What does website maintenance cost in Switzerland?

The maintenance rates I come across in Switzerland run from CHF 40 to 150 per month. With me, both tiers start at CHF 79 per month, for WordPress as well as for custom-built sites. The difference is not in the price but in the character: with WordPress, maintenance is mandatory because plugins and the core need constant updates. A static custom site needs much less of that; there the plan is more of a comfort decision.

So the price depends less on how big the site looks and more on how much runs underneath. A ten-page WordPress site with a shop, a booking tool and four plugins is more work than a lean Astro site with the same ten pages. That is why I start with the terms that tend to get mixed up in the sales conversation.

Maintenance, care, hosting, support: what is what?

These four terms do not mean the same thing, and some providers blend them on purpose to make comparison harder.

• Hosting is the storage space and the server the site runs on in the first place. With me it is part of every maintenance plan. On its own, without upkeep, it costs CHF 19 per month, and I only offer it that way in exceptional cases.
• Maintenance keeps the existing site technically healthy: applying updates, making backups, checking security, monitoring availability. That is the ongoing work this article is about.
• Care goes further in terms of content: changing text, adding a new photo, extending a page, giving brief advice. In my plans, a small hours allowance for this is already included.
• Support is help when something goes wrong: a form does not work, the site is slow, something is broken. With me this is part of maintenance, with a reply within one business day (Mon to Fri).

If someone offers you an “all-round worry-free package”, ask which of these four things are actually included. Often it is only hosting plus an automatic plugin update, and that covers little in an emergency.

What do the maintenance tiers look like in practice?

I work with two tiers, depending on the technology of the site. Both start at the same price; WordPress needs more ongoing attention on the technical side, the custom upkeep covers different work. Here are the rates, so you have a real basis:

Both tiers cost the same, they just do different things. A custom-built site has no backend where you click around yourself, so changes run through me, and the rate covers Git deployments, the ongoing care of the server software and a quarterly speed review. With WordPress the weekly plugin and core updates take that place. The risk itself is much smaller with a static site, more on that shortly.

Why does a custom site need less maintenance?

A WordPress site consists of the core, a theme and usually five to fifteen plugins. Each of them gets its own updates, some weekly. Every update can break something else, and every unpatched gap is an open door. That is the price for the flexibility WordPress offers.

A static site, for example built with Astro, has almost no moving parts in operation. There is no database that can be attacked and no plugins that urgently need updating because of a security gap. The finished site is a collection of static files. That makes it faster, safer and simply less work-intensive each month.

So if you are facing the choice, it is worth looking at the follow-up costs, not just the build. I have broken this down in more detail in WordPress or custom-built, including when WordPress is still the right choice.

What does it cost if I do not maintain at all?

This is where it gets concrete. Outdated plugins have been the most common entry point for hacked websites for years. When a site is compromised, this is usually what happens: spam code is injected, Google flags the site as unsafe, and visitors see a warning instead of your home page.

Reckon with these items if it happens:

• Cleanup and fresh setup: quickly a few thousand francs, depending on the damage. With a clean hours package you are looking at CHF 800 to 2’800, often more.
• Downtime: days in which the site is offline or infected and brings in no inquiries.
• Reputation damage: whoever has seen a warning page once rarely comes back.
• Google recovery: getting the site off the blacklist takes time and patience.

Against that stands maintenance from CHF 79 per month. Over a year that is around CHF 950. A single cleanly averted incident has already made it worthwhile. Maintenance is not a growth investment but an insurance, and here it is cheaper than the damage.

With static sites the hack risk is much smaller; there the benefit of upkeep lies more in backups, expiring SSL certificates and content that someone has to keep up to date. If you are not sure whether your site even needs maintenance, Does my website need maintenance? will help you place it.

Is a maintenance plan always worth it?

Not necessarily. If you have a simple static business card site that you rarely change, you can in theory keep backups and SSL under control yourself. Honestly, very few people do, and it only shows when something is broken.

A plan is worth it as soon as one of these applies:

• The site runs on WordPress or another system with plugins.
• There is revenue attached, meaning a shop, booking or leads via a form.
• You simply do not want to deal with it and want a contact person.

And when a plan is not worth it, I say so. A pure Astro business card site that stays unchanged for a year does not need a package for CHF 79; an hours package as needed is enough there.

What does maintenance cost compared to the website itself?

To give the numbers a frame: a simple business website starts at CHF 3’500, a solid standard site is around CHF 7’500 to 12’000. So maintenance of around CHF 950 per year is a small part of the overall investment, but it protects exactly that investment. More on the build costs is in What does a website cost in Switzerland?.

The web agency hourly rates I come across in Switzerland run from about CHF 120 to 250. If a maintenance plan includes a small allowance for changes, you save yourself a separate quote and invoice for every little thing. That is exactly what the care included in the plan is for.

What to look for in a provider

Three things matter more to me with maintenance than the price:

1. Real backups, tested. A backup that cannot be restored in an emergency is not a backup. Ask how often it is backed up and whether the restore is verified.
2. A clear response time. I reply within one business day (Mon to Fri). Promises like “24/7 in four hours” are unrealistic from a solo provider; I would rather stick to what I can keep.
3. You keep control. You should have access to your site, your domain and your hosting. Maintenance means upkeep, not hostage-taking.

If your WordPress or custom site should be looked after on an ongoing basis, you will find the details and the two tiers on the Maintenance page. Drop me a line about what you run, and I will tell you specifically which tier fits and whether a plan is even worth it for you.