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Website care plans

Monthly upkeep that keeps your site working, with set hours for changes. Priced in a written plan after a short call. You own the code and the accounts.

Updated October 28, 2026

How does a monthly website maintenance plan work?

A monthly website maintenance plan is a fixed fee for upkeep: each month the site's updates are tested and applied, and the plan's hours cover the small changes you ask for, with anything larger priced in writing first. Keep holds one hour a month, Grow three and Run six, and each larger plan replies sooner. Every proposal pre-selects Keep, which you can strike.

Definition

A website care plan: A website care plan is a monthly agreement under which a developer keeps a live site in working order: watching that it stays up, backing it up, applying the updates its code depends on and making small changes on request. It exists because a site is software, and software ages, since the libraries it is built on release fixes and the browsers it runs in keep changing. A care plan pays for that upkeep, not for hosting, which stays on the owner's own accounts, and a site keeps running without one.

Key facts

What you get

Three plans cover the same ground at different depths. The list below runs from what every plan includes to what the larger plans add.

  • Monitoring and uptime checks on the live site
  • Backups of the site and its content
  • Dependency and security updates, tested before they go live
  • One hour of changes a month on Keep, three on Grow and six on Run
  • On Grow and Run, a monthly check that the pages stay fast and the forms still arrive
  • On Run, a standing slot for new pages and small features

How it goes

A care plan starts after launch. The proposal for any site we build pre-selects the Keep plan, and you can strike it before you sign; the written plan names the monthly price and what counts as a change.

Each month we keep the site backed up and apply the updates its code depends on, testing each one before it goes live. You send changes as they come up. On Keep we reply to each within two business days, on Grow by the next business day and on Run the same business day, first in line. Business days are Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Los Angeles time, and never Saturday; a request after the day's cutoff (4 p.m., noon on a Friday, 2 p.m. on a Sunday) counts from the next business day. Each change is done within the plan's hours or priced in writing before we start.

Where it fits

Each plan is a fixed monthly fee, and a larger plan costs more because it holds more hours of changes and a faster reply. The written plan names the fee for the plan you pick before you sign. Hosting, domains and software are never part of a plan: they run on your own accounts and your own card, at cost.

A custom app or CRM has its own support retainer instead, priced as a share of the build each year with a monthly minimum.

Your price
Set in a written plan after a short call

Three ways to keep a site running

In short

A builder platform maintains its own software while you keep your content current. A site built as code needs someone to apply its updates, and a care plan turns that into a fixed monthly line.

Every route has a cost after launch, even the ones that look free. The table shows who does the upkeep in each case.

Three ways to maintain a website, side by side
A DIY toolA templateCustom
What it isA builder platform that updates itselfA template site you or a freelancer keep updatedA care plan on a site built as code
Who applies updatesThe platform, on its own scheduleYou, or whoever you can find when something breaksWe do, testing each one before it reaches the live site
Cost over timeThe subscription, which already covers upkeepPlugin renewals, plus hours when something breaksA fixed monthly fee for the plan, with hosting on your own account
Small changesYou make them in the editorYou, or a developer by the hourAn hour a month on Keep, three on Grow, six on Run
Best fitAn owner who wants to do it allA simple site with a handy ownerA site that has to keep working while you run the business

Swipe sideways to see every column

A worked example (hypothetical)

Picture a two-chair barbershop with a Starter site and a booking link. The owner asks for new prices twice a year and a holiday closure now and then, and otherwise leaves the site alone.

The Keep plan would cover it: the site stays monitored and updated, and the price changes fit inside the hour of changes each month. Over a year that is twelve payments of the same monthly fee, and nothing more unless the owner asks for new work.

If the owner later wanted a monthly check that the pages stay fast and the forms still arrive, the Grow plan adds it, with three hours of changes. A new page for each barber would be priced in writing as its own work, or fit the standing slot that comes with Run.

Common questions

What does a website care plan cost?

A fixed monthly fee, named in the written plan before you sign. Keep costs the least and Run the most, since each step up holds more hours of changes and a faster reply. Hosting and domains are not included; they stay on your own accounts, billed to you at cost.

Who maintains my website after launch?

For the first 30 days, bugs are covered by the warranty that comes with every build. After that, whoever you choose: a care plan with us is one option, and since the code and the accounts are in your name, any developer can take it on.

Do I need a care plan?

No. A site keeps running without one, and any later change is priced in writing first. A plan is worth it when you would rather not think about updates and backups, or when you change the site often.

How is a care plan different from a support retainer?

A care plan looks after a website, for a fixed monthly fee. A custom app or CRM has its own support retainer instead, priced as a share of the build each year with a monthly minimum, because an app has more moving parts to keep working.

Does a care plan include hosting?

Never. Hosting, the domain and any software subscriptions run on your own accounts and your own card, at cost, with no markup from us. The plan pays for the work of keeping the site healthy.

What counts as a change?

A small edit to what is already there, such as new prices or a new photo. New pages and features are priced in writing as their own work, unless you are on Run, which keeps a standing slot for them.

Start with a written plan

Tell us about the business and what you need. We reply with questions, then a written plan that lists the work and its price, and nothing starts until you have read it.