Short answer: a common rule of thumb puts maintenance at 15 to 20% of what the website or app cost to build, every year. One app development guide attributes that range to the Consortium for Information & Software Quality (CISQ) for small and medium business products (source). How you pay it matters as much as the amount. A yearly contract plus separate hosting bills and a single monthly plan can cover very different things, so compare what is included before you compare prices.
What website maintenance covers
Maintenance is everything a website or app needs after launch to keep working:
- Hosting. The server your site runs on, billed every month or every year.
- Domain and https certificate. Your web address, renewed every year, and the certificate that keeps visitors' connections private.
- Security updates. Updates to the software your site runs on, so known holes are closed.
- Backups. A copy of your site and data you can restore if something goes wrong.
- Bug fixes. Things stop working: a form, a page, a login.
- Small changes. New text, prices, photos.
- Support. Someone who answers when you have a question.
New features are not maintenance. When you are given a "maintenance" price, ask which of the items above it includes.
The yearly contract model
A common way to buy maintenance is a yearly maintenance contract. You agree a level of service for the year, and the contract lists what is covered. Hosting and the domain are often billed separately, by the host or the registrar, on their own renewal dates.
This can work well if the contract covers everything you need. Watch for:
- Hosting outside the contract. One more bill, one more renewal date, and one more company to call if the site goes down.
- Work billed on top. Fixes or changes beyond what the contract lists are quoted separately.
- Two places to call. When something breaks, it is not always clear whether it is the host's job or the developer's.
The monthly plan model
A monthly plan puts hosting, security, backups, bug fixes, small changes and support into one fee each month. You get one bill, one place to call, and upkeep that happens every month rather than at renewal time. The trade-off: you pay every month for as long as the site is online, so check what happens if you want to stop.