It is common in the web hosting industry to charge for a year’s worth of hosting upfront. This makes sense because shared hosting is relatively cheap if prorated on a monthly basis, sometimes going as low as $2 a month. So it makes economic and business sense for companies to charge a year up front. That’s not the issue.
The issue is that many web hosting companies charge on an annual basis but show monthly pricing on their sales page. So many customers think it is paid on a per month basis. And when you go through the sales funnel, you will see that the cheap monthly price you saw was the prorated monthly price if you pay a year ahead of time. And if you choose to pay monthly, the price goes up quite a bit.
If you are in the planning phases of a new business, it might not make sense to pay a year ahead of time. You are testing and validating your business idea so you need the flexibility to pivot or pull back within the first several months.
To address this pain point, we have compiled a list of cheap web hosting companies that allow month-to-month (monthly billing) payments. We have also put their monthly price and annual prorated price for you to compare.
We have also included these other important considerations in the table to give you a better understanding of each hosting plan:
- Whether the plan offers free migration of an existing website from a different host
- How long their refund period is
- How many domains you can put on the plan
If there is one host out of all these I recommend, it would be Interserver. I have been with many hosts through my 15+ years of doing web-related stuff, and I can say that Interserver is one of the best. They are a no-frills web hosting provider that offers free migration, unlimited domains, quick and competent customer support, and extremely reliable servers. I moved a good chunk of my websites over to Interserver’s VPS plan recently because their performance outpaced that of my other VPS servers.
Web Host | Cheapest Hosting Plan | Monthly Price (If paid monthly) | Annual Pricing (prorated monthly) | Max Domains | Free Website Migration? | Free Domain With Purchase? | Refund Period |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Interserver | Standard Web Hosting | $7.00 / Direct Admin | $30 ($2.5) | Unlimited | Yes | No ($1.99) | 30 days |
Hostinger | Single Shared Hosting | $11.99/ Premium Shared Hosting | $30 ($2.5 )for 12 months | 2 domain max | Yes | free for 1 website. Any more migrations will cost $10 each | 30 days |
HostGator | Hatchling Plan | $ 3.95/mo | $8.99 ($0.75) | 1 free domain if you sign up for for a 12, 24 or 36 month HostGator Shared, WordPress or Cloud hosting plan. | Yes | Yes | 45 Days |
A2 Hosting | Lite | $10.99/mo | $35.4 ($2.95) | 1 | Unlimited | You have to pay $14.99 | 30 days |
GreenGeeks | Lite | $10.95 | $35.4 (2.95) | Unlimited | Yes | Yes | Yes |
SiteBuilder | Pro plan | $ 5.95 /mo. | $35.4 (2.95) | 1 | Since SiteBuilder is a template based builder the site cannot be transferred in or out of SiteBuilder | free for 1 year with annual and biannual plans. The renewal will cost $22 and all the additional domains other than free domain will cost $22 | 14 days |
HostPapa | Starter | $4.99 | $ 47.4 ($3.95/mo) | 2 | may vary | Yes | 30 days |
GoDaddy | Economy | $4.99 | $51.73 ($4.31/mo) | 1 | Yes | One (1) free domain registration or transfer during year one. | 30 Days |
Inmotion Hosting | Launch | $19.99/mo | $40/year. ($3.33/ mo) | 1 | Yes | Yes | 90 days |
JustHost | Basic | $2.95 | $71.28 (5.94) | 1 | One and Three month web hosting services require a $20.00 setup fee | Yes | 30 Days |
Liquid Web | Spark plan | $19/mon | $190 ($15.83/mo) | Unlimited | Free if website is WordPress, if not starts at $59.00 per month or a one-time annual price of $348 | Domain would be $15.00 per year | can cancel anytime and get prorated refund |
EasyWP | EasyWP Starter | $4.88 | $24.88 ($2.07) | Unlimited | Yes | can host as much domains as you want. But, only 1 website can be hosted on 1 EasyWP subscription. | 30 Days |
Kinsta | Starter | $35/ month | $350.00 ($35.00/mo) 2 months free | 1 | Yes | Yes | 30 days |
WP Engine | Start up | $20 | $300 ($25.00/mo) | 3 | Yes | No. You have to use third party provider | 30 days |
Namecheap | Stellar | $4.48 | $49.88 /mo ($4.15) | 3 | Yes | Free website domain is provided for free for the first year with the hosting purchase. | 30 Days |
Hostwinds | Basic Shared | $6.74 | $62.9 ($31.45) without a cloud backup | 1 | Yes | One (1) free domain registration with a purchase of 1 yr or more | 30 Days |
1&1 (Ionos) | Essential | $4.00 | $48.00 ($4/mo) | Unlimited | No | One (1) free domain registration or transfer during year one. | No risk, cancel anytime |
Cheap Month-to-Month Web Hosting Companies
Interserver
A perfect place for the start, Interserver offers straightforward pricing on their web hosting packages.
I host my most-visited sites with Interserver because they always have great customer service, easy-to-setup SSL, and configurable server settings.
