The internet is open to anyone with a connection. An intranet is closed, sitting behind a login screen and usually a firewall too.
Both run on the same underlying technology, web browsers, search boxes, and pages built with familiar web tools. The difference is who’s allowed through the door. A council’s public website is on the internet; the staff portal where employees book annual leave is on the intranet.
Extranets sit in between. An extranet is a slice of your intranet opened up to outsiders you trust, such as suppliers or contractors, so they can see specific documents without full staff access.
Why Do Businesses Bother With an Intranet?
Most UK businesses set one up to solve a handful of recurring headaches:
- Staff can’t find the current version of a policy, so they use an outdated one from a shared folder.
- News and announcements get lost in a busy inbox within a day.
- New starters have nowhere obvious to look for IT setup guides, expense forms or the fire evacuation plan.
- Different teams keep their own document copies, which drift out of sync over time.
A working intranet gives every one of those problems a single home. Employees search once and find the current, correct version rather than guessing which file is real.
What Features Does a Good Intranet Actually Need?
Not every business needs every bell and whistle. For most UK small and medium firms, the features that earn their keep are:
- A document library with version control, so nobody edits an outdated copy by accident.
- A staff directory with contact details, roles and who reports to whom.
- A news feed or noticeboard for company-wide announcements.
- Search that actually works across documents, not just page titles.
- Mobile access for anyone who isn’t sat at a desk all day, such as retail or care staff.
- Permissions, so HR files stay visible only to HR and payroll teams.
Fancier platforms add social feeds, recognition badges and AI-powered search. Useful for larger firms, but rarely the deciding factor for a 20 to 100-person business choosing its first system.
How Much Does an Intranet Cost in the UK?
This is where most people get caught out, because “free” rarely means free.
SharePoint, part of Microsoft 365, is the most common route for UK businesses already paying for Microsoft’s software. As of 2026, Microsoft’s UK pricing lists Business Standard from roughly £10 to £12 per user, per month, excluding VAT, though rates have risen this year and vary by supplier and contract length, so check Microsoft’s own UK pricing page before budgeting. SharePoint itself is included in that licence. The catch is that a usable, branded intranet built on top of it is a separate project, and UK SharePoint consultants typically charge somewhere between £650 and £1,400 a day for that build work.
Dedicated intranet platforms such as Claromentis, Oak Engage, HUB Intranet and Simpplr charge per user per month on top of whatever email system you already run. Industry pricing guides put a full first-year budget for a 30-employee UK business anywhere from around £8,000 for an all-in-one modular platform to £25,000 or more once SharePoint consultancy is added in.
Three things drive the final price up or down:
- Cloud hosting is usually cheaper to start than an on-premises server, though costs can shift over several years.
- The number of staff who need logins.
- How much custom branding and workflow automation you want on day one versus adding it later.
Cheap upfront licensing can end up costing more overall if your team has to spend weeks fighting with the setup themselves.
Step-by-Step: How to Set Up an Intranet for Your Business
Step 1: Work out what problem you’re actually solving. Write down the three biggest complaints staff have today, whether that’s lost documents, missed news or a messy onboarding process.
Step 2: Check what you already own. If you pay for Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium, SharePoint is already included in your licence. That might be enough of a starting point before you buy anything new.
Step 3: Shortlist two or three options based on your size. A 30-person firm has very different needs to a 300-person one, and pricing guides aimed at SMEs will steer you away from paying for enterprise features you won’t touch.
Step 4: Ask about UK or EU data hosting if you handle sensitive client data. Some platforms host exclusively in the US, which can be a blocker for GDPR-conscious buyers and regulated sectors such as healthcare or financial services.
Step 5: Run a trial with real content, not a demo. Load in your actual policy documents and staff list, then ask five colleagues to find something specific within it.
Step 6: Plan for adoption, not just launch. An intranet that nobody opens after week one has failed, however good the software is. Assign someone to keep the news feed and document library current.
Is an Intranet GDPR Compliant?
An intranet itself isn’t automatically compliant or non-compliant, it depends on how you configure and host it. Under UK GDPR, you’re responsible for where staff data is stored and who can access it, regardless of which platform you choose.
If your intranet stores employee records, HR files or client information, check where the servers sit and whether the provider offers a data processing agreement. UK or EU hosting tends to simplify this conversation, particularly for regulated industries.
FAQs
What is an intranet in simple terms?
An intranet is a private website that only your organisation’s staff can access, usually to share news, policies, forms and documents in one central place. It works like a smaller, locked version of the internet, sitting behind a login and often a company firewall.
What’s the difference between an intranet and the internet?
The internet is open to anyone with a connection, while an intranet is restricted to people inside one organisation. Both use the same underlying web technology, but an intranet sits behind authentication so outsiders can’t get in.
What’s the difference between an intranet and an extranet?
An intranet is for staff only, while an extranet opens a controlled section of that same network to outsiders such as suppliers or contractors. Many modern intranet platforms let you build an extranet as an add-on rather than a separate system.
Is SharePoint a free intranet?
No. SharePoint is included in a Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise licence, but there’s no standalone free-forever SharePoint plan, and Microsoft retired standalone SharePoint-only licences for new customers in 2026. The licence cost is often the smallest part of the bill once branding and setup work are added.
Do I need a separate intranet if my team already uses Microsoft Teams?
Teams handles chat and meetings well, but it isn’t built for storing a structured policy library or a staff directory long term. Many UK businesses run SharePoint or a dedicated intranet alongside Teams rather than instead of it.
How much does an intranet cost for a small UK business?
Costs vary widely depending on platform and whether you need custom branding, but industry guides suggest a realistic first-year budget for a 30-person business runs from roughly £8,000 upwards. Prices change often, so get a direct quote from any shortlisted provider before committing.
Can a small business build its own intranet for free?
Technically yes, using tools already inside a Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscription you’re likely already paying for. In practice, “free” usually means unpaid staff time spent building and maintaining it, which has its own real cost.
How long does it take to set up an intranet?
A simple SharePoint site can go live within days, while a fully branded platform rollout for a mid-sized business typically takes several weeks to a few months. Timelines stretch further if you’re migrating a large amount of existing documents.
