Hosting bill jumped

Your hosting bill went up. Here is why.

Almost every increase is one of five things, and most are on the invoice if you read it line by line. Do that first, then decide whether to cut extras or move.

Get your bill reviewed(330) 305-2750

Get these in front of you

  • The itemized invoice PDF, not the card statement total.
  • Last year's invoice for the same service.
  • The term length and renewal date of every line.
  • Your card statement, for charges not on this invoice.

Read the invoice line by line

Put every line in one of three piles: keep, replace, or cancel.

  1. Separate hosting from everything else

    The hosting itself is often a minority of the total. The rest is domains, privacy, backups, scanners, email seats, and certificates.

  2. Find the term length

    Intro rates are quoted monthly, charged for one to three years up front, and apply to the first term only. The service didn't change. The discount ended.

  3. Cross off what should be free

    A basic SSL certificate and a migration shouldn't be line items on any serious host.

  4. Look for things you were moved onto

    Anything on this invoice that wasn't on last year's needs a reason. Trials that turned into charges are common.

  5. Note the cancel and refund windows

    Auto-renew bills before the expiry date. If you move inside the refund window, you can often get most of the new term back.

The five usual reasons

The intro term ended

Most common

Signs: The jump lands exactly 12, 24, or 36 months after signup, same plan name.

Fix: Pay the standard rate, negotiate, or move to a host that renews at the signup price.

Add-ons stacked up

Very common

Signs: Privacy, backup, a scanner, an SEO tool, extra mailboxes, a paid SSL. Together often more than the hosting.

Fix: Cancel what you can't explain. Make sure you aren't buying backup twice.

Domain renewal on the same bill

Common

Signs: A yearly domain charge next to monthly hosting.

Fix: A real cost. Pay it, just know it isn't a hosting increase.

Plan changed for you

Less common

Signs: A different plan name, often after a resource warning.

Fix: Ask what triggered it and ask to be put back if the site didn't outgrow it.

You outgrew the plan

Less common

Signs: Overage charges or warnings, and a site that slows under traffic.

Fix: Move up. First check the storage isn't years of old backups.

Stay or move

  • Do the three-year math, not the first-month math.
  • Move for something that will still be true in two years: flat renewals, backups you can restore, a person who answers.
  • Ask any new host what the plan costs at renewal. If they won't say plainly, that is your answer.
  • Our renewal price is the same as signup, and SSL, migration, and nightly backups are included.
Hosting alternativesHow the big hosts compare on renewals.Web hostingWhat our hosting includes.WordPress migrationMoving without dropping email.

Questions

Why did my hosting double at renewal?

The advertised price was for the first term. The same plan renews at the standard rate. Nothing about your site changed.

Do I need to pay for an SSL certificate?

For an ordinary business site, no. Free auto-renewing certificates give the same padlock and encryption.

Can I negotiate a renewal?

Sometimes, and asking is free. A one-time discount postpones the problem, so note when it ends.

Will you look at my invoice?

Yes. Black out the account numbers and send it. I will mark which lines are normal and which are optional, and say so if staying put is the right call.

Forward me the invoice.

Black out the account numbers first. You get a line-by-line read on what is normal and what is optional.

Get my bill reviewed(330) 305-2750