WordPress Website Maintenance and Care Plans
Website maintenance in South Africa from a studio that builds and hosts WordPress sites: updates tested on a copy of your site before they go live, daily backups, security monitoring and set response times. Care plans from R975 a month incl. VAT, with hosting included.
- Since 2001
25 years - 20+ years
with the same clients - 2025
most recent rebuild for two of them
What breaks on an unmaintained WordPress site
Security goes first: WordPress keeps releasing security fixes, and a site that stops taking them stays open to the problems they fix.
Here is what goes wrong, and which part of a care plan deals with each.
Security holes stay open
As at 28 September 2026, WordPress’s security news page listed two security releases that month: WordPress 7.1.1 on 17 September, with 11 security fixes, and WordPress 7.1.2 on 22 September, for a critical vulnerability, each with the advice to update sites immediately. Both care plans include core, plugin and theme updates.
An update breaks something
As at 28 September 2026, WordPress’s guide to updating advises a backup first, so that if there are any issues you can restore your website. On a care plan, we test updates on a staging copy of your site before they go live.
A hack you can’t see
As at 28 September 2026, Google’s spam policies say it is not uncommon for a hacker to make a hack harder for the site’s owner to detect, and that injected hidden links may be harder for you to spot. Both care plans include Wordfence monitoring, and Wordfence’s product page describes it as a firewall and malware scanner built to protect WordPress (as at the same date). Wordfence runs on every site we look after, free by default; a premium firewall gets new rules and malware signatures in real time, not 30 days later.
No backup to go back to
As at 28 September 2026, WordPress’s guide to backups calls them essential, because problems inevitably occur. Our hosting backs your site up every day with Acronis and keeps at least seven days of copies off-site. A restore is included when you need one, and both care plans include the hosting.
Speed and broken links go unchecked
As at 28 September 2026, Google’s Core Web Vitals page describes Core Web Vitals as metrics for loading performance, interactivity and visual stability, and highly recommends that site owners achieve good scores, for success with Search. The full care plan includes a quarterly speed review and a sweep for broken links and missing pages.
Hosting alone doesn’t cover it
As at 28 September 2026, WordPress’s guide to hardening WordPress says hosts are often responsible for the server a site sits on, not for the software installed on it, and that hacks are most often traced to that software. Our hosting doesn’t include updates either; the care plans do.
WordPress security plugins: what Wordfence does, and what it cannot do on its own
Sites we keep running
Some we built; others were referred to us running slowly, or hacked. All three below are on our hosting today.
Client since 2025
Thrive Raw Food For Dogs
We built the online store in 2025, and we still host, maintain and support it, along with its analytics, SEO and Google Ads.
Client since 2026
Big City Life
A photographer’s site, referred to us running very slowly. We reduced the whole site from roughly 85GB to about 4.5GB, moved it from another host onto ours and added security.
Client since 2026
Xscape4u
Referred to us after a compromise, with links to offshore casino sites being injected into it. We rebuilt the platform, left the hacked content behind and delivered it clean, with encryption and Wordfence.
Smallies World, a WooCommerce store and a client since 2024, is on our hosting too; we maintain it and have rebuilt sections of it.
One service we keep running is our own: smscodes.co.za, a short-code and USSD lookup service we built in 2010. South Africa’s mobile networks have paid to keep its data current ever since, and today Vodacom pays for its upkeep.
What each plan includes, and what it costs
Our website maintenance services come as two care plans, both with our hosting included: basic at R975 a month and full at R2,450 a month. A care plan needs our hosting, so we don’t offer one on hosting someone else runs. Hosting on its own is R450 a month; it keeps your site online and backed up, but doesn’t update it. All prices are in South African rand (ZAR), incl. VAT.
Managed hosting
R450 /mo incl. VAT
Your site on our servers, with SSL, staging, five mailboxes and up to 15 GB (website and email).
- Daily off-site backups, with a restore when you need one
- Uptime monitoring
Not included: updates, fixes, content changes. More space or server power is quoted separately.
Care plan — basic
R975 /mo incl. VAT
Hosting included, and your site kept updated, backed up and watched.
- Core, plugin and theme updates, tested on staging first
- Daily backups, with a restore when you need one
- Wordfence monitoring and uptime alerts
- A monthly health email
Not included: content changes, design work, new features.
Care plan — full
R2,450 /mo incl. VAT
Everything in basic, plus two hours of changes to your site each month.
A change is a request to replace existing content with new content. Unused hours don’t carry over to the next month.
- Priority response, on a private contact
- A monthly performance and security report
- A quarterly speed review
- A broken-link and 404 sweep
Not included: new pages or features beyond the two hours, SEO campaigns.
