When I first started looking into affordable hosting providers, Hostinger really stood out. It had a polished interface, attractive pricing, and thousands of glowing reviews. But as I dug deeper, especially after testing it myself and reading real user feedback.
I realised that it may not be the perfect fit for everyone. While Hostinger is great for beginners or hobby projects, there are some important downsides to be aware of in 2026.
Why Is Hostinger’s Pricing Structure Confusing?
Hostinger’s introductory prices look extremely competitive, particularly for UK users searching for low-cost hosting. However, real renewal experiences show that the pricing model can change significantly after the initial term, often without clear upfront warnings.
Here’s what users need to be especially careful about:
- Promotional prices apply only to the first fixed term (often 24 or 48 months)
- Renewal pricing can increase sharply while shortening the billing cycle
- Billing periods may change automatically from multi-year to annual plans
- Returning to a longer billing term after renewal can cost substantially more
- Refunds may be technically available, but goodwill adjustments are rarely offered
User Experience Insight:
“I’ve been using Hostinger for two years. My initial subscription was approximately £65 for 24 months under a promotional offer.
At renewal, I was automatically charged £107.88 for just 12 months, with no clear warning that the billing period had changed. When I contacted support, I was told this is a “system default” and that returning to a 24-month plan would now cost £263.76 (over £130 per year).
While the payment is refundable, customer support offered no goodwill, loyalty pricing, or reasonable adjustment — only a generic discount code for Black Friday.
If you’re considering Hostinger, be very careful with renewals: billing periods may change automatically, and prices can increase dramatically after the initial term. I’m staying only because my site was set up by a third party, not because of a positive customer service experience”
– Julia Fenko
This experience highlights a recurring concern among UK users: renewals are not just more expensive, but structured differently, making long-term cost comparisons difficult unless you manually review your account before renewal.
Pricing Breakdown Example
| Plan | Intro Price (Monthly) | Renewal Price (Monthly) | Contract Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Web Hosting | £1.49 | £5.99 | 48 months |
| Premium Web Hosting | £2.49 | £8.99 | 48 months |
| Business Web Hosting | £3.99 | £11.99 | 48 months |
This table is based on our own testing and user billing data. A full explanation of methodology and plan comparisons is available in our detailed Hostinger review.
Are There Hidden Resource Limits on Hostinger Plans?
Hostinger’s shared and agency-level hosting plans are marketed as cost-effective solutions with generous limits. However, real-world usage shows that hidden request caps and soft throttling can affect performance far earlier than many users expect, even on higher-tier plans.
For growing, media-heavy, or multi-site WordPress setups, these limits can quickly become a bottleneck.
Common performance-related issues reported by users include:
- Strict limits on RAM, CPU, I/O, and HTTP request counts
- Sites returning 508 Resource Limit Reached errors during moderate traffic
- Throttling triggered by background WordPress processes, not just visitors
- Slower WordPress and WooCommerce performance under load
- No true isolation, even on plans marketed as having “dedicated resources”
User Experience Insight
A UK-based agency using Hostinger’s Agency Professional plan reported serious limitations despite being told they could host up to 200 websites on a single server.
“We are using hostinger’s Agency Professional account
they telling you can host 200 websites on this server with dedicated resources
but they have added request limit so when it reached that request then your site will started giving 508 error
and it will like 20000+ in 6 hours and when we ask them why this issue generate they just tell check your site code and ask developer to fix
but they have no any solution as a wordpress powerful hosting provider
just pass request no service provided like pro agency
due to this request limit we can just host only 1 site on dedicated server and still we are getting issue
so i they have created ticket “55843” its generated on 22 December 2025 and today 1 January 2026 ans still they telling wait for some time our team member are watching your issue deeply
once we get any reply from team we will update you. not giving any ans which will solve . they just doing passing the pass. and telling we are not going to solve your issue just we will give you update which came from our dedicated team which is bogas ..
