Software maintenance services are the ongoing work that keeps custom software safe and useful after launch: fixing bugs, applying security patches, upgrading frameworks and servers before they reach end of life, watching for errors and making the small changes your team asks for every month. Without that work, software that runs fine today becomes a risk within a year or two, because the libraries it depends on keep changing and the people who built it move on.
We provide software maintenance and support services for custom web applications, APIs, internal tools and SaaS products, as part of our custom software development practice. You get a monthly block of developer hours, monitoring and backups set up properly, a clear process for reporting issues and a monthly report on what changed. It works the same whether we built the software or inherited it from another team.
What Our Software Maintenance Services Include
Every plan covers the essentials below. Higher plans add more hours and faster responses for critical issues.
| Work | What it involves | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Bug fixing | Reproducing reported issues, fixing the cause and adding a test so the same bug does not return. | Problems get solved, not patched over and rediscovered next month. |
| Security patches and dependency updates | Reviewing security advisories for your libraries and packages, and applying updates on a regular schedule. | Known vulnerabilities are closed before someone exploits them. |
| Framework and runtime upgrades | Planned upgrades of PHP, Node.js, Python, Laravel, Django, React and similar, before versions stop receiving security fixes. | No forced emergency upgrade when a host drops support for an old version. |
| Server and hosting care | Operating system patches, SSL renewals, disk and memory checks, and hosting configuration reviews. | Fewer outages caused by expired certificates or full disks. |
| Uptime and error monitoring | Uptime checks and error tracking with tools such as Better Stack and Sentry, with alerts routed to us. | We often see a problem before your users report it. |
| Backups and restore tests | Automated database and file backups stored off the server, with periodic test restores. | You know your data can be recovered, and how long it takes. |
| Performance checks | Slow query reviews, caching and job queue health. | The app stays responsive as data and users grow. |
| Small features and changes | New fields, report tweaks, workflow changes and integration updates within your monthly hours. | The software keeps up with how the business changes. |
| Documentation | Keeping the README, runbook and change log current as work is done. | Knowledge stays with your company, not in one developer's head. |
The Four Types of Software Maintenance
Software engineering usually describes four types of software maintenance. A healthy plan includes all four, not only the first.
Corrective maintenance
Fixing defects found in use: a calculation that rounds incorrectly, a form that fails on one browser, an import that breaks on an unexpected file. This is what most people mean by support.
Adaptive maintenance
Changing the software so it keeps working when its environment changes. Examples include a payment provider retiring an API version, a browser changing cookie rules, a new tax requirement or a host moving to a newer PHP version.
Perfective maintenance
Improving the software based on how people use it: faster reports, a clearer screen, a new export or an automated step that used to be manual.
Preventive maintenance
Work that reduces future problems: dependency updates, removing dead code, adding tests around fragile areas and refactoring parts of the code that cause repeated bugs. It is the easiest type to postpone and the most expensive one to skip.
Software Maintenance vs Software Support
Software maintenance changes the software itself, while software support helps people use it and responds to incidents. In practice the two overlap, which is why we offer them together.
| Software maintenance | Software support | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | The code, dependencies and hosting | Users, incidents and questions |
| Typical work | Upgrades, patches, refactoring, small features | Investigating reported problems, answering how-to questions, restoring service |
| Timing | Planned, on a monthly and quarterly schedule | Reactive, when something is reported |
| Measured by | Dependency age, open vulnerabilities, test coverage of risky areas | Response time, time to resolution, recurring issue count |
How We Take Over Software Maintenance and Support
- Code and hosting review (1 to 2 weeks). We read the code, check dependencies for known vulnerabilities and outdated versions, review the hosting, backups and deployment process, and document what we find. You receive a short report with risks ranked by severity and a recommended order of work.
- Access and credential handover. We collect access to repositories, hosting, domains, email services and third-party APIs, move shared passwords into a password manager or secrets store, and confirm that your company owns every account.
