Package by responsibility, not by task menu
Clients buy outcomes faster than they buy technical checklists. Frame tiers around what you take off their plate.
- Keep the site updated, backed up, and recoverable.
- Protect against downtime and malware.
- Handle small covered support tasks.
- Respond fast when customer paths break.
- Escalate genuine project work clearly and separately.
What changes the price
A brochure site, a WooCommerce store, a membership site, and a custom build should never be priced the same. More business risk means more to monitor, more to test, and faster response — so it costs more. Stores in particular carry update and payment risk that a content site does not, which is why store care is priced higher (see WooCommerce maintenance cost). Price the risk, not just the page count.
The exclusion that protects your margin
The single most important pricing decision is the line between “covered task” and “project.” Unlimited small covered tasks — edits, fixes, plugin setup — can be a great offer. Unlimited development is a trap: one client’s “quick change” becomes a rebuild that eats the month’s margin and slows everyone else. Write the exclusions plainly, the way a good support retainer does, and your support stays fast and profitable.
Annual vs monthly billing, and handling renewals
How you bill is part of the pricing decision, not an afterthought. Monthly billing lowers the barrier to starting; annual billing improves cash flow and retention but asks more of the client up front. Many agencies offer both and nudge toward annual with a modest discount — just make sure the discount does not quietly erase the margin the plan depends on.
- Offer monthly to reduce friction for new clients, annual to reward commitment.
- Auto-renew with clear advance notice — surprise renewals burn the trust the plan is built on.
- Review each plan at renewal: has the site grown into a higher tier — a store, more traffic, more risk?
- Tie any price increase to a real change in scope or risk, and communicate it early.
A simple three-tier model
Most agencies do well with three clear tiers priced by risk and response. Adapt the specifics to your market.
| Tier | Covers | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Updates, backups, security, uptime, monitoring. | Brochure and low-risk client sites. |
| Support | Essential + covered small tasks and edits. | Active sites that change regularly. |
| Store / Priority | Support + WooCommerce coverage + faster response. | Stores and revenue-critical sites. |
| Project work | Scoped and quoted separately. | Redesigns, custom features, integrations. |
How to set up your pricing
Three decisions shape a care offer that earns recurring revenue without burning the team.
Decide your covered-task boundary first
Define exactly what counts as a covered task versus project work, and write it into the plan. This one boundary protects your margin more than any price number.
Price by risk and response, not flat per-site
A store with a revenue-blocking checkout needs faster response than a brochure site. Tier so the price reflects the stakes and the speed you commit to.
Decide build vs buy for fulfilment
You can staff care in-house or white-label it — see white-label vs hiring. White-labelling lets you launch care plans before you have the volume to hire.
Agency care-plan pricing mistakes
- Promising “unlimited” everything, then absorbing custom development for free.
- Pricing every site the same regardless of store, membership, or custom-build risk.
- Leaving the covered-task vs project line undefined, so scope creep eats margin.
- Including hosting without the capacity to actually support hosting well.
- Competing on price alone instead of on response time and clear ownership.
What makes agency care plans profitable
In our experience, the agencies that make care plans work are ruthless about one thing: the boundary between covered tasks and project work. The plans that lose money are the ones where “unlimited” quietly meant unlimited builds. Tier by risk, write the exclusions plainly, and decide early whether to staff it or white-label it — many agencies white-label the fulfilment to launch recurring revenue without hiring, then bring it in-house once volume justifies it.
- Define covered-task vs project work before you set any price.
- Tier by business risk and committed response time.
- Keep unlimited limited to small tasks, never custom development.
- Use white-label fulfilment to launch before you have hiring volume.
Frequently asked questions.
Should agencies include hosting in care plans?
It can make ownership cleaner — one team for server and site — but only if the agency or its fulfilment partner can genuinely support hosting well. Bundling hosting you cannot properly support creates a new liability rather than a cleaner offer.
Can agencies outsource or white-label care plans?
Yes, and many do. White-label care lets the agency keep the client relationship and branding while a specialist handles routine maintenance and support behind the scenes — a fast way to offer recurring revenue without building the whole operation first.
How should agencies handle “unlimited” requests?
Offer unlimited small covered tasks (edits, fixes, setup) but never unlimited development. Write the line between covered work and project work into the plan plainly. That boundary is what keeps support fast and the plan profitable.
How many care-plan tiers should an agency offer?
Usually three is enough: an essentials/protection tier, a support tier that adds covered tasks, and a store/priority tier with WooCommerce coverage and faster response — plus project work quoted separately. More tiers tend to confuse clients without adding margin.
Research sources.
This guide was checked against current platform and search documentation before publication.