WordPress care
WordPress maintenance services, done properly every week
Core, plugin, theme and PHP updates tested before they go live, daily backups, malware clean-up and WooCommerce care. Rolling monthly WordPress maintenance plans from £79.
- Updates tested on staging
- PHP upgrades handled
- WooCommerce care available
Quick answer
ProntX offers WordPress maintenance services for UK businesses, agencies and WooCommerce stores from £79 a month (ex VAT), rolling monthly. Plans cover weekly core, theme and plugin updates, PHP version management, daily off-site backups, malware scanning and clean-up, uptime monitoring and edit time, with staging-tested updates and WooCommerce care on higher plans.
WordPress maintenance is the weekly work of updating WordPress core, themes and plugins safely, keeping PHP current, backing up and scanning the site, and fixing conflicts before visitors see them. ProntX provides WordPress maintenance services for UK businesses, agencies and WooCommerce stores, on rolling monthly plans from £79 a month, ex VAT.
Why WordPress needs more care than most platforms
WordPress itself is well looked after. The risk sits in the plugins and themes added on top. Patchstack’s State of WordPress Security in 2026 report counted 11,334 new vulnerabilities in the WordPress ecosystem during 2025, with 91% of them in plugins, 9% in themes and only 6 in WordPress core. Most business sites run a mix of plugins from different developers, each on its own release schedule, so the exposure grows with every plugin you add.
What good WordPress website maintenance looks like
It is not just clicking “update all”. It means knowing which plugins you run and whether they are still supported, applying updates in a sensible order, checking the pages that matter afterwards, and having a recent backup ready if something goes wrong. On busier sites it also means testing updates on a staging copy first, so your visitors never see a broken layout.
What is included
What is included in our WordPress maintenance services?
Every plan covers updates, backups, monitoring and security for your WordPress site. Higher plans add staging, faster response, WooCommerce care and more development time.
- Weekly WordPress core, theme and plugin updates, with a visual check of key pages afterwards
- Updates rehearsed on a staging copy before going live (Growth and Partner)
- Plugin and theme review when we take a site on, flagging abandoned or duplicate plugins
- PHP version checks, with upgrades planned and tested before your host forces one
- Daily off-site backups (30 or 90 days kept), hourly on Partner
- Daily malware scanning, and clean-up included at no extra charge
- Uptime monitoring every 5 minutes, or every minute on Growth and Partner
- Contact form and WooCommerce checkout monitoring (Growth and Partner)
- Speed and Core Web Vitals tune-ups: quarterly on Growth, monthly on Partner
- Development time each month for changes, fixes and plugin configuration
For an overview of maintenance across all platforms, including why it matters and how our monthly routine works, see website maintenance services.
Updates and conflicts
Why do WordPress updates break sites, and how do we prevent it?
Updates break sites when two pieces of code that worked together stop doing so: a plugin expects a newer PHP version, a theme overrides a template that changed, or two plugins load clashing scripts. Testing before release and keeping a rollback point removes most of the risk.
Should you just switch on auto-updates?
Since WordPress 5.5, site owners can turn on automatic updates plugin by plugin and theme by theme, and WordPress runs them twice a day by default, emailing you when an update succeeds or fails. That is useful for keeping security patches flowing. The catch is that an email saying “updated” does not tell you whether your enquiry form, booking calendar or checkout still works. On a site that earns money, someone needs to look.
How our update routine works
On Growth and Partner plans we copy your live site to a private staging environment, apply the week’s updates there and check the templates that matter: home page, service pages, forms, and cart and checkout on stores. Only then do we update the live site and check it again. On Essential, updates go straight to live followed by a visual check, with the previous night’s backup as a safety net. If an update ever does cause a problem, we roll back first and investigate second.
PHP and versions
Which PHP version should your WordPress site run?
Your site should run a PHP version that still receives security fixes. As of October 2026, php.net lists 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5 as supported, and security support for 8.2 ends on 31 December 2026.
