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Short answer: A website maintenance package (or "care plan") is a monthly fee that covers hosting and the domain renewal, updates and backups, a few small changes, a short monthly report and fast support. Price it as your real running cost per site plus the hours you include at your hourly rate. At $35 an hour, that is about $40 (Basic), $75 (Standard) or $110 (Pro) a month. Here is what to put in each package, how we calculated those prices, and how to sell it.
Updated November 7, 2026: Hostinger lowered its Black Friday price. The Hostinger numbers on this page are from our new cart check that day (US, before tax).
Website maintenance package pricing at a glance
| Who you buy from | Typical monthly price | What you usually get |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer (our pricing method, $35/h) | $40 to $110 | Hosting, updates, backups and 1 to 3 hours of changes |
| Maintenance service, small sites (FixRunner) | $69 to $169 | Updates, backups, security scan and 90 to 240 minutes of support |
| WordPress care agency (WP Buffs) | $89 to $359 | Weekly updates, 24/7 emergency support, unlimited edits from the $179 plan |
| Premium team with hosting (SiteCare) | $435 to $2,190 | Managed hosting, staging-tested updates, edits and strategy |
Prices checked on each company's pricing page on November 9, 2026. They are examples of what the market charges, not a recommendation of those companies.
🛠️ The hosting behind your care plans
Hostinger Web Hosting Unlimited: unlimited websites, free SSL and daily backups, so one hosting bill covers every client. Code LEARN2EARN = extra discount.
Why care plans matter more than the build
A website build pays you once. A care plan pays you every month, and small businesses understand it: they don't want to think about updates, backups or "my website is down, what do I do?". Ten clients on a $75 plan is $750 a month without finding a new client. No income is guaranteed, but this is a service owners already pay for.
What to include in a website maintenance package
| Item | Basic | Standard | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting + domain renewal handled for them (one plan for all sites) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Updates (WordPress, theme, plugins) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Backups and restore if something breaks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Small changes (prices, photos, hours, offers) | — | A few a month | More a month |
| Short monthly report | — | — | ✓ |
| Priority support | — | — | ✓ |
| Work included | 1 h/month | 2 h/month | 3 h/month |
Write the hours or the number of changes in the plan, so "a few small edits" never turns into a redesign.
How to price a care plan
Our website quote calculator uses a simple, honest formula:
- Your running cost per site: about $3.76 a month in our example: a hosting share of about $2.51 a month (Hostinger Unlimited over 4 years with LEARN2EARN, for all your sites) plus a .com renewal of about $15 a year.
- Plus the hours you include each month at your rate: 1, 2 or 3 hours.
- Round up.
The calculator shows the care plan math: 2 hours a month at your rate plus about $4.39 to keep the site online (about $3.76 since Hostinger lowered its price on November 7, 2026).
| Your rate | Basic (1 h) | Standard (2 h) | Pro (3 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25/h | $30/mo | $55/mo | $80/mo |
| $35/h | $40/mo | $75/mo | $110/mo |
| $50/h | $55/mo | $105/mo | $155/mo |
Change the rate in the calculator to get your own numbers. These are formula estimates from your rate, not market prices.
Your cost only stays low on the right hosting
The $3 hosting share works because one plan holds many client sites. On a plan with a 1 or 3-website limit, every new client means a new hosting bill and your margin disappears. Check the website limit and the renewal price before you sell care plans: our true hosting cost calculator shows the 4-year cost of every host we tested, and this guide shows our real multi-site setup and its limits.
💡 One bill, many care plans
Hostinger Unlimited came to about $121 for 4 years in our cart with LEARN2EARN, with unlimited websites and daily backups included.
What maintenance companies charge (real 2026 prices)
Before you set your own price, look at what clients can buy elsewhere. These are the published monthly prices of three well-known WordPress maintenance companies, checked on November 9, 2026:
| Company and plan | Price | Main things included |
|---|---|---|
| FixRunner Premium | $69/month | 90 minutes of support, core, plugin and theme updates, cloud backups, uptime monitoring, security scan (3-month minimum) |
| FixRunner Rocket | $99/month | 120 minutes of support, online shop support, speed and on-page SEO work |
| FixRunner Advance | $169/month | 240 minutes of support, account manager, phone support |
| WP Buffs Maintain | $89/month | Weekly updates, 24/7 emergency support, uptime monitoring, cloud backups 4 times a day |
| WP Buffs Protect | $179/month | Everything in Maintain, plus unlimited website edits and security work |
| WP Buffs Perform | $239/month | Plus speed, mobile and image optimization, e-commerce plugin care and malware removal |
| WP Buffs Custom | $359/month | Plus safe updates on staging, for custom-coded sites |
| SiteCare Gold | $435/month ($4,680/year) | Hosting included, staging-tested updates, 5 content edits and quick fixes |
What this means for you: a freelancer plan at $40 to $110 a month is clearly cheaper than these services, so it is an easy yes for a small local business. You don't need to match their 24/7 promises. Sell what you can really deliver: fast replies in working hours, a set number of hours and a monthly report.
