Shared hosting for a small business site advertises a median $3.99 a month and renews at $10.99. The advertised price usually means paying a year or more up front, a median $71.76 on day one. Over three years, hosting plus the domain runs $136 to $480 at the eight hosts we could price in full in November 2026.
The number in the advert is the least useful number on a hosting page. It is a first-term discount, it often requires paying three or four years at once, and it can change from one week to the next. The renewal price is the one you will actually live with.
Nearly every page answering this question is published by a company that sells hosting or earns a commission on it: 9 of the 10 we read. So on 7 November 2026 we read the plan pages of nine shared hosts, eight managed WordPress plans and three VPS plans ourselves, and added up what a five-page business site costs over the length of a real contract.
How much does web hosting cost per month?
For a typical small business site, $4 to $11 a month on shared hosting, or about $25 on managed WordPress hosting. The type of hosting matters more than the provider.
| Type | Advertised, median | After the first term | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting, 9 hosts | $3.99 | $10.99 | Most small business sites of a few pages |
| Managed WordPress, 8 plans | $25.00 | Mostly the same | A WordPress site you want updated and backed up for you |
| VPS, 3 plans | $6 to $7 | $6 to $12 | Someone who wants to run their own server |
| Website builder, 7 plans | $15 | Usually the same | An owner building the site themselves |
Our read of each provider’s own plan page, 7 November 2026, entry plans only, billed yearly where that is the advertised price. Builder median from our read of seven builders on 3 November. Read from outside the US in the US dollar prices each page displays. Prices exclude tax. Black Friday offers were live on some pages.
A VPS looks cheap, but you get an empty server and you install, secure and update everything yourself. For a five-page site it is the wrong product. Managed WordPress costs more because someone else does that work, and most of those plans do not raise the price after the first year.
What will I actually pay on day one?
Usually a lot more than one month. Four of the eight hosts that state a term want 36 or 48 months paid in advance for their advertised price. Only one in the set offers an introductory price on monthly billing.
| Host and plan | Advertised a month | Paid up front | Covers | Then a month | Jump |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium | $1.99 | $95.52 | 48 months | $10.99 | 5.5x |
| Namecheap Stellar | $2.28 | $26.88 | 12 months | $4.66 | 2.0x |
| DreamHost Launch | $2.89 | $34.68 | 12 months | $10.99 | 3.8x |
| HostGator Hatchling | $3.75 | $135.00 | 36 months | $10.99 | 2.9x |
| Bluehost Starter | $3.99 | $143.64 | 36 months | $9.99 | 2.5x |
| SiteGround StartUp | $3.99 | $47.88 | 12 months | $17.99 | 4.5x |
| IONOS Essential | $4.00 | $48.00 | 12 months | $8.00 | 2.0x |
| InMotion Launch | $4.79 | Not stated | Not stated | $14.99 | 3.1x |
| GoDaddy Economy | $5.99 | $215.64 | 36 months | $11.99 listed | 2.0x |
Read on each host’s plan page, 7 November 2026. Up-front amounts are the advertised monthly price times the term, except Hostinger and Namecheap, which print their own totals. Namecheap renews at $55.88 a year. GoDaddy shows $11.99 as its regular price rather than stating a renewal price. hosting.com showed no prices and is left out.
The median cash due on day one is $71.76, for an advertised median of $3.99 a month. The median jump at renewal is 2.9 times.
The advertised price also moves. Hostinger’s was $2.99 a month when we read it on 14 October and $1.99 on 7 November, while its renewal price stayed at $10.99 both times. The renewal is the number worth comparing.
What does hosting cost over three years?
Between $136 and $480 for the same five-page site, depending on the host. We added the up-front payment, the renewal months needed to reach 36, and two .com renewals at each host’s own domain price, since the first year is free at all of them.
| Option | Three years | Paid on day one | Email all three years? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium, 48 months | $135.50 | $95.52 | No, free for year one only |
| Namecheap Stellar, yearly | $178.60 | $26.88 | Yes, 30 mailboxes |
| HostGator Hatchling, 36 months | $180.98 | $135.00 | No, trial only |
| Bluehost Starter, 36 months | $191.62 | $143.64 | No, trial only |
| GoDaddy Economy, 36 months | $261.62 | $215.64 | “Free email”, terms not shown |
| IONOS Essential, yearly | $280.00 | $48.00 | Yes, 1 mailbox |
| DreamHost Launch, yearly | $342.42 | $34.68 | No, trial only |
| SiteGround StartUp, yearly | $479.64 plus domain | $47.88 | Yes |
Our arithmetic from the plan pages, with .com renewals from each host’s own domain page read on 3 November 2026: $19.98 to $23.99 a year. SiteGround does not state its domain renewal price. Before tax.
The cheapest three years is Hostinger, at about $3.76 a month, but it takes $95.52 on day one and locks you in for four years. The cheapest with email for the whole three years, billed a year at a time, is Namecheap at about $4.96 a month.
