What a care plan is for
A website is not finished when it launches. Software needs security updates, certificates expire, backups need checking, and sooner or later something breaks at an inconvenient time. A care plan, also sold as website maintenance or a support plan, pays someone to handle that on a schedule instead of when it becomes an emergency.
What is usually included
- Software and security updates: keeping the CMS and everything it depends on patched.
- Backups: daily or weekly copies of the site, stored somewhere other than the site itself, plus restoring one when needed.
- Uptime monitoring: an alert when the site goes down, often before you notice.
- Security monitoring: malware scans, login protection and SSL certificate renewal.
- Hosting: sometimes included, sometimes a separate bill. Always ask.
- A small amount of support: email help, and on higher tiers a set number of hours for changes.
What is often left out
The most common surprise is that a care plan keeps your site running but does not improve it. These are frequently extra:
- New pages, new sections or redesigns.
- Content changes beyond a few small edits.
- SEO work and reporting.
- Fixing problems caused by a plugin, theme or app you added yourself.
- Restoring a site after a hack, on some lower-priced plans.
None of that is unreasonable, but it should be in writing before you sign.
What care plans cost
Typical ranges run from about $50 a month for updates, backups and monitoring on a simple site to $250 or more when support hours, content edits and reporting are included. Plans for online stores cost more because there is more to watch and more at stake when checkout breaks.
Price differences mostly come down to two things: how much human time is included, and how quickly someone responds when you ask for help.
Why the platform matters
How much maintenance a site needs depends heavily on what it is built on. A site that relies on many third-party plugins needs constant updates, and each update can conflict with another. That is where most maintenance hours and most breakages come from.
Bunched builds on Payload CMS for content sites and Shopify for online stores, with a fast headless front end. There is no plugin pile to keep in sync, and because the public site is separate from the editing system, a problem on the back end does not take the site offline. What a headless website is.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Is hosting included, and where is the site hosted?
- How often are backups taken, where are they stored, and have you tested a restore?
- How fast do you respond, and is that business hours or around the clock?
- How many hours of changes are included, and what does extra time cost?
- Who fixes it if an update breaks something, and does that cost extra?
- Is there a contract, and what happens to my site if I leave?
How Bunched handles it
Every Bunched plan is a care plan with the website included. Starter covers managed hosting, daily backups, monthly CMS and security updates, uptime and security monitoring, and email support for $149 a month. Growth and Premium add support hours, content edits and SEO. There is no contract, and your content and domain are yours if you ever leave. See the plans.