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Web Hosting Comparison

The intro price is bait. Flip to true 2-year cost and the ranking changes completely, because the renewal price is what you actually pay every year after that.

Last checked 28 August 2026 · indicative USD pricing. Always confirm intro and renewal rates on the host's site.

See web hosting priced beside 632 tools and services, in one list →

$/mo to start ▲HostBest forTypeSitesStoragePerksRenews at
Hostinger Budget shared hosting · type Shared, from 2.99, renews 10.99, sites 3, storage 20GB SSD, dom yes Visit →
Bluehost WordPress beginners · type Shared, from 3.99, renews 9.99, sites 1, storage 10GB NVMe, dom yes Visit →
HostGator Multi-site budget · type Shared, from 3.75, renews 11.99, sites 10, storage 10GB, dom yes Visit →
DreamHost Unlimited everything · type Shared, from 2.89, renews 10.99, sites 0, storage Unlimited, dom yes Visit →
SiteGround Premium support & speed · type Shared, from 2.99, renews 17.99, sites 1, storage 10GB, refund 30 Visit →
A2 Hosting Speed-focused · type Shared, from 2.99, renews 12.99, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
InMotion US-based reliability · type Shared, from 2.99, renews 9.99, sites 2, storage 100GB, dom yes Visit →
GreenGeeks Eco-friendly hosting · type Shared, from 2.95, renews 13.95, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
Namecheap Budget domain + hosting · type Shared, from 2.98, renews 6.88, sites 1, storage 20GB, refund 30 Visit →
IONOS Rock-bottom intro · type Shared, from 1.00, renews 12.00, sites 0, storage Unlimited, dom yes Visit →
GoDaddy All-in-one brand · type Shared, from 5.99, renews 11.99, sites 1, storage 100GB, dom yes Visit →
Hostwinds No long-term contract · type Shared, from 3.29, renews 5.09, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 3 Visit →
InterServer Unlimited sites and storage · type Shared, from 2.50, renews 7.00, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
ScalaHosting Uptime focus · type Shared, from 2.95, renews 9.95, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
ChemiCloud SSD performance · type Shared, from 2.49, renews 11.95, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
FastComet Free CDN included · type Shared, from 1.99, renews 9.95, sites 1, storage 10GB NVMe, refund 30 Visit →
HostArmada 45-day money back · type Shared, from 2.95, renews 8.95, sites 0, storage Unlimited, dom yes Visit →
Verpex Extreme intro price · type Shared, from 0.60, renews 5.99, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
TMDHosting 60-day guarantee · type Shared, from 2.95, renews 8.95, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 60 Visit →
AwardSpace European users · type Shared, from 2.99, renews 7.99, sites 1, storage 20GB, refund 30 Visit →
MilesWeb Global CDN included · type Shared, from 2.50, renews 7.45, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
Ultahost AI-powered hosting · type Shared, from 4.80, renews 10.95, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
Krystal UK premium hosting · type Shared, from 5.99, renews 9.99, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 30 Visit →
Kinsta Premium managed WP · type WordPress, from 35.00, renews 35.00, sites 1, storage 20GB, refund 30 Visit →
WP Engine Enterprise WordPress · type WordPress, from 30.00, renews 30.00, sites 1, storage 10GB, refund 30 Visit →
Cloudways Value managed WP · type WordPress, from 14.00, renews 14.00, sites 15, storage 25GB, refund 30 Visit →
Pressable Agile team WP · type WordPress, from 25.00, renews 25.00, sites 1, storage 20GB, refund 30 Visit →
Rocket.net Transparent managed WP · type WordPress, from 25.00, renews 25.00, sites 1, storage 10GB, refund 30 Visit →
Flywheel Designer & agency WP · type WordPress, from 15.00, renews 15.00, sites 1, storage 20GB, refund 30 Visit →
Nexcess Managed WP & commerce · type WordPress, from 15.00, renews 21.00, sites 1, storage 15GB, refund 30 Visit →
Liquid Web Managed VPS premium · type VPS, from 36.00, renews 72.00, sites 0, storage 150GB, refund 30 Visit →
DigitalOcean Scalable cloud · type Cloud, from 5.00, renews 5.00, sites 0, storage 10GB SSD, refund 0 Visit →
Vultr DDoS + global reach · type Cloud, from 5.00, renews 5.00, sites 0, storage 20GB SSD, refund 0 Visit →
Linode / Akamai Stable, long-time cloud · type Cloud, from 5.00, renews 5.00, sites 0, storage 25GB SSD, refund 0 Visit →
Hetzner European value cloud · type Cloud, from 4.50, renews 4.50, sites 0, storage 40GB NVMe, refund 0 Visit →
Contabo Cheap VPS, no jump · type VPS, from 3.96, renews 3.96, sites 0, storage 200GB NVMe, refund 0 Visit →
OVHcloud European VPS leader · type VPS, from 3.50, renews 3.50, sites 0, storage 50GB SSD, refund 0 Visit →
Netlify Static sites & edge · type Static, from 0, renews 19.00, sites 0, storage 1TB bandwidth, refund 0 Visit →
Vercel Next.js & React apps · type Static, from 0, renews 20.00, sites 0, storage 100GB, refund 0 Visit →
Cloudflare Pages Workers + static combo · type Static, from 0, renews 5.00, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 0 Visit →
GitHub Pages Open source & docs · type Static, from 0, renews 0, sites 0, storage Unlimited, refund 0 Visit →
How we rank. "Cheapest to start" sorts by the intro price billed annually, what most sites show you. "Cheapest over 2 years" is the honest number: year one at the intro price plus year two at the renewal price, averaged to a monthly figure. That's where hosts with a huge renewal jump (marked in orange or red) fall down the list, the renewal-trap hall of shame includes IONOS (×12), SiteGround (×6) and GreenGeeks (×4.7). Filter to No renewal trap to see only the flat-rate honest hosts (InterServer, Contabo, the managed and cloud hosts), or Free domain for the ones bundling a year's domain. There are even free static hosts (Cloudflare Pages, GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel) if you only need a fast site, no database. Prices are indicative USD, checked periodically, confirm both figures on the host's site.

