What SEO Costs in the UK in 2026: Published Prices From 20 Consultants and Agencies
Published: 2 November 2026 | Last updated: 3 November 2026 | 10 min read
Ask an SEO agency what SEO costs, and you'll get a range.
"Anywhere from £500 to £20,000 a month, depending on your goals."
It's not wrong. It's just not much use when you're trying to set a budget.
However, there's a simpler way to find out what UK SEO actually costs. Look at the prices providers are willing to publish.
So that's what I did. I checked the websites of more than 40 UK SEO consultants and agencies on 2 and 3 November 2026 and recorded every starting price I could find.
Only 20 published one.
Full disclosure: I'm an SEO consultant, and my own prices are in the table. They're held to the same rules as everyone else's.
In this guide, I'll show you all 20 published prices, what the middle of the market looks like for freelancers and agencies, what each level of spend actually buys, and why a published price is one of the best trust signals you can ask for.
Short on time? Here are the key takeaways
- The typical starting retainer is just over £1,700 a month: the median entry price across the 18 providers that publish a monthly price is £1,734.
- Agencies start higher than freelancers: the median agency entry price is £2,250 a month, against £1,000 for freelancers and consultants.
- Day rates run from £250 to £400: four of the 20 publish a day rate, and all four are independents.
- Most providers don't publish prices at all: fewer than half of the sites I checked had a starting price, including several of the consultants who rank highest in Google.
- The cheapest plans are packages: every agency plan under £750 a month is a fixed bundle of hours or outputs, so check exactly what's in it.
How I collected the prices
I kept the rules simple, so you can check them yourself.
- Published on their own site: a price on the provider's own website, not a quote, a directory listing or a third-party estimate.
- The lowest starting point: where a provider offers several tiers, I've recorded the cheapest, and noted the others.
- As written: where a site says "+ VAT" or "ex VAT", I've kept it. Where it doesn't say, I haven't guessed.
- SEO prices only: I left out multi-channel marketing packages, and price guides that don't state the author's own price.
- Checked recently: every price was checked on 2 or 3 November 2026. Prices change, so check the link before you rely on one.
Nobody paid to be included, and nobody was left out for any reason other than not publishing a price.
UK SEO prices: all 20 published prices
| Provider | Type | Based | Published starting price | Other published tiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudlow | Agency | UK | £246 a month ex VAT | £476 (SEO and AEO) and £880 a month |
| Freelance SEO Consultant UK | Freelancer | Hampshire | £250 a month | £250 a day |
| Mr Noble | Freelancer | Bournemouth | £250 a day | Quoted per project |
| Daniel Foley Carter | Consultant | London | £350 a day | Shopify SEO campaigns £1,000 to £3,000 a month |
| GWContent | Consultant | Leeds | £400 a day | Audits from £1,200; retainers from £2,400 a month |
| Ignite SEO | Consultant | London | £450 SEO audit | No other prices found |
| Breakline | Agency | Guildford | £599 a month | £999 and £1,499 a month |
| Freelance SEO London | Freelancer | London | £750 a month | £1,250 and £1,750 a month |
| Search Hog | Consultant | Cornwall | £990 a month + VAT | Shopify SEO package |
| Yaser | Consultant | London | £1,000 a month | £900 a month if billed annually; tiers to £5,000 |
| Alkane Marketing | Consultant | UK | £1,350 a month | SaaS retainers up to £2,700 a month |
| The SEO Works | Agency | Sheffield | £1,500 a month | Bands up to £6,000+ a month |
| Whitehat SEO | Agency | London | £1,967 a month ex VAT | SEO and content from £2,967; AEO from £1,967; 30-day rolling contracts |
| Stack Digital | Agency | North East England | £2,000 a month | Three- to six-month agreements |
| Reboot Online | Agency | London | £2,500 a month | GEO (AI search) work |
| Luca Tagliaferro | Consultant | London | £3,000 a month | Price depends on scope |
| Blink | Agency | Norwich | £3,000 a month | Up to £5,000 a month in the first phase; one-off diagnostic £1,500 to £2,000 |
| Imaginaire | Agency | Nottingham | £3,000 a month | No other prices found |
| Gripped | Agency | London | £3,500 a month | £7,500 and £15,000 a month; most clients £8,000 to £12,000 |
| Common Ground | Agency | Oxford | £3,500 a month | £5,000 and £7,500 a month |
Daniel Foley Carter's day rate and monthly range are for Shopify SEO, Search Hog's, Blink's and Imaginaire's prices are for Shopify SEO, Alkane Marketing's are for SaaS SEO, and Reboot Online's are for GEO. For the medians below, I've used each provider's lowest published monthly price.
What the numbers say
The middle of the market is just over £1,700 a month
Eighteen of the 20 publish a monthly price.
Put their entry prices in order, and the middle of the list sits at £1,734 a month, halfway between £1,500 (The SEO Works) and £1,967 (Whitehat SEO).
That's at the low end of what most agency pricing guides suggest. Whitehat SEO's 2026 guide, for example, puts most UK B2B SMEs at £1,500 to £5,000 a month, and Clutch's verified data for UK Shopify SEO firms puts retainers at £1,500 to £7,500.
The difference? Those are what people typically spend. These are the prices providers are willing to put their name to as a starting point.
