Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Web Hosting Tutorials : Should I pay annually for my hosting?

[premium20]

To err is human. And there are so many instances when you can learn from the mistakes others committed. I would say, ‘No you should never pay for a year, and rather emphasize on monthly payments’. If you pay annually, you are getting struck with a host for 1 year. A monthly payment is your safeguard against any kind of contingency that might take place. It’s your defense against those greedy hosting companies that want to prosper at your expense. It is your defense against any kind of poor performance issues that might take place in the middle of year.


I know there are sweet bargains for annual or bi-annual payments. But wait for a second and think over what you might end up with. I know that we all fall for the 'SALE' syndrome, and end up paying more than what we would have paid otherwise. Let us discuss a few situations that might cause you to regret your decision of paying for the entire year upfront. All these can be case-studies for you to take into account before deciding on paying for your new hosting account.


- What happens if your host disappears in the 5th month? And you did not even get a chance to backup your accounts. Learn from mistakes of other people. Case in point would be, Bliksem Hosting (www.bliksemhosting.com). BH had great reviews, and some really cool deals for annual payments. Nobody expected them to disappear with the money of customers. But the truth is that they did disappear without any giving any inkling to their customers. End-result was that people lost money, data and a lot of peace. And since BH was one of the hosts nobody thought would go out like this, this particular experience can come to haunt anyone. Think of the value of your time that you would otherwise spend in trying to pursue a fallen host. Time is Money.


- Your host is sold off to another company and the new team is unable to keep up the good work of your original host. Case in point would be, Sonata Web (www.sonataweb.net). It used to be a good, reliable host as long as Terry was at the helm. After a few months of being sold to Synergy Blue (Andy Wu), the quality of support declined, servers went offline for extended duration and people started losing money. If you had not paid for annual term, you would be much more proactive in moving to a new and dependable host. Another case in point, DIY Hosting was sold off and even until now, Simon is waging a struggle to get the company back and stem the rot.


- Your site suddenly grew, and your present host cannot match any of his offerings to what your requirements are. This is the time to upgrade, and the time to move to a VPS or a dedicated. Won't your decision be swift if you had monthly payment schedules? Or would you rather wait for your old host to settle your account on pro-rata basis and refund your sum. It might not be so easy after all. And there would be some hosts who won't even issue a pro-rata refund.

[Ultima VPS]

Its better to pay month by month to keep your host honest but not many actually offer this facility.

In the sphere of dedicated servers Liquid Web are one of the few who don't have contracts and allow you to pay on a monthly.

[Ohiosweetheart]

I would never pay annually, or even twice a year. If I can't pay monthly or, worst case, quarterly, then I look elsewhere. Twice I've paid for a year and their whole attitude changed when I needed help.

[Atarim]

In addition to the above, the web is a dynamic industry. Lots of things can change in a year, both in your business and in that of the host.

[eddy2099]

This is very true. I usually opted to go month to month for a few months then when I feel comfortable would go for the annual payment but that is a mistake in itself. Web Hosts are run by humans and things can change over time.

I kind of learn that twice in a row when I went for annual payments for two accounts with different providers. The service support and uptime were great in the beginning few months but then they made some changes and everything went downhill.

In the end, my customers came first and I cut my losses and move to several new hosts and went on the monthly payment. I know I lost several hundreds by doing so but it is better than suffering for the next 8 months.

[lorem ipsum]

Originally Posted by Ultima Hosts

Its better to pay month by month to keep your host honest but not many actually offer this facility.

In the sphere of dedicated servers Liquid Web are one of the few who don't have contracts and allow you to pay on a monthly.

Do you mean there are companies that don't allow monthly payment?

[Blackknight]

Originally Posted by lorem ipsum

Do you mean there are companies that don't allow monthly payment?

Yes, there are.

[ZaxiHosting]

Prefer Always Monthly Or Quartely.
Yearly Payments "Locked" Your hands
Regards

[martymart]

As much as I like to offer various billing cycles to customers, I'd prefer getting paid by monthly. My business is a large company to save on transactions volume and of course annual payments give the business instant cash flow but I'd like to allow flexibility especially to the customers. It makes so much easier to settle refund, simplify upgrade/downgrade billing etc. Well, that's my view as a host provider.

Marty

[HighVoltage123]

monthly payment is the ultimate solution for both hosting companies and their clients - both sides are insured against failures from each other...

[anon-e-mouse]

I have always paid yearly. Probably the first host was a risk, but I didn't want to run the risk of forgetting to pay monthly. As it turns out, I have been very lucky in my choices of hosts

[Ultima VPS]

Originally Posted by HighVoltage123

monthly payment is the ultimate solution for both hosting companies and their clients - both sides are insured against failures from each other...

How does it insure the host from failure of a client . Better for the host to have the full year payment and then have the client bail after only a few months etc.

[Montypaks]

True. Only the hosts benefit from yearly payments. But never pay yearly - No matter how sweet the deal sounds!

[edu4vision]

I always paid yearly also. It get me the best deal. Of course I wont pick host that I feel I cannot rely on. My website is my vein, I only use host that I can trust. No try try.

[martymart]

i'd pay monthly unless you are convinced enough that things will be good in the future... however, if it was a tiny saving for paying annually, it would not be worthwhile to take the chance of any fallout...

Marty