Answers · Websites
Monthly website plans, hosting and maintenance: what you actually pay for
A monthly website plan starts at $99 CAD and bundles the build, hosting and support. What the fee covers, who owns the site, and what happens if you stop.
A monthly website plan is not automatically better than paying once. It is a cash flow choice. A subscription starts at $99 CAD a month, or $199 CAD a month for e-commerce. It runs on a 12-month term, with the full custom build and hosting included, and nothing due at signing.
Paying once is $895 to $1,795 CAD, plus a standard $20 CAD a month hosting fee starting 30 days after payment. Paying once costs less over five years. A subscription costs less this month.
Is a monthly website subscription better than paying once?
It depends on your cash flow, not on which one is a better deal. Paying once is cheaper over time. A $895 CAD build plus $20 CAD a month for hosting comes to $2,095 CAD across five years.
A subscription is cheaper today. Nothing is due at signing, then $99 CAD a month, which is $1,188 CAD in the first year.
Pick the subscription if a lump sum would slow down something else in the business. Pick the one-time if the cash is there and you would rather stop paying for the build.
What is a monthly website plan and what does it include?
A monthly plan spreads the cost of a custom build over a term. It also bundles everything that keeps the site running: the hand-coded build, hosting, the SSL certificate, security, and daily backups.
Support is included rather than sold as a separate retainer. On our plans it covers:
- content updates and unlimited changes at a 24 to 48 hour pace
- same-day fixes when something breaks
- a Google review engine with replies drafted for you
- monthly Google and AI visibility checks, plus a plain-English scoreboard
- a person who answers
The one optional add-on is SEO/AEO Management at $79 CAD a month, no commitment.
Who owns my website if an agency builds it?
You do, once the site is paid in full. On final payment, ownership of the design and the code transfers to you. That includes the files, the source code and the assets built for the job. Before that point the work is still ours, which is standard.
Not every shop works this way, so ask before the deposit and get the answer in writing. The question is short. When the invoice is paid, do I own the code, and can I take it somewhere else?
What happens if I stop paying for my website?
On a one-time build, the site stops being hosted by us, and the files are yours to take. Everything we built is handed over as a complete copy, or as access to the repository where it lives. Your domain stays yours, because it is registered in your name.
A subscription is a 12-month term, so it runs the term. Part of that monthly price is paying off the build, which is why the term exists. The agreement spells out what is owed if you leave early.
What happens to my domain if I leave my web design agency?
Nothing, as long as the domain is registered in your own name. You buy and renew your domain directly with a registrar, and you pay that registrar. A monthly plan covers domain management, not domain purchase: DNS records, pointing the domain at your site, and keeping certificates renewed.
Check this today. Log into your registrar account and confirm the registrant name is your business, not your agency. If you cannot log in, that is the answer.
Is $20 a month for website hosting normal?
Yes, and it sits at the low end of what small business sites pay. Published prices for comparison, all retrieved 2026-08-30:
- Squarespace Basic, $21 CAD a month billed annually
- Wix Core, $33 CAD a month billed yearly
- managed WordPress at WP Engine, $38 CAD a month before themes and plugins
Our $20 CAD a month covers hosting, SSL, uptime, updates and support. The first charge lands 30 days after payment. On a subscription plan there is no separate hosting line at all.
What does a hosting fee actually cover?
It covers keeping the site online, fast and safe. In practice that is:
- server space and bandwidth
- the SSL certificate that puts the padlock in the address bar
- uptime monitoring and security patching
- daily backups
- the DNS wiring that points your domain at the right place
It does not cover the domain name itself. That is a separate bill from your registrar, at whatever the registrar charges.
If a hosting fee is quoted with no list like this behind it, ask for the list. A fee that cannot be itemized is a retainer wearing a different name.
Do I really need a website maintenance plan, or can I leave the site alone?
You can leave a site alone. It will keep loading, and it will slowly stop being true. Hours change, prices change, and staff change. A service you dropped two years ago is still on the page, taking calls you do not want.
There is also the safety side. Certificates expire, code dependencies age, and forms quietly stop delivering email to your inbox.
On our plans there is no separate maintenance fee to decide about, because support is carried inside the price either way.
Why is website maintenance important for a small business?
Because your website is the open sign, and a stale one costs jobs quietly. A wrong phone number or a broken contact form sends a customer to whoever answers next. You never hear that it happened.
Run your own numbers. Say your average job is $400 CAD. If one out-of-date page costs you two jobs a year, that is $800 CAD against a $20 CAD a month fee.
Next step: once a quarter, check four things on your own site. Phone number, hours, service area, and whether the contact form still reaches your inbox.
Is a monthly plan from an agency better than doing it myself on a page builder?
It depends on whether you want to be the one building it. A page builder plan runs $21 to $33 CAD a month on published prices. The work stays yours: the layout, the copy, the fixes, and the evenings. An agency monthly plan costs more, and the work is not yours.
The other difference is what you hold at the end. A builder layout stays on the builder. A hand-coded site can be handed over. Five-year totals for both are broken down in custom website vs Wix or Squarespace.
Why do some agencies push monthly plans, and when should I say no?
Because recurring revenue is predictable, which is fair when the fee buys something you can name. It becomes a bad deal when nobody can name it. Say no in these four cases:
- the monthly deliverable is described only as "maintenance and support"
- the code is not yours when the invoice is paid
- a large setup fee is stacked on top of an open-ended retainer
- the domain or hosting accounts are in the agency's name
Ask three questions in writing before you sign. What do I get each month, who owns the code, and what do I leave with?
How much does website hosting cost in 2026?
For a small business site, budget roughly $20 to $40 CAD a month in 2026 when hosting is billed on its own. That range comes from the published prices above, retrieved 2026-08-30, which run from $21 CAD a month to $38 CAD a month.
What moves the number is traffic, whether you run a store with checkout, and whether business email is bundled in. Your domain is separate, and priced by your registrar.
The full Canadian price picture is in how much a website costs in Canada in 2026.
What do Samro's plans cost and how do I choose?
Samro Studios builds and runs these sites, and here is what it costs:
- one-time build: $895 to $1,795 CAD, set by scope, plus $20 CAD a month hosting from 30 days after payment
- subscription: from $99 CAD a month, or $199 CAD a month for e-commerce, on a 12-month term with hosting bundled in
- optional: SEO/AEO Management at $79 CAD a month, no commitment
Choose the one-time if you have the cash and want the lower five-year total. Choose the subscription if you would rather keep that cash in the business this quarter.
Most builds go live in two to three weeks. You approve the finished site before it goes live, and everything you have paid is refundable until you do.
Tell us about the project on the contact form and we come back with your exact number.
