A WordPress care plan is an ongoing service that keeps your website secure, up to date, and running properly. That's the simple definition.
The more useful definition: a care plan is what stands between you and finding out your website is down because a donor called to tell you. For a broader overview of care plans including pricing and provider comparisons, see our complete WordPress care plans guide.
If you're researching care plans, you're probably trying to answer two questions. What's actually included? And is this something my organization needs, or am I being sold something I could handle myself?
Let's answer both honestly.
What a WordPress Care Plan Actually Includes
Most WordPress care plans cover the same core services. The differences are in how thoroughly they're done and what happens when something goes wrong.
Software Updates
WordPress, your theme, and your plugins all release updates regularly. Some are minor improvements. Some fix security vulnerabilities that hackers are actively exploiting.
A care plan handles these updates so you don't have to log in and click buttons. More importantly, critical security patches don't sit waiting while you're busy with other priorities.
The frequency matters. Weekly updates are the standard for good providers. Monthly updates leave your site exposed for too long between patches.
Backups
Your website's files and database need regular backups stored off your web server. If your server fails or your site gets hacked, backups are how you recover.
Most care plans include daily backups with a retention period of at least 30 days. The question to ask: where are backups stored, and how quickly can the site be restored?
Security Monitoring
This means scanning for malware, monitoring for suspicious activity, and maintaining firewalls and security configurations. The goal is to catch problems before they cause damage, or at minimum, catch them quickly after.
Uptime and Performance Monitoring
This is where many providers fall short.
Monitoring means someone (or something) is watching your site around the clock and will respond if it goes down or slows significantly.
Without monitoring, the first person to notice a problem might be your executive director, checking the site before a board meeting. Or worse, a constituent trying to donate during a fundraising campaign.
At FatLab, monitoring is built into every plan. We know if your site goes down, usually before you do, and we respond immediately.
Many providers leave this to you. They'll tell you to sign up for a separate uptime monitoring service. That's a gap worth asking about.
Performance Optimization
Regular maintenance to keep your site loading quickly. This includes database optimization, caching configuration, and addressing performance issues as they emerge.
What's Often Missing: The Support Question
Here's where the confusion starts.
When most people think about a care plan, they imagine having someone to call when something goes wrong. The form stops working. A page looks broken. The site is slow. They expect support.
But many care plans don't include support. Not in the way you'd expect.
Maintenance is proactive. Updates, backups, monitoring, optimization. This is the routine work that keeps a site healthy.
Support is reactive. When something breaks, someone investigates and fixes it.
Some providers sell maintenance without support. Everything runs smoothly until there's a problem. Then you call, and you hear:
- "That's a software issue, not a hosting issue."
- "Plugin conflicts aren't covered under your plan."
- "You'll need to hire a developer for that."
This is the moment when the rubber meets the road. When everything is working, every provider looks the same. It's when something breaks that you discover what you're actually paying for.
At FatLab, our care plans include full support. If something goes wrong (whether it's an update that introduced a bug, a plugin conflict, or something we've never seen before), we fix it. That's part of the service, not an additional charge.
Do You Need a WordPress Care Plan?
Not every WordPress site needs a care plan. Here's an honest assessment:
You Probably Need One If:
Your website is mission-critical. It handles donations, member registrations, event signups, or e-commerce. Downtime or security issues would cause real problems, not just embarrassment.
You don't have technical staff. No one in your organization wants to manage WordPress updates, monitor security alerts, and troubleshoot plugin conflicts. (And there shouldn't be. That's not what you hired your team to do.)
You've been burned before. You've experienced a hack, extended downtime, or a botched update that broke something. Once you've lived through the scramble of trying to recover a broken site, the value of proactive care becomes obvious.
Your site is actively used. Regular content updates, form submissions, and integrations with CRMs or email marketing platforms. The more moving parts, the more that can go wrong.
You Might Not Need One If:
Your site is a simple brochure. Five pages, updated once a year, no forms beyond basic contact. The risk is lower, so the investment can be lower.
You have internal technical resources. Someone on staff genuinely knows WordPress, enjoys maintaining it, and has time blocked to do it regularly. (This is rarer than organizations think.)
You're comfortable with the DIY approach. You're willing to learn WordPress maintenance, keep up with security news, and handle problems when they arise. Some people genuinely prefer this control.
Your budget is extremely tight. A basic managed hosting plan might be sufficient for a simple site. You won't get the same level of care, but you'll have a functioning website.
What to Look For in a WordPress Care Plan
If you've decided you need a care plan, here's what separates good providers from checkbox services:
Monitoring That Actually Responds
Don't just ask if they monitor uptime. Ask what happens when they detect a problem. Do they respond automatically? Is there a human looking at alerts? What's the response time? Some providers monitor but leave you to handle what they find.
