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Plans & packages

Website maintenance packages, compared: which plan do you actually need?

Short answer: a website maintenance package is a monthly bundle of updates, backups, monitoring and support. Most providers sell two or three tiers that differ by security work, support time and emergency cover. Here's what those differences mean, and our three plans compared line by line, including what each one leaves out.

Published pricing Month to month, 30 days' notice
Plans3Care, Care + Secure and Agency. Nothing hidden.
Response< 1 dayOn every plan, from the engineer who does the work.
ContractMonth to monthSwitch or cancel with 30 days' notice.
Handover48 hrsEvery credential back if you ever leave.

What's in a package

What a website maintenance
package usually includes.

Strip away the plan names and almost every website maintenance plan, WordPress care plan or website management package is built from the same six parts. What changes between providers and tiers is how thoroughly each part is done, and which ones are left out.

1 · UpdatesCore, plugin and theme updates. The key question is whether they're tested on a staging copy or switched on to auto-update.
2 · BackupsHow often, where they're stored, how long they're kept, and whether anyone has actually tested a restore.
3 · MonitoringUptime, SSL expiry and sometimes performance, checked continuously so problems are spotted before customers notice.
4 · SecurityHardening, malware scanning and login protection. Often the dividing line between an entry plan and a mid plan.
5 · Support timeA monthly allowance of hours for changes and fixes. Entry plans often include none; this is where packages differ most.
6 · ReportingA monthly summary of what was done. If a package doesn't include one, you have no way to check the other five.
Upkeep packagesUpdates · backups · monitoring · report Keep a stable site stable. Right for brochure sites where a few hours offline wouldn't cost a sale. Keep it runningentry tier
Protect & support packagesEverything above · security · support hours · emergency cover For sites that earn money or take enquiries, where a hack or a broken form has a real cost. Keep it safemid tier
Growth retainersMaintenance · SEO · conversion · new features Not really maintenance: a monthly budget for improving the site. Worth keeping separate so you can see what each costs. Make it betterretainer

Our plans, compared

Care, Care + Secure and Agency,
line by line.

Most maintenance plans are three names over the same vague list of "updates and support." Ours differ by scope, security and what happens when something goes wrong. Rates for each are on the pricing page.

What's coveredCareCare + SecureAgency
Core, plugin & theme updates, staging-testedIncludedIncludedIncluded
Daily off-site backupsIncludedIncludedIncluded
Uptime & SSL monitoringIncludedIncludedIncluded
Monthly reportIncludedIncludedIncluded, under your brand
Security hardening & malware scanningNot includedIncludedIncluded
Performance regression checksNot includedIncludedIncluded
Support hoursNone; quoted or ad-hoc hoursMonthly allowance includedMonthly allowance included
Emergency responseHack recovery quoted as a fixed fee2 hrs business hours, 4 hrs outsidePlus a direct escalation channel
First response to any request< 1 business day< 1 business day< 1 business day
Minimum sites115
Best forA stable site that just needs someone responsible for itAny site you'd be upset to lose, including storesAgencies managing a client portfolio

Not in any plan: new builds, redesigns, content writing, paid ads and hosting. Those are quoted as projects or growth retainers, never folded into a maintenance rate. See rates and what moves them →

What you actually get

What each plan looks like
in a normal month.

Feature lists only go so far. These are illustrative examples of a typical month on each plan, not real client reports, to show where the plans genuinely differ in practice.

Care · exampleBrochure site · 14 plugins Plugins and core updated after a staging test, 30 daily backups confirmed, one SSL renewal checked, monthly report sent. A request for a new page is quoted before any work starts. Upkeepexample · illustrative
Care + Secure · exampleWooCommerce store · 38 plugins Same upkeep, plus a malware scan that flags a vulnerable plugin, patched after a staging test; a payment-gateway update tested against checkout; two content changes taken from support hours. Protectexample · illustrative
Agency · examplePortfolio of 12 client sites Every site maintained to the Care + Secure standard, twelve reports sent under the agency's brand, and one urgent client issue raised through the direct escalation channel. Portfolioexample · illustrative

Honest fit guidance

How to choose a website
maintenance plan.

The middle plan isn't right for everyone. Choose on what a bad day would cost you, not on which tier is labelled "most popular."

Choose Care if…Stable site · no payments · few enquiries Your site doesn't change much, doesn't take money, and a few hours offline wouldn't cost you a sale or a client. Careupkeep
Choose Care + Secure if…Enquiries · bookings · payments · hacked before The site is how customers reach you or pay you, or you've been hacked before and can't afford a repeat. Care + Secureprotect & support
Choose Agency if…5+ client sites · white-label You manage client sites and want one white-labelled relationship instead of a separate vendor per site. Agencyportfolio
Choose no plan if…One-off fix · redesign · migration You need a single job done rather than ongoing care. That's quoted as a fixed-fee fix or a project, and you can add a plan afterwards. Fixed quoteproject

Monthly, annual or hourly

Monthly packages, annual
contracts and hourly support.

Website maintenance is sold on different terms as well as different tiers. Here's how each works, and which we offer.

