By Artem Korsakov ·
It is better to estimate the cost of website maintenance before launch: domain, hosting, paid services, and content work remain after paying for development. Even a small project needs an address, hosting, and a person who updates the information. For a site with orders, external services are added along with responsibility for failures. Understanding these obligations is useful before choosing a contractor, while you can still compare solution options.
Separate mandatory payments from human work
A domain provides the site address, hosting allows pages to function, and a platform or individual services may be paid via subscription. The specific set depends on the project's structure. Sometimes hosting is included in a platform tariff, sometimes it is purchased separately.
Specialist work is another expense category. Replacing text, checking for errors, and developing a new section require different amounts of time. Do not assume that any regular payment automatically includes all changes. Request a list of services and conditions: the single word "maintenance" is insufficient.
Create a map of subscriptions and owners
For each service, record:
- payment period;
- responsible person;
- account owner.
It is important to know who will receive the renewal notification and be able to restore access. Paying with a former employee's personal card creates an organizational risk even for a technically functional site.
Clarify which capabilities will disappear upon subscription termination. For example, this may affect hosting, form integration, or booking functionality. Different providers have different conditions, so check the specific tariff before ordering and when changes occur.
Do not combine all payments into one opaque line item from the contractor without a breakdown. If the contractor pays for services on behalf of the company, agree on how accounts are transferred and how to find out the actual cost structure when changing teams.
Separate support from development
Support preserves agreed-upon operations: it helps restore access, resolve errors, and check for failures. Development changes the result: adds a page, a new order scenario, or integration with another system. The boundary should be described in the agreements.
For a hypothetical service site, monthly schedule replacement may fall within a fixed volume, while a new vacancies section would be evaluated separately. This is a normal distinction if known in advance. The problem arises when parties understand the word "support" differently.
Ask about working hours, contact channels, and the procedure for determining urgency. A promise to respond quickly without specifying a schedule is difficult to use in planning. 24/7 availability and assistance during business hours are different services.
Calculate a clear hypothetical budget
Suppose, purely for illustration:
- domain: 2,000 RUB per year;
- hosting: 1,000 RUB per month, i.e., 12,000 RUB per year;
- external service: 500 RUB per month, i.e., 6,000 RUB per year.
Then hypothetical mandatory payments will total 20,000 RUB for the year. This is an arithmetic example, not a market benchmark or trike_dev tariff.
To this amount, add planned work on content and modifications. If the contractor offers a package of hours, find out which tasks are included, how overruns are agreed upon, and whether unused hours can be carried forward. Without these conditions, comparing packages by a single number of hours is incomplete.
It is also useful to reserve funds for business changes. A new city, service, or payment method may require independent evaluation. When there are many changes, the article "New Website or Modification of an Existing One" is useful. The reserve size depends on the company's plans. There is no universal percentage of development costs.
Agree on exiting maintenance
Site transfer should include agreed-upon access, service information, and a description of key actions. Check whether you can continue working with another specialist. This helps evaluate obligations without being tied to a single contractor. What to check during transfer is listed in the website acceptance checklist.
When discussing trike_dev's decision, request not only the launch composition but also expected expenses afterward. Then the site will be a clear part of company operations, and the next subscription renewal will not become an unexpected task for management.
Частые вопросы ### Do I need to pay the developer every month?
Not necessarily. A small site with rare changes can be maintained by a company employee and a specialist on request. For a constantly operating store, this approach requires separate evaluation of support availability.
Can I maintain the site myself?
Content can often be changed after training. Core updates and integrations may require a specialist. Request to separate these actions and show the employee real operations on a safe example.