The True Cost of WordPress Maintenance in 2026
Ask most people what WordPress costs, and they'll say "It's free!"
And technically, WordPress.org software is free. But running a professional WordPress site in 2026? That's a very different story.
Let's break down every hidden cost that catches site owners off guard.
The WordPress Cost Illusion
Here's what the WordPress marketing says:
- Thousands of free plugins: Free
- Thousands of free themes: Free
Here's reality for a professional business website:
- "Free" usually means "basic version"
- Time is money, and WordPress consumes time
Complete Cost Breakdown
1. Hosting Costs
The foundation of every WordPress site.
| Hosting Type | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | Who It's For |
| Shared hosting (Bluehost, HostGator) | $3-10 | $36-120 | Hobby sites only |
| Managed WordPress (SiteGround, Cloudways) | $15-40 | $180-480 | Small business |
| Premium Managed (WP Engine, Kinsta) | $25-115 | $300-1,380 | Professional sites |
| Enterprise (WP VIP, Pagely) | $2,000+ | $24,000+ | Large organizations |
Reality check: That $3/month shared hosting? Your site will be slow, have downtime, and share a server with potentially thousands of other sites. Serious businesses need at minimum $25/month hosting.
Realistic annual hosting: $300-1,400
2. Domain and SSL
| Domain registration (.com) | $10-20 |
Most hosts include free SSL now via Let's Encrypt. Premium SSL (EV certificates) can cost more but are rarely necessary.
Realistic annual cost: $15-50
3. Premium Theme
Free themes work for personal blogs. Business sites usually need premium:
| ThemeForest theme | $60-80 | Often no updates |
| Premium theme (GeneratePress, Kadence) | $60-250 | $60-100/year |
| Custom theme development | $3,000-20,000 | N/A |
Why premium? Better code quality, security updates, support, and features.
Realistic cost: $60-250 upfront + $60-100/year
4. Essential Plugins (The Big One)
Here's where costs explode. A typical business site needs:
Security:
| Plugin | Free Version | Pro Version |
| Wordfence | Limited | $119/year |
| iThemes Security | Basic | $99/year |
SEO:
| Plugin | Free Version | Pro Version |
| Rank Math | Good | $59-199/year |
Performance:
| Plugin | Free Version | Pro Version |
| NitroPack | Limited | $210-1,000/year |
Backups:
| Plugin | Free Version | Pro Version |
| UpdraftPlus | Limited | $70-145/year |
| BackupBuddy | N/A | $80-200/year |
Forms:
| Plugin | Free Version | Pro Version |
| WPForms | Very Limited | $49-299/year |
| Gravity Forms | N/A | $59-259/year |
| Formidable | Limited | $99-399/year |
Page Builder (if not using theme's):
| Plugin | Free Version | Pro Version |
| Elementor | Basic | $59-399/year |
| Divi | N/A | $89/year (lifetime $249) |
| Beaver Builder | N/A | $99-399/year |
E-commerce (if applicable):
| Plugin | Free Version | Pro Version |
| WooCommerce | Free | Extensions $0-599 each |
| Stripe/PayPal fees | N/A | 2.9% + $0.30/transaction |
Typical professional plugin stack:
| Security (Wordfence Pro) | $119 |
| Performance (WP Rocket) | $59 |
| Backups (UpdraftPlus Premium) | $70 |
| Page Builder (Elementor Pro) | $59 |
And that's a minimal stack. Many sites need 5-10 additional premium plugins.
Realistic annual plugin costs: $400-1,500
5. Developer/Maintenance Costs
This is where it really adds up.
DIY Approach (Your Time):
| Task | Time/Month | Your Time Value |
| Plugin updates | 1-2 hours | $50-200 |
| Security monitoring | 1-2 hours | $50-200 |
| Backups/testing | 30 min | $25-50 |
| Content updates | 2-4 hours | $100-400 |
| Troubleshooting | 1-3 hours | $50-300 |
| Total/month | 5-11 hours | $275-1,150 |
Even if you "do it yourself," your time has value.
