Website maintenance
Website maintenance plans that keep your site up to date and secure.
A website is software, and software that is left alone goes out of date. Our website maintenance plans cover WordPress core, plugin and theme updates, off-site backups, malware scanning and an uptime check every 10 minutes, with a support desk for edits and fixes. There are four care plans, and every one of them is priced and compared on this page.
Since 2021 serving Canadian businesses
Vancouver based, working across Canada
Uptime checked every 10 minutes
Chosen by
Why we offer website maintenance
We build websites. Maintenance is how they stay the way we built them.
A site rarely breaks on launch day. It breaks months later, after the updates nobody applied and the backup nobody checked. We offer maintenance because looking after a site costs less than rescuing one, and because we would rather your site keeps working than build you a new one early.
Without maintenance
Updates pile up
WordPress, its plugins and PHP release updates all year. Out-of-date plugins are one of the most common ways WordPress sites get broken into, and nobody is assigned to press the button.
With a care plan
Updates on a schedule
Core, plugins and theme are updated every month, or every week on Growth and above, by someone whose job it is.
Without maintenance
An update breaks a page and nobody sees it
The contact form stops sending or the checkout shows an error, and the first person to notice is a customer who gives up.
With a care plan
Checked after every update
We look at the site after each update run. If something broke, the working version is restored and the cause is fixed.
Without maintenance
The backup was never there
The only copy sits on the same server as the site, or the backup plugin stopped running months ago. You find out on the day you need it.
With a care plan
Off-site backups you can restore
A copy is stored away from the server every day. Premium SEO+ adds a snapshot before every update with one-click rollback.
Without maintenance
The site goes down on a Friday night
It stays down until Monday, because the only alarm is a customer telling you about it.
With a care plan
An uptime check every 10 minutes
The site is checked around the clock, so an outage is seen when it starts and not days later.
Without maintenance
Google notices before you do
Slow pages, broken links and security warnings build up quietly, and rankings you worked for start to slip.
With a care plan
Reports that show the trend
A monthly care report on every plan. Growth and above add Analytics checks, SEO monitoring and keyword tracking every month.
What every plan includes
Eight things every care plan covers, starting with Starter.
This is the base that keeps a website updated and safe. The higher plans do the same work more often and add SEO, speed and development time on top.
Core, plugin and theme updates
WordPress core, every plugin and your theme are updated each month by a person, and the site is checked afterwards. On Growth and above, plugin and theme updates move to every week, and Premium SEO+ stages them first with a snapshot to roll back to.
Off-site backups
A copy of the site is stored away from the server every day and kept for 30 days, so a server problem cannot take the backup with it. Premium SEO+ adds a snapshot before every update with one-click rollback.
Uptime monitoring
The site is checked every 10 minutes, day and night, and every 5 minutes from several regions on Enterprise. When it stops answering we know at that moment, not when a customer calls you.
Security monitoring and malware scanning
The site is scanned for malware every day and watched for changes that should not be there. On Premium SEO+ and Enterprise the scanning runs in real time, so a file is checked the moment it changes. If something is found, removal is included on every plan. Security patches are applied as soon as they are released, outside the regular update schedule, on every plan.
Monthly care report
A short report every month showing what was updated, what was found and what was fixed. Growth and above add a Google Analytics and SEO summary in plain words.
Hands-on work included each month
Every plan includes a set number of hours each month for the things you ask us to do by hand, such as changing text or images, adding a page, fixing a layout problem or adjusting a form. Routine updates, backups and scans never count against these hours. The hours reset each month, and anything bigger than the allowance is quoted before it starts. The hours for each plan are in the table below.
Ticketed support desk
Requests go to our support desk, so nothing sits in one person’s inbox. Every request is acknowledged the same day. Fixes are done within two business days on Starter and the same day on Growth and above.
PHP, database and forms
The PHP version is upgraded once a year, the database is cleaned every quarter, and the contact forms are tested after every update run, so the parts nobody looks at keep working.
A care plan is optional
Your site is yours with or without a plan. Three plans have one fixed monthly price, Enterprise is scoped to your setup, and all of them are compared further down this page.
Website maintenance pricing
Four care plans, compared line by line.
