· Prices checked · 9 min · Website care · Humza Sheikh
Website Maintenance Cost in 2026: Real Plans Compared
What website maintenance costs a month, from nine providers' own pricing pages: what each plan includes, the catches, hourly rates and our $149 plan.
Website maintenance costs $50 to $239 a month on 8 of the 9 US care plans we checked, and $435 on the ninth, from each provider's own pricing page on 30 October 2026. UK plans we checked cost £30 to £100 a month. What you get for the money varies more than the price: some plans include no editing time at all, some include one task or an hour, and some include unlimited edits. Hiring someone by the hour instead means paying for a web developer's time; the median US web developer earned $92,650 a year in May 2025, about $44.54 an hour (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Our own website maintenance plan is $149 a month, with no contract. Below are the plans side by side, what a plan should include, the catches in the small print, and when you don't need a plan at all.
How much does website maintenance cost per month?
These are the plans we checked, cheapest first. Edits are the editing time or tasks included each month.
| Provider and plan | Price a month | Edits included | Backups | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| InMotion Care | $50 | 1 task | Every 24 hours, kept 30 days | Severe hacks may cost extra; repair is included from the $75 plan up |
| FixRunner Premium | $69 | 90 minutes | Included | Minimum 3 months |
| WP Buffs Maintain | $89 | None | 4 times a day | No edits and no malware removal |
| FixRunner Rocket | $99 | 120 minutes | Included | Minimum 3 months |
| Automization | $149 | Up to 60 minutes | Monthly | No contract |
| FixRunner Advance | $169 | 240 minutes | Included | Minimum 3 months |
| WP Buffs Protect | $179 | Unlimited | 4 times a day | No malware removal |
| WP Buffs Perform | $239 | Unlimited | 4 times a day | Includes malware removal |
| SiteCare Gold | $435 | 5 content edits and 5 quick fixes | Daily | Includes hack cleanup; $4,680 a year if paid annually |
Prices are from each provider's own pricing page, US, checked 30 October 2026. Links are in the sources at the end.
In the UK, the plans we checked are cheaper and smaller:
| Provider and plan | Price a month | Edits included | Backups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website Helper WP Maintenance | £30 | None (on-demand support is £30 an hour) | Daily |
| TRdesigns Bronze | £30 | None | Monthly |
| TRdesigns Silver | £65 | 60 minutes | Every two weeks |
| TRdesigns Gold | £100 | 90 minutes | Weekly |
Neither UK provider says whether its prices include VAT.
What should a website maintenance plan include?
The core of every plan we looked at is the same five things. Check each one is on the plan you're looking at, not just on the tier above it:
- Updates: the site's software, plugins and other dependencies kept current.
- Security: fixes when something is vulnerable, and ideally malware scanning and cleanup. This is where plans differ most.
- Backups: how often, how long they're kept, and whether someone restores them for you.
- Monitoring: someone watching the site's uptime and acting when it goes down.
- Edits: a set amount of small changes each month, such as text, images or a new section on an existing page.
A monthly report showing what was done is worth asking for. Without one, you can't tell whether you're paying for work or for a promise.
What are the catches?
The headline price is rarely the whole story. Three things to check before you sign:
- Minimum terms. FixRunner's plans each say "Minimum 3 months", even though its FAQ says you can cancel at any time. Read both.
- No editing time. WP Buffs Maintain, Website Helper and TRdesigns Bronze include no edits, so every change is billed separately. If you change your site often, a cheap plan without edits can cost more than a dearer one with them.
- Security on the higher tiers only. InMotion fixes minor malware on its $50 plan, but says severe issues may need extra services; repair is included from its $75 plan up. WP Buffs includes malware removal from $239.
What does it cost to fix a hacked site without a plan?
InMotion, for example, sells a one-time hacked website repair for $299 or $399, depending on the option, on its own pricing page. That's two months of our plan, before you count the time the site was down or flagged. Most plans that include security work exist to make that bill unlikely.
Is it cheaper to pay a developer by the hour?
Only if your site rarely changes. The median US web developer earned $92,650 a year in May 2025, or about $44.54 an hour (BLS). That's employee pay, not what a freelancer or agency charges: their rate also has to cover their own overheads. In the UK, Website Helper's on-demand support is £30 an hour.
Paying by the hour works if your site is small, rarely changes, and you're happy to do updates and backups yourself or accept the risk. It stops working when updates slip, because nobody is paid to notice them.
Do you need a maintenance plan at all?
| Your site | What we'd suggest |
|---|---|
| A few pages that rarely change, on a hosted builder that updates itself | You may not need a plan. Check the builder handles updates and backups. |
| WordPress or a custom site that brings in leads or sales | A plan with updates, security, backups, monitoring and some editing time |
| A busy store or a site you change every week | A plan with more editing time or unlimited edits, and fast hack repair |
What does our maintenance plan cost, and what's included?
$149 a month, no contract, cancel anytime. Each month it covers:
- Updates: software, plugins and dependencies.
- Security: fixes and monthly backups.
- Monitoring: uptime watched 24/7, and we start work as soon as the site goes down.
- Edits: up to an hour of small changes, such as text, images or adding a section to an existing page. Bigger work is quoted separately.
- A report of what we did.
The guarantee: every update, backup and check done each month, with a report to show it, or that month is free.
We also look after sites we didn't build: we start with a check-up and a backup, then fix anything urgent before the monthly routine begins. If you need a new site first, our web design starts at $1,499, and every site we design is guaranteed to score 90+ on Google PageSpeed Insights. Here's how we got our own site there.
Where we're not the cheapest: if you only need updates and backups with no edits, plans like InMotion Care ($50) or Website Helper (£30) cost less. If you want daily backups or unlimited edits, WP Buffs and InMotion's higher tiers include them. Ours is for businesses that want the routine done, an hour of changes each month, and no contract.
Common questions
How much does website maintenance cost per month?
On the US plans we checked, $50 to $239 a month for 8 of 9, and $435 for the ninth. UK plans we checked cost £30 to £100. Ours is $149 a month with up to an hour of edits and no contract.
What's included in website maintenance?
Updates to the site's software and plugins, security fixes, backups, uptime monitoring and, on most plans, some editing time each month. Check backups' frequency and whether malware cleanup is included, because those differ most between plans.
Is website maintenance worth it for a small business?
If the site brings in leads or sales, usually yes: a single hacked-site repair costs $299 or more from InMotion, on top of the downtime. If the site is a few pages on a builder that updates itself, you may not need one.
Can I cancel a website maintenance plan anytime?
It depends on the provider. Ours has no contract. FixRunner's plans say "Minimum 3 months", so check the terms before you sign.
Want your site looked after?
See our website maintenance plan, or book a 15-minute call and we'll check your site first.
Sources
All prices are as shown on each provider's own pricing page on 30 October 2026. Plans change, so check before you buy.
- US plans: InMotion Hosting WordPress maintenance, FixRunner plans, WP Buffs pricing, SiteCare pricing
- UK plans: Website Helper WordPress support, TRdesigns WordPress maintenance plans
- Hacked site repair: InMotion Hosting hacked website repair
- Pay: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Web Developers and Digital Designers, Occupational Outlook Handbook (web developers' median pay, May 2025; $44.54 an hour is $92,650 divided by 2,080 working hours)
- Our plan: Automization website maintenance