BuildHosting reviews often compare advertised monthly prices. We try to answer a different question: what will you actually pay, and what is it like to use? Here is exactly what we do, and what we have not tested yet.
1. Real checkout prices
- We add each plan to the real cart on the provider's website and save a dated screenshot.
- Location is set to the United States and prices are in US dollars, before tax. Your price can differ by country and tax.
- We record the term (1, 12, 24, 36 or 48 months), the first payment, the renewal price, the domain price and any add-ons the cart includes by default.
- We stop before payment unless we are buying the service for our own projects.
2. Long-term cost
Our comparisons calculate what a plan costs over several years, including renewals and the domain. When two plans have different terms or resources, we say so next to the result instead of only showing the cheaper number.
3. Hands-on use
For services we use ourselves (for example Hostinger shared hosting and a Hostinger VPS that runs n8n), we document the setup with screenshots: buying, choosing the server location, connecting the domain, installing WordPress or an app, and backups.
4. What each label means
- Checked in the cart: prices and plan details verified in the real checkout on the date shown.
- Used hands-on: we bought the service and built something on it.
- Not tested: we have not measured it yet (for example long-term uptime or support speed). We do not give a score for things we have not tested.
5. Scores
Scores combine price and value, renewal transparency, features, ease of setup and, only when tested, performance and support. A score based on cart checks alone reflects price and features, not speed.
6. Keeping it current
We re-check the main hosting prices weekly during sales and at least monthly otherwise, and tutorials every few months. The date on each page shows the last real check.
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