taste is the whole point
Human craft at machine speed.
With artificial intelligence, anyone can get a website built quickly and cheaply now.
So what sets a site apart is taste, and what keeps it that way is care.
We built alambic.studio to offer all of it: design by people with a decade in the industry, built at machine speed and looked after for you.
What changed
Engineering is no longer the hard part.
Code, layouts, words: much of it now comes from AI, sold by the month to anyone who wants it.
So the question has changed. Not who can build your site, but who can make it feel like your business.
The old choice
Fast is easy. Bespoke is not.
Site builders can put a site together for you in minutes. They learn from many sites like yours, so yours tends to look a lot like them. Until now, the other choice was an agency: one of a kind, but slow and costly.
alambic sets a new standard in website building.
Each dot is a sample from the range of one type of supplier, placed by what its first year costs, how many weeks it takes to go live and how unique the site is. The glowing a is alambic.studio.
Weeks and uniqueness are our assessment, weeks anchored on stated timelines where they are published; first-year cost is from published prices, in EUR. Dots are illustrative.
Drag to rotate or focus the plot and use the arrow keys
| Category | First-year cost · EUR (EUR, first year, measured) | Weeks to a live site (weeks, our estimate, assessed (our view)) | Uniqueness (share, our view, assessed (our view)) | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template builders: A hosted plan and a theme: you design, write and build the site yourself. | €27 to €600 | 0.5 to 6 weeks (our estimate) | 5 to 30% (our view) | [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] |
| AI site builders: A generator drafts the site from a prompt; you refine it on a hosted plan. | €236 to €526 | 0.5 to 3 weeks (our estimate) | 10 to 35% (our view) | [5] [6] [7] [8] |
| AI subscription, built yourself: A $100 to $200 general AI plan: you prompt, build and host the site yourself. | €1,073 to €2,145 | 1 to 8 weeks (our estimate) | 15 to 50% (our view) | [5] [9] [10] |
| Freelancers: One designer or developer builds the site as a fixed project. | €1,790 to €3,579 | 2 to 12 weeks (our estimate) | 35 to 75% (our view) | [5] [11] [12] |
| Agencies: A team designs and builds the site as a project, then bills later changes. | €2,386 to €35,791 | 6 to 30 weeks (our estimate) | 60 to 95% (our view) | [5] [11] [12] [13] |
| Design subscriptions: A flat monthly fee for design requests, handled one at a time. | €4,465 to €53,575 | 2 to 8 weeks (our estimate) | 60 to 90% (our view) | [5] [14] |
| alambic.studio (our offer, for comparison) | €2,148 a year, billed yearly | 2 weeks from kickoff | 88% (our view) | [15] |
Why taste matters
Taste is human. It takes years to learn, and it shows.
Taste is seeing what your business is, which layout fits it and what to leave out. It is learned, not prompted. It is the most human thing we can have.
This is why we are building a system where taste remains human. Experts with a decade in the industry give every site its emotional foundation and its final check. That is why our sites do not look generated.
Craft and speed
People bring the craft. Machines bring the speed. Your site gets both.
Agencies offer craft but take their time. Generators are fast, with less of a human hand. Gaining one used to cost you the other.
We keep the taste human. Everything around it, from creative development to production and marketing, runs at machine speed with advanced AI.
alambic introduces a new way of building websites.
Each dot is a sample from the range of one type of supplier, placed by how much experienced human judgement shapes the site and how much software and AI speed up its making. The glowing a is alambic.studio.
Both axes are our assessment: how much experienced human judgement shapes the site, and how much of its production software and AI speed up.
Sources15
| Category | Human craft (share, our view, assessed (our view)) | Machine speed (share, our view, assessed (our view)) | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template builders: A hosted plan and a theme: you design, write and build the site yourself. | 10 to 30% (our view) | 35 to 60% (our view) | |
| AI site builders: A generator drafts the site from a prompt; you refine it on a hosted plan. | 5 to 25% (our view) | 70 to 95% (our view) | |
| AI subscription, built yourself: A $100 to $200 general AI plan: you prompt, build and host the site yourself. | 5 to 30% (our view) | 55 to 85% (our view) | |
| Freelancers: One designer or developer builds the site as a fixed project. | 40 to 80% (our view) | 15 to 40% (our view) | |
| Agencies: A team designs and builds the site as a project, then bills later changes. | 65 to 95% (our view) | 5 to 30% (our view) | |
| Design subscriptions: A flat monthly fee for design requests, handled one at a time. | 60 to 90% (our view) | 30 to 55% (our view) | |
| alambic.studio (our offer, for comparison) | 80% (our view) | 80% (our view) | [15] |
After the launch
A website is never finished. Ours are looked after for you.
Peace of mind
A fair price, and one less thing to worry about.
For €179 a month, you get a bespoke site and a team that looks after its security, updates and SEO. Ask for any change on the go, from a menu item to a new page: all part of your subscription.
In comparison, a UK agency will charge extra for hosting and care, while adding £60 to £150 an hour for changes12.
A bespoke site used to mean an agency bill. Not any more.
Each bar is our estimate of a typical London pitch for a small-business marketing site of 5 to 8 pages, designed bespoke, with the copy supplied: the fee spread over 12 months, then hosting and a care plan. A change prices one new page after launch. alambic.studio is our yearly plan, with hosting and unlimited changes included.
Our estimate of what each type of supplier would typically pitch for this brief, from a decade of agency work: the fee spread over twelve months, plus hosting and a care plan, and the price of a new page after launch. Each estimate sits inside the published ranges cited here, or at the top of the lower one where two do not overlap. Weeks to live and quality are our view; domain, copywriting and VAT are not counted. Our yearly plan is €179 a month and includes hosting and unlimited changes. Our 2 weeks count from kickoff, once your content and access are in.