Support That Doesn't Deflect
Ask what happens when something breaks that isn't due to an update. If a form stops working, a page looks wrong, or the site slows down, will they investigate and fix it? Or will they tell you to hire someone else?
Updates That Don't Break Things
Good providers test updates in staging before applying them to your live site. They have a process for rolling back if something goes wrong. They don't just click "update all" and hope for the best.
Someone Who Knows Your Site
The best care plan relationships involve continuity. The same person or team works with you over time. They know your site's history, your organization's priorities, and your risk tolerance. Every interaction doesn't start from zero.
For a detailed evaluation framework, see our WordPress maintenance checklist to verify what your provider should be doing.
The Cost Question
WordPress care plans range from $50 to $500+ per month. The spread reflects real differences in what's included.
At the low end ($50-100/month), you typically get maintenance-only service: updates, backups, basic security. Hosting usually isn't included. Support is limited or billed hourly.
At the mid-range ($100-300/month), you get more comprehensive service: better monitoring, actual support, possibly some development time included.
At the higher end ($300-600+/month), you get full-service care: everything above plus dedicated contacts, included development hours, and priority response times.
The right price depends on your needs. A simple site might do fine with a lower-tier plan. A mission-critical site that processes transactions or serves thousands of members should probably be in the mid-to-upper range.
For specific pricing guidance, see our breakdown of WordPress maintenance costs.
How FatLab Approaches Care Plans
We built FatLab because we got tired of the finger-pointing.
Our care plans include hosting, security, monitoring, maintenance, and support, all under one roof. When something goes wrong, there's no "call your host" or "that's not covered." We own the entire stack and fix the problem.
Every plan includes:
- Premium hosting infrastructure
- Cloudflare Enterprise CDN and Web Application Firewall
- 24/7 uptime and performance monitoring with immediate response
- Weekly updates tested in staging before going live
- Daily backups with 30-day retention
- Full troubleshooting support (not just maintenance)
The difference is what happens when something breaks. We don't deflect. We investigate and fix it, at no additional charge.
Is that right for everyone? No. If you have a simple brochure site and a tight budget, we'll suggest basic managed hosting. But if you want a partner who takes complete responsibility for keeping your site running, that's what we offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a WordPress care plan cost?
WordPress care plans typically range from $50 to $500+ per month. Basic maintenance-only plans (updates, backups, security scans) start around $50-100/month but usually don't include hosting or real support. Comprehensive plans that include hosting, monitoring, and full support typically run $100-300/month. Premium plans with dedicated contacts and included development hours range from $300-600/month. For a detailed breakdown, see our guide to WordPress maintenance costs.
Do I need a care plan if I already have managed hosting?
Maybe not, but understand what managed hosting actually covers. "Managed" typically means they manage the server and WordPress software, not your website. They'll update WordPress core and maybe plugins, run backups, and handle server issues. But when a plugin conflict breaks your contact form or an update causes a layout problem, you'll likely hear "that's not a hosting issue." If you have technical resources to handle WordPress-level problems, managed hosting might be enough. If you want someone to handle everything, you need a care plan that includes support.
What's the difference between a care plan and hiring a developer?
A care plan is ongoing, proactive maintenance. A developer relationship is typically project-based. Care plans handle the routine work (updates, backups, monitoring, security) and provide support when things break. Developers build new features, redesign sites, or tackle complex custom work. Many organizations need both: a care plan for ongoing maintenance and a developer relationship (or a care plan with included development hours) for periodic projects. Some care plans include development time specifically to bridge this gap.
Can I handle WordPress maintenance myself?
Yes, if you're willing to commit the time and learn the technical details. You'd need to log in regularly to apply updates, configure and monitor backups, set up security scanning, arrange your own uptime monitoring, and troubleshoot problems when they occur. Some people genuinely prefer this control. But be honest about whether you'll actually do it consistently. The sites we onboard from "self-maintained" situations often have months of pending updates and no working backup system. If WordPress maintenance isn't a priority for you, outsourcing it is usually the better choice.
How do I know if my current care plan provider is doing a good job?
Ask for a maintenance report showing what they've done recently. Log into your WordPress dashboard and check if updates are pending. If the counter keeps climbing, nobody's actually maintaining your site. Test your backups by asking how quickly they could restore your site if needed. And pay attention to how they respond when something goes wrong. If you're regularly hearing "that's not covered" or "contact your developer," you have a maintenance vendor, not a care partner.
Exploring your options? See how we compare to other providers in our WordPress maintenance services comparison, or check out our plans to see if FatLab is the right fit.