Starter, Growth and Premium SEO+ have one fixed monthly price. Enterprise starts at $2,600 and is scoped to your setup. Pick the one that matches how much your business depends on the site. Choosing a plan fills in the form at the bottom of the page, and a project lead confirms the details before anything is charged.
| Compare the plans | Starter Care$800per month, or $720 a month paid yearlyFor small business sites that need to be kept updated, backed up and watched by someone accountable.Choose Starter | Growth$1,500per month, or $1,350 a month paid yearlyFor lead-generation sites where search visibility and speed are part of the job.Choose Growth | Most popularPremium SEO+$2,000per month, or $1,800 a month paid yearlyFor online stores and sites where search traffic is a main source of sales.Choose Premium SEO+ | Enterprise CustomFrom $2,600per month, scoped to your setupFor multi-site, multi-language and regulated setups. The price depends on what is in scope.Talk to us |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Updates and backups | ||||
| Core, plugin and theme updates | Monthly, checked afterwards | Weekly | Weekly, staged first, snapshot and one-click rollback | Custom schedule, change approvals, audit log |
| Security patches | Applied as released | Applied as released | Applied as released | Applied as released |
| Off-site backups | Daily, 30-day retention | Daily, 30-day retention | Daily, plus a snapshot before every update | Hourly database, daily files, 90-day retention, priced by database and file size |
| Tests after updates | Contact forms | Contact forms | Forms and a daily checkout test order | Custom test suite |
| PHP and database upkeep | PHP upgraded once a year and the database cleaned every quarter. A copy of the removed rows and logs is kept for 7 days | PHP upgraded once a year and the database cleaned every quarter, with a speed check after each clean. A copy of the removed rows and logs is kept for 14 days | PHP upgraded once a year and the database cleaned every month, including old carts, sessions, order logs and scheduled-task records that slow a store down. A copy of the removed rows and logs is kept for 30 days | PHP upgraded when you approve it, inside a maintenance window you set, and the database cleaned every month across all sites. A copy of the removed rows and logs is kept for 90 days |
| Security and uptime | ||||
| Malware scanning and removal | Daily scan, removal included | Daily scan, removal included | Real-time scanning, removal included | Real-time scanning, removal included, quarterly external scan |
| Login hardening and two-factor | Not included | Included | Included | plus firewall rule management |
| Uptime monitoring | Every 10 minutes | Every 10 minutes | Every 10 minutes, plus a daily test order through the checkout | Every 5 minutes from several regions, on several pages, plus a daily test order and form submission |
| Store support | Not included | Not included | WooCommerce and Shopify, PCI checklist twice a year | Included |
| Growth and tooling | ||||
| SEO | Not included | 10 keywords, monthly on-page checkup, broken-link scan, Search Console review | 20 keywords, advanced audits, broken links fixed, one optimized page or article a month | Custom |
| Analytics and speed | Not included | Monthly Analytics health check and speed check | Monthly Analytics health check and speed check | Custom KPI dashboard |
| Staging and version control | Not included | Staging copy | Staging copy | Staging, version control, change approvals |
| Multi-language and multi-domain | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Plugin licences | Tracked, renewal reminders sent to you | Tracked, renewal reminders sent to you | Tracked, renewal reminders sent to you | Tracked, renewal reminders sent to you |
| Support | ||||
| Hands-on work included each month | 1 hour of edits and small fixes, such as text, images, a page or a form | 3 hours of edits and small fixes, such as text, images, pages, forms or a plugin setting | 6 hours for edits, small fixes and small development or marketing tasks, such as a landing page or a tracking change | 10 hours for edits, fixes, development and marketing tasks across all your sites |
| Support response | Same-day acknowledgement, fix within 2 business days | Same day, priority queue | Same day, priority, weekend emergency line | Service level agreement with an emergency line |
| Reports | Monthly care report | Monthly care report with Analytics and SEO summary | Monthly care, Analytics and sales summary | Custom monthly KPI dashboard |
| Review calls | Not included | Not included | Quarterly with your project lead | Monthly |
| Support channel | Support desk | Support desk | Support desk | Dedicated Microsoft Teams channel |
| Choose a plan | Choose Starter | Choose Growth | Choose Premium SEO+ | Talk to us |
Enterprise starts at $2,600 a month and the final figure depends on the number of sites, languages, the service level you need, and the size of the database and files to back up. It is confirmed in your written quote before anything is charged.
Need something different? The add-ons below attach to any plan, and if a line you need is missing we adjust a plan to fit.
