Care plan
Website maintenance and care plans in Melbourne
The care plan is a monthly website and app maintenance plan for Australian small businesses: hosting, SSL, backups, uptime monitoring, security updates, bug fixes, a set number of change hours and a monthly report, for $300, $700 or $1,500 a month ex GST. It runs month to month after the first three months, and we offer it at every launch.
What is included
- Hosting and SSL
- Backups and uptime monitoring
- Security updates and bug fixes
- A set number of change hours each month
- A monthly report
- Price
- $300 to $1,500 a month
- Timeline
- Ongoing, month to month after 3 months
Prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST.
Who is the care plan for?
Software does not stay finished. Dependencies need updates, certificates expire, a form stops sending, and somebody always wants one more field. The care plan is for owners who would rather we handled that.
- Businesses with a website or web app we build, who want it hosted, monitored and kept secure without thinking about it.
- Owners who need small changes made every month without raising a quote each time.
- Founders who want the developer who built their product to keep looking after it.
- Mobile apps whose API, store listings and operating systems keep moving after launch.
What does the care plan cover each month?
Every tier covers all of this. The tiers differ only in the number of change hours.
Hosting and SSL
Your site or app hosted, certificates renewed, and the hosting bill included in the plan.
Backups and uptime monitoring
Regular backups you can restore from, and monitoring that tells us the site is down before you do.
Security updates
Frameworks, libraries and platform updates applied and tested, so known vulnerabilities do not stay open.
Bug fixes
If something stops working, we fix it under the plan. This sits alongside the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law for defects in our work and does not limit them.
Change hours
Two, five or ten hours a month for copy changes, new fields, small features and advice. Larger work is quoted separately.
A monthly report
What was updated, what was fixed, the hours used and what we recommend next.
From launch to the care plan
Three things happen in order after a project goes live, and the care plan is the third. The warranty is not the care plan and the care plan does not shorten the warranty.
The three stops
- Launch: the system goes live on accounts in your name, with the documentation and a hand-over session.
- 30-day warranty: defects in what we built are fixed at no charge for 30 days. It sits alongside the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law and does not limit them.
- Care plan: from the day the warranty ends, hosting, monitoring, updates, fixes and change hours every month, with a report. Month to month after the first three months.
What a change hour typically buys
These are our own effort estimates for the requests that come up most, so you can picture what two, five or ten hours a month covers. They are not quotes for any particular job: anything larger is scoped and quoted in writing before we start, so the hours never run out without warning.
Typical requests
- A copy or image change on an existing page: about a quarter of an hour.
- A new form field with validation and a change to the email it sends: about an hour.
- A new report, export or dashboard tile from data the system already holds: two to four hours.
- An update to a framework or platform version, applied and tested: covered by the plan, not your hours.
- A new workflow, screen or integration: scoped and quoted in writing first.
How the project runs
The care plan is the fifth stage of every project. It is offered at launch and runs from the end of the 30-day warranty: hosting, monitoring, updates and fixes every month, change hours you direct, and a report so you know what was done. Requests, hours and invoices sit in your client portal.
Stage 1
Discovery
We agree what we are building, for whom and why, and write it down.
Stage 2
Design
Every screen is wireframed and designed before any of it is built.
Stage 3
Build in two-week sprints
We build in two-week sprints, and each one ends with a demo of working software.
Stage 4
Launch
We go live on accounts in your name, hand over the documentation and start the 30-day warranty.
Stage 5
Care plan
Offered at launch and running from the end of the 30-day warranty, the care plan keeps the system hosted, secure and improving, month by month.
How much does website maintenance cost?
Care plans cost $300, $700 or $1,500 a month ex GST for 2, 5 or 10 change hours, with hosting, SSL, backups, monitoring, security updates, bug fixes and the monthly report included in every tier.
The plan runs month to month after the first three months. Work beyond your change hours is quoted in writing first and billed at $130 an hour with a two-hour minimum.
For comparison, maintenance for a small-business app across the Australian market typically runs $500 to $2,000 a month.
| Plan | Per month | Change hours |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | $300 | 2 hours |
| StandardNot sure? Start here | $700 | 5 hours |
| Extended | $1,500 | 10 hours |
Five hours covers a few small changes a month. Move up or down at the end of any month after the third. Month to month after the first three months, so you can stop at the end of any month after the third. Work beyond your hours is quoted in writing first, so the hours never run out without warning. Prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST.
Frequently asked questions
What does a website maintenance plan include?
Hosting and SSL, backups, uptime monitoring, security updates, bug fixes, a set number of change hours (2, 5 or 10 a month) and a monthly report. Every tier includes all of it; the tiers differ only in hours.
How much does website maintenance cost?
$300, $700 or $1,500 a month ex GST with us. Market rates for small-business app maintenance run $500 to $2,000 a month. Our hourly rate for work beyond the plan is $130 an hour, with a two-hour minimum.
Is there a minimum term?
Three months. After that the plan is month to month, so you can stop at the end of any month after the third.
How much does it cost to maintain an app?
The same three tiers cover a web app or a mobile app's API as well as a website: $300, $700 or $1,500 a month ex GST for 2, 5 or 10 change hours, with hosting, backups, monitoring, security updates, bug fixes and the monthly report included. A mobile app also needs its store listings and operating-system updates kept current, which the change hours cover; anything larger is quoted in writing first.
What counts as a change hour?
Any work you ask for that is not a bug fix: copy and image changes, a new form field, a report tweak, a small feature, or advice on a call. We log the time and show it in the monthly report. Larger pieces of work are scoped and quoted in writing before we start, so the hours never run out without warning.
What is the difference between the warranty and the care plan?
The 30-day warranty covers defects in what we built, at no charge, for 30 days after launch, whether or not you take a care plan. It sits alongside the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law and does not limit them. The care plan is offered at launch and runs from the end of the warranty: hosting, monitoring, updates, fixes and change hours, month after month.
Do you look after websites and apps built by someone else?
The plan is designed for the websites and apps we build. If you have a system built by someone else, ask us: we would review the code and the hosting first, then tell you honestly whether we can take it on.
Tell us about your project
Describe it in your own words and get a reply with an estimate range within one business day.