When choosing a web hosting service provider, we often neglect the features and services they include in the price. Instead, we focus on the lucrative prices, which are purposefully enlarged to underline the great deal they offer. And it’s true. Some hosting providers genuinely have outstanding plans that provide you with everything you need. However, blindly signing with the cheapest option will most often turn out to be more expensive in the long run. This is due to the hidden costs that are typically associated with hosting. Unfortunately, not all hosting providers are fully transparent about what you will get and what you actually need. So, to help you make a more informed decision, we collected the nine hidden costs of web hosting you need to consider before signing up with a web hosting provider. 

Security features fees

If you aim to create a personal blog, a portfolio, or an online business card, which aims only to inform and not to sell, security might not be the center of your attention. So naturally, to bring the cost down, most hosting service providers offer only a basic security package with their plans. For example, they often include some basic DDoS protection, which, unfortunately, is hardly enough. Especially if you want to gather your customer’s sensitive information. Usually, basic security includes Network Firewall. This is sufficient if you do not expect your website to attract too much attention and won’t collect private information or data. 

However, if you are an e-commerce business, a retailer, or generally collect sensitive information, you need a more complex security product. You’d want some IDS/IPS, a Web Application Firewall, Hardened PHP, Brute- Force protection, constant malware scanning, and more. Unfortunately, many hosting providers do not include these features. Instead, they ask for an additional price to include them. 

Sadly, if you spare money on your security, this will cost you even more in the long run. If a malicious attack brings down your website, you can lose much more than some additional costs. Not to mention the legal trouble you may find yourself in if sensitive information is leaked through your website. 

The best solution is to diligently check what security features the web hosting provider offers. Also, find out if everything is included in the announced price. Finally, ensure it will correspond with your needs. 

e-Commerce features fees

With around 24 million e-Commerce websites online today, it’s hardly a surprise that this is one niche where some web hosting providers would try to hide some prices. In general, some hosting providers have a cap on the people that may visit your website per month. 

Of course, here we can also mention the security features which are a cornerstone of your success, especially if you receive payments through your website. But there are some additional features like a payment gateways. Some hosting providers will introduce a fee for implementing them, even for the most popular gateways like PayPal or Stripe. Moreover, shopping cart software is sometimes part of the deal. However, you may be stuck paying extra for this feature as well. 

The best solution is to use WooCommerce and WordPress. This way, you will generally avoid any such fees. Moreover, you will receive one genuinely good platform to manage your inventory.

Nonetheless, it’s a good idea to know exactly which features you can get from your web hosting provider. Learn what fees you can expect for gateway integration. Finally, find out whether they allow for easy integration of platforms like WordPress and WooCommerce. 

Domain registration fees 

When it comes to domain registration fees, you need to consider two aspects when choosing your hosting provider. Firstly, most big hosting service providers offer a complimentary free domain when first signing up. That’s quite comfortable when you are creating your first website. It can really save you some additional nerves in searching for free domain names in registrars. Moreover, it will certainly cost a bit less as you won’t have to pay additional fees to a third party. So, when choosing your hosting provider, make sure they offer a free complimentary domain. 

More importantly, make sure what you will pay for that domain in the future. Once you register a domain with the hosting provider, you will have it for a year free of charge. Still, once this term expires, you will have to continue your subscription. If you are not careful, this may come at a bumped price. 

Naturally, don’t assume everyone is out to get you. Most reliable hosting service providers are happy to have you as a customer, and they definitely don’t overcharge you with your domain name. Such is the case with HostArmada – we charge one of the lowest domain renewal fees on the market. Still, it’s a good idea to check the renewal rates from the domain name after the first year to avoid surprises. 

Backup and restore fees

Having a backup is essential for any website. The owner can recover lost or damaged data after hacker attacks or hardware failure. This makes it one feature you shouldn’t spare money on since when you go big, you will need to have your data secured. So naturally, most hosting providers offer backup and restoration services. Still, they can also include hidden fees if you don’t read your agreements.

For example, hosting providers usually include only minimal backup services in their plans. They hope you will buy additional frequency, storage space, or other features. Backup frequency is usually the prime selling point of the provider, as most beginner websites don’t change their content that often. So some web hosting providers offer backups once a month or once a week. When these websites go viral and add new data hourly, they risk losing massive amounts of data if they get backed up only once a week. So, naturally, they buy a more frequent backup package.

This tactic goes for backup storage as well. Every fresh new website is relatively light, and website owners might be fooled into getting a plan with small backup storage simply because it’s a bit cheaper. In the long run, however, if you want your business to grow, your website will become bigger, and you will add more data. At some point, you will exceed the limited space, and you will have to buy extra from the provider.

Other website owners will give you everything you need, but they will add high restoration prices. So you will notice this extra charge only when you have to restore your website.
To avoid these extra prices, you must do your due diligence and ensure the hosting provider is transparent with its policies and fees. Nothing more.

