IONOS
IONOS is a web hosting and cloud infrastructure provider offering shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, domains, email, and cloud services. Current web hosting plans include NVMe storage, SSL, daily backups, a free domain for the first year, email accounts, unlimited traffic, and 24/7 support. Promotional web hosting currently starts from $1 per month on the Plus plan, with renewal pricing applying after the initial term.
Original price was: $16.00.$1.00Current price is: $1.00.
IONOS Review 2026: Web Hosting, Pricing, Features, Pros and Cons
IONOS is a web hosting and cloud infrastructure provider offering shared web hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, cloud infrastructure, domains, email, and website-building tools.
The company has operated in the hosting industry for more than 30 years and currently reports more than 6.2 million customer contracts, over 22 million domains under management, 31 operated data centers, and more than 100,000 servers. Its hosting products are aimed particularly at small and mid-sized businesses, while its VPS, dedicated server, and cloud portfolio also serves developers and larger infrastructure workloads.
IONOS is especially attractive to buyers looking for low introductory hosting prices, generous NVMe storage, included email and domain features, and an upgrade path from ordinary shared hosting to VPS and cloud infrastructure.
The biggest thing to understand before buying is pricing. IONOS frequently uses aggressive introductory discounts, so buyers should compare the first-term price with the renewal price rather than evaluating the host only on its headline $1 offer.
IONOS Web Hosting Pricing in 2026
IONOS currently offers four primary shared web hosting plans.
| Plan | Intro Price | Renewal Price | Storage | Email Accounts | Relative Resources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | $4/month | $8/month | 100 GB NVMe | 1 | Standard |
| Starter | $6/month | $10/month | 200 GB NVMe | 2 | Enhanced |
| Plus | $1/month | $14/month | 350 GB NVMe | 4 | 5x resource access |
| Ultimate | $10/month | $18/month | 500 GB NVMe | 5 | 10x resource access |
(Pricing last verified: September 2026. Promotional pricing and renewal rates may change.)
The advertised prices currently require a one-year term.
The Plus plan has the lowest promotional price at $1 per month, but it does not have the lowest renewal price. This makes renewal cost an important consideration for anyone planning to keep the hosting account for several years.
All four plans currently include unlimited traffic, support for unlimited websites, NVMe SSD storage, a free domain for the first year, email accounts, SSL, daily backups, DDoS protection, application installation, SSH access, SFTP, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
IONOS Essential
Essential is the entry-level shared hosting plan.
It currently includes:
- 100 GB NVMe SSD storage
- unlimited websites
- unlimited traffic
- 1 email account
- 10 MariaDB databases
- free domain for the first year
- wildcard SSL certificate
- malware scanning
- daily backups
- SSH and SFTP access
- WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal installation
It currently starts at $4 per month for the first year and renews at $8 per month.
This plan makes more sense for buyers who want predictable entry-level hosting than users choosing IONOS solely because of the $1 promotional headline.
IONOS Starter
Starter increases storage and server-resource allocation.
It currently includes:
- 200 GB NVMe SSD storage
- unlimited websites
- unlimited traffic
- 2 email accounts
- 100 MariaDB databases
- CDN
- enhanced server-resource access
- free domain for the first year
- daily backups
- SSL
- malware scanning
The promotional price is currently $6 per month and renewal is $10 per month.
IONOS Plus
Plus is currently the most aggressively discounted IONOS shared hosting plan.
It includes:
- 350 GB NVMe SSD storage
- unlimited websites
- unlimited traffic
- 4 email accounts
- 250 MariaDB databases
- CDN
- 5x server-resource access compared with the basic level
- free domain for one year
- wildcard SSL
- daily backups
- malware scanning
The current introductory price is $1 per month with a one-year term. It then renews at $14 per month.
Because the renewal price is substantially higher than the initial rate, buyers should calculate the multi-year cost before deciding whether Plus offers the best value for their project.
IONOS Ultimate
Ultimate is designed for more demanding shared-hosting workloads.
It currently provides:
- 500 GB NVMe SSD storage
- unlimited websites
- unlimited traffic
- 5 email accounts
- 500 databases
- maximum shared-hosting resource allocation
- CDN
- unlimited wildcard SSL certificates
- advanced malware scanning with automatic repair
- daily backups
- free domain for one year
The current introductory price is $10 per month and renewal is $18 per month.
