Free website for small business
A free website for your small business: your options, honestly compared
There’s more than one way to get a website without paying up front. Here’s what each really costs you, in money and in time, so you can choose what suits your business.
The short answer: Yes, you can get a website without paying up front. The catch is usually adverts, a long web address, your own time, or a monthly fee. Here’s how the options compare.
- £0 to design and build
- £20 a month only once it’s live
- No contract
The trade-offs
What “free” usually means
Free plans are real, but they come with trade-offs. These are the usual ones.
A long web address
Free plans usually put you on the builder’s address, like yourname.wixsite.com, rather than your own .co.uk.
Someone else’s adverts
Many free plans show the builder’s adverts or name on your website until you upgrade.
Limits
Storage, pages and features are often capped. Lifting the limits usually means a paid plan.
Your evenings
The biggest cost is your time: the layout, the words, the photos and keeping it all up to date.
Based on Small Business UK and Fasthosts, checked on 7 October 2026.
Option 1
A free website builder
Builders such as Wix, Google Sites and Square give you templates and tools to make a website yourself. You can start for nothing and change anything whenever you like.
Who it suits: people who enjoy doing it themselves, have time to spare and don’t mind the builder’s address or adverts while they’re on the free plan.
The honest downsides: it usually takes longer than people expect, it’s easy to end up with a website that looks like everyone else’s, and you’re the one keeping it working and helping it get found on Google.
Option 2
Just Facebook or Google
A Facebook page and a free Google Business Profile are both worth having. They’re free, quick to set up and help people find your phone number and reviews.
But you don’t own them, you can’t control how they look, and they make it hard to explain your services properly. The free websites Google used to make from Business Profiles were switched off in 2024, so anyone relying on one had to start again.
For most small businesses the best answer is all three: a Google profile and a social page that both point to a website you own.
Option 3
A freelancer or agency
A web designer builds the website for you, usually for a one-off fee. UK cost guides put a small business website at roughly £500 to £5,000 up front, depending on its size and who builds it, and keeping it online and making changes often cost extra (sources: Startups and Kwiboo).
Who it suits: businesses with a budget, a clear idea of what they want and time to manage the project.
The honest downsides: you pay before you see the finished website, and small changes later can mean waiting for someone else, or another bill.
Option 4
Free design, pay monthly once live
This is what we do. We design and build your website for free, from scratch, around your business. You see the real thing and ask for changes. If you’re happy, it goes live for £20 a month. If you’re not, you pay nothing.
The monthly plan covers keeping your website online, fast and safe, upkeep, help getting found on Google, your own Portal for changing words and photos, enquiries sent to your inbox and real people to help. There’s no contract.
Who it suits: busy owners who want a proper website on their own web address, without a big bill or giving up their evenings. How free website design works.
Two-year cost
What each option costs over two years
Rough totals for a typical small business website. Other providers’ prices are published ranges, so use them as a guide.
| Option | Up front | Over two years | Your time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webfreezee | £0 | £480 (£20 a month once live) | A little |
| Freelancer or agency | About £500 to £5,000 | The build, plus hosting and changes | Some |
| Free website builder, free plan | £0 | £0, with adverts and the builder’s address | A lot |
| Facebook or Google only | £0 | £0, but you don’t own it | A little |
Webfreezee’s total leaves out optional extras and your web address. Build prices are from UK cost guides by Startups and Kwiboo; free plan details from Small Business UK and Fasthosts. Checked on 7 October 2026.
Decide
Which is right for you?
Five quick questions. Answer them honestly and the choice usually makes itself.
How much time do you have?
If you have evenings to spare and enjoy it, a builder can work. If not, have it done for you.
What can you spend up front?
If the answer is nothing, a freelancer or agency is out for now.
Do you need bookings or a shop?
Check the option you pick can do it without a pile of add-ons. With us they’re optional extras, from £5 a month.
Do you want your own web address?
yourbusiness.co.uk looks more trustworthy than a builder’s address, and it’s yours to keep.
Would you like help when you’re stuck?
Builders give you help articles. With us you get real people.
Real websites
Small businesses we’ve built websites for
An ironing service near Norwich, a home salon in Diss and a private swimming pool on the Broads.
Pressed to Impress
Ironing service, Little Plumstead, Norwich. A professional ironing service with clear prices, a per-item price estimator and simple booking options.
Get Lippy with Mel
Aesthetics and beauty, Diss, Norfolk. A home salon in Diss offering lip filler, skin and brow treatments, with prices, real results and easy booking.
Hoveton Swimming Pool
Private pool hire, Hoveton and Wroxham. Private swimming pool hire in the Broads, with online booking, customer accounts and an online shop.
Questions
Questions
Can I get a website for my business for free?
Yes. You can build one yourself on a builder’s free plan, or have it designed for you for free. With Webfreezee the design and build are free, and you pay £20 a month only once it’s live.
Is a free Wix website good enough for a business?
It can be a start. On the free plan you’ll usually have Wix adverts and a Wix web address, and you’ll do all the work yourself. Many businesses upgrade or move once customers start finding them.
Can I use my own web address on a free website?
Not usually on a builder’s free plan. With us your website goes live on your own web address. Registering the address is paid separately, and we help you connect it.
Do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?
It helps. Not every customer uses Facebook, and a website lets you explain your services, prices and the areas you cover properly, on an address you own. Keep the Facebook page and link the two.
What happened to free Google Business Profile websites?
Google switched them off in 2024. Your Business Profile is still free and worth having; it just can’t be your website any more, so link it to one you own.
How much should a small business website cost?
UK guides put a one-off build at roughly £500 to £5,000, plus keeping it online. With us there’s nothing to pay for the build, and £20 a month once it’s live.
What’s the cheapest way to get a professional website?
It depends on your time. Doing it yourself costs least in money but most in time. Having it designed for free and paying £20 a month once it’s live avoids both the big bill and the evenings.
A proper website, without the big bill.
Tell us about your business. We’ll design and build your website for free, and you only pay £20 a month once you’re happy and it’s live.