Key Takeaways
- • The 'one-time' price is a lie
- • Maintenance and security cost hours, not minutes
- • Opportunity costs are the real profit killer
Most business owners make the same calculation error.
They see a quote of €5,000 for a new website and think: “Okay, that’s a one-time expense. After that, I’m done for 5 years.”
This isn’t optimism. This is financial blindness.
A website isn’t a house you buy and leave alone. It’s a machine that needs fuel, maintenance, and upgrades. If you don’t give it those, it doesn’t just stop working, it becomes a liability.
At Devstate, we sell Website as a Service (WaaS). Not because we love subscriptions, but because it’s the only model that makes mathematical sense for modern businesses. Let’s crunch the numbers.
The invisible bill of “ownership”
Let’s assume you choose the “traditional” model. You pay an agency €5,000 and they deliver a WordPress site. You are the “owner.” Congratulations. Here is what you just bought:
1. The hosting tax
You need to arrange hosting. Cheap hosting (€10/month) is slow and insecure. Good managed hosting costs at least €30-€50/month.
- Cost over 3 years: €1,080 - €1,800
2. The plugin hell
Your site needs forms, SEO tools, caching, and security. The “free” plugins are dangerous or limited. As we discussed in The hidden cost of DIY, “free” tools are often the most expensive. The “Pro” licenses cost on average €150/year each.
- Cost over 3 years: €1,350+
3. The “hourly rate” maintenance
When WordPress update 6.4 breaks your theme, who do you call? The agency. Their hourly rate is €85+. A simple 2-hour fix per quarter adds up fast.
- Cost over 3 years: €2,040
4. The security crisis (The big risk)
Your site gets hacked. This isn’t an “if,” but a “when” for poorly maintained sites. Cleaning up a hacked site costs on average €500 - €2,000, plus the damage to your reputation.
Total “Hidden” Costs (3 years): €4,500+ On top of your initial €5,000. So you spent €9,500 for a site that is obsolete after 3 years and needs replacing.
The Devstate WaaS model: Transparency
Now compare that to our Growth Plan (€179/month).
- Hosting? Included (Enterprise-grade Cloudflare Edge).
- Updates? Included (We patch while you sleep).
- Design changes? Included (Within reasonable limits).
- Need a new feature? We build modular add-ons (like Commerce or Multilingual) that integrate seamlessly. No plugin updates, no incompatibility.
Over 3 years, you pay a fixed, predictable amount. No surprises. No panic calls.
The nuance of “freedom”
Critics say: “But with a subscription, I own nothing.”
That is partially true. You do not own the Ferrari engine (our infrastructure); you rent it. Why? Because you cannot build or maintain it yourself.
But you do own the fuel (your data, text, images). If you leave, you take everything with you. You only lose the engine that makes it all fast. That is not a trap; that is a fair trade for performance.
Time is your most expensive currency
But the real saving isn’t money. It’s your focus.
Every hour you or your marketing manager spends debugging a contact form, updating plugins, or stressing about slow load times, is an hour you aren’t spending on sales.
What is your hourly rate? €100? €200?
If you lose 5 hours a month to “website hassle,” that “cheap” WordPress site costs you €6,000 to €12,000 a year in lost productivity.
Stop paying for problems
You lease your car because you want mobility, not a mechanic’s degree. You subscribe to software because you want the latest features, not CD-ROMs from 2005.
Why should your most important marketing channel be any different?
Choose Devstate.
- You get the Ferrari engine.
- You keep the keys to your data.
- You dump the mechanic’s bill.
Calculate your profit with our plans. Stop renting problems and start investing in results.