Performance and Infrastructure
IONOS currently advertises a 99.99% uptime guarantee across its web hosting plans.
The current shared-hosting platform uses NVMe SSD storage and Linux container-based infrastructure. Higher plans receive greater CPU priority, while Starter, Plus, and Ultimate also include CDN functionality.
IONOS also operates its own regional infrastructure. The company reports 31 operated data centers and more than 100,000 servers worldwide.
For cloud infrastructure specifically, current IONOS locations include facilities in the United States and several European locations.
HowToBuySaaS has not independently benchmarked IONOS server response time or uptime yet, so we do not present vendor uptime claims as independently verified performance results.
Security and Backups
IONOS includes several useful security features with its standard hosting plans.
Current hosting features include:
- wildcard SSL certificates
- DDoS protection
- malware scanning
- geo-redundancy
- daily backups
- data recovery
- anti-phishing and anti-spam protection for included email accounts
IONOS automatically creates daily backups of web hosting files and databases. Its current documentation states that web-hosting file and database backups can be retained for up to 14 days for recovery.
The Ultimate plan additionally includes advanced malware scanning with automatic malware removal.
WordPress Hosting
IONOS provides both standard WordPress-capable web hosting and dedicated WordPress hosting plans.
WordPress can be installed through the IONOS application installer, while the dedicated WordPress plans add features such as:
- automatic WordPress updates
- vulnerability scanning
- malware detection
- WordPress-focused management
- automatic backups
- AI website-building tools
Current dedicated WordPress plans include Start, Grow, and Boost.
Grow currently has the lowest promotional rate at $1 per month for one year and renews at $12 per month.
For users primarily running WordPress, the dedicated WordPress plans are worth comparing with ordinary IONOS shared hosting rather than automatically choosing the cheapest shared plan.
VPS and Cloud Hosting
IONOS also provides a clear upgrade path for users who outgrow shared hosting.
Its current VPS lineup includes NVMe storage, full virtualization, unlimited traffic, root-level control, and Linux or Windows options.
Current promotional VPS pricing starts from a few dollars per month depending on the configuration and introductory offer.
For larger infrastructure workloads, IONOS Cloud offers pay-as-you-go compute instances and configurable resources.
This makes IONOS broader than many low-cost hosts that primarily sell shared and WordPress hosting.
Hosting Control and Developer Features
IONOS hosting gives users access to technical features that are useful for developers and advanced website owners.
These currently include:
- SSH access
- SFTP
- WP-CLI
- Git support
- cron jobs
- selectable PHP versions
- MariaDB databases
- Webspace file management
- IPv6 readiness
Users can also install applications such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal through IONOS Click & Build.
This makes ordinary IONOS shared hosting more flexible than many beginner-only website-builder hosting products.
Website Migration
IONOS provides documentation for moving web hosting and WordPress websites from another provider.
WordPress users can migrate through common migration plugins or perform a manual transfer.
IONOS also operates a separate assisted Website Migration Service where its team evaluates the project and provides a personalized quote.
Therefore, we would not describe all IONOS website migration as universally free.
Buyers moving a complicated existing website should confirm migration scope and cost before purchasing.
Customer Support
IONOS provides 24/7 customer support and also offers a personal consultant model.
The company states that customers can access support by phone, chat, or email, and a personal consultant can provide a consistent contact point for account and service questions.
IONOS also maintains a large help center covering domains, hosting, WordPress, email, SSL, servers, and cloud infrastructure.
This support structure is one of the more distinctive aspects of IONOS compared with hosting providers that rely mainly on ticket-based technical support.
Who Should Use IONOS?
IONOS is particularly suitable for:
Small Businesses
The combination of hosting, domain registration, SSL, email, WordPress, and customer support can reduce the number of separate services needed to launch a business website.
Budget-Conscious Website Owners
Current introductory pricing is aggressive, particularly the $1 Plus promotion.
However, buyers should pay close attention to renewal prices.
WordPress Users
IONOS provides both standard hosting capable of running WordPress and dedicated WordPress plans with additional management and security features.