check their replys
“I have checked the ticket and I can see the issue has been escalated to the Engineering team
right now, the relevant team is still checking the issue from their end
we also is monitoring the ticket closely from our end
as soon as there is an update from them, you will be notified again via email
thank you for your understanding on this matter”
“I can see that you reported the issue on 22 December 2025
I believe the team will be able to resolve the issue and you will be notified via email
I really appreciate your understanding on this matter”
This chat was 2 day before
“I truly understand how discouraging it is to wait for a resolution, especially after your ticket was previously marked as high priority. Please know your case remains important to us, and our technical team is actively working to resolve it. We value your patience and are committed to providing a solution as soon as possible.”
and one more thing need to tell once your 30 days refund time is over they are not giving you any kind of solution they just start wasting your time because you will not going to get any refund
and when 30 days refund time not over your server will run as good beyond another hosting once its over issue will start …
As my experience with hostinger i will not going to purchase any kind of service in future ..
this is my last service which is purchased in hostinger…”
– Black Hole Studio, January 2026
According to the same review, the agency was effectively forced to host only one WordPress site on the server to avoid repeated outages, completely undermining the plan’s advertised capacity.
Even more concerning was the support response:
- A high-priority ticket (opened on 22 December 2025) remained unresolved into January 2026
- Repeated replies cited escalation to engineering with no technical explanation
- No concrete fixes were offered beyond “monitoring the issue”
The reviewer also raised a serious concern shared by other users:
“Once the 30-day refund period is over, the server performance drops and issues start appearing. After that, support just delays responses because they know you can’t get a refund.”
While this reflects one agency’s experience, it aligns with wider feedback suggesting that Hostinger’s performance limits are enforced quietly, and problems often surface only after the refund window closes.
Shared Hosting Resource Comparison
| Feature | Hostinger (Basic Plan) | SiteGround (StartUp Plan) | Krystal (Amethyst Plan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Cores | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| RAM | 768MB | 1GB | 2GB |
| SSD Storage | 50GB | 10GB | 10GB |
| Monthly Visits | ~10K (unofficial) | 10K | 10K |
How Reliable Is Hostinger’s Customer Support in Practice?
One of the most frequently criticised aspects of Hostinger is its customer support model. While support is advertised as 24/7, real user experiences suggest that access to meaningful human assistance can be extremely limited, especially when dealing with technical or account-level issues.
Common support-related concerns raised by users include:
- No phone support, even for billing disputes or urgent technical problems
- Live chat that is heavily bot-driven, with long waits for human agents
- Support queues that appear active but never progress to a real person
- Email support responses that feel automated or templated
- Difficulty obtaining chat transcripts or support records
- Escalated issues remaining unresolved for days or weeks
User Experience Insight
A customer using Hostinger’s Horizons platform described their experience as almost entirely automated, with little to no human interaction:
“I have purchased hostinger products and have paid for horizons too , many time. The worst is there is no human interaction to solve your problems. Ece the support email is operated by chatbots. frustrated!!!(1) I have done auto-pay off yet i got charged through card, because they keep trying all ways. Yet i did not complain.(2) My code has got erased in horizons and on previous occasions has got changed weirdly and lost it. I mostly see the code acting weired especially when around 100 credits are left, is it so that entire thing is ruined automatically as horizons acts up and we are forced to subscribe??? Max, they put up a fake display saying: A colleague will join soon. If you want to continue chatting with Kodee, you can leave the queue. ………………that stays forever on kodee..”
– Smart EDU Hub, January 2026
Another reviewer raised more serious concerns around support access and transparency after requesting their chat history:
“My team member previously posted a review regarding how Hostinger is hiding evidence, and their reply was nothing but a pack of lies.
The Reality vs. Hostinger’s Lies:
Blocking Support: After we demanded our full 1-year chat history, Hostinger blocked our access to live support for over 65 hours! This is a blatant attempt to silence a customer who is asking for the truth.
Fake Claims about Emails: In their reply, Hostinger claimed that chat transcripts are sent automatically when a chat closes. This is a 100% lie. We have not received a single chat transcript in our email since day one.
Fear of Evidence Tampering: Because Hostinger is stalling and refusing to provide the logs, we have serious concerns that they are currently modifying or deleting our chat history to cover up the fact that their system”
– Khan, January 2026
These experiences point to a recurring issue: when problems move beyond basic setup questions, users may struggle to get clear answers, accountability, or documented support trails. For businesses, agencies, or developers who rely on timely and traceable support, this can become a serious operational risk.
