The four real options — and what they actually cost
There is no single answer to what a takeaway website costs because there are four completely different products being sold under that label. Let's go through them straight.
| Option | Upfront cost | Monthly cost | What you're really buying |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY (Wix, Squarespace, etc.) | £0–£300 | £13–£45/mo | Your evenings, no specialist knowledge |
| Template agency | £500–£3,000 | £0–£50/mo | Someone else's evenings, generic design |
| Custom agency | £3,000–£10,000+ | £100–£300/mo | Built from scratch, usually overkill |
| Bundled ordering platform | £0–£500 setup | £100–£500/mo | Website tied to their ordering, forever |
| Takely (Starter) | £499 | £49/mo | One-page site, real menu text, GBP linked, 7 days |
| Takely (Growth) | £999 | £79/mo | Five pages, ordering wired in, local landing pages, 7 days |
| Takely (Bespoke) | £1,999 | £129/mo | Up to 10 pages, multi-location, 4–6 weeks |
The numbers above are what the market actually charges in 2026. The rest of this post explains what drives price up, what to watch for, and how to pick the right level for where your shop is right now.
DIY: cheap upfront, expensive in time
Wix, Squarespace, and similar tools let you publish a website for £13–£45 per month with little or no upfront cost. If you already have a few hours a week, enjoy tinkering, and your shop is very simple, this can work.
The problems creep in quickly. Most DIY sites end up with the menu as a PDF or an image. Google cannot read either. When someone searches 'chicken burger Luton' your site does not show that dish because it is locked inside a file. You are invisible to the searches that actually convert to orders.
There is also the time cost. Building a decent DIY site properly — real text menus, schema markup, Google Business Profile linked, mobile-first layout — takes 20 to 40 hours if you know what you are doing. Most owners do not, and the result shows. That time has a value. Calculate it honestly before assuming free is actually free.
DIY makes sense if you are testing an idea, have very limited capital, or are happy investing your own time. It rarely makes sense for an established shop that wants to compete on search.
Template agencies: the £500–£3,000 middle ground
This is where most high-street web designers sit. They take a theme, customise colours and photos, drop your menu in, and hand it over. The work is real, the results are mixed.
What you typically get at this price point:
- A decent-looking site that works on mobile
- Basic on-page SEO (title tags, one or two heading tweaks)
- A contact form and opening hours
- Hosting arranged (often resold at a markup)
What you often do not get:
- Menu as real, crawlable text with structured data (schema)
- Local landing pages targeting individual areas or dishes
- Integration with your existing ordering links (Flipdish, Slerp, storekit, app links)
- Google Business Profile connected and optimised
- Any analytics or monthly reporting
- A clear answer on who owns your domain after you leave
The 12-month contract is also common at this level. You pay £500 upfront and then find yourself locked in for a year whether the site performs or not. Always read the small print before you sign. We cover why rolling monthly matters in our post on the 12-month contract trap.
Custom agencies: when £3,000–£10,000 makes sense
A fully custom build — designed from scratch, developed to your brief, tested across devices — costs £3,000 at the low end and runs well past £10,000 for anything complex. For most independent takeaways, this is overkill.
There are situations where it is the right call:
- You are a franchise with 20+ locations and complex logic
- You need a custom loyalty or membership system built from the ground up
- Your brand is the business — you are selling the franchise model itself
- You need bespoke integrations with kitchen management or EPoS systems
For a single-site or small-group takeaway, you are paying for a level of customisation that does not translate into more orders. The site still needs the same things: real menu text, local search visibility, a working order button. Those are solvable at a much lower cost.
Bundled ordering platforms: watch the monthly fee
Some ordering platforms offer a website as part of their package. The setup fee is low or zero. The catch is the ongoing monthly fee — typically £100 to £500 per month — combined with per-order commission on top.
This can make sense if you genuinely need a fully managed ordering operation and want one supplier for everything. The risk is dependency. If you leave the platform, the website goes with it. You may not own your domain. Your customer data may not be portable. You are renting, not building.
At Takely, every plan is 30-day rolling. You own your domain and your data from day one. That is not a sales line — it is the only model that is fair.
What drives the price up — and what is actually worth paying for
Not every pound you spend on a website translates into something a customer can see or that Google rewards. Here is a practical breakdown of what moves the needle versus what is just cost.
| Feature | Worth paying for? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Real text menu with schema markup | Yes | Google reads it, AI Overviews cite it, voice search finds it |
| Google Business Profile setup and connection | Yes | Maps visibility drives walk-ins and collection orders |
| Local landing pages (e.g. 'pizza delivery Coventry') | Yes | Targets high-intent searches you are currently missing |
| Custom illustration and brand identity | Maybe | Looks great, rarely drives orders directly |
| 12-month retainer for 'ongoing SEO' | Rarely | Ask what deliverables are guaranteed each month |
| Mobile-first responsive design | Yes | Most of your customers are on a phone |
| Analytics and monthly reporting | Yes | You cannot improve what you cannot measure |
| Bespoke animations and scroll effects | No | Slows the page, not tested to increase conversions |
The single most underrated feature is the menu as real text. A JPEG menu is invisible to Google. A PDF menu is barely better. When your menu is properly marked up with structured data, individual dishes can appear in search results. That is the difference between a website that generates orders and one that just looks nice.
