Website maintenance retainer
Launch day is where the decay starts. Content grows and pages get slower, dependencies go stale, a third-party script changes under you, and the person who built the site has moved on.
This is a fixed block of hours every month, held for your site: the site measured, patches applied, content checked, and the fixes shipped for you. At the end of the month you see exactly where every hour went.
Custom quote
- Your requests executed each month, by someone who knows the codebase by the second month.
- Vulnerabilities and slow pages caught and patched before they become incidents.
- Continuous improvement of the codebase, with the next change proposed before you have to ask.
Experience
I keep client sites running month to month as a senior frontend engineer at Bejamas - the same rhythm of measuring, patching and shipping that this retainer buys.
What the hours buy
What actually happens each month
You find out before your customers do
Core Web Vitals measured on real routes every month, compared against last month. A page that got slower gets caught in the review, with the cause named.
The dependency nobody was watching
Vulnerable and outdated packages reviewed monthly, with a straight recommendation on what to update now and what to leave alone.
Content that stops quietly lying
A quarterly sweep for dead links, prices and figures that moved on, and pages saying something the business no longer does.
Changes that cannot take the site down
Every change goes to a preview and gets reviewed before it goes live, so a Tuesday copy fix is not a Wednesday outage.
You can see what you paid for
One email a month: what was done, what it took in hours, and what I would spend next month on.
No invoice you did not approve
Anything past the monthly allocation is scoped and quoted in writing first, and waits for your yes.
In practice
How a month runs
Month starts, hours go into reserve
Your allocation is available from day one for whatever comes up, rather than being booked out in advance against a plan that reality will change.
You send work as it appears
A bug, a page that needs changing, a number that went stale, a question about whether something is worth doing. I prioritise by impact and tell you when it is unclear.
Around the 20th, I check the budget
If hours are left, you get an email offering to spend them on maintenance or development work before the month closes.
Month ends with a summary
Where the hours went, what shipped, what I would tackle next month. Hours do not roll over, so nothing quietly accumulates into a debt neither of us tracks.
Client feedback
What it is like to have me on the other end
He also impressed me with his very courteous manner and consistently transparent and precise communication. His response times were always fast. Working with him was extremely pleasant and productive. I highly recommend Augustyn to any team that values reliable and technically skilled developers.
Yves Ernst · Project Manager
Augustyn is a joy to work with! It is clear that he cares about more than just web development - he cares about the users. He works quickly without ever compromising on quality, making him a fantastic collaborator.
Ali McDerment · Project Manager
I'm extremely pleased with Augustyn. He's an incredibly hard worker, has a great eye for detail, and has helped me get my project over the finish line. He's very responsive on slack and courteous on calls. Couldn't be more happy he's on my team.
John Robert Reed · Head of Marketing
Augustyn has been exceptional across both projects, delivering high-quality work throughout and making a real positive impact. The team has greatly appreciated his support, expertise, and collaborative approach, and he has quickly become a valued and trusted member of the wider team.
Cathy Stroud · Senior Agile Delivery Manager
Augustyn is an incredible contributor and knowledgeable technical resource, and I was impressed by his thoughtful solutions as well as excellent communication skills. [...] I would not hesitate to collaborate with him again on any future projects.
Eric Letsche · Head of Product
01 / 05
Questions about retainers
How much does it cost?
It depends on the allocation we agree and the shape of your site, so I quote a flat monthly rate rather than publishing one. The floor is 16 hours a month - below that a retainer does not buy enough continuity to be worth either of our time.
What if I do not use all my hours?
Around the 20th I email you what is left and offer to spend it on maintenance or development work that month. Hours do not roll over - a rolling balance turns into a backlog neither side tracks honestly, and it hides the month where you got nothing.
What counts against the hours?
Performance measurement, code review, pull requests, dependency updates, content audits, and the conversations where you ask whether something is worth doing. What does not: building whole new features, or steering a rebuild - those get scoped as their own projects.
What if something needs more than the allocation?
I scope it, quote the hours in writing, and wait. Nothing outside the allocation starts without your yes, so the invoice never carries a surprise.
Can I pause or stop?
Yes. Three months is the suggested minimum, because a single month of measurements tells you nothing about a trend. After that, pause during a rebuild or stop entirely - no exit penalty, no notice period buried in a clause.
Get in touch