PHP is the language WordPress runs on, and your host decides which versions are available. WordPress.org’s public statistics, which count sites that report back to WordPress.org, showed about 37% of those sites on PHP 8.1 or older when we checked on 11 October 2026, including around 16% still on PHP 7.4. Those versions no longer get security patches. The same statistics showed about 61% of sites on the latest major WordPress release, so a large minority are behind on core as well.
Check
Find what breaks
We test your site on the newer PHP version on staging and log any deprecation warnings or errors from older plugins and custom code.
Fix
Replace or patch
Outdated plugins are updated or swapped for maintained alternatives, and small code fixes are made from your monthly allowance where they fit.
Switch
Upgrade in a quiet hour
We change the PHP version at a low-traffic time, check the site straight away and keep the old version available for a quick switch back.
A supported PHP version also keeps you compatible with plugin updates, which protects the foundations of our technical SEO service.
Security
How do we keep a WordPress site secure?
By shrinking the window between a vulnerability becoming public and your site being fixed, and by having a clean backup ready if prevention fails.
Speed matters because attackers move fast. Patchstack reports that approximately half of high-impact WordPress vulnerabilities are exploited within 24 hours, that the weighted median time to first exploit is 5 hours, and that 46% of vulnerabilities had no fix from the developer in time for public disclosure. That last figure is the uncomfortable one: sometimes there is no update to install, and the only safe options are to disable the plugin, replace it or restrict access to the affected feature.
- Fewer plugins: we remove what you do not use and replace plugins that are no longer maintained, which reduces how much code can go wrong
- Weekly updates as standard, and a daily malware scan so a compromise is spotted within a day
- Malware clean-up included on every plan, rather than billed per incident as many providers do
- Daily off-site backups kept away from your hosting account, so a hacked server does not take your backups with it
- Admin accounts reviewed when we take on a site, removing old users and former suppliers who still have access
WooCommerce
WooCommerce maintenance: what changes for online shops?
Stores need everything a brochure site needs, plus proof after every update that customers can still add to basket, pay and receive an order email. WooCommerce care is a £40 a month add-on to Growth Care and is included in Partner Care.
What we check on a store
WooCommerce updates often touch the cart, checkout templates and payment gateway plugins at the same time. After each update we check product pages, basket, checkout and the payment step, and checkout monitoring alerts us if orders stop going through. Order data changes by the minute, so Partner Care takes backups every hour rather than once a day.
Why Essential Care excludes WooCommerce
A store that loses its checkout for a weekend loses real money, and a plan without staging tests, checkout monitoring and fast response cannot protect against that properly. Rather than sell a cheap plan that looks like cover, we start shops on Growth with the WooCommerce add-on, or on Partner if trading is busy. Building a new shop? See ecommerce web design.
Plans
How much do WordPress maintenance plans cost?
ProntX WordPress maintenance plans are £79, £149 and £299 a month, ex VAT, rolling monthly with 30 days notice. Extra work is £65 an hour for plan clients.
Essential Care
£79/month + VAT
Brochure and small business sites
- Weekly WordPress, theme and plugin updates with a visual check
- Daily off-site backups kept for 30 days
- Uptime monitoring every 5 minutes
- Daily malware scan, with clean-up included
- SSL and domain expiry monitoring
- 30 minutes of small edits each month
- Reply by the next working day
- Monthly report
Growth Care
£149/month + VAT
Growing businesses that rely on leads
- Everything in Essential
- Updates tested on a staging copy first
- Backups kept for 90 days
- Uptime monitoring every minute
- Contact form and checkout monitoring
- 2 hours of edits or development each month
- Same-day reply, critical issues within 4 working hours
- Quarterly speed and Core Web Vitals tune-up
Partner Care
£299/month + VAT
Shops and business-critical sites
- Everything in Growth
- Hourly backups
- WooCommerce shops included
- 4 hours of edits or development each month
- Critical issues within 2 hours, including evenings and weekends
- Monthly speed work
- Monthly review call
Rolling monthly, 30 days notice. Pay yearly and get one month free. WooCommerce on Growth Care adds £40 a month. Extra work £75 an hour (£65 for plan clients). Site not built by us? Start with a £149 health check, credited if you join.
