A restaurant or takeaway website in the UK typically costs £500–£3,000 for a professional small-business site, £3,000–£8,000 for a custom site with online ordering, or from £10–£40 a month using a DIY builder. The right investment depends on whether you need online ordering, bookings and the ability to take commission-free orders. This 2026 guide breaks down real restaurant website costs so you can budget wisely and stop losing profit to delivery apps.
Why Your Restaurant Needs Its Own Website
Delivery apps are convenient, but they take 20–35% of every order and own your customer. Your own website with online ordering lets customers order directly, commission-free, and keeps that relationship yours. It also helps you rank on Google, showcases your menu and food, takes bookings, and builds trust. For most restaurants and takeaways, a website pays for itself quickly through the commission it saves and the direct orders it wins.
Even a simple site makes a real difference, and a good one becomes your most profitable ordering channel. It is a core part of our restaurant and takeaway marketing.
Restaurant Website Costs at a Glance
Here are realistic 2026 UK price ranges so you can see where your needs fit.
| Type | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | £10–£40/mo | Very small budgets, simple sites |
| Professional brochure site | £500–£3,000 | Menu, photos, bookings, contact |
| Site with online ordering | £3,000–£8,000 | Commission-free direct orders |
| Custom / multi-location | £8,000+ | Larger or complex needs |
What Affects the Cost
Several things shape the price: the number of pages, whether you need online ordering or table booking, custom design versus a template, professional food photography, and who builds it. Online ordering is the biggest single factor — it adds development but pays for itself by cutting app commission. A clear brief about what you need keeps the cost proportionate to the value.
- Online ordering — the highest-value feature; saves commission on every order.
- Table booking — reduces phone time and no-shows.
- Design & photography — great food photos dramatically lift conversions.
- Who builds it — DIY, freelancer or agency, covered below.
DIY vs Agency
A DIY builder is cheapest upfront and fine for a very simple site, but it often limits design, speed, SEO and ordering features — and it costs your time. A professional build from an agency costs more upfront but delivers a faster, better-designed, SEO-friendly site with proper online ordering that actually wins and keeps orders. For a busy restaurant owner, the time saved and orders gained usually make professional the better value, as we explain in our guide to UK website costs.
Don’t Forget Ongoing Costs
Budget for a domain (£8–£15/year), hosting (£5–£30/month), and optional maintenance to keep the site fast, secure and updated. If you add ongoing local SEO, that drives even more orders over time. These modest ongoing costs are easily outweighed by the commission you save and the direct orders you win.
How to Get the Best Value
Focus on the features that make money — online ordering, great photos, easy booking — and compare quotes on value, not just price. A slightly larger investment in a site that wins direct orders returns far more than a cheap site that does nothing.
How We Build Restaurant Websites
As a founder-led Glasgow web design agency, we build fast, appetising restaurant and takeaway websites with commission-free online ordering that win direct orders and rank on Google — affordably, and with a real understanding of your business. Explore our restaurant marketing or request a free quote.
Website Features That Pay for Themselves
Some features cost a little more but earn it back quickly. Online ordering is the clearest example — every direct order saves the 20–35% a delivery app would take, so it often pays for the whole website within months. Table booking reduces no-shows and frees up phone time. Great food photography lifts conversions because people order with their eyes. And built-in SEO means the site attracts free orders from Google rather than needing paid ads to be seen. When budgeting, prioritise the features that make or save money, not just the ones that look nice.
A cheap site with none of these may cost less upfront but earns nothing, while a slightly larger investment in a site that wins direct orders returns many times its cost. Think of your website as your most profitable ordering channel, and invest in the parts that drive real orders.
Common Mistakes When Buying a Restaurant Website
The frequent mistakes are choosing the cheapest option with no online ordering, using a slow or hard-to-update platform, skipping professional food photography, and forgetting SEO so the site never gets found. Each undermines the return. Avoid them by insisting on fast performance, proper online ordering, appetising photos, and built-in local SEO. Owning your domain and site (not being locked into a provider) matters too. Get these right and your website becomes a genuine profit centre rather than a pretty but useless expense.
A Real Example
Consider a Glasgow takeaway paying heavy commission on every app order. By investing in a professional website with commission-free online ordering, appetising photography and local SEO, they shifted a meaningful share of orders to direct sales within months. The website paid for itself through saved commission alone, and they finally owned their customer list — able to bring customers back with offers at almost no cost. That is the return a well-built restaurant website delivers.
Choosing the Right Platform
Most restaurant websites are built on WordPress or a dedicated restaurant platform, and the right choice depends on your needs. WordPress is flexible, SEO-friendly and lets you own everything, making it ideal if you want a proper website with ordering integrated and strong Google visibility. Dedicated ordering platforms are quicker to set up but can be restrictive and charge ongoing fees. DIY builders are cheapest but usually weakest on speed, SEO and ordering. Whatever you choose, insist on owning your domain and your customer data — being locked into a provider who owns your site is a costly trap. A platform that is fast, easy to update and genuinely yours will serve you for years.
Launching and Promoting Your New Site
Building the site is only half the job — people need to know it exists and have a reason to use it. When you launch, tell everyone: put your web address on your menus, bags, receipts, shopfront and social profiles. Add it to your Google Business Profile. Offer a small incentive for ordering direct rather than through an app, like a discount or free side, to break the habit. Post about it on social and ask your regulars to try it. The restaurants that successfully shift orders to their own site are the ones that actively promote it rather than quietly launching and hoping. A few weeks of consistent promotion can permanently change where your orders come from — and how much of each one you keep.
Frequently Asked Questions
Want a Website That Wins Direct Orders?
We build restaurant websites that pay for themselves. Request a free quote or get in touch with our Glasgow team.
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