Website maintenance cost in Canada usually falls into four buckets: your own time on a DIY builder, a cheap WordPress update retainer, agency care after you already paid thousands for a build, or a monthly plan where the custom build is included. This page compares those CAD shapes so you can budget honestly — ranges from public Canadian offers and industry norms, not a quote for your site.
If you want the full project-cost picture (DIY vs freelancer vs agency vs Care), start with website cost in Canada. This guide zooms in on the monthly maintenance line item — the one that decides whether the site still works in year two.
Typical CAD ranges in 2026
| Path | Typical monthly CAD | Usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| DIY (Wix / Squarespace / WP.com) | $10–$50+ platform fees | Hosting-ish tools; you do the maintenance |
| WordPress care / updates only | $50–$150 | Updates, backups, malware scans; edits often extra |
| Agency care after a project build | $100–$450+ | Hosting + limited edits; build was $2,000–$8,000+ upfront |
| SEO retainer stacked on top | $450–$850+ (some locals) | Content/SEO — not the same as keeping the site up |
| Web Maintained Care / Plus / Pro | $129 / $249 / $449 | Custom build included, hosting, backups, edit hours, SEO foundations |
What you should get for the money
- Hosting, SSL, daily backups, uptime monitoring
- Security and software patches without a plugin scavenger hunt
- A defined block of edit hours for hours, services, and photos
- Basic SEO upkeep (titles, speed, sitemap) — not a separate $500 SEO upsell for the floor
Detail on package layers: what's included in a website maintenance package. Recurring tasks: maintenance checklist.
Monthly website maintenance plan vs DIY
DIY looks cheapest until you count evenings spent on forms, certificates, and “why am I not on Google.” A monthly website maintenance plan is priced for owner-operators who would rather be on jobs. Trades-specific notes are in website maintenance for trades.
How to read a maintenance quote
- Is the build already paid, or included in the monthly fee?
- How many edit hours, and what counts as out-of-scope?
- Who watches uptime at 2 a.m. — a person or a hope?
- Are backups tested, or only “enabled”?
- Is SEO foundations included, or a separate retainer?
Web Maintained answers those with Care from $129 CAD/month, homepage preview before month one, three-month starter, then month-to-month. London context: website maintenance in London, Ontario.