The verdict in three sentences
A business WordPress site without a maintenance plan almost always ends up hacked, because over 90 % of exploited vulnerabilities come from outdated plugins. 2026 plans range from EUR 60 per month (basic security) to EUR 400 per month (4-hour SLA and changes included), while a hack costs EUR 3,000 to 8,000 all in. For a 40-employee Dublin SME whose site generates enquiries, the mid-tier plan at EUR 150 per month offers the best risk-to-cost ratio.
The three plan levels in 2026
The content below reflects offers observed in Ireland in 2026. Prices are orders of magnitude excluding VAT, for a standard 10 to 40 page WordPress site.
| Contract item | Essential EUR 60/month | Pro EUR 150/month | Premium EUR 400/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core, theme, plugin updates | Monthly | Weekly, tested on staging | Weekly + critical patches within 24 h |
| Backups | Weekly, 30 days | Daily, 90 days, off-server | Daily + real-time database, 1 year |
| Uptime monitoring | Every 15 min | Every 5 min | Every minute + SMS alert |
| Security scan and web application firewall | Monthly scan | Firewall + daily scan | Managed firewall + quarterly audit |
| Included development hours | 0 h | 1.5 h per month | 4 h per month |
| Response time (SLA) | 48 business hours | 8 business hours | 4 h, including weekends for critical incidents |
| Hack clean-up | Billed EUR 600 to 1,500 | Included once a year | Included, unlimited |
| Report | Quarterly | Monthly | Monthly + performance review |
The essential plan suits a brochure site with no critical form. As soon as the site receives quote requests, job applications or payments, a 48-hour response becomes too slow.
What a hack really costs
A typical WordPress hack (redirects to fraudulent sites, spam injection, defacement) has direct and indirect costs. The table below gives 2026 estimates for an SME.
| Item | Estimated cost | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency clean-up and restore | EUR 800 to 2,000 | External provider, often at a premium rate |
| Site down 3 to 10 days | EUR 1,000 to 3,000 | Lost leads depending on usual volume |
| Removal from Google's blocklist | EUR 300 to 800 | 1 to 3 weeks to recover traffic |
| Internal time (management, admin) | EUR 500 to 1,200 | 10 to 25 hours tied up |
| Data Protection Commission notification if personal data exposed | EUR 400 to 1,000 | Legal advice, informing affected people |
| Total | EUR 3,000 to 8,000 | Excluding reputational damage |
At EUR 150 per month, the pro plan costs EUR 1,800 a year, less than the low end of a single incident.
Clauses to check before signing
Four points separate a useful contract from a cosmetic one. First, backup location: backups must be stored off the site's server, otherwise a hack destroys them too. Second, testing before updates: an untested plugin update can break a form for days. Third, rollover of unused development hours, handy to group a small project each quarter. Finally, reversibility: you must get access, backups and documentation back at no cost when the contract ends.
Mini case study
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Aoife, office manager of a 40-employee medical equipment distributor in Dublin, saw the company site hacked in March 2025 after 18 months without updates. The damage: 7 days offline, EUR 1,400 of emergency clean-up, about EUR 2,500 of lost enquiries and 15 hours of her time, close to EUR 4,500 in total. In 2026 she signs a pro plan at EUR 150 per month, EUR 1,800 a year, which includes 18 development hours a year. Billed at EUR 75 an hour outside the contract, those hours alone are worth EUR 1,350. The net cost of security drops to EUR 450 a year, ten times less than a single incident.
FAQ
What does WordPress maintenance cost per month in 2026?
Expect EUR 60 excluding VAT per month for an essential level, EUR 150 for a pro level with daily backups and an 8-hour SLA, and EUR 400 for a premium level with a 4-hour SLA. Price also varies if the site runs WooCommerce.
What should a maintenance contract include?
At minimum: tested updates, off-server backups, monitoring, a firewall and a written response time. Good contracts add 1 to 4 development hours per month.
How much does a hack cost an SME?
Between EUR 3,000 and 8,000 on average, counting clean-up, downtime, lost leads and internal time. A personal data breach may also require notifying the Data Protection Commission within 72 hours under GDPR.
Can maintenance be done in-house?
Yes for simple updates, if someone spends 2 to 4 hours a month with a staging environment. Without staging or external backups, the risk of breakage stays high.
Which SLA should I choose?
48 hours is enough for a purely informational site. Once the site generates enquiries or sales, aim for 8 hours, and 4 hours if one hour of downtime costs more than EUR 100.
Let's scope your project. Share your site address, its commercial role and your monthly budget (EUR 60 to 400): we will propose a maintenance plan with an initial audit within 5 days. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
