---
title: "Hosting Renewal Price Index (2026) | Digital Hosting"
url: https://digitalhosting.com/articles/hosting-renewal-prices
description: "The Hosting Renewal Price Index: intro vs renewal prices across web hosts, registrars, and email providers — verified on vendor sites, dated, downloadable as…"
lang: en
---

Data · The Index Data project

# 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.

Last updated: September 7, 2026 By: W. Miller (https://digitalhosting.com/about#authors), Editor, Digital Hosting — reviewed independently by the Digital Hosting editorial team.

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 (https://digitalhosting.com/renewal-cost-calculator) — real 1–5 year totals per provider, computed from this dataset.

The honor roll — same price at renewal

- Cloudways$11/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/cloudways
- Krystal£7/mo (~$9.24), VAT included: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/krystal
- Zume Hosting£6/mo (~$7.92), VAT included: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/zume
- 20i$15/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/20i
- AccuWebHosting$2.79/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/accuwebhosting
- DigitalOcean$4/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/digitalocean
- Linode (Akamai)$5/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/linode
- Hetzner Cloud€5.49/mo (~$6.49) + VAT: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/hetzner
- AWS Lightsail$5/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/aws-lightsail
- Kinsta$30/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/kinsta
- Rocket.net$25/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/rocket-net
- Pressable$250/yr (~$20.83/mo): https://digitalhosting.com/providers/pressable
- Flywheel$25/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/flywheel
- Nexcess (now Liquid Web)$9/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/nexcess
- Google Workspace$7/user/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/google-workspace
- Microsoft 365 Business$7/user/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/microsoft-365
- Fastmail$3/user/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/fastmail
- Proton Mail Business$6.99/user/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/proton-mail
- Zoho Mail$1/user/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/zoho-mail
- Migadu$19/yr: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/migadu
- MXroute$59/yr: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/mxroute
- Faivelo$5/mo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/faivelo
- Porkbun$11.08/yr (.com): https://digitalhosting.com/providers/porkbun
- Cloudflare Registrar$10.46/yr (.com): https://digitalhosting.com/providers/cloudflare-registrar
- Dynadot$10.88/yr (.com): https://digitalhosting.com/providers/dynadot
- Hover$18.99/yr (.com): https://digitalhosting.com/providers/hover

The dataset

## Intro vs renewal, provider by provider

Generated from the same dataset that powers every price on this site.

Download CSV ↓ (https://digitalhosting.com/renewal-prices.csv)

### Web Hosting

| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NetArt: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/netart | $112.50/yr CloudHosting Start, promotional first billing period — 100 GB, unlimited sites and mailboxes | $18.75/mo ($225/yr) standard | 2× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.dpbolvw.net/links/101892060/type/dlg/https://www.netart.com/us/hosting/ |
| Hostinger: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/hostinger | $2.99/mo 48-month prepay | $10.99/mo | 3.7× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.hostinger.com/web-hosting |
| Cloudways: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/cloudways | $11/mo pay-as-you-go, DigitalOcean 1 vCPU / 2 GB | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=89935&awinaffid=2917215&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cloudways.com%2Fen%2Fpricing.php |
| SiteGround: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/siteground | $2.99/mo 12-month prepay | $17.99/mo | 6× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=b862d105747332f5ebfe3ef92a57b5c5 |
| DreamHost: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/dreamhost | $2.89/mo first year, billed yearly | $10.99/mo | 3.8× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/shared/ |
| A2 Hosting: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/a2-hosting | $3.99/mo Starter, first year, annual billing | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://hosting.com/web-hosting/ |
| Bluehost: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/bluehost | $3.99/mo 36-month prepay | $9.99/mo | 2.5× | September 2026 | Check price: https://bluehost.sjv.io/qWB4QN |
| InMotion Hosting: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/inmotion-hosting | $4.79/mo Launch plan, 3-year prepay | $14.99/mo | 3.1× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/shared-hosting |
| IONOS: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/ionos | $1/mo Plus plan, 12-month term | $14/mo | 14× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.ionos.com/hosting/web-hosting |
| KnownHost: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/knownhost | $6.71/mo Basic Web Hosting, 3-year commitment | $8.95/mo | 1.3× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.knownhost.com/shared-hosting |
| NixiHost: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/nixihost | $4.99/mo Mini Shared, billed annually ($59.88/yr); $7.99/mo month-to-month | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.nixihost.com/hosting/shared |
| Krystal: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/krystal | £7/mo (~$9.24), VAT included Amethyst, monthly billing; annual saves 16%, biennial 25% | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=117205&awinaffid=2917215&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fkrystal.io%2Fweb-hosting |
| Zume Hosting: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/zume | £6/mo (~$7.92), VAT included Launch plan, monthly billing, no contract | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://zume.net/website-hosting |
| ScalaHosting: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/scalahosting | $2.95/mo Mini, 36- or 12-month prepay ($11.95 month-to-month) | $11.95/mo | 4.1× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=82905&awinaffid=2917215&clickref=dh-provider-scalahosting&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scalahosting.com%2Fweb-hosting.html |
| Ultra Web Hosting: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/ultra-web-hosting | $3.95/mo Ultra 1x, 3-year prepay; $6.95/mo month-to-month | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=87691&awinaffid=2917215&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ultrawebhosting.com%2Fshared-web-hosting |
| 20i: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/20i | $15/mo Startup, month-to-month ($1 for the first month) | $15/mo | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=25292&awinaffid=2917215&clickref=dh-provider-20i&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.20i.com%2Fus%2Fweb-hosting |
| AccuWebHosting: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/accuwebhosting | $2.79/mo Bootstrap++, 36-month prepay ($5.79 month-to-month per the store; $3.79 yearly per the blog) | $2.79/mo | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=91919&awinaffid=2917215&clickref=dh-provider-accuwebhosting&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.accuwebhosting.com%2Fweb-hosting%2Flinux |

