The software is free; a working WordPress site is not
WordPress is open-source software. Anyone may download, use and modify it without paying a licence fee, which is one reason it powers such a large share of the web. That makes it easy to assume a WordPress site should be cheap.
The software, though, is only the engine. To turn it into a website that wins enquiries you need somewhere to host it, a domain, a design that fits your brand, plugins for anything WordPress does not do out of the box, content worth reading, and someone who configures, tests and looks after the whole thing. Each of those carries a cost, and several of them recur every year.
This guide does not quote price ranges. Scopes vary too much for averages to be useful, and we do not publish project prices ourselves. What it does is show which decisions move the price, so you can read a quote and know what you are paying for.
Build method: the biggest single cost driver
How the site is built affects the price of the build, the speed of the finished site and the cost of owning it for years.
A bought theme
A ready-made theme from a marketplace is quick to set up. The trade-off is that it is designed to suit thousands of different businesses, so it ships with features you will never use, extra code that slows pages down and a look that resembles many other sites.
A page builder
Visual builders let your team assemble pages by dragging blocks around. That flexibility is attractive, but many builders produce heavy markup, and you become tied to the builder: switching away later often means rebuilding every page.
A custom theme or custom blocks
A theme written for your site, often using WordPress's own block editor with custom blocks, costs more to build. In return it carries only the code you need, tends to load faster, and gives editors a controlled set of components that keep pages consistent. Over several years it is frequently the cheaper option to own.
A WordPress agency should explain which method it proposes and why, rather than defaulting to the one it always uses.
Other factors that move the price
- Number of page types. Thirty pages built from three templates is a smaller design job than fifteen pages that each need their own layout. Ask how many templates are being designed, not just how many pages.
- Content. Supplying your own copy is cheaper on paper. Copy written from keyword research and interviews with your team costs more and usually performs far better.
- Functionality. Multilingual content, a jobs board, online booking, gated downloads, membership areas or a link to your CRM each add licences, configuration or custom code.
- Ecommerce. Selling online through WooCommerce adds payments, shipping rules, VAT settings, product data and more testing. A WooCommerce developer scopes that as a separate layer.
- Migration. Moving from an existing site means transferring content and setting a redirect for every URL that changes, so you keep the visitors and rankings you have.
- Accessibility and compliance. Testing against WCAG, cookie consent that respects PECR, and privacy notices all take time to do properly.
One-off and recurring costs at a glance
Use this overview to check whether a quote is complete. The recurring lines are the ones most often missing.
| Cost item | One-off or recurring | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy, structure and design | One-off | Build method, number of templates, research included |
| Content and imagery | One-off | Supplied or written; number of pages; photography |
| Build and configuration | One-off | Theme approach, plugins, integrations, testing |
| SEO set-up and redirects | One-off | Existing site, URL changes, structured data |
| Hosting | Recurring | Shared or managed hosting, traffic, backups, support |
| Domain name | Recurring | Extension and registrar |
| Premium theme and plugin licences | Recurring | Number of licences and their renewal prices |
| Updates and maintenance | Recurring | Number of plugins, update frequency, testing after updates |
| Security and monitoring | Recurring | Firewall, malware scanning, uptime monitoring |
| Ongoing development | Recurring | New pages, features and content over time |
What WordPress maintenance costs depend on
Maintenance is not optional with WordPress. The core software, the theme and every plugin receive regular updates, many of them security fixes. Left alone, a site becomes vulnerable. Updated blindly, something can break without anyone noticing until enquiries dry up.
Sound maintenance typically includes:
- updates to WordPress, the theme and plugins, with a check after each round;
- backups that are stored off the server and have actually been restored in a test;
- security hardening and monitoring for downtime and suspicious activity;
- checking that forms still deliver enquiries;
- keeping an eye on speed and technical SEO.
The cost depends mainly on the number of plugins, the complexity of the site and how quickly someone must respond when something goes wrong. Fewer plugins means less to maintain. Our website maintenance page explains how we approach it.
Licences: the cost that disappears from quotes
Many WordPress sites rely on premium themes and plugins sold with annual licences. Without a valid licence, updates stop, and an un-updated plugin is a security risk. Before you sign, ask three questions:
- Which paid licences does the site use, and what do they cost to renew?
- In whose name are they registered?
- What happens to them if you move to another supplier?
Licences held in the developer's name can lapse when you part ways, leaving you to buy them again or replace the plugins. Insist that licences, hosting, the domain and the administrator account are registered to your business.
When WordPress is the right choice, and when it is not
WordPress suits businesses where several people publish pages and articles regularly, where a content library or insights section is meant to grow, and where reliable plugins exist for the features needed. It is a natural fit for WordPress SEO work because content can be added and structured without a developer.
It is less suitable when the site rarely changes and speed and security matter above all; a static site can then be quicker and cheaper to run. For a shop, WooCommerce is one option among several, and Shopify may be simpler for a straightforward catalogue. Choosing the platform on the basis of how the site will be used over five years, rather than on the build price alone, avoids the most expensive mistake: rebuilding in two years.
Red flags in a WordPress quote
- A single total with no breakdown. You cannot tell what is included or compare it with anything.
- No mention of the build method. You should know whether you are buying a theme, a builder or custom work.
- A long plugin list with no explanation. Each plugin is a maintenance and security commitment.
- Nothing about recurring costs. Hosting, licences and updates always exist.
- Accounts in the supplier's name. That makes leaving difficult.
- Ranking promises. Nobody controls Google's results, so nobody can honestly promise a position.
- Prices that do not state VAT. Check whether figures are shown excluding or including VAT before you compare.
For the wider picture beyond WordPress, our guide to website cost covers what drives the price of any business site, and our guide on briefing a web design agency helps you get quotes you can compare line by line.
How we arrive at a price
We do not quote from a short phone call, and we do not publish project prices or packages. Every engagement starts with the Beacon Strategy Session: 50 minutes with the founder, for £225 excl. VAT. It is a conversation about your ambition, your market and whether we fit; it is not an audit, report or plan, the fee is not credited against a project and it is non-refundable, with one free reschedule up to 48 hours beforehand. Afterwards we decide whether we take the project on. If we do, you receive a proposal with a fixed scope and a fixed price, built around the cost items on this page. Our WordPress web design page explains how we build.