Search OpenCart support and the top result is OpenCart’s own ticket form. The forum threads right under it are people asking why nobody answered, and a complaints page about support that takes days. That gap is the whole reason store owners look for someone else.
We are that someone else. A flat monthly retainer covering the OpenCart work a live store actually needs: the checkout that broke after an update, the extension that fights another extension, the security patch you should not skip, the 3.x-to-4.x upgrade you keep putting off. One price, a real person, and an answer the same week instead of next month.
Scoped to a working store
A retainer is hands-on time plus the routine care that keeps a store healthy. Here is what a month covers, and where a job becomes a separate quote.
- Break-fix on checkout, cart, payment, and shipping modules
- Extension and theme conflict diagnosis and repair
- OpenCart core and extension security patches
- Backups with a restore tested, not just scheduled
- Uptime and error monitoring with alerts to us
- Small content, product, and template edits you do not want to risk
- Minor version updates within your OpenCart branch
- A monthly block of hands-on developer time, rolled into the fee
- Major 3.x to 4.x upgrades, scoped and quoted separately
- New features and custom modules, quoted as project work
A store that stays fixed
Every retainer month includes the routine care plus your block of hands-on time, with a short log so you can see where the time went.
Hands-on time
Your monthly block of developer hours spent on whatever the store needs, from bug fixes to small changes.
Patches applied
Security and stability updates installed and checked, not just flagged in a report.
Tested backups
Off-site backups with a restore actually run, so recovery is real, not theoretical.
A monthly note
A short summary of what we did and what we recommend next, in plain language.
Onboard once, then it just runs
We start with a health check so the first month is not a scramble, then settle into a rhythm where you send requests and we handle them.
Health check
We audit the store, the OpenCart version, the extensions, and the backups, and list anything urgent.
Week 1Stabilise
We clear the urgent items: missing backups, known security holes, the bugs you have been living with.
Week 1-2Routine care
Patches, monitoring, and your hands-on time run on a monthly cycle you can predict.
OngoingYou send, we fix
Email or message a request any time; we pick it up and reply the same week, same day on Care+.
OngoingFlat monthly fee, no hourly surprises
Retainers start at $140/mo for routine care plus an hour of hands-on time. Busier stores take Care+ at $290/mo for more hours and same-day response. Major upgrades and new builds are quoted separately so a big job never eats your monthly hours by surprise.
No lock-in.
Every plan is month-to-month. If a quieter month rolls around and you do not need us, cancel with a month’s notice and keep your backups and access. We would rather earn the next month than trap you in a contract.
- Routine patches and monitoring
- Tested off-site backups
- 60 minutes hands-on time
- Same-week response
- Everything in Care
- Up to 3 hours hands-on time
- Priority, same-day response
- Checkout and payment priority support
Tooling we lean on
How this connects to the rest of your store
A retainer is for keeping a working store healthy. If your OpenCart store is already down or hacked, that is an emergency, not a retainer item: see our OpenCart restoration and recovery. This page is part of our wider website support and maintenance service, and our OpenCart support and upgrades page lists everything else we handle on the platform.
Run a Drupal site too? We offer the same flat-fee care as Drupal support and maintenance.
Need support for OpenCart sorted?
We'll triage the same day. Send context, screenshots, error messages — whatever you have. No sales calls, no chatbots.