WordPress is a free and open-source content management system, but you must purchase a hosting plan and a domain to install and use it. A WP site may also require things other than hosting and a domain. Below, we’ve shared various things that are necessary for it to function and their cost.
Domain
A domain is an integral part of a WordPress setup, as a website will be identified with it. The price of a domain depends on the registrar you choose and the domain extension you select. Extensions such as .xyz, and .online are available for below 2 dollars per year, but you won’t find many people using them. .com is the most popular extension. .net and .org should be used when .com is not available.
When you don’t find a registrar offering a discount on registering a .com, .net, or .org domain, you will have to spend 9 to 16 dollars to register a domain. If a registrar is running a sale wherein you can buy a TLD for a discounted price, you can get a .net, .org, or a .com domain for 7 to 9 dollars. A domain registrar will let you point the domain to your host. Once you change the nameserver, you can access your WordPress site.
Which is the cheapest register? Namecheap is the most affordable domain registrar. Currently, you can buy a TLD from them for 7 dollars only. Namesilo is another top registrar which sells TLDs at a discounted price. You can buy a domain from these two companies.
Hosting
The cost of hosting a WP site may differ from one host to another. You won’t find a hosting firm that offers only one plan. The cost of hosting a WP plan also depends on the plan you choose. The cheapest form of hosting is shared hosting and unmanaged hosting. On a shared server, several websites owned by various users share the same resources. Shared hosting companies provide a 1-click WP installer tool. They also offer a cPanel tool for letting the users manage their sites, create backups, etc.
Unmanaged hosting is not recommended for people who don’t know Linux or web servers, as the user using unmanaged hosting service must manage their site. Another form of hosting is managed hosting in which the website is hosted on a more powerful server than a shared server, and the company offers advanced features to the users. For example, a managed hosting plan may come with a caching solution and daily site backup service.
Entry-level shared hosting plans are ideal for new websites or sites with low traffic. Costlier shared plans are great for sites with moderate to high traffic. Managed VPS hosting plans are suitable for larger/business websites.
Now, let’s have a look at the pricing. Shared hosting plans cost between 3 and 11 dollars. Managed hosting plans will cost you 12 to 50 dollars. Unmanaged VPS plans can cost between 3.5 and 100s of dollars.
Themes
The WordPress repository has thousands of themes. The template you install from the repository may come with locked features. If you want to use the locked feature, you must purchase the theme’s premium version. The WP templates are priced between 40 and 90 dollars. For example, Astra is a free template that works great with page builders such as Elementor and Beaver builder.
Astra Pro, the premium version of the template, comes with more features than Astra, but it carries a price tag of 59 dollars. Similarly, GeneratePress, an excellent alternative to Astra, also has locked options. To use the locked functions, you must purchase the license of GeneratePress premium.
Plugins
Although there are plenty of free plugins in the WordPress repository, many popular extensions have locked options. You can unlock the options only after purchasing a subscription plan of the plugin. For instance, the free version of Rank Math doesn’t let users create and manage schemas, but the premium version does.
A WP extension may be priced as low as 19 dollars or as high as 300 dollars. Some great plugins are not available in the WP repository. You’ll have to purchase their license to use them. For example, WP Rocket is a widely used caching extension. It is not available for free. Its subscription plans start at 49 dollars.
Premium WP themes or plugins may come with a license that is valid for a year or for a lifetime.
Closing words: As you can see above, the cost of a WP site largely depends on the hosting plan. Domain names are very cheap compared to website hosting plans. Thus, we can conclude that the minimum amount the WP user will spend is 3.95 per month for hosting and around 9 dollars for the domain i.e. around 56 dollars per year.
