Website Hosting and Maintenance Services: What’s the Difference?
Website hosting and maintenance services explained: who does what, what each costs, and whether to buy them together or from separate companies.
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Website hosting keeps your site online, and website maintenance keeps it working. Many companies sell both together as website hosting and maintenance services, so it’s worth checking who’s responsible for what before something breaks.
What’s the difference between website hosting and maintenance?
Red Shark Digital puts it simply: hosting is “storing a website on a server so that it can be accessed on the internet,” and maintenance is “keeping a website up-to-date and running smoothly.” If your host’s servers fail, that’s a hosting problem. If an update breaks your contact form while the server runs perfectly, your host may well say it isn’t theirs to fix.
Who does what
Where website hosting ends and maintenance begins
Hosting
- Server space for your files and database
- Keeping the server online
- Bandwidth and storage limits
Often both
- Backups
- SSL certificate
- Security protection
Maintenance
- Software and plugin updates
- Testing that updates didn’t break anything
- Fixes and small content changes
What do website hosting and maintenance cost?
| Service | Per month |
|---|---|
| Hosting, typical small site (ManyPixels) | $5–$50 |
| Maintenance, small business site (WebFX) | $35–$100 |
| Both, bought separately (our sum) | $40–$150 |
WebFX’s wider hosting figure runs from $2 to $500 a month, since it includes large custom setups. For most small sites, the ManyPixels range is closer. Our guide to website maintenance packages breaks down what each maintenance tier includes.
Should you buy hosting and maintenance together?
- Nobody can blame the other vendor when something breaks
- Simpler for an owner with no technical help
- Harder to leave if the company holds everything
- You can replace either one on its own
- You can keep a host you already like
- Two bills, and problems can fall between them
We lean toward buying them together for a small business with nobody technical on staff, because one point of contact matters more than a small price difference. If you have an IT person or a host you’re happy with, keeping them separate makes sense. Either way, keep your domain and admin logins in your own name.
Questions to ask a hosting and maintenance provider
- 01Who fixes the site if an update breaks it?
- 02Who takes the backups, and who restores them?
- 03Who renews the SSL certificate and the domain?
- 04If the site is hacked, is cleanup included?
- 05If I leave, how do I get my files and data?
Our website maintenance service can include hosting or work with what you already have. Tell us who hosts your site and what it’s built on, and we’ll quote a fixed monthly price after reviewing it. Landing pages we build include both for $5 a month. See also what a website maintenance service does.
Frequently asked questions
- Does web hosting include website maintenance?
- Usually not fully. Hosting keeps your site available on a server. Some managed plans add backups and software updates, but testing, fixes and content changes are normally separate unless the plan says otherwise.
- How much do website hosting and maintenance cost together?
- Using published ranges, hosting is about $5 to $50 a month and small business maintenance about $35 to $100, so $40 to $150 a month is a reasonable budget when bought separately. Bundles vary by provider.
- Can I keep my current host and still pay for maintenance?
- Often, yes. A maintenance provider needs access to your site and sometimes your hosting account. If the host is slow or missing basics such as backups, moving may be part of the recommendation.
Work with PageSimple
Tell us what you’re running today.
Share your host and what your site is built on. We’ll review it and send a fixed monthly quote for hosting, maintenance or both.
Sources
- Red Shark Digital, the difference between website hosting and maintenance
- ManyPixels, small business website cost (November 10, 2025)
- WebFX, website maintenance pricing (updated December 19, 2025)