Keep it running, from $250 a month.
Monitoring, backups, security patches and a senior engineer who already knows your system — priced as an operating cost rather than a project. Built for software that mostly needs to stay alive. If you have a roadmap to deliver, you want ongoing development instead.
The software matters. The headcount doesn't fit.
You have software your business depends on. It needs changes, it occasionally breaks, and dependencies need updating whether you think about them or not.
A full-time developer is a six-figure commitment and more capacity than you need. Agencies want project minimums and treat small requests as an inconvenience. Freelancers vanish mid-task and take the context with them.
A retainer is the shape that fits: a predictable monthly cost, someone who already knows your system, and nobody to hire.
Three plans, priced like insurance.
Maintenance is about availability, not volume. What you're paying for is that someone is watching, and that when you need them they already know your system. The numbers are deliberately small enough to sit in an operating budget without needing a conversation. A “small” change is a copy edit, a configuration tweak, a minor styling fix — anything larger gets quoted separately, and you'll be told which it is before anything starts.
| Plan | Change requests | Response | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Uptime monitoring, verified backups, security patches, dependency updates, SSL and certificate renewals. Keeping healthy software healthy. No change requests. |
None | 3 business days | $250/mo |
| Standard Everything in Essential, plus bug fixes, content and configuration changes, and minor adjustments to existing features. |
Up to 5 small | 2 business days | $600/mo |
| Priority Everything in Standard, plus a larger allowance and first call on incidents. |
Up to 12 small | 1 business day | $1,200/mo |
Roughly in line with the industry convention of 15–20% of build cost per year for maintenance. Three months to begin, month to month after that, thirty days' notice to cancel.
Then you're not buying maintenance any more, you're buying development. Move to ongoing development, which reserves days each week for actual feature work. For occasional larger pieces without a monthly commitment, individual jobs are quoted on their own — described, priced and agreed before they start.
How allowances and response times actually work.
- Allowances are a ceiling, not a target. Each month you get a written summary of what was done, so nothing is opaque.
- Unused allowance doesn't roll over. You're buying availability and continuity — someone who already holds the context and can act immediately. If you consistently use less than half of it, we'll tell you and move you down.
- Running over doesn't produce a surprise invoice. When the allowance is nearly used, you'll hear about it, and we'll agree whether the rest waits until next month or gets quoted as its own small job.
- Response time means acknowledgement, not resolution. Within the stated window you'll get a reply, an assessment, and a plan. How long the fix itself takes depends on what broke.
- Work happens on business days. Requests that arrive over a weekend or holiday are picked up on the next working day. This is not a 24/7 support contract, and anyone who tells you they're offering one solo is overpromising.
- If your system needs genuine round-the-clock cover, you need a rota of people rather than one engineer. We'll say so rather than pretend otherwise.
The baseline.
- Security patches and dependency updates
- Uptime monitoring, with alerts that reach a human on working days
- Backup verification — checked, not assumed
- A written monthly report of everything that was done
- Direct access by email or Slack — no ticket queue, no account manager
- Everything documented in your repository as it happens
How it runs.
Onboarding
We learn your system, document what's there, and fix whatever is most urgent. If it needs stabilization work before a retainer makes sense, you'll be told before signing anything.
Monthly cycle
You raise what you need, we work through it, you get a written summary of what changed. Anything beyond the month's allowance gets raised openly rather than quietly dropped or quietly absorbed.
Quarterly review
We look at whether the tier still fits. If you're consistently underusing it, that conversation comes from us.
Before you book.
What counts as a small change?
Copy edits, configuration tweaks, minor styling fixes, adjusting an existing setting — the things that take a few minutes and would otherwise sit on your list for weeks. Anything bigger gets described and quoted as its own job before work starts, so you always know which bucket a request falls into.
What if I need more than my plan covers?
Then you're looking for development rather than maintenance. Either individual jobs quoted separately, or ongoing development, which reserves days each week. You'll be pointed to whichever is genuinely cheaper for you rather than sold a bigger support plan.
Which plan do I need?
If your software is stable and you just need it to stay safe and online, Essential. If you regularly want small changes, Standard. If downtime costs you money and you want to be first in the queue, Priority. If you're unsure, start lower — moving up mid-month is easy, and thirty days gives you real usage data.
What if I don't use the full allowance one month?
It doesn't roll over. You're paying for availability and continuity — someone who already knows your system and can act immediately rather than spending half a day getting oriented. Same logic as insurance. If you consistently underuse a plan, we'll move you down; that conversation comes from us.
Do you bill by the hour?
No. Plans are a flat monthly fee and individual jobs are quoted as fixed prices before they start. You should never have to audit a timesheet to know whether you got value.
What if something breaks outside business hours?
Monitoring alerts still fire and you'll still be notified. Human response happens on the next working day, within your plan's window. This isn't a 24/7 support contract — genuine round-the-clock cover needs a rota of people, not one engineer, and you should be suspicious of anyone selling it otherwise.
Do you take on software you didn't build?
Yes — that's most of it. Onboarding includes an assessment of what's there and an honest read on its condition.
What happens if you become unavailable?
Everything is documented and lives in your repository, so another engineer can pick it up without archaeology. Cover arrangements are agreed in writing before the retainer starts.
Can you work alongside our existing developer?
Yes. Setting architecture, reviewing code and unblocking an in-house person is a common shape for this work.
Tell us what you're running.
Twenty minutes. Describe the software and what keeps going wrong, and we'll tell you which tier fits — or whether you need something else first.