Every year, website owners see the same thing: the cost of domains, hosting, SSL certificates, and business email goes up. This trend has continued since 2022, and now it’s clear that 2026 will bring even more increases.

Although these services once stayed fairly stable, the entire industry has changed. As a result, businesses now need to plan ahead for higher yearly prices.

1. Domain Prices Keep Increasing Every Year

Domain costs rise a little bit each year. At first, these increases were small. However, they are now happening more often and across many extensions.

For example:

• Popular domains like .com, .net, and .co.uk now rise almost every year.

• Smaller or low-volume domains often increase even more sharply.

• Registries warn that 2026 will likely bring another round of price changes, due to higher operational and security requirements.

Therefore, even a small yearly increase can add up, especially if you manage several domains.

2. Hosting Costs Are Also Rising – And 2026 Will Not Be Different

Web hosting providers are dealing with higher costs too. Energy prices rise each year, and data centres need more power. In addition, hardware, security systems, and software licences also cost more annually.

For this reason:

• Shared hosting has become more expensive.

• VPS and dedicated servers have increased even faster.

• Control panel licences like cPanel and Plesk continue to rise each year.

Because of all this, hosting companies say 2026 will likely bring new price increases as well.

3. SSL Certificate Prices Keep Going Up Too

Although free SSL certificates exist, many companies still need paid SSL options. These include Wildcard, EV, and OV certificates. Unfortunately, their prices have also risen each year.

This is happening because:

• Verification requirements are stricter.

• Security standards continue to evolve.

• SSL vendors raise their wholesale prices annually.

As a result, SSL certificates cost more today than they did a few years ago, and they will likely increase again in 2026.

4. Business Email Hosting Is Becoming More Expensive Every Year

Email hosting used to be a cheap add-on. However, things have changed. Providers now spend more money on spam protection, storage, backups, and security. Meanwhile, large companies such as Google and Microsoft have also raised their prices.

Therefore:

• Basic email hosting is no longer low-cost.

• Premium email services now rise almost every year.

• Businesses should expect additional increases in 2026.

What These Yearly Increases Mean for You

All of these rising costs mean one thing: your website will cost more to maintain each year.

This affects:

• small businesses,

• freelancers,

• digital agencies,

• and anyone managing multiple domains or websites.

Because these increases happen every year, it is important to plan ahead and manage your renewals early.

How You Can Reduce the Impact

Here are a few simple steps you can take:

✔ Lock in multi-year domain renewals

This helps you avoid future yearly increases.

✔ Review your hosting needs

You might save money by removing unused features or switching plans.

✔ Keep services with fewer middlemen

In-house hosting usually stays more stable in price.

✔ Budget for yearly increases

Since prices rise annually, it is helpful to plan for the changes.

SeeThrough Media’s Advantage: Low-Cost, In-House Hosting That Avoids Big Yearly Price Hikes

While the rest of the industry continues to raise prices each year — and with 2026 expected to rise even more — SeeThrough Media offers a better option.

Because we run our own dedicated hosting system, we can provide:

• Low-cost, stable hosting

• Affordable domain pricing

• In-house SSL certificates

• Reliable business email without big yearly increases

• No surprise price jumps

In short, our in-house setup lets us keep our prices fair while the rest of the market goes up.