Hosting renewal prices jump because the first term is priced as a loss leader to win the sign-up, then renews at the real rate. Among five major providers checked in August 2026, the increase ranges from about 70% (Namecheap, $27.36 to $46.56 a year) to about 502% (SiteGround, $35.88 to $215.88 a year).
Key takeaways
- The jump isn't hidden, it's just in fine print. Every provider checked discloses the renewal rate — on a separate page, in a footnote, or after "then."
- Percentage increase and absolute price tell different stories. Hostinger's increase (201%) is bigger than Bluehost's (116%), but Hostinger's actual year-two bill ($107.88) is still lower than Bluehost's ($303.63).
- Namecheap has the smallest shock of the five — both the lowest percentage jump and the lowest absolute year-two price.
- GoDaddy and SiteGround are the worst offenders here — over 400% and 500% respectively, on their cheapest advertised shared plans.
- A "free domain" isn't free. It's a ~$10-15 registration cost the host absorbs in year one and recoups in the renewal price.
Why renewal prices jump
It's not a glitch and it's not specific to one provider. Sign-up pricing across the hosting industry is a customer-acquisition cost, not a real reflection of what it costs to run your account. The provider eats the loss in year one — sometimes literally, registering your "free" domain out of pocket — on the bet that switching later feels like more hassle than paying the renewal rate. For most people, that bet pays off. They're not wrong to make it.
Namecheap said as much directly: in a support notice, the company told customers that shared hosting renewals were increasing in 2026 partly because it could no longer absorb the cost of cPanel's licensing fees. That's an unusually candid explanation. Most providers just quietly change the number on the renewal invoice.
The renewal shock, by provider
Each row uses the provider's cheapest advertised shared or entry WordPress plan, annualised, comparing the first-term price against the published renewal rate.
| Provider | Year 1 | Year 2 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap Stellar | $27.36 | $46.56 | +70% |
| Hostinger Premium | $35.88 | $107.88 | +201% |
| SiteGround StartUp | $35.88 | $215.88 | +502% |
| Bluehost Starter | $140.53 | $303.63 | +116% |
| GoDaddy Economy | $83.88 | $421.61 | +403% |
Sorted by year-two dollar cost instead of percentage, the order changes: Hostinger moves into second place even though its percentage jump is larger than Bluehost's — it starts from a lower base. This is the exact confusion that makes renewal pricing hard to shop by headline number alone.
Percentage increase vs. absolute price — which matters more
Absolute price matters more if you're comparing what you'll actually pay. Percentage increase matters more if you're trying to predict how a provider treats existing customers over time — a host with a smaller percentage jump is making a smaller bet that you won't notice or won't leave. On that measure, Namecheap's 70% is the most customer-friendly number in this table; SiteGround's 502% is the least.
Bar length = percentage increase at renewal, scaled to SiteGround's 502%. Sourced August 2026.
What actually drives the increase
Three things stack on top of each other by year two, and providers rarely itemise them the way they itemise the sign-up price. The base hosting rate resets from promotional to list. Anything given away — domain registration, SSL, email — starts billing separately or gets folded into the renewal number. And infrastructure costs the provider absorbed during the acquisition period, like Namecheap's cPanel licensing example, eventually get passed through. None of this is secret. It's just easier to notice on the invoice than on the pricing page you signed up from.
If you're switching, what to check before you commit
The uncomfortable part: every provider in this table runs the same playbook. Switching to whichever one looks cheapest today just resets the clock on the same problem 12 or 24 months out, unless you check the renewal rate before you sign up, not after.
- Find the renewal price before you buy. It's disclosed — usually on the checkout page or a "then $X/mo" line — but rarely on the same page as the promotional price.
- Compare the term length, not just the monthly figure. A 48-month promotional term locks in the low price longer but also delays when you'll next be free to switch without an early-termination cost.
- Decide whether you're optimising for year-one price or five-year price. They're different questions with different right answers depending on how long you expect to keep the site.
- If you do move, follow a real migration sequence. The zero-downtime migration guide covers DNS, TLS and redirect ordering so the switch doesn't cost you the rankings you're trying to protect.
Which one to pick
- Minimising the percentage shock specifically: Namecheap, at roughly 70% — the smallest jump of the five.
- Leaving GoDaddy, Bluehost or SiteGround and want the lowest year-two bill: Hostinger, at $107.88 — cheaper in year two than three of the four alternatives checked here.
- Already on Bluehost and not in a rush: its 116% increase, while still real money, is the smallest jump among the non-Namecheap options.
- On GoDaddy or SiteGround shared hosting: these showed the two largest jumps in this comparison — worth pricing an alternative before your next renewal notice arrives.