site, and a plan for updates. Unpatched WordPress and plugins are how sites get hacked. Budget £30 to £80 a month for a maintenance retainer if you are not doing it yourself.
I sell both routes. For current figures, see arlowebstudio.com rather than a number that will go stale on this page.
How to compare two packages on one sheet
I put two quotes on one sheet and mark each row included, extra, or not offered. I ignore the adjectives.
- Domain: who registers it, in whose name, and who pays the renewal.
- Hosting: whose account, which country the servers sit in, and whether email is included.
- Pages: how many, and whether each is a unique layout.
- Copy and photos: who produces them, and how many revision rounds.
- Forms and functions: contact only, or booking, quotes, payments, membership.
- SEO at launch: titles, headings, sitemap, redirects from the old site. Not a slogan.
- Training: a call, a PDF, or nothing.
- Support after launch: a number of days, not a promise to always be there.
- Ownership of design files, theme licence and the CMS login.
- Exit: what you receive if the relationship ends, and any transfer fee.
If a cell is blank, treat it as not included. Clear designers fill every cell without a chase.
Extras that blow a package budget
The package price is the build. Year one often also includes:
- Domain: £10 to £15 a year for a .co.uk or .uk.
- Professional email: £4 to £8 per mailbox per month on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
- Copywriting: £150 to £400 per page if you hire it out.
- Photography: £250 to £800 for a half day with a local photographer.
- Ecommerce: a small catalogue often starts around £3,000 one-off, plus card fees.
- Booking or quote tools: £20 to £60 a month in software on top of the site.
- Cookie and privacy text that is actually specific to you, not a generator dump.
- 301 redirects from every old URL if you already have a site. Skip this and you donate rankings to a 404 page.
Add those lines before you decide a £1,200 package is cheaper than a £2,800 one. It might be. It might also be missing the work that makes the site usable.
Ownership, licences and leaving
I would ask three questions in writing. Who owns the domain. Who owns the hosting account. Who holds the licence for the theme or page builder. If the designer owns the hosting and the licence, you are renting, even if the invoice says website design package. That is not automatically bad. It is bad if you only find out when you want to move.
For a one-off build, the clean setup is domain in your name, hosting in your name or transferable, and a theme licence that can be reassigned. For pay monthly, accept that the supplier runs the stack. Get the exit clause in the same email as the price. A reasonable clause is an export of content and files, with the domain already yours.
A straightforward way to pick
I would ignore the tier names. Write down the jobs the site must do in the first six months: get found for two or three local phrases, take an enquiry, show prices, or sell. Then buy the smallest package that does those jobs without a list of extras you already know you need.
If cash is tight at the start, a pay-monthly plan with hosting and updates included is the more honest fit than a bargain one-off you cannot maintain. If you have the project budget and someone to look after the site, pay once and own it.
A short quote with numbers beats a glossy one with adjectives.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a website design package cost in the UK?
For a small business brochure site, most genuine packages sit between £1,000 and £6,000 one-off. Template jobs can be a few hundred pounds. Custom or agency work runs £6,000 to £15,000 plus. Pay-monthly plans usually take a setup fee then a monthly amount that includes hosting and updates. Add domain, email and copy if they are not listed.
What should be in a package as a minimum?
A usable home page, the service or product pages you actually sell, contact details and a working form, a layout that works on a phone, a way for you to edit text, and a written note on who owns the domain and hosting. If any of those are extras, the headline price is incomplete.
Is pay monthly cheaper than paying once?
Not over a few years, in cash terms. It can still be the better fit if you have no project budget and you want hosting, updates and day-to-day management included. A one-off is cheaper long term if you will actually maintain the site, or pay a modest retainer, and you want the asset in your name from day one.
Do I own the website if I buy a package?
Only if the contract says so. Domain, hosting account and theme licence can all sit with the designer. Ask those three points in writing. For pay-monthly plans it is normal that the supplier runs the hosting. You still want the domain in your name and a clear exit: an export of content and files if you leave.
Why do two packages at the same price include such different things?
Because one quote prices pages and another prices hours, and because copy, photos, SEO, email and aftercare are easy to leave off the list. Compare line by line, not on the tier name or the page count.
Should I pick the middle package?
Only if it covers the jobs you need in the first six months without a string of extras you already know you will buy. The middle tier is a sales shape, not a diagnosis. Buy the smallest specified package that does the work, or a pay-monthly plan if the lump sum is the problem.