A small-business website costs $400–$3,000 a year to maintain — hosting and domain ($60–$600), software/plugin upkeep, security and backups, and small content changes. On a DIY builder like Squarespace or Wix, maintenance is mostly included in the $16–$50 monthly subscription; a custom WordPress or coded site needs either your time or a $50–$250/month care plan. Here's the full breakdown, and the neglect math that makes "we'll just leave it" the expensive option.
The real annual budget, by site type
| Site type | Hosting/platform | Upkeep | Realistic annual total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website builder (Wix/Squarespace) | $190–$600/yr subscription | Included | $200–$650 |
| WordPress, DIY-maintained | $60–$300/yr hosting | Your 2–4 hrs/month | $100–$400 + your time |
| WordPress/custom, care plan | $60–$300/yr | $50–$250/mo plan | $700–$3,300 |
| Custom web app | varies | developer retainer | $2,000+ |
(What the site costs to build is the other half of the picture — see the full cost breakdown.)
What maintenance actually involves
- Updates and security. WordPress core, themes and plugins ship security patches constantly; unpatched sites get hacked by bots, not hackers — automatically, at scale. Builders handle this for you (it's the main thing their subscription buys).
- Backups you've tested. A backup you've never restored is a hope, not a backup.
- Renewals. Domain, SSL, hosting — set to auto-renew with a card that won't expire silently. Expired domains kill businesses' email, not just their site.
- Small content changes. Hours, prices, team members, new photos. Sites that never change signal abandonment to visitors and to Google.
- Speed and health checks. A quarterly pass through the 15-minute audit and a speed test catches decay before customers do.
The neglect math
Skipping maintenance doesn't save the money — it defers it with interest: a hacked WordPress cleanup runs $300–$1,000+, an outdated site quietly leaks enquiries (here's how to tell), and three years of no updates usually ends in a redesign that proper upkeep would have postponed. It's the same decay pattern as an unmaintained chatbot or CRM: digital assets rot by default.
Do you need a care plan?
No if you're on a builder, or you're on WordPress and genuinely will spend two disciplined hours a month. Yes if the site produces enquiries you can't afford to lose, runs WooCommerce or custom code, or nobody owns the job. A fair $50–$250/month plan includes updates, monitored backups, uptime alerts, small content edits, and a monthly report — if it's just "we update plugins," you're overpaying.
Not sure whether your site needs a plan or a cleanup? Book a free consultation — we'll look at what you're running and price both honestly, including "keep DIYing it, you're fine."
Frequently asked questions
How much does website maintenance cost per year?
Most small-business sites run $400–$3,000 a year. Builder sites (Wix, Squarespace) bundle maintenance into their $190–$600 annual subscription; a DIY-maintained WordPress site costs $100–$400 plus 2–4 hours of your time monthly; professional care plans run $50–$250/month ($700–$3,300/year all-in).
What does website maintenance actually include?
Software and security updates (the big one on WordPress — unpatched sites get hacked automatically by bots), tested backups, domain/SSL/hosting renewals, small content changes like hours and prices, and periodic speed and health checks. On builders, the platform handles the security half for you.
Is a website care plan worth it?
Yes when the site produces enquiries you can't afford to lose, runs WooCommerce or custom code, or nobody in the business owns the upkeep job. No when you're on a builder, or you'll genuinely spend two disciplined hours a month on WordPress. A fair plan includes updates, monitored backups, uptime alerts, small edits and a monthly report.
What happens if you don't maintain a website?
It decays on a schedule: unpatched software gets exploited ($300–$1,000+ cleanup), content drifts out of date and leaks enquiries, and after a few years the accumulated neglect gets invoiced all at once as a full redesign that routine upkeep would have postponed.
Yash
Founder & Principal Consultant, Ynexgen
Yash leads Ynexgen, helping small and mid-sized businesses turn technology into a stronger foundation for growth — 7+ years across Salesforce CRM, websites, and AI adoption.
