Most small businesses we talk to around Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside ask the same question early on: should I pay for a website in one go, or pay monthly? Both are sensible. The right answer depends on your cash flow, how much you want to own straight away, and how much help you want afterwards.

What “pay monthly” usually means

With a pay-monthly website you pay a fixed amount each month instead of a big bill at the start. The monthly fee normally covers the build, hosting and some ongoing help. The things that vary a lot between companies are the contract length, whether there is a setup fee, and whether you ever own the site. We cover the questions to ask in our guide to pay monthly websites in Oldham, and costs and contracts in pay monthly websites in Tameside and Rochdale.

What “pay upfront” usually means

You pay for the build once, the site is yours from day one, and you pay separately for hosting and any updates. It costs more at the start but there is no long-running build fee.

A worked example with our own prices

To keep this honest, here are Codevall’s actual options:

  • Website Plan: £49 a month, no setup fee, up to 5 pages built on our own theme and tailored to your business. After 12 payments the site is yours. Twelve payments come to £588.
  • Website Build, paid upfront: £495 once, yours straight away, plus Managed WordPress hosting at £25 a month. In the first year that is £495 plus £300, so £795.

So in year one the monthly plan costs less and keeps more cash in the business. The upfront build suits you if you want the site to be yours from the first day.

Pay monthly suits you if…

  • You’d rather not find several hundred pounds in one go.
  • You want someone else to look after hosting, updates and small changes.
  • You want to get online quickly and see a preview before anything goes live.

Paying upfront suits you if…

  • You have the budget now and want to own the site immediately.
  • You are happy to pay for hosting separately.

Five things to check before you sign anything

  1. Is there a setup fee? Some “monthly” offers start with a large one.
  2. How long is the contract? And what happens if you leave early?
  3. Do you ever own the site? Some plans rent it to you forever.
  4. Who owns the domain name? It should be registered to you.
  5. What is included each month? Hosting, security updates, changes, Google help?

Want to see what yours would look like?

You can see an example site (a demo business, Brightwell Plumbing), or start with a short brief on our Website Plan page. Until 30 November, the first three businesses to sign up also get their Google Business Profile set up or tidied for free.