- €179 a month, billed yearly€2,148 in year one
- Freelancer€368 a month€4,414 in year one
- Boutique studio€676 a month€8,113 in year one
- Mid-size agency€1,551 a month€18,611 in year one
- Large agency€3,579 a month€42,949 in year one
A month, in year one · EUR · linear from 0
| Type | Pitch fee (our estimate) | Published pitch fees | Care plan, a month (our estimate) | A month in years 1, 2 and 3, with its care plan | First year, with its care plan | A new page after launch (our estimate) | An hour of changes (our estimate) | Weeks to live (our estimate) | Quality (our view) | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | €2,983 (£2,500 as pitched) | £1,500 to £3,000 for a 5 to 10 page site; £1,500 to £3,000 for 5 pages, with London at the top of the range; £1,500 to £5,000 for a brochure site; £500 to £2,500 for a freelancer's custom build, UK-wide | €119 (£100 as pitched) | €368, €119, €119 | €4,414 | €239 (£200 as pitched) | €72 (£60 as pitched) | 4 to 8 | Varies widely. The widest spread of quality: one discipline is usually strong, and upkeep depends on one person staying available. | [5] [11] [12] [16] [17] [18] |
| Boutique studio | €5,965 (£5,000 as pitched) | £2,000 to £5,000 at a micro or boutique agency, UK-wide; £3,000 to £5,000 for a 5-page agency site, London at the top; £3,000 to £6,000 at a regional agency, a quoted market; £5,000 to £15,000 for a small-business site in London | €179 (£150 as pitched) | €676, €179, €179 | €8,113 | €358 (£300 as pitched) | €107 (£90 as pitched) | 6 to 10 | Senior and bespoke. The closest to our bar: a senior designer is often hands-on, but capacity is small, so queues stretch timelines. | [5] [11] [12] [17] [19] |
| Mid-size agency | €14,316 (£12,000 as pitched) | £5,000 to £15,000 at a mid-size agency, and £8,000 to £30,000 or more at a London full-service one; £6,000 to £15,000 for an established agency's small-business site | €358 (£300 as pitched) | €1,551, €358, €358 | €18,611 | €418 (£350 as pitched) | €143 (£120 as pitched) | 8 to 16 | Dependable process. Dependable process and documentation, though a small brief often goes to the junior team, behind an account manager. | [5] [11] [12] [16] |
| Large agency | €35,791 (£30,000 as pitched) | £15,000 to £50,000 for a custom multi-page marketing site; £15,000 to £60,000 for most of one London studio's projects | €597 (£500 as pitched) | €3,579, €597, €597 | €42,949 | €477 (£400 as pitched) | €179 (£150 as pitched) | 12 to 24 | Highest craft ceiling. The highest ceiling for motion, interaction and brand; their published minimums sit above a small brief, so many will not take it. | [5] [11] [12] [16] [19] |
| alambic.studio | None | Our published price | Included | €179 a month in each year, billed yearly; €199 a month billed monthly | €2,148 billed yearly, €2,388 billed monthly | Included: unlimited changes | Included: Unlimited changes: a new page, a content change, whatever you need; Hosting, SSL, monitoring, security, updates and SEO included; Ask on the go, from a WhatsApp voice note to an email | Live in two weeks from kickoff, once your content and access are in | Bespoke, never a template | [15] |
Method
- Published
- Updated
- Author
- Leo Largillet, founder
Measured
The AI prices come from each vendor’s pricing page, and for ChatGPT from a news report of its plans, all read in October 2026. Dollar and pound figures become euros at the ECB reference rate of 26 October 2026, at which our €179 a month is about $2005.
Our view
Craft, speed, uniqueness and quality are assessed: our view, from a decade of practice. Each dot on a map is an illustrative sample inside a category’s range, never a named product. The agency pitches and the price of a new page in the last figure are our estimates for the same brief, from a decade of agency work, each inside the published ranges cited beside it. A reader may disagree with any of them, and the work is there to check.
Sources · 19
- 1Hostinger Website builder (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 2WordPress.com Pricing (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 3Wix Premium plans (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 4Squarespace Pricing (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 5European Central Bank Euro foreign exchange reference rates (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 6Durable Pricing (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 7Bolt Pricing (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 8v0 Pricing (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 9TechCrunch ChatGPT finally offers $100/month Pro plan (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 10Anthropic What is the Max plan? (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 11Expertsure How much does a website cost UK 2026? Full price guide (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 12Whito How much does a website cost in the UK? Web design prices 2026 (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 13Clutch Web design company pricing guide 2026 (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 14Designjoy Designjoy (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 15alambic.studio Pricing (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 16Fhoke Web design London prices explained (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 17Whito What marketing really costs UK businesses in 2026: 128 published prices analysed (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 18Whito Marketing retainer cost UK 2026 (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
- 19Clutch Top web designers in London (opens in a new tab)Read on 27 Oct 2026
One plan, everything included
Studio
€199€179/month
Billed monthly
Billed yearly · €2,148
A fully designed website
Bespoke, never a template.
Live in two weeks
From kickoff.
Hosting included
With SSL, monitoring, security, updates and SEO.
Unlimited changes
A new page, a content change, whatever you need.
Ask on the go
From a WhatsApp voice note to an email.
A team on call
Marketers, designers, developers, augmented by AI.
Live in two weeks.
Once your content and access are in.
Cancel anytime.
No minimum term.