Hosting renewal price comparison

A hosting renewal price comparison is the only comparison that still matters in month thirteen, and almost nobody publishes one. Every pricing page on this market advertises a first-term rate; the figure you live with afterwards is the renewal, and across the 16 hosts we have reviewed it averages 3.5 times the price that got you in.

This page puts both numbers side by side for every host, adds the length of the price lock — which matters more than either figure on its own — and totals what thirty-six months actually costs. Every price was read from the host's own pricing page and carries the date it was read.

The full comparison

Ordered by what you actually pay over 36 months, cheapest first. That ordering is deliberate and it is not one any host would choose for you: the column deciding it is Then / mo, not Intro / mo.

MilesWeb is cheapest over three years at $25.92; Kinsta is dearest at $1,260.00. That is roughly a forty-eightfold spread across products that all describe themselves as web hosting, and almost none of it is visible on the pricing pages.

Why the multiple matters more than the discount

Take two hosts advertising an almost identical intro price. SiteGround asks $2.99 and renews at $17.99. Hostinger asks $2.99 and renews at $8.99. On a pricing page those are the same purchase.

They are not, and the reason is not mainly the renewal figures — it is the lock length. SiteGround holds its rate for 12 months, Hostinger for 48. Over 36 months that produces $467.64 against $107.64: a difference larger than the entire three-year cost of the cheapest host in the table.

The lock length is the number nobody advertises

Every host puts the discount in the largest type available. The term that discount applies to is in the small print, and occasionally only in the cart. It is the single most useful thing to find before buying, because a 90% discount held for twelve months is worth less than a 50% discount held for forty-eight — and the page is laid out so that you never make that comparison.

A practical habit: before reading any price, find the billing-term selector and set it to monthly. Most hosts will show you a considerably higher number, and the gap between that and the advertised figure is the discount you are actually being offered. Then find what the plan renews at. Two numbers, and you have the whole picture.

The three pricing patterns on this market

Sixteen hosts, three behaviours. Recognising which one you are looking at tells you most of what you need.

The teaser: a very low rate for a short term

IONOS is the clearest example — $1.00 for 12 months, then $8.00, a rise of 8.0×. Its three-year total of $204.00 places it in the more expensive half of the table despite having the lowest advertised price on the entire market. BigRock (5.4×) and SiteGround (6.0×) work the same way.

This is not deception — the renewal is published — but it is priced for a market where buyers compare first numbers and renew by inertia. If you take a teaser deliberately, knowing you will move or accept the rise, it can be the cheapest option available. Taken accidentally it is the most expensive.

The moderate riser: roughly triples, long lock

Hostinger, Bluehost, DreamHost and MilesWeb sit here. The renewal is two to four times the intro rate, but the lock runs 36 to 48 months, so the rise lands outside most people's planning horizon. This is where the genuinely cheap three-year totals are: $25.92, $104.04, $106.20, $107.64.

The flat rate: no rise at all

2 of the 16 hosts we have reviewed charge in year two what they charge in month one. They start much higher — $11.00 and $35.00 a month — and they are the only ones whose advertised figure is also their real one. Over three years that is $396.00 and $1,260.00, which is more than every climbing host except SiteGround. Flat pricing is predictable, not cheap.

Every reviewed host, in cost order

One paragraph each, so the table above has something behind it. The verdicts follow from the figures rather than from an opinion about the brand.

1. MilesWeb — $25.92 over three years

$0.72 for 48 months, then $2.28 a month (3.2×). Refund window: 30 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

2. DreamHost — $104.04 over three years

$2.89 for 36 months, then $10.99 a month (3.8×). Refund window: 97 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

3. Bluehost — $106.20 over three years

$2.95 for 36 months, then $8.99 a month (3.0×). Refund window: 30 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

4. Hosting.com — $107.64 over three years

$2.99 for 36 months, then $10.99 a month (3.7×). Refund window: 30 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

5. Hostinger — $107.64 over three years

$2.99 for 48 months, then $8.99 a month (3.0×). Refund window: 30 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

6. Namecheap Hosting — $120.48 over three years

$2.28 for 12 months, then $3.88 a month (1.7×). Refund window: 30 days. A modest rise by the standards of this market, which makes it easier to budget than most. Full review · alternatives.

7. HostGator — $135.00 over three years

$3.75 for 36 months, then $10.99 a month (2.9×). Refund window: 45 days. A modest rise by the standards of this market, which makes it easier to budget than most. Full review · alternatives.

