How we calculate costs and savings

For each plan we work out the cheapest valid way to keep it for 36 months: the intro price for as long as the intro lasts, then the renewal price for the rest of the 36 months, plus any one-off setup fee and any extra you have to buy. If a plan can be bought several ways (monthly, yearly, several years upfront), we pick the cheapest one that needs no more than 3 years paid upfront, and show the other ways below it.

Some deals need more than 3 years paid upfront. We cost those over the 36 months you'd use, and show the full amount as “Due today” with a warning.

Servers (VPS, cloud and dedicated) always include one public IPv4 address and daily backups (or the closest the host offers), plus the licence for Windows or a control panel if you asked for one. Servers billed by the hour are costed at 730 hours a month, up to the host's monthly cap. Transfer over the allowance is costed at the amount we assume for your traffic, which the quote shows.

Business email is costed for the number of people you told us, including any minimum number of users, packs rounded up, and intro prices that only cover the first few people.

Two figures. “Hosting only” is what we rank on. “Your 3-year cost” adds what you told us you need: email once a free email period ends, and domain renewals when a free domain is only free for the first year.

If a host doesn't publish its renewal price, we assume the intro price carries on, mark the figure with an asterisk and rank that plan lower, because the real cost could be higher.

“Due today” is what you'd pay upfront for the first contract. Many hosts only offer their lowest monthly price if you pay for a year or more in advance.

We compare the plan's 3-year cost with 36 months of what you told us you'll pay after your current plan renews. We count from your renewal date, because months you've already paid for aren't a saving.

If you didn't know your price, we estimate it from your host's published renewal price for a similar plan and say “estimated” next to the figure. If a plan would cost you more, we say so plainly.

We never say “save up to”. Every saving is worked out for you, from your answers.

Prices are shown in pounds, euros or dollars. Pounds include 20% VAT. Euro prices are shown before VAT for now, because the rate depends on your country. Dollar prices are shown before any sales tax. Every price is labelled.

When a host charges in a different currency, we convert using that day's European Central Bank reference rate. Your bank or card may use a slightly different rate.

Every price shows the date we last checked it. Prices not checked for 14 days carry a warning, and plans not checked for 30 days are hidden until we check them again.