Short answer: at Artbrain, website maintenance starts at $100 per month, with the scope agreed for your particular website and tasks. Fixes, changes, improvements, and new features cost $25 per hour, and the estimate is agreed before work begins. Before taking over a website from another developer, we review its condition and the task free of charge. Hosting and domain fees are paid separately by the owner directly to the provider.
This article is about costs after launch, when a website already works but needs updates, content changes, or improvements. The price depends not only on hours, but also on access, the condition of the code, and how often tasks arise.
| Work format | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly maintenance | from $100/month ≈ UAH 4,500/month | A regular scope agreed for the website |
| One-off fixes and improvements | $25/hour ≈ UAH 1,120/hour | Changes, improvements, and issue fixing under an agreed estimate |
| Review before takeover | Free | Website condition, required fixes, and their estimated cost |
| Hosting and domain | Separate | The owner pays the provider directly |
UAH amounts are indicative, using UAH 44.9 per $1. The final cost of a task is agreed before work begins.
When planning the budget, it helps to separate recurring expenses from individual tasks. Hosting costs approximately $10-30 per month, a domain costs $5-50 per year, and SSL can be free. These payments are not part of support: the owner pays the provider directly and keeps account access. Maintenance from $100 per month and improvements at $25 per hour are a separate part of the website budget.
What Website Maintenance Includes, and What It Does Not
Maintenance helps keep a website working and prevents small issues from accumulating. The agreed monthly scope may include updates, backups, checking that the site works, and small changes within the arrangement. For a content management system, or CMS, updates are not an end in themselves: you need a backup before them and a check afterward. The official WordPress documentation gives the same advice.
Maintenance does not mean every new idea is automatically part of the monthly fee. A new feature, a redesigned section, changes to several page designs, or recovery after a hack first need an estimate. That work costs $25 per hour when it is outside the agreed maintenance scope.
It is also useful to separate content writing from placing ready materials. If you have approved text, photos, and a page structure, placing them on the website can be a task. Preparing the texts, photos, or catalog materials themselves is separate work and is agreed separately.
A backup does not replace checking the website itself, and an update does not replace fixing an issue. At the start, we therefore agree which regular actions your site actually needs. This helps avoid paying for unnecessary work while still taking care of what affects pages, forms, or a catalog.
One-Off Work or Monthly Maintenance: Which to Choose
One-off tasks at $25 per hour suit websites that change rarely. You may need to update contacts, fix a form, add a page, or investigate an issue. You describe the task, receive an estimate before work starts, and pay for the agreed scope.
Monthly maintenance makes sense when changes appear regularly, the site brings leads or sales, and the owner needs someone who knows its structure. This often applies to an online store or a website with promotions, a catalog, forms, or integrations. The scope is not identical for every site: first we review the website and what the business needs maintained each month.
The two formats can work together. Regular maintenance keeps the site in working order, while a substantial improvement or new capability is a separate estimated task.
You do not have to choose one format forever. If tasks appear rarely, you can start with one-off work. When changes become more frequent or it matters not to explain the website from the beginning every time, it is useful to discuss monthly maintenance. The choice should follow the website's real needs, not a standard package.
What Affects the Cost
The same change can take different amounts of time on different websites. The platform and its version, code condition, number of monthly changes, and task urgency all matter. We can take on websites built with WordPress, WooCommerce, OpenCart, MODX, Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, custom PHP, Laravel, Django, Next.js, or React after a review. We do not take websites built on hosted site builders where access to the code and hosting is restricted.
Paid modules and third-party connections also affect an estimate. If a module licence has expired or an external service has changed its rules, the cause and possible fix need to be understood first. Another question is whether hosting, domain, and website admin access are available. Without them, restoring access may be the first task.
That is why an exact amount should not be named from the task title alone. “Fix a form” may mean replacing one field, or it may require finding the cause in code, hosting settings, or access. First we clarify what should change, where it appears on the site, and which access is already available. Then the scope and estimate can be agreed.
How Much It Costs to Take Over a Website from Another Developer
The first review before takeover is free. We look at the site and your task, explain its condition, what should be fixed, and what that will cost. This is not free repair: fixes are paid at $25 per hour after the estimate is agreed.
