directbook.uk builds one-off booking websites for UK B&B owners. Each site costs £1,999 as a single one-time payment, with no platform commission on your bookings. It plugs into the freetobook or eviivo account you already use, and we also offer an AI phone receptionist add-on. Every build includes 2 revisions and a 3-month warranty.
Most B&B owners in the UK rely on online travel agencies to be found. Those channels take a cut of every booking, typically around 15 percent, and they control how your rooms are presented. In Q3 2026, direct bookings still generated 68% of UK short-let revenue in the PMS sample despite a falling share of check-ins, which is why owning the booking matters. A direct booking website gives you a home on the web where guests book with you, not through a middleman. Your rooms, your breakfast, your prices, your reviews, presented the way you want them.
A good B&B website does more than look pleasant. It answers the questions a guest asks before booking: where the rooms are, what breakfast is included, how to get there, and what the cancellation terms are. It makes booking easy on a phone, because most browsing happens on mobile. And it keeps working for you for years without a monthly subscription.
Before you commit, we can build a concept demo of your actual B&B for £9.90, delivered within 24 hours. You see your own rooms and breakfast on a real page, and you can judge the quality before paying for the full build. The £9.90 is credited toward your £1,999 build if you go ahead. See examples of our concept demos to get a feel for the work.
B&B owners miss calls when they are cooking breakfast or cleaning rooms. Our AI voice add-on answers your phone 24 hours a day, takes booking enquiries and messages, and hands them to you. It costs £149 per month or £1,499 per year, with 100 minutes included each month. It is optional, and your website works fully without it.
Short-let regulation across the UK is tightening, and every new rule adds a cost that comes out of the same revenue the platforms already tax:
Registration fees, safety checks and paperwork are fixed costs: you pay them whether the guest booked through Booking.com or your own site. The 15% commission is the variable cost, and it is the one you can cut. That is the maths behind every direct booking website we build. See exactly what the platforms take on our Booking.com commission guide and Airbnb host fees guide.
From 29 October 2026, Vrbo's host terms include a 30-day rule: if a guest contacted you through Vrbo and then books directly on your own website within 30 days, Vrbo can still charge its 12% commission, and you are the one who must report the booking.
A website alone does not solve this. What solves it is a direct channel guests find first, before any platform inbox: your own domain ranking on your property name, your Google Business profile pointing at your site, repeat guests bookmarking you. That is what we build the site to do.
| directbook.uk | Typical agency | DIY builder | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | £1,999 one-time | £3,000–£8,000 | £20–£50/month |
| Commission on bookings | 0% | 0% | Often 1–3% via booking add-ons |
| Your booking engine | freetobook / eviivo embedded | Varies | Their own system |
| Built for B&Bs | Yes, only B&Bs | Rarely | No |
| You own it outright | Yes | Usually | No, stop paying and it goes |
Indicative ranges for the UK market, October 2026. Agency prices vary widely by scope.
A hand-built direct booking website from directbook.uk costs £1,999 as a one-time payment, with no commission on bookings. See the comparison table above for how that stacks up against agencies and DIY builders.
Compliance costs are fixed: registration fees and paperwork apply whether the guest came through a platform or your own site. Cutting the variable 15% OTA commission is the lever you control, and a direct booking website is how you pull it.
From 29 October 2026, if a guest contacted you through Vrbo and books on your own website within 30 days, Vrbo can still charge commission. The defence is a direct channel guests find first.
No. The £1,999 is a one-time payment for the build. We take zero percent commission on your bookings. Your existing booking engine (freetobook, eviivo) may have its own fees, and card payments have standard card processing fees, but we add nothing on top.
No. We build around the system you already use. If you take bookings through freetobook or eviivo, we embed your existing booking flow into your new website.
You do. It is your site, on your domain, with no ongoing payments to us unless you choose the optional AI phone add-on or the optional care plan.
Delivered within 24 hours. Credited toward the full £1,999 build if you go ahead.
Try a £9.90 demoQuestions? Call +44 7727 811227 (24/7 AI) · WhatsApp (human) · hello@directbook.uk
Sources: agency pricing ranges from The Sequence and Daedalus Design UK website cost guides; OTA commission data from our Booking.com commission guide and Airbnb fees guide; direct booking revenue share from FTN News Q3 2026 UK short-let data.