The standard web hosting package starts at $6/mo, which includes a free (and unlimited) website migration, unlimited storage space and data transfers, unlimited email, SSL certificate, an inter-insurance free on all plans, and a price lock guarantee.
Interserver also guarantees 99.9% uptime even on its basic plan, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and 24/7 customer support.
They just upgraded their control panel so everything is extremely easy to setup, configure, and modify when it comes to your web hosting account.
An exclusive offer for visitors of this site: Try Interserver for the first month for just $0.01. That’s right, just a penny. The coupon code BB101TRY is automatically applied when you sign up with the link.
Hostinger
Geared with its advanced solution in Cloud Hosting, Hostinger has a single shared hosting plan, offers free website migration, and can hold a maximum of 2 domains.
You can choose from three Web Hosting plans. Ideal for beginners, their Single Shared Hosting plan includes one free Website, 10 GB SSD Storage, Free SSL, 100 GB Bandwidth, and 24/7/365 support for your needs. The price depends on how long you use the service and the features you want to have on each.
The cheapest plan starts at $9.99 per month (excluding the set–up fee of $4.99). There is an offer for a 30-day money-back guarantee.
HostGator
“Built by web pros for everyone”, Hostgator holds its name with its cheapest plan called “Hatchling Plan” HostGator has a variety of freebies for WordPress or Cloud Hosting plans.
It has free domain for a year and website migration services upon purchase of plans for 12, 24, or 36 months for HostGator Shared, WordPress, or Cloud Hosting plans, with a monthly fee starting at $10.95.
Their start-up plan includes One-click WordPress installs, Free WordPress/cPanel website transfers, unmetered bandwidth, and a Free SSL certificate.
They also have a 45-day money-back guarantee for shared, reseller, or VPS hosting plans for accounts canceled within the first 45 days of purchase.
AccuWeb Hosting
Accuweb Hosting offers a variety of dedicated services ideal for hosting a user or company. They offer a fully managed WordPress hosting plan powered by pure SSDs.
The cheapest plan is WordPress Personal + at $4.33/mo, for one WordPress Website with an ideal visitor of up to 75,000 per month, free SSL Certificate, 1 GB dedicated RAM, 20 GB storage, and 1TB Bandwidth. It also includes cPanel even on a standard plan.
WordPress migration is free, and for your peace of mind, online support of highly skilled WordPress technicians is also available 24/7 via phone, live chat, or email, and a 30-day money-back guarantee scheme.
A2 Hosting
Ideal for brand new blogs or popular business sites, A2 Hosting provides fast hosting services with their comprehensive site and domain management features.
Standard shared hosting plan priced at $7.99/mo., allows unlimited website migration, high-performance turbo servers, Free SSD, Unlimited disk space. The standard hosting plan doesn’t include a domain, and it has an add-on fee of $14.99.
A2 Hosting guru crew support team is also available 24/7 for any question you may have via phone, live chat, or email. 30- days +Anytime money-back guarantee is also available.
GreenGeeks
If you are looking for a fast, secure, and at the same time, eco-friendly web hosting service, then GreenGeeks is for you. An array of multiple hosting options is available for as low as $9.95 per month.
The starter plan “Lite” is made for WordPress hosting. It includes one website, unlimited webspace, Unmetered Data transfers, Free SSL Certificate, A free domain name for the 1st year, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Website migration is free. You may also reach the live hosting specialists via live chat, email, or phone, 24/7/365.
SiteBuilder
SiteBuilder is well known for its ease of use, quick to build simple websites. Their site builder “Pro” plan is priced at $6.00 for the first month, with a regular renewal fee after the first month of $12.00/mo. for a 2-year hosting plan.
The plan includes unlimited domains, but each site must have an individual hosting plan. Since SiteBuilder is a template-based builder site, existing website migration is not supported. Also, note that a domain is free for one year for annual and biannual plans, and there will be a renewal cost of $22.00 on additional domains.
They offer three premium plans, including a drag and drop website builder, customized templates, free hosting, Site submission to Google and other search engine platforms, Ad credits, and priority support for premium plans and up.
There is a 14-day money-back guarantee along with each purchase.
HostPapa
With its reliable apps and storage and its easy use tools, HostPapa claims to “bring business to life” with its shared hosting plans.
Its starter plan is priced regularly at $7.99/ mo, comes with essential features such as free domain registration, two websites and a free website transfer, 100 GB of SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth. In case you need additional website security, you may purchase a website back up insurance, a single SSL certificate, as well as front line access for your website priority support at an extra cost.
Papasquad in-house experts are available via support tickets, live chat, and phone- instantly. Each purchase comes with a no-risk 30-day money-back guarantee.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is known for hosting solutions for Linux plan, Windows plan, and WordPress hosting. If you want a hosting plan that includes a free domain and email, their “Economy plan” is for you.
Regularly priced at $8.99/mo, the Economy plan includes one website, 100 GB storage, ten databases, unmetered bandwidth, and a free 1-click WordPress install. It also has one free domain registration or transfer during year one.
If you require more power on your site, upgraded plans are also available for an added price. You may also call GoDaddy hosting support team to assist you with your buying needs.