- Knowledge transfer. If the previous developer or team is available, we run a recorded handover session. If not, we reconstruct how the system works from the code and write it down.
- Stabilize the basics (first month). We set up monitoring, verify backups with a test restore, create a staging environment if none exists and make deployments repeatable. This first month usually uses most of the plan's hours on setup.
- Agree priorities and a reporting channel. You report issues through a shared board or email, using the priority levels below, and we confirm each request and estimate the hours before starting anything significant.
- Monthly cycle. Each month we apply updates, fix reported issues, work through your small change requests and send a report. Larger upgrades are planned each quarter on the higher plans.
Issue priority levels
| Priority | Example | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | The app is down, data is being lost or a security breach is suspected. | Handled first, ahead of all other work, with updates until it is resolved. The Priority plan includes a faster response target on business days. |
| High | A key feature is broken for many users, with no workaround. | Scheduled ahead of planned work and changes. |
| Normal | A bug with a workaround, or a problem affecting few users. | Fixed within the monthly cycle. |
| Request | A small change, new field or improvement. | Estimated, agreed with you and scheduled within your hours. |
Software Maintenance Deliverables and Monthly Reporting
You should always be able to see what your maintenance plan is buying. Each month you receive a report that covers:
- Hours used, broken down by fixes, updates, monitoring and changes.
- Every issue opened and closed, with its cause and fix in plain language.
- Dependencies and runtimes updated, and any known vulnerabilities still open with a plan to close them.
- Uptime for the month, notable errors and any incidents with a short write-up.
- Backup status and the date of the last successful test restore.
- Recommendations for the next month or quarter, such as an upcoming end-of-life date.
Signs a maintenance plan is working
- No runtime or framework version in production is past its end of support.
- The same bug does not come back, because fixes include tests.
- Deployments are routine and can be rolled back.
- Someone other than the original developer can explain how the system works, because it is written down.
Software Maintenance Services Pricing
Software maintenance runs on monthly plans, each including a set number of developer hours for fixes, updates and small changes, plus monitoring and security patching. Higher plans add quarterly framework and server upgrades and a faster response for critical issues. The right plan depends on the size of the codebase, how many integrations it has, how often your team asks for changes and how old the current versions are. Software that has not been updated in years usually needs a one-time catch-up project before a plan makes sense, which we quote after the code review.
Support Essential
$450 /month
Billed monthly
- Up to 8 hours of fixes and small changes
- Security patches and dependency updates
- Uptime and error monitoring
- Monthly backup restore test
- Response within 1 business day
- Minimum term
- 3 months, then month to month
- Setup
- $350 onboarding and code review, waived on a 6-month term
Support Standard
$950 /month
Billed monthly
- Up to 20 hours of fixes, updates and small features
- Everything in Support Essential
- Framework and server upgrades planned each quarter
- Performance and database checks
- Response within 8 business hours for urgent issues
- Monthly report and call
- Minimum term
- 3 months, then month to month
- Setup
- $350, waived on a 6-month term
Support Priority
$1,900 /month
Billed monthly
- Up to 40 hours of development a month
- Everything in Support Standard
- 4-hour response for critical issues on business days
- Release management and staging tests
- Quarterly security and code health review
- Shared Slack channel
- Minimum term
- 3 months, then month to month
- Add-on
- Extra hours: $50/hour. Out-of-hours on-call: $300/month
All prices in USD. Need something different? Ask for a custom quote.
If you run several applications or need a larger monthly allocation, contact us for a custom maintenance quote.
Taking Over Software Another Team Built
Many of our maintenance clients come to us because the original developer has left, the agency closed or the relationship ended badly. Inherited software brings particular problems: no documentation, credentials in personal accounts, a production server edited by hand and code nobody has run locally in years. We are used to this and do not judge the previous team. Our job is to understand what exists and make it safe.