Common questions

Why is my hosting renewal so much more expensive?

Hosts advertise a low intro rate for your first term to win the signup, then renew at the standard price, often 2-4× higher. The intro price is a hook, not the ongoing cost.

What's the real cost of cheap web hosting?

Average year one (intro) with year two (renewal). A host at $2.99 that renews at $17.99 really costs about $10.49/mo over two years, far more than one renewing at $7.99.

Which host is cheapest long term?

Sort by true 2-year cost, not intro. Hosts with a small intro-to-renewal gap (Namecheap, DreamHost) usually win long term even if another looks cheaper on day one.

Can I avoid the renewal increase?

Lock in the longest term at the intro rate (often up to 4 years) to delay the jump, or migrate to a fresh intro elsewhere. Flat-rate hosts like Cloudways and Kinsta never jump.

Or own the machine instead of renting it

Shared hosting is cheap until the renewal. For anything that is mostly storage or mostly yours, buying the hardware once beats paying monthly forever, and these track what that costs used.

usefulHQ Study · 2026

Web hosting renews at nearly 3x its advertised price on average, and the cheapest deals jump up to 12x

We compared the advertised intro price with the renewal price across 37 web hosts. On average the bill nearly triples when your first term ends. The flashiest $1 to $3 a month deals are the worst offenders: IONOS renews about 12x higher (from $1.00 to $12.00). The intro price is the hook, but the renewal is what you pay for years, so it is the number that actually matters when you choose a host.

Hosts compared
37
intro vs renewal
Average renewal jump
2.9x
when your term ends
Worst offender
12x
IONOS $1 to $12
Renewal price as a multiple of the intro
IONOS12.0xVerpex10.0xSiteGround6.0xFastComet5.0xChemiCloud4.8xGreenGeeks4.7xA2 Hosting4.3x

Method: advertised first-term monthly price vs standard renewal price for the shared plans in our hosting comparison. Prices are current list prices and change often. Cite this: "usefulHQ Hosting Renewal Study 2026", usefulhq.com/web-hosting/. Compare hosts by renewal price →

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