To start, send the site URL and describe the issue. Passwords are not needed in the first message. Once we agree to work, we need access to hosting, the domain, and the website admin. Hosting and the domain should be registered to the owner. If the previous developer has disappeared, access can usually be restored through the hosting or domain provider when you own the account.
Every website developed by Artbrain is on our own support. A site built elsewhere needs a review first because a page that appears to work may have outdated components, access problems, or changes that visitors cannot see.
The free review helps avoid starting work blindly. It gives the owner a clear starting point: what can be done at once, what should be fixed first, and which costs to plan. If a critical issue needs work, we do not hide it inside a monthly plan. We describe it separately and estimate it before fixing it.
Example Calculations
These are example calculations, not prices for particular clients. They show how to plan a budget.
The examples do not include hosting, the domain, paid modules, or other provider payments because the owner pays them directly. They show only Artbrain work: monthly maintenance or time spent on a separate task.
Small changes without a monthly plan
Several blocks need updating, a form needs fixing, and a page needs new information. If the agreed scope takes 3 hours, the calculation is 3 × $25 = $75, or about UAH 3,360. You receive the estimate before work begins, not an invoice with an unknown number of hours.
Regular tasks for an existing website
The website is updated and checked regularly, with agreed small changes. Monthly maintenance starts at $100, or about UAH 4,500. The exact scope is agreed for this site. If a separate improvement takes 2 hours, that is another 2 × $25 = $50.
An online store with a one-off improvement
A store can be on monthly maintenance from $100 and then need a separate improvement. For example, a 5-hour task costs 5 × $25 = $125. The total in this example is from $225 for that month, or about UAH 10,100. It is an example, not a fixed price for every store.
Improve the Existing Site or Build a New One
When the foundation works, improving the existing website is usually less expensive than starting from scratch. That can mean changing the structure, adding pages, fixing forms, or updating individual blocks. When the real issue is that the design and logic are outdated, a website redesign may be needed.
Discussing a new site makes sense after a review, not just because the current one looks old. To plan that budget, read how much a new website costs in 2026.
If part of the website can be improved without losing existing content and structure, improvements often deliver the needed result faster. If the foundation no longer fits the business task, the review helps separate a repair from a decision to build a new site.
What to Prepare Before Contacting Us
To get an estimate faster, send the website URL, briefly describe the issue, and list the changes you want. It is useful to say who has access to hosting, the domain, and the site admin. Do not send passwords in the first message. This is enough to understand the initial task and agree the next step.
If the task concerns a page, form, or product, add a direct link to that place and briefly describe the expected result. This does not replace a review, but it helps us understand the scope and prepare an initial estimate sooner.
Need maintenance or improvements for an existing website: see our website support service or contact us with the site link and a task description. A short description is enough to see whether a one-off estimate is sufficient or whether the site should first be reviewed free of charge before takeover.
FAQ
What is more cost-effective: one-time tasks or monthly website maintenance?
One-time tasks are more suitable when you need to solve a specific problem or make a single change. Monthly maintenance is more convenient when the website needs regular updates, checks, and small edits. The right format depends on the website condition, the owner’s plans, and the expected workload. We agree the monthly scope separately.
How much does it cost to hand over a website after another developer?
There is no separate fixed fee for taking over a website after another developer. We first review the website and task for free, then estimate the required work. The cost depends on what needs to be fixed or configured. To start, send the website URL and a description of the problem.
Is recovery after a hack included in website maintenance?
Recovery after a hack is not automatically included in website maintenance. It is separate work estimated at $25 per hour unless it was agreed as part of the maintenance scope. We first determine the extent of the problem, available backups, and required actions, then agree the estimate before work begins.
Are hosting and the domain included in website support?
No, hosting and the domain are not included in website support. The owner pays the provider directly. Hosting usually costs about $10-30 per month, and a domain costs $5-50 per year. We can work with the required access, but these provider charges are not included in our invoice.
What should I prepare to get an estimate for website work?
Send the website URL and a short description of the problem or requested change. Passwords are not needed in the first message. For a more accurate estimate, include an affected page, an error screenshot, and a desired deadline if relevant. After a free review, we agree the scope, access, and estimate.
