Hosting
IONOS is a web hosting and cloud services provider offering shared web hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, and domains, with plans that bundle a custom domain, SSL, and professional email. Shared hosting runs on 1-year promo terms: Essential $4/month (then $8/month), Starter $6/month (then $10/month), Plus $1/month (then $14/month), and Ultimate $10/month (then $18/month), and WordPress hosting also starts at $1/month. Every advertised price is a first-year rate, with the renewal price published next to it on the same page.
All shared plans include a custom domain and Wildcard SSL certificate, a 30-day money-back guarantee, 99.99% uptime with geo-redundant storage, daily backup and restore, DDoS protection, SSH, SFTP, and WP-CLI access, 1-click app installs, professional email, and free 24/7 support. Domain, SSL, and email are part of the base price on all four shared tiers.
IONOS is the budget-tier bundle play: no other host in this cluster includes a custom domain, SSL, and professional email in the base price at a $1/month first-year entry point. The catch is the renewal step-up, with Plus jumping from $1/month to $14/month, a 14x increase, so the first-year price is a promotion, not the long-run cost. IONOS also sells VPS starting at $4/month for users who outgrow shared hosting.
IONOS
IONOS is a web hosting and cloud services provider offering shared web hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, and domains, with plans that bundle a custom domain, SSL, and professional email. Best for: Budget-conscious individuals and small businesses that want low-cost shared or WordPress hosting with domain, SSL, and email bundled in..
At a glance
| Category | Hosting |
| Starts at | $1/month with a 1-year term (Plus plan promo, then $14/month) |
| Pricing | Web hosting plans run on 1-year promo terms: Essential $4/month (then $8/month), Starter $6/month (then $10/month), Plus $1/month (then $14/month), and Ultimate $10/month (then $20/month). All plans include a custom domain, SSL, and a 30-day money-back guarantee; WordPress hosting also starts at $1/month. |
| Best for | Budget-conscious individuals and small businesses that want low-cost shared or WordPress hosting with domain, SSL, and email bundled in. |
Key features
- Shared web hosting with 99.99% uptime and geo-redundant storage
- Custom domain and Wildcard SSL certificate included on all plans
- Daily backup and restore with DDoS protection
- SSH, SFTP, and WP-CLI access plus 1-click app installs
- Professional email and free 24/7 support included
How does IONOS compare to Hostinger and DreamHost?
IONOS vs Hostinger. IONOS' Plus plan is $1/month in year one versus Hostinger's Premium at $2.99/mo, but the renewal gap flips: Plus renews at $14/month, while Hostinger Premium renews at $10.99/mo (after a 48-month term). IONOS bundles a custom domain, SSL, and professional email in the base price; Hostinger's Premium includes 3 websites, 20GB of SSD, free weekly backups, and a free domain for year one. For a single site with email included, IONOS' first year is cheaper; over four years, Hostinger costs less.
IONOS vs DreamHost. DreamHost's Launch plan is $2.89/mo in year one, renews at $10.99/mo, and allows 25 websites with unmetered bandwidth, while IONOS' Essential plan is $4/month and renews at $8/month with a custom domain and email included. IONOS' renewal rates on Essential and Starter ($8 and $10/month) undercut DreamHost's $10.99/mo, but DreamHost includes NVMe SSD storage and a 100+ location CDN on every shared plan. If email and a bundled domain matter, IONOS is the bundle leader; if raw website capacity matters, DreamHost wins.
The practical bottom line: IONOS wins the first-year price war (Plus at $1/month) and the bundle war (domain, SSL, and professional email on every plan), but its renewals land in the middle of the budget tier: Essential renews at $8/month, and Plus at $14/month is the steepest jump in the group. If you want one provider for hosting, domain, and email at the lowest first-year cost, IONOS is the pick; if you want the lowest four-year cost, Hostinger still leads.
Who should use IONOS?
IONOS fits budget-conscious individuals and small businesses that want one bill covering the domain, SSL, and email alongside hosting. If you are launching a first website and have not yet bought a domain or set up professional email, the $1/month first year on Plus packages all three, which is the strongest bundle in the budget tier.
Users who want standard admin conveniences, SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI, and 1-click app installs get them on every plan, and the geo-redundant storage with daily backup and DDoS protection keeps the technical baseline solid without add-ons.
Small businesses that want a professional email address on their own domain without paying separately for a mail service get that bundle on every IONOS plan, and the included Wildcard SSL covers subdomains without per-certificate purchases. The free 24/7 support and daily backups keep operational overhead low for owners who are not technical.
IONOS is NOT ideal for buyers who plan to renew the Plus plan (a 14x jump from $1/month to $14/month) or who need managed WordPress performance at the Kinsta or WP Engine level: IONOS is a budget shared host, not a managed platform. Buyers who want the lowest long-run renewal cost should compare Essential at $8/month against DreamHost's $10.99/mo and Hostinger's $10.99/mo before committing.
Pricing
Web hosting plans run on 1-year promo terms: Essential $4/month (then $8/month), Starter $6/month (then $10/month), Plus $1/month (then $14/month), and Ultimate $10/month (then $20/month). All plans include a custom domain, SSL, and a 30-day money-back guarantee; WordPress hosting also starts at $1/month. Confirm current terms on the vendor site before buying.
Alternatives
Worth comparing: Hostinger, Dreamhost, Siteground.
FAQ
How much does IONOS cost?
Shared hosting on 1-year promo terms: Essential $4/month (then $8/month), Starter $6/month (then $10/month), Plus $1/month (then $14/month), and Ultimate $10/month (then $18/month). All plans include a custom domain, Wildcard SSL, and professional email. WordPress hosting starts at $1/month and VPS at $4/month.
Is IONOS free?
No. There is no free plan, but every shared plan bundles a custom domain, Wildcard SSL, and professional email, and includes a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Does IONOS renew at the same price?
No. Promo rates apply for the first year only. Plus jumps from $1/month to $14/month at renewal, and Essential goes from $4/month to $8/month.
IONOS vs Hostinger: which is cheaper?
IONOS' first year is cheaper ($1/month Plus vs $2.99/mo Premium), but Hostinger renews lower ($10.99/mo vs $14/month on Plus). IONOS bundles domain, SSL, and email; Hostinger includes 3 websites, 20GB SSD, and free weekly backups. For a single site, IONOS' Plus is the cheapest entry in this cluster, and Essential's $8/month renewal undercuts DreamHost and Hostinger by about $3/month; the trade-off is Hostinger's extra websites and storage on Premium. If you will renew, compare Essential's $8/month against Hostinger's $10.99/mo.