How much should we budget for maintenance per year?

Budget 10–20% of the build cost. A site that cost €7,900 to build lands at roughly €800–1,600 a year for hosting, security and small fixes. Active content work comes on top of that.

Are hosting and a domain included in the price of a new website?

Almost never. Swedish price guides list 1,500–6,000 kr a year for hosting and a domain as a separate line, and it is one of the most common surprises after launch. Always ask what the total first-year cost is.

Why is WordPress more expensive to maintain?

A core, themes and plugins need continuous security updates, and premium plugins cost 500–3,000 kr each per year. A maintenance contract runs 5,000–25,000 kr a year. The work exists because the architecture calls for it.

Can we handle the maintenance ourselves?

It depends on what the site is built from. A static site is finished files with no core to patch, so you can run it for the price of the domain. On a WordPress site, skipping the maintenance contract hands the security responsibility to you.

How often does a website need rebuilding?

A site built properly lasts four to seven years with ongoing upkeep. A cheap site often needs rebuilding after one to two years, which makes the rebuild the largest hidden line in a three-year budget.

What does it cost to add a page afterward?

A Swedish developer hour starts around 500 kr. A new page on an existing template is usually one to three hours; a new template is more. A site built on few templates makes every additional page cheap, which makes the number of templates the figure worth asking for.

What does website maintenance cost?

Torn StudioPublished 2026-08-283 min read

Torn Studio is an AI agency that builds websites, digital products and content. Unconventional.

Short answer

Maintaining a website costs 10–20% of the build price per year in Sweden. A simple site lands at 1,000–7,000 kr, a business website at 8,500–17,000 kr, and a platform with integrations at 25,000–50,000 kr. Hosting and a domain are rarely in the quote.

A website quote ends at launch. The cost carries on. The Swedish market budgets 10–20% of the build price per year for upkeep, and that figure rarely appears in the quote you are comparing.

What it costs per year, by size

Five tiers, calculated as a share of what the site cost to build. The bands below are Swivrr’s rule of thumb applied to five common site sizes.

Landing page, one page: 1,000–2,000 kr a year. The domain and hosting are the whole line.
Small site, three to five pages: 3,500–7,000 kr a year, mostly hosting and security updates.
Business website, eight to fifteen pages: 8,500–17,000 kr a year, plus whatever content work you choose to buy.
Multilingual site with a content system: 14,500–29,000 kr a year, because every language has its own copy to keep current.
Platform with integrations and a login: 25,000–50,000 kr a year, because every integration has to keep working when the system at the other end changes.

Landing page, one page1,000–2,000 kr
Small site, three to five pages3,500–7,000 kr
Business website, eight to fifteen pages8,500–17,000 kr
Multilingual site with a content system14,500–29,000 kr
Platform with integrations and a login25,000–50,000 kr

Swivrr’s rule of thumb of 10–20 percent of the build cost, applied to five common site sizes. Figures are kronor per year. Source: Vad kostar en företagshemsida 2026? — Swivrr

Where the money goes

Count the lines separately and the picture clears. Nearly all of the total follows from what the site is built from.

Security updates for a core, themes and plugins — the largest line on a WordPress site.
Premium plugin licenses, 500–3,000 kr per year per plugin.
A cookie banner solution, 1,500–6,000 kr per year.
Hosting and a domain, 1,500–6,000 kr per year, which is almost never in the quoted price.
Developer hours for the changes you actually want, from 500 kr an hour.

The three-year figure is the one that matters

International comparisons put the three-year total at 2.0–3.4 times the build price once hosting, maintenance, measurement and content are counted. A site budgeted for the build alone is described as functional but underperforming after 18 to 24 months. Two bands that look contradictory often measure different baskets: the Swedish rule of thumb covers hosting and security, the international one also counts content work.

What a statically built site costs to run

A statically built website is finished files on a CDN. Security updates for a core, themes and plugins belong to other architectures, and the plugin licenses are simply absent from the invoice. What remains is the domain, around 129 kr a year, and hosting that starts at zero on both Vercel and Cloudflare. Buy help if you want it; run it yourself if you prefer, and it stays secure either way.

Evidence

What this article rests on — a measurement we took, a dated source, or a decision we made and what it cost.

Decision2026-08-26
Sites are built statically, so the unavoidable running cost is the domain and the hosting, and maintenance is sold as an option from €750 a month.
What it cost: The studio gives up the recurring revenue a mandatory maintenance contract produces, and a static site needs a developer for changes an editable platform would have let the client make on their own.

Common questions

How much should we budget for maintenance per year?: Budget 10–20% of the build cost. A site that cost €7,900 to build lands at roughly €800–1,600 a year for hosting, security and small fixes. Active content work comes on top of that.
Are hosting and a domain included in the price of a new website?: Almost never. Swedish price guides list 1,500–6,000 kr a year for hosting and a domain as a separate line, and it is one of the most common surprises after launch. Always ask what the total first-year cost is.
Why is WordPress more expensive to maintain?: A core, themes and plugins need continuous security updates, and premium plugins cost 500–3,000 kr each per year. A maintenance contract runs 5,000–25,000 kr a year. The work exists because the architecture calls for it.
Can we handle the maintenance ourselves?: It depends on what the site is built from. A static site is finished files with no core to patch, so you can run it for the price of the domain. On a WordPress site, skipping the maintenance contract hands the security responsibility to you.
How often does a website need rebuilding?: A site built properly lasts four to seven years with ongoing upkeep. A cheap site often needs rebuilding after one to two years, which makes the rebuild the largest hidden line in a three-year budget.
What does it cost to add a page afterward?: A Swedish developer hour starts around 500 kr. A new page on an existing template is usually one to three hours; a new template is more. A site built on few templates makes every additional page cheap, which makes the number of templates the figure worth asking for.

Sources

Vad kostar en företagshemsida 2026? — Swivrr
The 10–20% of build cost per year rule, maintenance contracts at 500–3,000 kr a month, and hosting at 1,500–6,000 kr a year.
Vad kostar WordPress 2026? — Swivrr
Maintenance contracts at 5,000–25,000 kr a year, plugin licenses at 500–3,000 kr each, and a cookie banner at 1,500–6,000 kr a year.
Vad kostar en hemsida? Prisguide 2026 — Bliss Visual
Running costs of 3,000–8,000 kr a year, a service contract from 495 kr a month, and that a cheap site often needs rebuilding after one or two years.
Website Development Cost 2026 — DigitalApplied
The three-year total at 2.0–3.4× the build, and that sites budgeted for the build alone underperform after 18 to 24 months.
Vad kostar en hemsida 2026? — Elithan
Hosting at 49–499 kr a month, a domain at around 129 kr a year, and a developer hour from 500 kr.