A guide for developers who build client sites
Website maintenance packages: how to design, price and sell them
Website maintenance packages turn one-off client sites into steady monthly work. What to include, how to price a care plan from your real costs, a three-tier template, and the retainer terms to write down.
$ git log --since="1 month ago" --date=short \
--format="%ad %s" -- jtk/content/
2026-09-28 save: client-site at rev 31
2026-09-14 save: client-site at rev 30
2026-09-02 save: client-site at rev 29
$ git diff --stat HEAD~3 -- jtk/content/
jtk/content/index.json | 6 +++---
jtk/content/prices.json | 4 ++--01/ what goes in
What goes into website maintenance packages
Most packages are built from the same handful of jobs. Which ones a client needs depends on how their site is built and hosted — so list them before you put a price on any of them.
Software updates
Keeping the CMS, theme, plugins and server software current — the bulk of the work on a database-driven site.
Backups
Regular copies of the site and its data, and — the part clients forget — a tested way to restore them.
Security
Patching, watching for trouble and cleaning up after it. The less software a site runs, the less there is to do.
Uptime monitoring
Knowing the site is down before the client does, and someone responsible for bringing it back.
Hosting and the domain
The server, the certificate and the domain renewal, often resold inside the package.
Content edits
Changing text, prices, photos and opening hours for clients who would rather ask than do it themselves.
Reporting
A short monthly note of what changed and what came in, so the client can see the retainer working.
Support hours
A set number of hours for questions and small jobs, with a response time you both agreed in writing.
02/ on a static site
Monthly website maintenance on a static site: what changes
When the site is static and a platform runs the servers, much of the classic package has nothing to work on. The package moves from keeping software alive to looking after the content, the reporting and the relationship.
| Part of the package | On a static jtakeit site |
|---|---|
| Software updates | Nothing on the site to update: static output, with no plugins, no PHP and no database |
| Backups | Run by the platform — and the site itself is a git repository you keep |
| Hosting and the domain | Run by the platform; a build of the Astro scaffold takes under a minute |
| Forms | Enquiry forms are protected against spam, and enquiries arrive in Telegram, email or the admin inbox |
| SEO slips | A build with noindex, a robots.txt that blocks crawlers, an empty sitemap or a canonical on another host is refused |
| Content edits | The owner makes small ones on the page; you make the rest. Every save is a commit |
| Reporting and advice | Yours — and the git history is a ready-made log of what changed |
This is the practical case for building client sites on a static CMS for client sites: your hours go into work the client can see.
03/ pricing
Website maintenance pricing, built from your own costs
There is no honest average price to copy, and this page won’t invent one. A price you can defend is built from three things you already know.
Your fixed cost per site
What you pay each month for the site to exist. On jtakeit that is a wholesale price per live site — €9 a month for your first few sites, down to €5 from twenty — plus the bookings add-on, €8 down to €4, if the site takes bookings. A site that has not launched costs nothing.
Your time
The hours the package promises — edits, reporting, a call — at your own hourly rate. This is most of the price, and it is what the client is really buying.
Your margin
Room for the month that takes longer than planned. You set it; jtakeit never takes a percentage of what you charge.
A worked example
Purely as an illustration — €50 is an example figure you would choose, not a market rate or a recommendation. If your Standard package costs the client €50 a month and the site is one of your first four live sites, jtakeit costs you €9 and leaves €41 for your time and margin. From twenty live sites the same package leaves €45.
| Live sites | Site per month | Site per year | Bookings add-on per month | Bookings add-on per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 live sites | €9 | €90 | €8 | €80 |
| 5–9 live sites | €7 | €70 | €6 | €60 |
| 10–19 live sites | €6 | €60 | €5 | €50 |
| 20+ live sites | €5 | €50 | €4 | €40 |
The same prices, with a calculator and what every live site includes, are on the pricing page.
04/ a template
A website care plan template: Basic, Standard, Growth
Three tiers told apart by what is included rather than by a number. Rename them, move rows between them, and put your own price under each.
| Basic | Standard | Growth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting, backups and the domain | Included | Included | Included |
| Enquiry forms | Included | Included | Included |
| Owner edits in the panel | Included | Included | Included |
| Edits you make for them | Billed per request | A set number of hours a month | More hours a month |
| Bookings | Not included | As an add-on | Included |
| Reporting | On request | A monthly list of changes | A monthly report and a review call |
| Response time | Agreed in the contract | Faster, agreed in the contract | Fastest, agreed in the contract |
| New pages and sections | Quoted separately | Quoted separately | A small amount each month |
| Monthly price | Yours to set | Yours to set | Yours to set |
05/ the retainer
Website retainer terms: scope, response times and what’s extra
A maintenance package goes wrong in the gap between what the client thinks is included and what you priced. Write that gap down before the first invoice.
Before you send the contract
- Scope. List what is included in the same words as the package table, and say that anything not listed is quoted separately.
- Hours. How many a month, whether unused hours roll over, and the rate for hours beyond them.
- Response times. How fast you reply, and on which days — not how fast every job is finished.
- What’s extra. New pages, new sections, a redesign and new integrations are projects, not maintenance.
- Leaving. How either side ends the retainer, and what the client takes with them. On jtakeit handover is one link, and enquiries and bookings export as CSV and JSON.
- Billing. Invoice the client yourself, or bill through the platform on your own Stripe.
Selling it
Sell the outcome, not the task list: a site that stays right, changes made soon after they are asked for, and a short note each month saying what happened. The tiers are there so the client can choose how much of your attention they want.
06/ questions
Maintenance package questions
- What should a website maintenance package include?
- Usually some mix of software updates, backups, security, uptime monitoring, hosting and the domain, content edits, reporting and support hours. Which of these a client needs depends on how the site is built: a static site on a platform that runs hosting and backups needs far less patching, so its package is mostly content, reporting and support.
- How much does website maintenance cost per month?
- There is no single honest figure: it depends on what the package includes and on your own hourly rate. Build the price from your fixed cost per site, the hours the package promises and your margin. On jtakeit the fixed cost is a wholesale price per live site, listed on the jtakeit home page.
- Is a website care plan the same as a maintenance package?
- Mostly, yes: both are a monthly fee for an agreed set of work on a live site. Some developers prefer “care plan” because it names what the client is buying — someone looking after their site — rather than the technical work.
- What is a website retainer?
- A monthly agreement in which the client pays for a set amount of your time or a set scope of work, whether or not every hour is used. Write down the scope, the hours, the response times and what counts as extra before the first invoice.
- Does a static site still need a maintenance plan?
- Yes, but a different one. There is far less to patch on a static site, and on jtakeit the platform runs hosting, backups and forms. What the client still needs is someone to change their content, tell them what happened this month and answer when they ask.
- Can I resell jtakeit inside my own package?
- Yes. You pay jtakeit a wholesale price per live site and set your own price to your client. Invoice the client yourself, or bill through the platform on your own Stripe; jtakeit never takes a percentage.
07/ try it free
Build your next care plan on jtakeit
Sign up in the panel and build your first client site. Building and previewing cost nothing — you pay a wholesale price only when a site goes live.
Try for freeadmin.jtakeit.com
- Free until a site goes live
- Then a wholesale price per live site, from €5 a month
- The code stays in your git repository