A standard build is one business and one brand: one website on one domain and one app, for iOS and Android, presenting the same content. It covers what most tour operators, safari lodges, DMCs, travel agencies and tourist boards ask us for, and it stops at trade portals, booking engines and online payments. Below is what sits inside a standard build at Charnette® Labs, what Hosting & Care covers once the site is live, and which costs go to someone else, as set out in our published offer terms.
What “standard” means
Standard is a scope, not a template. The site is designed for your brand from our design system and built for desktop, tablet and phone. What makes it standard is the shape of the business behind it:
- One business and one brand, including its properties or locations.
- One website on one primary domain, in one language.
- One app, for iOS and Android, published on the Apple App Store (iPhone and iPad) and Google Play.
- A redesign counts the same as a new build. Enhancing a website you already have is treated the same way, within the same scope.
We discuss your requirements first and confirm the scope in writing. Pages, listings and features within fair limits for one business are included; anything over and above that is quoted as an extra for the build before any work starts, and you decide whether to go ahead. A group running several businesses under different brands, or a tour operator whose agents log in to see net rates, needs different software, priced as such.
The website
- The page layouts and pages agreed with you, built at launch.
- Content migration from your current site when you are redesigning.
- Listings for your itineraries, tours, rooms or products.
- Enquiry and contact forms.
- A news, blog or offers section.
- Search and answer-engine basics: page titles and descriptions, structured data, a sitemap and indexing setup.
- Cookieless page-view and performance analytics.
- Accessibility built to WCAG 2.2 AA as a target.
- An AI chatbot that answers from your website content and tells visitors they are talking to an AI assistant.
Behind the site sits an admin dashboard: content editing, page and news publishing with our review step, itinerary management, enquiry tracking, a media library, push notification sending, AI writing assistance, a performance overview, a billing view, and a traveller portal where it is switched on. Anything beyond the agreed scope is quoted before we do any work on it.
The app
- One app, for iOS and Android, in your brand, presenting your website content in a layout made for phones and tablets, iPad included.
- Push notifications.
- Over-the-air content updates where Apple and Google allow them, so content changes can reach the app without waiting for a store release.
- App icon, splash screen, store listing text, screenshots and the store privacy declarations.
- Submission to Apple and Google, and handling their review feedback, with up to 3 resubmissions per release.
The app is published under your own Apple Developer Program and Google Play Console accounts, in your business’s name; we guide you through enrolment and do the setup. A standard build does not include app log-ins, offline itineraries, maps with live location, bookings or in-app purchases. More on how we build travel apps.
Where standard stops
These are quoted separately, as a scoped build or as a change request on top of a standard one. Each is real engineering with its own price.
- Trade portals, and agent or partner extranets with pricing or rate management.
- Reservation system, booking engine, channel manager or property management system integrations.
- Online payments, e-commerce and checkout.
- Group platforms spanning several businesses or brands.
- Custom platforms, bespoke software, or integrations with systems not agreed at the start.
- Copywriting beyond what is agreed at the start, translation, photography, video production, brand identity and logo design.
- Marketing email platforms and campaign sending, paid advertising, social media management and SEO campaigns.
Revisions and approvals
Two rounds of revisions on the design direction, two on the page designs, and one round of corrections before launch. Approval from your nominated contact closes each stage. Changes to an approved design are change requests: we say in writing whether one is chargeable and quote it, and nothing chargeable is done without your written approval.
What Hosting & Care covers each month
Hosting & Care starts from £99 + VAT a month, and under the offer terms it is £99 + VAT where applicable. It is two things.
Hosting
- Hosting on a global edge network, with SSL certificates renewed automatically.
- A managed database and media storage, with automatic backups run by our hosting and database providers on their retention cycles.
- Security monitoring, and patching of the software your site depends on.
- DNS management and email authentication records for your domain.
- Uptime monitoring with automatic alerts to us, and a named seat on the hosting platform for you.
Care
- 1 hour a month of changes made by us: text, images, new pages from existing templates, itinerary updates. Unused time does not roll over; time beyond the hour is £75 an hour + VAT where applicable, in 15-minute blocks, agreed with you before the work starts.
- Fixing defects in what we built.
- Keeping the website working in current major browsers, and the app working on current iOS and Android versions and store requirements.
- A monthly performance summary, and direct email access to the team who built your site.
Not part of Care
New features, new page templates, redesigns and new integrations (quoted as change requests); care time beyond the hour; work caused by changes made outside our review process; recovery from misuse, or from security incidents caused by credentials you control.