The “free domain” is the other place the bill grows. These hosts renew a .com at $19.98 to $23.99 a year, while the cheapest registrars charge about $12. Registering the domain yourself, separately from the hosting, saves a little money. It also means the domain stays yours if you change host, which matters more. How much a domain name costs has the full registrar comparison.
What should hosting for a business site include?
Five things. Most cheap plans include the first three, and the last two are where they differ.
| Need | What we found |
|---|---|
| An SSL certificate | Listed on nearly every entry plan. GoDaddy’s entry plan says one year, and Hostinger’s card does not itemise it. Nobody should charge extra for it. |
| Room for your site | Every entry plan covers a five-page site comfortably. |
| A free first-year domain | Offered by every shared host we read, then renewed at the host’s own price. |
| Email on your domain | A trial only at Bluehost, HostGator and DreamHost. Kinsta, Flywheel, Rocket.net and WP Engine include none at all. |
| Backups you can restore | Listed on most plans, but not stated for Namecheap’s entry plan or DreamHost’s. |
Email is the cost people forget. If your plan does not include it, budget about $6 to $8 a month per person for a business mailbox elsewhere.
This site runs on Hostinger, which is in the tables above. We pay for it like anyone else, and there are no affiliate links on this page. I would still not pay 48 months up front for a business site. A year at a time costs a little more, and you keep the option to leave.
The best price on these pages is the one that is still fair at renewal. Compare the “then a month” column, and treat the advertised price as a first-year discount.
Is managed WordPress hosting worth it?
If your site is on WordPress and nobody is looking after it, often yes. The dedicated managed hosts we read charge $20.83 to $29.17 a month on yearly billing, and most of them keep that price at renewal.
| Plan | A month, billed yearly | Billed monthly | Email included |
|---|---|---|---|
| SiteGround GoGeek | $10.69, then $44.99 | Not offered | Yes |
| DreamHost DreamPress | $14.99, then $19.99 | Not offered | Not stated |
| Pressable Signature 1 | $20.83 | $25 | Yes |
| Flywheel Starter | $25 | $30 | No |
| Rocket.net Starter | $25 | $30 | No |
| WordPress.com Business | $25 | $40 | 1 mailbox, year one |
| WP Engine Essential | $28 | Not shown | Not mentioned |
| Kinsta Single | $29.17 | $35 | Not mentioned |
Read on each provider’s pricing page, 7 November 2026. WP Engine’s footnote ties its price to first-year pricing for new customers, and WordPress.com’s renewal price did not display.
Managed hosting handles server updates, backups and caching. It does not update your theme content, fix a broken form or write anything, so it is not the same as a maintenance plan. What website maintenance costs covers that, from 100 published plans.
Am I already paying for hosting?
Quite possibly. Hosting is often bundled into something else you pay for, and paying for it twice is common.
- A website builder includes hosting in the subscription. You do not need a separate plan.
- A web designer or agency may host the site on their own account and bill you for it. Ask whose name the hosting account is in, because that decides how easily you can leave. Do I own my website goes through it asset by asset.
- A maintenance plan sometimes includes hosting: 34 of the 100 published plans we read did, and the rest did not.
- A monthly website service usually includes it, along with the build.
Check your bank statement for a hosting charge before you buy one. For a full picture of what a site costs to run beyond hosting, do you have to pay monthly for a website sets out the floor, and how much it costs to build a website adds up each route over three years.
Hosting is the cheapest line in running a small business website, and it gets the most attention. Whether the site produces calls has very little to do with whether you pay $4 or $11 a month for the server. Pick a host with a fair renewal price, put the account in your own name, and spend the time you saved on the pages.
Common questions
How much does web hosting cost per year?
For shared hosting, about $130 a year at the median renewal price of $10.99 a month, and less in the first term. Managed WordPress hosting is about $250 to $350 a year. Add about $20 a year for the domain if your host renews it.
Can I pay for hosting monthly?
Usually, but at a higher price. Most hosts reserve their advertised price for a yearly or multi-year payment. Of the nine shared hosts we read, only DreamHost offered an introductory price on monthly billing, and paying monthly cost more over three years.
Is free hosting good enough for a business?
Only for a simple static site with no forms, no editor and no email. Free tiers suit developers. A normal business site with a contact form and pages you edit yourself needs paid hosting or a builder plan.
Does web hosting include email?
Sometimes. Namecheap, IONOS and SiteGround include mailboxes on their entry plans. Bluehost, HostGator and DreamHost offer only a trial, and most managed WordPress hosts include no email at all. Check before you buy, or budget for email separately.
What is a fair price for small business hosting?
About $5 to $12 a month at renewal for shared hosting that includes SSL, backups and a mailbox. Paying much more for a five-page site usually buys capacity you will not use. Paying much less often means email or backups are missing.
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