Renewal prices: why what you pay rises after the first term
The figure on a plan page is one term, paid up front. Here is how to read it, and the arithmetic that shows what you will actually pay.
By Salwa Al-Otaibi, reviewed by Nora Al-Mutairi · Published · Updated · 4 minutes read · Figures read on the companies’ own pages on
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What our figures show
Figures read on the companies’ own pages on · Methodology
Verpex: $3.00/mo on a 12-month prepayment: $36.00 today, then $6.00/mo
$36.00 + $6.00 × 24 = $180.00
- Cheapest renewal on the list: Namecheap
- Lowest 36-month cost on the list: hosting.com
How plans are priced
Hosting companies sell on one model almost everywhere: a low price for an opening term, tied to a single payment that covers the whole of it, then a different price that begins when that term ends and renews automatically. The opening term may be a year or four years, and the longer it runs the smaller the monthly figure looks, because you are paying for more months at once.
The second price is not a penalty or a sudden change of policy — it is the published price of the service. The first is an entry offer. The argument is not about the two existing; it is that some pages print both and others print the first and leave the second to the terms page or to the renewal email.
The arithmetic over three years
The arithmetic that settles it is simple: multiply the opening price by the months in that term, multiply the renewal by the months left to complete three years, and add them. That is one comparable figure between two companies however their terms and offers differ, and it is what the cost tables on the comparison pages here compute.
It produces a result that surprises people: a plan with a low advertised price and a short opening term can cost more over three years than one whose advertised price looked higher on a long opening term. The advertised figure alone does not order the plans; the total does.
How to read a pricing page
Look on the plan page for four things: the contract term this price requires, the total you will be charged today, the monthly price once the term ends, and whether tax is inside the figure or added at payment. If the third is not on the page, find it in the terms before you complete the purchase rather than after.
Then walk to the cart before you enter any card details. The cart is where pre-ticked add-ons appear and where a term has usually been selected for you, generally the longest one. The figure the cart shows is the only figure you will pay, whatever the offer page said.
When renewal does not matter to you
Renewal matters little in two cases. The first is buying a short term deliberately, intending to reassess when it ends — you have bought time rather than a commitment. The second is when hosting costs little against what the project earns, so the price gap becomes a line item not worth an hour of your attention.
Outside those two, renewal is the line that sets what you pay over the period you will actually stay. Few people move their site after a year, so the practical assumption is that you will pay the renewal several times, not once.
Where this advice stops
This explains prices published on the companies’ pages on the date they were read, and they change. Seasonal offers move the first figure and usually leave the second alone. What this text does not cover: domain renewal prices and the prices of added services, both of which renew on their own terms, away from the plan price.
Next step
Questions
Can a renewal price be negotiated?
Some companies offer a discount when you ask to cancel, and do not publish that anywhere. While it is unpublished we build no figure on it, and we would not have you count on it.
Why three years in particular?
Because it runs past the opening term of nearly every plan, so it shows both prices in a single number. A shorter window hides the renewal; a longer one assumes a stay nobody can predict.
Does turning off auto-renewal protect me?
It protects you from an unplanned charge; it does not change the price. Some companies treat stopping a renewal and cancelling a service as separate actions, so check that what you clicked did what you thought.
Changes to this guide
- Updated
- Published
About this guide
- Salwa Al-Otaibi wrote this guide
- Nora Al-Mutairi checked the figures before publication