Creating a website is only the first step. To stay fast, secure and visible on Google, a site needs a maintenance budget. In 2026, these costs vary enormously depending on the technology: WordPress, Webflow, Astro, Shopify.
This guide sets out the real costs, how to budget for them, and how to avoid unpleasant surprises.
The six recurring cost items, plus one optional
Every site carries recurring costs, grouped into six categories, plus an optional one:
- Hosting
- Domain name
- SSL certificate
- Technical maintenance
- Backups and security
- Upgrades and content
- (optional but strategic): ongoing SEO and advertising
Here is what that looks like in Belgium in 2026.
1. Hosting: €20 to €400/year
Price depends on technology:
WordPress
High-performance hosting (mandatory): €80 to €240 per year
Webflow
Hosting: €160 to €480/year
Astro / static site (Numinam)
Very light hosting: €20 to €100/year, the lowest of the four.
Shopify / e-commerce
SaaS plan: €288 to €1,104 per year, depending on the plan and the billing mode. The low end is the Basic plan billed annually, the high end the Grow plan billed monthly. The higher plans go well above that.
2. Domain name: €10 to €15/year
Standard for .be, .fr, .com. Mandatory annual renewal.
3. SSL certificate: €0 to €50/year
Most reputable hosting providers include SSL at no extra cost. It is required in 2026, for security and for SEO.
4. Technical maintenance: €0 to €6,000/year depending on technology
This is the line item that varies the most, and by a wide margin.
WordPress: €1,200 to €6,000/year
This CMS needs the most maintenance:
- WordPress updates,
- plugin updates,
- theme updates,
- security monitoring,
- bug fixes after each update,
- resolving plugin conflicts,
- performance optimization,
- uptime monitoring.
Typical budget: €100 to €500/month.
Webflow: €0 to €500/year
Maintenance stays limited, but you still have:
- content updates,
- design changes,
- day-to-day CMS work.
Low maintenance cost, but an expensive hosting plan.
Astro (Numinam): €0 to €1,800/year
Astro needs almost no technical maintenance:
- no plugins,
- no exposed database,
- no server updates,
- a much smaller attack surface.
Actual cost: €0 to €150/month, for content updates only.
This is the cheapest technology over time.
Shopify: €0 to €2,000/year
Maintenance stays limited, but you still have:
- fixes on themes,
- app updates,
- store-level support,
- marketing changes.
5. Backups & security: €0 to €600/year
WordPress
- External backups are mandatory: €120 to €600 per year
- Extra security through premium plugins: €80 to €200 per year
Webflow
Security and backups included: €0
Astro
A static site has no server risk, so backups stay simple. Cost: €0 to €50/year
Shopify
Security is included, backups are partial.
6. Upgrades, corrections, content updates: €300 to €10,000/year
It depends on how far you take the site:
- additional pages,
- conversion optimization (CRO),
- text and image updates,
- new features,
- performance optimization,
- creation of new content.
Typical SME budget: €1,000 to €5,000/year
7. Ongoing SEO: €1,000 to €60,000/year
(optional but strongly recommended)
SEO is less a maintenance cost than an acquisition investment.
The ranges:
- small SMEs: €1,000 to €5,000/year
- ambitious SMEs: €5,000 to €20,000/year
- intensive national SEO: €20,000 to €60,000/year
Without SEO, even a fast site brings in little organic traffic.
Clear comparison of recurring costs (2026)
| Technology | Hosting | Maintenance | Security | Backups | Total annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | €80–240 | €1,200–6,000 | €80–200 | €120–600 | €1,500–7,000 |
| Webflow | €160–480 | €100–500 | Included | Included | €260–1,000 |
| Astro | €20–100 | €0–1,800 | Included | €0–50 | €20–2,000 |
| Shopify | €288–1,104 | €0–2,000 | Included | Partial | €288–3,104 |
Across the four options, Astro has the lowest recurring cost in 2026.
How much does a site really cost over 3 years?
WordPress: €5,000 to €20,000
Maintenance, fixes and risk
Webflow: €1,000 to €3,000
Stable, but high hosting costs
Astro: €200 to €6,000
Very cheap over the long run
Shopify: €1,000 to €6,000
Depends on the number of paid apps
What's your company's budget?
Here are realistic annual budgets for each type of company:
| Type of company | Recommended annual budget |
|---|---|
| Independent | 150€ - 800€ |
| Small SME | 500€ - 2 500€ |
| Established SME | 2 000€ - 6 000€ |
| E-commerce | 2 000€ - 10 000€ |
| Grand groupe | 5 000€ - 30 000€ |
The budget depends mainly on:
- the chosen technology,
- how often you update it,
- how ambitious your SEO is,
- the integrations you need.
How can you reduce your recurring costs?
Choosing Astro over WordPress
You remove most of the recurring maintenance costs.
Automate backups
The cost is minimal and it removes a real worry.
Simple architecture
The more plugins, apps and connectors you add, the more it costs.
Group content updates
Grouping them limits the number of small jobs billed separately.
Why Numinam chooses Astro to reduce long-term costs
I build sites that are:
- fast,
- stable,
- virtually maintenance-free,
- suited to SEO,
- secure by default,
- and cheap to own over time.
A fast, simple site costs less to run over time, and it gives you the best chance of ranking and converting.
Average annual budget with Numinam: €200 to €1,800
Want to know what your current site costs you each year? The free 25-minute audit is a good place to start.
Sources
Shopify, public pricing grid for Belgium, consulted on 14 August 2026: Basic plan at €32 per month billed monthly or €24 per month billed annually, Grow plan at €92 per month billed monthly. https://www.shopify.com/be/pricing
