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 and advertising
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
Hosting: €160 - €480/year
Astro / static site (Numinam)
Ultra-light hosting: €20 - €100/year (The most economical and fastest)
Shopify / e-commerce
SaaS formula: €288 - €948/year
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/year
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 a acquisition 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.
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 to €1,800
→ Request a free audit : contact@numinam.com