If you are a business owner comparing quotes: check how many hours or edits are included, how fast they reply, whether hosting and the domain are part of the price, and whether there is a minimum term. A cheap plan with no hours included often costs more the first time you need a change.
How to sell care plans
- Put it in every proposal, right after the build packages. Our free web design proposal template already has the section.
- Sell peace of mind, not "maintenance". "Your site stays online, updated and backed up, and you message me when you need a change."
- Send the monthly report, even a short one: online, updated, backed up, and the changes we made. It shows your value, so clients don't cancel.
- Offer two or three plans, not a custom price for each client.
Website maintenance checklist (what you actually do each month)
Clients pay for the result, but you need a routine. This is the checklist we use for small business sites:
| How often | Task |
|---|---|
| Every week | Update WordPress, the theme and plugins (take a backup first). Check the site loads and the contact form sends. |
| Every day (automatic) | Backups and uptime monitoring. Most good hosting plans do backups for you. |
| Every month | Test a restore from a backup, check the SSL certificate, remove unused plugins, check page speed, make the small changes the client asked for. |
| Every month | Send the short report: online, updated, backed up, and what changed. |
| Every 3 months | Review the content (prices, hours, team, photos), check broken links, check the domain and hosting renewal dates. |
With a routine like this, a simple site takes well under an hour a month. That is why a plan with 1 to 3 hours included is profitable and still fair.
What to write in the maintenance agreement
- Hours or edits included each month, and whether unused hours roll over (usually they don't).
- Your rate for extra work beyond the plan, so new pages or features are paid separately.
- Response time, for example "within one working day", and what counts as an emergency.
- Minimum term and notice, for example 3 months minimum, then cancel with 30 days' notice.
- What is not included: redesigns, new features, paid plugins and ad spend.
- Who pays for renewals: hosting, the domain and premium plugin licenses.
Who owns what?
Agree on it in writing. Many freelancers register the domain in the client's name, so the client keeps it if they ever leave, and host the site on their own plan as part of the care plan. If a client needs full control, they can have their own hosting account and pay you only for the work.
Sources: Hostinger pricing (hosting share used in the math).Market prices: WP Buffs plans, FixRunner plans and SiteCare pricing (checked November 9, 2026).
FAQ
How much should it cost to maintain a website?
For a small business site, about $40 to $110 a month in our pricing method, depending on the hours included each month (1 to 3 hours) plus hosting and domain.
Is website maintenance worth selling?
Yes. It turns one-time projects into monthly income, and the hosting for many clients can be one plan (is $1,500 a good price for a website?).
How much should I charge for website maintenance?
Your running cost per site plus the hours you include at your rate. At $35 an hour: about $40, $75 or $110 a month for 1, 2 or 3 hours.
What is included in a website care plan?
Hosting and domain renewal, updates, backups, a set number of small changes, and on bigger plans a monthly report and priority support.
What are typical website maintenance package prices?
In November 2026, published plans ranged from $69 a month (FixRunner Premium) and $89 a month (WP Buffs Maintain) up to $435 a month for SiteCare Gold with hosting included. Freelancers usually charge less, about $40 to $110 a month for a small site.
Is website maintenance a monthly fee?
Usually yes. Most care plans are billed monthly, often with a minimum term of about 3 months, and many companies give a discount for paying a year upfront.
What is the difference between Basic, Standard and Pro maintenance plans?
The number of hours or edits included and how fast you reply. Basic covers updates, backups and hosting; Standard adds a few changes a month; Pro adds more hours, a monthly report and priority support.
Can I host all my clients on one plan?
Yes, on a plan with unlimited websites, for small business sites. Big or high-traffic clients should have their own plan.
Haven't priced the build yet? Read how much to charge for a website. Need clients first? Here is how to find web design clients. Ready to host? Get Hostinger Unlimited.
