How much does website maintenance really cost per year?

Why your website costs money after the build

You paid for a website. Maybe €500, maybe €2,000. You think that's it? Unfortunately, it's not. A website is like a car. The purchase is just the beginning, and the real costs come over years of use.

Every month, your website needs someone to keep it on a server, renew the domain, apply security patches and create backups. If you use WordPress, add plugin and theme updates on top of that. All of this costs money, and most agencies and freelancers stay quiet about it until the first renewal bill arrives.

The good news is that these costs don't have to be high, especially if you choose the right type of website from the start. Let's break down each line item with concrete numbers.

Hosting - where your site lives

Hosting is the most fundamental cost. Without it, your website simply doesn't exist on the internet. The server that holds your website runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and someone has to pay for that.

Shared hosting

The most affordable option. Your site shares a server with dozens or hundreds of other sites. For small businesses with up to 1,000 visits per month, this is perfectly adequate. Cost: €40-100 per year.

VPS hosting (virtual private server)

You get a dedicated portion of a server all to yourself. Better performance, more control, but also a higher price. For sites with more traffic or more complex needs. Cost: €130-400 per year.

Managed WordPress hosting

Specialized servers optimized for WordPress. They include automatic updates, caching, and security scans. Sounds great, but the price reflects it. Cost: €200-600 per year.

Domain - your address on the internet

A domain is what people type into their browser to reach your site. It's registered annually and must be renewed regularly. If you forget to renew your domain, someone else can register it, and you lose your web address.

• .com domain - €10-15 per year. The universal choice, great for any business. The most popular domain extension in the world.
• .eu domain - €5-10 per year. An affordable option for businesses that want a European identity.
• Country-code domains (e.g. .co.uk, .de, .hr) - €7-85 per year depending on the country. A premium choice for businesses targeting a specific local market.

Watch out for registrars that offer the first year at a low price but then charge significantly more for renewal. Always check the renewal price, not just the initial registration cost.

SSL certificate - security and trust

An SSL certificate is what enables HTTPS on your site. That little padlock in the browser that shows visitors your site is secure. Without SSL, Google will flag your site as "Not Secure," and visitors will leave.

Good news: SSL doesn't have to cost anything today. Let's Encrypt offers completely free SSL certificates that renew automatically. Cloudflare also includes free SSL. If your hosting provider doesn't offer free SSL in 2026, switch providers.

Paid SSL certificates (€50-300 per year) are only needed for specific cases like high-traffic online stores that require an Extended Validation certificate.

Security updates - the WordPress nightmare

This is the line item most people don't anticipate, and it can cost more than everything else combined. If you have a WordPress site, security updates are mandatory, not optional.

The WordPress ecosystem consists of three layers that all need regular updating: the WordPress core, which releases new versions every few weeks; themes that define your site's appearance; and plugins, of which the average WordPress site has 20-30 active.

Every update carries the risk that something breaks. A plugin conflicts with the new WordPress version. A theme looks different after updating. Two plugins clash and the site goes down. That means someone needs to test every update and react when something goes wrong.

What happens when you neglect updates?

Outdated plugins are the primary attack vector for WordPress sites. Hackers exploit known vulnerabilities in popular plugins to inject malicious code, redirect your visitors to suspicious sites, or use your server for sending spam.

Fixing a hacked WordPress site typically costs €300-2,000, depending on the extent of the damage. Add days of downtime, lost Google rankings and damaged customer trust on top of that.

Backups - your safety net

What happens if your hosting provider has a server issue and your data disappears? Or if an update breaks your site? Without a backup, you start from scratch. With a backup, you restore your site in minutes.

Quality hosting providers include automatic daily backups. But don't rely solely on that. Always keep your own copy of your website.

• Automatic hosting backup - usually included or €20-50 per year
• Cloud backup (Google Drive, Dropbox) - free up to 15 GB
• Professional backup services - €50-200 per year for WordPress

Content updates - how much time you need

A website that hasn't changed in years sends a signal to Google that it's abandoned. And abandoned sites drop in search results. That doesn't mean you need to publish content every day, but occasional updates are necessary.

Basic things you need to update: contact details when they change, pricing when you have new services or rates, your portfolio with new projects, business hours (especially around holidays), and occasionally writing a blog post that demonstrates your expertise.

If you don't have a CMS (content management system) and need someone to make changes for you, expect €30-100 per change or €50-200 per month for regular updates.

If you have a site written in clean code (like the ones we build), content changes are straightforward and don't require knowledge of complex systems. And with our Standard and Premium packages, a full year of support and changes is included in the price.

Monitoring and uptime - who's watching your site

Have you ever visited someone's website and seen a "500 Internal Server Error" or "Site Unavailable" message? That happens when nobody is tracking whether the site is running properly. Your potential customer goes to a competitor at that point.

Uptime monitoring services check your site every few minutes and send an alert when something isn't working. Basic free plans (UptimeRobot, Freshping) are perfectly adequate for small businesses. Professional services cost €50-200 per year.

Annual costs - comparison by site type

Here's a direct comparison of annual maintenance costs for three common scenarios. The numbers are based on real market prices in 2026.

When you add up all the costs, a static HTML site is by far the most affordable option for small businesses. Not just in terms of the bill, but also the amount of your time you save. The time you'd spend updating WordPress, you can invest in your business.

Hidden costs nobody warns you about

Beyond the mandatory expenses, there are costs that catch you off guard. Usually at the worst possible moment.

• Migration fee - want to move your site to a different provider? Many agencies charge €200-500 for that. With us, you get the full source code of your website and can transfer it wherever you want at no charge.
• Fee for small changes - changing a phone number, adding a new image. Some agencies charge €30-80 per change, even for trivial updates.
• Domain renewal at a higher price - some registrars offer the first year cheap, then charge significantly more for renewal. Always check the renewal price, not just the registration cost.
• Emergency fixes - your site went down on a Saturday night? Most providers charge extra for after-hours work.
• Failed backups - you only find out the backup wasn't running (or the files are corrupted) when you actually need it. Recovery cost: €200-1,000, or you start from scratch.
• Hacked site repair - €300-2,000, plus days of downtime and lost Google rankings.

Our solution - everything included in one price

Because of all these costs and complications, our packages are designed to cover everything. When you order a Starter, Standard or Premium package, the price includes:

• Hosting for the first year - fast server with Cloudflare CDN, not shared with thousands of other sites
• Domain for the first year - .com, .eu or another of your choice
• SSL certificate - renews automatically, always active
• Technical support - changes, questions, help, all included for the first year
• Uptime monitoring - we track whether your site is running 24/7
• Backups - regular backups of your website
• Code ownership - the code is yours, and you can transfer it to anyone without any fees

After the first year, costs are transparent: hosting around €60-100 per year and a domain around €15 per year. That's it. No hidden fees, no contractual obligations, no surprises.

And because we build static sites written in clean code, you don't need to pay for security updates, WordPress licenses or specialized hosting. Your site simply works - fast and secure.