~/reports/renewal-hike-index-2026-q3

The Renewal Hike Index — Q3 2026

auto-computed from 80 verified plans across 27 providers · free to republish with credit

The average advertised web-service plan we track renews at +196% over its intro price. 32 of 80 tracked plans (40%) 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

categoryplans trackedwith trapsavg increase
Web Hosting2525+253%
Vpn155+153%
Security1010+94%
Software302+100%

The 10 worst renewal traps — Q3 2026

#provider / planadvertisedrenews attrap
1IONOS Plan 3$1$14+1300%
2GreenGeeks Lite$2.95$13.95+373%
3SiteGround StartUp$3.99$17.99+351%
4SiteGround GrowBig$6.69$29.99+348%
5Hostinger Business$3.99$16.99+326%
6SiteGround GoGeek$10.69$44.99+321%
7NordVPN Complete$4.49$18.29+307%
8GreenGeeks Pro$4.95$18.95+283%
9DreamHost Launch$2.89$10.99+280%
10Hostinger Premium$2.99$10.99+268%

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.