Website maintenance: what it really costs and what it should include
Maintenance is the part of a website nobody explains when you buy it, and the part that costs the most over the years. What it is, what it should include, what it costs in Gran Canaria, and when you don't need it.
Jean Ayala
Oct 5, 2026
Why it matters more than it looks
A cheap build with expensive maintenance ends up costing a lot. Reasonable on both ends ends up cheap. The catch is that the first shows up on the invoice, and the second only shows up in year two or three, when there's no going back.
Here's what I'd look at before signing up for maintenance — or before carrying on paying for it.
What maintaining a website actually means
It depends on how the site is built, and that's the key to everything else.
A WordPress site with plugins has parts that update every few weeks: WordPress itself, the theme and every plugin. Skip the updates and security holes appear. Apply them without checking and sometimes something breaks. Maintaining it means staying on top of that every month.
A static website, like the ones I build, is generated once and served as files. No database, no plugins, no admin panel exposed on the internet. Maintaining it is far less work, because there's far less that can break.
That's why two sites that look the same can cost very different amounts to maintain. If you're choosing between the two, I go into it in WordPress or a custom-built website?
What it should include
Maintenance worth paying for includes, at the very least:
- Security updates, applied and checked afterwards.
- Backups, automatic, and knowing how to restore them.
- Domain and SSL certificate renewals, before they expire. A site that one day shows up as “not secure” loses customers that same day.
- Uptime monitoring, with a heads-up if the site goes down.
- Small changes: opening hours, a price, a photo. Ask how many are included each month.
If what you're offered doesn't say what it includes, it isn't maintenance: it's a subscription.
What it costs in Gran Canaria
WordPress maintenance for a small business site runs €30–80 a month in Gran Canaria, going by the rates published by the people who offer it on the island. For a WooCommerce shop, it's over €100.
Mine starts at €25 a month excl. IGIC, and it's optional. I can charge that because a static site needs very little looking after: there are no plugins to watch.
Run this sum on any quote you get: monthly fee × 36. That's what three years of maintenance will cost you. Add the build price and compare the total, not just the first invoice.
When you don't need it
If your site is static, you edit the content yourself, and the domain and hosting are in your name on auto-renew, you can go without a maintenance plan and call someone only when you need to.
If your site is WordPress with fifteen plugins, you can't. An unmaintained WordPress site is a security problem with a date on it.
If you already pay for maintenance
Ask in writing what's been done in the last three months. If the answer is vague, you know what you're paying for.
If you'd like a second opinion, send me what you've been given, or what you're charged and what they say it includes. I'll tell you whether it looks reasonable — free, no strings attached. If it is, I'll tell you that too.
Jean Ayala — web development in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Maintenance from €25/month excl. IGIC.
What are you actually paying for?
Send me what you're charged and what it supposedly includes, and I'll tell you whether it's reasonable. Free, no strings attached — and if it is, I'll say so.