WordPress itself is free, and hosting companies regularly advertise plans costing only a few pounds or dollars per month.
That can make starting a hobby website appear almost free.
The difficulty is that the advertised monthly figure rarely represents the complete amount you will pay. The lowest price may require several years of payment upfront, increase substantially at renewal or exclude services such as email and backups.
I wanted to understand what a beginner would realistically need to spend, so I compared four possible routes on 21 July 2026:
- Wealthy Affiliate
- Hostinger Premium
- SiteGround StartUp
- Namecheap EasyWP Starter
This was not a website-speed test or an attempt to declare one provider universally better than the others. It was an examination of whether their advertised prices purchased the same basic collection of services.
Prices and offers change regularly. The figures in this article are a dated example of how to make the comparison, not a promise that the same deals remain available today.
What does a beginner actually need to buy?
A straightforward hobby website does not need every premium WordPress product on the market.
My standard basket contained:
- one WordPress website;
- one
.comdomain; - one email mailbox using that domain;
- SSL;
- backups and a restoration route;
- freedom to install ordinary WordPress plugins;
- access to technical support;
- a way to export or migrate the website.
This is enough to expose several misleading comparisons.
One plan might include email, while another provides it free only during the first year. One may include daily backups, while another supplies weekly backups or charges for additional protection.
Comparing hosting prices without examining these differences is like comparing the price of two holidays without checking whether either one includes the flight.
Some important website components are free
A beginner can avoid many optional costs.
WordPress software
The open-source WordPress software is free. You still need somewhere to host it, but you do not pay WordPress a software licence for an ordinary self-hosted installation.
A suitable WordPress theme
I use the free version of GeneratePress. It provides the foundation needed for a fast, readable hobby website.
A premium theme may offer additional design controls, but it is not an unavoidable startup expense.
WordPress plugins
Many common requirements can be met using free plugins.
Depending on the hosting arrangement, these might cover:
- search optimisation;
- contact forms;
- cookie consent;
- image conversion;
- analytics;
- code snippets;
- backups.
Some hosting platforms already provide security, caching and backups, so installing a plugin for every possible task can duplicate existing services or create conflicts.
Images and logos
A beginner does not necessarily need separate subscriptions for stock images, graphic design and logo creation.
AI tools can help produce illustrations and initial logo ideas. Original hobby photographs may be even more useful because they provide evidence of real experience.
Page builders and premium design packages
You can spend a considerable amount trying to reproduce an elaborate theme demonstration. That is unlikely to be the best use of a new hobby website’s budget.
The initial priority should be publishing genuinely useful content through a simple, readable layout.
The headline monthly rate can be misleading
A price such as “£2.84 per month” sounds straightforward, but it may actually mean:
Pay for four years today, receive a discounted monthly equivalent, and then renew at a higher rate.
The important figures are:
- the introductory rate;
- the required commitment;
- the amount charged today;
- the renewal rate;
- the cost of required additions;
- any applicable tax.
A long initial term is not necessarily a bad deal. It could secure an attractive price for several years.
However, someone with only £10 available this month cannot buy a plan simply because its advertised monthly equivalent is below £3. The checkout may require well over £100 immediately.
For example, Hostinger’s July 2026 UK offer displayed Premium WordPress hosting at £2.84 per month when purchasing 48 months for £136.32. It also displayed a renewal rate of £10.99 per month. The package included three websites, a domain for the first year, weekly backups and two mailboxes per website free for the first year. Hostinger’s offer page
The headline rate was attractive, but understanding it required noticing:
- the four-year upfront purchase;
- the later renewal price;
- the one-year limits attached to the domain and email.
This made it difficult to place Hostinger inside the same two-year calculation as the other plans. I included it as a useful option but excluded it from my later Wealthy Affiliate remainder calculation.
The comparison method
I compared the cost of obtaining the standard basket rather than simply copying the largest price displayed on each sales page.
Where domains were separately charged, I kept their cost separate from the hosting-and-email benchmark. This was necessary because Wealthy Affiliate also charges separately for domain registration.
My WA .com domain renewal was approximately $15 per year at the time of checking.
A reader making their own comparison should add the actual domain price offered by their chosen registrar. The important point is to treat it consistently: do not include a domain on one side and quietly omit it from the other.
Namecheap EasyWP Starter
The lower-cost comparison route used Namecheap EasyWP Starter with one private email mailbox added separately.
EasyWP Starter provided one managed WordPress website, SSL, storage, caching, migration assistance and support. Business email was not included, so it had to be added to create the same functional basket. Namecheap EasyWP overview
The figures captured for the two-year comparison were:
- EasyWP hosting: $92.76
- One email mailbox: $29.76
- Combined two-year cost: $122.52
- Monthly equivalent: $5.11
The domain was excluded from this particular benchmark and would need to be added separately.
This demonstrated that one functional WordPress website can be operated relatively inexpensively without buying a premium theme or collection of paid plugins.
