Post by: Yury Portnov
November 20, 2025
When it comes to maintaining a WordPress website, many businesses face the same choice:
👉 hire a freelancer for ad-hoc fixes,
👉 or sign up for structured technical support.
At first glance, freelancers often seem cheaper. But if you take a closer look at the numbers — and the hidden risks — the picture changes.
The Freelancer Model
Freelancers are flexible and good for one-off tasks. But there are trade-offs:
- ⏱ Availability → You wait until they’re free. Urgent issues = delays.
- 💸 Hourly costs → Lower upfront, but add up quickly if problems repeat.
- 📉 No proactive monitoring → Issues are fixed only after they appear.
- 🧩 Fragmented knowledge → Each freelancer works without a full picture of your site’s history.
For small projects, this may be enough. For growing businesses, it becomes a bottleneck.
The Support Plan Model
With structured technical support, you get:
- 🕒 Guaranteed response times
- 🔄 Proactive updates, backups, monitoring (problems solved before they cause downtime)
- 📊 Clear monthly budget (no surprises)
- 👥 Team knowledge base → multiple experts know your site, not just one person
- 🛡 Business continuity → even if one engineer is out, support continues seamlessly
Cost-Benefit Breakdown
| Factor | Freelancer | Support Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly cost | Lower | Higher upfront |
| Response time | Unpredictable | Guaranteed SLA |
| Problem prevention | Rare | Standard |
| Site knowledge | Individual | Team-based |
| Risk of downtime | Higher | Lower |
| Total monthly cost | Variable | Predictable |
The hidden truth:
One day of downtime can cost more than a year of structured support.
✅ Free Download: Cost Comparison Worksheet
Not sure which option makes sense for your business?
We’ve put together a simple worksheet where you can:
- Compare the hourly vs package costs for your site
- Estimate downtime risk in €
- See the “real cost” of waiting vs preventing problems
Final Thoughts
Freelancers can be great partners for design tweaks or small projects. But when your site supports your business, predictability and prevention matter more than patchwork fixes.
At Portnov Agency, we provide structured, proactive support that keeps your site stable month after month.
👉 See how our plans compare: portnov.agency/support