BlogGuides
Website hosting: what it really costs, and what it should include
Whoever searches for "website hosting" is almost always in one of two situations, and that's the first thing to sort out before reading on: either someone else is building the site for you and you're wondering whether hosting is already included in the price, or you're managing it yourself and it's on you to choose it.
Those are two different questions with two different answers. Here I'll try to keep them apart, with real prices from a provider I checked today, 28 July 2026, rather than a generic order of magnitude borrowed from some guide.
What hosting is, without the jargon
The domain is the address. Hosting is the space where your site's files actually live, the pages, the images, the database if the site uses one. Without hosting the domain exists but leads nowhere: it's a street sign pointing at an empty lot.
In practice, today, buying hosting almost always means buying other things alongside the storage: the security certificate that makes the padlock show up in the browser, automatic backups, and a level of support. These used to be sold separately, and the market has largely stopped charging for them on top, so it's worth checking whether the plan you're looking at truly includes them or leaves them out.
The number you see in month one, and the one you pay from month two
Here I'll use SiteGround as a concrete example, because it's the provider I checked and because it publishes both numbers on the same page, which not every provider does with the same clarity. I checked the official page today, 28 July 2026.
| Plan | First term | From renewal | Storage | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| StartUp | €2.99/month | €15.99/month | 10 GB | 1 site |
| GrowBig | €5.49/month | €27.99/month | 50 GB | unlimited |
| GoGeek | €8.49/month | €39.99/month | 100 GB | unlimited |
The ratio between the first price and the renewal price runs from about 4.7 times (GoGeek) to about 5.3 times (StartUp). Two things worth noting, checked on the same page: the prices assume a 12-month upfront payment rather than a true month-to-month charge, which on this provider as on others costs noticeably more.
This isn't specific to SiteGround: it's how most of the shared hosting market works, where entry offers tend to stay in the low single digits per month and renewals move up to double digits, typically somewhere between €10 and €40 a month depending on storage and included services. It's the same mechanism as a loss-leader in a supermarket sitting on the shelf while the full price sits on the receipt: it isn't dishonest if it's stated clearly, as in the case I checked here. The problem starts when you sign up for a full year having only read the first number.
When it's worth switching hosts, not just choosing one
You don't always start from zero. If you already have a site and your current provider is giving you trouble, slow loading, support that doesn't answer, a renewal that came in pricier than expected, the point isn't just finding a better one: it's working out what moving actually costs. It's a fair question to ask before deciding to stay out of inertia.
In SiteGround's case, checked today: transferring your first site from another provider is free, and for WordPress sites there's an automatic migration tool built to do it without taking the site offline during the move. This isn't unique to the industry, but it's an item worth checking before switching provider with whatever option you're weighing: if the migration costs as much as a year of hosting, the math changes.
What hosting needs to have for a site that represents a business
Not every item counts the same. These are the ones that, if missing, end up costing you later one way or another:
Automatic backups, with more than a few days of history. If the site breaks, gets compromised, or you delete something by mistake, the backup is the only way back without rebuilding from scratch.
A security certificate included, not sold separately. It's a standard today: if a plan charges extra for it, that's a signal worth noting.
Support you can actually reach, not just a form and a wait. A site down for an afternoon during a promotion costs more than a full year of the hosting fee.
Enough capacity for the traffic you expect. You don't need the maximum capacity on the market: you need the right amount for the people who actually visit your site. A plan built for a personal site with a few thousand visits a month won't hold up under the same load as one built for a business site with steadier traffic.
A refund guarantee in the first days. If the provider doesn't offer one, that's worth factoring in: it means the risk of a wrong choice sits entirely with you.
One thing you almost certainly don't need, for an ordinary business site, is the more powerful and more technical tiers you'll see in the same price list, dedicated servers or virtual machines reserved just for you. Those matter once a site already has significant, steady traffic or particular configuration needs; for a brochure site or a business site of a few dozen pages, a shared or managed plan like the ones above is more than enough, and paying for capacity you won't use makes the site neither faster nor safer.
If a professional is building the site for you
Here the question changes. If you've chosen a subscription that includes the infrastructure, domain, hosting, certificate and backups are already included and don't arrive as separate renewals from a second provider: that's what I offer too in my website service, a subscription from €590 to €890/month. If instead you bought a site as a one-off project, those items stay outside the project price and come back every year, on you: it's one of the calculations I laid out in full in how much does a website cost, with market ranges for domain and hosting when bought separately.
Either way, before shopping for hosting on your own it's worth checking what your existing contract actually says in writing: you might find the problem isn't finding one, but that you're already paying for what you have twice.
If you manage it yourself
If instead you manage the site yourself, directly, or have it managed by someone who doesn't also handle the infrastructure, choosing the hosting is genuinely on you. The list above is a useful yardstick here: look for a plan that has all of those items in it, not just the lowest storage price you can find.
On that front, I recommend SiteGround: checked today, all three plans include a free domain for the first year, a security certificate, daily backups, free transfer of your first site from another provider, unlimited professional email accounts on your domain, and 24/7 support. It's managed hosting, so security updates and technical maintenance stay on their side, not yours: that's the main reason I recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to also be the system administrator. There's a 30-day refund guarantee, useful for checking that the plan you picked is right before you're locked into the year.
See SiteGround's hosting plansThe StartUp plan, with 1 site and 10 GB, is enough for a brochure site or a blog just starting out. GrowBig, with unlimited sites and 50 GB, is the plan SiteGround flags as the most chosen, and it makes sense if you're planning to add a second site or expect yours to grow over time. GoGeek, with 100 GB, only matters if you already have substantial traffic or several heavier sites to run together: for most small-business sites it's more capacity than you'll actually use, and the middle plan stays the more balanced choice.
One detail worth checking regardless, here as with any provider before you sign: the renewal price you saw in the table above, and whether the payment required is annual or truly monthly. The plans page shows both numbers on the same screen, which is exactly the starting point for deciding without surprises in year two.
The practical math
If you choose the StartUp plan, you pay about €36 in the first year (€2.99 a month for 12 months, excluding VAT), and from year two you move to about €192 a year (€15.99 a month). That's a real jump, but it's still a small figure next to the cost of a site being down for an afternoon during the busiest stretch of your year. The right question isn't "which hosting is cheapest", it's "what does it cost me if what I chose doesn't hold up when it matters most".
Where to start
If you manage your site yourself, look first at what you already have: if even one of the items above is missing, backups, a certificate included, real support, that's where it's worth switching, not necessarily on price.
If instead you'd rather stop thinking about it, with domain, hosting, certificate and backups staying included in a single subscription instead of tracking a different provider every time one expires, get in touch and let's talk. You'll find the full numbers for my service in how much does a website cost.