{"id":186,"date":"2026-11-05T09:49:28","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T09:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.interprowebhost.com\/knowledgebase\/?p=186"},"modified":"2026-11-05T09:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T09:49:29","slug":"renewal-price-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.interprowebhost.com\/knowledgebase\/renewal-price-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"The Renewal Price Audit: What the Big Hosts Charge in Year Two, Documented From Their Own Pages"},"content":{"rendered":"

This audit is the documented evidence behind our guide The True Cost of Web Hosting: What You Actually Pay Over Three Years<\/a>. The advertised price of web hosting is the price of the first term. The price that decides what a small business actually pays is the renewal price, and it usually appears in smaller type, on a different page, or only inside the cart. So we documented it. On November 5, 2026, we captured the entry-level plan at eight hosting companies, from each company\u2019s own website: the advertised price, the term required to get it, the amount due on day one, the renewal price on a like-for-like term, and what the .com domain costs after any free first year.<\/p>\n

The headline finding: across the seven other hosts in this audit, the renewal price is a median of about 2.9 times the advertised monthly price. The range runs from 2.0 times to 6.0 times against standing introductory prices. One host\u2019s live order page on capture day showed a sale price that puts its renewal at 9.0 times the price on the page; that case is documented in its row, against both figures, rather than folded quietly into a headline. One host in the set has no renewal increase at all. It is the publisher of this audit, it is in the table on identical terms, and its row was captured from its own pages the same day, by the same method.<\/p>\n

The table<\/h2>\n

All prices in US dollars, before tax, captured November 5, 2026. The two money columns are the whole story: what you hand over on day one, and what the same term<\/strong> costs when it renews. Optional add-ons are excluded for every host, including us; one documented exception is discussed in its own section below, because it appears in a host\u2019s renewal disclosure rather than its options list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Host and entry plan<\/th>\nAdvertised price<\/th>\nDue on day one<\/th>\nWhat the same term costs at renewal<\/th>\nRenewal increase<\/th>\n.com renewal after any free year<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
GoDaddy Economy<\/td>\n$5.99\/mo, 36-month term<\/td>\n$215.64<\/td>\n$11.99\/mo, $431.64 for 36 months<\/strong><\/td>\n2.0x<\/td>\n$22.99\/yr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bluehost Starter<\/td>\n$3.99\/mo, 36-month term<\/td>\n$143.64<\/td>\n$9.99\/mo, $359.64 for 36 months<\/strong><\/td>\n2.5x<\/td>\n$23.99\/yr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hostinger Premium<\/td>\n$1.99\/mo, 48-month term<\/td>\n$95.52<\/td>\n$10.99\/mo, $527.52 for 48 months<\/strong><\/td>\n5.5x<\/td>\n$19.99\/yr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SiteGround StartUp<\/td>\n$2.99\/mo, 12-month term (see note)<\/td>\n$35.88<\/td>\n$17.99\/mo, $215.88 for 12 months<\/strong><\/td>\n6.0x<\/td>\nSee note<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DreamHost Launch<\/td>\n$1.99\/mo, 48-month term<\/td>\n$95.52<\/td>\n$7.99\/mo, $383.52 for 48 months<\/strong><\/td>\n4.0x<\/td>\n$21.99\/yr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HostGator Hatchling<\/td>\n$3.75\/mo, 36-month term<\/td>\n$135.00<\/td>\n$10.99\/mo, $395.61 for 36 months<\/strong><\/td>\n2.9x<\/td>\n$23.99\/yr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
IONOS Essential<\/td>\n$4.00\/mo, 12-month term<\/td>\n$48.00<\/td>\n$8.00\/mo, $96.00 for 12 months<\/strong><\/td>\n2.0x<\/td>\n$20.00\/yr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
InterProWebHost Personal<\/td>\n$8.00\/mo, 36-month term<\/td>\n$288.00<\/td>\n$8.00\/mo, $288.00 for 36 months<\/strong><\/td>\n1.0x, no increase<\/strong><\/td>\n$14.81\/yr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

How to read this table.<\/strong> Day one flatters every host except one, because seven of these eight prices are introductory. The renewal column is the price of staying. Read across any row and the pattern is the same: the second time you buy the identical term, the bill is bigger, by two to six times the advertised monthly price. Read down the renewal column in yearly terms and the renewal prices run from $95.88 to $215.88 per year. InterProWebHost renews at $96.00 per year, and the renewal total is the same number as the day-one total, because the advertised price was never an introductory one. That is the entire claim of this audit, and it is checkable in the table in under a minute.<\/p>\n

Renewal totals, defined.<\/strong> Each renewal total is the host\u2019s published renewal monthly price for renewing on the same term length as the advertised first term, multiplied out across that term, which is the amount a customer who stays on the same plan is actually billed at renewal. Where a host publishes the term total itself (GoDaddy\u2019s day-one figure, HostGator\u2019s price chart, Hostinger\u2019s and InterProWebHost\u2019s stated totals), the published figure is used.<\/p>\n

Row notes.<\/strong><\/p>\n