How much does it cost to maintain a website in 2025

TL;DR: For most creators and small businesses, maintaining a website costs between $15 and $100 per month. A link-in-bio page on a platform like MyLinks.page can handle the bulk of what most people actually need for $0 to $12 per month, without the bloat.

How much does it cost to maintain a website?

For a basic website with hosting, a custom domain, and no extra frills, expect to pay $15 to $50 per month. A full-featured e-commerce or business site with premium hosting, security, and plugins can easily reach $150 to $500 per month. But if you're a creator, freelancer, or small business owner whose main goal is driving traffic from social media, you're likely paying for far more website than you actually need.

This guide breaks down every line item: what it actually costs, what's worth paying for, and where a link-in-bio page covers the same ground for a fraction of the price.

Hosting: $3 to $80/month depending on provider and plan tier
Custom domain: $10 to $20/year (about $1 to $2/month amortized)
SSL certificate: $0 on most platforms, $10 to $100/year if you buy separately
CMS or site builder subscription: $0 to $50+/month
Plugins, themes, or add-ons: $0 to $100+/month
A link-in-bio page that replaces the basics: $0 to $12/month

What you're actually paying for when you maintain a website

Website maintenance costs break into four categories: hosting, your domain, the platform or CMS you build on, and everything layered on top. According to data from Wix, plans range from $16 to over $500 per month. WordPress sites typically cost $15 to $40 per month for shared hosting plus a domain, and that's before any premium plugins. These numbers are real, but they don't tell you which costs are unavoidable.

Hosting is the one bill you can't skip. Every website needs a server. Shared hosting through providers like Bluehost or SiteGround starts around $3 to $10 per month on introductory pricing, but renewal rates typically double. Managed WordPress hosting from WP Engine starts at $25 per month. If your site goes down on a Sunday because you're on cheap shared hosting, that introductory rate stops looking like a bargain.

Your domain name costs about $12 to $15 per year for a .com through Namecheap or Google Domains. Premium or short domains cost more. The domain is yours as long as you renew it annually. Missing that renewal is how people accidentally lose websites they've owned for a decade.

The platform cost is where things diverge. Squarespace charges $16 to $49 per month. Wix goes from $16 to over $159 per month for e-commerce. WordPress.org is technically free software, but you'll pay for hosting, a premium theme ($30 to $100 one-time), and usually several plugins that add $100 to $500 per year combined. Shopify for an online store starts at $39 per month.

Why most creators are over-paying for their web presence

Here's what almost no one says out loud: the vast majority of traffic a creator sends to their website comes from one place, a link in their bio. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, all of it funnels down to one URL. You're paying $40 to $100 per month to maintain a full website, and 80 to 90 percent of the value is one landing page with a few links on it.

That's not a knock on having a website. A real website earns its keep when you have blog content, a portfolio, an online store, or a booking system. But if your website is mostly an about page and some links, you're maintaining a warehouse to store a filing cabinet.

A link-in-bio tool handles that core use case at a fraction of the cost. MyLinks.page, for example, offers a free tier with no forced branding, something Linktree's free plan doesn't give you. The pro plan runs $9 per month and lets you connect your own custom domain, which means your profile lives at something like yourname.com instead of mylinks.page/yourname. For most creators, that's the entire website they were paying $40 per month for.

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What a link-in-bio page actually replaces (and what it doesn't)

A good link-in-bio page on a custom domain replaces four specific website costs: hosting fees (covered by the platform), CMS subscription costs (covered by the platform), SSL certificate (included), and basic SEO setup. MyLinks.page profiles are crawlable by search engines, use canonical URLs, and support custom meta descriptions. A link-in-bio page on a free Linktree subdomain does not get indexed the same way, which is a real SEO cost people don't account for.

What a link-in-bio page does not replace: a blog with multiple posts, a full e-commerce store, a client booking system with calendar integration, or a portfolio with case studies. If your website genuinely needs those things, you need a real website. The honest calculation is whether you're paying for those features or just paying because you thought a website was required.

