WordPress itself is free. The cost of building a WordPress website is the cost of hosting, a domain, design decisions (theme or custom), and development time — whether that’s yours or someone else’s. Those variables span a wide range, from under £100 for a simple self-built site to £10,000+ for a custom agency project with a WooCommerce shop. This guide breaks down every cost component so you can build a realistic budget before commissioning any work.
Before touching any of the costs below, it’s worth clarifying what you’re actually building — site type, audience, and required functionality all affect the budget significantly. The pre-build checklist for WordPress sites covers the decisions that affect scope and cost before you spend anything.
Domain and SSL
Domain: A .com domain costs £10–15/year through Namecheap, Porkbun, or Google Domains. A .co.uk domain is slightly cheaper at £8–12/year. Avoid registering your domain through your hosting provider — it ties you to them and makes migration harder. Register it separately and point it to your host via DNS.
SSL certificate: Most reputable hosting providers include a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate. There’s no reason to pay for a basic SSL on a WordPress site. Paid SSL certificates (OV or EV) are for enterprise contexts where the certificate type is required by compliance or procurement policy — not a consideration for the vast majority of WordPress sites.
Domain annual cost: £8–15.
Hosting
Hosting is the largest variable in WordPress running costs and the most consequential for site performance. There are three tiers:
| Tier | Examples | Monthly | Annual | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | Hostinger, SiteGround Shared, Bluehost | £3–£8 | £36–£96 | Personal blogs, test sites, low-traffic content sites |
| Managed WordPress | Kinsta, WP Engine, Cloudways | £25–£50 | £300–£600 | Business sites, eCommerce, any site where speed and uptime matter |
| VPS (self-managed) | DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr | £5–£20 | £60–£240 | Developers comfortable managing a Linux server |
The performance difference between shared and managed WordPress hosting is significant. Shared hosting puts your site on a server with hundreds of others — during traffic spikes, your site competes for resources. Managed WordPress hosting includes server-level caching, isolated environments, automatic updates, daily backups, and a staging environment. For a business site, the extra cost of managed hosting typically pays for itself in conversion rates, SEO rankings, and reduced maintenance burden.
For eCommerce specifically, WooCommerce under shared hosting frequently causes problems at modest traffic levels. Budget managed WordPress hosting for any WooCommerce shop.
Theme and page builder
WordPress themes fall into two categories: themes that handle styling and provide layout templates, and page builder frameworks where the theme is minimal and the builder (Elementor, Divi, Bricks) does the layout work.
Free themes: Astra, GeneratePress, and Kadence are genuinely good options — not stripped-down demos. They’re lightweight, mobile-first, and compatible with all major page builders. Their free tiers cover what most sites need.
Premium themes and frameworks:
- Astra Pro / GeneratePress Pro / Kadence Pro: £47–£69/year. Adds per-breakpoint controls, more templates, and extended WooCommerce options.
- Divi (Elegant Themes): $89/year (includes theme and builder). Popular for non-developers, large template library.
- Elementor Pro: $59/year. Adds form builder, dynamic content, WooCommerce builder, and pop-up builder to the free version.
- Bricks Builder: $149 one-time. Developer-oriented, performance-focused, no subscription after purchase.
- Premium marketplace themes (Themeforest): £49–£79 one-time. Avada ($69) and Flatsome ($59, popular for WooCommerce) are the most-sold examples.
For a detailed comparison of the builder options — performance, developer control, pricing model, and which suits which type of project — see the Elementor vs Divi vs Bricks comparison.
Custom theme development (if not using a page builder framework) adds £500–£2,000 to a project budget, depending on complexity.
Plugin costs
WordPress has free-tier options for every essential plugin category, but premium tiers add meaningful functionality for some of them. Here’s what the essential stack costs:
| Category | Free option | Premium option | Premium cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Rank Math Free | Rank Math Pro | $59/year |
| Security | Wordfence Free | Wordfence Premium / Solid Security | $99–$119/year |
| Backup | UpdraftPlus Free | UpdraftPlus Premium | £70/year |
| Caching | LiteSpeed Cache | WP Rocket | $49/year |
| Contact forms | Contact Form 7 / WPForms Lite | Gravity Forms | $59/year (3 sites) |
For most business sites, the minimum recommended paid plugins are a premium security plugin and a backup plugin with remote storage. Free SEO plugins (Rank Math Free) are genuinely competitive with premium alternatives for most sites. For a full evaluation of the SEO plugin options and what each tier unlocks, see the WordPress SEO plugins guide.
