What keeps costing money after launch
Launch costs are one-off; maintenance costs repeat every year. For a small builder site the recurring items are the builder plan, the domain renewal, email on your domain, and any email-list or form tool. Prices below are from the vendors' own pages, read on 30 October 2026, in USD. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
| Item | Example price | Billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrd Pro Standard | $19 per year | Yearly | 10 sites, custom domains, contact and signup forms |
| Carrd Pro Plus | $49 per year | Yearly | 25 sites, advanced forms (Zapier, Make, Airtable), Stripe Checkout |
| Framer Basic / Pro | $10 / $30 per month | Per month, as listed with the yearly billing toggle | Custom domain on paid plans; complimentary domain on yearly billing; Basic includes CMS; extra editors $20 per month |
| Webflow Basic | $15 per month billed yearly | Yearly | For sites that do not need a CMS; custom domain, 300 static pages |
| Webflow Premium (CMS) | $25 per month billed yearly | Yearly | Adds Webflow CMS |
| .com domain (Porkbun) | $11.08 per year | Yearly | Renewal price equals registration |
| Google Workspace Business Starter | $7.00 per user per month | Billed monthly | Excludes tax; intro discounts vary |
| Zoho Mail Free | $0 | n/a | Up to 5 users, custom email for one domain, 5 GB per user; no IMAP or POP |
| Kit Free (email list) | $0 | n/a | Up to 10,000 subscribers |
Worked example: Carrd one-page site versus Webflow CMS site
Assumptions: one site, one .com domain, one person handling email, a newsletter under 10,000 subscribers, no paid add-ons. Prices as read on 30 October 2026; your tax and currency may differ. [1][2][4][5][6][7]
| Line item | Carrd one-pager (lean) | Carrd with Workspace | Webflow CMS site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder plan | $19 (Pro Standard) | $19 (Pro Standard) | $300 (Premium, $25 x 12) |
| Domain renewal (.com) | $11.08 | $11.08 | $11.08 |
| Email on your domain | $0 (Zoho Mail Free) | $84 (Workspace Starter, $7 x 12) | $84 (Workspace Starter, $7 x 12) |
| Newsletter tool | $0 (Kit Free) | $0 (Kit Free) | $0 (Kit Free) |
| Annual total | $30.08 | $114.08 | $395.08 |
Where budgets jump
- Outgrowing a free tier: Kit Creator is listed at $33 per month for 1,000 subscribers on monthly billing, or $390 billed yearly, once you need features beyond the free plan. [7]
- More people editing: Framer lists additional editors at $20 per month and content editors at $10. [3]
- More sites: Carrd Pro Standard covers 10 sites for $19 a year; Pro Plus covers 25 for $49. [1]
- More traffic on Webflow Premium: bandwidth add-ons are listed from +$20 per month (billed annually) for +50 GB. [2]
- Extensions that renew high: a .store at Porkbun renews at $43.77 a year, not the $2.57 first-year sale price. [4]
- More mailboxes: Workspace is priced per user, so three staff on Starter is $21 per month. [5]
The time cost (our estimate, not a vendor figure)
Vendor pages price software, not your hours. Our working assumption for a small brochure site is roughly 1 to 2 hours a month for content and checks, plus a half-day once a year for renewals and a full review. A CMS blog that publishes weekly needs far more, but that is publishing time rather than maintenance.
If you pay someone, multiply those hours by their rate and add it to the table above. For many small sites the time cost is larger than every software bill combined, which is why choosing a builder you can edit yourself matters.
Maintenance checklist by month
| When | Task |
|---|---|
| Every month | Submit a test through each form and confirm the email arrives; click main links and buttons |
| Every month | Update prices, hours, dates and photos that have changed |
| Every quarter | Review the vendor pricing pages for your plan, domain and email tools |
| Every quarter | Check the site on a phone: menus, forms and images |
| 60 days before renewal | Decide whether the plan still fits; downgrade or cancel before auto-renew |
| 30 days before domain renewal | Confirm auto-renew, payment card and registrar login |
| Once a year | Export content where the builder allows, list DNS records, and check account owners and two-factor settings |
Who can cut costs, and who should not
A single landing page with a signup form fits Carrd Pro Standard plus free email and list tiers; there is little to cut below about $30 a year. A site that needs a CMS should budget for Webflow Premium or Framer Basic or Pro rather than forcing a static plan to do CMS work. [1][2][3]
Do not cut domain auto-renew or registrar access to save money: losing the domain costs more than any plan. Do skip paid email if a free tier such as Zoho Mail Free covers your user count. [6]
Questions before you decide
What is the cheapest way to keep a small site online for a year?
From the prices we read on 30 October 2026, Carrd Pro Standard at $19 per year plus a .com at Porkbun for $11.08 gives a custom-domain site for about $30 a year, with Zoho Mail Free and Kit Free covering email and a newsletter at $0.
Does Framer include a domain?
Framer's pricing page says a complimentary domain is included on yearly billing and lists a free custom domain on the Basic and Pro plans. Its domains page says the domain and its subscription are managed through Hover and renew automatically at the standard rate, which it does not state.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- Carrd docs: Pro plans Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Webflow pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Framer pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Porkbun: domain name pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Google Workspace pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Zoho Mail pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Kit pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Framer: free domains Accessed 30 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.