The low price does not prove that its computing resources, support arrangement or overall experience are identical to a more expensive platform. It establishes a lower-cost way of obtaining the basic functions.
SiteGround StartUp
SiteGround StartUp represented a more expensive conventional hosting route.
The plan supported one website and included email, SSL, backups and WordPress-related hosting features. Its introductory rate was substantially lower than its renewal rate.
The two-year calculation combined the discounted first year with the higher second-year renewal instead of assuming that the introductory price continued.
The captured cost was:
- Two-year hosting and email: £230.11 including VAT
- Approximate comparison value: $310.03
- Monthly dollar equivalent: approximately $12.92
The dollar figure was an approximate conversion used for the comparison. The original GBP amount is more meaningful to a UK buyer because the amount ultimately charged can also be affected by the payment provider’s exchange rate.
The domain was again excluded from this service benchmark and would need to be added separately.
SiteGround’s published plan information showed one website, 10 GB of storage and an indicative allowance of approximately 10,000 monthly visits. It also displayed the much higher renewal rate alongside the introductory offer. SiteGround WordPress hosting
Traffic guidance does not guarantee how a particular site will perform, but it gives the customer more information about the intended plan level.
Hostinger Premium
Hostinger illustrated a third pricing structure.
Its low monthly equivalent required a 48-month purchase. In return, the buyer received a long period at the introductory rate and capacity for more than one website.
This may suit someone who:
- can afford the upfront payment;
- intends to keep the website for several years;
- wants capacity for additional sites;
- understands the later renewal price.
It may be less suitable for someone who wants to test one hobby website without making a four-year commitment.
The treatment of email after the free initial period also needed further clarification in my dated comparison. Rather than inventing a renewal figure, I marked that part as unconfirmed.
That is an important comparison habit:
If a required future charge cannot be verified, do not assume it will remain free.
Hostinger was therefore useful in the article but not included when estimating the cost of replacing WA’s basic hosting basket.
Wealthy Affiliate
The Wealthy Affiliate membership figure used in my dated comparison was $497 annually.
That is equivalent to:
$497 ÷ 12 = $41.42 per month
Domains were purchased separately, with my .com renewal costing approximately $15 annually.
WA was clearly more expensive than the two conventional hosting benchmarks. However, the membership was not simply a single-site hosting package.
Depending on the membership tier and current offer, its wider bundle included services such as:
- hosting for multiple websites;
- WordPress installation and management;
- website-building training;
- keyword and research facilities;
- AI tools and credits;
- live classes;
- community access;
- SiteSupport;
- integrated domain and website workflows.
WA has used different offers and tier names, so readers should check the current pricing and exact inclusions rather than relying on the $497 figure indefinitely.
My affiliate relationship
I have been a Wealthy Affiliate member since 2015, and some links to WA are affiliate links. This means I may receive a commission if someone joins through them.
My recommendation is based on my own long-term use, but that does not make WA the correct choice for everyone. The guidance on Action With AI remains useful whether or not a reader chooses WA.
A beginner interested only in obtaining the cheapest possible hosting for one website will probably find a less expensive conventional option.
The more relevant question is whether they would use enough of WA’s wider bundle to justify the difference.
What does the extra WA cost represent?
I wanted to estimate how much of the $41.42 monthly equivalent remained after allowing for a basic replacement hosting-and-email service.
This is not an internal accounting breakdown of Wealthy Affiliate’s price. I do not know how WA allocates its costs between hosting, training, AI facilities, support or other services.
It is simply a way of asking:
After replacing the basic functional website services elsewhere, how much of the WA membership remains for everything else?
Comparison with the lower-cost replacement
Using the Namecheap service benchmark:
WA monthly equivalent $41.42
Lower replacement benchmark −$5.11
──────
Implied non-hosting remainder $36.31
Comparison using the midpoint
The simple midpoint between the Namecheap and SiteGround benchmarks was approximately $9.01:
WA monthly equivalent $41.42
Midpoint replacement benchmark −$9.01
──────
Implied non-hosting remainder $32.41
Comparison with the higher replacement cost
Using the SiteGround benchmark:
WA monthly equivalent $41.42
Higher replacement benchmark −$12.92
───────
Implied non-hosting remainder $28.50
This produces an illustrative range of:
Approximately $28.50 to $36.31 per month, with a simple midpoint of approximately $32.41.
What the remainder does—and does not—tell us
It would be incorrect to say that WA charges $32.41 per month for training.
The remainder potentially relates to the combined value of:
- training;
- research tools;
- AI credits;
- live classes;
- community;
- integrated support;
- multiple-site capacity;
- convenience;
- reduced need to coordinate several providers.
Different users will value these services differently.
Someone who completes the core training, moves their site elsewhere and no longer uses the community or tools may prefer cheaper hosting.
For me, ongoing membership has value beyond the basic lessons. The online world continues to change, most significantly through the development of AI. I value mixing with other people who are actively building websites and seeing the questions and experiences they share.
