WordPress is free, so why does it cost so much?
Where the money goes on a WordPress site: hosting, premium themes and plugins and their yearly licences, security, updates and developer time. And when it's worth it.
By Gary Blake · Bath IT, Radstock
Guides
WordPress
WordPress itself is free. Running a business site on it isn't, because you pay for hosting, for the premium themes and plugins most business sites use, many on a yearly licence, and for someone's time to keep it updated, secure and working. None of that is a con. It's just easy to miss when the software is free. Here's where the money goes, and when WordPress is still the right choice.
Hosting
WordPress needs a server to run on, and that's the first bill. Cheap shared hosting looks like a bargain but can be slow, and some low introductory prices go up at renewal. Managed WordPress hosting costs more and does more, with backups, caching and some security handled for you.
Either way, hosting is a cost for as long as the site is up, and the domain name is another small yearly bill on top.
Themes, plugins and their licences
Free themes and plugins exist, and some are excellent. But a lot of business sites end up on a premium theme or page builder, plus paid plugins for forms, bookings, backups, security or a shop. Many are sold as a yearly licence, not a one-off purchase.
The licence is what gets you updates. Let it lapse and the plugin usually keeps working, but stops getting fixes, which is how a site ends up running old code with known holes. So those licences aren't really optional, and with each one renewing at a different time of year, it's easy to lose track of what they add up to.
Steer clear of nulled themes and plugins, the paid ones passed round free on download sites. They're a common way for sites to get hacked.
Updates and security
WordPress, the theme and every plugin get updates, often. They need applying, and the site needs checking afterwards, because updates sometimes break things. Somebody has to do that: you, or someone you pay.
Security is part of the same job: strong logins, removing old plugins, and backups kept off the server and actually tested. Skipping it saves money until the site is hacked, and cleaning up afterwards costs far more than the upkeep would have. Our guide on what to do if your site has been hacked covers that.
Developer time and fixes
This is the cost people least expect. A plugin conflict after an update, a contact form that stops sending, a layout that breaks on phones, a new PHP version on the server. Each is a small job, but they keep coming up, and they need someone who knows WordPress.
If the person who built the site has moved on, the first job is often working out how it was built, which takes time before anything gets fixed. Sites made with heavy page builders or lots of plugins take longer to work on than simple ones.
At Bath IT that work is £75 an hour, quoted in writing first, and a small fix is about £30. Other developers charge differently, but the point is the same: the hours add up over the life of a site.
When WordPress is the right choice
To be fair to WordPress, it's the right tool for plenty of sites. It's a good fit if:
You publish a lot, like a busy blog or news site, and want WordPress's writing tools.
You need a particular plugin that does exactly what your business needs.
You or someone on your team knows it well and enjoys looking after it.
Your site is already on WordPress, it's in good shape, and it does the job.
Then the costs above are worth paying. The question is whether you're paying them for a site that needs WordPress, or for a five-page brochure site that doesn't.
The alternative
For a small business site, the simpler route is often a platform where hosting, updates and security come as one bill. Bath IT builds sites on its own platform from £495 for 5 pages, with hosting from £100 a year and no contract. Moving your existing content across and redirecting the old addresses adds £300. All our prices are on the prices page.
We also fix and look after existing WordPress sites, and we'll tell you honestly which is better value for yours. See WordPress help.
Quick answers
See what a simpler site would look like
We'll build a free mockup of your homepage on our own platform, so you can compare it with your WordPress site before you decide anything.