UK small businesses keep AI on a tight budget, Ionos survey finds
Cost, time and trust are holding back spending among UK firms with up to 250 staff. Those that will pay want tools that save hours, at prices below what European peers accept
- A quarter of UK SMBs would only use free AI tools
- Just under a quarter (24%) would pay up to £43 for AI that saves at least five hours a week
- Only 12% would pay £44–87 a month, the band Ionos calls the sweet spot in other European markets
- Almost two-thirds (63%) believe they could stay competitive for two more years without AI
For a small firm, the case for paying rests on time that can be counted. Check where data is held and who can reach it first. Then pick one repetitive process, price the hours it takes and trial a tool against it before committing to a subscription. Suppliers chasing this market may respond with cheaper UK tiers, so there is little penalty in negotiating hard or waiting for one.
“Companies do not want experiments; they want reliable results on an infrastructure they can trust.”Achim Weiss, chief executive, Ionos
Some 29% of UK small and medium-sized businesses plan to put no budget into AI projects in 2026, according to research commissioned by Ionos, a hosting and cloud company that sells to SMBs, published on 5 May.
YouGov surveyed 1,001 decision-makers at UK organizations with up to 250 employees between January and March 2026, part of a survey of about 4,000 across five European countries. Online visibility – websites, social media and digital marketing – was the top investment priority, named by 36%. Planned AI investment rose from 27% to 31% year on year, overtaking IT security, which slipped from 33% to 30%.
The UK trails its neighbors: between 35% and 36% of SMBs in France, Germany and Spain plan to invest in AI this year. Cost is the biggest barrier to digitalization, cited by 46%, ahead of lack of time at 43%. On AI specifically, 51% worry about data theft or third-party access and 49% are unsure how reliable the technology is.
Sources
- IONOS, “Nearly a third of UK SMBs set no AI budget in 2026”, press release, 5 May 2026. https://www.ionos.co.uk/newsroom/news/nearly-a-third-of-uk-smbs-set-no-ai-budget-in-2026/
