# How much should a small business pay for web hosting in the UK? Source: https://dijituldns.co.uk/guides/small-business-hosting-cost-uk/ Updated: 2026-10-08 > A UK small business should judge hosting on the total yearly cost, including backups, SSL, domain, migration and support, not the headline monthly price. A fair managed plan covers all of those. dijitul hosting charges £1 a day + VAT (£365 a year + VAT) for managed hosting with everything a typical small business site needs. ## Key facts - The headline monthly price is rarely the full cost of web hosting. - Introductory prices on many budget plans rise when the first term ends. - Backups, SSL, domain renewal, migration and support are common extra costs. - VAT at 20% applies to most UK business hosting; VAT-registered businesses can usually reclaim it. - dijitul Complete Hosting is £1 a day + VAT, which is £365 a year + VAT or £438 a year including VAT. - Dedicated servers, VPS and high-traffic sites are quoted individually by dijitul. ## The short answer There is no single right price, but there is a right way to compare. Add up everything you will pay over a full year, including renewals and extras, and compare that total. Then ask what happens when something goes wrong, and who fixes it. A brochure site for a local business has very different needs from a busy online shop. But most small business websites need the same core things: reliable hosting, an SSL certificate, a domain name, backups and someone to call. ## What drives the price of hosting - **Type of hosting:** shared hosting is the cheapest, then managed hosting, then VPS, then dedicated servers. - **Management:** who handles updates, security and backups. Managed costs more up front but saves time. - **Resources:** how much CPU, memory and storage your site needs. Most small sites need far less than they think. - **Support:** a ticket queue, chat, or a phone number answered by people who know your setup. - **Extras:** backups, SSL, domain, email and migration may be included or charged separately. - **Contract terms:** introductory prices, minimum terms and renewal rates. ## Hidden costs to check before you buy | Item | Questions to ask | | Renewal price | What will I pay in year two and beyond? | | Backups | Are they daily? Are they included? Is a restore free? | | SSL certificate | Is free SSL included and renewed automatically? | | Domain name | Is a domain included, and for how long? | | Migration | Will you move my site, or do I do it myself? | | Support | Can I phone a real person in the UK? | | Older software | Will my site's PHP version be supported? | | Email | Is email included, or is it a separate service? | See our guide on [what web hosting should include](https://dijituldns.co.uk/guides/what-should-hosting-include/) for a full checklist. ## Work out your true yearly cost - Write down the hosting price for a full 12 months at the renewal rate, not the offer rate. - Add the cost of any backup add-on. - Add SSL if it is not free. - Add your domain renewal. - Add any migration fee, or the cost of a developer's time to move the site. - Add a realistic figure for developer time when something breaks and support cannot help. - Add VAT, if the price was shown without it. The total is what you are really paying. It is often very different from the price on the advert. ## When to spend more Pay for a VPS or dedicated server when you have high traffic, a large shop, custom software or strict performance needs. These are worth quoting for individually, because the right size matters. Our guide on [whether you need a dedicated server](https://dijituldns.co.uk/guides/do-i-need-dedicated-server/) can help you decide. For most small businesses, good managed hosting is enough. It is also worth spending a little more when the website is central to how you win work. If most new customers find you online, an hour of downtime or a lost week of data costs far more than the difference between a budget plan and a managed one. Weigh the price against what the site earns for you. ## What dijitul charges [dijitul Complete Hosting](https://dijituldns.co.uk/complete-hosting/) is **£1 a day + VAT**, which is £365 a year + VAT. That includes managed hosting with updates, security and monitoring, your own Plesk login, 10 POP3/IMAP email accounts, Cloudflare DNS set up and managed, daily backups kept for 14 days, free SSL, one domain registration or renewal a year, migration done for you and UK-based support from real people. Each plan covers one website. Older websites are welcome. Bigger needs are quoted. See our [small business hosting](https://dijituldns.co.uk/small-business-hosting/) page or [order online](https://clients.dijitul.uk/order). ## FAQs ### Is £1 a day a fair price for small business hosting? It depends what is included. £1 a day + VAT, or £365 a year + VAT, is fair if it covers managed hosting, daily backups, SSL, email, a domain, migration and real support, because those extras add up quickly when bought separately. dijitul Complete Hosting includes all of these at that price, with 10 email accounts and backups kept for 14 days. ### Why does my hosting cost more after the first year? Many hosts offer a low introductory price for the first term, then charge a higher renewal rate. The renewal price is usually shown in the small print. Always compare hosting on the price you will pay every year, not the first-year offer, and check whether extras renew at a higher rate too. ### Do small businesses pay VAT on web hosting? Yes, UK hosting is normally charged with VAT at 20%. If your business is VAT registered, you can usually reclaim it. Watch whether prices are shown with or without VAT, because business hosts often show prices excluding VAT while consumer plans include it. ### Should a small business pay for a VPS? Usually not at first. A typical small business website runs well on good managed hosting. A VPS makes sense when you have steady high traffic, a large shop, custom applications, or software that needs its own server settings. It costs more and should be sized to your needs. ### What should be included for the price of business hosting? At minimum: managed server updates and security, daily backups, free SSL, a control panel, enough resources for your site, and support you can reach. Ideally also domain registration or renewal and migration. If these are extras, add them to the price before comparing hosts. ## Pricing and ordering dijitul Complete Hosting is £1 a day + VAT (£365 a year + VAT). Order at https://clients.dijitul.uk/order?product=complete-hosting&ref=dijituldns&src=small-business-hosting-cost-uk or call 01623 650333.