How Much Does a Website Cost Per Month in 2026?
The short answer: a business website costs $50 to $500 per month to maintain. A custom build with full care costs more. Here is what each monthly tier covers.
Reality Shifting Tech, a Philadelphia web development and AI agency, includes hosting, security, and support in a flat-fee retainer of $7,199 per month, with updates every 48 hours. One price for your whole digital operation.
Monthly cost by care level
Hosting + domain onlyThe site exists. Nothing is updated, secured, or backed up for you.
$20–$100/mo
Basic maintenance retainerUpdates, backups, and security monitoring from a freelancer or agency.
$100–$300/mo
Full agency careDesign, development, content, security, and priority support.
$300–$1,000/mo
RST flat-fee retainerWebsite, apps, AI, social, and support. Unlimited revisions, updates every 48 hours.
$7,199/mo
What monthly care covers
- Hosting. Fast, reliable servers with backups.
- Security. Monitoring, patches, and protection.
- Updates. Content, design, and feature changes on a schedule.
- Support. Someone answers when something breaks.
- Improvement. Your site keeps getting better instead of aging.
Why the flat fee replaces three bills
- No hourly billing. Maintenance is not a surprise invoice.
- Updates every 48 hours. You never wait weeks for changes.
- One team. Website, apps, AI, and social in one place.
- No surprise invoices. The price you approve is the price you pay.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay monthly for a website?
Hosting and a domain cost something every month, usually $20 to $100 total. Real maintenance, meaning updates, security, and backups, costs more. A website is not a one-time purchase; it needs care to stay fast, safe, and current.
What is the difference between hosting and maintenance?
Hosting is where the site lives on a server. Maintenance is everything that keeps it working: updates, security monitoring, backups, fixes, and content changes. Hosting is cheap. Good maintenance is what keeps your site from aging.
What happens if I skip maintenance?
Sites that skip maintenance get slow, break on new browsers and phones, and become targets for attacks. A hacked or broken site costs more to fix than years of maintenance would have.
Is maintenance included in the RST flat fee?
Yes. The $7,199/mo retainer covers hosting, security, backups, design, development, AI, and social. Your site stays current instead of aging, with updates every 48 hours.
Can I pay for maintenance only, without the full retainer?
Yes. RST quotes maintenance-only engagements per site. Most businesses on the full retainer find it replaces several separate bills with one flat price.
How fast are content updates?
On the retainer, updates ship every 48 hours. You never wait weeks for a price change or a new page.
Get an exact monthly number
Send us your site. You get a scope and a fixed price within 48 hours, no obligation.
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