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Hosting Renewal Price Tracker Hosting Renewal Price Tracker Add to Tracker Export to CSV Export to PDF Provider Initial Price ($) Renewal Price ($) Increase (%) Renewal Date Free Hosting Renewal Price Tracker As is standard industry practice, most hosting providers offer low introductory prices but then increase them on renewal. Over three years, this can add up to several hundred dollars in extra costs if add-ons such as domains and SSL certificates are also renewed when they come up for renewal. How it works As part of their incentive to sign up, hosting providers often offer attractive introductory rates at lower than market prices, but customers often forget that these prices will rise after their introductory contract ends - often by two to five times or even more! Customers may experience sticker shock upon receiving their first bill from hosting services. DreamHost and Bluehost both offer renew prices that closely mirror their introductory rates, providing reliable renewal costs that remain reasonable over time. PCMag provides an informative chart comparing initial and renewal prices of several common hosting plans; most shared hosts start out offering attractive initial costs (usually under $50 including domain) but subsequent years show steeper increases (5 Smart Ways to Avoid Sneaky Web Hosting Fees | PCMag). Other hidden costs also factor into these overall calculations, most often in the form of hidden extras that may not always be clearly advertised at signup; such as free domain registration for one year on annual plans that can later be renewed at an additional price and SSL certificates that range in cost from $15-$40 annually depending on host and add-on (5 Ways to Avoid Sly Web Hosts). Longer-term contracts often offer higher upfront monthly prices but more palatable or reduced renewal rates - encouraging customers to stay for an extended period. For example, Bluehost's 3-year plan offers an initial monthly fee of $4.95 with renewal costs set at $6.99; although this might seem attractive initially, over three years it costs customers $300 (Cybernews). SiteGround tends to have the steepest markups (4-7x introductory rates on high-tier shared plans) relative to absolute dollar increases, whereas HostGator and GoDaddy tend to keep markups moderate while still providing competitive pricing options. As shown by the table below, each major provider's relative difference between initial and renewal prices for various hosting plans to highlight this phenomenon. Requirements Some providers use low introductory pricing on web hosting plans in order to entice new customers, only to drastically increase them at renewal time. This practice, known as price discrimination, is all too common within the industry and it is crucial that before signing on with any provider that all fees, costs and terms and services are thoroughly understood before proceeding with signing any contract. Other key considerations when selecting a web host include its domain registration policy, website builder tools and customer support. HostArmada stands out by offering free domains for the first year with all shared hosting plans as an added benefit - plus they provide flat renewal pricing to avoid price gouging after their initial year; something many other hosts do not provide. Finding a good deal Many web hosts provide attractive introductory rates to attract new customers. But upon renewal, their renewal prices often skyrocket - even for plans costing under $50 annually when combined with domain fees or extras such as SSL certificates. We analyzed renewal prices of numerous popular hosts to compare how they stack up against one another; taking into account features like storage capacity limits or CDN/NVMe SSD support to measure overall performance levels. At renewal time, many hosts increase their renewal rate by more than 100% to cover increased infrastructure costs such as bandwidth and CPUs. Unfortunately, most providers do not inform you about these price changes in advance, leaving it up to you to check prices at renewal time. At renewal time, some top hosts charged more than competitors while others remained relatively competitive. It's essential that consumers are aware of these fluctuations so they don't end up getting taken advantage of. Some hosts entice new customers by offering first-year incentives such as domain name or SSL certificate registration free of charge, with renewal often incurring fees of around $200 annually (5 Smart Ways to Avoid Sneaky Web Hosting Fees | PCMag). Some hosts may provide more upfront pricing information, yet still increase rates at renewal time. They might justify this with reference to actual costs (which they usually sell below or sell for a discount), customer acquisition costs (a form of discounting), or discounting costs incurred during customer acquisition - either way it poses a major threat for consumers who remain unaware of these increases coming their way. An effective approach is to seek out hosts with lower renewal prices than most competitors and then enter into long-term introductory contracts to secure the best value. Switching hosts at renewal can be costly and time consuming. Conclusions Website hosting providers often offer attractive initial prices to entice new customers, only to increase renewal costs considerably and increase prices by as much as four times or more upon renewal. While this practice has been criticized as price discrimination and research shows customer frustration; while this might help hosts cover their advertising costs while creating additional work for users to manage billing cycles and consider alternative solutions. An effective way to prevent high hosting renewal prices is signing a long-term introductory contract, though this can lock in extra charges and limit flexibility if a host raises prices after its initial term ends. Some hosts also charge fees for additional services like domain names or SSL certificates that could add up quickly over the life of your plan. Prevent unexpected charges by shopping around before signing any long-term agreement. Hosts like DreamHost offer initial pricing with transparent renewal rates; their basic shared hosting package costs just $2.59 initially and $5.99 once renewed - just over 20% more expensive than Bluehost's most cost-effective plan! Consumers can verify whether essential services are included as part of the base price or as paid add-ons. For instance, some hosts include free domain name registration with their initial price but charge for renewal fees; this practice can easily hide additional costs if consumers don't look carefully enough. Bluehost isn't alone in employing this practice - all providers do this as part of their loyalty schemes and to control costs in the future. But for shoppers unwary enough, this may become an expensive trap; fortunately there are other providers with more reasonable initial and renewal rates that offer similar solutions. At the core, it's crucial to carefully weigh all your options and make informed decisions when selecting a web hosting provider. By doing your homework properly, you can find an ideal host to cover your website's security, uptime, and bandwidth needs.