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Before you sign up for any web host, make sure you know exactly your renewal price to avoid any nasty surprises in the future. Do not fall for the huge discount price too quickly! |
Please remember that what you pay initially is not what you are going to pay when you renew. Usually the renewal price is significantly higher than your initial price depending on how much offer/discount you have been given.
For example, someone who has paid $54 for a year of hosting at iPage may be very surprise (or angry) when he finds out that his credit card is automatically billed for $107.40 a year later!
There are basically 2 different price that you need to know - the initial price and the renewal price.
Initial price are also known as the offer price, the sale price, the discount price, the promotional price (promo price) or maybe just as the special price.
The renewal price can also be known as the regular price, the ordinary price or the normal price.
We will look at how transparent or nasty these web hosts are when it comes to disclosing the renewal pricing. This page will also serve as a very good place to compare detail pricing among the top hosts recommended by me.
BlueHost
BlueHost offers special pricing for new customers at $4.95/month for 12 months and $3.95/month for 24 months and 36 months. Customer will have to renew at the regular rate after that.
| BlueHost |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular Price Total | After Special Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $8.95 | $107.40 | $4.95 ($59.40) |
| 24 Month | $7.95 | $190.80 | $3.95 ($94.80) |
| 36 Month | $6.95 | $250.20 | $3.95 ($142.20) |
HostGator
Web hosts such as HostGator are very transparent with their pricing. You can use a coupon code to get 25% discount to your initial purchase (The code is Get25Discount). You will have to decide whether you want to use it on 12 months, 24 months or 36 months contract because the longer the contract, the cheaper the averaged monthly price.
HostGator Regular Pricing vs 25% Offer Price
| Hatchling Plan |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular
Price Total |
After 25% Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $6.95 | $83.40 | $5.21 ($62.55) |
| 24 Month | $5.95 | $142.80 | $4.46 ($107.10) |
| 36 Month | $5.95 | $214.20 | $4.46 ($160.65) |
| Baby Plan |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular Price Total | After 25% Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $9.95 | $119.40 | $7.46 ($89.55) |
| 24 Month | $8.95 | $214.80 | $6.71 ($161.10) |
| 36 Month | $7.95 | $286.20 | $5.96 ($214.65) |
If you purchase HostGator Baby Plan for 24 months, you will pay $161.10 initially but you are expected to pay $214.80 at the time of renewal. You can change your contract term when it comes to renewal, i.e. if you signup for 24 months initially, you can switch to pay for 12 months or 36 months when your initial contract expire.
iPage
iPage customers are usually the one who face the biggest nasty surprises when it comes to renewal. The higher renewal pricing is hidden under a tiny text link at the bottom of their homepage.
| Essential Plan |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular
Price Total |
Offer Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $8.95 | $107.40 | constantly changing |
| 24 Month | $7.95 | $190.80 | constantly changing |
| 36 Month | $6.95 | $250.20 | constantly changing |
From my personal observation, iPage initial offer price ranges from $2.95/month to $4.50/month. These are huge discounts which means someone paying $54 for a year of hosting may be very surprise when they are billed for $107.40 on renewal!
JustHost
JustHost has the most confusing offer price to begin with. Fortunately the regular price (i.e the renewal price) is fixed which is exactly the same as iPage and FatCow.
The reason why their initial price is confusing is because they keep changing their offer constantly and the offer price can be further reduced though the use of this "secret link". The secret link claims to offer you 20% discount but I don't know how they calculate it because offers are stacked with each other.
It is very difficult to know exactly how much you are going to pay until you reach the order page. But from my observation, the offer price can range from $3.96/month to $5.95/month. There are also lots of coupons floating around that mess up the final price further. However at anytime the secret link should yield the maximum offer.
| JustPlan |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular
Price Total |
Offer Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $8.95 | $107.40 | confusing |
| 24 Month | $7.95 | $190.80 | confusing |
| 36 Month | $6.95 | $250.20 | confusing |
FatCow
FatCow is the sister company of iPage and so they are charging exactly the same on renewal.
| FatCow Plan |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular
Price Total |
Offer Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $8.95 | $107.40 | constantly changing |
| 24 Month | $7.95 | $190.80 | constantly changing |
| 36 Month | $6.95 | $250.20 | constantly changing |
FatCow also offers huge discount to initial purchase and the offer price is constantly changing.
GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is very similar to HostGator but instead of giving a discount in percentage term, they are giving a fixed $30 off by using a coupon code (The code is Take30Off). You can always renew at your preferred contract length.
GreenGeeks Regular Pricing vs $30 Off Pricing
| Eco Site Plan |
Regular Price Per Month |
Regular Price Total |
After $30 Off |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $7.95 | $95.40 | $5.45 ($65.40) |
| 24 Month | $6.95 | $166.80 | $5.70 ($136.80) |
| 36 Month | $4.95 | $178.20 | $4.11 ($148.20) |
LunarPages
LunarPages initial pricing vs regular pricing is similar to HostGator where you can get a discount for your initial order in percentage term. Currently the best discount coupon is Get30Discount which gives you 30% discount on your initial contract (12 months and 24 months only).
| Basic Plan |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular
Price Total |
After 25% Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $8.95 | $107.40 | $6.71 ($80.55) |
| 24 Month | $6.95 | $166.80 | $5.21 ($125.10) |
| 36 Month | $4.95 | $178.20 | N/A |
PowWeb
PowWeb regular pricing is exactly the same as iPage, FatCow and JustHost. However the initial offer price is either $4.88/month or $3.88/month (usually on weekend). You can only purchase up to 24 months initially.
They usually name their $4.88 offer as 35% off offer and their $3.88 offer as 50% off offer. I do not know how they get the percentage number at all! Either me or them have failed in the math class.
| One Plan |
Regular
Price Per Month |
Regular
Price Total |
Offer Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Month | $8.95 | $107.40 |
$3.88 ($46.56) or $4.88 ($58.56) |
| 24 Month | $7.95 | $190.80 | $3.88 ($93.12) or $4.88 ($117.12) |
| 36 Month | $6.95 | $250.20 | N/A |
All Renewal Pricing At Once!
The following is a table showing the renewal pricing for all the top hosts.
| Web Host | 12 Month | 24 Month | 36 Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlueHost | $8.95 | $7.95 | $6.95 |
| HostGator Hatcling | $6.95 | $5.95 | $5.95 |
| HostGator Baby | $9.95 | $8.95 | $7.95 |
| iPage | $8.95 | $7.95 | $6.95 |
| JustHost | $8.95 | $7.95 | $6.95 |
| FatCow | $8.95 | $7.95 | $6.95 |
| GreenGeeks | $7.95 | $6.95 | $4.95 |
| LunarPages Basic | $8.95 | $6.95 | $4.95 |
| PowWeb | $8.95 | $7.95 | $6.95 |
Did you notice?
- All prices end with .95
- BlueHost, iPage, JustHost, FatCow and PowWeb share the same regular pricing
- The overall most expensive "winner" is HostGator
- The overall cheapest host is GreenGeeks
- All monthly price still below $10, that's why my website is called the $10 Cheap Web Hosting Directory. :)