How much does web hosting cost in 2026? Real prices after year one
By the serverserv team · 6 min read · Updated
Entry shared web hosting costs about $2 to $6 a month on a long intro term, then usually $10 to $18 a month once it renews. An unmanaged VPS costs about $5 to $50 a month, and a managed VPS usually $30 to $100 or more. This guide explains how much web hosting costs by type, what you really pay after year one, and the extra costs to plan for.
How much does web hosting cost per month?
Shared web hosting typically costs $3 to $25 a month, an unmanaged VPS $5 to $50, and a managed VPS $30 to $100 or more. The exact figure depends on the type of hosting, the plan size and whether you are looking at the intro price or the renewal price.
| Type of hosting | Typical intro price | Typical price after the intro |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting, entry (1 to 25 sites, 10 to 25 GB) | about $3 ($2.28 to $5.99) | about $11 ($4.66 to $17.99) |
| Shared hosting, mid tier (about 50 GB) | about $5 | about $17 |
| Shared hosting, upper tier (100 GB, CDN, staging) | about $8 | about $25 |
| Unmanaged VPS, 4 GB RAM | from $4.54 | about $19 (regular monthly) |
| Unmanaged VPS, 8 GB RAM | from $6.49 | about $27 (regular monthly) |
| Managed VPS, 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM | about $30 to $35 | about $45 to $55 |
| Managed VPS, 8 GB RAM | about $45 to $50 | about $80 to $100 |
Figures are medians and ranges in USD per month from the pricing pages of about a dozen well-known hosts at the time of writing (October 2026). Intro prices usually need a 12 to 48-month prepayment.
Shared hosting: what you pay in year one and after
Shared hosting is the cheapest way to put a website online, but the headline price rarely lasts. Expect the monthly cost to roughly triple when the first term ends.
- Hostinger Premium: $2.99 a month on a 48-month term, then $10.99. Monthly billing is $11.99.
- Bluehost Starter: $3.99 a month on a 36-month term, then $9.99.
- SiteGround StartUp: $2.99 a month for 12 months, then $17.99. That is $35.88 in year one and $215.88 in year two.
- GoDaddy Economy: $5.99 a month on a 36-month term, then $11.99.
- IONOS Essential: $4.00 a month for 12 months, then $8.00.
HostGator's own guide puts shared hosting at $3.75 to $6.25 a month and says most small businesses pay $3.75 to $20. Those are intro prices, so budget on the renewal rate if you plan to keep the site for years. Our guide to hosting renewal prices shows how to work out the true 3-year cost.
VPS hosting: what a virtual server costs
An unmanaged VPS costs roughly $1 to $6 for each GB of RAM per month, depending on the type of provider. You get your own operating system and root access, and you look after the server yourself.
- Bargain hosts such as Contabo and InterServer charge about $1 to $2 per GB of RAM, with trade-offs such as shared, heavily used hardware or slower disks.
- Mid-market hosts such as Hostinger, Namecheap and IONOS charge about $2 to $4 per GB, with intro discounts on long prepayments.
- Developer clouds such as DigitalOcean, Akamai (Linode) and Vultr charge about $6 per GB with hourly billing and no term discount. A DigitalOcean Basic Droplet with 8 GB RAM is $48 a month.
Prices also moved up in 2026 because RAM and NVMe hardware cost more. Hetzner raised new cloud orders by up to 175 percent. For a full breakdown by RAM size, read how much a VPS costs. If you are not sure you need a VPS at all, start with web hosting vs VPS.
Managed VPS: paying someone to run the server
A managed VPS costs more because the host's team takes on server administration such as updates, security and monitoring. Entry plans with 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM sit around $30 to $35 a month on headline price and $45 to $55 at the regular rate.
- Bluehost Managed VPS Standard NVMe 4: $49.99 a month on a 36-month intro, then $68.99. cPanel is included.
- HostGator Managed Snappy 2000: $34.99 intro, then $53.99, with cPanel as a $12 a month add-on.
- Liquid Web managed 4 GB: $36 a month for the first 2 months, then $72.
- RoseHosting Managed NVME 4: $64.99 monthly with no increase at renewal.
