How expensive is web hosting?

[Cassie]

Hi guys, I'm pretty computer illiterate. I've registered a domain name with GoDaddy and tried to snag some webhosting with Dreamhost. I picked their smallest package (about $10/month) but then I saw they charge a $50 setup fee. Is it usually this expensive?

Thanks for any advice.

[Steve Pavlina]

Usually there's no setup fee for these kinds of accounts. Typically you can expect to pay $5-10 per month for a basic hosting account.

If you're interested in blogging, here's a list of web hosts that will even install WordPress for free:
WordPress › PHP / MySQL Web Hosting

[Kristoffer]

Originally Posted by Cassie

I picked their smallest package (about $10/month) but then I saw they charge a $50 setup fee. Is it usually this expensive?

How long did you sign up for? A year or 3 months? Usually the price gets better if you chose a year or even two years directly when you sign up. I am with BLUEHOST and it is 6.95 dollars a month if you go with that option. No hidden fees. There shouldn't be. Read the fine print or try to cancel it if you feel cheated by your host.

[Cassie]

I canceled with DreamHost before the transaction was complete. I was trying to do a month to month payment plan and that's when they slapped the $50 setup fee on me. I didn't realize you had to pay for a full year up front for some of these. I checked the list Steve sent and was going to try AN Hosting since they had the automatic wordpress install. They don't give a monthly option plan though, so it would be $80/yr.

For some reason I was under the impression people were paying monthly for their hosts. I can't afford yearly costs right now unfortunately.

[Kristoffer]

It's a bit of a sales trick when the host give you the price per month. They want it to sound low so that you will sign up. Usually there is a minimum period of 6 or 12 months when you sign up. There should be no extra charge. The good thing with getting the price per month is that it is easy to compare prices.

[Steve Pavlina]

Annual billing is pretty common when the monthly rate is so low. If they bill monthly, they lose more money to credit card fees and transaction processing costs. Plus they may even lose money if a client signs up for only one month and then quits. Such businesses want long-term customers.

[Cassie]

All right, makes sense, guys. Thanks so much. I'll have to save up here and there during the next month or two until I have enough to sign on for a full year. I see how it's useful for comparison shopping though.

[tobyhede]

In the meantime, maybe set up with a free blog?
You can move hosts when you have the money.

vox.com
blogger.com
wordpress.com

Wordpress.com uses wordpress, funnily enough, so the transfer should be pretty easy.

[Minsc]

https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/

$1 per gigabyte of transfer and $0.01 per megabyte-month.
(the members there pay on average $0.60 or so per month according to them)

Never used it though.

[pkarpiak]

NearlyFreeSpeech.net is a great host to be with when you are just starting out. The only problem is that they don't provide a mail server. You have to either use their forwarding services (~$7 per year) or change your MX records to point to an outside email server. Keep that in mind.

[Milo Riano]

I would recommend 1and1, I have not found a webhost that could match them up matrix per matrix of features and price. Not to mention I got to use their service free for the first six months when they offered the promo. Without the promo, I would still recommend them.

[Gerto]

Originally Posted by Cassie

I canceled with DreamHost before the transaction was complete. I was trying to do a month to month payment plan and that's when they slapped the $50 setup fee on me. I didn't realize you had to pay for a full year up front for some of these. I checked the list Steve sent and was going to try AN Hosting since they had the automatic wordpress install. They don't give a monthly option plan though, so it would be $80/yr.

For some reason I was under the impression people were paying monthly for their hosts. I can't afford yearly costs right now unfortunately.

Hello,
If you want to , I can give you a code that gives you 97$ discount if you pay yearly. Also, remember that they have a 97-day money-back guarantee
Let me know if you'd like me to create the code (normally, I'd get 97$ for referring someone, but I can use it as a code for you so that I don't get anything but you get the discount )

-Gert

[Jim Westergren]

I can recommend Royalty hosting as a very good host. From $3.95 per month and no set up fee. But I don't think they have automatic wordpress install but it is quite easy.