Digital Opera — Plans Reference
Internal reference for sales conversations. Not for public distribution.
Quick mental model: We’re an outsourced digital operations department. Foundation is for “keep it alive.” Studio is for “actively run it.” Partner is “we are the tech team.” Enterprise is “anything that breaks the standard mold.”
How Signup Works (All Tiers)
- Customer chooses a plan and pays the first month.
- Customer adds Digital Opera as an admin user on their existing WordPress site.
- We perform a free analysis of the site.
- We handle the migration to Digital Opera hosting at no charge.
- If we discover the site is significantly larger or more complex than the chosen tier supports, we contact the customer to discuss the right tier or add-ons before proceeding.
Friction point to be aware of: Adding us as an admin requires customer trust before they’ve seen any work. Sales talking point: “We need admin access to do an honest assessment. If anything we find means you need a different plan, we’ll tell you before we do any work — and refund if it’s not a fit.”
Important exclusion: Converting a non-WordPress site to WordPress is not included in the free migration. That’s a separate project quote.
The Three Plans
Your site stays online, secure, and current. Without you having to think about it.
What’s Included
- Managed hosting on Digital Opera infrastructure (up to 25 GB storage, 150 GB monthly transfer)
- SSL certificate, DNS management, daily backups, uptime monitoring
- Email routing
- WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates
- Security patches applied within 48 hours
- Malware monitoring
- Email deliverability records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
- 1 “your hour” per month for customer-requested work — content updates, fixes, troubleshooting, small changes
- “Your hours” roll over indefinitely — no cap, no expiration
- Monthly status report
- Quarterly security and performance review
- Email support, 1 business day response
What Doesn’t Use “Your Hours”
The behind-the-scenes work — hosting, security patches, software updates, backups, monitoring, malware scans — is always on and never counted against the customer’s monthly hour. This needs to be stated clearly in every sales conversation so customers don’t think they’re being nickel-and-dimed for the maintenance work that’s part of the base service.
Custom Development
Not available at Foundation tier. Customers needing custom application or feature work should be in Studio or Partner.
Access Management
Not included at Foundation tier. Available on Studio and Partner.
Optional Add-on at Signup
Schema.org / Meta data optimization — checkbox option. If selected, we apply the first month’s hour to set this up right away. Covers most modern on-page SEO needs without selling SEO as a service.
Talking Points for Foundation:
Best fit for small business sites, brochure sites, professional service businesses, credentialing organizations, small B2B sites with low transaction volume. The customer who fits Foundation says things like “I just need my site to keep working” or “I don’t have time to think about this anymore.” If they ask about custom features, marketing, e-commerce growth, or managing access across multiple accounts — they probably belong in Studio.
Everything in Foundation, plus the time and attention an active site needs.
What’s Included (everything in Foundation, plus:)
- Larger hosting allocation (up to 50 GB storage, 300 GB monthly transfer)
- 4 “your hours” per month (roll over indefinitely)
- Performance monitoring (page speed, core web vitals tracked monthly)
- Performance optimization within hours
- Staging environment for testing changes
- Pre-update testing on staging before production push
- Maintenance of existing integrations (Stripe, Mailchimp, CRM, e-commerce, analytics)
- Access management — adding, removing, and auditing users across customer’s accounts (Google Analytics, Search Console, Business Profile, Meta/Facebook/Instagram, ad accounts, email marketing platforms, payment processors)
- Monthly strategy call (optional) — customer can take it or skip it
- Expanded reporting (sitemap, robots.txt, canonicalization, plugin conflicts, PHP compatibility)
- Priority email support, 4 business hour response
What Doesn’t Use “Your Hours”
Same as Foundation — hosting, security, updates, backups, monitoring are always on. Worth repeating to customers since Studio prospects often have more complex sites and may worry about hours being consumed by routine maintenance.
Custom Development
Available at $300/hour. Quoted as separate projects beyond included monthly hours.
