Key Takeaways
- MattDarm’s current public prices are £1,600 for a Starter custom WordPress site, £2,800 for Professional and £4,800+ for Advanced. Prices exclude VAT.
- A £400 day rate is available, and ongoing maintenance starts from £99 per month.
- The largest cost drivers are content and page templates, custom functionality, WooCommerce, integrations, migration and approval delays.
- WordPress itself is open-source software, but planning, design, development, testing, hosting and maintenance are professional services with real costs.
- A useful quote should state what is included, what you must supply, how changes are handled and what happens after launch.
At the time of writing, a custom WordPress website from MattDarm starts at £1,600 excluding VAT. The Professional package is £2,800, while an Advanced build with custom functionality starts at £4,800. These are our current public package prices, not claimed UK market averages. Another agency or freelancer may structure and price the work differently.
The right budget depends on what the website must do. Five carefully planned service pages are a different project from a multilingual WooCommerce shop connected to stock, accounts and delivery systems. This guide explains what is included in our packages, what moves a quote and how to compare proposals fairly.
Current MattDarm WordPress Development Prices
The current packages on our WordPress development service page are:
| Package | Current price | Suitable for | Main inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | £1,600 | A straightforward small-business brochure website | Up to five pages, custom theme, mobile-responsive design, contact form, basic SEO setup, CMS training and 30 days of support |
| Professional | £2,800 | A growing business that needs more content and stronger foundations | Eight to twelve pages plus a blog, custom theme, plugin configuration, performance work, SEO and analytics setup, security hardening, training and 60 days of support |
| Advanced | £4,800+ | A more complex website or online operation | Custom functionality, WooCommerce, API integrations, multisite options, advanced security, performance work and priority ongoing support |
All three prices exclude VAT. A day rate of £400 is also available where a clearly defined piece of work is better handled by time rather than a fixed package. Maintenance plans start from £99 per month.
These prices are a useful starting point, not a substitute for a written scope. The final proposal should reflect your content, features, migration needs and timescale. If you only need a broader comparison of website approaches, read how much a website costs in the UK.
Why Does WordPress Development Cost Money If WordPress Is Free?
WordPress is free and open-source, which means there is no licence fee for the core software. The official WordPress features page describes its publishing, user-management, media, theme, plugin and developer capabilities.
The software is only one component of a finished business website. The budget pays for understanding the requirements, structuring the content, designing the interface, writing and testing code, configuring the CMS, protecting the installation, migrating data and supporting the launch.
It also pays for judgement. A developer needs to decide whether a feature belongs in the theme, a custom plugin or a reliable third-party service. They need to avoid a stack of overlapping plugins that becomes difficult to update. They need to make the editing experience clear enough that your team can use it without breaking the layout.
What Is Included in a Custom WordPress Build?
Discovery and structure
The project starts by defining audiences, goals, pages and features. We map how a visitor moves from a landing page to an enquiry, purchase or booking. This stage should also identify who supplies copy, images, legal wording and product data.
Discovery prevents a common cost problem: starting development before the business has decided what the website needs to say or do. A simple sitemap and content responsibility list can save more time than rushing into visual design.
Custom design and theme development
A custom theme is designed around the business rather than applying a logo to a mass-market template. It includes reusable layouts and components for the types of content the team actually publishes.
The official WordPress Theme Handbook distinguishes modern block themes from classic themes and documents the structure behind each approach. The choice should suit the editing workflow and technical requirements, not a developer’s habit.
Custom does not mean every button must be unique. A good design system deliberately reuses typography, spacing, colours, forms and components. That improves consistency, accessibility and maintenance.
Content management
Your team should be able to edit the agreed content without touching code. That may include services, team members, case studies, FAQs, locations, products or resources. Roles and permissions should match who writes, reviews and publishes.
Training and sensible field labels matter. A technically flexible CMS can still be frustrating if every page is a blank canvas or if editors need to remember image dimensions and layout tricks.
Responsive behaviour and accessibility
The website should work across current mobile and desktop browsers, with layouts designed for touch, readable type and useful error messages. Accessibility needs manual attention to headings, keyboard interaction, focus, form labels, alternative text and contrast.
Accessibility is less expensive when considered in the components from the start. Retrofitting every form and interactive element after launch usually creates avoidable work. If an existing site needs a separate review, use the accessibility and WCAG compliance service.
Performance, SEO foundations and analytics
A professional build should include clean page structure, editable titles and descriptions, crawlable links, sensible canonical behaviour, an XML sitemap and a clear redirect process for changed URLs. It should also control image sizes, fonts, scripts and caching.
This does not replace an ongoing SEO campaign. It creates a website that can be crawled, measured and improved. Analytics setup should cover the actions the business values, not merely count page views.
Security, testing and launch
WordPress needs secure hosting, current software, strong access controls and reliable backups. The official WordPress hardening guidance explains that security involves the server, network, database, files, administrative area, plugins, backups and monitoring.
Testing should cover standard content, forms, browsers, devices, permissions, redirects and recovery. WordPress’s theme testing guidance also highlights content variation, accessibility and performance. Launch includes DNS, SSL, production configuration and final checks, followed by the support period stated in the package.
