What do website hosting and maintenance cost?
What hosting is, what maintenance should cover, typical UK prices, the costs nobody mentions, and what to ask before you sign up.
By Gary Blake · Bath IT, Radstock
Guides
WordPress
Hosting and maintenance for a small business website typically cost anything from a few pounds a month, for basic hosting you look after yourself, to £30–£100 or more a month for an agency care plan. The right figure depends on how much you want done for you. Here's what each part covers, so you can tell a fair price from a padded one.
What hosting is
Hosting is the computer your website lives on. It's switched on all the time and connected to the internet, so when someone types your address, your pages arrive. You rent space on it, usually by the month or the year.
Cheap shared hosting puts many sites on one server. That's fine for a small brochure site, as long as the host is decent. The catch is that you get space and little else. Updates, backups and fixing things are your job.
What maintenance means
Maintenance is the work that keeps a site safe and working after launch. It's dull, and it's the part most often skipped. It should cover:
Updates: the software, theme and plugins behind the site, kept current. Old versions are a common way in for attackers.
Backups: taken automatically, stored somewhere else, and tested. A backup you've never restored is a hope, not a backup.
SSL certificate: the padlock in the browser. Without it, browsers tell visitors your site is "Not secure".
Domain renewal: your web address renewed every year, in your name. A lapsed domain takes your site and email offline.
Security: watching for problems, blocking repeated login attempts, and cleaning up if something gets in.
Small changes: new opening hours, a price update, a fresh photo. Some plans include these. Many don't.
Our guide to website security for small businesses explains why updates matter so much.
Typical UK prices
These are typical ranges, not quotes. Prices vary a lot, and the cheapest isn't always the worst value.
Basic shared hosting: a few pounds a month
Space on a server and a control panel. You do everything else. Fine if you're comfortable with updates and backups, or if your site rarely changes. Watch for a low first-year price that jumps at renewal.
Managed hosting: more money, less work
The host looks after updates, backups and security for the platform. It costs more than basic hosting, and you still make content changes yourself.
Agency care plans: often £30–£100+ a month
Hosting, maintenance and usually some of the designer's time each month. A good one is worth it if you want someone else to handle everything. Ask what "some time" means in hours, and whether unused time carries over.
The hidden costs
The monthly fee is rarely the whole bill. These are the ones to ask about:
Premium plugins and themes: many WordPress sites rely on paid add-ons with yearly licences. Let one lapse and its updates stop.
Licences in someone else's name: if your designer bought a licence on their own account, you may lose it when you part ways.
Emergency fixes: a hacked or broken site outside a plan is often charged at an urgent rate.
Renewal price rises: the first-year deal on hosting or a domain is often much cheaper than year two.
Email: business mailboxes may be a separate monthly charge each.
Leaving: some providers charge to hand over your site, or make it awkward.
What to ask a provider
What exactly is included each month, and what costs extra?
How often are backups taken, where are they kept, and when did you last restore one?
Who updates the software, and how soon after a security fix comes out?
Is the domain registered in my name?
What does a small change cost, and how quickly can you make it?
Is there a contract, and what happens if I want to leave?
A good provider answers all of these straight away, in writing if you ask.
What Bath IT charges
We host and look after every site we build. There are three plans and no contract on any of them. The details are on our hosting and maintenance page and our prices page.
Essentials, £100 a year: hosting, your domain, the SSL certificate, security updates and backups. You make your own changes in the editor.
Care, £300 a year: everything in Essentials, plus small changes on request.
Business, from £30 a month: for sites with a shop or payments, with support for those too.
Outside a plan, a small edit is about £30. Bigger jobs are £75 an hour, and we tell you the cost before we start.
Building a new site as well? Our guide to what a business website costs covers the build, and we can show you a free homepage mockup before you spend anything.
Quick answers
Want a site that's looked after for you?
Start with a free mockup of your homepage. Hosting from £100 a year, no contract, and you can edit the site yourself.