Verdict record
hostinger.com
Prices verified October 2026. Hostinger, Bluehost, SiteGround and Cloudways figures come from the reviews already on this site; Namecheap renewals from Namecheap's May 2026 pricing notice; HostGator, DreamHost, IONOS, GoDaddy, InMotion, GreenGeeks, WP Engine and Kinsta from third-party price trackers and review sites, which often disagree. Conflicts are noted in the text. Confirm at checkout.. Hosting prices change often, check the provider's own page before you buy.
The list of web hosting companies is long, and most of it is the same few parents under different logos. A buyer needs fewer names and cleaner numbers.
This list covers 13 hosts, grouped by type, with signup and renewal prices, plan limits, and a 3-year cost table. The ranking logic is simple: what you pay over three years, and what you get for it.
I run my other sites on Hostinger. For every other host here, I worked from public pricing pages, plan documentation and independent review sites, named where used. Where those sources disagreed, I say so instead of picking a number.
How the list is sorted
Hosting splits into three kinds. Shared hosting is cheap and fits a first site. Managed WordPress hosting costs more and handles WordPress for you. Cloud hosting rents you a server and manages it.
Each entry gives the signup price, the renewal price, and one sentence on who it fits. The tables after the list put the numbers in one place.
Shared hosting companies
1. Hostinger
Hostinger is the lowest-cost shared host on this list. Premium costs $2.99 a month on a 48-month term and renews at $10.99.
It allows 3 websites and 20 GB SSD storage, with weekly backups. Business, now sold as Unlimited, allows up to 50 sites with NVMe storage and daily backups.
There is no phone support at any tier. Chat runs around the clock. Read the full Hostinger review for plan limits, and how it compares in Hostinger vs Bluehost.
2. Bluehost
Bluehost Starter is $3.99 a month on a 36-month term and renews at $9.99. It allows 10 websites and about 40,000 visits a month.
Phone support starts on Business. Backups are weekly, and daily backups cost extra through CodeGuard. The Bluehost review has the full add-on bill.
3. HostGator
HostGator sits under Newfold Digital, the same parent as Bluehost. Most trackers put Hatchling at about $3.75 a month on a 36-month term, renewing near $10.99.
Baby is listed at $4.50 renewing at $16.49, and Business at $6.25 renewing at $21.99. Trackers disagree on site limits: some say Hatchling allows 1 site, others say 10. Verify on HostGator's price chart.
4. SiteGround
SiteGround StartUp is $2.99 a month for the first 12 months, then $17.99. It allows 1 website and 10 GB, with daily backups and phone support on every plan.
GrowBig is $4.99 at signup and $29.99 at renewal, with unlimited sites and 20 GB. Trackers disagree on current storage and visit caps, so check the live page. SiteGround is a fit when support and speed matter more than price.
5. DreamHost
DreamHost introduced Launch, Growth and Scale plans in October 2025, according to iTechGuides. Launch lists up to 25 websites and 25 GB NVMe from $2.89 a month, renewing at $10.99.
Another tracker still shows the older Shared Starter at $2.95 renewing at $7.99, so the lineup may be mid-change. DreamHost is a fit for owners who want many small sites on one plan.
6. IONOS
IONOS plans per third-party trackers are Essential ($4, renewing at $8), Starter ($6, renewing at $10), Plus ($1 intro, renewing at $14) and Ultimate ($10, renewing at $18). One report says IONOS adjusted some existing-customer renewals in 2026.
The $1 Plus deal is the clearest example of an intro price that tells you little. Price the second year.
7. GoDaddy
GoDaddy's shared plans are Economy, Deluxe and Ultimate. Website Builder Expert lists Economy at $5.99 a month on 36 months, renewing at $11.99, with Deluxe at $7.99 renewing at $16.99.
Another guide gives Economy at $4.99. Economy covers 1 site and 25 GB NVMe, per one guide. GoDaddy is a fit when you already hold the domain there. See Namecheap vs GoDaddy for the registrar side.
