How much do web hosting prices rise after the first year? Every host compared
The short answer
A lot. Across the eight promo-priced hosts in our shortlist, the monthly price rises by an average of 3.3x at renewal. At the extremes, SiteGround goes from $2.99 to $17.99 (x6.0) and A2 Hosting from $2.99 to $12.99 (x4.3). IONOS has the mildest multiplier, Namecheap the smallest dollar jump.
In detail
We compared the promotional price against the renewal price for the hosts in our shortlist (effective monthly rate on the entry plan). The increases, ranked: SiteGround from $2.99 to $17.99 (x6.0), A2 Hosting from $2.99 to $12.99 (x4.3), DreamHost from $2.89 to $10.99 (x3.8), Hostinger from $2.99 to $10.99 (x3.7), Bluehost from $3.99 to $9.99 (x2.5), Namecheap from $2.28 to $4.66 (x2.0), GoDaddy from $5.99 to $11.99 (x2.0) and IONOS from $4 to $8 (x2.0).
The average markup across these eight is 3.3x and the median is 3.1x. The average sits above the median because SiteGround and A2 Hosting renew so steeply, so the median is the better guide to what a typical host will do to your bill.
The nuance differs per host. Namecheap's renewal at $55.88 a year ($4.66 a month) is the lowest of the eight, so its increase barely stings. DreamHost renews at $10.99 a month. At the other end, SiteGround's $17.99 renewal is the real price of its premium shared hosting.
The practical takeaway for any hosting decision is to compare hosts on the renewal price, not the promo, and set a calendar reminder one month before renewal the day you buy. At that point you choose again. Migrate to a fresh promo (most hosts migrate your site free) or stay deliberately. Promotions shift, so treat these figures as guide prices that vary by promotion window.
The more useful number is what three years actually cost, meaning one year at the promo rate plus two at the renewal rate. Ranked from cheapest per host, that is Namecheap $138.64, IONOS $240, Bluehost $287.64 and DreamHost $298.44.
The remaining four are Hostinger $299.64, A2 Hosting $347.64, GoDaddy $359.64 and SiteGround $467.64. Between the cheapest and the most expensive entry plan there is $329 over the same three years, which is what choosing on the promo price can cost you.
One caveat, because a ranking is not a verdict. A higher three-year total is not automatically a worse deal. SiteGround at $467.64 buys premium shared hosting with staging and its own caching, which the $138.64 plan at Namecheap does not include. Compare what you get, then compare the totals.
As for method, the three-year total is the first year at the promo rate plus two years at the renewal rate, as billed. Every figure comes from the same price data as the host pages on this site, and each host page shows the date its prices were last checked.
Which web host has the biggest renewal price increase?
SiteGround, on both counts: its entry plan goes from $2.99 to $17.99 a month at renewal, 6 times the intro rate and $15.00 a month extra. Figures are the guide prices we record for each host every month.
The two extremes are not the same kind of deal. A steep factor on a very low intro price can still renew below the market average, while a big dollar jump raises the bill even when the factor looks modest. The three-year totals above are the fairer way to compare them.
Want the real multi-year cost for one specific host? Plug the intro and renewal price into our calculator and see exactly what you pay, plus the true average monthly rate.
Open the renewal cost calculator