The Hosting Renewal Price Index
Hosting's oldest trick is the intro price: sign up at $2.99, renew at $17.99. The Hosting Renewal Price Index records the advertised entry price and the renewal price for every provider we've verified, side by side, with the date we checked — the renewal-price increase data nobody else publishes systematically. Where we haven't verified a number, the row says so. No guesses, ever.
Disclosure: Digital Hosting may earn a commission when you buy through our links. This does not affect our recommendations.
Summary verdict
The headline finding (September 2026 pass)
Among the shared web hosts we verified that discount intro pricing, renewal prices average roughly 5× the advertised price — an average pulled up by IONOS's $1 promo tier, the steepest jump we track at 14× ($1 → $14). The median step is closer to 4×, with SiteGround at about 6× ($2.99 → $17.99). Registrars play the same game more quietly: Gandi registers .com at $11 and renews at $38.38, while Cloudflare ($10.46) and Porkbun ($11.08) renew at exactly what they advertise. One rate moved in buyers' favour this pass: Namecheap's .com renewal dropped from ~$18.48 to ~$14.78. VPS and flat-fee email providers largely don't do intro pricing at all — one reason we keep recommending them.
What the data shows
Findings
4.5×
average renewal markup across the 9 shared web hosts with intro discounts
14×
steepest jump we track — IONOS ($1/mo → $14/mo)
26 of 41
verified providers charge exactly what they advertise at renewal
The chart
Renewal price as a multiple of the advertised price (September 2026 pass)
Providers with flat billing (1×) are listed below the chart. Full data, terms, and verification dates are in the table underneath.
Want these numbers for your own time frame? Run the True Cost Calculator — real 1–5 year totals per provider, computed from this dataset.
The honor roll — same price at renewal
- Cloudways$11/mo
- Krystal£7/mo (~$9.24), VAT included
- Zume Hosting£6/mo (~$7.92), VAT included
- 20i$15/mo
- AccuWebHosting$2.79/mo
- DigitalOcean$4/mo
- Linode (Akamai)$5/mo
- Hetzner Cloud€5.49/mo (~$6.49) + VAT
- AWS Lightsail$5/mo
- Kinsta$30/mo
- Rocket.net$25/mo
- Pressable$250/yr (~$20.83/mo)
- Flywheel$25/mo
- Nexcess (now Liquid Web)$9/mo
- Google Workspace$7/user/mo
- Microsoft 365 Business$7/user/mo
- Fastmail$3/user/mo
- Proton Mail Business$6.99/user/mo
- Zoho Mail$1/user/mo
- Migadu$19/yr
- MXroute$59/yr
- Faivelo$5/mo
- Porkbun$11.08/yr (.com)
- Cloudflare Registrar$10.46/yr (.com)
- Dynadot$10.88/yr (.com)
- Hover$18.99/yr (.com)
The dataset
Intro vs renewal, provider by provider
Generated from the same dataset that powers every price on this site.
Download CSV ↓Web Hosting
| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetArt | $112.50/yrCloudHosting Start, promotional first billing period — 100 GB, unlimited sites and mailboxes | $18.75/mo ($225/yr) standard | 2× | Check price | |
| Hostinger | $2.99/mo48-month prepay | $10.99/mo | 3.7× | Check price | |
| Cloudways | $11/mopay-as-you-go, DigitalOcean 1 vCPU / 2 GB | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| SiteGround | $2.99/mo12-month prepay | $17.99/mo | 6× | Check price | |
| DreamHost | $2.89/mofirst year, billed yearly | $10.99/mo | 3.8× | Check price | |
| A2 Hosting | $3.99/moStarter, first year, annual billing | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
| Bluehost | $3.99/mo36-month prepay | $9.99/mo | 2.5× | Check price | |
| InMotion Hosting | $4.79/moLaunch plan, 3-year prepay | $14.99/mo | 3.1× | Check price | |
| IONOS | $1/moPlus plan, 12-month term | $14/mo | 14× | Check price | |
| KnownHost | $6.71/moBasic Web Hosting, 3-year commitment | $8.95/mo | 1.3× | Check price | |
| NixiHost | $4.99/moMini Shared, billed annually ($59.88/yr); $7.99/mo month-to-month | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
| Krystal | £7/mo (~$9.24), VAT includedAmethyst, monthly billing; annual saves 16%, biennial 25% | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Zume Hosting | £6/mo (~$7.92), VAT includedLaunch plan, monthly billing, no contract | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| ScalaHosting | $2.95/moMini, 36- or 12-month prepay ($11.95 month-to-month) | $11.95/mo | 4.1× | Check price | |
| Ultra Web Hosting | $3.95/moUltra 1x, 3-year prepay; $6.95/mo month-to-month | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
| 20i | $15/moStartup, month-to-month ($1 for the first month) | $15/mo | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| AccuWebHosting | $2.79/moBootstrap++, 36-month prepay ($5.79 month-to-month per the store; $3.79 yearly per the blog) | $2.79/mo | 1× (flat) | Check price |
WordPress Hosting
| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsta | $30/mobilled annually (1 site, 10 GB storage) | $35/mo billed monthly | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| WP Engine | $28/moEssential, first year billed annually ($336 upfront; 1 site, 25k visits) | $35/mo standard rate | 1.3× | Check price | |
| Rocket.net | $25/mobilled annually (1 site, 10 GB) | $30/mo billed monthly | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Pressable | $250/yr (~$20.83/mo)Signature 1 — 1 site, 30k visits, annual billing | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Flywheel | $25/moStarter — 1 site, 25k visits | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Nexcess (now Liquid Web) | $9/moEssentials, monthly billing (1 site, 50k visits, 15 GB, 2 TB bandwidth) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price |
VPS Hosting
| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | $4/mo1 vCPU / 512 MiB / 500 GiB transfer | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Vultr | Entry VPS — check current pricing | Not yet verified — check the vendor's site | Check price | ||
| Linode (Akamai) | $5/moNanode 1 GB — 1 vCPU / 25 GB SSD / 1 TB transfer | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Hetzner Cloud | €5.49/mo (~$6.49) + VATEU regions, shared vCPU (CX23) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| OVHcloud | $4.54/mo12-month upfront, 2 vCores / 4 GB | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
