What Should Website Maintenance Cost?

Most care plans we read cost $30 to $250 a month for backups, updates and small edits. Plans that add local SEO or new content start at about $250 a month.

"Website maintenance" means different things to different people, which is why prices for it range so widely. Here's what the money actually buys, what plans cost in 2026, and how to tell whether you need one at all.

What maintenance actually means

Most plans mix three kinds of work:

• Keeping the site working: backups, software updates, security, and checking that forms and links still work.
• Keeping it current: changing hours, prices, photos, staff and menus when your business changes.
• Helping it grow: new pages or posts, Google Business Profile updates, review requests and a report on the phone taps and form leads the site brought in.

Cheap plans cover the first kind and a few small edits. More expensive plans add more editing, and some add the third kind. When you compare prices, compare what's in the plan, not just the number.

What maintenance plans cost in 2026

On October 29, 2026, we read the published care plans of 11 US web studios, agencies and support companies. Here's what the money bought:

• $30 to $100 a month: backups, updates and a little editing, usually 30 minutes to an hour or one change a month. Many include hosting, and about half include a report.
• $150 to $250 a month: more editing, from one hour a month up to unlimited small edits, and usually a report.
• About $250 to $900 or more a month: local SEO, such as Google Business Profile posts, listings and review requests, or new content written for you. Some plans at these prices only add more editing time.

A few examples from those price lists:

• A Texas studio: 30 minutes of edits, backups and a monthly report for $30 a month.
• A Florida studio: hosting and one change for $97 a month, or three changes and a report for $197.
• A WordPress support company: maintenance with no edits for $89 a month, or unlimited small edits for $179.

When you compare plans, ask how many hours or tasks each one includes every month. A plan with no edits and a plan with unlimited edits can both be called "maintenance."

Do you need a plan at all?

It depends on your platform and on how often your business changes.

If your site runs on Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or Shopify

The platform handles hosting, security and software updates for you as part of your subscription. What's left is keeping the content current and checking that your forms and booking still work. If you change things rarely and you're comfortable logging in, you may not need a plan.

If your site runs on WordPress

WordPress is free and flexible, but you're responsible for updates. Patchstack, a WordPress security company, counted 11,334 new security holes in WordPress software in 2025, up 42% from the year before. Most of them, 91%, were in plugins, the add-ons that give a site extra features. Only 6 were in WordPress itself. Somebody needs to update plugins regularly, remove the ones you don't use and keep backups you can restore.

If you want more customers, not just a working site

A site that only gets basic upkeep won't bring in new customers by itself. If growth is the goal, a plan should include new content, Google Business Profile updates and reviews, plus a report that shows calls and form leads. That is the work plans of about $250 a month and up are for.

What every plan should tell you

• How many edits or hours you get each month, and what happens if you need more.
• How fast they reply when something breaks.
• Where backups are kept and how quickly they can restore your site.
• Whether they check your forms and booking each month, not just whether the site is online.
• What you get in the monthly report, if there is one.
• The minimum term and how you cancel.
• That your domain, hosting and website accounts stay in your name.

Warning signs

• A long contract with no clear list of monthly work.
• "SEO" with no specifics about what they'll do each month.
• Hosting you can't log into, or a domain registered in the provider's name.
• Reports full of traffic charts but no calls or leads.

Doing it yourself: a short monthly check

1. Send a test message through every form and check that it arrives.
2. Tap your phone number and booking button on your own phone.
3. Check that hours, prices and services are still right.
4. Look at your Google Business Profile: hours, photos and new reviews to answer.
5. On WordPress: back up the site, then update plugins, theme and WordPress itself.
6. Note how many calls and form leads came from the site this month.

What our plans include

Our Growth Plan comes in three options:

• Care, $100 a month, month to month: up to two small edits a month (text, photos, hours or prices), backups, and a monthly check that your site and form work. We reply within 2 business days.
• Growth, $250 a month: everything in Care, plus up to 2 hours of updates a month, one new page or post a month written by us, four Google Business Profile posts a month, review requests, Google Maps tracking for your 3 main searches and a one-page monthly report.
• Growth Plus, $500 a month: twice the updates and content, plus a 30-minute call every month.

Growth and Growth Plus have a 3-month minimum, then run month to month. You can cancel any plan with 30 days' notice. Every account stays in your name. See all options on our pricing page.