How we compute the three-year true cost

1. The three-year true cost

Hosts advertise a promotional monthly rate that applies to the first term you buy, then renew at a higher rate. We model exactly that:

• Months 1 to N, where N is the term you buy (monthly, 1, 2, 3 or 4 years): the promotional rate.
• Every month after N, up to the horizon (12, 24 or 36 months): the renewal rate.
• Add-ons you select (domain, email, CDN, backups): free for the months a plan includes them, then the host’s yearly price divided by twelve.

The total is the sum of those months. “Effective per month” is the total divided by the horizon. “First invoice” is what checkout charges on day one: the whole first term at the promotional rate, plus any selected add-on that isn’t included in year one.

Totals are accrual-based: they describe what each month of ownership costs you, not the dates on which a card is charged. A four-year term kept for three years is counted at the promotional rate for all 36 months, and its first invoice shows the four-year charge.

2. Identical terms

When a page compares hosts without you choosing terms, each plan is taken on the term that matches the horizon, or failing that the longest term that fits inside it, or failing that the shortest term the host sells. The term used is printed in every row. The calculator lets you choose any term the host actually sells; it never lets you type a price.

3. Where prices come from, and what the badges mean

Prices are read from each host’s own pricing and checkout pages for US customers in US dollars, and stored with the page they came from and the date they were read. Every price on the site shows that date.

• Verified: the price was collected from the host’s own pricing page on the date shown. It has not been checked against the host’s live checkout.
• Unverified: from research and not yet collected from the host’s pricing page. Treat it as approximate.
• Stale: not re-checked recently; it may have changed.

Price changes we collect are applied automatically and dated, and every change is kept in a price history.

4. Rankings and sponsored placements

Tables are ordered by three-year true cost, cheapest first. Nothing else moves a row. There are currently no sponsored placements on this site. If we ever add any, they will be labelled as sponsored wherever they appear and will never change the order of a cost table or the arithmetic behind it.

5. What we don’t do

• No live availability search across hosts. No such feed exists; this is a curated, dated database.
• No performance scores. We compare what you pay, not how fast a server is.
• No non-US pricing yet. Prices in other regions can differ.

How we make money is on the disclosure page.