Topics: Website design & costs, Costs & pricing
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Quick answer: For a typical small-business website in India, plan on roughly 10–20% of the build cost a year for maintenance labour (updates, backups, security checks and small edits), plus 18% GST. A ₹60,000 site therefore needs about ₹6,000–₹12,000 a year before GST. Domain, hosting, email and licences are running costs billed separately, and stores or web apps need more care.
In India, website maintenance is usually sold as an AMC, an annual maintenance contract, the same term used for air conditioners and office printers. The comparison is more useful than it sounds. A good AMC for an air conditioner says how many service visits you get, how fast someone comes when it breaks and which parts are extra. A website AMC should say exactly the same things, and many don't.
This guide separates what you pay for from what you pay with, shows how platform choice changes the bill, and gives you a checklist for the contract itself.
What does website maintenance actually cover in India?
Maintenance is two different bills that often get bundled: running costs you'd pay anyway, and labour to keep the site healthy. Ask any provider to split them.
| Running costs (pay-as-you-go items) | Labour (the actual maintenance) |
|---|---|
| Domain renewal | WordPress core, theme and plugin updates |
| Hosting | Backups, plus a tested restore |
| SSL certificate (often free with good hosting) | Security monitoring and malware clean-up |
| Business email, per user | Uptime monitoring and fixing outages |
| Premium theme and plugin licences | Small content edits: text, images, offers |
| Shopify apps, if you're on Shopify | Checking forms, WhatsApp buttons and tracking still work |
When an AMC price looks low, it's often because most of the right-hand column is missing. When it looks high, check whether the left-hand column is included and marked up.
How much does a website AMC cost per year in India?
As a rule of thumb, set aside 10–20% of the build cost a year for a typical site, and 15–25% for stores and web apps. Figures below are before 18% GST.
| Site and build cost | Rule of thumb | Yearly maintenance (before GST) |
|---|---|---|
| Small-business site, ₹30,000 | 10–20% | ₹3,000–₹6,000 |
| Small-business site, ₹60,000 | 10–20% | ₹6,000–₹12,000 |
| Custom marketing site, ₹1,00,000 | 10–20% | ₹10,000–₹20,000 |
| Online store, ₹2,00,000 | 15–25% | ₹30,000–₹50,000 |
| Site with logins or bookings, ₹3,00,000 | 15–25% | ₹45,000–₹75,000 |
Where you land inside a range depends on how often you need edits, how many plugins or integrations the site runs, and how quickly problems must be fixed. A site whose leads come from Google Ads every day needs faster response than a brochure site updated twice a year.
Keep maintenance separate from marketing in your head. Ongoing SEO, which starts from around ₹15,000 a month, is growth work, not upkeep. For where these maintenance figures sit in the full picture, see what a website costs in India.
How does the platform change the price: WordPress, Shopify or custom?
The platform decides who does the routine work: you, your developer or the platform itself.
| Platform | What needs maintaining | Where the cost goes |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Core, theme and plugin updates; security hardening; backups; hosting health | Mostly labour, because updates are frequent and can conflict |
| Shopify | Theme updates, app reviews, content and product changes | Shopify handles hosting and security; you pay app subscriptions instead |
| Static or headless site | Occasional framework updates; content changes | Fewer updates, but each change may need a developer unless a CMS is attached |
| Custom web app | Dependency updates, server patches, database backups, monitoring | The highest share, closer to 15–25% of the build a year |
If you're still choosing a platform for a store, our comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce in India covers how each affects upkeep.
Which costs sit outside the AMC: domain, hosting, SSL, licences and GST?
Most AMCs exclude the running costs, and that's fine as long as you know who pays each one and when.
- Domain. Renews yearly, and should be registered to you. Budget for the renewal rate rather than the discounted first-year price.
- Hosting. Shared hosting suits a small brochure site; stores and busy sites need managed or cloud hosting.
- SSL. Usually included free with decent hosting; a paid certificate is rarely necessary for a small business.
- Business email. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, billed per user per month.
- Licences. Premium themes and plugins renew yearly; a lapsed licence stops updates, which is a security risk.
