What a new door costs in 2026
Doors are priced per unit rather than per square metre, and the spread is wide because a simple uPVC front door and a five-panel aluminium bifold are very different jobs. The calculator above supports the two glazed door styles, French and bifold, so you can price those directly. For a front, patio or composite door, use the figures in the table below, which are the fully fitted 2026 ranges we track. A uPVC front door starts at £840 fitted; a premium aluminium bifold can reach £7,500.
For a front entrance, the real choice is uPVC against composite. uPVC is the value option at £840 to £2,750, typically around £1,400, and it is low maintenance with solid security. Composite is thicker and tougher, which is why it is the most popular front door despite costing more, at £1,400 to £4,500 fitted. For garden access, French doors and patio sliders do similar jobs differently: French doors swing open and suit a traditional look, while sliding patio doors save space and give a larger glass area. Whichever you pick, the same rule applies as with windows: check the cost per opening against at least three written quotes.
| Door type | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| uPVC front door | £840 | £1,400 | £2,750 |
| Composite front door | £1,400 | £2,200 | £4,500 |
| French doors (uPVC) | £900 | £1,400 | £2,950 |
| Patio / sliding doors (uPVC) | £1,350 | £2,200 | £3,140 |
| Bifold doors (uPVC, 3-panel) | £2,000 | £3,500 | £4,675 |
| Bifold doors (aluminium) | £3,000 | £5,000 | £7,500 |
Source: web/lib/research/doors.md (Checkatrade, GreenMatch, BookABuilderUK). Composite front door is the most popular front-entrance choice.
Front doors, garden doors and bifolds
For a front door, composite is the safe recommendation. The extra over uPVC buys a more solid feel, better security and a longer-lasting finish, and it is the door most installers will steer you toward. Where budget is tight, a good uPVC front door still does a perfectly respectable job for several hundred pounds less.
For opening up to the garden, the decision is about space and style. French doors at £900 to £2,950 in uPVC are the traditional, lower-cost route and need clearance to swing. Sliding patio doors at £1,350 to £3,140 save that swing space and give a bigger unbroken pane. Bifolds are the showpiece option: a uPVC three-panel set runs £2,000 to £4,675, while an aluminium bifold, with its much slimmer frames, costs £3,000 to £7,500. If your project is really about replacing windows rather than doors, the uPVC window calculator, the aluminium window calculator and the timber window calculator will price those instead.
The verdict on doors
For most front entrances, a composite door is the Best Buy: it is the most secure and durable option at a sensible price, which is why it leads the market. For garden access, the choice between French, patio and bifold is more about how you want the opening to work than about which is better, so let the space decide.
Best Buy Composite front door, at around £2,200 fitted, is our Best Buy for a front entrance in 2026.
For a front door I fit composite nine times out of ten. It feels solid when you close it, the locks are better and it shrugs off the weather for years. On bifolds, do not skimp: a cheap uPVC set on a wide opening will sag and stick. If the span is big, pay for aluminium and slim frames.
Tom Bradley, FENSA-registered installer
Frequently asked questions
A uPVC front door costs £840 to £2,750 fully fitted in 2026, typically around £1,400. A composite front door costs more, at £1,400 to £4,500 fitted, with a typical figure of around £2,200, and is the most popular choice for security and durability.
A uPVC three-panel bifold costs £2,000 to £4,675 fully fitted, typically around £3,500. Aluminium bifolds cost more, at £3,000 to £7,500 fitted (typically around £5,000), the premium buying slimmer frames and a sharper finish.
Composite doors are thicker, more secure and more durable than uPVC, which is why they are the most popular front-door choice. uPVC is the better-value option at £840 to £2,750 fitted, while composite runs £1,400 to £4,500. Both are low maintenance.
French doors are a pair of hinged doors that swing open, classic for opening onto a garden, and cost £900 to £2,950 fitted in uPVC. Patio or sliding doors slide sideways to save space and give a big glass area, at £1,350 to £3,140 fitted in uPVC.