The Renewal Hike Index: Q4 2026
The average advertised web-service plan we track renews at +203% over its intro price. 32 of 82 tracked plans (39%) at least double at renewal. The worst single offender this quarter: IONOS Plan 3 at +1300%. Every number below is machine-verified against the provider's own pricing page and linked to its full record.
Renewal increase by category
| category | plans tracked | with traps | avg increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web Hosting | 25 | 25 | +253% |
| Vpn | 15 | 5 | +153% |
| Security | 10 | 10 | +125% |
| Software | 32 | 2 | +100% |
The 10 worst renewal traps, Q4 2026
| # | provider / plan | advertised | renews at | trap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IONOS Plan 3 | $1 | $14 | +1300% |
| 2 | GreenGeeks Lite | $2.95 | $13.95 | +373% |
| 3 | SiteGround StartUp | $3.99 | $17.99 | +351% |
| 4 | SiteGround GrowBig | $6.69 | $29.99 | +348% |
| 5 | Hostinger Business | $3.99 | $16.99 | +326% |
| 6 | SiteGround GoGeek | $10.69 | $44.99 | +321% |
| 7 | Norton Norton 360 Deluxe | $2.50 | $10.42 | +317% |
| 8 | NordVPN Complete | $4.49 | $18.29 | +307% |
| 9 | GreenGeeks Pro | $4.95 | $18.95 | +283% |
| 10 | Norton Norton 360 Standard | $2.08 | $7.92 | +281% |
The honor roll, no renewal games
Private Internet Access, Windscribe, Mullvad, GetResponse, Kit (ConvertKit), Semrush, Shopify, Dropbox, Squarespace, Ahrefs, Mangools
For journalists and researchers
Everything here is free to republish with attribution to HonestlyRanked and a link (CC BY 4.0). No permission needed, no embargo.
Raw data: download the full dataset (CSV),
every plan, both prices, the increase, and the date each figure was last verified.
Method: software visits each provider's public pricing page once daily and records the
advertised price and the renewal price. No estimates, no modelling, no vendor-supplied figures.
Full methodology.
Custom cuts, per-provider histories, or comment:
honestlyranked@gmail.com, we answer the same day.
Corrections matter more to us than coverage. If any figure here does not match what a provider charges, tell us and we will publish the correction.