Website Maintenance Pricing for Small Business
Website maintenance pricing is a small monthly fee for keeping a client's site working. You can structure it as tiers, retainer hours or pay as you go. Set your price by checking common market ranges, deciding what is included and what is not, and explaining the fee plainly. Market ranges are not promises of what you will earn.
Building the site is one job. Keeping it working is another. Owners rarely think about the second job until something breaks, and then they want it fixed today.
A maintenance plan is a small monthly fee for taking care of a site. It is useful for the owner, and it gives you a steady, predictable part of your work. I ran a marketing agency for 15 years, and in my experience the clients who had a care plan called in a panic far less often.
This guide covers what to include, how to price it, and how to explain it so the owner says yes. All numbers are common market ranges from public pricing guides. They are not promises of what you will charge or earn.
What website maintenance actually is
Maintenance is the routine care that keeps a site safe, fast and correct. It usually includes:
- Backups. Copies of the site you can restore if something goes wrong.
- Updates. Keeping the site platform, themes and plugins current.
- Security checks. Scanning for malware and watching for odd activity.
- Uptime checks. Knowing if the site goes down, before the owner finds out.
- Small content edits. Changing hours, a phone number or a price.
- A short monthly note. One message that says what you did.
Hosting and the domain name are related, and some plans bundle them. Be clear about it either way.
What the market usually charges
Published pricing guides give a wide spread, so treat these as rough ranges and not quotes:
- Light plans for small sites: roughly thirty to one hundred dollars a month.
- Mid-level plans with more edits and support: often one hundred to three hundred dollars a month.
- Busy sites, online stores and heavy traffic: above three hundred dollars a month.
Guides disagree on the exact figures because they sell different things: some include hosting and a domain, some do not, and some include a set number of edits. The point to remember is that price follows scope. A five-page local service site needs much less than an online shop.
Three ways to structure a plan
Tiers
Offer two or three plans. This is the most common choice, and it keeps the owner from guessing. An example:
| Plan | Who it suits | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | A small site that rarely changes | Hosting, backups, updates, uptime checks |
| Standard | A site with regular edits | Basic plus a set number of small edits per month |
| Plus | A busy site that changes often | Standard plus extra edits, a monthly report and faster replies |
Keep the names plain. The owner should know in ten seconds which row is theirs.
Retainer hours
The owner pays for a block of your time each month. It works for clients who change a lot. The downside is that unused hours create awkward talks, so decide up front whether they roll over.
Pay as you go
You bill only when work happens. It sounds fair, but it leaves you with no steady part of your work, and owners tend to wait until a problem is large. Use it for clients who refuse a plan.
How to set your price
Step 1: Count your real tasks. Write down what you do each month for one site. Backups and updates may take little time once set up. Edits are the unpredictable part.
Step 2: Add your costs. Hosting, backup tools, security tools and any paid plugins. Divide shared tools across your sites.
Step 3: Price the edits. Decide how many small edits fit in the plan. A small edit is something like changing hours or swapping a photo. A new page is not a small edit.
Step 4: Add a margin for the unexpected. Sites break at odd times. A plan that covers only the best case will cost you.
Step 5: Check the result against the market. If you land far outside the common ranges, ask why. You may be under-pricing, or you may be offering more than the owner needs.
What to say is not included
A good plan has a clear "not included" list. This protects you and avoids arguments. Common exclusions:
- New pages, new features and redesigns (quote these as projects).
- Writing new content or taking photos.
- Fixing damage caused by changes someone else made.
- Recovering a site from a long-neglected, hacked state (often a separate fee).
- Paid ads, search work and social media.
Put the list in writing in your agreement.
How to explain it to the owner
Owners often say, "Why do I pay every month for a site that is finished?" Answer with a plain picture, not fear.
"A website is like a delivery truck. It works, but it needs oil changes. Each month I back it up, update it, check it is online and make small edits. If something breaks, I fix it. You do not have to think about it."
Then show what they get. Offer a short monthly note, such as: "Backed up, updated, scanned, all clear. Changed your Saturday hours as you asked." This proof is the best selling tool you have. It shows the fee buys something.
Do not scare owners with made-up risks. Say what routine care does and let them decide.
When to offer the plan
Bring it up when you quote the project, not after. Include the plan as a line on the quote, either on its own or as a first-year option. Two moments work well:
- At the quote. "The build is X. If you would like me to look after it, the monthly plan is Y."
- At launch. The owner has just seen the finished site and is happy. Walk them through what happens next.
If you work from a preview first, as in how to sell websites to local businesses, the plan can be part of the same conversation. For the project price itself, read setting a fair first price.
Billing and terms
- Bill monthly by card or direct debit so it is automatic.
- Use a month-to-month term, or a yearly term at a lower monthly price.
- Say how to cancel and what files and logins the owner gets if they leave.
- Keep a short list of the tools you use, in case you hand over the site.
Owners trust you more when leaving is simple. Locking them in tends to backfire.
Common mistakes
No plan at all. You hand over a site and the owner has no one to call. Then they ask you for free help for years.
Pricing for the best case. One bad month can wipe out the margin on several good ones.
Vague scope. "Unlimited edits" is a trap. Set a number or a time limit.
Forgetting the report. If the owner never sees the work, they will cancel. Send the note.
Hiding the hosting cost. Say what is covered and what the real cost is.
Where SiteRevive fits
SiteRevive does not run maintenance plans, host websites or bill your clients. It helps you find the businesses and start the conversation. You pick a trade and a U.S. state. SiteRevive finds local businesses with old or missing websites, checks each site, and takes the owner's email from the business's own website. With Run with your AI, you paste one prompt into your AI. It builds a one-page preview site for each business and drafts or sends a short note from your own inbox. You can choose "drafts only."
What you offer after a yes, including a maintenance plan, and what you charge for it is up to you. SiteRevive plans start at $97 a month, plus your own AI plan, which the AI company bills you for. Any domain or hosting you buy for a client is extra. There is no setup fee and nothing to install. There is a 7-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. It does not promise replies or sales. SiteRevive's servers never send email; your own AI sends from your own account, or saves drafts.
For the whole path, read how to sell websites to local businesses. To find owners who need a site in the first place, read how to find web design clients. You can also visit the SiteRevive home page or try the free website check.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for website maintenance?
Common market ranges run from about thirty to one hundred dollars a month for light plans and one hundred to three hundred dollars for mid-level plans, with busy sites and stores higher. Price from your actual tasks, your tool costs and the number of edits you include.
What should a website maintenance plan include?
Most plans include backups, updates, security scans, uptime checks and a small number of content edits. A short monthly note about what you did is a strong extra. Be clear about what is not included.
Do I need to charge for hosting separately?
You can do either. Some designers bundle hosting into the plan, and others pass the hosting bill through at cost. Pick one and say so in your agreement so there are no surprises.
Is a maintenance plan the same as a retainer?
Not exactly. A plan is a fixed set of routine tasks at a set price. A retainer is a block of your time that the client can use as they wish. Many designers mix them.
What if a client refuses a monthly plan?
Offer pay-as-you-go work at a clear hourly rate, and put the response time in writing. Some owners accept a plan later, after their first small problem.
Can I add a maintenance plan to a site I did not build?
Yes, if you first check the site. Look at the platform, backups and access. Quote an onboarding fee for the first cleanup, then set the monthly price.