How much does a website cost in the UK and France?

You will not find a price list on this page, because a figure without a scope would be wrong for most readers, and we do not publish one. What you will find is the reason one website costs more than another, the costs that arrive after launch, and how to turn two very different quotes into a fair comparison.

The same rules apply whether you are in the United Kingdom or France. What changes from one market to the other is mostly legal and practical detail, and we point it out where it matters.

Four kinds of website project

"A website" covers very different jobs. Before you compare prices, decide which of these you are buying.

• A small brochure site. A few pages that say who you are, what you do and how to contact you. The cost is mostly in design, copy and getting the basics right.
• A service or corporate site that must win enquiries. More pages, a clear structure built around the questions buyers ask, forms that work, and search foundations. Most of the effort goes into structure and content, not only into the look.
• An online shop. Products, variants, basket, checkout, payment, tax and delivery rules. Every order has to work from start to finish, on a phone first. See how we approach e-commerce.
• A redesign of an existing site. Often underestimated. The old content has to be sorted, moved or rewritten, and the old addresses must redirect to the new ones so you keep what search engines already know about you.

Custom systems, such as a booking tool or an internal application, are a separate kind of project and are priced on their own logic.

What drives the cost

Two sites can look alike on screen and still differ widely in work. These are the factors that move a quote.

• Number of pages. Not every page costs the same, but more pages mean more design, more content and more testing.
• Number of languages. A second language is more than a translation. Each version needs its own addresses, page titles and search settings. Our guide to multilingual websites explains why.
• Design. A design made for your business costs more than an adapted theme. It also gives you a system of type, colour and components that later pages can reuse.
• Copywriting. If you supply finished text, that work is done. If the agency writes it, research and drafting go into the quote.
• Content migration. Moving pages, images and posts from an old site, cleaning them up and setting redirects takes time, and it scales with the size of the old site.
• Integrations. Booking tools, a CRM, a newsletter, an accounting package or a stock system. Each connection has to be built and tested.
• E-commerce. Catalogue size, product options, payment methods, tax display and delivery rules for each country you sell into.
• Accessibility. Building to a stated standard, usually WCAG, means testing with a keyboard, checking contrast and writing proper labels. It is work, and it should be named in the quote.
• SEO set-up. Page titles, descriptions, structured data, a sitemap and redirects. This is the foundation that lets search engines read the site, not a promise of rankings.

The running costs people forget

The build is only the first cost. Ask about these before you sign, so the second year does not surprise you.

• Domain name. Renewed every year. A .co.uk or .fr address and a .com are separate registrations.
• Hosting. Where the site runs. The right choice depends on the type of site; our website hosting guide covers the options.
• Maintenance and updates. Software, plugins and security fixes need regular attention, especially on platforms such as WordPress, where an unpatched plugin is a common way in.
• Content. New pages, new products, updated photos and news. Someone has to do it, inside your team or outside.
• Translation. On a bilingual site, every new page needs its second version. Plan for it from the start.
• Third-party tools. Booking software, email marketing, shop extensions and premium plugins often carry their own subscriptions.

There are also legal basics. In both markets, a site that sets non-essential cookies needs a consent banner under data protection rules (UK GDPR in the United Kingdom, the RGPD and CNIL guidance in France), and it needs a privacy notice. A French site must also carry its mentions légales. These take little time when they are planned and more when they are added late.

Why two quotes can be far apart

It is normal to receive two quotes for "a website" that are far apart. Usually the suppliers are not quoting the same thing.

• One quote assumes you supply all the text and photos; the other includes copywriting.
• One uses a ready-made theme; the other designs from your content.
• One leaves the old site as it is; the other moves the content and sets redirects.
• One builds one language; the other builds two with proper search settings for each.
• One ends at launch; the other includes hosting set-up, a handover and a way to ask for changes.
• One is a person who does the work; the other is a team with account managers between you and the build.

To compare fairly, put the quotes side by side against the same list: pages, languages, design, copy, migration, integrations, accessibility, SEO set-up, hosting and what happens after launch. Where a line is missing, ask whether it is excluded or simply not written down. If you are also choosing a platform, our guide on WordPress or a custom build sets out the trade-offs.

Questions to ask before you sign

• What exactly is included, page by page, and what is excluded?
• Who writes the text, and who supplies the photographs?
• Will the old addresses redirect to the new ones?
• Who owns the domain, the hosting account and the code at the end?
• Can we edit the content ourselves, and how?
• Which accessibility standard does the build meet, and how is it tested?
• What search set-up is included, in each language?
• What happens after launch: who do we call, and how are changes priced?
• Who will actually do the work?

A supplier who answers these in writing is easier to hold to the quote than one who answers in a phone call.

What to prepare for an accurate quote

The more concrete the brief, the closer the quote. Before you ask anyone, gather this:

• What the site must do for the business: enquiries, sales, bookings or information.
• Who it is for, and in which markets and languages.
• A rough list of pages, or the current site if there is one.
• The text, logos and photographs you already have, and what is missing.
• The tools the site must connect to.
• Access to the current domain and hosting, if they exist.
• Your budget and your target timing, so the quote can be scoped to them.
• One person who can approve decisions for the business.

How DMC Kreatif quotes

We price on scope, never on a template, and we publish no price. The quote form asks the questions this guide covers: the type of project, the number of pages and languages, whether you need design, copywriting, migration, SEO set-up, hosting set-up or ongoing maintenance, plus your market, budget and timing. Within 48 h you get a concrete approach, a realistic timeline and a clear quote.

DMC Kreatif is a small studio led by its founder, Musa Kerem Demirci, and you work with the person who designs and builds the site. For what a website project includes and how it runs, see our website service.