Website Maintenance Retainers: What to Include and Charge

The short answer: a basic website maintenance retainer should cover backups, platform or plugin updates, uptime monitoring, and a capped number of small content edits each month. A higher tier adds faster response, design tweaks, and periodic performance and SEO checks. Price it from a realistic month of hours, cap what's included, and offer it at launch.

A launch isn't the end of a website. Sites need updates, small changes, troubleshooting, and review. A maintenance retainer turns that ongoing need into predictable recurring revenue instead of a trickle of awkward small invoices.

Key takeaways

• Define the routine work every site needs and put it in the base tier.
• Offer a higher tier for clients who want the site to keep evolving.
• Price from a realistic month, not a best-case one.
• Cap included requests and define what falls outside.
• Pitch it at launch, when the client values the site most.

What should a website maintenance retainer include?

The base tier covers what every live site needs: regular backups, platform and plugin updates where relevant, security and uptime monitoring, form and link checks, and a set number of small content updates per month, like swapping images or editing text. That gives the client peace of mind that someone is watching the site without putting you on call for major work.

What goes in a premium maintenance tier?

Work that keeps the site improving, not just running: more content requests, priority response times, small design changes, a quarterly performance and SEO review, and a short monthly report on traffic and conversions. Price it meaningfully above the base tier, because the attention it requires is meaningfully higher.

How do you price a maintenance retainer?

Start from hours. Estimate a realistic month for that site, including the unexpected, multiply by your effective rate, and add a buffer for context switching. Then cap what's included so a busy month doesn't quietly become free work. The same principles in Pricing Retainers So They Actually Cover Your Time apply here. For reference on how a full-service agency packages ongoing web, brand, and ads support, see branded by's published pricing tiers.

When should you offer a maintenance retainer?

At launch. The client has just invested in the site, is most aware they don't want to manage it alone, and trusts you most. Build the retainer into the proposal as the recommended next step so it's expected, not a surprise upsell. Waiting until something breaks makes it a much harder sell.

What should fall outside the retainer?

New pages, redesigns, new features, and integrations. Spell that out in writing and give a clear path for larger requests to become a separate project or change order. Without that line, a retainer slowly absorbs redesign work at a fraction of its real cost. Before a big change, branded by's website redesign checklist helps scope it properly.

Frequently asked questions

Do Webflow sites need maintenance retainers?

Yes, though less technical upkeep is required than with plugin-heavy platforms. The value shifts toward content updates, performance checks, and ongoing improvements.

Should maintenance retainers have a minimum term?

A three to six month minimum is common and gives both sides time to see the value. Month to month after that works well.

What if a client uses fewer hours than included?

Most agencies don't roll hours over. The client is paying for availability and peace of mind, not just time spent.

Where to go from here

Maintenance retainer structures are covered inside Brand University. Pair this with How to Add a Google Ads Retainer to Your Design Agency in One Day for another recurring revenue stream, and join Brand University on Skool to compare retainer structures with other designers.