HostArmada vs SiteGround vs Cloudways: Price After Year One

On the entry plans, the regular monthly price read on 6 November 2026 is $11.95 for HostArmada WP Launcher, 15.99 EUR for SiteGround StartUp and $14 for Cloudways Micro. HostArmada and SiteGround advertise much lower first-term prices ($1.91 and 3.99 EUR a month), so the second year costs about six times the first on HostArmada and about four times on SiteGround. Cloudways has no term step at its regular price, but it showed a time-limited offer on the read date. The plans differ in size and billing, so the totals below are not a ranking.

• HostArmada. The page says discounts apply to the first billing term and renewals use the regular price. The first-term prices appeared with a "7th Birthday Sale" banner and no end date on the page. The page also advertises "2 free months" but does not say whether they extend the first term; the billing cycle shown is 12 months, so the arithmetic below assumes a 12-month first term.
• SiteGround. The EU page labels each price as prepaid for 12 months and shows the renewal price beside it.
• Cloudways. The page showed a Black Friday offer banner with a countdown to 6 December 2026. In some views the Micro and Small cards also displayed lower prices ($7 and $14) next to a button reading "80% OFF for 2 Months"; in others they showed only the regular prices. The conditions are not explained and the lower prices do not match 80%, so this guide does not value the offer.

• What is counted. The first-term price for the first 12 months and the regular price for years 2 and 3, with no renewed promotion and no tax.
• What is not counted. HostArmada's "2 free months", Cloudways' offer and the Cloudways backup storage fee described below: the offers' conditions are not set out on the pages read, and the backup cost depends on how much data you store.
• The step between year 1 and year 2. $120.48 on HostArmada WP Launcher and 144.00 EUR on SiteGround StartUp, computed from the monthly prices shown.
• Comparing totals. Euro totals cannot be compared with dollar totals without a conversion. HostArmada and Cloudways are both in dollars, but the plans differ: a fixed plan for 1 site on a 12-month cycle against a server size billed hourly with no term. The totals show what each entry plan costs, not which plan is better.
• Cloudways billing. It bills by the hour up to the advertised monthly price, and its FAQ says a stopped server is still billed, so stopping a server does not lower the bill.
• Rounding. Totals are computed from the monthly prices shown, so a provider's own checkout total can differ by a few cents.

SiteGround also publishes a rate table, dated October 2026, with regular monthly prices by term and currency. For StartUp the regular 12-month price is $17.99 or 15.99 EUR and the 24-month price is $14.99 or 13.99 EUR; for GrowBig the 12-month price is $29.99 or 27.99 EUR. The table says new signups may get a discount for the initial period. The three-year table above uses the 12-month term; a 24-month term is priced lower on this table and is not modelled here.

These are published limits, not a measured comparison. "Unlimited" on these pages depends on resource or fair-use terms, so read them before relying on it.

• Tax. SiteGround's EU prices are labelled ex. VAT and its rate table says prices exclude VAT, GST and other applicable sales tax. Cloudways says its listed prices exclude applicable taxes. HostArmada's page does not state its tax treatment.
• Backups on Cloudways. Offsite backup storage is listed at $0.033 per GB per server on top of the plan price, and the page's FAQ says backups are mandatory and can't be turned off.
• Domain. The pages read do not state domain renewal prices. If a plan includes a free domain in year 1, check what it costs to renew.
• Other add-ons. Email, CDN, security and support add-ons differ by provider and are not priced here.

Our reading, not vendor advice and not a ranking. If the site will run for years, compare regular prices, not first-term prices. If you host one site, the entry plans are the relevant comparison; if you host several, compare the unlimited-site plans on storage and regular price instead. If the project may end within a few months, a year-long prepaid term and an hourly-billed server carry different risks: the first ties the low price to a year of payments, the second keeps billing a stopped server. Whichever you pick, write down the renewal price and the date before you pay, because these pages change.

• Read the renewal price on the checkout page, in your currency, and whether tax is included.
• Check the term the first-term price needs; HostArmada and SiteGround advertise it for a 12-month prepaid cycle.
• Count your sites and your storage against the plan you are looking at.
• Add tax and any add-ons you need, including Cloudways backups.
• Keep a screenshot of the page you bought from.

Related reading: WordPress hosting prices: promo vs renewal rates, managed WordPress hosting for a small business site, Hostinger vs SiteGround, Cloudways vs Hostinger, WordPress host migration and free-migration limits, how we make money and our methodology.

• Scope. Entry and unlimited-site WordPress plans on the pages named in Sources; other plans, currencies and regional pages differ.
• Not assessed. Performance, uptime and support; no provider was tested for this guide.