What each model is really for
A care plan is insurance plus routine upkeep — you pay a predictable monthly fee for updates, backups, security, monitoring, and a set amount of changes, whether or not anything breaks. Pay-per-hour is on-demand — you pay only when you need something, but there's no one watching the site between calls.
- Care plan: fixed monthly cost, proactive upkeep, priority response
- Hourly: pay only for time used, no ongoing commitment
- Plans include monitoring; hourly means you notice problems yourself
- Plans usually get faster turnaround than the back of the hourly queue
- Hourly can cost more per incident when something urgent hits
How to tell which one fits you
The deciding factors are how much your site changes, how much revenue depends on it being up, and whether anyone in-house is watching it. A brochure site that rarely changes and isn't mission-critical may be fine on hourly. A site that drives leads or sales, or changes often, usually costs less overall on a plan once you count downtime and emergencies.
- Frequent changes or updates → a plan is usually cheaper and calmer
- Revenue depends on uptime → the monitoring in a plan pays for itself
- Rarely touched, low-stakes site → hourly may be all you need
- No one in-house watching the site → a plan fills that gap
- Prefer predictable budgeting → plan; prefer pay-as-you-go → hourly
More on website care & maintenance
Frequently asked questions
Isn't hourly always cheaper since I only pay when I need it?
Only if nothing goes wrong and you never need fast help. Hourly has no monitoring, so problems are found late, and emergencies bill at a premium. For low-activity sites it can genuinely be cheaper; for busy or revenue-driving sites, a plan usually wins. We'll tell you which applies to you.
Can I switch between them?
Yes. Some clients start hourly, then move to a plan once they're tired of surprises — or drop from a plan to occasional hourly if their site goes quiet. You're not locked in.
How are the two priced?
A plan is a flat monthly fee scoped to your site; hourly is billed against time used. We don't post one-size numbers because the right figure depends on your platform and needs — we'll give you a real one after a short consultation.