8. Namecheap
Namecheap publishes its renewals in a May 2026 notice: Stellar $5.88 a month, Stellar Plus $7.88, Stellar Business $11.88. Paid yearly, those are $55.88, $85.44 and $128.88.
Third-party pages show lower figures from before the increase. Trust Namecheap's own notice. It is a fit when you want one bill for domain and hosting.
9. InMotion Hosting
InMotion's Launch plan is $4.99 a month on two or three-year terms, $4.79 on annual billing in one source, and $16.99 month to month. One source lists a $13.99 renewal.
InMotion sells on service quality more than price. It is a fit for owners who want a US-based team and are willing to pay for it.
10. GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks Lite renews at $13.95 a month in most sources, though one table says $10.95. Reviewers disagree on Lite storage, 25 GB or 50 GB.
A July 2026 review says low rates need 12-month prepayment and monthly billing adds a $15 setup fee. It is a fit for buyers who weigh the energy-matching pitch.
11. Hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting)
One guide describes A2 Hosting as a legacy brand, with Hosting.com as the successor at $3.99 a month for the first year. A comparison table lists a $10.99 renewal, though that figure's date is unclear.
Another review flagged a steep renewal increase at A2. Confirm the brand and the price before you buy.
Managed WordPress hosting companies
12. WP Engine and Kinsta
Both start near $30 a month, per a 2026 guide: WP Engine Startup at $30 on annual billing, and Kinsta's entry plan at $30 to $35. Visit allowances differ by source, from 25,000 to 35,000 visits a month.
Overage is the number to watch. Third-party guides put Kinsta near $0.50 per 1,000 extra visits and WP Engine near $2. These hosts fit a site where an hour of downtime costs more than the monthly fee.
Cloud hosting companies
13. Cloudways
Cloudways bills by the server. The entry DigitalOcean server is $11 a month for 2 GB RAM, 50 GB storage and 2 TB transfer, with unlimited sites and no email.
Add-ons stack up: malware protection from $4 per app, Rackspace email at $1.50 per mailbox. The Cloudways review puts a realistic bill near $666 over 3 years.
Plan limits side by side
| Host | Entry plan | Sites | Storage | Next tier up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger | Premium | 3 | 20 GB SSD | Business: up to 50 sites, NVMe, daily backups |
| Bluehost | Starter | 10 | 10 GB | Business: 50 sites, 50 GB NVMe |
| SiteGround | StartUp | 1 | 10 GB | GrowBig: unlimited sites, 20 GB |
| GoDaddy | Economy | 1 | 25 GB NVMe | Deluxe: 10 sites, 50 GB |
| DreamHost | Launch | 25 | 25 GB NVMe | Growth: price not confirmed |
| Cloudways | 2 GB server | Unlimited | 50 GB | 4 GB server: 80 GB, about $46/mo |
HostGator, IONOS, Namecheap, InMotion and GreenGeeks are left out of this table because trackers gave conflicting limits and I would rather leave a cell empty than print a guess.
What each costs over three years
Renewal pricing decides the real cost. This table uses each host's lowest-rate term and its renewal rate for the remainder.
| Host | Signup term | 3-year total | How it is calculated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium | 48 months | $107.64 | $2.99 x 36 |
| HostGator Hatchling | 36 months | $135.00 | $3.75 x 36 |
| Bluehost Starter | 36 months | $143.64 | $3.99 x 36 |
| InMotion Launch | 36 months | $179.64 | $4.99 x 36 |
| GoDaddy Economy | 36 months | $215.64 | $5.99 x 36 |
| IONOS Essential | 12 months | $240.00 | $4 x 12 + $8 x 24 |
| DreamHost Launch | 12 months | $298.44 | $2.89 x 12 + $10.99 x 24 |
| Cloudways 2 GB server | Monthly | $396.00 | $11 x 36, server only |
| SiteGround StartUp | 12 months | $467.64 | $2.99 x 12 + $17.99 x 24 |
Longer prepaid terms lock in the intro rate, so the first six rows only hold if you pay 36 to 48 months upfront. Pay yearly instead and the second-year jump applies sooner.