Optional Add-on at Signup
Schema.org / Meta data optimization — checkbox option. If selected, we apply the first month’s hours to set this up right away. Covers most modern on-page SEO needs without selling SEO as a service.
Talking Points for Studio:
Best fit for active business sites with real traffic, basic to mid-level e-commerce, or moderate complexity. Customers who say “my website is part of how I make money” or “I keep needing changes and I don’t want to keep getting quotes for every little thing.” Most current $500-$1,500/month clients belong here when migrated. If they mention managing multiple vendors, want strategic input on technology decisions, or have an active marketing team — push toward Partner. Access management is a strong Studio differentiator — most prospects haven’t thought about who still has access to their accounts, and this is a real value-add to surface.
We’re your tech team. You stop worrying about any of this.
What’s Included (everything in Studio, plus:)
- Largest standard hosting allocation (up to 75 GB storage, 500 GB monthly transfer)
- 10 “your hours” per month (roll over indefinitely)
- Monthly strategy call (optional) — same cadence as Studio but with broader strategic scope
- Annual technology roadmap document
- Full access management across all customer accounts — we act as the central authority on who has access to what; customer brings new vendors and tools to us first
- Vendor coordination — we act as technical authority with the customer’s other agencies, freelancers, and marketing teams
- AI tool evaluation and integration recommendations as part of ongoing strategy
- Custom automation and small application builds within hours
- Direct phone and text access for urgent issues
- After-hours availability for true emergencies
- Priority response: 2 business hours, same-day for critical issues
What Doesn’t Use “Your Hours”
Same as Foundation and Studio. At Partner tier, this also extends to routine vendor coordination conversations and access management work — those are part of the base service unless they require significant time investment, in which case the hour usage is disclosed upfront.
Custom Development
Available at $250/hour preferred rate. Quoted as separate projects beyond included monthly hours.
Optional Add-on at Signup
Schema.org / Meta data optimization — checkbox option. If selected, we apply the first month’s hours to set this up right away. Covers most modern on-page SEO needs without selling SEO as a service.
Talking Points for Partner:
Best fit for revenue-critical sites and businesses with active digital operations. Customers who want a strategic technical partner, not a vendor. The “fractional CTO without the IT desk work” role. Customers who say “I need someone to just handle all of this” or “I’m tired of managing five different vendors.” Most current top-tier accounts belong here. If they have specialized operational needs (Amazon store, custom plugins, marketing tech support) — those go in as add-ons. Partner-tier access management means we’re the gatekeeper — when they hire a new vendor, that vendor goes through us for access. This is a major differentiator and a key retention mechanism. Sell it.
For sites and businesses that break the standard mold.
Enterprise is for customers whose needs exceed Partner’s standard limits — sites over 75 GB, monthly transfer over 500 GB, multi-site setups, complex multi-region hosting requirements, integration with corporate IT infrastructure, or businesses needing service guarantees beyond our standard tier offerings.
Every Enterprise engagement starts with a discovery conversation. Pricing is built around the actual scope.
Talking Points for Enterprise:
If a prospect mentions site size in TB, dozens of subsites, custom SLAs, or compliance requirements (HIPAA, PCI Level 1, etc.) — route to Enterprise. Don’t try to make them fit Partner. The conversation starts with “tell me about what you’re running and what’s not working.”
Add-On Services
Add-ons attach to any plan (Studio or Partner most commonly; some available to Foundation). All prices below are starting placeholders and may be adjusted based on actual scope during discovery.
E-commerce Operations
For sites with active product catalogs needing regular updates, inventory sync, shipping config maintenance, payment monitoring, and order troubleshooting. Required when product count or update frequency exceeds what monthly tier hours can absorb.
Small store +$300/month
Under 200 SKUs, infrequent updates
Medium store +$700/month
200–1,000 SKUs, regular updates
Large store +$1,500/month
1,000–5,000 SKUs, active updates
Enterprise store Custom Quote
5,000+ SKUs or marketplace integration
Marketplace Management
Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or similar +$1,000–$2,000/month
Listings, inventory sync, orders, content. Priced by volume and complexity.
