HostingCompass

The server looked like a bargain until the second year's invoice came at the renewal price. Hosting companies quote in different currencies and billing periods, often with a starting offer that runs out, so two offers rarely compare at a glance. HostingCompass gathers plans from many providers into a searchable table. For each plan it works out the average monthly cost over 12 and 24 months, with setup fees and renewal prices included.

The plan finder covers VPS (a rented virtual server), cloud, dedicated servers, web hosting and app hosting. Filters narrow the list by hardware and data centre location, down to the payment methods a provider accepts. Each row links to the provider's own price page and marks a figure as quoted or estimated, while missing renewal costs show as unknown. The site lists 5,844 plans from 58 providers.

A second table compares registration and renewal costs for domains at 26 registrars, with transfer costs where known and notes on privacy protection and registration rules. A lookup field takes a website address or IP address and names the network provider behind it. For sites behind a CDN, a delivery network placed in front of the real server, the result shows the CDN instead. Some provider links earn the site a commission, and its disclosure page says commission amounts play no part in how plans are sorted.