| Scaleway | ~€6.55/moDEV1-S, 2 vCPU / 2 GB, hourly billing | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
| AWS Lightsail | $5/mo512 MB / 2 vCPU / 1 TB transfer, with public IPv4 | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| UltaHost | $4.59/moVPS Basic (1 core, 1 GB DDR5, 30 GB NVMe), 36-month prepay; $6.89 month-to-month, $5.52 on the default 2-year term | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
Email Hosting
| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace | $7/user/moBusiness Starter, annual commitment | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Microsoft 365 Business | $7/user/moBusiness Basic, paid yearly | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Fastmail | $3/user/moBasic, billed annually | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Proton Mail Business | $6.99/user/moMail Essentials, billed yearly (15 GB/user, 3 custom domains) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Zoho Mail | $1/user/moMail Lite 5 GB, billed annually (annual-only) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Infomaniak | CHF 1.76/user/mokSuite Standard, billed annually — CHF only, no USD billing | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
| Migadu | $19/yrMicro — 5 GB, unlimited domains/addresses | same price at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| MXroute | $59/yrSmall — 10 GB, unlimited domains & mailboxes | same price at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Faivelo | $5/moStarter, billed yearly — unlimited mailboxes, 10 GB, up to 3 domains | same price at renewal | 1× (flat) | Check price |
Domain Registrars
| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porkbun | $11.08/yr (.com) | $11.08/yr | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Namecheap | ~$10.98 first year (.com) | ~$14.78/yr | 1.3× | Check price | |
| Cloudflare Registrar | $10.46/yr (.com) | $10.46/yr — at cost | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Dynadot | $10.88/yr (.com) | $10.88/yr | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Hover | $18.99/yr (.com) | $18.99/yr | 1× (flat) | Check price | |
| Gandi | $11.00 first year (.com) | $38.38/yr standard | 3.5× | Check price | |
| Name.com | $12.99 first year (.com) | $17.99/yr | 1.4× | Check price | |
| GoDaddy | $0.01 first year (.com)requires a 3-year purchase — $45.99 due at checkout | $22.99/yr | — | Check price | |
| Spaceship | $8.88 first year (.com) | $9.98/yr | 1.1× | Check price |
Dedicated Server Hosting
| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Web | $167.50/mo16-core Xeon, 64 GB RAM, fully managed | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
| Hivelocity | $97/moXeon E-2236, 16 GB — cheapest listed config, promo-priced | $129/mo regular rate | 1.3× | Check price | |
| Rackspace | Enterprise tier — quote-based | Not yet verified — check the vendor's site | Check price | ||
| HostColor | $79/moXeon E3-1265Lv3 dedicated (4 cores, 16 GB, 480 GB SSD), 12-month term; $109 month-to-month | not verified — see note | — | Check price | |
Cite this data
This dataset is free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Cite it as:
Digital Hosting, "Hosting Renewal Price Index" (verified 2026-09-30), https://digitalhosting.com/articles/hosting-renewal-pricesDownload CSV ↓Methodology
Every number in the table was checked on the vendor's own pricing page (or official vendor documentation, or a same-day price tracker for the few vendors that block automated access) on the verification date shown. We record the advertised entry price, the billing term required to get it, and the renewal or ongoing price.
Markup multiples are computed only where both numbers are cleanly comparable (same plan, same billing unit). Providers we could not verify this pass — InMotion and Vultr, whose sites block automated access — are listed as not yet verified rather than filled with third-party guesses. Rackspace publishes no dedicated-server pricing at all (quote-only). Proton Mail, Zoho Mail, and the Nexcess lineup (now sold under Liquid Web) joined the verified set in September 2026 via a real browser session.
Prices are re-verified quarterly. If you spot a change before we do, use the contact page — corrections get re-dated.
How to read the table
The 'renews at' column is the number to budget with: it's what you pay every term after the promo ends, and for multi-year prepay deals it's the rate that greets you at the end of the lock-in. A 48-month prepay at $2.99/mo is a genuinely good deal — if you still want the host in month 49.
A missing renewal price with a flat 'same at renewal' note is the pattern to look for. Cloud providers (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode), flat-fee email hosts (MXroute, Migadu, Fastmail), and at-cost registrars (Cloudflare, Porkbun, Dynadot, Hover) simply charge the same price continuously.
Best fit for
- +Anyone pricing hosting past the first invoice
- +Budgeting a three-year total cost of ownership instead of a first-year teaser
- +Journalists and forum posters who need a dated, sourced renewal-price table
Consider another option if
- −You need a price we haven't verified — check the vendor's site directly rather than trusting a stale number
- −You're comparing enterprise or custom-quoted plans; this tracker covers published entry pricing only
Questions readers ask
FAQ
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Written and reviewed by
W. Miller — Editor, Digital Hosting
W. Miller is the founder of TetraCore, LLC, the software company that owns and publishes Digital Hosting, and has spent 35 years in software development, technology and related services, including cloud and hosting. The uptime monitoring and price-collection infrastructure behind this site's original research is built and run in-house.
See our affiliate disclosure and how we test and score providers.