Support Comparison Table
| Feature | Hostinger | SiteGround | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone Support | No | Yes | Yes |
| 24/7 Live Chat | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email/Ticket | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Migration Help | Mixed | Excellent | Average |
Is Hostinger Suitable for Developers and Complex Sites?
Hostinger may work for basic websites, but for developers and agencies managing multiple client projects, limitations around control, verification, and platform stability can become major obstacles.
Common issues developers report include:
- No support for Node.js or modern frameworks on shared plans
- Limited or restricted SSH access on lower-tier accounts
- hPanel lacking advanced configuration options available in cPanel or Plesk
- No true dedicated servers or fully isolated cloud VMs
- Account suspensions triggered by automated checks rather than technical misuse
Several developers have also raised concerns about sudden domain and hosting suspensions, even shortly after purchase, with refunds refused during disputes.
Developer Experience Insight
“I gave 2 stars because in 2024 Hostinger was good to me but in 2025 I wondered if it’s the same Hostinger because they started suspending my domain and host and refusing to refund even when the purschase was not up to 3 days… they demanded documents I didn’t have… I’m a web developer, how am I suppose to get the document of other people business registration??? More than 60 of my domain suspended along with several host. I moved to rabhost which was cheaper but now even rabhost is worse (they take your money but hosting / domain pends forever) I think every year I will keep changing hosting providers.”
– Gideon James
The reviewer also highlighted a broader issue for client-facing developers: verification requirements that don’t align with real-world agency workflows, where hosting and domains are often purchased on behalf of third parties.
In addition, newer platforms such as Hostinger Horizons have attracted criticism for instability, unexpected code changes, and lost deployments, raising further concerns for developers who rely on predictable environments and version control.
For advanced users who need granular server control, transparent account handling, and developer-friendly tooling, these issues suggest that Hostinger may not be a reliable long-term platform, particularly for agencies managing multiple client sites at scale.
Who Should Use Hostinger and Who Should Avoid It?
Hostinger is ideal for beginners but may not scale with your needs. Here’s a side-by-side comparison.
Hostinger Fit Assessment
| Best For | Not Recommended For |
|---|---|
| Beginners and students | High-traffic businesses |
| Static websites | Developers using Node.js or Python |
| Budget-conscious individuals | Agencies needing scalability |
| Personal blogs/portfolios | eCommerce platforms with large product catalogues |
Conclusion
Hostinger has its place in the hosting world, especially if you’re just starting out and want something affordable with a clean interface. But once you need more resources, better support, or stronger performance guarantees, its limitations become apparent.
In 2026, users in the UK should be aware of Hostinger’s pricing structure, support constraints, and resource caps before making a long-term commitment. For some, it may be worth it. For others, especially businesses and developers, it’s worth considering alternatives that offer more transparency and flexibility.
FAQs
What is the disadvantage of Hostinger compared to other hosts?
Primarily, Hostinger lacks phone support, has strict resource limits on lower plans, and renewal pricing that can be 2–3x the initial rate.
Is Hostinger safe to use in 2026?
Yes, generally safe for basic sites. However, lower-tier plans lack advanced security features like malware scanning and daily backups.
Is Hostinger good for small businesses in the UK?
It’s good for micro-businesses or startups with simple needs. Growing businesses might outgrow it quickly due to scalability and support issues.
What happens if I go over Hostinger’s resource limits?
Your site may slow down, crash, or be temporarily suspended. You’ll likely be prompted to upgrade.
Are there better alternatives to Hostinger?
Yes. UK-based providers like Krystal or international ones like SiteGround and A2 Hosting offer better scalability and more transparent pricing.
Can I trust Hostinger’s renewal pricing?
Not entirely. Renewal prices are significantly higher than promo rates, and this isn’t always clear during checkout.
How responsive is Hostinger’s support team in emergencies?
Support is chat-based and may be slow during busy times. You won’t be able to call or get instant help via phone.
