Why We Built an AI Website Tool - When We're a £10K+ Design Agency

We charge between £6K and £12K to build a website. We've been doing this for years, serving clients who need strategic design, bespoke branding, and websites that drive serious business results.

So why on earth would we build Avago , an AI website builder that costs £35 a month?

It's a fair question. On the surface, it looks like we've built our own competition. But the reality is far more interesting—and it comes down to a problem we kept seeing that nobody else was solving properly.

Every month, we'd get enquiries from businesses that genuinely needed a website but weren't ready for what we offer. Sometimes it was budget—they simply couldn't afford £8K upfront. Sometimes it was timing—they needed something live next week, not in three months. Sometimes it was scale—their business was too early-stage to justify a major investment.

We'd turn these enquiries away, obviously. We're not going to compromise on the quality of work we deliver by trying to cram a £10K project into a £2K budget. That helps nobody.

But here's what bothered us: these businesses would then go and cobble together something awful using DIY builders they didn't understand, or they'd hire someone on Fiverr who'd deliver a barely-functional mess, or worst of all, they'd just... not have a website. In 2025. Losing customers every day because they didn't have a basic online presence.

We watched good businesses with real potential shoot themselves in the foot because the only options available were "spend thousands with an agency" or "figure it out yourself with tools that weren't built for you."

There had to be a better answer.

After building hundreds of websites, you start to see patterns. Not every project needs bespoke strategy and custom design. Sometimes a business just needs to look professional, capture leads, and get on with actually running their business.

The yoga instructor who teaches brilliant classes but loses bookings because she doesn't have a website. The consultant who's exceptional at what he does but looks amateur online. The small retailer who's being overtaken by competitors simply because they got online first.

These businesses don't need a brand strategy workshop. They don't need custom illustrations and weeks of strategic copywriting. They need to be online, look credible, and move on with their lives.

But the tools that existed for them were terrible. Template builders that looked dated and required technical knowledge they didn't have. DIY platforms with so many options they became paralysing. "Easy" website builders that were anything but.

Meanwhile, AI was getting genuinely good at understanding intent and generating professional-looking output. We'd been experimenting with AI in our own workflow—using it for wireframes, initial concepts, content drafts—and we realised something important.

AI could solve the "I just need something professional quickly" problem better than any solution that currently existed. Not because AI is better than human designers—it's not. But because for a specific use case, AI's strengths (speed, low cost, zero barrier to entry) perfectly matched what a huge segment of businesses actually needed.

We were sitting in a strategy meeting, discussing whether we should refer these "too small" enquiries to other providers or just keep politely declining them. Someone said, "Why don't we just build something ourselves?"

At first it seemed ridiculous. We're a design agency. We pride ourselves on thoughtful, strategic, human-centred work. Building an AI tool seemed like admitting that our work could be automated.

But then we realised: it's not about replacing what we do. It's about giving businesses the right tool for their specific situation. A plumber needs both a wrench and a hammer—one doesn't replace the other, they solve different problems.

More importantly, we could build something better than what existed because we actually understood the problem from both angles. We knew what businesses needed because we'd been serving them for years. And we knew where AI would genuinely help versus where it would fall short.

Most AI website builders are built by tech companies who've never designed a website for a real client. They optimise for "wow factor" demos but don't understand actual business needs. Or they're built by DIY platforms bolting AI onto existing bloated products.

We could build something different. Something that understood the job to be done, used AI where it made sense, and didn't pretend it could do things it couldn't.

We thought building Avago would be straightforward. We know websites. We understand business needs. We'd just build an AI wrapper around best practices and ship it.

We were naive.

The technical challenges were significant—training AI to understand vague business descriptions and turn them into sensible website structures. Making it work in under 60 seconds while generating genuinely professional output. Creating an editing experience that was intuitive for people who'd never built a website.

But the bigger challenge was philosophical: deciding what to automate and what to leave for humans.

We made conscious decisions about limitations. Avago's AI can generate solid, professional layouts quickly. It can't create unique brand identities—that requires human strategic thinking. It can produce decent copy that communicates clearly. It can't craft positioning that differentiates you in a crowded market—that requires understanding your specific competitive landscape.

These weren't limitations we failed to solve. They were intentional boundaries based on what AI genuinely does well versus what requires human insight and creativity.

The result was something that felt different from other AI builders we'd seen. Avago doesn't try to be everything. It solves a specific problem really well: getting a business from "I need a website" to "I have a professional-looking website that works" in under an hour, for a price that makes sense.

No. And this is the important bit.

The clients who come to WebHero for £10K website projects aren't choosing between us and a £35/month AI builder. They're choosing between strategic design agencies, weighing up investment level and approach. Budget isn't the constraint—return on investment is.

These are businesses where the website is a critical strategic asset. Where brand differentiation matters. Where custom functionality is needed. Where six weeks of thoughtful design process produces better outcomes than six minutes of AI generation.

