To choose a web hosting provider, decide the hosting type first, count your websites, and then compare the four-year cost instead of the intro price. After that, check backups, the refund window and support. Those six checks separate the right plan from the cheapest-looking one. On the four hosts covered below, the four-year bill for an unlimited-sites plan ranges from $167.52 to $1,139.52, so this choice is worth twenty minutes.
Prices were checked on October 19, 2026 on the official US pricing pages of Hostinger, SiteGround, Namecheap and Cloudways. Namecheap’s renewal price comes from its help center, as checked for our Namecheap review on October 16, 2026.
Before you start: four answers you need
- How many websites? One, a few, or many. This rules plans in or out.
- How long will you keep them? Most low prices need a 12- to 48-month prepayment.
- Do you want to manage a server? If not, skip VPS plans.
- Do you need email on your domain? Some plans include it for good, some for one year, some charge extra.
Step 1: Pick the hosting type
The type decides how much work and money is involved. For most new WordPress sites, shared hosting is enough. Our guide on what shared hosting is explains what you share and the limits of each plan.
| Type | Who manages the server | Example plan | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared | The host | Namecheap Stellar Plus | $2.28/mo, billed every 2 years |
| Managed shared | The host, with WordPress tools | SiteGround GrowBig | $4.99/mo, prepaid 12 months |
| Cloud | The host | Hostinger Cloud Startup | $7.99/mo, prepaid 48 months |
| Managed cloud server | Cloudways | DigitalOcean Premium 1 GB | $14/mo, billed monthly |
| VPS | You | Hostinger KVM 2 | $8.99/mo, prepaid 24 months |
A VPS looks cheap, but you handle updates and security yourself. Our shared vs VPS hosting guide shows when the switch is worth it.
Step 2: Count your websites
Entry plans often cap the number of sites, and the cap is easy to miss. SiteGround StartUp hosts 1 website. Hostinger Premium and Namecheap Stellar allow 3. Hostinger Unlimited, SiteGround GrowBig, Namecheap Stellar Plus and every Cloudways server allow unlimited websites. If you plan a second niche site within a year, start on a plan that allows it, because upgrading mid-term usually means paying the difference.
Step 3: Compare the four-year cost, not the intro price
Assumptions: each plan is held for 48 months on its cheapest published term, then renews at the listed rate; tax and add-ons are excluded.
| Plan | Websites | Paid upfront | Four-year total | Average per month | Price after the first term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium | 3 | $119.52 | $119.52 | $2.49 | $10.99/mo |
| Hostinger Unlimited | Unlimited | $167.52 | $167.52 | $3.49 | $16.99/mo |
| Namecheap Stellar Plus | Unlimited | $54.72 | $201.16 | $4.19 | $146.44 per 2 years |
| Cloudways DO Premium 1 GB | Unlimited | $0 (monthly) | $672 | $14 | $14/mo, unchanged |
| SiteGround StartUp | 1 | $35.88 | $683.52 | $14.24 | $17.99/mo |
| SiteGround GrowBig | Unlimited | $59.88 | $1,139.52 | $23.74 | $29.99/mo |
Two things stand out. First, a low first year can hide a high total: SiteGround GrowBig costs $59.88 up front but $1,139.52 over four years, because it renews at $29.99 a month after 12 months. Second, look past year four. In year five, Hostinger Unlimited renews at $203.88 a year, while Namecheap Stellar Plus works out to about $73 a year and Cloudways stays at $168. Our guide to how much web hosting costs breaks this down further.
Step 4: Check backups and staging
Backups decide how much you lose if an update breaks your site. The schedule differs more than the marketing suggests:
- Hostinger: Premium has free weekly backups; Unlimited and Cloud Startup have daily backups.
- SiteGround: free daily backups on every plan. On-demand backups and staging start at GrowBig.
- Namecheap: Stellar Plus and Stellar Business add AutoBackup on top of the twice-weekly backups.
- Cloudways: backups are available, but off-site backup storage is billed at $0.033 per GB.
If you run a store, weekly backups are too few. Pick a plan with daily backups, or keep your own copies.
Step 5: Use the refund window or the free trial
Because most plans are prepaid, the refund window is your real test period. Hostinger, SiteGround and Namecheap list a 30-day money-back guarantee. Namecheap also offers a free 30-day trial on its shared plans, limited to one per account. Cloudways offers a 3-day trial with no credit card, but no money-back guarantee after you start paying. Set a reminder a few days before the window closes, so you decide while a refund is still possible.
Step 6: Check email and support
Email is the cost people forget. SiteGround includes email on all plans. Namecheap includes 30 mailboxes on Stellar and unlimited mailboxes on Stellar Plus. Hostinger’s mailboxes are free for the first year only. Cloudways has no email built in: mailboxes are a Rackspace add-on at $1.50 per mailbox per month, or $72 per mailbox over four years.
For support, SiteGround lists 24/7 chat, phone and tickets, while Hostinger lists 24/7 live chat and no phone line. I run my own sites on Namecheap shared hosting, and its online support has been fast for me. Namecheap also emails me before it makes changes on its side, which matters when a site earns money.
Warnings before you pay
- “Unmetered” is not unlimited. Our Namecheap review found a 300,000-file cap on Stellar Plus, which a large store can reach.
- The longest term gives the lowest monthly price, and the biggest upfront bill. Hostinger Unlimited’s $3.49 rate means paying $167.52 on day one.
- Moving later is possible. If you pick wrong, our guide on how to move a WordPress site to a new host covers the steps.
Which host fits which situation
- Several small sites on the lowest four-year budget: Hostinger Unlimited, $167.52 for 48 months.
- Long-term sites with cPanel and low renewals: Namecheap Stellar Plus, about $73 a year after the intro term.
- A business that wants email, staging and phone support included: SiteGround GrowBig, if the $29.99 renewal fits your budget.
- No prepayment and a server you can scale: Cloudways, from $14 a month with no renewal jump.
Check Hostinger plans Check Namecheap plans Visit SiteGround Check Cloudways plans
When you choose a web hosting provider, the deciding numbers are the site limit and the four-year total, not the headline price. Fix those two first, then let backups, email and support break the tie. If you are new to all of this, our list of the best hosting for beginners narrows it down further.
FAQ
Is the cheapest web hosting provider good enough?
For one or two small sites, often yes. Hostinger Premium costs $119.52 for four years with 3 websites and 20 GB of SSD storage. The limit is its weekly backup schedule, which is too slow for a store.
Should I pay monthly or for several years?
Prepaying is cheaper but locks you in. Namecheap Stellar Plus costs $2.28 a month on a two-year term, against a regular monthly rate of $7.88. Cloudways is the only host here built around monthly billing, and it also bills hourly at $0.0208 for its smallest Premium server.
Does every plan include a free domain?
Not on equal terms. Hostinger and Namecheap Stellar Plus include a free domain for the first year, and SiteGround lists a free domain on all plans. Cloudways sells servers only, so you register the domain elsewhere. Our guide to web hosting with a free domain compares the four-year cost including the domain. For the basics of how the two are billed, see the difference between a domain and hosting.