Developers
SSH, SFTP, Git, PHP configuration, VPS hosting, dedicated servers, and cloud infrastructure provide a clear path toward more advanced workloads.
Growing Businesses
Companies can start with shared hosting and move toward VPS, dedicated infrastructure, or IONOS Cloud if their technical requirements increase.
IONOS Pros and Cons
Pros
- Very low introductory pricing on selected plans
- Free domain for the first year
- Wildcard SSL included
- Daily backups
- NVMe SSD storage
- Unlimited websites on current shared hosting plans
- Unlimited traffic
- Email accounts included
- CDN included on higher shared plans
- 99.99% published uptime guarantee
- 24/7 support
- Personal consultant option
- VPS, dedicated server, and cloud upgrade paths
- SSH, SFTP, Git, and developer tools
Cons
- Promotional prices can be substantially lower than renewal prices
- $1 hosting requires a one-year commitment
- Plan structure can be confusing because IONOS offers shared hosting, WordPress hosting, website-builder products, VPS, and cloud services separately
- Assisted migration is not universally included free
- Included email storage is relatively modest on standard shared-hosting plans
- The lowest-cost plan does not include the same CDN and resource allocation as higher tiers
IONOS Alternatives
Hostinger
Hostinger is a strong alternative for buyers looking for inexpensive managed hosting with a beginner-focused control panel and WordPress features.
SiteGround
SiteGround is worth considering for users who place more emphasis on managed WordPress workflows and support.
Bluehost
Bluehost is another mainstream option for beginners and WordPress website owners.
DreamHost
DreamHost offers established shared and WordPress hosting and is another useful comparison for small businesses.
Cloudways
Cloudways is a better comparison for buyers whose primary requirement is managed cloud hosting rather than traditional shared hosting.
Is IONOS Worth It in 2026?
IONOS is worth considering if affordability, storage, included domain and email services, and the ability to scale into VPS or cloud infrastructure are priorities.
Its current $1 Plus offer is attractive, but it should not be evaluated without considering the $14 monthly renewal price after the initial term.
For a small business or WordPress site, IONOS provides a broad hosting package with SSL, backups, domain registration, email, security tools, and 24/7 support.
More advanced users also benefit from SSH, SFTP, Git support, VPS products, dedicated servers, and IONOS Cloud.
The strongest reason to consider IONOS is therefore not simply the $1 headline price. It is the breadth of hosting and infrastructure options available within the same provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is IONOS hosting really $1 per month?
IONOS currently advertises its Plus web-hosting plan at $1 per month with a one-year term. The plan currently renews at $14 per month after the promotional period.
Does IONOS include a free domain?
Yes. Current shared web-hosting plans include one eligible domain free for the first year.
Does IONOS provide free SSL?
Yes. Current shared hosting plans include wildcard SSL certificates. The Ultimate plan includes unlimited wildcard SSL certificates.
Does IONOS provide backups?
Yes. IONOS currently creates daily backups for its web-hosting environment. Its documentation states that web-hosting data can be recovered from backups retained for up to 14 days.
Does IONOS support WordPress?
Yes. WordPress can be installed on ordinary IONOS web hosting, and IONOS also sells dedicated WordPress hosting plans.
Does IONOS offer VPS hosting?
Yes. IONOS offers VPS products with dedicated virtual resources, NVMe storage, unlimited traffic, and root access.
Is IONOS good for small businesses?
IONOS can be a good fit for small businesses that want hosting, a domain, SSL, email, WordPress support, and customer assistance from the same provider.
Does IONOS offer a money-back guarantee?
Current IONOS web hosting and WordPress hosting plans advertise a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Low introductory pricing on selected hosting plans
- NVMe SSD storage across current shared hosting plans
- Free domain for the first year
- Wildcard SSL included
- Daily backups and data recovery
- Unlimited websites and traffic on current shared plans
- 24/7 support and personal consultant option
- Strong upgrade path to VPS, dedicated servers and cloud
- SSH, SFTP, Git and developer features
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Promotional pricing increases significantly at renewal
- $1 offer requires a one-year commitment
- Hosting portfolio can feel complicated for beginners
- Assisted website migration is not universally free
- Lower plans have fewer email accounts and server resources
- Some advanced features are reserved for higher plans
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