Websites
How much does website hosting cost?
Hosting for a small business website usually costs $3–$25 a month. Shared hosting for a WordPress site starts around $3 a month on a multi-year intro deal and renews at roughly $11–$17; a site built in code can run on platforms such as Vercel, Netlify or Cloudflare, free within their limits or from $20 a month for commercial use. SSL is free with almost every host. Compare renewal prices, not the first-year price.
Contents
Key points
- Hosting, the domain and email are three separate things, even when one company sells you all three.
- Intro prices need long prepayments: Hostinger's cheapest plan is $2.99 a month over 48 months and renews at $10.99.
- Vercel's free Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use; a business site belongs on Pro, $20 a month.
- SSL is free with almost every host; from March 2026 certificates last at most 200 days, so renewal has to be automatic.
Besides building the site, every website has two small yearly costs you can't skip: the domain and the hosting. The domain has its own guide: How to register a domain name. This one covers hosting: what it is, the main types, what it costs in 2026 and what to check so the renewal doesn't surprise you.
What hosting is
Hosting is a computer permanently connected to the internet, at a company that specialises in it, where your site's files live: the pages, the images, the database. When someone types your address, the domain sends them to that server, and the server sends back the page.
Three things get mixed up, because they're often bought from the same company:
| What | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | The site's address | yourbusiness.com |
| Hosting | The server the site lives on | A shared hosting plan |
| Email on your domain | Mailboxes with your business address | hello@yourbusiness.com |
They can live at different companies. Email has its own guide: Professional email address for your business.
The main types of hosting
| Type | Best for | Who looks after the server |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | Small business sites and blogs on WordPress | The host |
| Managed WordPress | Busier WordPress sites and WooCommerce stores | The host, including updates and backups |
| Platforms for sites built in code | Sites built in Next.js, Astro or plain HTML, with pages generated in advance | The platform (Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare) |
| VPS or cloud server | Web apps, large stores, special set-ups | You, or whoever manages it for you |
| Included in a builder | Sites made in Wix, Squarespace, Shopify | The platform, as part of the subscription |
For a small business site, the choice mostly follows from how it's built. A WordPress site needs a server with PHP and a database, so shared or managed WordPress hosting. A site built in code, with pages generated in advance, can sit on a platform that serves them from locations close to the visitor. The difference between the two kinds of site is explained in WordPress vs a custom-coded website.
What hosting costs in 2026
A few published prices, checked on 18 October 2026:
| Provider and plan | Monthly price | Renews at | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium | $2.99 (48-month prepay) | $10.99 | 3 sites, SSL, free domain for a year |
| Hostinger Unlimited | $3.99 (48-month prepay) | $16.99 | Unlimited sites, SSL, free domain for a year |
| Hostinger Cloud Startup | $7.99 (48-month prepay) | $25.99 | More resources, unlimited sites |
| Vercel Hobby | Free | – | Personal, non-commercial use only |
| Vercel Pro | $20 | – | Commercial use, $20 of usage credit included |
| Netlify Free / Pro | $0 / $20 | – | Monthly usage limits |
So for a small business site, hosting usually comes to somewhere between $36 and $300 a year. Online stores and web apps need more resources and cost more; how much depends on traffic and catalogue size. All of a website's running costs are added up in How much does a website cost.
Why the renewal price matters more
Many hosts advertise a low price that only applies to the first term, usually paid several years upfront. Hostinger's Premium plan, for example, is $2.99 a month if you pay for 48 months at once ($143.52), then renews at $10.99 a month. The Unlimited plan goes from $3.99 to $16.99.
SSL: free or paid?
The SSL certificate is what makes the address start with https and stops browsers from showing "Not secure". Almost every host installs a free certificate from Let's Encrypt, a nonprofit, and renews it on its own. Hostinger, Vercel and Netlify include it on every plan.
Paid certificates (with company validation, OV or EV) look the same to a visitor in the browser. They make sense for banks or platforms that need them by contract, rarely for a small business site.
Automatic renewal is no longer optional. CA/Browser Forum rules are shortening certificate lifetimes: at most 200 days for certificates issued from 15 March 2026, 100 days from 15 March 2027 and 47 days from 15 March 2029. A certificate renewed by hand would need replacing several times a year.
Free hosting: when it works
Free hosting exists, with conditions:
- Platforms for sites built in code have free plans with monthly usage limits. Read the terms: Vercel says its Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use only, so a business site belongs on Pro.
- Free WordPress hosts usually add ads, put their own name in your address or give you very little capacity. Not a good fit for a business.
- Website builders have free plans with their name in the address (yourbusiness.wixsite.com) and no custom domain.
What to check before you choose
- The three-year price, renewal and taxes included.
- Whose name the account is in. The hosting account and the domain should belong to your business, not to whoever built the site.
- Backups: how often, how long they're kept and whether you can restore one yourself.
- Where the server is. Closer to your customers means faster pages; for EU visitors, a server in the EU also keeps GDPR simpler.
- Limits: storage, traffic, number of sites and mailboxes, and whether email is included at all.
- Support: which channels and which hours.
- Moving: whether the host helps migrate an existing site, and whether you can leave easily with your files and database.
A slow server shows in load times, but not every slow site has a bad server; the causes are in Why is my website slow. What else belongs in yearly upkeep is in Website maintenance cost.
At Manvro we take care of the domain, the hosting and email on your domain for the sites we build. The written quote says where the site will live, what hosting costs per year and whose name the accounts are in. Details on our web design page.
Questions
How much does hosting cost per month?
For a small business website, usually $3–$25 a month. Shared hosting starts around $3 on a multi-year deal and renews at about $11–$17; platforms for sites built in code are free within limits or about $20 a month for commercial use.
How much does hosting cost per year?
Roughly $36–$300 for a small business site, depending on the plan and whether you're in the intro period. Online stores and web apps need more resources and cost more.
What's the difference between a domain and hosting?
The domain is the address (yourbusiness.com); hosting is the server the site's files live on. They can be at different companies: the domain simply points visitors to the server you choose.
Do I need to pay for an SSL certificate?
Usually not. Almost every host installs a free Let's Encrypt certificate and renews it automatically. Paid certificates with company validation are rarely needed for a small business site.
Can I move my site to another host?
Yes, if you have access to the files and the database. The domain stays the same; only the server it points to changes. Sites built in Wix or Squarespace can't be moved, because hosting is part of the subscription.
Sources
- Web hosting plans, Hostinger
- Pricing, Vercel
- Pricing, Netlify
- SSL Certificate Validity Changes (2026 – 2029), DNSimple
- Let's Encrypt, Internet Security Research Group