How much does website maintenance cost?
The cost of a website doesn't stop at launch — but it's smaller and more predictable than most owners fear. Here's what each platform needs and what it costs.
Updated October 2026 · by the Good Work team, Bentonville, AR
The short answer.
Website maintenance costs $0–$30 a month in hosting plus $250–$1,400 a month for a care plan, depending on platform and how often the site changes. WordPress needs monthly updates, backups, and security monitoring (a care plan from $250 a month, or an hour of staff time). Shopify and Webflow handle hosting, security, and updates themselves, so maintenance is mostly content changes and improvements. The biggest hidden cost is a site nobody maintains: slow pages, broken forms, and a rebuild in two years.
Get a free quote- Hosting
- $0–$30 / mo (Shopify plan separate)
- WordPress care
- From $250 / mo
- Shopify / Webflow
- Optional, from $250 / mo
- Dev time block
- $600–$1,400 / mo
- DIY
- 1–2 hours / mo
- Contract
- Month to month
What maintenance includes
Updates (platform, theme, plugins or apps), backups, uptime and security monitoring, small content edits, performance and search checks, and a block of developer time for new sections and fixes. On WordPress the first three are non-negotiable; on Shopify and Webflow they're handled by the platform and maintenance is mostly the last three.
Cost by platform
| Platform | Platform handles | You (or a care plan) handle | Typical monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Nothing — self-managed | Updates, backups, security, hosting, edits | $20–$100 hosting + $250–$1,400 care |
| Shopify | Hosting, security, checkout, updates | Theme updates, apps, content, improvements | $39–$399 plan + $0–$1,400 care |
| Webflow | Hosting, security, updates | Content, improvements | $14–$39 hosting + $0–$600 care |
| Custom app | Nothing | Everything | $50–$300 hosting + $600–$1,400+ care |
Care plans explained
A care plan is a flat monthly fee for a developer on call plus the boring essentials. Ours run $250 (maintain), $600 (grow, with four hours of senior time), and $1,400 (partner, with twelve hours and a quarterly roadmap). Month to month; you own everything.
What it costs to skip it
An un-updated WordPress site gets hacked or breaks on a plugin conflict. A store with an outdated theme loses checkout features. A site nobody improves loses rankings to one that does. The usual outcome is a rebuild two years early, which costs ten times the maintenance it would have taken.
Questions people ask.
Short answers, no hedging.
Do I need maintenance on Shopify?
Not for security or hosting — Shopify handles that. Most stores still benefit from someone making improvements each month, which is what a care plan provides.
Can I maintain WordPress myself?
Yes, if you'll do updates and backups every month and know what to do when an update breaks something. Most owners prefer to hand it off.
Do you maintain sites you didn't build?
Yes, after a short audit.
Can I cancel?
Yes. Care plans are month to month.
Two free ways to start.
Either one costs nothing and comes with no sales call.
Free quote — within 24 hours
Tell us what you need and get a fixed price back within one business day. Shopify, WordPress, Webflow, or custom.
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Send us your current site. We'll email back what's slowing it down, why it isn't ranking, and the three fixes that matter most.
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