Methodology: Web hosting and VPS prices: first term vs renewal
Web hosting and VPS prices: first term vs renewal
- Conditions
What we track. Shared, managed WordPress and cloud hosting plans, and VPS plans with a fixed configuration (vCPU, memory and disk are recorded with every price, so comparisons are like for like).
What counts as a value. The monthly price on the provider's own pricing page for the named plan, with the date we read it, in the page's currency (we do not convert). For plans with an introductory price we record the first-term monthly price with the term it requires (for example 12, 24, 36 or 48 months) and, where the page publishes it, the monthly renewal price. A plan without a promotion has one monthly price. A struck-through "regular" price is not taken as the renewal price unless the page says so.
How the first term is billed. From the same page we record whether the first term is paid upfront for the whole term, billed monthly with a minimum term, or billed monthly without one. If the page does not say, we show the monthly price only and no amount due at purchase. The amount due at purchase is the whole term for a prepaid plan and the first month for a plan billed monthly.
What the plan includes. Where a card shows what a plan includes — websites, storage, a bundled domain, mailboxes, the renewal term; for a VPS the vCPU, memory, disk and transfer — every line is the provider's own wording from the same pricing page we read for the price, quoted verbatim (up to 200 characters) with the date of that reading. We do not take these from reviews, directories or other sites, and we do not fill gaps: what the page does not say is shown as "not stated on the pricing page". Plan contents are published as stated, not measured.
Totals over several years (Calculated). Payments are added up by their dates: the first term as billed, then the renewal price. Where the page does not say for how long a renewal is billed, the renewal is counted month by month at today's renewal price — that is our assumption, and the total says so. Without a published renewal price, totals beyond the first term are not calculated.
What it is not. A list price, not a checkout total. Where the page says whether tax is included, we say so; where it does not, we do not assume either way. The price a provider shows can depend on the visitor's country and language.
When a value is Unknown. When the page does not state the price, the term or the renewal price for the named plan, or a price cannot be tied to it without doubt (for example "renews at the regular rate found in your control panel"). A value we have not recorded is shown as Unknown, never as zero.
How often. Every plan is read once a day.
Hosting Renewal Premium Watch. The median of (renewal ÷ first-term price − 1) × 100 across shared and managed hosting plans with both prices read on the same date in the same currency, with the number of plans (N). A second series gives the median ongoing monthly price of VPS plans with 2 vCPU and 4 GB of memory, separately for each page currency.
Version. Version 1 of this method, in effect since 28 September 2026; billing of the first term recorded since 11 October 2026; description revised 15 October 2026.
- Coverage
- On : 47 web hosting and VPS plans from 19 providers.
- Region
- the United States