Agencies start at more than twice the price of freelancers
Split by type, the median entry price is £2,250 a month for the 10 agencies and £1,000 a month for the eight freelancers and consultants with a monthly price.
However, the agency figure hides two very different groups.
- Packaged agencies: Sudlow (£246) and Breakline (£599) sell fixed monthly bundles. Breakline's entry plan, for example, includes one blog post and two links or brand mentions a month.
- Strategy agencies: The SEO Works (£1,500), Whitehat SEO (£1,967), Stack Digital (£2,000), Reboot Online (£2,500), Blink and Imaginaire (both £3,000), and Gripped and Common Ground (both £3,500) price for a team and a strategy.
Day rates run from £250 to £400
Four providers publish a day rate, and all four are independents: Freelance SEO Consultant UK and Mr Noble at £250, Daniel Foley Carter at £350, and me at £400.
For comparison, Clutch's hourly benchmark for UK Shopify SEO firms is £75 to £150 an hour, which works out at £600 to £1,200 for an eight-hour day.
Audit prices are the rarest of all
Only three providers publish an audit price: Ignite SEO at £450, Blink with a one-off diagnostic from £1,500 to £2,000, and me at £1,200 for an AI visibility audit or £1,600 for a technical SEO audit.
Clutch puts one-off technical and content audits at £1,000 to £5,000 for UK Shopify SEO firms.
What each level of spend actually buys
Here's how I'd read those prices.
- Under £750 a month: a fixed package of hours or outputs. That's enough to keep a small site ticking over, not to fix a structural problem.
- £750 to £1,500 a month: a freelancer's retainer, which at the day rates above is roughly two to six days of work a month.
- £1,500 to £3,500 a month: a senior consultant or a specialist agency, with strategy and execution together. My own retainer is £2,400 for six days a month.
- £3,500 a month and up: an agency team, often running SEO alongside paid media or digital PR. Gripped says most of its clients spend £8,000 to £12,000 a month.
For a deeper breakdown of what each budget level should include, read my guide to SEO pricing in the UK.
Why a published price is a trust signal
Several of the consultants who rank highest in Google for "seo consultant uk" and "freelance seo consultant" don't publish a price that I could find, including Tom Crewe, James Taylor, Rob May, SEO Steph, I Do SEO and Roanna Capes.
That doesn't make them expensive, or worse at the job.
However, a published price tells you three things before you book a call.
- They're confident in it: a provider that publishes a price has decided what its time is worth and expects you to check.
- You can compare like for like: a price with a defined number of days, hours or outputs is something you can hold up against another.
- Less chance of a bait-and-switch: a starting price on the website is harder to quietly raise after a long sales process.
If a provider you like doesn't publish prices, ask for the starting price and what's included in writing, before the first proper call.
Red flags in SEO pricing
- Guaranteed rankings for a monthly fee: nobody controls Google. A guarantee usually means the "results" will be rankings for searches nobody makes.
- Link packages sold by volume: "50 links a month" is a quantity, not a strategy, and the wrong links can do lasting damage.
- Long lock-ins with no exit: SEO takes months, but a 12-month contract with no break clause protects the agency, not you.
- No hours, days or outputs: if the proposal doesn't say what you get for the fee, you can't tell whether you're getting it.
Final Thoughts
UK SEO starts lower than most agency guides suggest, if you look at what providers publish rather than what they quote.
The middle of the market starts at about £1,700 a month. Day rates run from £250 to £400. And the cheapest plans are packages, so read what's in them.
The providers worth shortlisting aren't the ones with the vaguest pricing page. They're the ones who tell you what it costs and what you get.
My prices are published on every service page: £400 a day, audits from £1,200 and retainers from £2,400 a month. If you'd like to know what your site actually needs before you spend anything, start with a free SEO audit or get in touch.
Author Bio
Graeme Whiles is an independent SEO and AEO consultant at GWContent. He has worked with enterprise and SaaS brands, including Originality.ai, Connecteam, 6sense, Practice Better, and Peppr, growing organic traffic and AI search visibility across some of the most competitive categories in B2B. He also built Three Putt Golf Clothing from a blank domain as a live proof of concept for his methodology.
UK SEO Prices Frequently Asked Questions
How much does SEO cost per month in the UK?
Among 18 UK consultants and agencies that publish a monthly starting price, the median is £1,734 a month, with entry prices from £246 to £3,500 (checked 2 and 3 November 2026). Agencies start higher, at a median of £2,250 a month, than freelancers and consultants, at £1,000.
What is a typical SEO day rate in the UK?
The four UK independents in this survey that publish a day rate charge between £250 and £400 a day. Clutch's hourly benchmark for UK Shopify SEO firms, £75 to £150 an hour, works out at £600 to £1,200 for an eight-hour day.
How much does an SEO audit cost in the UK?
Few providers publish audit prices. In this survey, Ignite SEO lists an SEO audit at £450, Blink a one-off diagnostic from £1,500 to £2,000, and GWContent lists an AI visibility audit from £1,200 and a technical SEO audit from £1,600. Clutch puts one-off audits for UK Shopify SEO firms at £1,000 to £5,000.
Is cheap SEO worth it?
It can be, if you know exactly what's included. The cheapest UK plans in this survey, from £246 to £599 a month, are fixed packages of hours or outputs. They suit small sites that need steady upkeep, not businesses with a structural problem such as a failed migration.
