How much should web hosting actually cost?
The honest answer depends on what your site actually needs — not the number on the landing page banner.
The advertised price is rarely the real price
Almost every hosting company advertises an introductory rate that only applies to your first term — often 12 to 36 months paid upfront — and jumps significantly at renewal. That's not necessarily a scam; it's just how the industry prices things. The fix is simple: before you sign up, find the renewal price, not just the promo price, and decide based on that number.
Realistic pricing by site type
| Site type | Realistic monthly range | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small brochure/portfolio site | $3–$15 | Low traffic, shared resources are fine |
| Active small business site | $20–$50 | Needs reliability, backups, and real support |
| E-commerce or booking site | $30–$150+ | Downtime costs real revenue; performance matters |
| High-traffic or multi-site agency use | $100–$300+ | Needs dedicated resources or advanced management tools |
Why the cheapest plan can be the most expensive one
A $2/month plan that goes down during your busiest week, or that gets your site flagged for malware because security wasn't actually managed, ends up costing far more than the sticker price — in lost sales, lost time, and lost trust if customers hit an error page. Price is only one input. What you're really buying is uptime, support responsiveness, and how much of your own time you'll spend babysitting the server.
Where to actually spend more
If you're going to spend extra anywhere, spend it on support quality and backup reliability before you spend it on marginal performance gains. A host that answers the phone at 11pm on a Saturday when something breaks is worth more to most small businesses than a slightly faster benchmark score.
See real, current pricing
Our top picks with transparent renewal rates, not just intro pricing.
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