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Web design agency retainer vs Send to Site
An agency retainer buys a slice of a team's time every month. Send to Site does one narrower job: keep the website you already have fast, current and adding articles.
Last updated 29 September 2026. Agency prices as listed on their websites in September 2026.
A web design agency retainer is a monthly fee for an agency's time, usually spent on website changes, SEO and content. Published South African SEO packages alone cost R3 500 to R50 000 a month, some quoted before VAT and with a minimum term. Send to Site costs R1 500 a month for six months, then R750, and covers a fast rebuild of your current WordPress site, hosting, changes by email and up to 4 SEO articles a month. An agency is the better choice for a new brand, a custom design or a complex site.
What a retainer buys
What does a web design agency retainer include?
A retainer is a monthly fee for a fixed slice of an agency's time, usually split between website changes, search engine optimisation (SEO) and content.
Entry packages cover technical fixes and local search, such as your Google Business Profile, the listing that puts you on Google Maps. Higher tiers add articles and backlinks from other sites. Website changes often sit in a separate care plan with its own hours.
| Agency | Package | Price a month | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO Packages (seopackages.co.za) | Local SEO, Starter to Dominate | R3 500 to R11 000 | Excl. VAT. Google Business Profile work and reporting; once-off setup R1 500 to R3 500; 3 to 6 month minimum |
| White Cat Studios | SEO Foundation and Authority | From R5 000 and from R8 500 | Authority adds a topic strategy, content briefs and answer-engine optimisation |
| Digital Consulting | SEO Growth, Authority and Leadership | R6 950, R9 950 and R14 450 | 1, 2 or 3 content pieces a month |
| SEOPros | Local to Global SEO | R10 000 to R35 000 | Excl. VAT. Local includes Google Business Profile setup and local link building; 6-month minimum |
| SEO Packages (seopackages.co.za) | Organic SEO, Bronze to Platinum | R11 500 to R50 000 | Excl. VAT. 2 000 to 3 000 words of content and up to 10 to 40 backlinks a month; 3 to 6 month minimum |
| Digital Consulting | Website care, Basic to High-Maintenance | R990 to R6 790 | 2 to 15 hours of website changes; hosting not included |
Prices as listed on each agency's website in September 2026. "Excl. VAT" means the agency states its prices exclude VAT, which is 15% in South Africa.
Side by side
An agency retainer vs Send to Site, point by point
An agency sells breadth: design, marketing and SEO from one team. Send to Site sells one job on your existing site, for a set monthly price.
| Agency retainer | Send to Site | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | R3 500 to R50 000 for SEO packages; website hours from R990 on top | R1 500 for 6 months, then R750 |
| Commitment | Two of the SEO providers above ask for a 3 to 6 month minimum | One calendar month's notice to stop |
| New design or rebrand | Yes. This is what agencies do well | No. Your current design stays; a redesign is a separate project |
| How you ask for a change | Usually by email or a support request, within the hours you pay for | Email changes@sendtosite.com, check the preview, tap Publish |
| Site speed | Depends on the agency and your platform | Rebuilt as static pages: dcreviews.co.za went from 75 to 100 in a Lighthouse phone speed test |
| SEO articles | 1 to 3 content pieces a month in the content packages we found | Up to 4 a month, each approved by you before it goes live |
| Backlinks and Google Business Profile | Part of several SEO packages above | Not included: Send to Site only works on your website's files |
| Hosting | Varies by agency; not included in some care plans | Included, on Cloudflare's network |
| A person to talk to | Yes, the agency's team | By email; if a request needs a person, one replies within one business day |
One and three years
What does an agency cost over one year and three years?
Over three years, the cheapest local SEO retainer we found costs R127 500 before VAT; Send to Site costs R31 500 in total, VAT included.
| Option | What it includes | Year 1 | 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Send to Site | The rebuild (first six months), hosting, changes by email and up to 4 SEO articles a month | R13 500 | R31 500 |
| Entry-level local SEO retainer | SEO Packages Local Starter: R3 500 a month plus a once-off setup from R1 500, excl. VAT. No website changes, articles or hosting | R43 500 | R127 500 |
| SEO with content, plus website care | Digital Consulting SEO Growth (R6 950, one content piece a month) and website care Basic (R990, 2 hours of changes). Hosting extra | R95 280 | R285 840 |
Assumptions: prices stay as listed for three years; the lowest listed setup fee; minimum terms are served in full; VAT is added only where the agency quotes before VAT, and is left out of these figures, while Send to Site's prices already include it. Your domain and email cost the same either way. Send to Site has no setup fee.
This isn't like-for-like. An SEO package includes work Send to Site doesn't do, such as backlinks and your Google Business Profile, and people who can plan a campaign with you.
So ask whether your business needs that work yet. Many service businesses mainly need a site that loads fast, says the right things this month and keeps adding pages Google can find.
Send to Site
One plan. Everything included.Months 1 to 6
R1 500/month
Includes rebuilding your site
From month 7
R750/month
Half price, for as long as you stay
No setup fee. No minimum term. First year R13 500 in total, then R9 000 a year. Prices include VAT.
Which one fits
When is an agency the better choice?
An agency is the better choice when you need something made rather than maintained: a new brand, a custom design or a site that does complex things.
Choose an agency if...
- You're launching a new brand, or your site no longer represents the business
- You want a custom design, not the one you have now
- The site has to do complex things: sell online, take bookings, handle logins or connect to other systems
- You also want help with ads, social media and your Google Business Profile
- You want regular strategy meetings with a team
Choose Send to Site if...
- You're happy with how your WordPress site looks and what it says
- You want it fast on a phone without paying for a redesign
- Your changes are everyday ones: prices, hours, people, a new page
- You'd like up to 4 SEO articles a month and the final say on each one
- A retainer of R5 000 or more a month is more than the site needs
Planning a redesign? Do it first. Send to Site rebuilds the site you have, page for page, so a new look belongs before the rebuild, not after. Our guide to website redesign costs in South Africa covers what that project costs.
FAQ
Agency or Send to Site: common questions
How much does an SEO package cost?
Published South African SEO packages run from R3 500 a month for local search to R50 000 a month for large organic campaigns, as listed on the providers' websites in September 2026. Some quote before VAT, with three to six month minimums. Our guide to SEO prices in South Africa breaks the tiers down.
How much does it cost to have a website updated?
The South African care plans we compared sell changes as hours inside a monthly plan, which works out at roughly R125 to R1 500 per hour of changes; our care plan comparison lists them. Send to Site doesn't bill changes by the hour: you email the change, approve a preview, and the monthly price covers it.
How much does it cost to write content for SEO?
Agencies usually bundle articles into SEO packages. Digital Consulting, for example, lists 1, 2 or 3 content pieces a month in plans of R6 950, R9 950 and R14 450. Send to Site includes up to 4 SEO articles a month in its plan. Each is fact-checked and goes live only if you approve it.
Will Send to Site redesign my website?
No. The rebuild keeps your design, words and URLs, checked page by page against the original. A whole-site redesign is a design project: hire an agency or a designer for that.
What does an agency do that Send to Site does not?
Anything outside your website's files: ads, social media, your Google Business Profile, link building, your domain and email, bookings and payments. Also new designs and rebrands. Send to Site looks after the website itself: its speed, its changes and its articles.
See where your website stands
We check your site for speed, Google visibility, AI visibility and content, then talk you through what we found. It is free, and there is nothing to sign.
R1 500 a month for the first 6 months, then R750 a month. No setup fee.