Senior WordPress development, priced for startups and small businesses
SERP Axis WordPress development starts at $45 per hour ($60 per hour for headless or complex builds). The WP health audit is free. The easiest way to start is the WP Starter Sprint at $499 flat — a scoped deliverable shipped in 1 to 2 weeks. Care plans run from $49 per month (standard) to $149 per month (advanced). Custom theme and project builds start at $1,500, and WooCommerce stores start at $2,500. We invoice weekly with no setup fee. Those rates sit well below the typical US agency range of $75 to $150 per hour, and the work is done by senior developers.
- Free WordPress health audit — plugins, performance, security, and a written punch list before you spend a dollar
- Custom block and classic theme development tuned to your content model
- Custom plugin development when off-the-shelf falls short
- WooCommerce builds and customizations
- Headless WordPress with Next.js or Astro when it earns its keep
- Performance work: Cloudflare, object cache, and Core Web Vitals tuning
- Migration from Wix, Squarespace, or legacy WordPress with redirects and SEO continuity
- Editor training and handover docs your team can actually use
- Backup and staging workflow
- —No setup or onboarding fee
- —No charge for the initial WordPress health audit
- —No per-plugin or per-page markup
- —No minimum monthly retainer to start — the $499 sprint stands alone
- —No long-term contract lock-in on care plans
What an engagement looks like
Common shapes, not fixed packages. Scope and price depend on the work — we confirm every estimate before anything starts.
The accessible on-ramp. We scope one clear deliverable — a fix, a feature, a speed pass, or a small build — and ship it in one to two weeks for a flat $499. No retainer, no surprises. The free health audit comes first so the scope is honest.
Senior WordPress development billed by the hour at $45, or $60 for headless and complex work. Well below the $75–$150 US agency norm, invoiced weekly with no setup fee. Use it for ongoing work, fixes, or builds that are easier to scope as you go.
Custom theme and project builds start at $1,500; WooCommerce stores start at $2,500. After launch, keep the site healthy with a care plan from $49/month (standard) up to $149/month (advanced) for monitoring, updates, and priority fixes.
Pricing questions, answered
How much does WordPress development cost?
SERP Axis WordPress development starts at $45 per hour, or $60 per hour for headless and complex builds. The health audit is free. The simplest entry point is the WP Starter Sprint at $499 flat — a scoped deliverable in 1 to 2 weeks. Care plans run $49 to $149 per month, custom theme and project builds start at $1,500, and WooCommerce stores start at $2,500. We invoice weekly with no setup fee.
What is the free WordPress health audit?
Before you commit to anything, we review your site's plugins, performance, security posture, and Core Web Vitals, then send you a written punch list of what is wrong and what it would take to fix. It costs nothing and there is no obligation to continue. It also keeps any sprint or project scope honest.
What can I get for the $499 Starter Sprint?
One clear, scoped deliverable shipped in one to two weeks — for example a speed and Core Web Vitals pass, a stuck-bug fix, a small custom block or plugin, or a focused redesign of a key page. We agree the scope after the free audit so you know exactly what $499 buys before work starts.
Why are your rates below typical US agency pricing?
Most US WordPress agencies charge $75 to $150 per hour and pad it with setup fees and account-management overhead. We run lean, invoice weekly, and skip the setup fee — so a senior developer reaches you at $45 to $60 per hour. The repositioning is deliberate: we are competing on price while keeping the work senior.
What do the care plans include and how much are they?
Care plans start at $49 per month for the standard tier — core, theme, and plugin updates, backups, uptime and security monitoring. The advanced tier is $149 per month and adds priority fixes, performance checks, and faster response. There is no long-term lock-in.
How much is a custom build or a WooCommerce store?
Custom theme and project builds start at $1,500. WooCommerce stores start at $2,500 because commerce adds product, checkout, tax, and payment work. We scope from the free audit and invoice weekly so cost tracks real progress, never a fixed upfront lump.
Do you work on existing WordPress sites or only new builds?
Both. A large share of our work is taking over an existing site — auditing, hardening, speeding it up, and either operating it on a care plan or handing it back cleaner with docs. The free health audit is usually where that starts.
How do billing and invoicing work?
Hourly work and projects are invoiced weekly with no setup fee. The Starter Sprint is a flat $499. Care plans are billed monthly. You always see where the money is going, and there is no minimum retainer required to get started.
The cost of waiting
is your competitor.
Every 90 days you delay is 90 days of authority compounding for someone else. Get the audit. See the math. Then decide.