The SiteGround gap is the sharpest. It costs more than four times Hostinger over the same period, and the extra buys daily backups and phone support.
Who owns whom
Two hosts on this list share a parent. Newfold Digital, formed in 2021 from Endurance International Group and Web.com, owns Bluehost and HostGator. It also owns Network Solutions.
That tells you something practical. Bluehost and HostGator have similar pricing structures and similar renewal behavior, so comparing them to each other adds little. Compare each against a host from a different parent.
Hostinger, SiteGround, GoDaddy, DreamHost, IONOS and Namecheap each run their own platforms. Cloudways sells servers from DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS and Google Cloud, so its quality depends partly on the data center you pick.
Costs the signup page leaves out
The headline price covers hosting only. Three extras show up on most bills.
Email is the first. Bluehost gives one month of Professional Email free, then charges $2.99 per user per month. Cloudways charges $1.50 per Rackspace mailbox per month.
Backups are the second. Bluehost's daily CodeGuard backups run from $3.99 to $19.99 a month. Cloudways charges $0.033 per GB for offsite backup storage.
The domain is the third. A free first-year domain renews at the registrar's normal rate, and Bluehost's .com renewal sits near $23.99 a year per domainoffer.net. Add all three to the table above before you compare a $2.99 plan against an $11 server.
Questions to ask before you pay
A short checklist saves most regrets.
- What does the plan cost in month 13, and on which term?
- How many websites and how many monthly visits does it allow?
- Is email included, and how many mailboxes?
- How often are backups taken, and can you restore them yourself?
- Does the refund window cover the full term? Bluehost lists 30 days, and domain fees are usually not refunded.
Write the answers next to each host. The cheapest row in your notes is rarely the cheapest row on the page.
Performance and uptime
I did not find an independent source that ranks all 13 hosts on uptime over the same period. A 2026 search turned up only general monitoring studies, and one competitor's own marketing piece.
That matters because a host's published uptime figure comes from its own probes or an SLA. Hostinger and Bluehost were compared by Website Builder Expert, which measured a 0.33-second US response for Hostinger and 0.58 seconds for Bluehost.
For the rest, use a free UptimeRobot account on a trial plan before you commit. Run it for two weeks, then decide.
Security and backups
Most shared hosts include a free SSL certificate and basic malware scanning. Backups are where plans differ.
Hostinger and Bluehost back up weekly on entry plans. SiteGround backs up daily on every plan. Cloudways lets you set backup frequency yourself, and offsite storage costs extra.
Firewall and DDoS protection are listed on most hosts, but no host guarantees you will not be hacked. Keep your own copy of the site, whatever the plan says.
Migration
Most hosts migrate one WordPress site for free. Bluehost's help article says the move takes about 2 to 3 days after you send valid login details for your old host, and excludes email and domain transfers.
Plan the move in this order: copy the site, test it on the new host, lower your DNS TTL, then switch the domain. Keep the old plan running for a week.
If the domain's email lives with your registrar, changing nameservers can break it. Check MX records before any DNS change.
Support channels
Chat is standard everywhere. Phone is not.
| Host | Chat | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger | 24/7 | No |
| Bluehost | 24/7 | Business and above |
| SiteGround | 24/7 | Yes, all plans |
| Cloudways | Yes | Premium tier only, $500/mo |
Cloudways' standard tier lists a 3-hour target for outage tickets. That is a real gap for a small business that cannot wait three hours.
Who each type fits
Pick shared hosting if you run one to five small sites, have under about 40,000 visits a month, and can live without phone support. Hostinger and Bluehost cover most of those buyers.
Pick managed WordPress hosting if your site earns money by the hour and you do not want to patch plugins. Expect to pay near $30 a month.
Pick cloud hosting if you have outgrown shared limits and can handle a server dashboard. Cloudways fits that step.
Look elsewhere if you need a guaranteed uptime number, because none of these entries carries one I could verify. Ask for a written SLA.
