# The true cost of a website over three years (with worked examples)

> How to calculate the real three-year cost of a business website, including build, hosting, maintenance, renewals, changes and your own time, with worked UK examples.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/blog/true-cost-of-a-website-over-three-years
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-26

**Short answer:** The true cost of a website is its total cost of ownership over about three years: the build price, plus 36 months of hosting and maintenance, plus domain and email renewals, plugin or app licences, paid changes, and the value of your own time. For a small UK business this commonly ranges from around £1,000 on a DIY builder to £5,000–£20,000 through an agency.

Published 2026-09-26. 9 min read. Category: Website costs and pricing.

The true cost of a website is almost never the number on the quote. The quote shows the build. The real cost includes everything you pay to keep the site online, secure and up to date, plus the time you put in yourself. Looked at over three years, the route that seemed cheapest often is not, and the one that seemed expensive sometimes is.

Three years is a sensible period because it is roughly how long a small business website stays current before it needs a significant refresh. This guide shows how to work out a total cost of ownership and includes worked examples you can adapt.

## The formula

Total cost over three years = build cost + (monthly running costs × 36) + annual renewals × 3 + paid changes + your time.

Every item matters. Leave one out and the comparison tilts towards whichever quote left out the most.

- Build cost: design, development, copywriting, photography, setup fees.
- Monthly running costs: hosting, maintenance or care plan, builder subscription, app subscriptions.
- Annual renewals: domain names, premium theme or plugin licences, email mailboxes.
- Paid changes: anything not included in the monthly plan, at the designer's hourly rate.
- Your time: hours spent building, writing, updating and fixing, valued at what your time is worth.

## Worked examples for a small business website

The figures below are illustrative, based on typical UK market ranges at the time of writing, for a six-page site for a local service business. Your own quotes will differ; the method is what matters.

**Illustrative three-year total cost of a six-page small business website, by route**

| Cost item | DIY builder | Freelancer | Agency | All-in monthly plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build or setup | £0 | £1,800 | £6,000 | Setup fee |
| Hosting, care or subscription (36 months) | £720 (£20/mo) | £1,080 (£30/mo) | £3,600 (£100/mo) | Monthly fee × 36 |
| Domain and email (3 years) | £250 | £250 | £250 | Domain usually included; email varies |
| Paid changes (3 years) | £0 | £600 | £1,200 | Usually included |
| Copywriting | Your time | £500 if not included | Included | Usually included |
| Your time (30 hrs at £30/hr) | £900 | £150 | £300 | £150 |
| Rough three-year total | £1,870 | £4,380 | £11,350 | Setup + 36 months |

> Two things usually stand out when people do this sum for the first time: how much of the total is running costs rather than the build, and how much their own time is worth when it is written down as a number.

## Why running costs matter more than the build

In the examples above, the build is less than half of the three-year total for every route except the agency. Running costs quietly dominate, which is why a low build price paired with an expensive care plan can cost more than a higher build price with a cheap one.

It also works the other way. A plan that looks expensive per month may include things you would otherwise pay for separately: hosting, maintenance, backups, security fixes and regular changes. Always compare what the monthly figure covers, not just the figure.

Running costs also rise quietly. Introductory prices end, plugins move to annual licences, hosting plans renew at standard rates, and hourly rates go up. When estimating, assume years two and three cost at least as much as year one, not less.

## Putting a value on your own time

Your time is a real cost even though it never appears on an invoice. A realistic DIY website takes 20 to 40 hours to build well, including writing the words, sorting photos and getting it to work properly on a phone. After that, expect an hour or two a month on updates.

Value those hours at what you would otherwise earn, or at the rate you would pay someone to cover for you. For a tradesperson or practitioner charging by the hour or day, 30 hours can easily be worth more than the difference between DIY and a professional build. For a business owner with quiet evenings and a flair for it, DIY may still win.

Count the time you spend chasing, too: waiting on a designer for changes, logging support tickets, or working out why a form stopped sending. It rarely appears in comparisons and is often the part of owning a website people resent most.

## The cost that is not in the table: lost enquiries

The biggest cost of a website is often the work it fails to win. That does not show up in a three-year spreadsheet, but you can estimate it. Think about the value of one typical customer and how many more you would need each year to cover the difference between two options.

If an average customer is worth £300 in profit to you, and a better website costs £1,500 more over three years, it needs to win just five extra customers in three years to pay for itself. Most business owners can judge for themselves whether that is plausible.

## After three years: what happens next?

- DIY builder: you keep paying the subscription. The design may look dated; a refresh is your time again.
- Freelancer or agency: you own the build (check your contract) and keep paying hosting and care. A redesign is a new project with a new price.
- Monthly plan: you keep paying the monthly fee, which should cover ongoing updates. Check whether redesigns or refreshes are included, and whether you can leave on a rolling basis.
- Three years is also the point to ask what you have built up. A site that has earned reviews, ranks for the right searches and brings in steady enquiries is an asset worth maintaining. One that has sat unchanged is usually cheaper to rethink than to patch.

## Doing the sum with your own quotes

- Ask every provider for prices as upfront plus monthly, including VAT if they charge it.
- List every recurring cost they do not include, and price it yourself: domain, email, plugin licences, booking software.
- Estimate paid changes: how many a year you expect, times their hourly or per-change rate.
- Estimate your own hours honestly, and put a rate on them.
- Add everything up for 36 months and put the totals side by side with what each includes.
- Then ask which total you would be happiest to have paid in three years' time, given what you expect each option to bring in.

## Our numbers, for comparison

For the monthly-plan column, you can use our published prices. On Nerdsharks Monthly, the first year costs £1,487 in total (£299 setup plus twelve months at £99), then £99 a month on a rolling basis. On Own It, it is £1,795 upfront and £49 a month with no minimum term. Both include copywriting, hosting, maintenance and two changes a month, so the paid-changes and copywriting rows are zero. Run the formula on us exactly as you would on anyone else.

## Questions

### How much does a website cost to run per year?

A small business website typically costs between £200 and £1,500 a year to run in the UK, covering hosting, domain, email and maintenance. Sites with online shops, bookings or agency retainers cost more.

### Why calculate website costs over three years?

Three years is roughly the useful life of a small business website before a significant refresh, and it is long enough for running costs to show their true weight. Comparing only build prices hides most of the cost.

### Is it cheaper to pay upfront or monthly for a website?

Paying upfront usually costs less over a long period, because monthly plans spread the build cost and include ongoing services. Monthly plans cost less on day one and often include hosting, maintenance and changes. Compare three-year totals with like-for-like inclusions.

### Should I include my own time in website costs?

Yes. The hours you spend building, writing and maintaining a website are a real cost to your business. Valuing them at what you would otherwise earn often changes which option is actually cheapest.

### What is website total cost of ownership?

Website total cost of ownership is everything a website costs over its useful life: build, hosting, maintenance, renewals, paid changes, extra software and the owner's time. It is a fairer basis for comparing options than the build price alone.

### How much does a website cost over five years?

Over five years, running costs dominate even more. Multiply the monthly costs by 60, add renewals and changes, and allow for at least one significant refresh, which on most routes is a new project with its own cost.