Monthly costs of running a website: the full list
The build is paid once; the site costs money every month after. Every recurring line, which ones depend on the build, and how to keep the total low.
The short answer
A website is paid for twice: once to build, and then every month for as long as it exists. The second bill is spread across many small lines on many cards, which is why the question what the site costs to run is hard to answer. The lines fall into six groups, and the size of most of them was decided by how the site was built.
Here is the complete list, so nothing is forgotten, and so the ones that should be zero are visible.
The six groups
| Group | Lines | Depends on the build? |
|---|---|---|
| Domain and DNS | Domain renewals per domain, DNS provider if separate, certificate if not automatic | Certificate cost should be zero on modern hosting |
| Hosting and network | Hosting plan, CDN or edge network, bandwidth overages, database if any | Heavily: static hosting is low and flat; servers and databases cost more and scale |
| Licences and subscriptions | Content system plan, theme licence, plugins and page builder, premium apps | Heavily: zero on a custom static site; many lines on plugin platforms |
| Maintenance and monitoring | Maintenance scope or hourly fixes, monitoring service, security scanning, backup storage | Partly: less work on a static site, but the routine still needs an owner |
| Third-party services | Form handling, transactional email, newsletter, analytics plan, site search, image processing, fonts, chat, booking, payments fees | Often forgotten; each is small, together significant |
| Changes | Content updates, new pages, small features, whether inside a scope or billed by the hour | The line most likely to be under-budgeted |
What is usually forgotten
- The services around the form. The form handler, the email sender that delivers it, the spam protection. Three small subscriptions for one contact form.
- Analytics on a paid plan that nobody looks at.
- The font licence from the original design, renewing yearly on a designer’s card.
- Old domains that redirect, each renewing, each on a different card.
- Image and media services attached to a content system.
- The plugin that was a one-year licence and is now silently out of updates, which is a security cost rather than a money cost.
Keeping the total low
- Build it so the licence group is empty. A static site in code you own has no plugin, theme or builder fees, and no server or database to pay for.
- Consolidate the third parties. One form and email path, one analytics tool, self-hosted fonts.
- Review yearly. Cancel what is unused; several lines usually are.
- Put maintenance in a scope. One predictable line replaces hourly surprises and prevents the incident costs that never appear on this list until they do.
What this means for you
Write the full list using the six groups. If the licence group is long, the build is costing you every month and a rebuild in code you own pays back over a few years. If the third-party group is long, consolidate. And whatever the totals, the list with owners and renewal dates is the document that keeps the site online when a card expires.
Frequently asked questions
Why does our small site have so many subscriptions?
Because each need was solved by adding a service: a form tool, an email sender, a newsletter, a booking widget, a chat, an analytics plan, a font licence. Each was small. Together they are a second hosting bill, and several may no longer be used. A yearly review of the list usually removes a few.
Which lines should be zero on a well-built site?
Plugin and theme licences, page builder fees, a server to maintain, and most third-party widget subscriptions. A static site in code you own on a modern platform typically has domain, hosting, a form and email service, and a maintenance scope. That is the whole list.
Is a maintenance fee a cost or a saving?
It is the line that prevents the expensive lines: emergency fixes, incident recovery, the rebuild brought forward by neglect. Compare it with last year's hourly fixes plus an honest estimate of what was not done. It is the cheapest line on the list per unit of risk removed.