What gets updated
- WordPress core, including security releases
- Every active plugin, free and licensed
- The theme and its child theme
- WooCommerce and its extensions on Premium SEO+
WebCrafters Cloud hosting
- Nginx with PHP-FPM
- Redis caching and an edge CDN
- WAF and DDoS protection
- Data centres in Canada or the United States
Platforms we maintain
- WordPress and WooCommerce
- Shopify
- Magento
- Custom-built websites
Add-ons for any plan
Each one is a separate line on your plan invoice and can be added or removed at least 5 days before the next billing date.
- Site review and deep audit before a plan starts, free for WebCrafters hosting and web design customersFrom $500 one time
- Ella AI assistant on your site, with hosting and a monthly knowledge refresh. Model usage is billed separately, pay as you go$149 per month
- Marketing automation care, workflow monitoring and one new sequence each quarterFrom $199 per month
- Additional site on the same plan50% of the plan price
- Extra hands-on hours, in 5-hour blocks, valid for 6 months$600 per block
- Accessibility check, WCAG AA sweep twice a year$79 per month
- Security hardening review, firewall rules, two-factor rollout and access auditFrom $249 one time
The same terms on every plan
- Billed monthly, month to month, cancel any time at least 5 days before the next billing date
- Prepaid discounts on the plan price, 3 percent for 3 months, 5 percent for 6 months and 10 percent for 12 months. Prepaid terms are not refundable, can be moved to another site you own, and do not apply to add-ons or hourly work
- Unused hands-on hours do not roll over, and work beyond the allowance is quoted before it starts
- Hosting is always priced separately, on WebCrafters Cloud or elsewhere
- Premium plugin licences stay in your name and you renew them. We track the dates and remind you before anything lapses
- Not included on any plan are redesigns, new features, ad management, platform fees and plugin licence fees
- A hacked site is cleaned up first as a one-time job, see website security, and joins a plan once it is clean
Before a plan starts
Every site is checked before we agree to look after it.
A care plan works best on a site that starts in good shape, so the order is always the same. Check first, fix what the check finds, then start.
- 1First, for every siteSite review and deep auditEvery website is reviewed and audited before a plan starts, including the sites we built. The audit starts at $500, is quoted up front and usually takes a few business days. It is free for current WebCrafters customers, meaning sites we host on WebCrafters Cloud or designed.
- 2Sent in writingAction plan in priority orderEvery issue, from security and outdated software to hosting and performance, so you can see exactly what stands between the site and a healthy plan.
- 3Depends on the findingsFixes first, if the audit finds anyIf the audit finds nothing serious, the site joins the plan straight away. If it finds work that has to happen first, we tell you before anything is charged and you choose who does it, us on a separate quote or your own developer. We review the result either way.
- 4Then we beginPlan starts once the issues are fixedFirst full backup, monitoring on, updates on schedule. A plan starts on a site in good shape, which is what makes the plan worth paying for.
Not sure which plan fits?
Tell Ella about your site. Ella will tell you which care plan fits.
Six quick questions about what the site runs, how it is looked after today and what would hurt most if it broke. You get a plain-words recommendation of the plan that fits and the reasons for it. Two minutes, no jargon, no obligation.
Ella is automated and can make mistakes. Your written quote from a project lead is the final word.
How it works
From sign-up to your first report, and why we check first.
Setting up takes about a week for a healthy site, and longer when the audit finds work that has to be done first. After that the work runs on a schedule, and you hear from us when something needs your decision.
01
Site review and deep audit
Every website goes through a site review and a deep audit before a plan starts, including the sites we built. We look at what the site runs, how it is hosted, what is out of date and whether it has been compromised. The audit starts at $500, is quoted up front and usually takes a few business days. It is free for current WebCrafters customers, meaning websites we host on WebCrafters Cloud or designed.
First, for every site
02
Written action plan
The audit produces a written action plan with every issue in priority order, from security and outdated software to hosting and performance, so you can see exactly what stands between the site and a healthy plan.
Within a week of the audit
03
Fixes first, if the audit finds any
If the audit finds nothing serious, the site joins the plan straight away. If it finds work that has to happen first, we tell you before anything is charged and you choose who does it, us on a separate quote or your own developer. When the work is done, tell us and we review it before the plan goes live.
Depends on the findings
04
Plan starts once the issues are fixed
The plan starts once the action plan is done and we have reviewed it. A plan starts on a site in good shape, which is what makes it worth paying for. If the audit shows a site that cannot be brought to that point at a reasonable cost, we say so and recommend a rebuild or another route instead.