SSL certificate fees

The secure socket layer, better known as your SSL certificate, is a general must for any website, regardless of its purpose. Going on a website that doesn’t show HTTPS default protocol at the start of your URL is a major red flag for most people. Many of them will refuse to enter such sites altogether, regardless if they are looking for cute cat pics or buying a brand-new cat sweatshirt. So naturally, 82.5% of all websites use the HTTPS default protocol today. Those asking for personal information or having payment gateways are 100% with HTTPS. 

This small change in the default protocol is due to the SSL certificate. Essentially it is a file that encrypts any information your client shares with your hosting server. So, for instance, if a client enters their credit card number, it will arrive at your hosting server encrypted. So, if there is some malware on your server, it won’t be able to read the file and steal the data. 

Most hosting providers will offer you a free SSL certificate. Still, you need to ensure the hosting provider offers it. Otherwise, an SSL certificate can cost you up to $100 additionally. Moreover, check the SSL features and determine if they will cover your needs completely. Once again, you need to look for a transparent hosting provider that clearly shows what they offer, so you can make an informed choice. 

Site migration fees

If you are changing your hosting provider and already have a website, you need to learn the hosting provider’s policies on migration. Some providers will ask for a fee for this service. It may vary on the website’s complexity and data size. Others may provide you with free migration tools, but you will have to pay a fee if you want them to make the migration. Moreover, some hosting providers will even charge you for the migration tools.

Of course, you should be looking for hosting providers offering free website migration. But first, check how many websites you can transfer for free. Most often, that depends on your plan. So if you have more than one website you want to transfer to your new hosting, make sure your plan allows all of them to get moved for free.

Having your domain name transfer is also an option if the new hosting provider has better renewal fees than the previous one. Some hosting providers will ask for a price, so you must calculate if this will benefit you in the long run. 

Technical support fees

Technical support is something website owners have for granted. After all, it stands to reason that if you pay for a service, the provider must ensure the service is operational at all times. So naturally, all hosting providers have free tech support for their clients. However, there are some that put an asterisk or two on their “free tech support” features. For example, some hosting providers will offer free support only during working hours. For 24-hour support, you need to pay extra. Otherwise, you put in a request and might wait for the weekend to pass to have it resolved. 

Others will offer a number of free tech support calls, after which you will have to pay for additional services. Some hosting providers even have specific scopes on which technical support issues are covered for free and which ones you should pay for. 

Support is undoubtedly one of the most essential features in your web hosting contract. So, ensure your provider offers 24/7 free support, so your website can run smoothly and without unwanted delays. 

Going over the resources fees

Whenever you choose a hosting plan, you reserve some resources from the hosting provider. So, naturally, once you reach the limit of these resources, your website either has to go down or you need to pay for some extra resources. For example, if one of your products goes viral and a surge of people comes simultaneously on your website, it’s easy to exceed your bandwidth limit. In this case, you would want your website operational, regardless of extra fees, as you will make a significantly higher profit. But, on the other hand, if this surge in visits is due to a malicious attack, it’s far better to have your website down for a bit and not pay some extra money on top. 

Some hosting providers will hide extra fees for getting over the limit, regardless of the reason. Good hosting providers will not only give you the flexibility to have such surges. They will also provide you with enough storage, bandwidth, and CPU resources to cover your needs. Furthermore, they will also monitor your website’s traffic and alert you whenever you are close to your limits. This way, you can make a decision on whether to scale or not. 

So, if you exceed your limits, you will pay some extra fees. You need to consider how much flexibility you have before you get there, how early you will be alerted, so you can make a decision, and how transparent your hosting provider is when it comes to these additional fees. 

Email hosting fees

Emails are another goldmine for malicious hosting providers to add some hidden fees, so they can capitalize on your trust. Dishonest hosting providers may claim to provide free email hosting services when they are severely limited based on account numbers, storage, and attachment sizes. So, if you want to have just a single email account, you’ll be fine. If your business grows, however, and you need more emails, you will have to pay additional fees and subscriptions. 

So, before signing up with a hosting service provider, make sure you fully understand all their email policies and included features. Make sure they offer unlimited email accounts, autoresponders, and filters. Most importantly, ensure they include an email virus scanner and spam filtering. 

Conclusion

Avoiding hidden costs in web hosting is not that hard of a task. All you need to do is read a bit of information and know where dishonest providers may hide their fees. However, the best way to avoid hidden costs is to avoid hosting providers that are reluctant to show what their products include. 

We at HostArmada take pride in the full transparency of our products. Therefore, we took the extra step and listed all our services’ features. Moreover, our support team is ready to help you determine which of our products will best suit your needs. Our general policy is to include all our features and resources in the total price, so there won’t be any surprises afterward. Have a look at our extended list of features below our plans, and contact our sales team to help you choose the one that will fit your needs perfectly.