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 Hosting.com from $2.99 to $13.99 (x4.7). IONOS has the mildest multiplier, Namecheap the smallest dollar jump.
In detail
| Host | Intro per month | Renewal per month | Factor | Total over 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | $2.28 | $4.66 | x2.0 | $138.64 |
| Hostinger | $2.99 | $10.99 | x3.7 | $143.52 |
| Bluehost | $3.99 | $9.99 | x2.5 | $143.64 |
| IONOS | $4 | $8 | x2.0 | $240 |
| DreamHost | $2.89 | $10.99 | x3.8 | $298.44 |
| GoDaddy | $5.99 | $11.99 | x2.0 | $359.64 |
| Hosting.com | $2.99 | $13.99 | x4.7 | $371.64 |
| SiteGround | $2.99 | $17.99 | x6.0 | $467.64 |
Monthly guide prices for the entry plan. The three-year total is what you pay for 36 months as billed: one year at the intro price plus two at renewal, or the full prepaid term where the promo runs 36 or 48 months. Every figure comes from the same price data as the host pages on this site.
We set the promotional price of the entry plan against its renewal price for the eight promo-priced hosts in our shortlist. The fairest way to rank them is the three-year total. That is what 36 months cost as billed: one promo year plus two at the renewal rate, or the full prepaid term where the promo runs three or four years.The average markup is 3.3x and the median is 3.1x.
The average sits above the median because SiteGround and Hosting.com renew so steeply. The median is the better guide to what a typical host will charge you.
Compare hosts on the renewal price rather than the promo. Namecheap is the cheapest to keep at $4.66 a month and SiteGround the most expensive at $17.99. Over three years the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive entry plan is $329. A higher total is not automatically a worse buy. SiteGround at $467.64 buys premium shared hosting with staging and its own caching. The $138.64 plan at Namecheap does not include those. Put a reminder in your calendar one month before renewal and choose again at that point.
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