### WordPress Hosting

| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kinsta: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/kinsta | $30/mo billed annually (1 site, 10 GB storage) | $35/mo billed monthly | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://kinsta.com/plans/?kaid=PACQYRCUZNDC |
| WP Engine: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/wp-engine | $28/mo Essential, first year billed annually ($336 upfront; 1 site, 25k visits) | $35/mo standard rate | 1.3× | September 2026 | Check price: https://wpengine.com/plans/ |
| Rocket.net: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/rocket-net | $25/mo billed annually (1 site, 10 GB) | $30/mo billed monthly | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://rocket.net/pricing/ |
| Pressable: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/pressable | $250/yr (~$20.83/mo) Signature 1 — 1 site, 30k visits, annual billing | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://pressable.com/pricing/ |
| Flywheel: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/flywheel | $25/mo Starter — 1 site, 25k visits | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://getflywheel.com/pricing/ |
| Nexcess (now Liquid Web): https://digitalhosting.com/providers/nexcess | $9/mo Essentials, monthly billing (1 site, 50k visits, 15 GB, 2 TB bandwidth) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.nexcess.net/plans/wordpress-pricing/ |

### VPS Hosting

| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DigitalOcean: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/digitalocean | $4/mo 1 vCPU / 512 MiB / 500 GiB transfer | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=123996&awinaffid=2917215&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalocean.com%2Fpricing%2Fdroplets |
| Vultr: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/vultr | Entry VPS — check current pricing | Not yet verified — check the vendor's site | | | Check price: https://www.vultr.com/pricing/ |
| Linode (Akamai): https://digitalhosting.com/providers/linode | $5/mo Nanode 1 GB — 1 vCPU / 25 GB SSD / 1 TB transfer | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.linode.com/pricing/ |
| Hetzner Cloud: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/hetzner | €5.49/mo (~$6.49) + VAT EU regions, shared vCPU (CX23) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/ |
| OVHcloud: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/ovhcloud | $4.54/mo 12-month upfront, 2 vCores / 4 GB | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/vps/ |
| Scaleway: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/scaleway | ~€6.55/mo DEV1-S, 2 vCPU / 2 GB, hourly billing | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.scaleway.com/en/pricing/ |
| AWS Lightsail: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/aws-lightsail | $5/mo 512 MB / 2 vCPU / 1 TB transfer, with public IPv4 | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://aws.amazon.com/lightsail/pricing/ |
| UltaHost: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/ultahost | $4.59/mo VPS 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 | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.dpbolvw.net/click-101892060-15683477?url=https%3A%2F%2Fultahost.com%2Fvps-hosting |

### Email Hosting

| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Google Workspace: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/google-workspace | $7/user/mo Business Starter, annual commitment | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://workspace.google.com/pricing |
| Microsoft 365 Business: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/microsoft-365 | $7/user/mo Business Basic, paid yearly | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/compare-all-microsoft-365-business-products |
| Fastmail: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/fastmail | $3/user/mo Basic, billed annually | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ |
| Proton Mail Business: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/proton-mail | $6.99/user/mo Mail Essentials, billed yearly (15 GB/user, 3 custom domains) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://proton.me/business/mail/pricing |
| Zoho Mail: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/zoho-mail | $1/user/mo Mail Lite 5 GB, billed annually (annual-only) | same at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html |
| Infomaniak: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/infomaniak | CHF 1.76/user/mo kSuite Standard, billed annually — CHF only, no USD billing | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/hosting/web-hosting |
| Migadu: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/migadu | $19/yr Micro — 5 GB, unlimited domains/addresses | same price at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://migadu.com/pricing/ |
| MXroute: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/mxroute | $59/yr Small — 10 GB, unlimited domains & mailboxes | same price at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://mxroute.com/ |
| Faivelo: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/faivelo | $5/mo Starter, billed yearly — unlimited mailboxes, 10 GB, up to 3 domains | same price at renewal | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://faivelo.com/ |

