How much does website maintenance cost? As a rough guide, a small business website costs anywhere from about $100 a year (a static site, a domain and occasional edits) to $1,500–$3,000+ a year (about €1,400–€2,800) when it runs on WordPress with a paid care plan. Hosting is rarely the biggest line item; updates, security and content changes usually are.
Below we break website upkeep cost for a small business into its parts, compare a typical yearly cost across three setups, and point out where businesses most often overpay. The figures are market ranges for orientation, not a price list. Real offers vary by country and provider, and euro amounts are approximate conversions.
Average website maintenance cost: the short answer
If you just need a number to budget with, here is the average annual website maintenance cost for a small business, based on typical market rates:
| Setup | Average cost per year | Average cost per month |
|---|---|---|
| Static site, DIY edits | $50–$150 (≈ €45–€140) | under $15 |
| Website builder plan (Wix, Squarespace, etc.) | $200–$550 (≈ €190–€510) | $17–$45 |
| WordPress with a care plan | $1,000–$2,500+ (≈ €930–€2,300+) | $85–$210+ |
| WordPress, hourly support only | $500–$1,500 (≈ €460–€1,400) | $40–$125 |
Compared with 2024, the biggest shifts are higher hosting renewal prices, more premium plugins moving to yearly subscriptions, and a wider gap between cheap static hosting and managed WordPress plans. Design and development rates have stayed roughly flat.
What makes up the cost of maintaining a website?
Your monthly website cost is the sum of several items. Some are paid once a year, some monthly, and some only appear when something needs to change.
Domain name
The domain is your address, e.g. yourbusiness.com. First-year registration is often discounted, but renewals typically cost $10–$25 a year (roughly €10–€25) for a .com, and more for some newer or premium extensions.
Two things matter more than the price: the domain should be registered in your business’s name (not your developer’s), and you should compare renewal prices, not just the first-year deal.
Hosting
How much does website hosting cost? For a typical business site on shared hosting, expect around $3–$15 a month ($36–$180 a year, roughly €35–€170). Managed WordPress hosting usually runs $20–$60 a month ($240–$720 a year, roughly €220–€670) or more. Intro prices are common, and renewal rates can be two to three times higher.
Static websites (pre-built HTML files with no database or admin panel on the server) can be hosted very cheaply, often on the free tiers of cloud providers. They don’t need PHP, a database or a powerful server.
Hosting types compared
| Hosting type | Best for | Typical cost per year | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | small business site, blog | $36–$180 (≈ €35–€170) | renewal 2–3× the intro price |
| Managed WordPress | WordPress with more traffic or a shop | $240–$720+ (≈ €220–€670+) | visit and site limits per plan |
| VPS / cloud server | several sites, custom apps | $120–$600+ | needs admin work or a paid care plan |
| Static hosting (CDN) | static site with no database | $0–$50, often free | no PHP or CMS panel on the server |
When comparing hosting quotes, check three things: the renewal price (not the intro offer), whether free SSL and backups are included, and whether the limits (bandwidth, visits, storage) cover a real business site’s traffic. For most small businesses shared hosting is plenty, and a static site lets you drop this line item to zero.
SSL certificate
SSL gives you the padlock and “https” in the address bar. Today a basic certificate (e.g. Let’s Encrypt) is free, and most hosts enable it automatically or with one click. Paid certificates (roughly $50 to several hundred dollars a year) mainly make sense for special cases such as extended organization validation. A typical service business doesn’t need one.
Updates and security
This is the item that varies most. A site on WordPress or another CMS is software: the core, the theme and the plugins all need regular updates. Skipped updates are the most common way sites get hacked, and cleaning up after a breach can cost more than a year of maintenance.
That’s why many businesses pay for updates through a care plan, either doing it themselves or through an agency. Add backups and, often, premium plugin licenses ($50–$200+ a year each).
Content changes
A new service, updated opening hours, seasonal prices, a new team photo. If you do it yourself in the admin panel, you pay with your time. If you outsource it, freelancers and agencies typically charge $50–$150 an hour (roughly €45–€140), often with a minimum billing per request.
“Website care” plans
Agencies often bundle the items above into one plan: hosting, updates, backups and a set number of hours for edits. For small businesses these plans typically cost $80–$150 a month (about €75–€140), with broader plans going higher. Read what’s actually included; not every plan covers content changes.
