Domain and hosting together or separate? The 3-year math

The short version

• Most hosts give you a free domain for the first year. After that, they renew a .com at $19.99 to $23.99 a year, at the hosts that publish the price.
• A low-cost registrar renews the same .com for about $10 to $12 a year. Over three years, buying the domain separately saves about $11 to $19 at today’s prices, and more every year after.
• Keeping both in one account is simpler: one bill, one login, no DNS settings to change. That is a fair reason to pay a little more.
• Either way, the domain stays yours. You can move it to another registrar later, 60 days after you register it (120 days for a domain bought in a GoDaddy bundle).

Three years, both ways

Each row is the cheapest plan at that host that can run one WordPress site, with its fact-checked 3-year hosting cost. “Domain at the host” adds two renewals of the free .com at the host’s own price. “Domain separately” adds a .com at Spaceship instead ($8.88, then $9.98 a year, so $28.84 for three years) and ignores the free domain. Prices in US dollars before tax, checked October 23, 2026.

The math, so you can check it. Domain at the host: hosting plus two .com renewals ($23.99 at Bluehost, $22.99 at GoDaddy and SiteGround, $21.99 at DreamHost, $19.99 on Hostinger’s .com page). Domain separately: hosting plus $28.84. Spaceship also adds ICANN’s $0.20 yearly fee at checkout ($29.44 for three years); the hosts’ pages do not say whether their prices include it. GoDaddy does not say how long its free domain stays free; we assume one year, as at the other hosts. Each host page shows how its hosting total is built.

Hostinger’s $119.52 is a 48-month term, so it also covers a fourth year. Hosting.com and InMotion are left out because their .com renewal prices were not published on the pages we checked. Managed hosts such as Kinsta and WP Engine do not list a domain with their plans, and Cloudways does not list domain registration, so you buy one separately anyway.

When one account makes sense

• You want one bill and one support line, and that is worth about $10 to $14 a year to you (the renewal gap from year two on).
• You are not comfortable editing DNS settings. With the domain at your host, the connection is usually set up for you.
• You plan to stay with the host for years. If you move hosts, you will want to move or repoint the domain anyway.

When to buy the domain separately

• You want the lowest yearly cost over the long run. The renewal gap repeats every year you keep the domain.
• You want to switch hosts easily. With the domain elsewhere, moving hosts means updating your DNS settings, not transferring a domain.
• You use email at your domain. Some hosts delete your content, and even your DNS records, when a plan ends. With the domain elsewhere, the settings your email depends on stay put when you switch or cancel hosting.

A middle path: take the free first year, then transfer the domain to a low-cost registrar before it renews. A transfer usually adds a year at the new registrar’s price.

Using a website builder instead?

Builders such as Squarespace and Wix also include a free domain for the first year on yearly plans, with the same trade-off at renewal. Our website cost guide puts builders and WordPress side by side over three years.

Compare registrars on our domain registrars hub and hosts on the web hosting hub.