Website Maintenance Packages: What to Include and What to Charge
Last updated . Every price on this page was checked October 1, 2026.
A website maintenance package is a monthly service that keeps a client's site updated, backed up, secure and online, sold in tiers so clients can pick how much help they want. The core is the same on any platform: updates, backups, security checks, uptime monitoring and speed work. For pricing, published plans give you a reference point: GoWP lists WordPress maintenance at $39 to $99 per site a month, and WP Buffs lists $89 to $359 a month, as of October 2026.
What goes in a monthly website maintenance package?
The core upkeep, a set amount of small changes, and a short report. Every package starts with the core upkeep: updates, backups, security, uptime and speed work. For each task in detail, see WordPress maintenance.
What turns that upkeep into a package you can sell:
| Package item | What to decide | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Small changes | Which edits count, and how many a month | Text edits, image swaps, small fixes. Set a monthly limit |
| "Site down" response | Who answers, and how the client reaches you | Put it in writing so the client knows who to call |
| Monthly report | What it shows | Updates run, backups taken, uptime and fixes |
| Hosting (optional) | Whether you resell it or the client pays for it | See website hosting cost |
| Out-of-scope work | How new work is billed | A quote per job, an hourly rate, or a bank of hours |
How do you set up maintenance package tiers?
Give every tier the same core upkeep, then add people's time as the tiers go up. Here's one way to set up three tiers. It shows structure only. Set your own prices.
| What's included | Basic | Standard | Full care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Updates for the platform, plugins, themes or apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backups, with one before every update | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Uptime monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Security monitoring and malware scans | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| A check of the live site after updates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Speed check and fixes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Small content changes each month | No | A few | More |
| Monthly report | Short | Yes | Yes, with notes |
| Bug fixes and small features | No | No | Yes |
Keep the tiers about what's included, so clients can see what more money buys. For whether a client should run WordPress upkeep themselves or buy a plan, see WordPress maintenance plans.
To sort out which maintenance jobs you could hand off, the Ultimate Task Delegation Template helps you list them. You get the template plus a video walkthrough.
Get the Task Delegation Template
The button opens the template page on DeskTeam360's site.
How is maintenance different for Shopify or Squarespace sites?
The core is the same, but the tasks shift to what each platform lets you control.
- Shopify. Shopify says each feature you add to a store, like apps, images and videos, can slow the site. So a Shopify package leans on reviewing apps, keeping theme and app updates in check, and watching speed after each change.
- Squarespace and other hosted builders. There's no WordPress core or plugins to update. The platform charges its own plan: Squarespace lists its plans at $19 to $99 a month paid yearly, or $25 to $139 paid monthly, as of October 2026. A package there leans on content changes, checks, reports and small fixes.
- WordPress. The full list of core, plugin and theme updates, plus backups before each one.
Price each platform's package by the work it takes, not by the name on it.
How much should you charge for website maintenance?
Charge your cost to deliver each site, plus your margin, and check the result against published plans. Two companies that sell WordPress maintenance list these prices:
| Company | Listed price, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| GoWP | $39 to $99 per site a month |
| WP Buffs | $89 to $359 a month |
These are list prices from two companies, not market averages. To set your own:
- Add up what one site costs you each month: your people's time, tools and any partner fees.
- Add the margin you need.
- Compare the result with the published plans above.
- Set tiers by what's included, not by the size of the client.
How much should you charge for website design and maintenance?
Price them as two things: a one-time fee for the build and a monthly fee for maintenance. Published guides put a basic professional website at about $1,000 to $3,000, from a GoodFirms survey of 300+ web firms (2026), and Forbes Advisor says professional design starts at $1,500 (2026). The monthly package then sits on top, priced with the steps above.
Keeping the two apart shows your client what's ongoing and what isn't, and it keeps the site paying you after launch.
How do you sell maintenance to existing clients?
Start with the clients whose sites you built. They already trust you with the site, so offer to keep it safe.
The Tobie Group shows how. Ryan Burch founded the Arizona marketing agency in 2019 and started with paid ads. Clients then needed landing pages, custom builds and tech work, and DeskTeam360 took on that web work. Later the agency added website upkeep to what it sells, with reports and updates for its clients. That became a new monthly income line.
A simple way to roll it out:
- List your past sites and who owns each one's hosting and logins.
- Pick the tier that fits each client, using the tier table above.
- Send a short offer: what you'll do each month, what it costs, and what the report will show.
- Onboard each site: get the logins, take a first backup, and run the first round of updates.
- Send the first report at the end of the month, even if nothing broke.
If you'd rather not do the work in-house, a white label partner can. DeskTeam360 includes website maintenance in its plans, works under the agency's brand so clients never see its name, and offers white-label delivery on every plan.
More on WordPress and website maintenance
If you want to sell maintenance without doing every update yourself, start by listing the jobs. The step-by-step guide to outsourcing web work shows what to hand off first.
Get the Task Delegation Template
The button opens the template page on DeskTeam360's site. You get the template plus a video walkthrough.
Sources
- GoWP, pricing
- WP Buffs, plans
- Shopify Help Center, web performance
- Squarespace, pricing
- GoodFirms, website construction cost survey
- Forbes Advisor, how much does a website cost
- DeskTeam360, website maintenance (deskteam360.com)
- DeskTeam360, white label (deskteam360.com)
- DeskTeam360, home page (deskteam360.com)
- DeskTeam360 case study: The Tobie Group (deskteam360.com/case-studies)
All checked October 1, 2026. DeskTeam360's pages and the case study were checked September 25, 2026.
What changed
- October 1, 2026: First version of this page.
- October 1, 2026: Now covers any platform (Shopify and Squarespace added), adds tier setup and how to sell maintenance to existing clients. New description.
- October 1, 2026: The first table now covers package items only, with the core tasks linked out. Reworded the Squarespace line.