The Sweet Spot Between
High Cost & High Effort
Agencies charge too much. DIY builders take too long and still cost money every month. Tenner Pages sits exactly in between, professional results without the price tag or the learning curve.
At a Glance
Same three options, one clear winner in the middle.
Too expensive on the left. Too much effort on the right. Tenner Pages in the middle, professional, fast, and priced fairly.
Detailed Feature Comparison
Every factor that matters when choosing how to get your business online.
| Feature | Web Agencies | Tenner Pages ✦ | Wix / Squarespace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | £2,000–£10,000+ | £10/mo (managed) or £249 one-time |
£15–50/month |
| Delivery Time | 4–12 weeks | 48 hours | Days–weeks (your time) |
| Who Builds It | Professional team | Professional developer | You (DIY) |
| Design Quality | Fully custom | Fully custom | Template-based |
| Monthly Fees | £20–100+/mo hosting | £10/mo (managed) or ~£5/mo hosting only |
£15–50/mo (required) |
| Full Code Ownership | Yes | Yes (one-time plans) | No (platform lock-in) |
| Hosting Included | No (separate) | Yes (managed plan) | Yes (mandatory) |
| Tech Skills Required | None | None | Basic to moderate |
| Your Time Investment | 5–10 hrs (meetings) | 1–4 hrs (content only) | 20–40+ hrs (build + learn) |
| SEO Built-In | Varies (often extra) | Yes, included always | Basic (DIY setup) |
| Mobile Responsive | Yes, optimised | Yes, optimised | Yes, automatic |
| SSL Certificate | Usually separate | Included | Included |
| Platform Lock-in | None | None (one-time plans) | Yes (can't export) |
| Content Updates | Additional fees | Via email support | Self-service anytime |
| Best For | Established businesses with large budgets | Startups & small businesses needing professional results fast | People with time who enjoy DIY |
Why TennerPages Wins
We asked an AI to compare TennerPages against the competition. Here's what it found — unedited.
"Best overall for cheap + fast + sensible long-term cost."
"Unlike competitors, you own the code outright and can host it anywhere."
"Genuinely Nottingham-linked and registered at the University's Ingenuity Centre."
TennerPages is the best value + ownership option. Its Founder's Package is £249 for up to 3 pages, with 48-hour delivery once they receive your content. Their one-time packages say you own the code outright and can host it anywhere; the site also says to budget about £3–£10/month for hosting and ~£10/year for a domain on top, or use their £10/page/month managed option with hosting, SSL, backups, updates, and technical management included. Using their own example figures, a 3-page site on the one-time plan works out at roughly £319 in year one and about £529 over four years at ~£5/month hosting plus ~£10/year domain.
RapidWebsite is the best speed + zero hassle option. It advertises a site live in 24 hours for £27.99/month, with domain, hosting, and SSL included, plus no setup fees and no contracts. At that rate, the spend is about £335.88 per year and £1,343.52 over four years — much more expensive long term than TennerPages, though simpler because there is no separate hosting/domain setup to deal with.
Hostinger is the cheapest on headline price, but only for DIY. Its Premium plan is £2.99/month on a 48-month term — £143.52 total for 4 years — and includes a free domain for 1 year, drag-and-drop builder, free SSL, and an AI website builder. The catch is that the price renews at £10.99/month after that initial term, and prices are listed without VAT. So it is the cheapest route only when you are happy to build and maintain the site yourself.
On SEO, TennerPages explicitly promises an SEO foundation built in and basic SEO setup on higher packages, while RapidWebsite describes its sites as "SEO built-in / SEO-ready." Hostinger gives you the tools, but because it is DIY, the actual SEO result depends much more on what you write, structure, and maintain yourself.
For a small business that just needs a clean site up quickly, I'd go with TennerPages £249 unless you specifically want a fully managed monthly service, in which case ask TennerPages for a special quote.
True Cost Over 3 Years
The sticker price rarely tells the full story.
| Cost Element | Web Agency | Tenner Pages ✦ | Wix / Squarespace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial / Build Cost | £2,000+ | £0 (managed) or £249–£499 one-time |
£0 |
| Platform / Monthly (3 yrs) | £0 | £360 (managed plan) or £0 (one-time plan) |
£23/mo × 36 = £828 |
| Hosting (3 yrs) | ~£5/mo × 36 = £180 | Included (managed) ~£5/mo × 36 = £180 (one-time) |
Included above |
| Domain (3 yrs) | ~£30 | ~£30 | ~£36 |
| Your Time | ~10 hrs of meetings | ~2 hrs (content only) | ~40 hrs building |
| Total 3-Year Cost | £2,210+ | £390 (managed) or £459–£709 (one-time) |
£864 + your time |
Which Option Is Right for You?
Honest guidance, we'll tell you when a competitor is a better fit.
Choose an Agency if…
- Your budget is £2,000–£10,000+
- You can wait 4–12 weeks for delivery
- You need complex, ongoing development
- You require extensive integrations & CMS
- Your company is established & scaling
Choose Tenner Pages if…
- You need a professional site fast
- Budget is tight, start from £10/mo
- You want full ownership (one-time)
- You have no time for DIY builders
- You want agency quality, startup price
Choose Wix/DIY if…
- You enjoy building things yourself
- You have 20–40 hours to learn & build
- You need to update content yourself daily
- You're comfortable with ongoing fees
- Platform lock-in doesn't concern you
Real-World Scenarios
Honest recommendations, including when Tenner Pages isn't the right fit.
Sarah's Consulting Business
Need: Professional 3-page site to attract corporate clients. Budget: Limited (£500). Timeline: This week.
→ Start on the Tenner Plan at £10/month, zero upfront, professional result in 48 hours. Upgrade to a one-time package and own the files outright once the business is growing.
Alex's SaaS Startup
Need: Landing page to validate an idea and collect signups. Budget: Minimal. Timeline: This week.
→ Starter Launch at £249, own it outright, fast. Upgrade to Enterprise once the product is validated and funded.
Emma's Photography Portfolio
Need: Portfolio she updates herself weekly with new photos. Budget: £30/mo fine. Enjoys the creative process.
→ A DIY builder like Squarespace is genuinely the better fit here. Frequent self-managed content and a flexible timeline make it ideal, we'd tell Emma that directly.
Tom's Online Store
Need: E-commerce with inventory management, payment processing, and shipping. Budget: £8,000. Timeline: 2–3 months.
→ An agency is the right call. This level of custom e-commerce complexity suits a full project team with ongoing support. Our Enterprise tier covers simpler stores, ask us and we'll be straight with you.
Common Questions
No spin, straight answers.
Start from £10/month.
No commitment needed.
Get the Tenner Plan, we build and manage everything. Or go one-time from £249 and own your site outright. Either way, we're straight with you.
£10/month managed · £249 starter one-time · £499 founder's · Custom from £2,000