How hosting is priced

A hosting price is made of more than one number. Which numbers there are, and how they fit together, is the same at almost every company — so it is worth learning once. Ten minutes here changes how every pricing page reads afterwards, including the ones on this site.

The rate, and the rate after it

Most plans publish two rates. The first applies for the length of the opening contract. The second applies from the day that contract ends, for as long as the plan is kept.

Some companies publish a single rate that applies throughout. Both arrangements are normal, and the pricing page says which one is being offered. Knowing which of the two you are looking at is most of the work.

The term is what joins them

The term is the length of the opening contract — commonly twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six or forty-eight months.

Two things follow from it. The advertised monthly figure is usually the one that applies to the longest term, paid in advance; choosing a shorter term generally changes the figure. And the term decides when the second rate begins.

So a plan is described by three things rather than one: the opening rate, how long it runs, and the rate after it.

Monthly and prepaid are two prices for the same plan

Where a company offers both, the monthly option and the prepaid option carry different rates for identical hosting. The prepaid rate is the one that appears in most advertising, because it is the lower of the two.

This is worth checking before comparing anything: two plans quoted at different payment frequencies are not comparable figures.

Working the total out

The arithmetic is short. Multiply the opening rate by the number of months it covers, then multiply the second rate by the months remaining in the period you are planning for, and add them.

An example with round numbers, over thirty-six months. A plan at $3 a month for the first twelve months, renewing at $12: twelve months at $3 is $36, twenty-four months at $12 is $288, and the total is $324. The same period on a plan that charges $8 throughout comes to $288.

That is the whole method. On this site the same sum is done for every plan, from the rates each company publishes.

What sits outside the plan price

Several things are commonly priced separately from the plan, or included for the first year and charged after it:

• a domain name, often included for the first year and renewed at the registrar's standard rate
• a certificate for HTTPS, included by most companies at no charge
• backups, sometimes included and sometimes an add-on with its own monthly price
• mailboxes, which some plans include and others sell per address
• migration of an existing site, free at some companies and priced at others
• a dedicated IP address, priced separately almost everywhere

The plan page or the checkout says which of these is included and for how long. There is no way to tell from the headline figure alone.

Currency and tax

A price shown in dollars may be charged in another currency, at the rate the company's payment processor uses on the day. Where you live may add VAT or sales tax at checkout, which is not usually included in the advertised figure.

Four things worth reading before buying

• the second rate, and the month it begins
• whether the advertised figure requires the longest term, paid in advance
• which extras are included for the whole period, and which for the first year only
• whether tax is added where you are

What this site does with it

Every plan listed here carries the opening rate, the term, the rate after it where the company publishes one, and the total across thirty-six months. All of it is read from each company's own pricing page, and the date it was last read is printed beside it.