After the fixes
05
Monitoring on, updates on schedule
The uptime check and malware scanning are switched on, then core, plugin and theme updates run on your plan’s schedule with the site checked afterwards. If an update causes a problem, we restore the working version and fix the cause.
Monthly or weekly
06
Reports and hands-on hours
Your care report arrives every month, and your hands-on hours are there for edits and fixes through the support desk.
Every month
Questions
What owners ask about website maintenance.
If yours is not here, the full list is one click away, or just pick up the phone.
Still have a question?
Call us on a weekday, or send a note and we will get back to you within one business day.
Do I need a website maintenance plan?
No, a maintenance plan is not required. Care plans are optional and your site is yours either way. What is not optional is the work itself. Someone has to apply updates, keep backups and notice when the site goes down. If you have a person who does that reliably, you may not need us. If nobody does, a plan costs less than cleaning up after a hack or a failed update.
What happens if a WordPress update breaks my site?
If an update breaks your site, we restore it from backup and then fix the cause. The site is checked after every update run, and because it is backed up off site, we can restore the working version first, then find which update caused the problem and fix it. On the Enterprise plan, updates go through a staging copy and version control before they reach the live site.
Do you maintain websites you did not build?
Yes, we maintain websites we did not build. We look after WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento and custom-built websites, whoever built them. The plan starts with a review of the site, so we both know its condition before the first update.
Does website maintenance help SEO?
Website maintenance protects the search rankings you already have. Google favours pages that load quickly, work on phones and are safe to visit, and a site with broken links, slow pages or a malware warning loses ground. Every plan keeps the site updated and online. Growth adds on-page SEO checkups, keyword monitoring and monthly reports, and Premium SEO+ adds advanced audits and broken link scans. No maintenance plan can guarantee a ranking, and we do not promise one.
How often should a website be maintained?
A website should be maintained at least once a month. WordPress and most plugins release updates more often than that, and security fixes should not wait long. That is why Starter updates monthly, Growth and above update plugins and themes weekly, security patches go on as soon as they are released, and every plan checks uptime at least every 10 minutes.
What are the monthly hands-on hours in a maintenance plan, and what do they cover?
Every plan includes a set number of hours each month for work you ask us to do by hand. That covers content edits and small fixes, such as changing text or images, adding a page, fixing a layout problem or adjusting a form. On Premium SEO+ and Enterprise the same hours can also go to small development or marketing tasks, such as a landing page or a tracking change. Routine updates, backups, scans and reports are part of the plan and never count against the hours. Requests go through the support desk, the hours reset each month and do not roll over, and anything bigger than the allowance is quoted before it starts.
Can I cancel a website maintenance plan, and is hosting included?
Yes, every plan is month to month and you can cancel at any time, at least 5 days before the next billing date. Hosting is not included in any plan. It is always priced separately, whether your site runs on WebCrafters Cloud or with another host, so you can see exactly what the care costs and what the server costs. Premium plugin licences stay in your name and you renew them. We track the dates and remind you before anything lapses.
Do you accept every website onto a maintenance plan?
No, we do not accept sites as they are, because a care plan only works on a site that starts in good shape. Every website goes through a site review and a deep audit before a plan starts, including the sites we built. The audit starts at $500, is quoted up front and usually takes a few business days. It is free for current WebCrafters customers, meaning websites we host on WebCrafters Cloud or designed. The audit produces a written action plan. If it finds nothing serious, the site joins the plan straight away. If it finds work that has to happen first, we tell you before anything is charged and you choose who does it, us on a separate quote or your own developer, and the plan starts once the work is done and we have reviewed it. If a site cannot be kept healthy at a reasonable cost, we say so and recommend a rebuild or another route instead.
Is there a discount for paying for website maintenance in advance?
Yes. Paying 3 months in advance takes 3 percent off the plan price, 6 months takes 5 percent off, and 12 months takes 10 percent off. The discount applies to the plan only, not to add-ons or hourly work. Prepaid terms are not refundable, but they can be moved to another website you own, and the price is locked for the term.
Start today
Tell us about your site. A project lead replies within one business day.
Two minutes to fill in, no obligation. Give us the address of the site and the plan you are looking at. We review the site, confirm the plan that fits and tell you when we can start.
- Four care plans, all priced on this page
- Uptime checked every 10 minutes
- Support hours included with every plan
"*" indicates required fields