Hosting renewal price shock: why it doubled

If your hosting renewal is twice what you paid last time, or more, it is almost always because your first bill was a discounted introductory price and this one is the regular price. Often a few extras that were free for the first year have started billing too. It is annoying, and usually written in the terms you accepted, but you still have choices: trim the bill, ask for a better price, change the term, or move.

Why the price jumped

The introductory discount ended

Hosting companies compete on the first price you see. That price is often only for the first term, and frequently only if you prepaid for one, two or three years. When the term ends, the plan renews at its standard rate. The difference between the two can be large, and the renewal price was usually shown in small print at checkout.

The term you chose made it look bigger

If you prepaid three years at the introductory price, your renewal may also be a three-year charge at the regular price, all at once. The amount on the card statement is then three years of the full price, which can look alarming even when the monthly equivalent is ordinary.

Add-ons came with free first years

Hosting checkouts commonly add extras: a domain free for the first year, privacy, backups, a security scanner, an email mailbox, a premium certificate. Some were free for twelve months and now renew at full price. Some were ticked by default and you never noticed.

Prices went up

Some hosts simply raise their regular prices over the years, or move older plans onto new, pricier ones.

Read the invoice line by line

Before you decide anything, open the renewal invoice, or the billing page in your hosting account, and list each line:

• The hosting plan itself, and the length of the term.
• Domain registration, if your domain is with the host.
• Domain privacy.
• Backups or "site backup" add-ons.
• Security: malware scanning, firewalls, "site lock".
• Email mailboxes.
• SSL certificate, if it is a paid one.
• Anything else with a brand name you do not recognise.

Next to each line, write whether you use it, and whether you could get it elsewhere for less or for nothing.

What you can do right away

Remove what you do not need

The quickest saving. Common candidates on a small business site:

• A paid security certificate, when the host also offers a basic one at no charge.
• Domain privacy, if your registrar already hides your details. Domain privacy explains how to check.
• Marketing or "SEO" tools you never logged into.
• Mailboxes nobody uses.

Remove them in the billing settings before the renewal date, or ask support to take them off.

Ask for a better price

Call or chat with the host's billing team. Say the renewal is more than you expected and ask what they can offer to keep you. Hosts often have retention discounts or cheaper plans that fit a small site. There is no guarantee, but asking costs nothing. Be polite and specific: "I run a small site with a few pages. Is there a plan or a discount that fits that?"

Change the term

A shorter term means a smaller bill now, though usually a higher price per month. A longer term means a bigger bill now and a lower monthly rate. Choose based on whether you expect to stay.

Check the refund window

Many hosts refund a renewal if you ask soon after it is charged and have not used much of the new term. Look at the terms of service or ask support. If you have just been charged and want to leave, ask about a refund first, then plan the move.

Should you move to another host?

Moving to a different host for its introductory discount can work, but it often puts you back on the same cycle: cheap for a term, then the same jump. Before moving, compare regular prices, not offers.

Moving makes most sense when:

• The regular price is well above similar hosts for the same thing.
• Support has been poor, or the site has been slow.
• You are paying for a plan far bigger than your site needs.
• The site itself is due for replacement anyway.

If you move, do it in the right order, so the site and email never go dark. Moving your website to new hosting without downtime gives the steps.

Do not let it lapse as a protest

Turning off auto-renew without a plan is tempting. If the hosting lapses, the host can take your site offline, and if your email is on the same plan, mail stops arriving. If the domain is bundled with the hosting, it can expire too. Keep paying until the new arrangement is running, even if that means one more month or term than you wanted.

A different question worth asking

A renewal shock is a good moment to ask what you need hosting for. Some owners find their site is a few pages that change twice a year, running on a plan designed for something much bigger. There are ways of running a small business site with no separate hosting plan at all, or with a single one-off payment for the site; websites without monthly fees looks at what is realistic and what the catches are.

Protecting yourself next time

• Put the renewal date in your calendar with a reminder a month ahead, when you still have time to decide.
• Note the regular price of your plan somewhere you will see it, so the renewal is not a surprise.
• Untick add-ons at checkout unless you have a reason to keep them.
• Keep your domain at a registrar rather than bundled with hosting, so a hosting decision never puts your domain at risk.
• Check the bill each year, line by line.

What to do this week

• Open the renewal invoice and list every line.
• Remove the add-ons you do not use.
• Contact the host and ask what they can offer.
• If you plan to move, check the refund window and keep the current plan running until the new setup works.

And if your site is due a refresh as well, you can see your site rebuilt first and weigh that against renewing the plan you have now.