Illustration of WordPress maintenance costs

Getting a website designed and developed is only the beginning of being a website owner. Like it or not, there’s going to be ongoing fees, either monthly or annually. In today’s post, I’ll rundown the various fees you may be expected to pay to keep your website up and running.

Domain Name

You can’t have a website without a domain name. A domain name is like your website’s address on the internet. It’s the text people type into their browser to reach your website, like “google.com” or “amazon.com”. But instead of complex numerical IP addresses, domain names are easy-to-remember and relevant to your site’s content.

Where to Buy One:

You can buy domain names from various registrars, like GoDaddy, Register.com, Namecheap, etc.

Cost and Variations:

Domain prices can vary depending on several factors:

  • Top-Level Domain (TLD): The ending suffix like “.com”, “.org”, “.net”, etc. Popular TLDs like “.com” are usually more expensive.
  • Domain Name Length and Memorability: Shorter, more memorable names often cost more.
  • Domain Age and History: Existing domains with established history can be pricier.
  • Promotions and Discounts: Many registrars offer deals and coupons, so compare prices before buying.

Typical costs range from:

  • $1-$10/year: For common TLDs like “.com” with promotions or introductory offers.
  • $10-$50/year: For standard pricing on common TLDs.
  • $50-$100+: For premium domains with desirable names or shorter lengths.

You can also buy your domain for multiple years with at a discount.


Web Hosting

Imagine your website as a house and the files that make it up (text, images, code) as furniture and belongings. Web hosting is like renting space on a powerful computer called a server, which stores your website’s “stuff” and makes it accessible to the internet. When someone types your domain name, their browser connects to your server and delivers the content.

Where to Get Web Hosting:

Many companies offer web hosting services, ranging from budget-friendly shared plans to high-performance dedicated servers. Popular options include:

  • Shared hosting: Good for beginners, economical, sharing server resources with other websites.
  • VPS hosting: Offers more control and resources than shared hosting, like a virtual “apartment” on the server.
  • Dedicated hosting: Renting an entire server for maximum performance and control, like having your own house.

After 18 years in this business, I feel like I’ve used them all. But I have a few recommendations which you can find on our recommended hosts page. Prices range from $1.99 a month to $30 a month.

Cost and Variations:

Web hosting prices depend on your needs and the type of plan you choose. Here’s a general breakdown:

  • Shared hosting: $3-$30/month is common, good for basic websites.
  • VPS hosting: $20-$50/month, suitable for growing websites with more traffic.
  • Dedicated hosting: $50-$500+/month, ideal for high-traffic sites with demanding needs.
  • Managed WordPress Hosting: $10-$50+/month, ideal for WordPress site owners who prefer WordPress specific hosting

Additional factors influencing cost include:

  • Storage space: How much data your website requires to store.
  • Bandwidth: The amount of data transferred between your website and visitors.
  • Performance features: Optional add-ons like security certificates or automatic backups.

Tips for Choosing:

  • Start with shared hosting if you’re new and expect low traffic.
  • Consider scalability: choose a plan that can grow with your website.
  • Compare features and prices across different providers.

Premium Plugins

If you are building your own site, you may have decided that using a premium plugin or theme is a good idea. And if we built your site, then you’re going to get a few premium plugins included with your site, and your support plan will include the cost of maintaining those licenses. Here are a few examples of premium plugins that you we include in our sites.

  • Beaver Builder: This is a premium page builder. The base cost of this plugin alone is $99, however on sites we create, we use Beaver Builder and Beaver Themer ($147), Beaver Builder PowerPack ($59). These fees are all per year.
  • Gravity Forms: There are lots of form plugins, but we use Gravity Forms. Others include WP Forms, Formidable Forms, or Ninja Forms. The basic license for Gravity Forms is $59 depending on what features you need, and for the other forms you can expect to pay between $40-$50 a year for the basic levels and higher for additional features.
  • WP Rocket: This is a caching plugin, and it helps your site run faster. Caching is important. There are lots of caching plugins, and some are even free. But I like WP Rocket the best, and I think it’s a worthwhile investment. It’s $59 a year for a single site.

If you work with us, you get access to all of these plugins as part of your package and ongoing support plan. But if you are building your own site, expect to pay these fees for your premium plugins. And this doesn’t count if you have additional premium software, like Membership plugins or e-Commerce plugins.


Premium Themes

Some people choose to buy a premium theme, and these can vary according to your vendor. I have a lot of opinions about low-cost WordPress themes, and you can go read that post if you want to know more. You can buy a theme pretty much anywhere. When we build sites, we create our own custom child theme using the Beaver Builder Theme as a framework. You do have to use the Beaver Builder Plugin if you want to use the Beaver Builder Theme, and the package to get both is $199 a year (for the base level.)


Backups

I’m a big fan of backups. And I like having backups of my backups. Your host is probably doing backups, at least if they are a good host. And if they aren’t, you should find a new host. But you should also make your own backups, that you store off-site. If you are purchasing a support plan from us, backups are included in your package. We will store up to 90 days of backups, so if something happens, we can restore your site hopefully in minutes. (Technically, that is always true because 7000 minutes is still in minutes.)

Anyway, if you aren’t going to use our support plan, which I will discuss next, you need to have your own backup system. Some popular choices for WordPress include Updraft, VaultPress, and BlogVault. You can expect to pay anywhere from $36 to $199 per year for this service.

There are ways to manually backup your site, or set up a manual automated backup, but these options require some technical skill and may not be suitable for beginners.


Website Support Plans

If you are having your website built by or, or by someone else, you may be recommended or required to purchase a support plan. You may wonder why you need this, if your website is done. Well, all websites need care and looking after. Software updates, backups, security scanning, uptime monitoring, and the license renewals for your premium software. All this is included in your support plan. Some agencies will require it if they build your site, and that’s because they want your site to stay healthy and they want to keep your software up-to-date. And most business owners, even with the best intentions, forget to login and take care of these tasks. A good support plan will cost you anywhere from $50 to $150 a month or more depending on the company.


Are there other fees you could expect to pay? It really depends on your website, how it functions, and what tools are used. There could be! It’s best to go over all this with the web design company you choose to make sure that you understand all of your options and what’s required to keep your website in the best shape.

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Amy Masson, Web Developer
Owner/Developer

Amy Masson

Amy is the co-owner, developer, and website strategist for Sumy Designs. She's been making websites with WordPress since 2006 and is passionate about making sure websites are as functional as they are beautiful.

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