Hosting & domains
How much does web hosting cost? Intro prices, renewals and fees
Quick answer
Shared hosting entry plans advertise $2.28 to $5.99 a month for the first term, usually prepaid for 12 to 48 months, and renews at $4.66 to $17.99 a month. Managed WordPress and cloud entry plans that bill the same every month cost $9 to $35. Budget also for extras that are free only in year one, such as SSL and mailboxes, and for backups some hosts charge for.
Most shared hosts quote a low monthly price that holds only for a first, prepaid term; the renewal price is what you pay after that. Shared entry plans advertise $2.28 to $5.99 a month on their headline terms and renew at $4.66 to $17.99. Managed WordPress and cloud entry plans that bill the same every month cost $9 to $35 for one site. All prices below come from each company's own pages, read Sep 25-27, 2026, in US dollars before tax.
Entry plans compared
| Company | Entry plan | First-term price | Term for that price | Renews at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | Stellar | $2.28/mo after a 30-day free trial | 12 months | $4.66/mo |
| IONOS | Essential | $4/mo | 12 months | $8/mo |
| Liquid Web | Essentials WordPress | $9/mo | Month to month | $9/mo |
| Bluehost | Starter | $3.99/mo | 36 months | $9.99/mo |
| DreamHost | Web Hosting Launch | $2.89/mo | 12 months | $10.99/mo |
| HostGator | Hatchling | $3.75/mo | 36 months | $10.99/mo |
| Hostinger | Premium | $2.99/mo | 48 months | $10.99/mo |
| Cloudways | Flexible Micro | $11/mo, billed hourly | None | $11/mo |
| InMotion Hosting | Launch | $4.79/mo | 12 months | $14.99/mo |
| GoDaddy | Web Hosting Economy | $5.99/mo | 36 months | $15.32/mo ($551.63 per 3 years) |
| SiteGround | StartUp | $2.99/mo | 12 months | $17.99/mo |
| Kinsta | Single 20GB | $35/mo | Month to month | $35/mo |
| WP Engine | Essential | $35/mo | Month to month | $35/mo |
| Atlantic.Net | HIPAA Developer | $552.31/mo | 12 months | $552.31/mo |
Prices read Sep 27, 2026 for Namecheap, IONOS, Liquid Web and Atlantic.Net, and Sep 25, 2026 for the rest. GoDaddy's renewal is worked out from its "auto-renews ... at $551.63" line for a 3-year term.
Year one against year two
On a 12-month term the gap is plain:
- IONOS Essential: $48 in year one, $96 in year two.
- Namecheap Stellar: $26.88, then $55.88 (renewal list).
- DreamHost Launch: $34.68, then $131.88.
- SiteGround StartUp: $35.88, then $215.88.
Hosts with no introductory price cost the same each year: Liquid Web $108, Cloudways $132, Kinsta $420 billed monthly or $350 billed annually.
On long terms you pay the whole term upfront: Bluehost Starter is $143.64 for 36 months, then $359.64 for the next 36; Hostinger Premium is $143.52 for 48 months; HostGator Hatchling renews at $395.61 per 3 years; GoDaddy Economy is $215.64 for 3 years, then $551.63.
Typical and top plans
Plans above the entry plan usually add sites, daily backups or phone support, and their renewals are higher again: Bluehost Business renews at $13.99, Hostinger Unlimited at $16.99, InMotion Power at $18.99, HostGator Business at $21.99, DreamHost Scale at $25.99, and SiteGround GrowBig and GoGeek at $29.99 and $44.99. IONOS Plus is the extreme case: $1 a month for the first year, then $14.
Several sites: the per-site maths
- Liquid Web sells Essentials WordPress for 10 sites at $49 a month, "$4.90/site".
- Bluehost's Boutique is $65 a month on a 36-month term for up to 10 websites, "only $6.50 a site".
- DreamHost's DreamPress 10 renews at $65.99 a month, about $6.60 a site.
- WP Engine's Essential for up to 10 sites is $130 a month; an extra site on Essential is $20 a month. Kinsta charges $30 a month per extra site.
- Hostinger's Agency Startup renews at $49 a month for 100 websites.
Fees and add-ons to budget for
- SSL after year one. GoDaddy's Standard SSL renews at $119.99 a year (its free AutoSSL stays included).
- Mailboxes. Hostinger: $0.59 a month each after the first year. Cloudways: $1.5 a mailbox a month. Bluehost's Pro Email trial renews at $2.99 a month on its pricing page.
- Backups. Cloudways charges $0.033 per GB per server for offsite backup storage. InMotion sells daily backups as the Backup Manager add-on, whose price its page doesn't show without logging in.
- CDN. Cloudways' Cloudflare Enterprise add-on starts at $4.99 a domain a month.
- Domain fees on cancelling. HostGator charges a non-refundable $17.99 domain fee if you cancel within the first year after taking the free domain.
- Setup. Atlantic.Net charges a one-time $150 to set up the firewall on its HIPAA plans.
How to budget
Take the renewal price, not the first-term price, and multiply by 12. Add what turns paid after year one. Then compare hosts in our web hosting ranking, which scores the renewal price most heavily, or see renewal prices side by side. For stores and client sites, see the lists for WooCommerce and agencies. The methodology explains each score.