Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our ratings or what we write.
What decides the real cost
The renewal price is the number that counts. A $1 plan that renews at $14 costs more over three years than a $3 plan that renews at $6.
You still need daily or at least weekly backups, free SSL and a control panel.
A single-site plan is fine to start; you can upgrade later without migrating.
A refund window means a wrong choice is free to undo.
Plans and renewal prices, side by side
Every price and spec below comes from our provider data, checked September 2026. Full detail is on each host’s review page.
| Host | From | Renews at | Sites | Storage | Backups | Refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DreamHost | $2.59/mo | $5.99/mo | 1 | 50 GB SSD | Daily | 97 days |
| Namecheap | $1.98/mo | ~$3.88/mo | 3 | 20 GB SSD | Twice a week (auto) | 30 days |
| Hostinger | $2.99/mo | $10.99/mo | 25 | 25 GB SSD | Weekly (Premium), daily (Business+) | 30 days |
| IONOS | $1/mo | ~$14/mo | Unlimited | Unlimited | Daily | 30 days |
Our best-value picks, ranked
The starter plan is $2.59/mo and renews at only $5.99, where rivals renew at $10 to $14; daily backups and a 97-day refund are included.
From $2.59/mo (36-month term)renews $5.99/mo50 GB SSD1 datacenter regions
Best for: One-site owners who plan to stay put for years
$1.98/mo for the first year with a free domain, then a renewal that stays under $4/mo, the lowest of the mainstream shared hosts.
From $1.98/mo (first year, annual prepay)renews ~$3.88/mo20 GB SSD4 datacenter regions
Best for: Side projects and small sites where total first-year cost matters most
$2.99/mo on a long term with the best speed of the budget group and Mumbai, Singapore and Brazil datacenters, though it renews near $11.
From $2.99/mo (48-month term)renews $10.99/mo25 GB SSD9 datacenter regions
Best for: New blogs, small business sites and first WordPress installs
$1/mo for a full year with unlimited sites and daily backups, but only worth it if you will move again before the ~$14 renewal.
From $1/mo (first year)renews ~$14/moUnlimited4 datacenter regions
Best for: One-year projects, or anyone who will move again before renewal
Budget-hosting mistakes to avoid
The errors we see people make, and how to avoid each one.
Buying on the intro price and forgetting the renewal
The single most common mistake. A $1.99 plan that renews at $11.99 costs $431 over three years; a $2.59 plan that renews at $5.99 costs $194. Always multiply the renewal price by the months you expect to keep the site and compare that, not the promo.
Paying for four years to get the headline rate
The lowest advertised price almost always needs a 36 or 48-month prepay. That locks you in and ties up cash. A 12-month term is usually a dollar or two more per month and keeps your options open; the flexibility is often worth it.
Skipping the backup question
Cheap plans are split between daily and weekly backups. Weekly means that if a plugin update breaks your site on a Wednesday, you restore to the previous Saturday and lose four days. Daily backups are worth a small premium.
Adding domain privacy and SiteLock at checkout
Budget hosts pad the order with $2 to $5/month add-ons that are pre-ticked. Domain privacy is usually free at good registrars; SiteLock is rarely worth it. Uncheck everything and add back only what you need.
How we scored these hosts
We keep a data sheet of every provider in the comparison: current intro and renewal pricing, datacenter locations, storage, backups and money-back terms, each with the sources we checked it against. The ranking on this page is our judgement about which of those providers fits cheapest web hosting best, weighted by the criteria above. A provider only appears once its current data is verified; where we could not confirm a number, that host is left off rather than guessed.
Learn the fundamentals behind this comparison
Plain-English guides to the parts of hosting that decide whether a plan performs for this use case or falls over.
- Intro Price vs Renewal Price: The Hosting Discount TrapAlmost every shared host advertises a low first-term price and renews well above it. The headline number is a discount to win you. The renewal is what you pay for most of the time you own the site.
- Shared vs VPS vs Cloud vs Dedicated Hosting: How to ChooseThe four hosting types are really one question: how much of a server is yours, and who keeps it running. Here is what each gives you and the signs it is time to move up a level.