Key facts
- Care plans focus on keeping the site healthy: updates, backups, monitoring and small fixes
- Retainers buy creative, development or marketing hours, often with a minimum term
- Many businesses need a care plan all year and project work only occasionally
- dijitul Essential £25, Business £50 (1 hour), Complete £99 (3 hours) a month + VAT
- Ad-hoc work £45 an hour + VAT; redesigns and rebuilds quoted
- SEO retainers are a separate service from website care
The short answer
If you need your website kept secure, updated and working, with occasional text, image or layout changes, a care plan is the right fit and usually far cheaper. If you need ongoing design, new features, campaign landing pages or marketing every month, an agency retainer may be worth it, because you are buying a team's creative and development time.
Many businesses pay for a retainer when what they really need is a care plan plus the odd quoted project.
The two can also sit side by side, with each provider clear about its role.
Side-by-side comparison
| Factor | Website care plan | Agency retainer |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Keep the site healthy and fix problems | Ongoing design, development or marketing |
| Typical cost | Low fixed monthly fee | Higher monthly fee for a block of hours |
| Updates, backups, monitoring | Core of the service | Sometimes included, sometimes extra |
| Included time | Small amount for fixes and changes | Larger block, often across several skills |
| Minimum term | Usually monthly | Often several months |
| Strategy and creative work | Not the focus | Usually included |
| Best for | Businesses with a site that works and needs looking after | Businesses running continuous campaigns or development |
What a care plan covers
A care plan looks after the technical health of your site. At dijitul that means CMS core, plugin and theme updates applied and checked, daily backups, uptime monitoring and security monitoring on every plan. Business at £50 a month + VAT adds an hour of fixes or changes each month, enough for new team photos, price changes, a new page or fixing a broken form, plus priority support. Complete at £99 a month + VAT gives 3 hours and adds IT and Microsoft 365 helpdesk support.
See website maintenance and content updates.
What a retainer adds
A retainer with a design or marketing agency usually buys strategy, design, copywriting, development and reporting time each month. It makes sense when you are always building something new: launching products, running paid campaigns, publishing content and testing landing pages. You get a team that knows your brand and can plan ahead.
The risks are paying for hours you do not use, minimum terms that lock you in, and maintenance being treated as an afterthought because the creative work is more interesting. Ask any agency exactly how updates, backups and security are handled, and who fixes the site at the weekend.
Before signing a retainer, ask what happens to unused hours, how much notice is needed to end it, what is included for security and backups, and who owns the code, domain and hosting accounts. Ask for a sample monthly report so you can see how time is actually spent.
Combining the two
A common, cost-effective approach is a care plan for the site's health all year, with design or development projects quoted when you need them. If search visibility is your main goal, an SEO retainer is a separate discipline; our sister company Search Engine Tuning specialises in it. For bespoke features, see website support or ask for a quote.
The key is knowing what you are paying for each month, and making sure someone is responsible for keeping the site safe whatever else is happening.
If you are not sure which you need, list everything you asked your web provider to do over the last year. If most of it was small changes and fixes, a care plan will cover it. If it was mostly new campaigns, features and design, a retainer may earn its keep.
Prices
dijitul care plans are £25, £50 or £99 a month + VAT. Work beyond the included time is £45 an hour + VAT, with a 30-minute minimum and then 15-minute blocks. Redesigns, rebuilds and migrations are quoted upfront. See pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a website care plan and a retainer?
A care plan keeps your website updated, backed up, monitored and fixed for a fixed monthly fee. A retainer buys a block of design, development or marketing time. dijitul care plans cost £25, £50 or £99 a month + VAT.
Do I need an agency retainer for my small business website?
Usually not, unless you are building or marketing something new every month. Most small businesses are better served by a care plan plus quoted projects when needed. dijitul's Business plan at £50 a month + VAT includes an hour of changes.
Can I keep my design agency and use dijitul for maintenance?
Yes. Many businesses keep an agency for creative work and use dijitul for updates, backups, monitoring and fixes. We can work alongside your agency so everyone knows who is responsible for what.
What happens if I need more than my plan's included time?
Extra work with dijitul is billed at £45 an hour + VAT, with a 30-minute minimum and then 15-minute blocks. Larger projects such as redesigns or migrations are quoted upfront so there are no surprises.
Does a care plan include SEO?
dijitul care plans focus on technical health: updates, backups, monitoring and fixes. Ongoing SEO is a separate service. Our sister company Search Engine Tuning specialises in it, and dijitul's SEO support service can help with technical SEO fixes.
Related
Hand it over and stop worrying
Updates, backups, monitoring and fixes from £25 a month + VAT. Real UK people on the phone.