Custom Application Maintenance
Per application +$200–$500/month
Ongoing maintenance for custom plugins, applications, or integrations we’ve built (or inherited).
Email & Marketing Technology Support
Per platform +$400–$1,000/month
Technical side of email campaigns, automation platforms, marketing tools. Customer’s marketing person works with us on the tech.
Third-Party Integration Support (Beyond Standard)
Per integration +$200–$500/month
Ongoing support for non-standard or complex integrations.
Premium Plugin Library Access
Shared license pool +$99/month
Access to our pre-licensed premium plugin library. Avoids customer paying separately for licenses.
Multi-site or Staging Environment Hosting
Per additional environment +$200/month
Beyond the standard single staging environment included in Studio and Partner.
Private Email Hosting
Per mailbox +$15/user/month
Business email hosting on managed infrastructure.
Domain Registration & DNS Management
Per domain +$25/year
Standard DNS management is included in all plans. This covers registration, renewal, and management for domains under our umbrella.
Third-Party License Pass-Through Management
Licenses we manage on customer’s behalf Cost + 20%
For premium plugins, themes, or services we maintain licenses for outside the shared plugin library.
Stock Photography Credits
Per project Quoted
Stock photo sourcing and licensing as needed. We don’t include stock by default.
Annual Escalator
All plan pricing increases 5% annually on the contract anniversary date. This is disclosed clearly at signup. Stated in plain terms: “Our pricing increases 5% each year on your renewal date to keep pace with our costs and the value we deliver.”
“Your Hours” Policy
What “your hours” means: Time spent on work the customer requests — content updates, fixes, design tweaks, troubleshooting issues, integration changes, access management requests, small new features, anything the customer asks us to do.
What does NOT use “your hours”: Hosting, security patches, software updates, backups, monitoring, malware scans, uptime checks, performance monitoring (Studio/Partner), reporting work, internal infrastructure work. This is always-on background work included in the base price of every plan.
- “Your hours” roll over indefinitely. No cap. No expiration.
- Hours can be banked and used for larger maintenance work later (Studio and Partner — applies to in-scope work, not custom development projects).
- Hours cannot be converted to cash, refund, or credit on other services.
- Hours don’t transfer between clients.
- If a request would exceed available banked hours, we quote it as a separate project before doing the work.
- Custom development work is always quoted and billed separately at the tier’s hourly rate, not deducted from plan hours.
Sales note on “your hours”:
This is one of the most common points of confusion in sales conversations. Customers often assume “X hours per month” means we’ll only do X hours of work, period — including the maintenance. Clarify early: “The security, hosting, updates, backups, monitoring — all of that is always running in the background and never touches your hours. Your hours are for things you specifically ask us to do.” Repeat this phrase. It builds trust.
Access Management (Studio & Partner Only)
What it is: We help customers keep track of who has access to their business accounts and platforms. We add users when new employees or vendors are brought on. We remove users when people leave. We audit access periodically to make sure ex-employees and former vendors don’t still have the keys.
Platforms typically covered:
- Google services: Analytics, Search Console, Business Profile, Tag Manager, Ads, Workspace
- Meta: Facebook page, Instagram, ad account, Business Manager
- Email marketing: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Klaviyo, etc.
- Payment processors: Stripe, PayPal, Square (admin/team access, not financial)
- E-commerce platforms: WooCommerce admin, Shopify (if relevant)
- Other tools the customer asks us to manage access for
What it is NOT:
- Not password management — customers retain ownership of credentials
- Not financial account access (banks, credit cards, payment payouts)
- Not personal accounts
- Not a security audit service (that’s separate)
How it differs between tiers:
- Studio: Access management on request — customer brings us specific requests, we handle them.
- Partner: Full access management — we’re the central authority. New vendors and tools route through us for setup. We maintain the master record of who has access to what.