The clients who use Avago were never going to hire us anyway. They're choosing between DIY builders they don't understand, Fiverr developers who'll disappear, or just not having a website. For them, Avago is a revelation—professional output, instant results, no technical barriers, minimal cost.

These aren't overlapping markets. They're different problems requiring different solutions.

And here's what we didn't expect: Avago has actually generated agency work. Businesses start with Avago, get online quickly, validate their model, grow, and then come to us when they're ready for strategic design and proper branding. We've become their first call because we helped them when they were small.

The Avago Extra service creates a bridge. Businesses can start with AI, add human expertise exactly where they need it—better copywriting, custom design tweaks, strategic input—without committing to a full agency project. It's the hybrid model we wish had existed before we built it.

We launched Avago thinking it would appeal to solo entrepreneurs and tiny startups. That's partly true—loads of solopreneurs use it. But we've been surprised by how many established businesses use it too.

The restaurant that needs a simple site but can't justify agency costs. The consultant who's been putting off redoing their website for two years. The retailer who needs something up while they save for a proper rebrand. Businesses that aren't "too small"—they just have different priorities right now.

We also thought people would use it as a stopgap and immediately want to upgrade. Some do. But many don't—they're perfectly happy with what Avago provides because it solves their actual need. They don't need more. That was a useful reminder that more sophisticated isn't always better.

What we got right was focusing on speed and simplicity. The 60-second build time isn't marketing—it's a genuine design decision. We could have added more customisation options, more features, more complexity. But that would have defeated the point. The whole premise is "describe it, build it, done."

We also got the pricing model right: free to build, only pay when you publish. This removes all risk and decision anxiety. Try it, see if it works, commit only if you're happy. That felt right to us as service providers who've always valued transparency.

Building Avago has made us better at our agency work, which wasn't what we expected.

It forced us to articulate exactly what makes bespoke design valuable. When you build a tool that automates the basics, you have to be crystal clear about what can't be automated. That clarity helps when we're talking to potential clients about why they should invest in strategic design.

It's also made us faster. Building Avago meant breaking down our design process into component parts, understanding what could be systematised and what required human judgment. That's improved our own workflow—we're better at identifying where to invest time versus where we can move quickly.

And it's reminded us why we became designers in the first place. Not because we love pixel-pushing (though we do). Because we love solving problems for businesses. Sometimes that solution is a £10K brand strategy and custom website. Sometimes it's a £35/month AI builder that gets them online instantly. Both are valid. Both help businesses.

Other agencies think we're mad. "You're cannibalising your own business!" they say. But the numbers don't support that—our agency work hasn't decreased, and we've got a new revenue stream that serves a market we were never serving anyway.

AI purists think we're not ambitious enough. "Why put limitations on the AI? Let it do everything!" Because that's not helpful. Businesses don't need tools that claim to do everything—they need tools that do specific things really well.

But the response from businesses has been overwhelmingly positive. The relief in someone's voice when they realise they can have a professional website tomorrow without learning to code or spending thousands—that's been the real validation.

We've had businesses tell us Avago gave them confidence to start. They'd been putting off launching because "I need a proper website first" felt like an insurmountable barrier. Avago removed that barrier. They got online, started trading, and now they're viable businesses. That's genuinely rewarding.

We're continuing to develop both sides. WebHero keeps doing what we do best—strategic design for businesses where that's the right investment. Avago keeps getting better at serving businesses that need speed, simplicity, and professional results without the complexity.

The interesting development is the middle ground. Avago Extra is evolving into something more than "add-on services." It's becoming a proper hybrid model where you start with AI, iterate quickly, and bring in human expertise precisely where it adds value.

We're seeing businesses take this path: launch on Avago, test their market, identify what's working, then invest strategically in areas that matter—better copywriting for their key landing page, custom design for their checkout flow, professional photography for their hero section. Smart, targeted investment rather than all-or-nothing agency projects.

This feels like the future of web design for a lot of businesses. Not "AI vs humans" but "AI for speed and foundation, humans for strategy and differentiation." The tools handle the basics, professionals handle the nuance.

So why did we build an AI website tool when we're a £10K+ design agency?

Because we saw businesses struggling with a problem we could solve. Because we believed there was a better answer than what existed. Because we could build something informed by actual design experience rather than tech hype. And because helping more businesses succeed—whether they hire us or use our tool—is ultimately what this is about.

We're not trying to replace designers or agencies. We're trying to give businesses the right tool for their specific situation. Sometimes that's a comprehensive agency project with strategic thinking and bespoke design. Sometimes that's an AI builder that gets them online in an hour.

The fact that we now offer both doesn't make us confused about our identity. It makes us more useful. We can genuinely help any business that needs a website, regardless of their budget, timeline, or stage of growth.

That feels like the right thing to have built. Not because it's revolutionary or because we're disrupting anything. But because it solves a real problem for real businesses, and it does so better than the alternatives that existed before.

If you're curious what we built, try Avago yourself. It's free to build—you've got nothing to lose and potentially a finished website to gain. And if it turns out you need something more strategic and bespoke, well, you know where to find us.