WordPress itself is free: the software costs nothing to download and use. What costs money is everything around it. A DIY WordPress site in the UK can start on hosting from £1 a month with a £1 .co.uk domain (introductory prices, excluding VAT), while a professionally designed WordPress website from a freelancer like me starts at £1,500.
That’s the short answer. The longer one matters, because most of what ranks for this question right now is priced in US dollars, written for American readers, or (in one case) last updated in 2017. So I’ve pulled current prices straight from WordPress.org, WordPress.com and a UK host’s own price pages, checked on 31 October 2026, and added what I actually charge. I build new, bespoke WordPress sites for small businesses as a freelance web designer in London, so this is usually the first thing people ask me.
Key takeaways
- The WordPress software is free, released under the GPLv2 licence. You pay for hosting, a domain, any premium add-ons and whoever builds the site.
- WordPress.com (the hosted version) has a free plan, and paid plans from US$4 a month (Personal, billed yearly) to US$45 a month (Commerce, billed yearly), as listed on its pricing page.
- Self-hosted WordPress on a UK host: IONOS lists WordPress hosting from £1 a month for 12 months, then £10 a month, and a .co.uk domain at £1 for the first year, then £10 a year. All excluding VAT.
- Budget for the renewal price, not the intro offer, and add 20% VAT when you compare with VAT-inclusive quotes.
- A professionally designed WordPress website from me starts at £1,500. What’s included is on my pricing page.
Is WordPress free?
Yes, the WordPress software is free. WordPress.org says the software is released under the GPLv2 (or later), and you can grab it at no cost from the official download page. What isn’t free is somewhere to run it.
This is where people get muddled, because there are really two “WordPresses”. WordPress.com’s own pricing page explains the difference like this:
- WordPress.org is the open-source software. You download it and install it on your own hosting, which you pay for and manage separately (or pay someone to manage).
- WordPress.com is a fully hosted platform. Hosting, security, backups and updates are managed for you, on a free or paid plan.
If you go self-hosted, your hosting has to meet WordPress’s requirements. WordPress.org currently lists PHP 8.3 or greater, MariaDB 10.11 or greater (or MySQL 8.0 or greater) and HTTPS support. Most UK hosts tick those boxes, but check before you buy the very cheapest plan. If you’re still choosing a platform altogether, my WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace comparison will help.
How much does WordPress.com cost?
WordPress.com has a free plan and four paid plans. Paid plans run from US$9 a month for Personal on monthly billing, down to US$2.75 a month if you pay three years up front, and up to US$70 a month for Commerce on monthly billing. These are the prices on the WordPress.com pricing page, shown excluding taxes:
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Billed every 3 years | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | £0 | £0 | £0 | 1 GB |
| Personal | US$9/month | US$4/month | US$2.75/month | 6 GB |
| Premium | US$18/month | US$8/month | US$5.50/month | 13 GB |
| Business | US$40/month | US$25/month | US$17.50/month | 50 GB |
| Commerce | US$70/month | US$45/month | US$31.50/month | 50 GB |
A few details that change the real cost, all from WordPress.com’s plan guide and pricing FAQ:
- The free plan gives you a yoursite.wordpress.com address and 1 GB of storage, but no custom domain, no plugins, and visitors see WordPress.com ads. Fine for a hobby, not for a business.
- Plugins can be installed on every paid plan, from Personal upwards.
- The free domain is for the first year only, and only on annual or multi-year plans. Monthly plans don’t include one.
- Premium adds collecting payments, Google Analytics and SEO tools. Business adds things like SFTP/SSH, staging sites and real-time backups. Commerce adds everything you need to sell online.
What does a self-hosted WordPress website cost?
