Pricing
We are not the cheapest, but since we don’t have investors demanding scale we can charge fair prices for excellent service that goes far beyond traditional hosting support while being more efficient than an agency.
We use a “cost plus” price structure tailored for every client, and the pricing ultimately depends on:
- Server resources (we’ll help you pick the right size)
- Service/development time included every month (above and beyond standard hosting support)
Here are a few examples of what pricing can look like. Not a good fit? Please get in touch – we’re actively refining our pricing model and would love to hear from newsrooms and journalists about your needs.
Basic
Approximately
$360/month
- No arbitrary traffic limits 1
- Any server
- Standard hosting support
- Fully tested site updates
- Limited WordPress plugins and themes 2
- Limited web site related questions and preferred rate for custom development and support
- No custom development included
- Estimate includes:
- $60/month estimated for server and infrastructure
- $300/month service plan (covers updates and basic support)
- Additional development and service time available at a discounted rate of $200/hr
Full
Approximately
$1,300/month
- No arbitrary traffic limits 1
- Any server
- Standard hosting support
- Fully tested site updates
- Any WordPress plugin or theme
- Includes about six hours per month of our full service newsroom technology support, including custom development
- Estimate includes:
- $100/month estimated for server and infrastructure
- $1,200/month retainer, covering updates, basic support, and about six hours of full service support/development
- Additional development and service time available at a discounted rate of $180/hr
Custom
We build plans to fit needs, resources, and capabilities
- No arbitrary traffic limits 1
- Any server
- Covers specific newsroom needs
- We manage hosting and additional services as agreed
- Different server plans can handle different amounts of traffic – we don’t impose any limits besides those of the server itself. We will help you find a server with enough resources for your needs and adjust as needed. ↩︎
- To keep costs down for small newsrooms, we can offer a limited set of themes and plugins to keep the update and support load more manageable. Talk to us about what we can support – there’s some flexibility here. ↩︎
- Different server plans can handle different amounts of traffic – we don’t impose any limits besides those of the server itself. We will help you find a server with enough resources for your needs and adjust as needed. ↩︎
What contributes to hosting cost
We don’t oversell server resources or throw in support as a freebie, and as an owner-operated business we don’t feel the same squeeze as giant hosts trying to satisfy their investors.
Our cost structure is based on billing for what actually costs money:
- Servers are relatively cheap, so we can find the right size for your needs without breaking the bank or risking your site slowing down
- Talented developers who understand news are expensive, so most of our cost is for support that goes far beyond just fixing things when they break.
Where the cost comes from compared with traditional managed hosting:
| Traditional managed host | Byline.net | |
|---|---|---|
| Computing resources (server, CDN, storage, etc.) | $$$ Significant upcharge on server resources | $$ Cost plus (what the VPS provider bills us plus a small amount to manage) |
| Plugins and tools | ❌ Not covered | $ Included; typically minimal costs spread over all users |
| Basic support | $$ Most traditional hosts have an incentive to provide the cheapest support they can | $$$ By combining basic and advanced support, we can charge what it’s worth and you never get stuck in ticket escalation hell |
| Managed updates | ❌ Not covered | $$$ Included in your support for single point of contact on your site |
| Full site support and custom development | ❌ Not covered | $$$ Regular retainer hours for predictability, with the option for more time as available at a reduced rate |