Paying yearly gets you one month free. Every WordPress site ProntX builds includes 3 months of Essential Care at no cost. For a side-by-side table of all three plans and how they compare with typical UK prices, read website support packages. If you need urgent help with a problem right now, start with website support.
For agencies
White label WordPress maintenance for agencies
If you build WordPress sites for clients but do not want to run updates, backups and security in-house, we can do the work behind the scenes under your brand.
How it works
You keep the client relationship and your own pricing. We carry out the maintenance routine described on this page, and reports go to you without ProntX branding so you can pass them on as your own. You decide which sites go on which plan level, and you get one point of contact for every site.
Who it suits
Design studios, freelancers and marketing agencies with a portfolio of WordPress sites and no appetite for weekly update duty. It frees your team for new projects while clients still get tested updates, backups and monitoring. Contact us with the number of sites and their stack, and we will propose terms. Agencies reselling marketing can also look at our white label services.
For WordPress sites we did not build, we begin with a £149 health check covering versions, plugins, users, backups, security and speed. If you join a plan, the fee is credited.
How it works
What happens after you get in touch
- 01Free audit
We review your site, search visibility, ads and competitors, then send a short video walkthrough with the quickest wins.
Request audit - 02Plan and price
A one-page plan with goals, channels, timeline and a fixed monthly price. No surprises later.
See prices - 03Launch in weeks
Tracking first, then quick wins, then the bigger builds. You see progress in the first month.
See our work - 04Report and grow
Monthly report in plain English: leads, sales, cost per result and what we do next.
Talk to us
FAQ
WordPress maintenance questions, answered
Still unsure? Ask us anything. We reply within one working day.
What does WordPress maintenance include?
WordPress maintenance covers updating core, themes and plugins safely, keeping PHP on a supported version, daily off-site backups, uptime monitoring, malware scanning and clean-up, and time for changes. ProntX plans add staging-tested updates, form and checkout monitoring and speed tune-ups on the Growth and Partner levels, plus WooCommerce care for online shops.
How often should WordPress plugins be updated?
Review updates at least weekly. Patchstack reports that about half of high-impact WordPress vulnerabilities are exploited within 24 hours of disclosure, so leaving updates for a month or a year creates a long window of exposure. Weekly reviews, combined with daily malware scans and backups, are a sensible baseline for most business sites.
Should I turn on WordPress auto-updates?
Auto-updates are a reasonable safety net for low-risk plugins on a simple site, and WordPress lets you enable them plugin by plugin. On sites that take enquiries or payments, we prefer updates tested on staging first, because an automatic update cannot tell whether your form or checkout still works afterwards. Many owners combine both approaches.
How much does WordPress maintenance cost in the UK?
In our October 2026 review of UK providers, entry plans had a median of about £50 a month, mid-tier around £149 and top-tier around £330, with London agencies higher. ProntX WordPress maintenance plans are £79, £149 and £299 a month, ex VAT, rolling monthly. Compare them in detail on our website support packages page.
What PHP version should my WordPress site use?
Use a version that still gets security fixes. In October 2026 php.net lists PHP 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5 as supported, with security support for 8.2 ending on 31 December 2026, so moving to 8.3 or newer is sensible. Test on a staging copy first, as older plugins and custom code can throw errors on newer PHP.
What happens if a WordPress update breaks my site?
On Growth and Partner plans, updates are tested on staging first, so most conflicts are caught before they reach your live site. If a problem does appear on the live site, we roll back to the latest backup to get you working again, then find and fix the cause before reapplying the update.
Do you maintain WooCommerce sites?
Yes. WooCommerce care is a £40 a month add-on to Growth Care and is included in Partner Care, which also adds hourly backups. We check product pages, basket and checkout after updates and monitor checkout so we hear quickly if orders stop. Essential Care does not cover WooCommerce stores.
Do you offer white label WordPress maintenance for agencies?
Yes. We can maintain your clients' WordPress sites behind the scenes, with reports free of ProntX branding so you can send them as your own. You keep the client relationship and set your own prices. Send us the number of sites and their setup and we will propose terms.
Works well with
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