What "managed" covers varies a lot between hosts. Our guide to managed vs unmanaged VPS explains the usual split and what to ask.
What extra costs should you budget for?
The plan price is rarely the whole bill. Add these items to your estimate before you compare hosts:
- Domain name. Often free for the first year with a long hosting term, then charged at the renewal rate. At serverserv a .com is $13.99 a year to register and $18.99 to renew.
- Email. Several big hosts include only a 1 to 3-month email trial, then charge about $2.50 to $2.99 a month.
- SSL certificate. Usually free, but GoDaddy Economy includes it for the first year only.
- Backups. Sometimes an add-on. Hostwinds, for example, charges $1 a month plus $0.03 per GB on its managed VPS.
- Control panel licence. On a VPS, a cPanel licence can add $12 a month or more.
- Taxes and bank fees. Prices usually exclude tax, and your bank may charge a fee to convert currency.
Is monthly or 3-year billing cheaper?
A longer term always has the lower monthly price, often 40 to 60 percent less. At hosts with intro pricing, though, that saving ends when the plan renews at the regular rate.
Here is what serverserv web hosting costs on each term, renewing at the price you paid:
| Plan | Monthly | 1 year | 3 years | Total for 3 years on a 3-year term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter (1 site, 10 GB) | $9.99 | $5.99 | $3.99 | $143.64 |
| Business (10 sites, 50 GB) | $15.99 | $9.49 | $5.99 | $215.64 |
| Growth (unlimited sites, 100 GB) | $24.99 | $14.99 | $9.99 | $359.64 |
| Agency (unlimited sites, 250 GB) | $36.99 | $21.99 | $14.99 | $539.64 |
| Enterprise (unlimited sites, 500 GB) | $99.99 | $83.33 | $68.05 | $2,449.76 |
Prices are per month. Longer terms are billed once for the whole term. On monthly billing, Starter would cost $359.64 over 3 years, so the 3-year term saves $216. Monthly billing still makes sense while you test an idea, because there is no contract.
Which serverserv plan fits your budget?
Pick the smallest plan that fits what you run today. You can request an upgrade later from your client area.
- One website or blog: Starter, with 10 GB NVMe, free SSL and 5 email accounts.
- A small business with several sites and team email: Business, with 10 websites, 50 GB NVMe and 25 email accounts.
- Agencies and growing sites: Growth adds a CDN and staging sites, and Agency adds a dedicated IP and Git deployment.
- Custom software, Docker or bots: a Linux KVM VPS from $6.29 a month on a 3-year term, or $8.99 monthly.
- A server you do not want to run yourself: Managed VPS from $19.99 a month on a 3-year term, or $27.99 monthly plus a one-off $10 setup fee.
Every service renews at the price you paid. Compare all plans on the pricing page.
Questions
How much does web hosting cost per month?
Entry shared hosting is about $2 to $6 a month on a long intro term and about $10 to $18 once it renews. A VPS is about $5 to $50 a month and a managed VPS usually $30 to $100 or more.
Why does web hosting cost more when it renews?
Most hosts discount only the first term, which often needs 12 to 48 months paid up front. After that the plan renews at the regular rate, often three times the intro price or more.
Is monthly web hosting more expensive than paying yearly?
Yes, per month. serverserv Starter is $9.99 monthly, $5.99 a month on a 1-year term and $3.99 a month on a 3-year term, and each renews at the price you paid.
How much does managed VPS hosting cost?
Entry managed VPS plans with 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM cost about $30 to $35 a month on headline price and $45 to $55 at the regular rate, at the time of writing.
Does web hosting include email accounts?
It depends on the host. Some include only a short trial. serverserv Starter includes 5 email accounts and Business includes 25.
Are there extra costs beyond the hosting price?
Usually: a domain, email after any trial, backups, control panel licences on a VPS, and tax. Add them to your total before comparing hosts.
Sources
- HostGator: How much does web hosting cost?
- Hostinger: How much does website hosting cost?
- Hostinger web hosting prices
- Bluehost shared hosting prices
- DigitalOcean Droplet pricing
- Bluehost managed VPS prices
Prices from other companies are as published at the time of writing and can change.
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