WordPress hosting and maintenance are two different jobs, and most site owners pay for one thinking it covers the other. Your host keeps the server running. Maintenance keeps your WordPress site, with its theme and its twenty-odd plugins, working on that server. Here’s what each one actually covers, what falls through the gap between them, and when it makes sense to buy them together.
What your WordPress host looks after
Your host is responsible for the machine your site lives on:
- The server: keeping it switched on, patched and fast enough.
- Uptime at server level: if the server goes down, that’s on them.
- Server security: firewalls and isolation from other sites on the same machine.
- Basic backups: many hosts take daily backups, usually stored with them.
- Managed extras: on managed WordPress hosting, things like automatic core updates and built-in caching.
What your host usually won’t do
This is the gap where most sites break:
- Test plugin and theme updates against your site before they go live.
- Fix a plugin conflict or a white screen after an update.
- Clean up a hacked site properly and close the way in (some hosts will suspend the account instead).
- Speed up a slow site caused by heavy pages, images or too many plugins.
- Make your changes: new pages, forms, layout fixes.
If your host’s support has ever replied “that’s a plugin issue, please contact the developer”, you’ve met the gap.
What WordPress maintenance covers
Maintenance is the work on your site itself, every month:
- Updates to WordPress, your theme and your plugins, tested before they go live.
- Backups kept off your server, so a server problem doesn’t take them too.
- Monitoring for downtime and hacks, so someone knows before your customers do.
- Small changes and fixes, and a short report on what was done.
My WordPress maintenance tasks guide walks through a month of it.
Should you buy hosting and maintenance together?
Bundle them if you’re unhappy with your host anyway, you want one bill and one company to call, and you don’t mind moving your site to the provider’s servers. Plans that include both start at around $99 a month.
Keep them separate if you like your host, your site is already set up well, or you want to be able to change maintenance provider without moving your site. Most maintenance providers, me included, work on whatever host you already use.
What the two cost together
- Hosting: shared hosting starts at a few dollars a month; managed WordPress hosting costs more. Cheap plans are fine for brochure sites; stores and busy sites need more.
- Maintenance: published plans run roughly $59 to $300 a month for most small sites; I compared five in the best WordPress maintenance services.
- Bundled: from about $99 a month for both, rising with edits and support.
Questions to ask your host before you rely on it
- Do you test plugin updates, or just run them?
- Where are backups stored, and how do I restore one myself?
- What happens if my site is hacked: do you clean it, or suspend it?
- If a plugin breaks my site, will you fix it or send me to a developer?
If the answers leave a gap, that gap is what maintenance is for. My care plans start at $149 a month and work with the host you already have.
Common questions
Does my WordPress host maintain my site?
Your host looks after the server: keeping it running, secure at the server level and usually backed up. Most hosts do not test plugin updates, fix conflicts or clean up a hacked site for you. That is maintenance, and it is usually separate.
Is managed WordPress hosting the same as maintenance?
No. Managed hosting adds WordPress-aware extras such as automatic core updates, caching and daily backups. It still rarely tests plugin updates against your site or fixes what breaks after them.
Should I buy hosting and maintenance from the same company?
It is simpler to have one bill and one company to call. The trade-off is that changing provider later means moving your site. If you are happy with your host, keep it and add maintenance on top.
How much do WordPress hosting and maintenance cost together?
Shared hosting starts at a few dollars a month and managed WordPress hosting costs more. Published maintenance plans run roughly $59 to $300 a month for most small sites. Bundled plans start around $99 a month and include both.
Can a maintenance provider work with my current host?
Usually yes. A maintenance provider needs an admin login and access to your hosting account, and works on the site wherever it is hosted.
Written by Sakib Islam, a WordPress developer who builds and looks after sites for businesses and agencies. About my work
