How we compare AI website builders
We list 14 AI website builders available to a UK business. Every figure comes from the vendor's own pricing page. Where a vendor bills in US dollars we convert at a recorded rate and keep the original figure behind it. Where a headline rate only exists on a long commitment we record the month to month price instead.
The calculator asks how many websites you need, how many people will edit them, whether you want your own domain, and whether you sell online. For each builder it picks the cheapest published plan that covers those inputs. A free plan that cannot take a custom domain drops out the moment you tick the domain box. Commission does not change the order.
Cookie consent and PECR on an AI website builder site
Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, a UK site needs consent before it sets non-essential cookies, and analytics cookies count. "By continuing you agree" is not consent, a pre-ticked box is not consent, and a banner whose only button is Accept is not consent, because refusing has to be as easy as agreeing. Strictly necessary cookies, the ones that make a basket or a login work, are the exception.
Our data does not record consent tooling, so ask the vendor or test on a trial site: does the built-in banner hold analytics back until someone clicks Accept, or only cover the script up? Is Reject on the first screen? If you have to bolt on a consent platform, what does it cost, and can you put a script in the page head on your plan?
The closest thing we hold is whether the build can leave the platform:
| Provider | Export your site |
|---|---|
| 10Web | Yes, it is WordPress |
| Base44 | Yes, two-way GitHub sync (Builder+) |
| Bolt.new | Yes, GitHub |
| Durable | No |
| Emergent | Yes, GitHub |
| Framer | No, but supports custom code |
| Hostinger | No |
| Lovable | Yes, GitHub sync |
| Squarespace | No |
| v0 | Yes |
| Webflow | Yes, code export |
| Wegic | Yes, code download (Starter and above, uses credits) |
| Wix | No |
| WordPress.com | Yes, it is WordPress |
That row does not tell you whether you can paste a script tag into the head, which is a separate plan-level permission. WordPress.com's integrations row reads Plugins on any paid plan, WooCommerce, Jetpack, so if your consent tool is a plugin, you are buying a plan. None of this is legal advice; the ICO's guidance for small businesses is short.
Enquiry forms, UK GDPR and where an AI website builder keeps the data
The moment a site has an enquiry form or a newsletter box, you are processing personal data and UK GDPR applies: a lawful basis, a privacy notice, a retention period, and an idea of where the data sits. When somebody fills in your form, where does the record go, and can you get it back out?
| Provider | Backend & database |
|---|---|
| 10Web | Yes, full WordPress (MySQL) |
| Base44 | Yes, full-stack (database + auth + payments) |
| Bolt.new | Yes, full-stack (database + auth) |
| Durable | No app backend (site plus basic CRM and invoicing) |
| Emergent | Yes, full-stack (hosting + auth) |
| Framer | No, CMS collections (no app backend) |
| Hostinger | No app backend (front-end site) |
| Lovable | Full-stack: Supabase (Postgres) + auth |
| Squarespace | No, CMS and member areas (no app backend) |
| v0 | Yes, full-stack via Vercel |
| Webflow | No, CMS and memberships (Webflow Cloud hosts custom apps separately) |
| Wegic | No app backend (form and lead storage only) |
| Wix | Yes, via Velo (database, auth, backend code) |
| WordPress.com | Yes, WordPress database + auth (Business plan) |
Where the row says there is no app backend, submissions land in an inbox or a third-party form service, and that service becomes a processor you have to name in your privacy notice. Durable puts the enquiry straight into its own tools: its integrations row reads Built-in CRM and invoicing, limited third-party. That means your customer list lives inside the website subscription, so ask for an export before you rely on it.
Marketing email is a separate rule. PECR governs unsolicited marketing to individuals, and a newsletter box that quietly subscribes anyone who submits a contact form is how a small site gets this wrong. Collect the opt-in as its own tick and put an unsubscribe in every send.