### Domain Registrars

| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Porkbun: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/porkbun | $11.08/yr (.com) | $11.08/yr | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://porkbun.com/products/domains |
| Namecheap: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/namecheap | ~$10.98 first year (.com) | ~$14.78/yr | 1.3× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.namecheap.com/domains/ |
| Cloudflare Registrar: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/cloudflare-registrar | $10.46/yr (.com) | $10.46/yr — at cost | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/ |
| Dynadot: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/dynadot | $10.88/yr (.com) | $10.88/yr | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.dynadot.com/domain/com |
| Hover: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/hover | $18.99/yr (.com) | $18.99/yr | 1× (flat) | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.hover.com/domains |
| Gandi: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/gandi | $11.00 first year (.com) | $38.38/yr standard | 3.5× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.gandi.net/en-US/domain |
| Name.com: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/name-com | $12.99 first year (.com) | $17.99/yr | 1.4× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.name.com/domains |
| GoDaddy: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/godaddy | $0.01 first year (.com) requires a 3-year purchase — $45.99 due at checkout | $22.99/yr | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.dpbolvw.net/click-101892060-10378406 |
| Spaceship: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/spaceship | $8.88 first year (.com) | $9.98/yr | 1.1× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.spaceship.com/domains/ |

### Dedicated Server Hosting

| Provider | Advertised price | Renews at | Markup | Verified | Visit provider |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Liquid Web: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/liquid-web | $167.50/mo 16-core Xeon, 64 GB RAM, fully managed | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.liquidweb.com/dedicated-server-hosting/ |
| Hivelocity: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/hivelocity | $97/mo Xeon E-2236, 16 GB — cheapest listed config, promo-priced | $129/mo regular rate | 1.3× | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.hivelocity.net/dedicated-servers/ |
| Rackspace: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/rackspace | Enterprise tier — quote-based | Not yet verified — check the vendor's site | | | Check price: https://www.rackspace.com/cloud/bare-metal |
| HostColor: https://digitalhosting.com/providers/hostcolor | $79/mo Xeon E3-1265Lv3 dedicated (4 cores, 16 GB, 480 GB SSD), 12-month term; $109 month-to-month | not verified — see note | — | September 2026 | Check price: https://www.hostcolor.com/dedicatedhosting/ |

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-prices`Download CSV ↓ (https://digitalhosting.com/renewal-prices.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

Because most shared hosts advertise a promotional first-term price and renew at their standard rate — in our September 2026 verification passes, renewal averaged roughly 5× intro across the discounting shared hosts we checked (an average pulled up by IONOS's 14× promo tier; the median step is closer to 4×). The renewal rate was in the fine print when you signed up; this tracker exists to surface it up front.

Keep reading

## Related on Digital Hosting

- Domain Renewal Prices: Where a .com Stays Cheap → The registrar slice of this data, with 5-year cost math.: https://digitalhosting.com/articles/domain-renewal-prices
- How to Switch Web Hosts Without Downtime → If your renewal invoice already arrived, this is the exit plan.: https://digitalhosting.com/articles/how-to-switch-web-hosts

Written and reviewed by

W. Miller (https://digitalhosting.com/about#authors) — 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 (https://digitalhosting.com/affiliate-disclosure) and how we test and score providers (https://digitalhosting.com/how-we-test).

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          "text": "Because most shared hosts advertise a promotional first-term price and renew at their standard rate — in our September 2026 verification passes, renewal averaged roughly 5× intro across the discounting shared hosts we checked (an average pulled up by IONOS's 14× promo tier; the median step is closer to 4×). The renewal rate was in the fine print when you signed up; this tracker exists to surface it up front."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How often is this data updated?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Quarterly, with the verification date shown on every row, plus spot re-checks between passes. The most recent check is September 7, 2026 — a full re-verification of all 37 providers, which caught a Hivelocity entry-config change, a Namecheap renewal drop, a Hosting.com intro increase, and WP Engine's plan restructure. Between passes, vendor promos may shift — the renewal columns move much less often than intro prices."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Can I reuse this data?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Yes — the dataset is CC BY 4.0: download the CSV and cite 'Digital Hosting Renewal Price Index' with a link. If you find an error, tell us via the contact page and we'll fix and re-date it."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Which hosts don't raise prices at renewal?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "In our verified set: the pay-as-you-go clouds (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode, AWS Lightsail), flat-fee email providers (MXroute, Migadu, Fastmail), at-cost or flat registrars (Cloudflare, Porkbun, Dynadot, Hover), and Rocket.net among managed WordPress hosts (it states it doesn't raise renewal pricing). Hivelocity used to belong on this list, but its flat-priced entry config left inventory in September 2026 — its current cheapest config is promo-priced."
        }
      }
    ]
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