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Almost every web hosting review quotes the intro price. This index shows what you actually pay after it: the renewal price, and how many months you must prepay to get the intro price in the first place. Every number comes from the host’s own pricing page, and every row shows the date we checked it.
The biggest renewal jumps
- hosting.com Starter (formerly A2 Hosting): $1.99 a month with a 48-month prepay, then $13.99 a month. That is 7 times the intro price.
- SiteGround StartUp: $2.99 a month for the first 12 months, then $17.99 a month, 6 times the intro price.
- GreenGeeks Lite: $2.95 a month for 12 months, then $13.95 (4.7 times).
- Hostinger Premium: $2.49 a month with a 48-month prepay during its Black Friday sale, then $10.99 (4.4 times).
- DreamHost Launch: $1.99 a month with a 48-month prepay, then $7.99 (4 times).
HostGator Hatchling ($3.75 for 36 months, then $10.99), GoDaddy Economy ($5.99 for the first 3-year term, regular price $11.99) and Namecheap Stellar ($2.28 on yearly billing, regular price $5.88) follow the same pattern. The managed WordPress hosts in the index (Kinsta, Pressable, Rocket.net and Flywheel) charge the same price at renewal as in year one; paying yearly just gets you about two months free. Cloud servers (Cloudways, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode and Hetzner) bill by the hour with no prepay and no promo price, but you set up and run the server yourself.
The index
| Host | Type | Intro price /mo | Prepay needed | Renewal /mo | Renewal jump | Sites | Money-back | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) Starter | Shared hosting | $1.99 | 48 months | $13.99 | 7x | 5 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| SiteGround StartUp | Shared hosting | $2.99 | 12 months | $17.99 | 6x | 1 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| GreenGeeks Lite | Shared hosting | $2.95 | 12 months | $13.95 | 4.7x | 1 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| DreamHost Web Hosting Launch | Shared hosting | $1.99 | 48 months | $7.99 | 4x | 25 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Hostinger Premium | Shared hosting | $2.49 | 48 months | $10.99 | 4.4x | 3 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| HostGator Hatchling | Shared hosting | $3.75 | 36 months | $10.99 | 2.9x | 10 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Namecheap Stellar | Shared hosting | $2.28 | 12 months | $5.88 | 2.6x | 3 | unverified | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Bluehost Starter | Shared hosting | $3.99 | 36 months | $9.99 | 2.5x | 10 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| GoDaddy Economy | Shared hosting | $5.99 | 36 months | $11.99 | 2x | 1 | 30 days (48 hours on monthly plans) | Oct 22, 2026 |
| IONOS Web Hosting Essential | Shared hosting | $4 | 12 months | $8 | 2x | Unlimited | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) Small plan for WordPress | Managed WordPress | $10.48 | 36 months | $30 | 2.9x | 1 | 30 days | Oct 21, 2026 |
| DreamHost DreamPress 1 | Managed WordPress | $11.99 | 36 months | $16.99 | 1.4x | 1 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Kinsta Single 20GB (Single 35k on visit-based billing) | Managed WordPress | $29.17 | 12 months | $29.17 | Same price | 1 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Pressable Signature 1 | Managed WordPress | $20.83 | 12 months | $20.83 | Same price | 1 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Rocket.net Starter | Managed WordPress | $25 | 12 months | $25 | Same price | 1 | 30 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Flywheel Starter | Managed WordPress | $25 | 12 months | $25 | Same price | 1 | 60 days | Oct 22, 2026 |
| WP Engine Essential (1 site) | Managed WordPress | $28 | 12 months | not published | not published | 1 | None published | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Cloudways Flexible on DigitalOcean, Standard 1 GB | Managed cloud | $11 | No prepay (billed hourly) | $11 | Same price | Unlimited | Not published (3-day free trial) | Oct 19, 2026 |
| DigitalOcean Basic Droplet, Regular CPU, 512 MiB | Cloud server (self-managed) | $4 | No prepay (billed hourly) | $4 | Same price | Self-managed | None published | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Vultr Cloud Compute, Regular Performance, 1 GB (vc2-1c-1gb) | Cloud server (self-managed) | $5 | No prepay (billed hourly) | $5 | Same price | Self-managed | None published | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Linode (Akamai Cloud) Shared CPU, Nanode 1GB | Cloud server (self-managed) | $5 | No prepay (billed hourly) | $5 | Same price | Self-managed | None published | Oct 22, 2026 |
| Hetzner Cloud Cost-Optimized CX23 | Cloud server (self-managed) | $6.49 | No prepay (billed hourly) | $6.49 | Same price | Self-managed | None published | Oct 22, 2026 |
22 rows. Every row was checked against the vendor’s or official body’s own pages; the newest check was Oct 22, 2026. Prices are US list prices per month for the term shown, before tax. "Renewal jump" is the renewal price divided by the intro price. Host names link to each host's site, and some are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you buy, at no cost to you, and it never changes the prices or order shown. InMotion Hosting is left out until its pricing page can be read and confirmed.
How to read the table
- Intro price is the monthly price the host advertises. It usually applies only if you prepay the whole term in the next column.
- Renewal is the monthly price for the same plan once the first term ends, as published by the host.
- Renewal jump is the renewal price divided by the intro price. “Same price” means no first-term discount.
- Not published means the host does not state the number on its own pages, so we leave it blank rather than guess.
How we check the numbers
We read each host’s own pricing pages and plan terms, never review sites or affiliate listings, and we re-check every row daily. When a host changes a price, the row changes and we note it on our hosting price watch. If a host’s page cannot be read and confirmed, the host stays out of the table until it can. There are no affiliate links in this table.
Frequently asked questions
Why is web hosting so cheap in the first year?
Most shared hosts discount the first term to win the sale, and the deepest discounts require prepaying 12 to 48 months. When that term ends, the plan renews at the regular price shown in the Renewal column.
Which hosts charge the same price at renewal?
In this index, Kinsta, Pressable, Rocket.net and Flywheel list the same price for renewal as for the first year, and the cloud servers (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode and Hetzner) have no promo pricing at all.
How often is the index updated?
Every row is re-checked against the host’s own page daily, and the Checked column links to the page we read.
Choosing a host for WordPress? See our best managed WordPress hosting guide, whether managed hosting is worth it, and hosting for agencies and client sites.