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Me, a website builder, a booking app or a local designer.
Honestly, I’m not always the right answer. Here’s what each option costs, who owns what at the end, and when each one is the better choice.
Scroll sideways to see all four.
| What is compared | Build it yourselfWix, Squarespace and similar | Booking platformFresha's published UK prices | Local web designerPublished prices, North West | TravinyxMe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To get started | Nothing but your own time. | Nothing to sign up. | Small sites from about £125 to £500. Fuller business sites about £500 to £1,500. Bigger agencies from around £1,800. | Business Health Check £195, taken off any build from £500 up. Sites from £350, quote forms £395, booking £500, fixed price. |
| Every month | A paid plan for as long as the site is up. Online booking needs one of the higher plans. | £14.95 on your own, or £9.95 per team member. Card fees on top. Prices exclude VAT. | Often hosting. Some sell the site on a monthly plan instead, from about £30 to £130 a month, sometimes with a 12 month minimum. | Nothing required. Optional plans from £29 a month, with the first three months included. |
| New customers | No commission. | 20% of a new client's first booking when they find you through the Fresha marketplace, minimum £4. | No commission. | No commission. |
| Works out what's actually wrong | You do. | Not their job. They sell the booking tool. | Varies. Most published prices are for a site, not a diagnosis. | That's the Health Check, before anything is built. |
| Booking and automation | What the platform offers, on the plans that include it. | Booking, reminders and payments built in. | About a third of the firms I researched advertise booking, automation or custom software. | Booking, missed-call replies and follow-ups, or connecting the tools you already use. |
| Who owns it | Your content is yours, but the site only runs on that platform. | The booking system is theirs. You pay to use it. | Depends on the contract. On a monthly plan, ask what happens when you stop paying. | You do, once it's paid for: the code, the content and the design. |
| Who you deal with | A support team. | A support team. | Often the owner, at a small firm. | Me, the person who builds it. |
Checked 13 September 2026. Fresha figures are from Fresha’s pricing page. Local designer figures are the prices published by 97 web design firms around the North West that I looked at in September 2026. Prices change, so check anyone’s current rates before you decide.
When each one is the right choice
Build it yourself
If you enjoy doing it, nothing about how customers reach you is broken, and you just need somewhere to send people. It's the cheapest way to have a site.
A booking platform
If it's already filling your diary, keep it. Paying anyone to replace something that works is a waste. If you want more around it, I connect to it rather than replace it.
A local web designer
If you know you need a brochure site and nothing more, a good local designer will build it for a similar price or less, and some of them are very good.
Travinyx
If something is costing you work and you're not sure what, or the fix is more than a website: booking, follow-ups, or two systems that should be talking to each other.
Already on Fresha or Treatwell? What booking costs with me, and why you might not need it.
Not sure which one you are?
The Business Health Check tells you, including when the answer is one of the other three. £195, and your money back if I find nothing.