8. IONOS — $204.00 over three years

$1.00 for 12 months, then $8.00 a month (8.0×). Refund window: 30 days. One of the steepest rises we have recorded. Worth taking only if you intend to leave before the term ends, or if you are certain the renewal is still acceptable to you. Full review · alternatives.

9. BigRock — $243.72 over three years

$1.73 for 12 months, then $9.29 a month (5.4×). Refund window: 30 days. One of the steepest rises we have recorded. Worth taking only if you intend to leave before the term ends, or if you are certain the renewal is still acceptable to you. Full review · alternatives.

10. FastComet — $250.20 over three years

$2.95 for 12 months, then $8.95 a month (3.0×). Refund window: 45 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

11. ChemiCloud — $316.68 over three years

$2.49 for 12 months, then $11.95 a month (4.8×). Refund window: 45 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

12. GreenGeeks — $370.20 over three years

$2.95 for 12 months, then $13.95 a month (4.7×). Refund window: 30 days. A typical rise for this market — roughly tripling — so the deciding factor is how long the intro rate is locked. Full review · alternatives.

13. Cloudways — $396.00 over three years

$11.00 for 1 months, then $11.00 a month (1.0×). Refund window: none stated. The price does not rise, so the figure on its pricing page is the figure you keep paying. That is rare on this market and worth what it costs in planning terms. Full review · alternatives.

14. SiteGround — $467.64 over three years

$2.99 for 12 months, then $17.99 a month (6.0×). Refund window: 30 days. One of the steepest rises we have recorded. Worth taking only if you intend to leave before the term ends, or if you are certain the renewal is still acceptable to you. Full review · alternatives.

15. WP Engine — $1,020.00 over three years

$25.00 for an unstated term, then $30.00 a month (1.2×). Refund window: 60 days. A modest rise by the standards of this market, which makes it easier to budget than most. Full review · alternatives.

16. Kinsta — $1,260.00 over three years

$35.00 for an unstated term, then $35.00 a month (1.0×). Refund window: 30 days. The price does not rise, so the figure on its pricing page is the figure you keep paying. That is rare on this market and worth what it costs in planning terms. Full review · alternatives.

What actually happens at renewal

The mechanics matter because they determine what you can do about it.

• You are charged automatically. Auto-renewal is on by default at every host we track. The charge usually lands a few days to a month before the term ends.
• The notice is an email you will not read. Most hosts send one. It arrives from a billing address, and it is the only warning you get.
• The new rate is the plan's standard price. Support cannot change it, because it is not a negotiated figure — it is the list price you were discounted from.
• A renewed term is usually not refundable. Refund windows generally cover new accounts, not renewals. This is the trap: once the charge processes, the money is spent even where the host has a long window for new customers.

Which gives one concrete rule: put the renewal date in your calendar on the day you buy, with three weeks' notice. That single habit converts every teaser on this market into a manageable purchase. The five things that genuinely reduce a renewal are in how to avoid a renewal increase.

How these figures are kept honest

A job re-reads every host's pricing page nightly and flags anything that has moved, which is how these numbers stay current instead of quietly aging for a year. Where a host publishes no renewal rate we record nothing rather than assuming the intro price continues — that assumption is the most expensive one a reader could make here, so we do not make it on your behalf. Two hosts in the table above are in exactly that position.

The method page sets out what we check, how the scores are weighted, and what we refuse to estimate. We publish no speed or uptime figures for these hosts, because measuring hosting performance honestly needs an account on each one running identical content, and timing a host's own marketing site measures its CDN rather than the plan it sells.

Common questions

Can I negotiate the renewal price?

Rarely the price itself. What you can influence is the term you buy and when you buy it, and at some hosts whether you qualify as a new customer again. Five approaches that work, and the two that do not, are in that guide.

Is it cheaper to change host every year?

Sometimes, at the cost of an afternoon each time plus migration risk. For one small site the saving can be real; for anything you depend on, a host that never raises its price is usually the better trade. Four specific moves are written up with the saving worked out, starting with SiteGround to DreamHost.

Why is the renewal so much higher than the intro rate?

Because acquiring a customer costs more than keeping one, and the discount is an acquisition cost recovered over the following years. The full mechanics, including why the pattern is stable across an entire industry, are in why hosting renewal prices triple.

Do these figures include tax?

No. They are the prices as published, before VAT, GST or sales tax, because that is how the hosts publish them. In India an 18% GST addition is larger than several of the gaps in the table above, so check whether a quote includes it.

What if a figure here is wrong?

Tell us. Every price carries the date it was last read, and a correction about pricing is the most useful message this site can receive — contact page.

Next: every offer ranked by real cost · price your own term · all 105 hosts we track