The True Cost of Running a WordPress Site (2026 Breakdown)
"WordPress is free" is true. But running a WordPress site isn't.
This guide breaks down the real costs of running WordPress, including the hidden expenses most people don't consider.
The Complete Cost Picture
Category Overview
| Cost Category | Annual Range |
| Premium Plugins | $0 - $1,500 |
| Maintenance Time | 50-200+ hours |
| Professional Help | $0 - $5,000+ |
| Total Direct Costs | $162 - $9,950+/year |
And that's before we talk about opportunity costs.
1. Hosting Costs
Shared Hosting ($3-15/month)
| Bluehost | $2.95/mo (promo) | $9.99/mo after year 1 |
| HostGator | $2.75/mo (promo) | $8.95/mo after year 1 |
| SiteGround | $2.99/mo (promo) | $14.99/mo after year 1 |
The catch: Promo pricing is year 1 only. Expect 3-4x higher renewal prices.
Performance: Often poor. Shared resources mean slow sites.
Actual annual cost: $120-180/year
Managed WordPress Hosting ($25-150/month)
| Provider | Starting Price | Features |
| WP Engine | $20/mo | Staging, backups, CDN |
| Kinsta | $35/mo | Speed, support, dashboard |
| Flywheel | $15/mo | Design-focused, staging |
| Cloudways | $14/mo | Cloud infrastructure |
Worth it? Usually yes. Better performance, security, support.
Actual annual cost: $300-1,800/year
Enterprise/High Traffic ($150-500+/month)
For serious traffic, expect:
Actual annual cost: $1,800-6,000+/year
2. Domain Costs ($12-50/year)
Plus:
- Domain privacy ($10-15/year, sometimes free)
- Email ($5-12/user/month if using Google Workspace)
3. Theme Costs
Free Themes
WordPress.org has thousands. Quality varies wildly.
True cost: $0 (but limited features, less support)
Premium Themes ($40-100 one-time)
| Astra Pro | $49/year | Yes, for updates/support |
| Divi | $249/lifetime | One-time |
| Avada | $69/lifetime | One-time |
Annual cost: $0-100/year depending on model
Page Builders
Often bundled with themes but can be separate:
| Divi Builder | Included with Divi theme |
4. Plugin Costs
This is where costs add up fast.
Essential Premium Plugins
| Plugin Category | Options | Annual Cost |
| SEO | Yoast Premium, Rank Math Pro | $99-149 |
| Forms | Gravity Forms, WPForms | $59-199 |
| Security | Wordfence Premium, iThemes | $99-200 |
| Backup | UpdraftPlus Premium, BlogVault | $70-149 |
| Performance | WP Rocket, Perfmatters | $49-59 |
| Page Builder | Elementor Pro | $59 |
| Email | FluentCRM, Mailchimp integration | $100-400 |
Realistic Plugin Budget
| Site Type | Typical Plugin Spend |
| Business site | $300-600/year |
| E-commerce | $500-1,500/year |
| Membership | $400-1,000/year |
5. Security Costs
DIY Security
Free options:
- Sucuri Security (free scanner)
Time cost: Several hours per month monitoring, updating
Professional Security
| Service | Annual Cost | Includes |
| Sucuri Firewall | $199-499 | WAF, CDN, monitoring |
| Wordfence Premium | $119 | Real-time rules, support |
| MalCare | $99 | Scans, cleanup, firewall |
When Things Go Wrong
If you get hacked:
| Sucuri site cleanup | $200-500 |
| Freelancer cleanup | $100-500 |
6. Maintenance Time Cost
This is the hidden killer.
Weekly Maintenance Tasks
| Plugin updates | 15-30 min | Weekly |
| Theme updates | 10-15 min | Monthly |
| WordPress core updates | 15-30 min | Monthly |
| Backup verification | 10-15 min | Weekly |
| Security scans | 10-20 min | Weekly |
| Comment moderation | 10-30 min | Weekly |
| Content updates | 30-60 min | Weekly |
Total: 2-4 hours per week minimum
Annual Time Investment
| Scenario | Annual Hours | Your Time Value* |
| Basic blog | 100-150 hours | $5,000-7,500 |
| Business site | 150-250 hours | $7,500-12,500 |
| E-commerce | 200-400 hours | $10,000-20,000 |
*Assuming $50/hour value of your time
Professional Maintenance Plans
| WP Buffs | $67-147 | Updates, support, backups |
| Maintainn | $79-299 | Maintenance, dev hours |
| GoWP | $29-79 | Basic maintenance |
Annual cost: $350-3,500/year
7. Opportunity Costs
Slow Site = Lost Revenue
Studies show:
- 1 second delay = 7% conversion drop
- 3 second load time = 53% bounce rate
- Poor Core Web Vitals = lower SEO rankings
If your site makes $100k/year:
- 10% conversion loss = $10,000/year lost
Downtime Costs
Average WordPress site experiences:
- 2-4 hours downtime per year (good hosting)
- 10-20+ hours per year (shared hosting)
Cost of downtime:
- E-commerce: Direct revenue loss
- SaaS: Customer frustration
Mental Overhead
Hard to quantify, but real:
- Stress about updates breaking things
- Time spent researching solutions
Total Cost By Site Type
Simple Blog
| Your time (100 hrs @ $50) | $5,000 |
Business Website
| Your time (200 hrs @ $50) | $10,000 |
E-commerce Store
| Plugins (WooCommerce + add-ons) | $800 |
| Payment processing | Variable |
| Your time (300 hrs @ $50) | $15,000 |
Comparison: Modern Alternatives
Static Site (Next.js/Astro on Vercel)
| Headless CMS (Sanity free tier) | $0 |
| Your time (24 hrs @ $50) | $1,200 |
Savings: 70-90% (mostly from time)
Ghost (Managed)
| Ghost Pro hosting | $300-1,200 |
| Your time (48 hrs @ $50) | $2,400 |
Squarespace
| Your time (36 hrs @ $50) | $1,800 |
When WordPress Still Makes Sense
Despite costs, WordPress makes sense when:
- ✅ You need specific WordPress plugins
- ✅ Non-technical editors need familiar interface
- ✅ You have existing WordPress expertise
- ✅ Complex features justify the overhead
- ✅ Budget for professional maintenance
When to Switch
Consider alternatives when:
- ❌ Security/maintenance is overwhelming
- ❌ Performance can't meet requirements
- ❌ Your time is better spent elsewhere
- ❌ You don't need WordPress-specific features
FAQ
Q: Is WordPress really more expensive than alternatives?
When you count time, often yes. The software is free, but everything else isn't. See the full comparison →
Q: Can I reduce WordPress costs?
Yes: use free plugins where possible, choose good hosting upfront, learn to do more yourself. But time costs remain. See our speed optimization guide →
Q: What's the cheapest way to run WordPress?
Shared hosting + free theme + free plugins. But you sacrifice performance, security, and spend more time troubleshooting.
Q: What are the best alternatives for cost savings?
Static site generators like Next.js or Astro often host for free on Vercel or Netlify.
Conclusion
The "free" CMS costs:
| Site Type | WordPress Total | Alternative |
| Simple blog | ~$5,000/year | ~$1,000/year |
| Business site | ~$11,000/year | ~$2,500/year |
| E-commerce | ~$17,000+/year | Varies widely |
The biggest cost is your time. Modern alternatives shift that equation dramatically.
Related guides:
Explore more cost-effective alternatives →