Scale Start (£45/mo) and Scale Up (£79/mo) run on a 12-month minimum term, then month-to-month — that's the honest answer, not "no lock-in". In exchange for £0 upfront and no VAT, we design, build, host and manage the local SEO on your site for that year. Want no minimum term instead? The Growth System has none.
The honest answer
Scale Start and Scale Up — Scalesites UK's website plans — run on a 12-month minimum term, then continue month-to-month. That's worth being upfront about before you get anywhere near a contact form: this isn't a "no lock-in, cancel anytime" plan, and we're not going to word it like one.
Why not just "no contract"?
Some UK providers do offer trade websites with no minimum term at all — genuinely no-contract, cancel-anytime. It's a real option, and it usually comes with a trade-off: either it's a DIY template you build and manage yourself, or the local SEO and Google Business Profile work that's included in our plans gets sold back to you separately. The full provider-by-provider breakdown is in our website builder comparison.
Scalesites is £0 upfront — no deposit, no build fee, nothing to pay before your site goes live. A managed plan with nothing upfront, and a site that's actually built, hosted and kept actively managed behind it, is what the 12-month minimum term pays for. Without it, the same offer would need an upfront build fee instead — the maths has to work one way or the other.
What the 12 months actually includes
| Scale Start £45/mo | Scale Up £79/mo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | Up to 10 pages | Everything in Scale Start |
| Hosting, SSL, .co.uk domain, business email | Included | Included |
| Google Business Profile management | Included | Included |
| Local SEO | Included | Included |
| Review monitoring | Included | Included, plus automated review requests |
| Reporting | Monthly visibility report | Monthly visibility report + customer email |
| Content | — | 4 blog posts/mo, 4 social posts/mo, weekly GBP posts |
| Local-area pages | — | 5 local-area pages |
| Keyword tracking | — | Included |
| Support | Ongoing support | Priority support |
Scale Start and Scale Up, Scalesites UK's website plans — see the pricing page for current detail.
After month 12
The 12-month minimum runs once. After that, the plan continues month-to-month — you're not automatically re-signed into a second locked year. If you decide to leave once the minimum term is up, that's a straightforward conversation with us directly, not a hidden renewal clause buried in the small print.
If you don't want any minimum term at all
The Growth System — £10/day, roughly £300/mo — genuinely has no minimum term and no lock-in. It's a different product though: a conversion-focused site plus missed-call SMS recovery, instant enquiry response, an AI assistant, automated follow-up and a reputation engine, built for businesses whose bigger problem is missed leads rather than the absence of a website.
The trade-off, stated plainly
It's a 12-month minimum term, then month-to-month — not "no lock-in", because that isn't how this plan works. You see the full price and term before anything is built, and at the end of it you own the site outright — not a licence you keep paying to use.
If you've been burned by a locked-in contract before
Fair concern, and a common one among trades who've paid a marketing agency monthly with little to show for it. The difference worth checking for isn't whether there's a minimum term — plenty of legitimate providers have one — it's what you actually own at the end of it. With Scalesites, that's a website you own outright, not ad spend or a licence that stops working the day you stop paying. If in 12 months it isn't earning its keep, you're free to go without renegotiating anything.
Frequently asked questions
Does Scalesites UK require a contract?
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Yes — Scale Start and Scale Up run on a 12-month minimum term, then continue month-to-month. We say this plainly rather than call it "no lock-in", because that phrase wouldn't be accurate for these two plans. The Growth System is the one Scalesites product with genuinely no minimum term.
Why is there a minimum term if there's nothing to pay upfront?
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Because the two are directly connected. £0 upfront means we design, build, host and manage your site's local SEO before you've paid anything toward it. A 12-month minimum term is what makes that model work — without it, the same offer would need an upfront build fee instead.
What happens after the first 12 months?
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The plan moves to month-to-month. You're not automatically locked into a second year — if you want to leave, you can, and if you want to stay, nothing changes.
Is there a Scalesites plan with no minimum term?
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Yes — the Growth System, £10/day (around £300/mo), genuinely has no minimum term. It's a different product to Scale Start/Scale Up though, built around recovering missed calls and enquiries rather than being the core website.
Do I own the website if I'm on a 12-month plan?
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Yes. There's no licensing arrangement — the site is yours, including after the 12 months ends.
I've had a bad experience with a locked-in marketing contract before — how is this different?
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The usual complaint with locked-in marketing contracts is paying monthly for ad spend or "management" with nothing to show for it if you leave. This is different in one specific way: at the end of the 12 months, you own a website — a real asset, not a subscription to someone else's ad account. That doesn't remove the commitment, but it does mean the money bought something that stays yours.
More insights
- How much does a tradesman's website cost in the UK?UK trade websites run £9–£165/mo+VAT depending on who does the work after launch. What Scalesites charges, what drives the price, and what's included at each level.
- Best website builder for tradesmen (UK)What UK trade website builders actually cost and include in 2026 — checked against each provider's own published pricing, not ranked by who paid for the spot.