SiteGround vs Hostinger: What the Second Year Costs

The short answer: for two or three small sites, Hostinger costs less from the second year on: on matched 12-month terms, Hostinger Premium is $47.88 for the first year and $10.99 a month after it for three websites, while SiteGround GrowBig is $59.88 and then $29.99 a month for unlimited sites (in USD without tax, checked on 26 October 2026 in the 12-month view of Hostinger's pricing and on SiteGround's WordPress hosting page). SiteGround charges the difference for daily backups and staging on that plan, and for email that does not come with a one-year limit. Choose Hostinger if your job is keeping up to three sites online at the lowest renewal, with an AI builder for quick campaign pages. Choose SiteGround if your job is WordPress sites you test on staging before changes go live, with your team's mail on the same plan for as long as you host.

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Hostinger's page opens on a 48-month price and SiteGround's on a 12-month one, and setting those two side by side flatters the longer term. Hostinger's selector also offers 12 months, so the table below uses the same length on both sides. Hostinger then renews for the same term at its printed rate; SiteGround renews at the rate under each card.

Do the sums in this order:

1. Two years on the same term. For example, Hostinger Premium is $47.88 + 12 x $10.99 = $179.76 for 24 months and Unlimited is $59.88 + 12 x $16.99 = $263.76; SiteGround StartUp is $35.88 + 12 x $17.99 = $251.76 for one site and GrowBig $59.88 + 12 x $29.99 = $419.76. Figures from the 12-month view of the Hostinger pricing page and the SiteGround cards.
2. The mailboxes your team uses today. Hostinger Premium includes two mailboxes per website, free for one year; Unlimited includes unlimited mailboxes, also free for one year (pricing page). Its email documentation prices the paid plans per mailbox. SiteGround includes email accounts at your own domain on every plan (web hosting page). Six people on one domain will notice the difference.
3. Proof that mail still arrives after the move. Send a test message from the new mailbox to a Gmail and an Outlook address and open the headers: SPF and DKIM should both read pass. Hostinger's email docs list MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC as the records to set up; check them the day you switch, not the day a client says nothing arrived.

Matched 12-month terms, plan by plan

Read on 26 October 2026 on the Hostinger pricing page, switched to its 12-month view, and SiteGround's WordPress and web hosting pages. On the 48-month view the page opens with, Premium is $2.49 a month, $119.52 upfront, renewing at $10.99 for the same term.

The differences that decide it

Where the renewal lands

Hostinger's renewal stays close to its list price: Premium's $10.99 sits below the $12.19 struck through on the card (pricing page). SiteGround's first year is a deep discount, and the renewal is the struck-through price itself, $29.99 on GrowBig. A team that budgets two years ahead sees a gentle rise on Hostinger and a steep one on SiteGround in month thirteen.

Staging and backups

SiteGround puts staging and on-demand backups on GrowBig and backs every plan up daily to a separate location (WordPress hosting page). On Hostinger, backups run weekly on Premium and daily from Unlimited up, and its staging docs describe cloning a WordPress site in hPanel and pushing files, database or both back to live. Read the plan card for which tier includes it before you count on it.

What the AI does for you

Hostinger's cards bundle AI Builder credits and an AI assistant for online stores, and its docs describe an AI Troubleshooter for slow WordPress sites. SiteGround includes an AI agent that edits posts, products, plugins and users by chat, and hosting clients get a 20,000-token allowance each month to run it (AI agent page). One leans toward building pages fast. The other toward running a WordPress site with less clicking.

A speed fix by AI, applied one change at a time

Hostinger's AI Troubleshooter sits under Performance in the website dashboard. It analyses the site, names what slows it down, and applies fixes where it can do so safely, per its docs page, which suggests running it before a traffic-heavy event.

1. Take a backup first; the same docs point to Backups for restoring a known-good state if a change breaks the site.
2. Run the analysis and read the full list of findings before applying anything, alongside a PageSpeed measurement of your three busiest pages.
3. The human check: apply one suggested fix, reload those three pages on desktop and mobile, measure again, and keep the change only if the pages still work and the reading improved. A fix that speeds the homepage and breaks the contact form is a regression, and the person who owns the form is the one who should test it.

Free first, then the mailboxes

Both refund within 30 days: Hostinger's pricing page carries a 30-day money-back guarantee, and SiteGround's web hosting page does the same (Hostinger, SiteGround). Inside that window, move one site, run the mail test from point 3 and the speed test above. SiteGround's agent also has a 14-day trial with 20,000 tokens that runs on a site at any host, including a Hostinger one.

Then read the mail line under Hostinger's Premium price. It says two mailboxes per website, free for one year (pricing page), and the email docs price paid plans per mailbox, so the inboxes your team sets up in month one become a per-mailbox charge in month thirteen while the hosting itself is still prepaid for years. Note that date when you create the first mailbox, and count the inboxes you will keep.

Take Hostinger for

• Up to three small sites on the lowest renewal of the two.
• Campaign pages built with an AI builder beside a WordPress site.
• A team that wants a four-year price fixed on day one.

Take SiteGround for

• WordPress sites you change often and test on staging first.
• Mail for the whole team included for as long as the hosting runs.
• An agent that does the routine WordPress work by chat.

The SiteGround entry and Hostinger entry cover plans and AI features; how to use Hostinger builds a campaign page from a prompt, and Bluehost vs Hostinger reads Hostinger's renewal line on the long term.

FAQ

Is Hostinger cheaper than SiteGround after the first year?

Yes, plan for plan: Premium renews at $10.99 a month and Unlimited at $16.99, against $17.99 for SiteGround StartUp and $29.99 for GrowBig (Hostinger, SiteGround, checked on 26 October 2026).

Do both include email?

Both include mailboxes on your own domain. Hostinger's are free for the first year on its hosting plans; SiteGround lists free email on every plan, with no term stated.

Can I buy Hostinger for 12 months instead of 48?

Yes. The selector on the pricing page offers 12 months: Premium is $3.99 a month, $47.88 upfront, and renews at $10.99 a month for the same term.