How much to charge for website maintenance, worked out rather than guessed: separate labour, platform and third-party costs, calculate realistic billable hours, build three scope-limited retainers, and test break-even with a filled example and blank worksheet.
<p class="lead text-xl text-[#3a3a3a] mb-8"> Charge for website maintenance by working from your own costs: the hours each client's plan will realistically use, times an hourly rate that covers the time you cannot bill, plus the platform and third-party costs you pay on their behalf, plus a margin. Then package that into a few plans with a clear list of what is and is not included. The worked example below shows the arithmetic; use your own rate and costs, not ours. </p>
<h2>1. Separate labour, platform and third-party costs</h2> <table> <thead><tr><th>Cost type</th><th>Examples</th><th>How to charge</th></tr></thead> <tbody> <tr><td>Labour</td><td>Edits, updates, checks, reports, client emails</td><td>Estimated hours x your loaded rate</td></tr> <tr><td>Platform</td><td>Website builder or hosting plan</td><td>Pass through at cost, or include with a margin; say which</td></tr> <tr><td>Third-party</td><td>Domain renewal, email, paid plugins, booking tools</td><td>Usually billed to the client's own accounts</td></tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Keeping domains and third-party accounts in the client's name avoids you carrying their costs and makes handover simple.</p>
<h2>2. Calculate realistic billable time and utilisation</h2> <p>Not every working hour is billable: sales, admin and learning take a share. If 60% of your hours are billable, your hourly rate must cover the other 40%.</p> <pre><code>Target yearly income (before tax): $60,000 Business costs per year (tools, etc.): $6,000 Working hours per year: 1,600 Utilisation (billable share): 60% -> 960 billable hours Loaded hourly rate = (60,000 + 6,000) / 960 = about $69/hour</code></pre> <p>These are example figures, not a recommendation. The <a href="/tools/freelance-rate-calculator">freelance rate calculator</a> runs the same sum with yours.</p>
<h2>3. Three scope-limited retainers</h2> <p>A labelled demonstration for a fictional freelancer maintaining small-business sites. Plan prices are the output of the example arithmetic, not market rates.</p> <table> <thead><tr><th></th><th>Essentials</th><th>Standard</th><th>Growth</th></tr></thead> <tbody> <tr><td>Included time</td><td>30 min/month</td><td>1.5 hours/month</td><td>4 hours/month</td></tr> <tr><td>Includes</td><td>Uptime and form check, small text edits</td><td>+ content updates, monthly check report</td><td>+ a new section or page per month</td></tr> <tr><td>Response</td><td>2 working days</td><td>1 working day</td><td>Same working day</td></tr> <tr><td>Labour at $69/h</td><td>$35</td><td>$104</td><td>$276</td></tr> <tr><td>Platform (pass-through)</td><td>client pays</td><td>client pays</td><td>client pays</td></tr> <tr><td>Price (labour + 20%, rounded)</td><td>$45/month</td><td>$125/month</td><td>$330/month</td></tr> <tr><td>Excluded</td><td colspan="3">Redesigns, new features, copywriting, ads, SEO campaigns; quoted separately. Unused time does not roll over.</td></tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Response times must be ones you can actually keep, including when you are ill or on holiday.</p>
<h2>4. Worked break-even scenarios and sensitivity</h2> <pre><code>Scenario A: 10 Standard clients use their full 1.5 h Revenue 10 x 125 = $1,250 | Labour 15 h x 69 = $1,035 | Margin $215 Scenario B: same clients use only 1 h on average Revenue $1,250 | Labour 10 h x 69 = $690 | Margin $560 Scenario C: 2 clients need 4 h each in a bad month Revenue $1,250 | Labour (8 x 1.5 + 2 x 4) = 20 h x 69 = $1,380 | Margin -$130 Lesson: cap included time, bill overage at the hourly rate, and review each client's actual hours every quarter.</code></pre>
<h2>Blank worksheet</h2> <pre><code>Target yearly income: Yearly business costs: Working hours per year: Utilisation %: Loaded hourly rate: Plan names + included hours: Labour cost per plan (hours x rate): Margin %: Platform + third-party: pass-through or included? Overage rate: Exclusions list: Response times you can keep:</code></pre>
<h2>5. Quote with exclusions rather than guaranteed margins</h2> <ul> <li>Put the included time, response time and exclusions in the quote. What is not written becomes "included" in the client's mind.</li> <li>Do not promise outcomes you do not control, such as rankings or uptime of someone else's hosting.</li> <li>Set a notice period and a yearly price review.</li> </ul> <p>For plan structures and what to include, see <a href="/guides/website-maintenance-packages">website maintenance packages</a>; for the contract terms, see the <a href="/guides/web-design-contract-template">web design contract checklist</a>.</p> <figure> <img src="/images/app/dashboard-1200.webp" alt="The We.Inc dashboard listing several websites" loading="lazy" width="1200" height="750" /> <figcaption>Managing several client sites from one We.Inc dashboard.</figcaption> </figure>
<h2>Where We.Inc fits</h2> <p>If you maintain sites on We.Inc, the platform line in your sums is the plan price: Starter $20/month (AI building, custom domains), Pro $50, Max $99; the Free plan covers up to 3 template sites on a we.inc address with no AI credits and no custom domain (<a href="/pricing">pricing</a>). Agencies can offer care plans under their own brand with <a href="/white-label">white-label</a>. Use the <a href="/tools/website-grader">website grader</a> for monthly checks, the <a href="/tools/website-cost-calculator">website cost calculator</a> for build quotes, and <a href="/website-templates/business">business templates</a> for new builds.</p> <p><a href="https://my.we.inc/signup">Start building your business website</a></p>
Work it out from the hours each plan includes times a loaded hourly rate that covers unbillable time, plus any platform costs you pay for the client, plus a margin. Cap the included time and bill extra work separately.
Either works if you say which. Many freelancers keep domains and third-party services in the client's name so the client pays them directly.
Usually redesigns, new features, copywriting, ads and SEO campaigns, which are quoted separately. Say whether unused time rolls over.
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