What ten popular hosts really cost over three years once the introductory discount expires — and why the cheapest advert is often the most expensive plan.
Hosting is sold on a headline monthly figure that almost nobody actually pays for long. The advertised rate typically requires a multi-year prepayment, applies only to the first term, and renews at two to three times the price. Since the switching cost is a couple of hours of migration, the industry has correctly worked out that most people will grumble and pay.
So here is the arithmetic that the pricing pages do not show you: total cost over three years, for one small WordPress site.
Three-year total cost of ownership
| Host | Advertised | Typical renewal | Approx. 3-year total | Effective £/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IONOS | £1/mo (yr 1) | ~£10/mo | ~£252 | £7.00 |
| Hostinger Premium | £2.49/mo (48-mo term) | ~£7.99/mo | ~£120 (still in term) | £3.33 |
| Bluehost Basic | £2.50/mo (36-mo term) | ~£10/mo | ~£90 (still in term) | £2.50 |
| SiteGround StartUp | £2.99/mo (yr 1) | ~£15–20/mo | ~£432 | £12.00 |
| GoDaddy Economy | £3.99/mo (yr 1) | ~£9.99/mo | ~£288 | £8.00 |
| TSOHost | £3.99/mo (yr 1) | ~£9/mo | ~£264 | £7.33 |
| 20i | £3.99/mo | ~£4–5/mo | ~£160 | £4.44 |
| Krystal Onyx | £5.99/mo | ~£5.99/mo | ~£216 | £6.00 |
| 34SP.com | £5/mo | ~£5/mo | ~£180 | £5.00 |
| Hetzner CX22 (self-hosted) | ~£3.50/mo | ~£3.50/mo | ~£126 + your time | £3.50 |
Figures are indicative, exclude VAT and domain costs, and change constantly. The point is the shape, not the decimal places: check the renewal figure yourself before buying.
What the table shows
SiteGround is the starkest case. A £2.99 advert becomes roughly £15–20/month on renewal — around a fivefold increase, and the highest three-year cost in the table by a distance. The hosting is genuinely good; the pricing is designed for people who do not do this arithmetic.
The prepayment hosts hide the problem rather than solve it. Hostinger and Bluehost look cheapest because their advertised rate is locked for 36–48 months. That is real value if you are certain you want the same host in 2030. When the term ends, the renewal is the same story as everyone else's — you have just deferred it.
The honest-pricing hosts win on a long enough horizon. Krystal, 34SP and 20i charge more on day one and roughly the same amount in year three. Over three years, 34SP at a flat £5 costs less than half what SiteGround costs, with a UK data centre and support that answers.
Four defensive habits
- Find the renewal price before you enter a card number. It is on the provider's site, usually in a footnote or a hover tooltip. If you cannot find it in two minutes, that is itself the answer.
- Diarise the renewal date a month ahead. Auto-renewal at 3x the price you remember agreeing to is the single most common hosting complaint there is.
- Do not prepay four years unless the effective monthly rate still beats the flat-priced alternatives — and note that the money is largely unrecoverable after the refund window.
- Ask for a retention discount. Most hosts have one and will apply it if you contact billing and mention leaving. It costs one email and frequently saves 30–50%.
Cheap hosting is not a scam. It is a lead-generation price, subsidised by the people who never check the second invoice. Read the second invoice.
Published 4 September 2026. Prices and ownership change — check the comparison table for current figures, and the provider's own site before buying. No affiliate links anywhere on this site.