Where Takely sits — and why we publish our prices
Most agencies do not put prices on their website. You have to request a quote, sit through a call, and wait for a proposal. That process is designed to let them size you up before naming a number.
We publish ours because takeaway owners do not have time for that. You should be able to read a price, understand what it covers, and decide — between orders, on your phone.
Starter at £499 + £49/mo is built for shops that have no website or a bad one. One page, your menu as real searchable text with schema, Google Business Profile linked, live in seven days. You own your domain. 30-day rolling.
Growth at £999 + £79/mo is our most popular plan. Five pages, your existing ordering links wired in (Flipdish, Slerp, storekit, app links), locally-targeted landing pages, GBP and a review engine, analytics with a monthly report, live in seven days. Everything a working takeaway needs to compete on search.
Bespoke at £1,999 + £129/mo is for multi-location businesses or shops with a franchise or business opportunity page. Up to 10 pages, four to six weeks to build.
We are also building Takely Ordering — collection ordering at 4% flat plus card fees, no monthly commission on top. Compared to Just Eat's 14% collection rate, that is a meaningful difference. On a £30 collection order: Just Eat takes £4.20. Your own site at 4% plus typical card fees costs around £1.91. Over a hundred orders a month, that gap adds up to real money. Join the waitlist if you want to be first in line.
We are not the cheapest option. We are also not the most expensive. We are the option that is honest about what is included, does not lock you in, and is built specifically for food businesses in the UK. If you want to compare approaches side by side, we break it down in Wix and Squarespace vs a specialist agency.
Questions to ask any agency before you pay
Whether you choose Takely or someone else, ask these questions before you sign anything.
- Who owns the domain — me or you? (It must be you.)
- Is the contract monthly rolling or fixed term? If fixed, what is the exit fee?
- Is my menu as real text, or will it be a PDF or image?
- Will you connect my Google Business Profile?
- What does the monthly fee cover — specifically?
- Can I take my site elsewhere if I leave?
- Do you have experience with food businesses or takeaways specifically?
- What analytics will I be able to see, and how often will you report to me?
Any agency worth dealing with will answer all of these without hesitation. Vague answers on the ownership or exit questions are a red flag. We cover what to look for in detail in our post on getting your menu live in seven days.
You can also contact us with any of these questions before you commit to anything — no sales call required, no pressure, just a straight answer.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a takeaway website cost in the UK?
Prices range from near-zero for a DIY build to £10,000 or more for a fully custom agency project. For most independent takeaways, the practical range is £499 to £3,000 upfront plus a monthly fee of £49 to £150 covering hosting, SSL, and updates. The headline price matters less than what is included — particularly whether your menu is real searchable text and whether you own your domain.
Do I need to pay a monthly fee for a takeaway website?
Usually yes. Hosting, SSL certificates, security updates, and ongoing technical maintenance cost money. A low or zero monthly fee often means these are bundled into a higher upfront cost, or they are not being done at all. At Takely, the monthly fee covers hosting, SSL, and updates — it is published clearly so you know exactly what you are paying for.
Is Wix or Squarespace good enough for a takeaway website?
It depends on what you need. DIY platforms are fine for very simple presences, but they rarely handle food-specific requirements well out of the box — structured menu data, Google Business Profile integration, and local landing pages all require extra work and knowledge. For a shop that wants to show up in 'chicken burger near me' searches, a specialist approach tends to outperform a generic template. We compare them properly in our post on [Wix and Squarespace vs a specialist agency](/blog/wix-squarespace-vs-specialist).
Why do some agencies not publish their prices?
Mostly because they want to adjust the quote based on what they think you can afford. It is common practice in web design and not always dishonest — projects genuinely do vary. But for a straightforward takeaway website with a known scope, hidden pricing is unnecessary. Takely publishes all three plan prices because you should be able to make a decision without a sales call.
What is the difference between a website and an ordering platform for a takeaway?
A website is your shop window — it tells people who you are, shows your menu, and directs them to order. An ordering platform handles the actual transaction: basket, payment, confirmation, kitchen ticket. Most takeaways need both. Your website can link out to whichever ordering platform you use (Flipdish, Slerp, storekit, Just Eat). Some platforms bundle a basic website in — but you rarely own it if you leave.
How long does it take to get a takeaway website built?
A specialist agency focused on food businesses should deliver a working site in one to two weeks. Template agencies often quote two to four weeks; custom builds typically take six to twelve weeks. At Takely, Starter and Growth plans go live in seven days. Bespoke projects with multiple locations take four to six weeks. If an agency is quoting more than three months for a standard takeaway site, ask what is taking so long.
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