Monthly website maintenance packagesA fixed scope for a fixed monthly price. This is how all three of our plans work, cancellable with 30 days' notice.Monthly maintenance →
Annual contractsCommon elsewhere, often with a discount for committing to twelve months. We don't lock clients in; plans stay month to month.What a maintenance contract should include →
Hourly or pay-per-fixCheapest on paper, until something breaks. We offer ad-hoc hours for small jobs alongside the plans, not instead of them.Hourly vs monthly, compared →

By platform

WordPress website maintenance
packages and care plans.

WordPress care plans"Care plan" is what WordPress agencies call a maintenance package. Both Care and Care + Secure are built around WordPress's update chain: core, theme and plugins tested together on staging.WordPress maintenance →
Ecommerce maintenance packagesWooCommerce stores need every update tested against checkout, payment gateways and stock. Store sites carry a fixed surcharge for that extra testing.WooCommerce maintenance →
Webflow, HTML & custom stacksSame three plans, different work: integrations, forms and hosting on Webflow and static sites; dependency upgrades on custom code.All platforms →

Before you sign

Six questions to ask about any
website maintenance plan.

Use these to compare our plans with anyone else's. Two packages at the same price can be very different deals once you read the terms.

What exactly counts as "a small task"?Support hours are only useful if you know what they cover. Ask for examples of what's in and what's quoted separately.
What happens to unused hours?Some plans roll them over, most don't. Know before you pay for hours every month.
How is extra work billed?At what rate, in what increments, and is it approved before it starts or added to the invoice afterwards?
What's the notice period?Twelve-month contracts with auto-renewal are common. Month to month should be the default.
Who owns the accounts?Your domain, hosting and admin logins should stay in your name, with a stated handover time if you leave.
Is hack recovery included?Many entry packages exclude it. Find out the price before you need it, not during an incident.

Questions, answered

Website maintenance plans:
common questions.

What is a website maintenance package?

A website maintenance package is a monthly bundle of upkeep work for a live site: software updates, backups, uptime and security monitoring, a set amount of support, and a report. Most providers sell two or three tiers that differ by how much security work, support time and emergency cover is included.

Is a maintenance plan different from a maintenance package?

No. "Plan" and "package" describe the same thing, and "care plan" is the name WordPress agencies tend to use. We call ours plans; the tiers and inclusions are the same whichever word you searched.

What's included in a website maintenance plan?

At minimum: tested core, plugin and theme updates, daily off-site backups, uptime and SSL monitoring and a monthly report. Better plans add security hardening, malware scanning, performance checks, support hours and a stated emergency response time. The comparison table above shows exactly which of our plans include which.

Which website maintenance plan do I need?

If the site is stable and doesn't take payments, bookings or many enquiries, Care is usually enough. If the site earns money, has been hacked before, or you'd be upset to lose a day of it, choose Care + Secure. If you manage five or more client sites, the Agency plan white-labels the same service.

What is a WordPress care plan?

A WordPress care plan is a maintenance package built around WordPress's update chain: core, theme and plugins tested together on a staging copy, plus backups, security and support. Both Care and Care + Secure are WordPress care plans; the WordPress maintenance page covers the platform-specific detail.

Do you have ecommerce website maintenance packages?

Yes. WooCommerce stores are usually best on Care + Secure, because updates have to be tested against checkout, payment gateways and stock before they reach the live store. Store sites carry a fixed surcharge for that extra testing, explained on the pricing page.

Can I get a plan with only updates and backups, and no support hours?

Yes, that's Care. It covers updates, backups, monitoring and the monthly report with no support hours bundled in. Any extra work is quoted before it starts or taken from ad-hoc hours.

Can I switch plans later?

Yes. Plans run month to month with thirty days' notice, so you can move up or down from the next month without a long-term contract holding you in place.

Are monthly website maintenance packages better than paying per fix?

For most business sites, yes. Paying per fix is cheaper only until something breaks, and a single hack cleanup or failed update can cost more than a year of a basic plan. The website maintenance cost guide sets out both options with typical market prices.

How much do website maintenance packages cost?

Every plan is published per site per month on the pricing page, next to typical market ranges, with no quote required. Agencies pay the same published rates at volume.

What's the difference between a website maintenance package and a website management package?

A maintenance package covers the technical upkeep: updates, backups, security and monitoring. A website management package usually adds the day-to-day running of the site on top: content updates, new pages, SEO housekeeping and reporting. Our plans are maintenance plans; management work is handled from support hours on Care + Secure, ad-hoc hours, or a growth retainer.

Do you offer a WordPress support plan?

Yes. Care + Secure is effectively a WordPress support plan as well as a maintenance plan: it adds a monthly allowance of support hours for changes and fixes, plus emergency response, on top of the scheduled WordPress website maintenance package in Care.

Start here

Not sure which plan fits?

Send the URL. We'll recommend a plan, explain why, and flag anything that needs fixing first, in writing and without a sales call.

  • 1We look at the live site: platform, size, and current update/security status.
  • 2You get written findings plus a plan recommendation and the reasoning behind it.
  • 3You decide what happens next. No follow-up sequence if you don't reply.

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