HostPanel vs IONOS
IONOS is one of Europe's largest hosts, with a UK datacentre in Worcester, 24/7 phone support, and a £1/mo first-year offer that we simply cannot beat on price - if the cheapest possible year one or phone support is what you need, IONOS wins those outright. HostPanel is the better fit if you care about what you pay in year two and beyond: our renewal price always equals the intro price, VAT is included in what we quote, and every plan gets a London datacentre, NVMe, DDoS protection, free SSL, free migration, and a 99.9% SLA with service credits.
IONOS vs HostPanel at a glance
Prices checked: August 2026
| Feature | IONOS | HostPanel |
|---|---|---|
| Intro price | From £1/mo for 12 months (Plus plan, ex VAT); other plans £3-£12/mo intro | From £4/mo (Starter) |
| Renewal price | Plus renews at £9/mo - nine times the intro rate; other plans renew at £6-£24/mo (ex VAT) | Same as intro - renewal always matches the sign-up price |
| UK datacentre | Yes - Worcester, UK, plus geo-redundant European datacentres | Yes - London, UK-owned |
| NVMe storage | Yes - NVMe SSD on all web hosting plans | Yes, on every plan |
| DDoS protection | Yes - included | Included on every plan |
| Free migration | — | Yes - free assisted migration |
| SLA credits | — | 99.9% uptime SLA with service credits |
| Support channels | 24/7 support, including phone | 24/7 support via the dashboard |
IONOS prices are from ionos.co.uk, checked August 2026, and exclude VAT charged at 20% - so the £1/mo headline is £1.20/mo at checkout, and the £9/mo renewal is £10.80/mo. — indicates a claim we could not verify from public IONOS materials at the time of checking.
HostPanel prices are our standard monthly Web Hosting prices, and your renewal price is always the price you signed up at.
Why people switch from IONOS
IONOS is a capable host at real scale. The switching triggers we hear about are almost all pricing mechanics rather than technical failures.
Renewal prices are a multiple of the intro price
IONOS's Plus plan is £1/mo for the first 12 months, then £9/mo - nine times the sign-up rate. The other tiers roughly double at renewal (£3 to £6, £8 to £16, £12 to £24). HostPanel's renewal price is always the price you signed up at, so the number you budget in year one is the number you pay in year three.
Headline prices exclude VAT
Every price on ionos.co.uk excludes 20% VAT, so the advertised £1/mo is £1.20/mo at checkout and the £9/mo renewal is really £10.80/mo. HostPanel quotes the price you actually pay - £4, £9, or £18 a month for Web Hosting.
Minimum contract terms
IONOS's intro prices are tied to minimum terms - 12 months on Plus, 6 months on the other web hosting tiers - and renew onto the higher rate automatically. HostPanel bills monthly at a flat rate, so there is no term to time your exit around.
One account for hosting, game servers, and databases
HostPanel runs web hosting, CMS/WordPress hosting, game servers (from £5/mo at a flat £2.50 per GB of RAM), managed databases (from £5/mo), and a free included CDN in one dashboard - with email included with hosting rather than capped per tier.
When IONOS is the right choice
An honest comparison cuts both ways. In these situations we would point you to IONOS.
You want the scale of one of Europe's largest hosts
IONOS is one of Europe's biggest hosting and cloud companies, with a product range - cloud servers, VPS, dedicated hardware, managed services - that a specialist UK host cannot match. If you expect to grow into enterprise cloud infrastructure with one supplier, IONOS has the breadth.
You want 24/7 phone support
IONOS offers round-the-clock support including phone. HostPanel's support is 24/7 through the dashboard, but we do not currently offer a phone line - if talking to someone on the phone at 3am is a hard requirement, IONOS meets it and we do not.
Your first-year budget is the priority
£1/mo (£1.20 with VAT) for 12 months on the Plus plan is genuinely cheaper than anything we sell, and it includes a free domain for the first year. If you need the lowest possible cost for year one and are comfortable re-evaluating before renewal, IONOS wins that year on price.
You want a free domain bundled in
IONOS includes a free domain for the first year with its web hosting plans. HostPanel does not currently bundle domains, so that is a real convenience (and small saving) on their side - just check the domain's own renewal price when the free year ends.
Moving from IONOS? We'll handle it.
Free migration is included on every HostPanel plan. Our team moves your sites, databases, and DNS configuration for you - and your renewal price will always match the price you signed up at.
Start your free migration- Free assisted migration on all plans
- UK (London) datacentre with NVMe storage
- Renewal price = intro price, always
- 99.9% uptime SLA with service credits
More comparisons
Ready to see the numbers? View HostPanel pricing or explore our UK web hosting plans in detail.