Typical plugin annual cost: £0 (all free tiers) to £300 (premium security + backup + caching + SEO).
WooCommerce and eCommerce costs
WooCommerce core is free. The costs come from extensions, payment gateway fees, and the hosting requirement for a shop.
WooCommerce extensions:
- WooCommerce Subscriptions: $249/year (recurring billing)
- WooCommerce Memberships: $199/year (content gating)
- WooCommerce Bookings: $249/year (appointment booking)
- YITH extensions (wishlist, gift cards, etc.): £60–£120/year each
Payment gateway fees are not a plugin cost but a transaction cost. Stripe charges 1.4%+20p per transaction (UK, European cards) or 2.9%+30¢ (US). WooPayments (Stripe-powered, built into WooCommerce) charges the same rates with a simpler integration. PayPal charges 3.4%+30p (UK). For a full breakdown of gateway options, fees, and PCI DSS considerations, see the WooCommerce payment gateways guide.
If you’re building a membership or subscription site, the setup overlaps with WooCommerce but involves additional plugin licensing and content protection configuration. The WordPress membership site guide covers the dedicated cost breakdown for that use case.
If you’re weighing WooCommerce against Shopify for a new shop, the cost picture is more complex than the headline numbers suggest — Shopify charges transaction fees (0.5–2%) on top of payment gateway fees unless you use Shopify Payments, and Shopify Payments isn’t available in all countries. The full comparison with real cost calculations is in the WordPress vs Shopify for eCommerce guide.
DIY vs freelancer vs agency
The build cost depends on who does the work:
| Build approach | Typical cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| DIY (page builder) | £0–£200 (tools only) | Your time (10–40 hours for a basic site), template-based design, no professional support |
| Freelancer (5–8 page site) | £500–£2,000 | Custom configuration, design input, SEO setup, delivery documentation |
| Mid-size agency (business site) | £2,500–£6,000 | Custom design, brand alignment, staging environment, project management |
| Large agency (complex or eCommerce) | £6,000–£15,000+ | Full discovery, custom theme and components, WooCommerce or membership integration |
WooCommerce development costs more than a standard business site at every tier. A basic WooCommerce shop with a freelancer typically runs £800–£2,500 depending on complexity — product count, variation rules, shipping configuration, and payment gateway setup all affect the scope. An agency eCommerce project starts around £3,500 and scales with the brief.
If you’re considering hiring a freelancer, the guide to hiring an affordable WordPress developer covers what to look for, how to scope the work to avoid budget creep, and what a fixed-price brief should include.
Ongoing annual costs after launch
Build cost is one-time. These recur every year:
| Cost component | Annual range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | £36–£600 | Shared to managed WordPress |
| Domain renewal | £8–£15 | |
| Theme or builder license | £0–£90 | Free themes have no renewal; Divi and Elementor Pro are annual subscriptions |
| Plugin licenses | £0–£300 | Premium security + backup + SEO + caching |
| Maintenance | £0–£720 | Included in managed WordPress hosting; or £20–£60/month if self-managing updates |
Total annual operating cost for a business WordPress site on managed hosting with a standard plugin stack: £600–£1,200/year, not including content or SEO work. For the full scope of what WordPress maintenance covers — core and plugin updates, security monitoring, backup verification, performance checks — see the complete WordPress maintenance guide.
Cost by site type
| Site type | Build cost | Annual operating cost |
|---|---|---|
| Personal blog or portfolio | £0–£500 (DIY) | £50–£200 |
| Small business site (5–8 pages) | £500–£3,000 (DIY to freelancer) | £400–£900 |
| WooCommerce shop (basic) | £1,000–£4,000 (freelancer) | £600–£1,500 |
| Membership or subscriptions site | £2,000–£6,000 (freelancer to agency) | £700–£2,000 |
| Custom design and build | £3,000–£10,000+ (agency) | £600–£1,500 |
These ranges assume managed WordPress hosting at the mid-tier and a standard plugin stack. The lower end of each build range is a capable freelancer working from your brief; the upper end is an agency project with custom design and formal deliverables.
For a platform comparison before committing to WordPress — including how Webflow and Wix compare on cost and capability — see WordPress vs Webflow vs Wix.