Sales angle for Access Management:
Ask the prospect: “Do you know who has access to your Google Analytics right now? Your Facebook page? Your Mailchimp?” Most can’t answer. Many will realize there’s an ex-employee or a former agency still in there. This is a security and operational risk most small businesses don’t think about until something goes wrong. Naming it as a service makes it visible and valuable. Particularly strong differentiator for Studio prospects — it’s often the feature that pushes them up from Foundation.
Hosting Policy
All plans include hosting on Digital Opera infrastructure at no additional charge. Our absolute best service is only available on our servers — we control the environment, response times, performance, and recovery. This is how we deliver the service level we promise.
We will consider working with sites hosted on a few select third-party vendors. In those cases, the customer pays their own hosting and domain fees directly, and the customer is responsible for any limitations imposed by their host. Sales talking point: “Our work is faster, cleaner, and more reliable on our own infrastructure. If you have a strong reason to stay where you are, here’s who we’ll work with — but service quality is our priority on our servers.”
Vendors We Allow
We will work with sites hosted on:
- Nitrohost
- SiteGround
- WP Engine
This list is subject to change.
Vendors We Consider Case-by-Case
The following may be acceptable depending on the specifics of the customer’s setup — escalate before quoting:
Vendors We Do Not Work With
We will not onboard sites on the following hosts. Customer must migrate to Digital Opera (or one of our allowed vendors) before we’ll work with them:
- Bluehost
- HostGator
- GoDaddy
- Hostinger (see case-by-case above)
- DreamHost
- InMotion
- Ionos
- A Small Orange
Sales talking point when a customer is on a disallowed host: “We’ve run into too many problems with that host to deliver service we’re proud of. Migration to our infrastructure is included free with any plan — let’s start there.”
Ineligible Business Categories
Digital Opera does not provide services to businesses in the following categories. This is firm — do not quote or onboard:
- Adult entertainment and adult hookup or dating sites
- Recreational drugs and cannabis (in any form)
- Cryptocurrency trading, speculation, or related financial services
- Multi-level marketing schemes
- Pornography
Firearms-related businesses are welcome.
What’s Not Included (Any Plan)
The following are not part of any plan and are not available as services from Digital Opera at this time. If a prospect asks for any of these, the answer is “we don’t offer that — we focus on technical operations, not those services.” Don’t promise to find someone for them unless you’ve actually got a trusted referral.
- Standalone SEO services (Schema.org / Meta optimization add-on covers modern on-page SEO needs)
- Standalone Google Ads or paid advertising management
- Social media management or content posting
- Logo or brand identity design
- Print design
- Content writing (we publish content you provide; we don’t write it)
- Photography or video production
- Stock photo libraries by default (available as add-on)
- Email marketing campaign creative or copy (we maintain the platform; we don’t write the campaigns)
- General business consulting outside strategy calls
- Hardware, on-site IT, or local device support
- Conversion of non-WordPress sites to WordPress (separate project quote required)
- Hacked or compromised site cleanup (separate project quote required before onboarding)
- Highly customized theme rebuilds (separate project quote)
- New site builds from scratch (separate project — we onboard plans only after a site exists)
- Major redesigns or rebuilds (separate project)
- Multi-site WordPress setup (Partner tier add-on or Enterprise only)
- Increasing site traffic or marketing performance (we maintain infrastructure; we don’t run growth campaigns)
- Making non-responsive sites mobile responsive (separate project)
- Email account setup on customer’s local devices
- Payment gateway configuration (initial setup is a project; ongoing maintenance is included)
- Sites for ineligible business categories (see above)
- Sites hosted on disallowed vendors (Bluehost, HostGator, GoDaddy, DreamHost, InMotion, Ionos, A Small Orange — see hosting policy)
- Custom code development for themes or plugins beyond standard maintenance (Studio and Partner tier custom development hourly rates apply)
Internal reference document. Last updated: [Add date when published]. Questions about scope, pricing, or edge cases → escalate to ownership.
