SiteGround’s homepage leads with a $2.99 a month sticker that makes StartUp look like a steal, and then renewal time comes and the invoice reads $17.99. I run Ecommerce Paradise, where I teach high-ticket dropshipping, and hosting costs are one of the recurring line items I budget for every content site and WooCommerce store I run.
Here is exactly what SiteGround costs, plan by plan, so you know the real number before you check out.
| Plan | Intro Price (Year 1) | Renewal Price | Storage | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| StartUp | $2.99/mo | $17.99/mo | 10 GB | 1 |
| GrowBig | $4.99/mo | $29.99/mo | 20 GB | Unlimited |
| GoGeek | $7.99/mo | $44.99/mo | 40 GB | Unlimited |
Want the full feature breakdown before you commit? Read my full SiteGround review →
What the Intro Price Actually Includes
Every tier, even the $2.99 StartUp plan, includes free SSL, a free Cloudflare CDN, daily automated backups with 30-day retention, unmetered traffic, and SiteGround’s AI anti-bot protection. That is a genuinely strong baseline feature set at the entry price point, and it is more than most budget hosts include without an upsell.
What StartUp does not include is staging, on-demand backups, or Ultrafast PHP, and it caps you at one website. For a niche content site testing the waters, that is fine. For a WooCommerce store taking real orders, it is not enough headroom.
GrowBig: The Realistic Minimum for WooCommerce
GrowBig is where SiteGround becomes a legitimate WooCommerce host. Unlimited websites, 20 GB storage, a staging environment for testing plugin updates safely, on-demand backups, and Ultrafast PHP, which directly speeds up checkout processing. At $4.99 a month for year one, it is a reasonable entry cost for a store that expects real traffic.
GoGeek: When You Actually Need It
GoGeek adds Git integration, SSH access, white-label client management tools, and the highest resource limits on shared hosting. Unless you are a developer managing multiple client sites or your store is approaching roughly 400,000 monthly visits, GrowBig covers what you need without paying the GoGeek premium.
Renewal Pricing: The Number That Actually Matters
SiteGround’s renewal jump is one of the steepest in the managed WordPress category. StartUp goes from $2.99 to $17.99 a month, a roughly 500% increase. GrowBig goes from $4.99 to $29.99. According to WPBeginner’s WordPress hosting comparisons, steep renewal jumps are common across managed WordPress hosts generally, but SiteGround’s increase sits toward the higher end of that range. Calculate your real three-year cost using the renewal rate, not the year-one number, before you decide the deal is worth it.
Cloud Hosting Pricing: When Shared Hosting Isn’t Enough
If your store outgrows GoGeek’s resource ceiling, SiteGround’s Google Cloud plans start at $100 a month for Jump Start (4 cores, 8 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD) and scale up to $400 a month for Super Power. Unlike the shared plans, cloud pricing has no introductory discount, what you see is what you pay at renewal. At that price point, it is worth comparing against Cloudways, which often delivers comparable performance on DigitalOcean or Vultr infrastructure for less.
Hidden Costs and Add-Ons to Watch For
SiteGround does not consistently include a free domain, so budget $10 to $15 a year for that separately through a registrar like Namecheap. Exceeding your plan’s monthly visit allowance can trigger an automatic upgrade prompt rather than a hard cutoff, but it is worth monitoring traffic if you are close to the StartUp or GrowBig ceiling. Domain privacy and premium DNS, if you want them, are also billed as add-ons rather than bundled in in most cases.
How SiteGround Pricing Compares to Bluehost and Cloudways
Bluehost undercuts SiteGround on both intro and renewal pricing, starting around $1.99 a month and renewing near $8.99. According to Forbes Advisor’s WordPress hosting rankings, the tradeoff is that Bluehost’s performance and security stack lag noticeably behind SiteGround’s on independent benchmarks, particularly for WooCommerce checkout speed.
Cloudways sits in between, with no intro discount trick but a flat rate around $14 a month that avoids SiteGround’s dramatic renewal cliff entirely. See my full SiteGround vs Bluehost comparison for the detailed feature-by-feature breakdown.
Which Plan Should You Actually Buy?
For a WooCommerce store, start on GrowBig. The staging environment and Ultrafast PHP are worth the extra two dollars a month over StartUp, and the unlimited websites mean you can add a content blog or a second niche store without paying twice. Only step up to GoGeek if you are managing multiple client accounts or need Git and SSH access. According to TechRadar’s WordPress hosting rankings, mid-tier managed plans like GrowBig consistently deliver the best balance of price and performance for small to mid-sized stores.
Budgeting Hosting Into Your Business Costs
If you are still working through business formation and financial planning, treat hosting as a fixed monthly cost you plan around at the renewal rate, not the teaser rate. It is worth budgeting alongside your supplier and software costs rather than being surprised by it a year in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest SiteGround plan?
StartUp at $2.99 a month for year one, renewing at $17.99 a month. It covers one website with 10 GB of storage and no staging environment.
Does SiteGround’s price go up after the first year?
Yes, significantly. StartUp jumps from $2.99 to $17.99 a month and GrowBig jumps from $4.99 to $29.99 a month at renewal. Budget for the renewal rate from the start.
Is GrowBig worth the extra cost over StartUp?
For a WooCommerce store, yes. GrowBig adds staging, on-demand backups, unlimited websites, and Ultrafast PHP, which meaningfully speeds up checkout pages.
Does SiteGround charge for backups?
No. Daily automated backups with 30-day retention are included free on every plan, including StartUp. GrowBig and GoGeek add the ability to trigger an on-demand backup manually.
Is SiteGround cheaper than Bluehost?
No, Bluehost is cheaper at both intro and renewal pricing. SiteGround costs more but delivers stronger performance and security, particularly for WooCommerce stores where checkout speed affects conversion.
Building a WooCommerce store and want your hosting and tech stack sorted from day one? See how my done-for-you store build service works →
Or grab my free beginner’s guide to see how hosting fits into a complete high-ticket dropshipping system.
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
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