For musicians, the comparison is clear. A Squarespace site at $23 per month for tour dates, a streaming link, and a contact form is $276 per year. A MyLinks.page pro plan at $9 per month is $108 per year, and it handles the streaming links, tour dates (via an embed block), and contact. The savings alone pay for a year of Spotify Premium.

The hidden costs people forget to budget for

Annual billing saves money. Wix advertises $16 per month, but that rate requires paying the full year upfront. Month-to-month on the same plan runs $29. The gap matters over twelve months. Squarespace's personal plan is $16 per month billed annually or $23 per month billed monthly. Always calculate the annual cost, then divide by twelve, when comparing plans.

Security and backups add up quietly. A basic SSL certificate is included on Squarespace, Wix, and most hosting providers. But a managed security suite, malware scanning, or an automatic backup plugin on WordPress can add $10 to $30 per month. Cloudflare's free plan covers basic DDoS protection, but their business plan is $200 per month. Most personal sites don't need that, but it's in the upsell funnel.

Email is often counted separately. Google Workspace starts at $6 per user per month for a custom-domain email address. A lot of people buy a domain for their website and then discover getting yourname@yourdomain.com requires another subscription. Microsoft 365 Business Basic is $6 per user per month as well. Add this to your website maintenance estimate if professional email is part of the plan.

Design updates cost time or money. If you can't update your own site, you're paying a developer $50 to $200 per hour for changes. A link-in-bio tool like MyLinks.page lets you add a link, swap a photo, or reorder blocks in under two minutes without touching code or paying anyone.

A realistic monthly cost breakdown by situation

These numbers reflect real-world costs after the introductory pricing expires.

For a creator whose entire web presence is social media traffic to a few links: a link-in-bio tool on a custom domain runs $0 to $12 per month. Total annual cost: $0 to $144.

For a freelancer with a portfolio and contact form: Squarespace personal plan at $192 per year billed annually ($16/month), plus a domain at $12 per year. Total: roughly $204 per year, or $17 per month.

For a small business with a WordPress site: shared hosting at $10/month (post-intro pricing), domain at $15/year, a premium theme at $60 one-time, and two or three plugins at $100/year combined. Rough annual total: $295 to $400, or $25 to $33 per month. Add a developer for any updates and that number rises fast.

For an e-commerce store on Shopify: the basic plan is $39 per month, plus transaction fees if you don't use Shopify Payments, plus apps for email marketing, reviews, and inventory management. A realistic all-in monthly cost for a small Shopify store is $80 to $150 per month.

See the side-by-side

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How to actually cut your website maintenance costs

First, audit what you're paying for versus what drives results. Pull up your hosting invoice, your domain registrar, your CMS subscription, and every plugin or add-on. If you haven't touched a plugin in six months, disable it. If 90 percent of your traffic lands on one page, you probably don't need the other nine.

Second, pay annually wherever the discount is 20 percent or more. Most platforms offer 30 to 40 percent off for annual billing. Pay upfront, set a calendar reminder 60 days before renewal, and don't let auto-renew catch you off guard on a plan you no longer use.

Third, match the tool to the job. If your website is doing the work of a link-in-bio page, move it to a link-in-bio tool on a custom domain and redirect the old domain. If your website is doing real work, like SEO content, product sales, or client intake, pay for the right hosting tier and stop cutting corners on speed and uptime.

Custom domain hosting on MyLinks.page means your profile lives at a URL you own, with SEO crawling enabled, no forced "powered by" branding, and analytics showing you exactly which links are getting clicks. For many creators, that replaces a $400/year WordPress site. For others, it's the right complement to a blog or store, handling the social traffic so the main site can focus on what it does best.

Website maintenance costs what you make them cost. The honest number for a creator landing page: under $15 per month. For a real multi-page business site with e-commerce: $60 to $200 per month is realistic. Know which one you actually need before you write the check.