Your .co.uk domain and the AI website builder that registers it
The domain is the one asset in this purchase that is portable, so decide early whether you want the builder to own that relationship.
| Provider | Custom domain |
|---|---|
| 10Web | All plans |
| Base44 | Starter plan and above |
| Bolt.new | Paid plans only |
| Durable | Launch and above |
| Emergent | Paid plans (private hosting) |
| Framer | Basic and above |
| Hostinger | All plans, free for the first year |
| Lovable | Paid plans only |
| Squarespace | All paid plans |
| v0 | Via Vercel |
| Webflow | Basic plan and above |
| Wegic | Premium plan only |
| Wix | Paid plans only (Light and above) |
| WordPress.com | Paid plans, free for a year on annual and longer terms |
The rows to read twice are the free-domain ones. A domain included for the first year is a real saving, and it also makes the builder your registrar. Ask what year two renews at, confirm you are the named registrant, and confirm you can get the transfer code on request. A .co.uk is cheap to register independently, and keeping it at your own registrar removes the leverage.
Registering the domain does not give you mailboxes on it. Moving from a free webmail address to a .co.uk one is a separate subscription and a separate migration, so do it in the same week as the site.
Paying in dollars for an AI website builder
Part of this table bills in pounds and part does not.
| Provider | Local pricing | Contract |
|---|---|---|
| 10Web | No, US dollars only | None on monthly |
| Base44 | No, US dollars only | None |
| Bolt.new | No, US dollars only | None |
| Durable | No, US dollars only | None |
| Emergent | No, US dollars only | None |
| Framer | Yes, genuine GBP rate card | None |
| Hostinger | Yes, genuine GBP on the UK site | None on monthly, up to 48 months to get the advertised rate |
| Lovable | No, US dollars only | None |
| Squarespace | Yes, genuine GBP rate card | None, monthly or annual |
| v0 | No, US dollars only | None |
| Webflow | No, US dollars only | None on monthly |
| Wegic | No, US dollars only | None on monthly |
| Wix | Yes, genuine GBP rate card | Annual, paid in full up front |
| WordPress.com | Yes, genuine GBP rate card | None on monthly, up to 3 years for the advertised rate |
Two effects follow from a dollar rate card. The sterling amount is set by the rate on the day your card is charged, so the cost drifts while the vendor's price sheet never changes. And most UK cards add a non-sterling transaction fee that shows on your bank statement and never on the vendor's invoice.
VAT is the other adjustment. If you are VAT registered, the ex-VAT figure is closer to your real cost, since input VAT on business software is normally reclaimable; below the threshold the inclusive figure is what you pay. Software bought from outside the UK is usually handled under the reverse charge when you are registered. Ask your accountant.
A cheap headline attached to a multi-year commitment is a different product from a rolling month, which is why the table records the month to month price.
Who edits the site after the AI website builder has built it
Generating the site takes an afternoon. Running it takes years.
| Provider | Team members | Support |
|---|---|---|
| 10Web | Not published | 24/7 chat |
| Base44 | Multi-user editing on every plan | Premium support on Elite |
| Bolt.new | Teams plan adds team management, priced per member | Community and email |
| Durable | Owner only on Free, unlimited on Grow | Help centre (Free), priority live chat (Launch) |
| Emergent | Not stated | Priority support on Pro |
| Framer | Owner free, then £15 per editor, hard ceiling of 10 | Email and community |
| Hostinger | Not published | 24/7 chat |
| Lovable | Unlimited on every plan | Community and email |
| Squarespace | 2 (Basic), unlimited from Core | 24/7 email, live chat on business hours |
| v0 | Priced per user; team sharing on paid plans | Community; guaranteed SLAs on Enterprise |
| Webflow | Via Workspace plans | Support portal, priority on higher plans |
| Wegic | Not stated | Email and WhatsApp, replies in 1 to 2 business days |
| Wix | 2 (Light) to 100 (Business Elite), hard caps | 24/7 chat and callback |
| WordPress.com | Unlimited on every plan, including free | Email and live chat on paid plans |
Count everyone who will need access, including the bookkeeper who updates a price list. Community and email support suits a developer building a prototype, and a business whose booking page stopped working on a Friday afternoon far less well.
If you pick a chat-driven builder, later edits made by prompt draw on the same monthly allowance as the original build: Lovable's pricing model reads Base plan plus AI credit consumption and Base44's reads Base plan plus AI credit consumption. Changing a phone number by asking is not free in the way editing a text field is.
If your site is a handful of pages describing what you do, you probably do not need the app-building end of this market. Spend the money on the consent tooling, domain and mailboxes instead.