Work a plan doesn’t include is quoted per task before we start. A care plan is cancelled with one calendar month’s notice. More on the hosting itself: WordPress hosting.
What a website maintenance package includes, and what it should cost
How fast do you respond when something goes wrong?
Within one business day on the basic care plan, and within four business hours on the full plan. If a care-plan client’s site is down, we respond within four business hours. Business hours don’t include nights, weekends or public holidays.
| When | Hosting only | Care plan — basic | Care plan — full |
|---|---|---|---|
| You ask for help | No set time | 1 business day | 4 business hours |
| Your site is down | No set time | 4 business hours | 4 business hours |
Not with us yet, and your site has been hacked? A website rescue starts with a response within 24 to 48 hours. As at 28 September 2026, Google Search Help’s section on the “This site may be hacked” message says Google may show that message in its results when it believes a hacker might have changed a site’s pages, and that it stays until the site’s owner takes action. Start with what to do in the first 24 hours.
Relationships measured in decades
Three of the clients who have been with us for twenty years or more.
No public access.
Client since before 2005
Network Dynamics
When they became a client they traded as Flower Dynamics.
Logistics management system, now a custom WordPress plugin.
First built in the 2000s, upgraded in 2014, and replaced by a new system in 2026.
Client since 2005
Tin Soldier
Most recently rebuilt in April 2025.
Client since 2005
Something Fab
Formerly ABFAB Online. Most recently rebuilt in 2025.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to pay someone to maintain a website?
With us, R975 a month incl. VAT on the basic care plan, which includes hosting, updates tested before they go live, daily backups and a restore when you need one, and Wordfence monitoring. The full plan, R2,450 a month, adds two hours of changes and faster responses. How a maintenance plan compares with paying as you go sets out the options.
What kind of maintenance does a website need?
A WordPress website needs its core software, plugins and theme updated, with each update ideally tested on a copy of the site before it goes live. It needs regular backups kept away from the server, security monitoring, and a check that it stays online. Now and then, it needs a speed review and a sweep for broken links. Our monthly WordPress maintenance checklist goes through each job.
I already host with you. What changes on a care plan?
Your site stays on our hosting, and we take over its upkeep: core, plugin and theme updates tested on a staging copy first, Wordfence monitoring and a monthly health email. You pay R975 a month incl. VAT, with the hosting included, instead of R450 for hosting alone.
Can you look after a website someone else built?
Yes. We have moved many clients’ sites to us from other providers, and we take over other people’s problem projects. A site that has been hacked or is broken starts with a website rescue. A hacked site is cleaned up from R5,200 incl. VAT, plus at least three months of care on top (R2,925 on basic). If a site isn’t worth saving, we rebuild it, from R15,000 incl. VAT, quoted after an assessment of R2,220 incl. VAT that is credited against the work.
What isn’t included in a care plan?
On the basic plan: content changes, design work and new features. On the full plan: new pages or features beyond the two hours of changes a month, and SEO campaigns, which our SEO service covers. Anything outside a plan is quoted per task before we start. We don’t use paid themes. A paid plugin, theme or security upgrade is licensed to your own account at your cost, or supplied by us with a small markup.
When is a rebuild better than more maintenance?
When the code underneath can no longer be kept current. We built the original platform for GiftBucks, a client since 2003. When its code had aged past maintaining, we rebuilt it as a custom WordPress plugin with current security. If your site is getting there, see website rebuilds and migrations.
Do you maintain websites outside Johannesburg?
Yes. We work from Midrand, Johannesburg, and provide WordPress maintenance in South Africa and further afield: since 2001, Fyre has built and run sites and systems for South African businesses, and for clients internationally in the UK, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The prices are the same wherever you are, in rand (ZAR); clients outside South Africa carry their own currency conversion and cross-border bank charges.
Related services
What our clients say
I have been working with Claude for over 20 years, and last night he properly pulled a rabbit out of a hat for me! Stunning wordpress site designed and built within two hours. Thank you!!
Google review
Claud from Fyre Interactive recently developed a website for me and did a truly outstanding job. When faced with a challenge he will persist and solve to full customer expectation and satisfaction. It was the best decision to select him as a partner for this project.
Google review
I have worked closed with Claude and the Fyre team and its one of the easiest web developers to work with. He is attentive and responsive to requests at all times whether its email or Whatsapp.
He also does not pad his costs and so the service is value for money. I highly recommend Claude for hosting, web development and other services.
Google review
Read our reviews on Google Review us on Google All our reviews
Tell us about the site you need looked after
A few lines about your site are enough to start: what it does, who built it and where it is hosted now. We’ll reply with questions and a sensible next step.
Great service deliverables – Supportive, patient, reachable at all times and responsive
Samantha M. · Xscape4u · Google review