My pick
For a first small-business site, I would start on Hostinger. The 3-year cost is the lowest here, and I already run other sites on it.
Bluehost is the better pick if you want phone support from day one. The best hosting for small business guide and the best ecommerce hosting guide cover the next step.
Price the second year before you pay for the first.
What held up
- Hostinger Premium costs $107.64 over 36 months on its 48-month term, the lowest 3-year total of the shared hosts here
- Bluehost Starter allows 10 websites for $3.99/mo on a 36-month term, renewing at $9.99/mo
- Namecheap publishes its own renewal prices: Stellar $5.88/mo, Stellar Plus $7.88/mo, Stellar Business $11.88/mo from May 19, 2026
- Cloudways bills by server, so one $11/mo server can host unlimited sites with no visit cap
- DreamHost's new Launch plan lists up to 25 websites and 25 GB NVMe from $2.89/mo
- Every host on the list is owned by one of a handful of parent companies, so the list shows you which brands share infrastructure
What to watch
- SiteGround StartUp costs $2.99/mo to sign up and $17.99/mo to renew, a $467.64 three-year total on a 12-month term
- Third-party price trackers disagree on HostGator, DreamHost, IONOS and GoDaddy figures, so I could not confirm a single number for each
- I have run sites only on Hostinger; every other entry is researched from public pages, not hands-on use
- Managed WordPress hosts (WP Engine, Kinsta) start near $30 a month, roughly ten times a shared plan
- No independent monitoring source I found ranks all these hosts on uptime over the same period
- Intro prices need 12 to 48 month prepayment on most hosts, which ties up cash and weakens the refund window
Frequently asked
How many web hosting companies are there?
Thousands, but a few dozen brands sell most small-business hosting. Many belong to a few parents. Newfold Digital owns Bluehost and HostGator, and Hostinger, SiteGround, IONOS and GoDaddy run their own platforms. This list covers 13 you will see most often.
Which web hosting company is cheapest?
Over three years, Hostinger Premium is cheapest on this list at $107.64 on its 48-month term. HostGator Hatchling works out to about $135 on a 36-month term, and Bluehost Starter to $143.64. Prices vary by term, so compare the 3-year total, not the monthly teaser.
What is the difference between shared, managed WordPress and cloud hosting?
Shared hosting puts many sites on one server and is cheapest. Managed WordPress hosting runs WordPress only, handles updates and caching, and starts near $30 a month. Cloud hosting like Cloudways rents you a dedicated virtual server and manages it, billed by server size.
Do web hosts raise prices at renewal?
Yes, nearly all do. SiteGround StartUp jumps from $2.99 to $17.99 a month. Bluehost Starter goes from $3.99 to $9.99 on a 36-month term. Namecheap raised its shared hosting renewals on May 19, 2026. Check the renewal price before you check the signup price.
Is a free domain really free?
For the first year, on most hosts. The domain then renews at the registrar's normal rate, which can sit a few dollars above dedicated registrars. See the best domain registrar guide for current renewal prices before you accept a bundled domain.
Which host has phone support?
Bluehost offers phone support on Business and above, SiteGround on all plans, and Cloudways only on its $500 a month Premium support tier. Hostinger has no phone support at any tier. Details change, so confirm on the provider's support page.
Can I switch hosts later?
Yes. Most hosts migrate one WordPress site for free, usually within a few days. Moving email and the domain is usually your job. Keep your old plan active until the new site and email are tested.
Is my host's published uptime number reliable?
Treat it as a promise, not a measurement. A host's uptime figure usually comes from its own probes or an SLA that pays credits. Independent monitors like UptimeRobot, Pingdom or StatusCake check from outside, and a free account lets you run your own.
Which host should a first-time small business pick?
A shared plan from Hostinger or Bluehost fits most first sites. Pick Cloudways once you outgrow shared limits, and a managed WordPress host only when downtime costs more than the $30 monthly fee. The best hosting for small business guide goes deeper on that choice.