That community is not a perfect collection of expert guidance. Members are at different stages, and some posts include misunderstandings or conclusions that are not supported by strong evidence.
I therefore treat community claims as ideas to investigate rather than facts to accept automatically. Experienced members and WA’s owners often contribute to discussions, but important claims should still be checked against authoritative information, personal data or practical tests.
Support and convenience have value too
Support can be difficult to express as a monthly price, but it matters when something goes wrong.
I have contacted WA SiteSupport several times and found it helpful. During my backup research, SiteSupport answered my questions in approximately four minutes.
It confirmed that WA:
- backs up the complete database and website files every night;
- can restore a website;
- can generate a complete downloadable archive on request.
It also explained why conventional backup plugins did not function properly on the platform: WA intentionally prevents plugins from writing large backup archives because it already operates its own backup system.
This is a good example of the value of an integrated service. Instead of trying multiple plugins or changing server settings, I could ask one support team that understood the hosting environment.
That convenience matters more to me because I have previously found it confusing when instructions said, “Contact your provider,” without making clear whether that meant the domain registrar, host, email company or somebody responsible for WordPress.
Another user may be comfortable coordinating those services and prefer the cost saving.
The hosting itself may not be technically identical
The cost subtraction compares a basic functional basket. It does not establish that each provider offers equivalent computing resources.
Hosting plans can differ in:
- CPU availability;
- RAM;
- PHP workers;
- storage;
- caching;
- database performance;
- bandwidth;
- the number of other sites sharing resources;
- how sudden traffic increases are handled.
WA’s public information did not provide CPU, RAM and worker limits that could be compared directly with every conventional hosting plan in this exercise.
I therefore cannot conclude that the hosting services are technically equal simply because they all run WordPress.
A new hobby website with very little traffic may not notice these differences. They could become more important if the site attracts substantial simultaneous traffic or uses demanding plugins.
That is why this comparison is not a performance test.
How much should a beginner budget?
The honest answer is a range rather than one universal figure.
A low-cost single-site route
The Namecheap example provided the basic hosting and email functions for approximately $5.11 per month over two years, before adding the domain.
Adding a separately purchased domain would increase the complete cost, but the overall budget could remain relatively modest.
Conventional hosting with a shorter initial deal
The SiteGround example worked out at approximately $12.92 per month over two years, before adding the domain.
The important factor was the substantial difference between the introductory and renewal prices.
A long introductory commitment
Hostinger offered a very low monthly equivalent, but the customer needed to purchase 48 months upfront and consider the later renewal rate.
Its value depends partly on whether the buyer is comfortable making that commitment.
An all-in-one training and website platform
The WA figure used in the comparison was approximately $41.42 per month when paid annually, plus separately purchased domains.
That is considerably more than basic single-site hosting. The difference relates to the broader platform rather than hosting alone.
Optional costs can wait
A beginner may later decide to pay for:
- a premium theme;
- specialist plugins;
- professional branding;
- email-marketing software;
- premium image tools;
- advertising;
- advanced research software;
- additional security or backup services.
These should not automatically be included in the minimum startup budget.
Buy something when it solves a real problem you have encountered—not because a demonstration made the website look more impressive.
My own priority is to reach a useful depth of quality content before paying for extensive design customisation.
Questions to ask before choosing
Before buying a plan, answer these questions:
- How much must I pay today?
- How long is the initial commitment?
- What is the renewal price?
- Is VAT included in the displayed figure?
- Is the domain free only during the first year?
- What will the domain cost at renewal?
- Is domain email included permanently?
- Are files and database both backed up?
- How does restoration work?
- Can I install ordinary WordPress plugins?
- How many websites can I create?
- Can I export or migrate the site?
- Is technical support included?
- Will I use any bundled training or research tools?
- Do I value having everything managed in one place?
These questions produce a far more useful comparison than asking which provider displays the lowest monthly number.
So what does a hobby website really cost?
A basic WordPress hobby website can be started and operated for a relatively small amount.
Using free WordPress software, a free theme and carefully selected free plugins, the unavoidable financial costs are mainly:
- hosting;
- a domain;
- email if it is not included;
- any essential service missing from the hosting package.
In the dated comparison, the conventional hosting-and-email benchmarks ranged from approximately $5.11 to $12.92 per month before adding the separately purchased domain.
Wealthy Affiliate cost considerably more at approximately $41.42 per month when its $497 annual price was divided by 12. However, that membership included a much broader collection of training, tools, support, community and integrated services.
For one person, the cheapest conventional hosting route may be the obvious answer. Another may value the simplicity of having training, hosting and support together.
The important thing is not to mistake a promotional hosting price for the complete cost—or to compare a basic hosting package with an all-in-one platform as though they are selling exactly the same product.
Work out the basket you genuinely need, calculate the cost through renewal and then decide which additional services you will actually use.