There are two ways websites get sold to small businesses. You buy one, or you rent one for a monthly fee. Both are offered honestly by some people and dishonestly by others, and the difference between them only becomes obvious at the moment you want to leave.
This is what each actually is, what the numbers look like over five years, and how to work out which fits your business. We sell one of these, so read it with that in mind, but the maths is the maths and you can check it.
What renting actually means
A monthly website deal usually bundles the build, hosting, support and changes into one payment, somewhere between forty and a hundred and fifty pounds a month depending on who you ask. Nothing is due up front, which is the whole appeal.
The part that gets skated over is that you do not own the result. The site belongs to the company that built it. Stop paying and it is switched off, and in the worse versions the domain goes too, which means the address people have been finding you at for three years stops working.
What buying actually means
You pay for the build once. The site is yours: the files, the code, the content. Hosting is separate and cheap, and you can host it with whoever you like. If you want changes you either pay for them or take a maintenance plan, and if you want to move to another developer you can, because there is a thing to move.
Five years, side by side
| Rented, £75 a month | Bought, £650 build | |
|---|---|---|
| Up front | Nothing | £650, or split into three payments |
| Year one | £900 | £650 |
| Year three | £2,700 | £650 plus hosting |
| Year five | £4,500 | £650 plus hosting |
| If you stop | Site goes off | Site is yours and stays up |
Monthly deals vary, so put your own figure in. The shape does not change: rent crosses the purchase price somewhere in the first year and then keeps going forever.
The question that cuts through it. If I stop paying you next month, what do I have? If the answer is a website and a domain, it is a purchase. If the answer is nothing, it is rent, whatever it is called on the invoice.
When renting genuinely makes sense
We are not going to pretend it never does.
- There is no money up front and none available in the next few months. A rented site now beats a bought one you never get round to.
- You are testing something. A new trade, a second business, an idea you might drop by spring. Do not buy a website for a hypothesis.
- You want one number and no decisions. Some people will pay a premium never to think about hosting, and that is a legitimate preference.
If one of those is you, take the monthly deal with your eyes open, and check the contract for two things: who owns the domain, and what the notice period is.
How our version works
We sell the build, and we sell an optional plan on top. The reason we separate them is exactly the ownership point above.
Builds are £395 for a focused single service site, £650 for more depth, and £1,200 for a bigger build with a shop or booking. Paid once, yours outright, and it can be split into three payments, same price, no interest and no fees, within twelve months.
Care plans are £45, £85 and £150 a month with no minimum term. What they buy is hosting, monitoring, changes when you need them, keeping the site current and a monthly report on what actually happened. What they do not buy is the right to keep your own website, because you already have that.
Cancel a plan and the site stays up and stays yours. We hand over the files. That is the test above, answered in our favour, and it is the reason we structure it this way.
Who actually takes a plan
A mix, and we are open about it on the pages for each trade. Thelwall Carpentry in Sale is on a plan. So is Kent Chemistry Tutor in Maidstone, on an annual arrangement. PK Removals and Pure Luxe Cleaning are not, and their sites are live and working perfectly well without one.
That split is roughly what we would expect. A plan earns its money when the site changes often, when you are taking money through it, or when you would rather somebody else noticed it was down than find out from a customer. If none of those is true, buy the build and leave it.
How to decide in two minutes
- Can you find the build cost, up front or split into three payments over the year? If yes, buy. The five year maths is not close.
- Is the business itself still an experiment? If yes, rent, and revisit when it is not.
- Does your site need regular changes, or does it take money? If yes, buy the build and take a plan. If no, buy the build and skip the plan.
The mistake to avoid is not choosing wrong, it is not noticing which one you signed up for. Plenty of businesses that believe they own their website do not, and they find out during the month they wanted to change supplier.
Common questions
What happens to a rented website if I stop paying?
It goes off. That is the defining feature of the model and it is usually in the contract in plainer language than people expect. Check whether you keep the domain, because losing that as well is the version that really hurts.
Is your care plan the same as renting?
No, and the difference is the one that matters. You own the site whether or not you have a plan. Cancel and the site is still yours and still online, and we hand over the files. The plan buys maintenance, changes, hosting and monitoring, not the right to keep your own website.
Do I have to take a care plan?
No. Plenty of our clients do not have one, and we say so on the trade pages rather than pretending everybody needs one. If your site rarely changes and you are comfortable arranging hosting, buy the build and leave it.
Can I spread the cost of buying it?
Yes. A build can be split into three payments, same price, no interest and no fees, within twelve months. It is not finance and there is no credit agreement, it is just us taking the money in parts.
Which is cheaper overall?
Buying, in almost every case, once you look past year two. The rented model wins only if you genuinely cannot find the money up front and cannot split it either, or if you want to test an idea for a few months before committing to it.
See the site first, decide the money after
We build a real working preview in 48 hours, free. Builds from £395, plans from £45 a month with no minimum term, and you own the site either way.
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