Almost nobody publishes WebAR prices. We checked five UK AR agencies while researching this piece and not one showed a figure on the page — you get a contact form and a discovery call before anyone will say a number. That is understandable, because scope genuinely varies, but it leaves you unable to budget or to tell whether a quote is reasonable.
So here are our actual rates, the reasoning behind them, and the things that move a project from one end of a range to the other. These are the same numbers published on our WebAR development and augmented reality service pages.
WebAR pricing in the UK, 2026
| Project type | Typical UK cost | Usual timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Single product in 3D / one AR experience | £2,500–£6,000 | 3–5 weeks |
| Virtual try-on (single product) | £2,500–£6,000 | 4–6 weeks |
| Single AR filter / social lens | £2,500–£6,000 | 3–5 weeks |
| AR menu for a restaurant | £2,500–£6,000 | 4–6 weeks |
| Multi-product catalogue, configurator or campaign | £6,000–£20,000+ | 8–12 weeks |
| Event activation (single effect) | £2,500–£6,000 | 4–6 weeks |
| Native AR app (when WebAR genuinely will not do) | Quoted per feature set | 12 weeks+ |
Ranges, not fixed packages. A fixed package either overcharges the simple job or underdelivers on the complex one, and you can usually tell which by whether the agency asked about your 3D assets before quoting.
What actually drives the cost
1. 3D asset creation — nearly always the biggest line
This surprises people. The AR layer is comparatively predictable engineering; modelling your products is where the hours go. A simple hard-surface product with clean geometry might be a day. A piece of furniture with fabric, stitching and accurate material response is several. A photoreal food dish is its own discipline.
Which is why the first question worth asking internally is: do we already have 3D files? Manufacturing CAD, a previous render project, or models from a supplier can often be optimised for real-time use for a fraction of building from scratch. It is the single largest lever you control on the quote.
2. How many experiences, not how many users
WebAR costs scale with the number of distinct experiences you need, not with traffic. Ten thousand people opening one experience costs the same to build as ten. That is a meaningful difference from per-seat software, and it means a successful campaign does not generate a surprise invoice.
3. Interaction depth
Viewing a static model placed in a room is the baseline. Costs rise as you add configuration (change colour, swap components), animation, physics, guided sequences, or anything that has to respond intelligently to the environment.
4. Integration
A standalone experience on its own URL is straightforward. Embedding it into a Shopify or WooCommerce product page so it reads live variant, colour and stock data is more involved — and usually worth it, because that is where it affects revenue.
Why WebAR costs less than a native AR app
A native app has to be built for iOS and Android, submitted for review, maintained against OS updates, and — hardest of all — actually installed by your customer. WebAR runs in the browser from a link or QR code, which removes the store submission, most of the maintenance, and the install step that loses the overwhelming majority of users.
For retail, hospitality, property and events, WebAR is usually the correct answer and costs a fraction of an app. A native build earns its place when you need offline use, deep device features, or a long-term branded platform. We will say which one your project needs rather than quoting the more expensive option by default.
What a fair quote should include
- 3D asset work broken out separately from the AR build, so you can see the real driver.
- Device testing on actual handsets, with a stated fallback for older phones.
- Hosting and delivery — where the experience lives and who maintains it.
- A defined revision round, not open-ended "tweaks".
- Analytics, so you can tell afterwards whether it worked.
If a quote is a single number with no breakdown, ask for the split. An agency that cannot separate modelling from engineering probably has not scoped it properly.
Questions worth asking any AR agency
Can I see something you have built, working, right now?
This is the fastest filter. Showreels are edited; a live experience is not. Ours are on this site — virtual try-on, AR menu, furniture placement, product showcase and property — all running in your browser without an app.
Who builds the 3D models?
If it is outsourced, ask what happens when a model comes back wrong, and who pays for the revision. It is the most common source of overrun.
What happens on an older phone?
There should be a defined fallback — usually a 3D viewer or video — so nobody hits a dead end. "It works on modern phones" is not an answer.
Who drives traffic to it?
The most common way AR projects fail is not technical. The experience launches and nobody sees it. Either the agency handles distribution or you need a plan for who does.
The failure mode nobody quotes for
In our experience the projects that disappoint are rarely the ones that were built badly. They are the ones that went live with no plan for how anyone would find them — no campaign, no QR placement, no product-page integration, no search visibility.
It is worth budgeting for that from the start. We run SEO, paid and social in the same team as the AR, specifically so the experience and the demand for it are planned together — but the principle applies whoever you hire. Ask who is responsible for people actually opening the thing.
Getting a real number for your project
Tell us what the product is, whether 3D assets exist, and where you want the experience to live. That is usually enough for a realistic range on the first call, without a discovery phase you have to pay for.
Get a WebAR quote — or try the live try-on demo first and see the technology working before you speak to anyone.