The usage limits
The features that cost money each time they run are included up to a monthly limit. We email you when a feature reaches 80% of its limit. At the limit, the feature pauses until the next month (the chatbot hands visitors to your enquiry form) unless you have opted in, in writing, to the add-on price.
| Feature | Included | Add-on, by opt-in |
|---|---|---|
| AI chatbot | 400 visitor messages a month (about 50 planning conversations) | £15 a month per additional 500 messages |
| AI writing assistance | 150 assists a month | £10 a month per additional 150 |
| Push notifications | 8 broadcast campaigns a month | Quoted |
| Transactional email | Up to 500 a month | Reviewed with you |
| Website data transfer | 50 GB a month | Discussed with you |
| Media storage | 10 GB | £5 a month per additional 25 GB |
| Database | Dedicated, up to 1 GB | £10 a month for larger compute |
| Admin dashboard users | 5 named users | £5 a month per additional user |
| App over-the-air updates | Up to 1,000 app users a month | Discussed with you |
| Native app store releases | 4 a year | £75 per additional release |
Add-on prices are + VAT where applicable. Marketing email to lists is not included. Under the offer terms, the monthly fee and these limits are held for 24 months from launch.
Costs you pay to someone else
- Apple Developer Program: currently US$99 a year, paid by you to Apple.
- Google Play Console: currently a one-off US$25, paid by you to Google.
- Domain registration and renewal, with your own registrar. Your domain stays in your account.
- Any commission Apple or Google take on in-app sales.
- Stock image or font licences beyond those we include.
These apply whoever builds your app.
Can a tour operator, safari lodge, hotel or travel agency get a free website?
Not one that includes an app and care. Website builders offer free plans; those usually run on the builder’s own web address or carry its branding, you do the building yourself, and native iOS and Android apps are not part of them.
What Charnette® Labs offers until 31 December 2026, or until the first 25 clients have signed, whichever comes first, is no build fee for one website and one app, for iOS and Android. It isn’t free: 12 months’ Hosting & Care is paid upfront, £1,188 + VAT where applicable (£99 a month). It is for new business clients, the work has to fit the standard build above, and a named case study and a testimonial after launch are conditions of it. Usage limits apply, there is no exit fee, and the website and app are yours once the first year is paid and the site has launched. See the No Build Fee Offer 2026.
Can a tour company get a free app?
Apps carry costs a website does not: Apple’s developer membership (currently US$99 a year), Google Play’s registration (currently US$25, once) and store review for each release. Under the No Build Fee Offer 2026 there is no build fee for one app, for iOS and Android, built with a standard website, but the app is not free: the 12 months’ Hosting & Care paid upfront, £1,188 + VAT where applicable, applies, and the developer fees are paid by you to Apple and Google. If you are weighing one against the other, we wrote about whether a travel business needs a website, an app or both.
How to find out whether your build is standard
Tell us what you need. After a conversation we confirm in writing whether it fits the standard build, or quote it as a scoped build if it does not. For budgets above the standard, how much a travel-trade website costs sets out what moves the number.
Common questions
What is included in a standard website and app build?
One business and one brand: a website on one primary domain, and one app, for iOS and Android, published on the Apple App Store (iPhone and iPad) and Google Play. We discuss your requirements and confirm the scope in writing; the website includes the pages, listings and enquiry forms your business needs within fair limits, content migration if you are redesigning, a news section, an admin dashboard and an AI chatbot. Anything over and above fair page and feature limits is quoted as an extra for the build before work starts. The app presents your website content with push notifications. Trade portals, booking engine integrations and online payments are quoted separately.
What does Hosting & Care include?
Hosting on a global edge network with SSL, a managed database and media storage with provider backups, security monitoring and patching, DNS and email authentication records, and uptime monitoring. Care covers 1 hour a month of changes made by us, defect fixes, keeping the site and app working on current browsers and iOS and Android versions, a monthly performance summary and direct email access to the team who built the site. Usage-based features such as the AI chatbot and push notifications are included up to monthly limits. Hosting & Care starts from £99 + VAT a month.
Is a website with no build fee free?
No. Under the Charnette® Labs No Build Fee Offer 2026 there is no build fee for a standard build (one website and one app, for iOS and Android) until 31 December 2026, or until the first 25 clients have signed, whichever comes first, but it isn’t free: 12 months’ Hosting & Care is paid upfront, £1,188 + VAT where applicable (£99 a month). Apple and Google developer fees and domain fees are paid separately. The offer is for new business clients whose work fits a standard build, and a named case study and a testimonial after launch are conditions of it.
