How to Compare Web Hosting Quotes

Put two web hosting quotes side by side and the cheaper monthly number is often the more expensive deal. The prices usually aren’t wrong. They’re attached to different things, and the difference turns up later as a line item you didn’t expect or a change request nobody gets to.

These are the questions that make two quotes comparable. They work on any host, us included.

1. What does the monthly number buy?

Some hosts rent you space and leave the website, and its upkeep, to you. Others build the site and make changes for you as part of the plan. Both are legitimate, but a rental and a managed plan aren’t two prices for the same thing.

Ask whether there’s a one-time build or setup fee, and what the monthly price covers once the site is live. A quote that only shows the monthly figure is telling you half the cost.

2. Does the quote include the SSL certificate?

The certificate is what puts your site on HTTPS and stops browsers labeling it “Not secure”. Plenty of hosts include it. Some leave it out of the entry plan and sell it as an add-on, which means the plan you’re comparing isn’t the plan you’d actually buy. Ask, and get the answer in writing. Our post on what “Not secure” means covers why it matters.

3. Does the first-term price renew at the same rate?

Some of the big hosting brands advertise a low price for the first term and renew at a noticeably higher one. Check the renewal price as well as the introductory one, and check whether the low price depends on paying for several years up front.

4. What’s billed on top?

The hosting price rarely covers everything a firm needs online. The usual extras:

• Business email, normally priced per mailbox, per month.
• The domain name, renewed every year.
• Changes beyond whatever the plan includes, often billed by the hour.
• Faster support, sold as an add-on on some plans.

Add those up for your own firm before comparing. A two-person office and a twelve-person office pay very different email bills on the same hosting plan.

5. What happens when you need a change, and when you leave?

Ask how changes get requested and how long they take, and look for a published ceiling rather than “we’re usually quick”. Then ask what leaving looks like: whether you can take the domain with you, and whether you get a copy of the site’s files. The time to find out is before you sign, not while you’re trying to move.

6. Who answers the phone?

When something breaks, does the number on the quote reach a person who knows your site? Ring it before you buy. It’s the cheapest test on this list.

How our own quote reads against these

Each plan pairs a one-time build fee with the monthly hosting: $499 and $25 a month on Starter, $1,199 and $30 on Standard, $1,499 and $40 on Pro. The SSL certificate is included on all three. Email and domain registration are billed separately, and so is work beyond your plan’s update credits. Priority Support is a $15 a month option on Starter or Standard that takes 24 hours off the turnaround, and Pro already includes it. Change requests come back within 5 business days on Starter, 72 hours on Standard and 48 hours on Pro. If you leave, we help move your domain out and give you an export of your site files, though some stock images get stripped from that export for licensing reasons. Calls to +1 (636) 362-6221 reach the people who look after your hosting.

Our St. Louis web hosting page lists every plan’s monthly price and what each one includes.

If you’re choosing a web designer as well as a host, our guide to choosing a web designer in St. Louis covers the questions on that side of the decision.

Your Friends at Adams Digital