Hiring Help:
| Service | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
| Basic maintenance plan | $50-100 | $600-1,200 |
| Mid-tier maintenance | $100-300 | $1,200-3,600 |
| Premium maintenance | $300-1,000 | $3,600-12,000 |
| Developer on retainer | $500-2,000 | $6,000-24,000 |
Realistic annual maintenance: $600-3,600 (or $3,300-13,800 in opportunity cost for DIY)
6. Security Incident Costs
47% of WordPress sites will experience a security incident. When it happens:
| Malware removal (Sucuri, Wordfence) | $150-500 |
| Developer emergency response | $100-300/hour |
| Lost revenue during downtime | $Varies (potentially massive) |
| SEO recovery (Google penalties) | $500-5,000 |
| Customer notification/legal (data breach) | $1,000-20,000+ |
Average security incident cost: $500-5,000
Not every site gets hacked, but the average should factor in probability.
Risk-adjusted annual cost: $50-500
7. CDN and Performance Services
| Service | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
| Cloudflare (free tier) | $0 | $0 |
| Cloudflare Business | $200 | $2,400 |
| Fastly/Akamai | $100-500 | $1,200-6,000 |
Most sites can use Cloudflare free tier, but performance-critical sites need more.
Realistic annual cost: $0-240
Total Cost of Ownership Summary
Let's add it all up for a typical small business WordPress site:
Minimum Professional Setup
| Security risk reserve | $100 |
Recommended Professional Setup
| Premium managed hosting | $600 |
| Comprehensive plugins | $800 |
| Mid-tier maintenance | $1,800 |
| Security risk reserve | $200 |
Enterprise Setup
| Enterprise hosting | $3,600+ |
| Custom theme | $5,000 (amortized) |
| Developer retainer | $12,000 |
The Hidden Cost: Opportunity Cost
Every hour spent on WordPress maintenance is an hour not spent on:
This is the cost nobody calculates but everyone feels.
Comparison: Modern Alternatives
What if you didn't have to pay all these costs?
Next.js on Vercel
| No security plugins needed | $0 |
| No backup plugins needed | $0 (Git is your backup) |
| No caching plugins needed | $0 (built-in) |
| No page builder needed | $0 (code is the builder) |
| Minimal maintenance | $0-600 |
Savings: $700-3,000/year
And that's before counting the time saved not dealing with updates, security patches, and troubleshooting.
Astro on Cloudflare Pages
Making the Switch
The math is clear:
| Platform | Annual Cost | Maintenance Time |
| WordPress (minimum) | $1,560 | 5-10 hours/month |
| WordPress (recommended) | $3,805 | 2-5 hours/month |
| Modern stack | $255-855 | 1-2 hours/month |
You could save $700-3,000/year AND get your time back.
Migration Cost vs. Ongoing Savings
"But migration costs money too!"
True. Here's the math:
| Migration approach | One-time cost |
| Assisted migration | $500-2,000 |
| Full-service migration | $2,000-10,000 |
Even at the high end, migration pays for itself within 1-3 years through reduced ongoing costs.
Most sites using our free migration tool: $0
Start your free migration →
FAQ
Q: Can I run WordPress cheaper than this?
Yes, if you use free everything and cheap shared hosting. But your site will be slow, insecure, and unreliable. "Cheap" WordPress is expensive in other ways. See why WordPress is slow →
Q: What about WordPress.com (hosted)?
WordPress.com plans run $4-45/month but have significant limitations. By the time you unlock all features, you're paying more than self-hosted.
Q: Do these modern alternatives really need no plugins?
Not in the traditional sense. You might install npm packages, but these are:
- Version-locked (no surprise updates)
- Only run at build time (no security risk)
Learn about Next.js →
Q: What about WooCommerce? Is there a modern alternative?
Yes! Shopify, Saleor, Medusa, or headless commerce solutions. These handle payment compliance, security, and scaling that WordPress/WooCommerce struggle with.
Conclusion
WordPress's "free" price tag hides thousands in annual costs:
- Hosting that doesn't embarrass you: $300-600/year
- Plugins that aren't crippled: $400-1,500/year
- Someone to maintain it: $600-3,600/year
- Security to prevent disasters: $100-500/year
Total: $1,500-3,800/year for a basic business site
Modern alternatives cost a fraction of this with better performance, better security, and less ongoing work.
The question isn't whether you can afford to migrate—it's whether you can afford not to.
Related guides:
Calculate your savings with our free migration →