- GST. GST-registered providers add 18% to maintenance invoices.
Put every renewal date in one calendar, with a note of whose card pays it. A lapsed domain takes a site offline as completely as any hack, and it's entirely avoidable.
Monthly retainer, annual AMC or pay-per-fix: which suits you?
Match the arrangement to how often your site changes and how much a day of downtime would cost you.
| Pay-per-fix | Annual AMC | Monthly retainer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it's billed | Per job, when needed | Yearly, upfront or in instalments | Monthly, with set hours |
| Best for | Static sites that rarely change | Typical WordPress business sites | Stores, frequent campaigns, sites with integrations |
| Updates and backups | Only if you remember to ask | Included | Included |
| Response time | Whenever the developer is free | As written in the contract | Usually the fastest |
| Main risk | Small issues grow unnoticed | Paying for edits you never use | Unused hours, if they don't roll over |
A simple decision rule: if your content changes less than once a month and the site is static or headless, pay-per-fix can beat an annual AMC. If you run WordPress with several plugins, don't go without routine updates; choose an AMC or a retainer. For a wider view of budgeting after launch, see our guide to budgeting for maintenance after launch.
What should a website AMC contract spell out?
Everything you'd want to know on the day something breaks. Check for each of these in writing:
- Included edit hours per month, and whether unused hours roll over
- Response time and fix time for urgent issues, such as the site being down
- Update frequency for core, theme and plugins
- Backup frequency, where backups are stored, and how often a restore is tested
- What happens after a hack: is clean-up included or extra?
- Who holds the logins (it should be you, with the provider as a user)
- How "new work" is defined, so a redesign isn't passed off as an edit
- Monthly or quarterly reporting on what was done
- Price, GST and the renewal terms
- Notice period and exit terms, including handover of files, database and credentials
Red flags to walk away from:
- The domain registered in the agency's name
- Backups stored only on the same server as the site
- "Unlimited changes" with no stated response time
- No way to cancel without losing access to your own site
Our guide to choosing a web design company in India covers the same ownership checks at the build stage.
When is it safe to maintain the site yourself?
When the site is simple, the platform is stable and you can restore it from a backup without help. Self-maintenance suits a small site with few plugins and an owner who will actually follow a routine.
A monthly routine if you go it alone:
- Take a full backup and store a copy off the server.
- Apply plugin, theme and core updates, ideally on a staging copy first.
- Check the homepage, contact form and WhatsApp button on your phone.
- Review Google Search Console for errors.
- Renew anything expiring in the next 60 days.
Don't self-maintain a store taking payments, a site with customer logins, or a site that has been hacked before. The cost of getting those wrong is far larger than an AMC.
Frequently asked questions
Is GST charged on website maintenance in India?
Yes, at 18%, when the provider is GST-registered. Service providers below the registration threshold (₹20 lakh turnover in most states) may not be registered, so their invoices won't include it. If your business is registered, you can usually claim the GST as input tax credit; confirm with your CA.
Does website maintenance include hosting and domain renewal?
Usually not. Most AMCs cover labour only, with domain, hosting and email billed separately. Some bundle them in; if so, ask for the running costs as separate lines so you can see any mark-up.
How often should a WordPress website be updated?
Check for updates at least monthly, and apply security releases as soon as they appear. WordPress applies minor core security releases automatically by default, but plugins and themes need attention. Take a backup before every round of updates.
Can I cancel an AMC and move my website to another developer?
You should be able to, if the domain, hosting and logins are in your name. Check the notice period and handover terms before signing. A provider who controls your domain or hosting can make leaving slow and expensive.
Do Shopify stores need an AMC?
They need less than WordPress, because Shopify handles hosting, security and core updates. You still need someone to update the theme, review apps, fix broken layouts after changes and keep products current. A smaller retainer or pay-per-fix often suits Shopify better than a full AMC.
A care plan priced line by line
GRWW care plans are month-to-month, list every included task and keep your logins with you. Tell us your platform and how often the site changes, and you can get a fixed AMC quote within about one business day of a free call. Our website design and care plans page explains how we work.