Typical yearly maintenance cost: three setups
| Item | Website builder (DIY) | WordPress via an agency | nbits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain | ~$10–$25 (sometimes free in year one) | ~$10–$25 | ~$10–$25 (registered by you) |
| Hosting | included in the builder plan | $36–$720 | $0 |
| SSL | included | usually $0, sometimes paid | $0 |
| Plan / care | ~$200–$500 (builder plan) | ~$960–$1,800 ($80–$150/mo) | $290–$2,388 ($29–$199/mo, 2 months free yearly) |
| Content changes | your time | often extra, $50–$150/h | included in the plan |
| Total per year (approx.) | ~$210–$525 + your time | ~$1,000–$2,500+ | from ~$300 |
Approximate figures before tax. In the EU, nbits plans are €29/€69/€149 a month. Builders and agencies offer many tiers, so treat this table as a starting point for comparing quotes, not as any provider’s price list.
Where small businesses overpay today
When we look at maintenance quotes and invoices, the same items keep showing up that could be reduced or removed:
- Paid SSL certificates. For a normal business website, a free certificate gives the same padlock and the same encryption. If you’re paying separately for SSL, ask whether it’s really needed.
- Expensive hosting renewals. A “$2.99/month” intro offer can turn into a much higher bill at renewal. Check the price for years two and three.
- Care plans that exclude content changes. A $80–$150/month plan that covers only updates and backups, while every text edit is billed separately. You end up paying twice.
- Long contracts. 12–24 month agreements with early-termination fees make it hard to switch providers, even when the service no longer fits.
- Plugins nobody uses. Every plugin is one more thing to update and a potential security hole. Fewer plugins means lower maintenance cost.
Before renewing, ask your provider for a yearly breakdown: domain, hosting, SSL, care plan and changes. Just putting those numbers in one place often shows where the savings are.
How maintenance works at nbits
We build static websites, so several maintenance costs simply don’t exist:
- Hosting and SSL: $0, with no time limit. This isn’t a first-year promo. A static site doesn’t need an expensive server, so we don’t pass hosting or certificate costs on to you.
- No plugins to update. There’s no WordPress admin or database on the server, so there’s no core, theme or plugin stack to patch every month.
- Changes via a virtual assistant. You describe the change in a chat, and the assistant updates your site. No admin panel to learn.
The plan covers changes, plus website forms (contact, sign-ups) with a submissions inbox in your panel:
| Plan | US price / month | EU price / month | Yearly (US / EU) | What’s included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $29 | €29 | $290 / €290 | 10 content changes and 1 layout change a month |
| Standard | $99 | €69 | $990 / €690 | unlimited content changes + 5 layout changes a month |
| Plus | $199 | €149 | $1,990 / €1,490 | unlimited content changes + 10 layout changes + 1 hour of team time a month |
A yearly plan costs the same as 10 months, so you get 2 months free. A content change is, for example, copy, photos, news, opening hours, service prices or a new page built from existing sections; a layout change is a new type of section, a new look for a section, or a rebuild of the home page, header or footer.
The website itself starts from $1,490 (€1,290) as a one-off. You register the domain in your own name, so it stays yours whatever happens. For what drives the build price, read how much does a website cost. If you already have a WordPress site and pay more for its upkeep than you’d like, see how a website redesign works.
FAQ
How much does website hosting cost?
For a small business site on shared hosting, usually $36–$180 a year (roughly €35–€170). Managed WordPress hosting is typically $240–$720 a year or more. Static sites can be hosted far more cheaply, often for free. Always check the renewal price, not just the first year.
What is a typical monthly website cost?
Spread over twelve months, a small business website usually costs anywhere from under $20 to around $150–$250 a month. The low end is a static site with a domain and occasional edits; the high end is WordPress with a care plan and paid content changes.
What does website upkeep cost a small business beyond hosting?
A domain ($10–$25 a year), possibly a paid SSL certificate, premium plugin licenses, backups, updates and content changes. That last item, your time or your provider’s, often costs more than hosting itself.
Are website updates really necessary?
For WordPress and other CMS-based sites, yes. Outdated plugins and themes are the most common cause of hacked sites. A static site has no such components on the server, so routine software updates don’t apply; you only change content when you want to.
What is the average annual website maintenance cost for a small business?
Roughly $200–$550 a year on a website builder, $1,000–$2,500 or more a year for WordPress with a care plan, and under $150 a year for a static site you edit yourself. Figures for 2024 and 2026 are similar, with hosting renewals and plugin subscriptions being the main items that have gone up.
What is cheaper to maintain: WordPress or a static website?
A static website. There is no CMS, plugin stack or database on the server, so updates, premium licenses and most hosting costs disappear. WordPress is cheaper to maintain than Drupal or Joomla, but it still needs regular care.
Can I maintain my website myself?
You can, if you have the time and basic technical skills. With WordPress that means regular updates, backups and dealing with problems when they appear. If you’d rather run your business, simpler technology and chat-based changes take most of that work off your plate.
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