A self-hosted WordPress site costs whatever your hosting and domain cost, plus any paid themes or plugins you choose. The software itself is £0. Here’s the breakdown, using IONOS as the UK example because its price pages show both the intro price and what you pay afterwards. It’s not a recommendation, and every host prices differently.
| Cost | What you’ll pay | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress software | £0 (GPLv2 licence) | Only download it from wordpress.org. |
| Domain (.co.uk) | £1 for the first year, then £10 a year at IONOS (excl. VAT) | Register it in your own name, not your designer’s. |
| Hosting (entry plan) | IONOS Start: £3 a month for 6 months, then £5 a month (excl. VAT) | The intro price ends. Budget for the second figure. |
| Hosting (mid plan) | IONOS Grow: £1 a month for 12 months, then £10 a month (excl. VAT) | Grow, Boost and E-Commerce include 12 months of free daily backups. |
| Hosting (shop plan) | IONOS E-Commerce: £10 a month for 6 months, then £20 a month (excl. VAT) | Card fees and shop extensions are extra. |
| SSL certificate | Included in all IONOS WordPress hosting packages | WordPress needs HTTPS support, so don’t pay extra for a basic one. |
| Themes | Free in the WordPress.org theme directory, or paid from third parties | Paid themes can be a one-off or a yearly licence, set by each seller. |
| Plugins | Free in the WordPress Plugin Directory; commercial plugins set their own fees | Every paid plugin is another renewal. Fewer is cheaper and safer. |
| Design and build | £0 if you do it yourself, from £1,500 with me | By far the biggest cost if you hire someone. |
One UK detail the American guides skip: hosting and domain prices are usually shown excluding VAT. The standard VAT rate is 20%, so a plan that renews at £10 a month really costs you £12 a month, or £144 a year, unless you can reclaim the VAT.
Put the IONOS numbers together and a DIY site on the Grow plan with a .co.uk domain costs about £13 plus VAT in year one (£12 hosting, £1 domain), then £130 plus VAT a year after that (£120 hosting, £10 domain). Cheap, as long as your time is free too.
How much does it cost to have a WordPress website built?
If you pay someone to design and build it, the build is by far the biggest part of the cost. My new, bespoke WordPress websites start at £1,500, with a fixed price agreed before any work starts.
The hosting and the software are the cheap bits. What you’re paying a designer for is time: planning the pages, designing something that looks like your business (not a template everyone else is using), writing or shaping the content, setting up the on-page SEO, testing it on phones, and launching it properly. The price goes up with the number of pages, custom features like bookings or a shop, and how much help you need with the words.
Here’s how a project with me works on cost and time:
- Price: new bespoke WordPress websites from £1,500. Packages and what’s in each are on my pricing page.
- Payment: 50% upfront, 50% at launch.
- Time: small sites take 10 to 15 working days once the content is in. Bigger sites and shops take 4 to 8 weeks. More on that in how long it takes to build a website.
- What I don’t do: I don’t patch or edit websites built by others. I build new ones, rebuild existing sites from scratch, and do SEO on existing sites.
Want to compare WordPress with other ways of getting a site? My guide to how much a website costs in London covers freelancers, studios and agencies, and website builder vs web designer helps you decide whether to DIY at all.
Want a WordPress site that brings in work, not just one that switches on? I design and build new, bespoke WordPress websites for small businesses from £1,500, at a fixed price, with 50% upfront and 50% at launch. You deal with me from the first call to launch day. See what’s included on my pricing page or my web designer London page, or call me on 07404 145722.
What are the ongoing costs of a WordPress website?
Once it’s live, a WordPress site keeps costing a little every year: hosting, the domain renewal, any paid plugin or theme licences, and someone’s time to keep it updated. None of it is huge, but it adds up if nobody’s watching.
- Hosting renewal. The big one. At IONOS, the Grow plan goes from £1 to £10 a month after the first 12 months (excl. VAT).
- Domain renewal. A .co.uk at IONOS goes from £1 in year one to £10 a year (excl. VAT).
- Premium licences. Paid themes and plugins often need renewing to keep getting updates. Check before you buy.
- Updates and backups. On WordPress.com these are handled for you: every plan includes automated WordPress core updates and malware protection, with daily backups on Personal and Premium and real-time backups on Business and Commerce. Self-hosted, it’s down to you, your host or your designer.
Which WordPress option is right for you?
The right option depends on what the site has to do for you. Find your situation below.
| Your situation | Best route | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby blog or testing an idea | WordPress.com Free | £0 (wordpress.com address, ads shown) |
| Sole trader happy to build it yourself | WordPress.com Personal, or cheap self-hosted WordPress | From US$4 a month (billed yearly), or from £1 a month intro hosting plus a domain |
| DIY site that takes payments | WordPress.com Premium or above | From US$8 a month (billed yearly) |
| DIY online shop | WordPress.com Commerce, or self-hosted on a shop hosting plan | US$45 a month (billed yearly), or IONOS E-Commerce from £10 then £20 a month (excl. VAT) |
| Local business that needs enquiries from Google | A bespoke site from a designer | From £1,500 with me, plus hosting |
| You already have a site, it just isn’t bringing in work | SEO on your existing site, not a rebuild | My monthly local SEO starts at £495 (see pricing) |
How can you keep WordPress costs down?
