Explainer
The renewal price trap
SiteGround GrowBig advertises $4.99 a month. It renews at $29.99 a month. That is a 501% increase, it is disclosed in small grey text below the buy button, and it is entirely legal and completely standard.
This page explains why the whole category prices this way, and what you can do about it.
Why it works
Hosting has extraordinarily high switching costs relative to its price. Moving a site means moving files, a database, DNS records and email, then waiting for propagation and fixing whatever broke. For a $15/mo product that is a weekend of unpleasant work.
Providers know the arithmetic. If migrating costs you a weekend, they can raise your price by $15 a month and you will very probably stay, because $180 a year is cheaper than a weekend to most people. The intro discount is a loan against that future inertia. Customer acquisition in this market runs to well over $100 per signup, much of it paid to affiliate sites — sites like this one — and the renewal rate is how it is recouped.
The 48-month prepayment makes it worse, not better. To get $1.99/mo you hand over roughly $95 upfront, which means the provider has your money for four years and you have a sunk cost that makes leaving feel wasteful even when it is not.
Three ways out
1. Buy the longest term you genuinely believe in
The promotional rate holds for the entire prepaid term. If you are certain the site will exist in four years, the 48-month term is real money saved. If you are not certain, you are buying an option you will probably not exercise.
2. Ask for a retention discount
This is the most under-used move in hosting. Contact support a week before renewal, say you are comparing alternatives, and ask what they can do. Retention teams routinely hold customers at 30–60% off the renewal rate, because keeping you at a discount beats losing you entirely. It costs one support chat.
3. Migrate on a schedule
Some people move hosts every promotional cycle and pay the intro rate permanently. Most hosts will migrate a WordPress site for you free as an incentive to switch. It works, it is legitimate, and the cost is a few hours of attention every couple of years. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on what your time is worth.
What to check before you buy
- The renewal rate, which is usually one line of small text under the price.
- The term length required for the headline number — 12, 36 and 48 months all appear.
- The refund window, typically 30 days, and whether the free domain is deducted from it.
- The domain transfer policy, if you took the free domain.
- Backup pricing, since “backups included” sometimes means the first tier only.
None of this makes shared hosting a bad deal. Even at renewal rates it is remarkably cheap for what it does. It just is not the price on the poster, and you should plan around the real one.