All plans are covered with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Inmotion Hosting
Inmotion Hosting promises secure premium web hosting for your growing business. Powered by cPanel, they claim to provide the fastest shared hosting experience possible.
Their shared hosting basic plan starts at $7.99/mo, which includes a free domain, website migration, a capacity of up to 50 websites, 100 GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, Free SSL, and access to 24/7/365 customer support.
A professional email, multiple website hosting, one-click installs, and Drag-and-Drop builder are available in all plans. Added grade of security, such as secure access to all Google applications, is an add-on feature, subject to additional cost.
A full money-back guarantee on all web hosting plans is available, from 30 to 90 days depending on purchase.
JustHost
JustHost is popular with its user-friendly interface and “the best feature at the best price,” as it says on the website.
The basic plan is priced at $11.99/mo., with one website, one domain, a webspace of up to 50GB, unmetered bandwidth, free SSL certificate, email storage up to 100 MB per account, all on a standard plan.
You may upgrade to Pro to enjoy dedicated IP, SSL Certificate, Domain Privacy and Protection, and Site Backup for an additional discounted fee of $14.95.
You may try JustHost risk-free with their 30-day money-back guarantee and cancel if you feel that plan isn’t for you.
Liquid Web
Liquid Web promises to provide an unrivaled hosting experience for your business goals. It caters to both cloud and Web hosting solutions services.
The basic “Spark plan” specifically for WordPress includes unlimited domain, 15 GB Storage, 2 TB bandwidth, Unlimited email accounts, 30 days backups, iThemes Security Pro, and iThemes Sync for only $19/mo. For website, migration is free if the source is WordPress, all other website migrations would have a $59.00/mo fee or a one-time annual fee of $348. An additional domain costs $15 per year.
Ultimately, unlike other plans on the list, Liquid web is firm not to offer free trials. In case you don’t find the product fit for your need, you may contact them anytime to request a refund on your monthly investment. Also, no refunds are available on annual plans.
EasyWP
EasyWP is a cloud-based hosting solution for WordPress, backed up by Namecheap.
The cheapest plan is called EasyWP Starter Plan for $3.88/mo. This plan includes 1 WordPress website, free website migration, 10 GB SSD Storage, and a 99.9% uptime that is 3x faster than traditional hosting.
Under the starter plan, you may host as many domains as you want, but only one website can host on a single EasyWP subscription.
If you want to cancel your account, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee by getting in touch with their customer support.
Kinsta
A user-friendly yet powerful package with its advanced features is the selling point of Kinsta. They offered plans with free migration and a “hack-free” guarantee.
The cheapest starter pack for $30.00/mo comes with one free WordPress install, 10GB disk space, 10GB SSD storage, free 50 GB CDN, one free premium migration, and free unlimited migrations from other hosts.
Optional add-ons are also available on each plan, such as visits overage, disk space, and CDN overage, for an additional fee.
The support team is available via chat 24/7.
A 30-day money-back guarantee is also available on every purchase.
WP Engine
WP engine offers a fast, reliable digital hosting platform for any size of business. You may choose to pay either monthly or annually amongst the four hosting solutions they have available.
If you manage a small website or blog, you can use a basic startup plan for $30/mo. It comes with one site, 10GB storage, 50GB bandwidth per month, and a limit of 25,000 visits per month. If you have a larger business and a “mission-critical site” you may talk to a specialist for a custom made plan 24/7/365.
Each purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Namecheap
Namecheap offers an array of products for shared, VPS, and WordPress solutions. For online beginners, particularly for personal blogs, start-up WordPress sites, or business landing pages, they recommend the cheapest plan, Stellar, for $2.88/mo.
The Stellar plan comes with shared hosting solutions for up to 3 websites, 20 GB SSD, unmetered bandwidth. Comes with each hosting plan is free website migration for the first year of the hosting purchase, free website builder, domain name and privacy protection, automatic SSL installation, and a 30 day money-back guarantee.
Expert Customer support is available via Live chat service.
Hostwinds
Hostwinds guarantees fast servers at a low cost on shared hosting, cloud hosting, and VPS hosting.
The basic shared hosting plan is at $3.29 for the first month and $8.99 for the succeeding month.
It comes with unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, and one free domain. All hosting plans feature “stress-free” website transfers, unlimited email accounts, the latest cPanel installed, databases, SSL certificates for free, Weebly site builder, and a dedicated IP.
In case you are looking for more features and support, you may get started with their business plan, which is up to 500% faster speed, based on their website.
If you are new to web hosting or need help with your purchase, they have an available support team ready to help via chat or ticket. And yes, it also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
1&1 (Ionos)
Ionos has powerful hosting tools suitable for small single web projects and made to measure web hosting for agencies and resellers.
The basic plan they offer is called the “Essential”, priced at $4/mo for a 12-month subscription. The regular price per month is $6.00. It has up to 512 MB RAM, 1 SSL Wildcard Certificate, Data recovery feature, Easy 1-click installation feature, 10 GB Web Space allocation, Unlimited traffic, MySQL 5 databases of 1GB each, and a free domain for one year.
Customer service is available 24/7 and a no-risk, cancel anytime guarantee.