What Makes a WordPress Quote Increase?
More unique templates, not simply more pages
Ten pages using two repeatable layouts may be simpler than five pages with five different interactive designs. Ask how many page types and components the quote covers. This is more useful than looking at page count alone.
Copy, photography and content entry
The price changes depending on whether you provide approved content or need research, copywriting, image sourcing and data entry. Product catalogues, staff profiles and case studies can take considerable preparation even when the website functionality is straightforward.
WooCommerce complexity
A basic shop and a wholesale operation are not the same build. Product variations, subscriptions, bookings, trade pricing, stock locations, shipping rules, tax, returns and accounting integrations all affect the scope.
Payment-provider fees, premium extensions and external systems may create ongoing charges that should be listed separately from development.
Custom plugins and integrations
Connecting a CRM, property feed, membership system or internal database requires discovery, development, error handling and testing. A responsible proposal should state what happens if the third-party API changes or does not provide the expected data.
Custom plugins can be the right answer when existing plugins are bloated or do not fit. They also create code that must be documented, maintained and tested against future WordPress and PHP updates.
Migration and SEO preservation
Moving an established website requires a content inventory, URL map, redirects and data checks. A rebuild that ignores old URLs can lose useful search visibility and send visitors to errors. Read our WordPress rebuild assessment before deciding whether the current installation should be improved or replaced.
If you are considering a different architecture altogether, compare the WordPress to Next.js migration service and the practical WordPress to Next.js rebuild guide.
A compressed deadline
A rushed launch may require extra people, postponed work or out-of-hours support. More importantly, it reduces the time available for content approval and testing. If a date cannot move, reduce the first release to the features genuinely required for that date and plan the rest as a second phase.
What Costs Continue After Launch?
A sensible budget separates build costs from operating costs. Depending on the project, ongoing costs may include:
- hosting and domain renewal;
- premium plugin or service licences;
- maintenance, updates and backups;
- security and uptime monitoring;
- content changes and new features;
- SEO, paid advertising or email tools;
- payment and transaction fees;
- accessibility and performance reviews.
Our public maintenance price starts at £99 per month for WordPress work associated with the current development offer. The exact plan should state update frequency, backup retention, response times, what counts as support and how additional development is charged. You can also review the wider website maintenance and support service.
Avoid buying a maintenance plan that consists only of pressing an update button. Updates should be backed up, tested and monitored. The supplier should know how the website can be restored if an update breaks it.
How Long Does Custom WordPress Development Take?
Our current service guidance gives the following planning ranges:
- a simple brochure site can sometimes be delivered in two to three weeks;
- most WordPress projects take four to eight weeks;
- complex e-commerce or multisite work can take eight to twelve weeks.
These are planning ranges, not a promise for every project. Availability, content readiness, third-party systems and approval speed all affect the delivery date. A four-week development schedule can easily become an eight-week calendar project if copy and feedback arrive late.
A useful plan names approval dates, dependencies and who can make the final decision. It should include time for content entry, mobile checks, redirects, accessibility, analytics and stakeholder acceptance rather than treating “development complete” as “ready to launch”.
How to Compare Two WordPress Proposals
Do not compare the total alone. Put the scopes side by side and ask:
- Is the design custom, adapted from a theme or built with a page builder?
- Which pages, templates and components are included?
- Who writes, supplies and enters the content?
- Which plugins, licences and ongoing fees are required?
- Are performance, accessibility and SEO foundations specified?
- Are redirects and content migration included?
- What browsers, devices and journeys will be tested?
- Who owns the design, code, domain, hosting and accounts?
- What training, documentation and post-launch support are included?
- How are revisions, delays and out-of-scope work charged?
A cheaper proposal may be the right choice if the scope genuinely meets your needs. It is poor value when essential work has simply been omitted and appears later as a surprise.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a custom WordPress website cost from MattDarm?
Current public prices start at £1,600 for Starter, £2,800 for Professional and £4,800+ for Advanced. Prices exclude VAT and the final quote depends on the agreed scope.
Is WordPress itself free?
Yes. WordPress is free, open-source software. You still need to budget for professional planning, design, development, content, hosting, testing, maintenance and any paid third-party services.
How long does a custom WordPress website take to build?
Most projects take around four to eight weeks. A simple brochure site may be quicker, while complex WooCommerce, integration or multisite work can take eight to twelve weeks or longer.
Do I need an ongoing WordPress maintenance plan?
It is strongly advisable to have a named person responsible for updates, backups, security monitoring and recovery. That can be your internal team or a maintenance provider, but the responsibility should not be left unclear.
Can you rebuild an existing WordPress website without losing its SEO?
Yes, with proper planning. The work should include a content and URL inventory, relevant redirects, preserved metadata, crawl checks, analytics testing and post-launch monitoring. Temporary ranking movement can still happen.
Ask for a Scope You Can Compare
The honest answer to “How much does WordPress development cost?” is a current starting price plus a defined scope. For MattDarm, that starting price is £1,600 excluding VAT. If the packages are close to what you need, contact MattDarm with your current website, required features and target date. We can then confirm whether a package fits or whether a different approach would be more sensible.