You keep WordPress costs down by planning for year two, not just launch day. These are the checks I’d make before paying for anything:
- Read the renewal price. Intro offers like £1 a month end. Work out the cost over three years, not three months.
- Add VAT. Most UK hosting and domain prices are shown excluding VAT. Add 20% unless you’re VAT registered.
- Own your domain. Register it in your name, with your email address. It’s the one thing that’s hard to get back.
- Keep plugins lean. Start with free plugins from the official directory and only pay for one when it saves you real time or money.
- Check the hosting meets WordPress’s requirements. PHP 8.3 or greater, MariaDB 10.11 or MySQL 8.0 or greater, and HTTPS.
- Get a fixed price. If you hire someone, ask for a written, fixed quote with what’s included and what isn’t. My questions to ask a web designer list helps.
- Don’t pay twice. If your hosting includes SSL, backups or email, don’t buy them again elsewhere.
What would I budget for a small business WordPress website?
It depends on one question: does the website need to win you customers, or does it just need to exist?
If it just needs to exist, say you get all your work from word of mouth and people only check you’re real, you can honestly do it yourself. A WordPress.com plan or cheap hosting plus a domain will do the job for well under £200 a year. Pick a clean theme, add your phone number, your services and a few photos, and you’re done.
If it needs to bring in enquiries from Google, that’s a different job. The money goes into the design, the structure of the pages and the SEO, because that’s what decides whether someone in your area finds you and picks up the phone. That’s where I’d budget for a proper build (from £1,500 with me), then hosting on top, and I’d always look at the three-year cost, not the launch price.
What I’d avoid is the middle: paying a little for a template site that nobody finds, then paying again a year later to do it properly.
WordPress website cost: FAQs
Is WordPress free to use?
Yes. The WordPress software is free under the GPLv2 licence and you can download it from WordPress.org at no cost. You still pay for hosting and a domain, or for a paid WordPress.com plan if you want a custom domain and no ads.
How much does WordPress cost per month?
On WordPress.com, paid plans are listed from US$4 a month (Personal) to US$45 a month (Commerce) when billed yearly, excluding taxes. Self-hosted, UK hosting such as IONOS starts from £1 a month for the first 12 months, then £10 a month, excluding VAT.
Is WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress cheaper?
For a simple site they come out similar, and both can cost well under £200 a year. WordPress.com bundles hosting, security, backups and updates, while self-hosted gives you more control but you handle updates yourself or pay someone to.
How much does a web designer charge for a WordPress website?
It depends on the size and features of the site. I build new, bespoke WordPress websites from £1,500 at a fixed price, with 50% upfront and 50% at launch. Small sites take 10 to 15 working days once the content is in.
Do I need to add VAT to hosting prices?
Usually, yes. UK hosts like IONOS show prices excluding VAT, and the standard UK VAT rate is 20%. So a £10 a month plan costs £12 a month unless you are VAT registered and can reclaim it.
Do WordPress.com plans include a free domain?
Only for the first year, and only on annual or multi-year paid plans. WordPress.com says monthly plans and the free plan do not include a custom domain, so budget for the renewal from year two.
If you want a WordPress site at a fixed price, I build them as a freelance web designer in London: £1,500 for up to 5 pages, £2,500 for up to 15.
Want a straight answer on what your WordPress site would cost?
Now you know what WordPress costs, what you pay for and where the renewals hide. If you’d like a fixed price for a new WordPress website, or you’re not sure whether you need one at all, tell me what your business does and I’ll give you an honest answer, even if that answer is “do it yourself”. I’m a freelance web designer and SEO in Clapham, London.
Book a free consultation, or call or WhatsApp me on 07404 145722. No jargon, no surprise invoices, just a clear price and a plan.
Freelance web designer and SEO in Clapham, London, and two-time Prestige Awards Web Designer of the Year. I design, build and rank websites for small businesses. More about me
