Hostinger vs IONOS Website Builder (2026): $143.52 for Four Years vs $12 for One

Hostinger vs IONOS website builder comes down to when you pay. For a site you will keep for years, Hostinger is far cheaper: $143.52 covers 48 months of its Premium plan, while IONOS's two entry plans cost $576 and $732 over the same four years. For a site you need for one year only, IONOS wins outright: $12 buys twelve months of MyWebsite Now Plus with a domain and a mailbox. Prices are US, read on both vendors' plan pages on 9 October 2026.

Pick Hostinger if the site is a long-term fixture, if you want a store on the same plan, or if you run more than one site. Pick IONOS if the project has an end date, or if the first-year outlay is what matters and you will act before the renewal. Skip both if you need a builder you can export from later: neither lets you take the site with you.

The two traps: long prepay vs one-year teaser

These two vendors sell the cheapest entry points in the bundled-builder aisle, and they use opposite tricks to get there. Hostinger's $2.99 a month is real, but only as an average across a 48-month term you pay at checkout: $143.52 on day one. The page shows a regular price of $575.52 for the same 48 months, and from month 49 the plan renews at $10.99 a month.

IONOS does the reverse. MyWebsite Now Plus is $1 a month on a one-year term, then $20 a month. Starter is $6, then $14. The entry fee is tiny and the bill arrives later. One vendor front-loads the cost and locks you in by prepayment; the other back-loads it and relies on you not reading the renewal line.

Neither trap is hidden. Both pages print the follow-on price under the headline one. The question is which shape fits how long you will keep the site.

Price and renewal side by side

Neither charges for the domain in year one. Hostinger's mailboxes are free for the first year too; IONOS includes one email address with each builder plan. Hostinger states how many sites each plan can run. IONOS's plan page does not give a site count, so assume one site per plan until IONOS tells you otherwise. Hostinger's Cloud Startup tier ($383.52 for 48 months, then $25.99 a month) sits above these for heavier use and is outside this comparison.

Four-year cost, month by month

Plot both bills over the full Hostinger term and the shape of each trap becomes visible.

IONOS Starter overtakes Hostinger Premium's entire four-year prepayment in month 18. IONOS Plus overtakes it in month 19, and passes Hostinger Unlimited (store included) in month 21. By month 48, IONOS Plus has cost $732 and Starter $576, against $143.52 for Hostinger Premium. Before month 18, IONOS is the cheaper cash outlay, and in the first year it is cheaper by a wide margin: $12 against $143.52.

The chart also shows what the prepay hides. If you abandon a Hostinger site after a year, you have still paid for four, unless you cancel within the 30-day money-back window. That is the price of its low average.

If the four-year line is the one that matters to you, Hostinger's 48-month Premium plan is the cheaper box by a wide margin. Our Hostinger website builder pricing breakdown shows every tier's prepaid total.

The editors: Hostinger's builder vs IONOS's section editor

Hostinger's builder tops our own ranking of the budget bundles: quick to learn, with modern templates, and weakest on depth of customisation next to standalone builders such as Wix. Its AI tools are rationed by credits: 5 one-time AI credits on Premium and 15 on Unlimited.

IONOS's MyWebsite Now editor is the weaker of the two. Reviews describe a dated interface with limited design freedom; sections go where IONOS puts them. Its Plus tier carries AI text, image and website tools, AI SEO help and online booking, which Starter lacks. If you care how the site looks and how much you can change, Hostinger is the better editor at either price.

Selling online: Hostinger Unlimited vs IONOS Online Store

This is where the two diverge most. Hostinger includes ecommerce in its Unlimited plan, so a small store costs the same $191.52 for 48 months as an unlimited set of sites. IONOS keeps selling out of MyWebsite Now entirely. A shop means its separate Online Store plans, which renew harder than the builder: Plus goes from $1 to $32 a month, Starter from $6 to $26. Over 48 months, Online Store Plus comes to $1,164, against Hostinger Unlimited's $191.52.

IONOS's store plans have one real advantage: IONOS states they charge no transaction fees. For a very small catalogue that is unlikely to change the arithmetic. The plan fee dominates.

Domain, email and what's bundled

Both put a free first-year domain in the box. After that, the domain renews at each registrar's own rate, which neither builder page prints, so check it at checkout. Email differs in kind: Hostinger's mailboxes cost nothing for twelve months, two per site on Premium and with no cap on Unlimited; IONOS gives one professional address with every builder plan, with mailbox space from 2 GB on Starter to 12 GB on Plus. If a working business inbox is half the reason you are buying, read the email line on both renewals before deciding.

Lock-in: neither exports

This is the one point where the two agree, and it cuts against both. Hostinger's migration documentation lists sites made with its builder as non-migratable; leaving means rebuilding. IONOS's help pages say builder projects cannot run outside IONOS infrastructure, and the only export is saving pages as HTML. Pick on the assumption that you will either stay or rebuild.

If portability matters more than price, neither of these is the right box. A WordPress-based bundle can be moved to another host, and a standalone builder like Wix costs more ($29 a month on Core, billed yearly) but gives you a deeper platform to grow into. Our Hostinger vs Wix comparison prices that step up.

Decision flow: which one to buy

Run the questions in that order. A store points to Hostinger Unlimited. A twelve-month project points to IONOS Plus, with a reminder set for month eleven. Anything longer points back to Hostinger Premium, unless the $143.52 checkout is out of reach today, in which case IONOS Starter spreads the cost at the price of a higher total.

Edge cases

• You run several small sites. Hostinger Premium covers up to three, and Unlimited goes further. IONOS does not state a site count, so price one plan per site.
• You need the site for 18 months. That is close to the crossover. IONOS Starter costs $156 by month 18, against Hostinger Premium's $143.52, so the totals are nearly level and the better editor decides it.
• You already prepaid Hostinger and want out. After 30 days the money-back window is closed. You keep the plan until the term ends.
• You are outside the US. Every figure here is the US page; both vendors price by country.