Creating a website is just a matter ofthe 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 chosen: WordPress, Webflow, Astro, Shopify..
This guide presentsreal costsyou'll also find out how to budget and what to do to avoid unpleasant surprises.
6 types of recurring website costs
Each site involves real costs divided into 6 categories:
Hosting
Domain name
SSL certificate
Technical maintenance
Backups and security
Developments and content
(optional but strategic) :SEO continues andadvertising
This is what it will look like in Belgium in 2026.
1. Accommodation: €20 to €400/year
Price depends on technology:
WordPress
High-performance hosting (mandatory) :€80 - €240/day
Webflow
Owner accommodation :€160 - €480/an
Astro / static site (Numinam)
Ultra-light hosting :20€ - 100€/an
(The most economical and fastest)
Shopify / e-commerce
SaaS formula :288€ - 948€/an
2. Domain name: €10 to €15/year
Standard for .be, .fr, .com.
Mandatory annual renewal.
3. SSL certificate: €0 to €50/year
Most serious hosting providers include SSL free of charge.
Indispensable in 2026 (security + SEO).
4. Technical maintenance: €0 to €6,000/year depending on technology
This is the position that varies the most.
WordPress: €1,200 to €6,000/year
The CMS requeststhe most maintenance :
wordPress updates,
plugin updates,
theme updates,
safety monitoring,
bug fixes after update,
plugin conflict management,
performance optimization,
surveillance uptime.
Budget type :100€ to 500€/month.
Webflow: €0 to €500/year
Limited maintenance, but :
content updates,
design evolutions,
internal CMS management.
Low cost, but high accommodation price.
Astro (Numinam) : 0 € to 1 800 €/year
Astro requires almost nono technical maintenance :
no plugins,
no exposed database,
no server updates,
no risk of structural piracy.
Actual cost :0€ to 150€/month (for content updates only).
This is the least expensive technology in the long term.
Shopify: €0 to €2,000/year
Limited maintenance but :
theme-based corrections,
app updates,
boutique-level support,
évolutions marketing.
5. Backups & security: €0 to €600/year
WordPress
External backups mandatory :€120 - €600/day
Additional security (premium plugins) :€80 - €200/day
Webflow
Security included, integrated backups :0€
Astro
Static site =no server risk → very simple backups
Cost :0€ - 50€/an
Shopify
Security included, partial backups.
6. Upgrades, corrections, content updates: €300 to €10,000/year
Depending on the site's ambition :
additional pages,
conversion optimization (CRO),
text / image updates,
new features,
performance optimization,
creation of new content.
Average SME budget :1,000€ to 5,000€/year
7. Ongoing SEO: €1,000 to €60,000/year
(optional but strongly recommended)
SEO isnot a maintenance costbut aacquisition investment.
Forks :
small SMEs :1,000€ to 5,000€/year
Ambitious SMEs :5,000€ to 20,000€/year
SEO national intensif :20,000€ to 60,000€/year
Without SEO, even a fast site won't bring in 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€ | Including. | Including. | 260-1 000€ |
Astro (Numinam) | 20-100€ | 0-1 800€ | Including. | 0-50€ | 20-2 000€ |
Shopify | 288-948€ | 0-2 000€ | Including. | partial | 300-2 800€ |
Conclusion :
Astro is by far the technology with the lowest recurring cost in 2026.
How much does a site really cost over 3 years?
WordPress: €5,000 to €20,000
Maintenance + risks + corrections
Webflow: €1,000 to €3,000
Stable, but high hosting costs
Astro: €200 to €6,000
Ultra economical long term
Shopify: €1,000 to €6,000
Depends on 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,
frequency of updates,
sEO ambitions,
the necessary integrations.
Light speed website
Sites that load in <1s - to reduce lead loss by up to 30-40%.
How can you reduce your recurring costs?
Choosing Astro over WordPress
You eliminate 80% of maintenance costs.
Automate backups
Minimal cost, maximum peace of mind.
Simple architecture
The more plugins / apps / connectors → the more it costs.
Group content updates
To limit the number of small interventions billed separately.
Why Numinam chooses Astro to reduce long-term costs
Numinam develops :
ultra-rapids,
stables,
virtually maintenance-free,
perfect for SEO,
natively secure,
with a very low TCO.
A high-performance site isn't just faster:
it costs less, generates more traffic and converts better.
Average annual budget with Numinam :200€ à 1 800€
→ Request a free audit :contact@numinam.com