Maintenance isn't updating plugins.
It's staying up, staying secure, staying fast, and having someone answer when something breaks on a Saturday. Most cheap plans cover the first one and none of the other three.
What does a website maintenance plan actually include?
Five things. A plan without all five isn't maintenance — it's plugin updates under a nicer name.
Tested updates. Core, plugins and themes updated in staging first. Updating straight to production and hoping isn't a method.
Active security. Firewall, file integrity monitoring, access review.
Daily backups with tested restores. A backup nobody has ever restored isn't a backup, it's a hope.
24/7 monitoring. So we find out the site is down before you do.
Someone who answers. With a response time committed in writing.
How much does website maintenance cost?
Our entry tier is $490 a month for one site or platform with everything above.
You'll find plans at a fraction of that. At that price you typically get a monthly plugin update and little else: no staging, no monitoring, no tested restores, and nobody available on a weekend.
We're not saying that's wrong — we're saying compare what's covered before you compare the number. One weekend of downtime costs more than a year of the difference.
Do you take on sites you didn't build?
Yes, after a technical review. If inherited code makes the service level we promise impossible, we tell you before signing, not after.
That review is worth having even if you don't hire us: you keep an honest assessment of what you actually own.
What if I need more than maintenance?
That's what usually happens. At first you want it not to break; six months in you want to change things, connect something, improve a section.
Essential already covers minor edits: text, images or a form. For anything more, that's what the higher tiers are for: from Operations ($1,900 a month) the fee includes one active development request at a time, prioritized with you in a roadmap call. It stops being maintenance and starts being a team.
Is there a lock-in contract?
No. Monthly, cancel with 30 days' notice. If we need a contract to keep you, the problem is the service.
Who looks after your site today?
If the answer is "nobody" or "not sure", a review is worth it.