Hosting Prices: Intro Rate, Prepaid Term and Renewal
A hosting page leads with a monthly price. What it often leaves in small print is how long you pay up front to get that price, and what the plan costs when the term ends. This guide puts those three things side by side for five providers, using each one’s own pricing page.
All prices are in dollars per month, for the cheapest shared plan on each page, checked in October. Hosting prices change often, so the checked date is part of the number. The order is alphabetical. It is not a ranking.
Bluehost
Bluehost’s Starter plan shows $3.99 a month. The line under it says the price is for a 36-month term. The same card says the plan renews at $9.99 a month.
The $3.99 belongs to a three-year commitment. Read the term before you read the price.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is a different kind of product from the shared plans above, so the comparison is loose. Its pricing page lists a Basic Droplet with 512 MiB of memory at $4 a month, and says pricing is based on an hourly rate. The page does not state a prepaid term for it.
A Droplet is a server you manage yourself, not a shared hosting account. That is why there is no separate renewal price to compare.
DreamHost
DreamHost’s Web Hosting Launch plan shows $2.89 a month for the first year, with the subscription length set to Yearly. The page says it auto-renews at $10.99 a month after one year.
Here the intro price lasts one year, not several. The renewal price is still the one you pay from the second year.
Hostinger
Hostinger’s Premium plan shows $2.99 a month on a 48-month plan. The page says that means $143.52 paid up front, and that the plan renews at $10.99 a month. It also says all plans are paid upfront.
The monthly figure is the total divided across the whole term, so the $2.99 only applies if you commit to the full four years.
SiteGround
SiteGround’s StartUp plan shows $2.99 a month, prepaid for 12 months, and the page notes prices exclude VAT. The same card says it renews at $17.99 a month.
Of the five pages here, this one shows the widest gap between the intro price and the renewal price.
Side by side
| Provider | Intro price | Prepaid term | Renewal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluehost (Starter) | $3.99/month | 36 months | $9.99/month |
| DigitalOcean (Basic Droplet, 512 MiB) | $4/month | hourly billing, no prepaid term stated | no separate renewal price |
| DreamHost (Web Hosting Launch) | $2.89/month, first year | Yearly | $10.99/month after 1 year |
| Hostinger (Premium) | $2.99/month | 48 months ($143.52) | $10.99/month |
| SiteGround (StartUp) | $2.99/month, excl. VAT | 12 months | $17.99/month |
Before you buy
Before you buy, find the renewal line on the provider’s own pricing page, not only the monthly price. Check how many months you pay up front to get that price. Write down the date you checked, because the price you saw is the price on that day.
If you already host a site and a renewal looks high, the question is whether moving costs more than staying. That trade-off is covered in when to switch tools.