After the review, we give you one of three recommendations. Most often the software is sound and needs normal maintenance. Sometimes specific parts need refactoring, and we plan that work in stages within or alongside the plan. Occasionally the cost of keeping old software alive is higher than replacing it, and we explain why, with a rough comparison. We do not recommend a rebuild just because the code is not written the way we would write it.
Outsource Software Maintenance and Support or Keep It In-House?
| Option | Works well when | Risks |
|---|---|---|
| In-house developer | The software changes constantly and needs a full-time person. | One person holds all the knowledge, and holidays or departures leave gaps. |
| Freelancer on call | Changes are rare and the system is simple. | No monitoring or planned upgrades, and availability depends on their other work. |
| Outsourced maintenance plan | The software is important but does not need a full-time developer. | You need to report issues clearly and approve changes promptly. |
A mixed setup also works well. Your in-house developer handles new features, and we handle upgrades, security patching, monitoring and cover when they are away.
Software Maintenance Mistakes That Turn Into Emergencies
- Running end-of-life versions. Runtimes such as PHP and Node.js publish support schedules. Once a version stops getting security fixes, every new vulnerability stays open. PHP 7.4, for example, reached end of life in November 2022, and many business apps still ran on it long after.
- Ignoring automated alerts. Tools such as GitHub Dependabot raise security alerts that pile up unread until something breaks.
- Backups nobody has restored. A backup job that silently failed months ago is discovered on the day it is needed.
- Accounts in a former developer's name. Hosting, domains or API keys tied to someone who has left, with no way to recover them quickly.
- Editing production directly. Fixes made on the live server and never committed, then overwritten by the next deployment.
- Expired certificates and domains. Avoidable outages caused by renewals sent to an inbox nobody reads.
- Postponing upgrades for years. Each skipped version makes the next upgrade larger. Small, regular upgrades cost far less than one forced jump.
Software and Platforms We Maintain
This plan covers custom software built on mainstream stacks: PHP and Laravel, Node.js, Python and Django, React, Next.js and Vue front ends, PostgreSQL and MySQL databases, hosted on AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Azure, Google Cloud or similar. Platform-specific sites and apps have their own plans:
- Web application maintenance and support for browser-based apps and portals.
- Mobile app maintenance for iOS and Android apps and their store releases.
- Shopify maintenance plans and WordPress maintenance for stores and websites.
Why Choose 95 Solutions for Software Maintenance Services
- We maintain our own software too. Our team runs the custom PHP and SQLite CMS behind this website and Boiler Decoder, and co-builds AM Jarvis, a SaaS suite for Shopify and WooCommerce stores. Dependency updates, framework upgrades and monitoring are part of our own month, not a sideline.
- Senior oversight. Mustafa, who holds a BS in Computer Science, reviews takeover findings and upgrade plans, so risks are explained in business terms as well as technical ones.
- Everything stays in your name. Repositories, hosting, domains and third-party accounts belong to your company. If you ever move to another provider, the documentation we keep makes the handover straightforward.
- Clear hours, clear reports. You see every hour used and every change made, in a monthly report written for non-developers as well as developers.
- Hours that overlap yours. Our remote team covers the full US business day and UK business hours, and contracts and invoices are in USD from our US LLC.
Who Our Software Maintenance Services Are For
A good fit
- Companies running custom software that matters to daily operations, with no developer looking after it.
- Businesses whose original developer or agency is no longer available.
- Teams with an in-house developer who need cover for upgrades, security and absences.
- SaaS founders who want the platform maintained while they focus on sales and product.
Probably not a fit
- IT support and maintenance for laptops, printers, networks or office hardware. We maintain software, not equipment.
- Systems that need a staffed team monitoring around the clock, every day of the year.
- Licensed products where the vendor controls the code and only the vendor can change it.
Related Software Services
Maintenance often leads to the next phase of work. If your app needs a better hosting setup, see our cloud application development services. Larger platforms supporting several departments are covered under enterprise software development. For deployment pipelines and infrastructure work, see our DevOps services.