--- title: "HostPapa review 2026: four cPanel plans, every renewal price, and the add-ons that stop being free after year one" url: "https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa" canonical: "https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa" author: "Denis M." published: "2026-10-13" updated: "2026-10-13" generated: "2026-10-15" note: "Markdown twin generated at build time from the same content as the HTML page. The HTML page is canonical." --- # HostPapa review 2026: four cPanel plans, every renewal price, and the add-ons that stop being free after year one HostPapa's Essentials, Growth, Premium and Elite plans with 3-year promo prices and regular rates on every term, the 30-day refund, the uptime wording, five data centers and third-party verdicts. By [Denis M.](https://hostidea.com/authors/denis-m) · Reviewed by [Mike H.](https://hostidea.com/authors/mike-h) · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Published Oct 13, 2026 We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. Rankings come from the published methodology and sourced data, not from commissions. [Disclosure](https://hostidea.com/disclosure). [7.3 out of 10](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring) ## Verdict HostPapa is a 20-year-old Canadian host that publishes something rare: a complete renewal price list for every plan on every term. The plans are standard cPanel hosting on CloudLinux with staging, a CDN and Imunify360, served from Toronto, three US cities or Amsterdam, with phone support in sixteen countries. Read two things before buying: the headline prices need a three-year term, and automated backups are free only for the first year. We found no independent measurements, and the terms promise 99.9 percent on a reasonable-efforts basis without credits. Good for a Canadian small business. Best for - Canadian sites that want Toronto hosting and PIPEDA alignment - Owners who want phone support in their own language - Small business sites that use the bundled email and office tools - Beginners on cPanel with a staged first year Skip it if - You want backups included for the life of the plan - You need published cores, RAM or inode limits - You need a data center outside North America or the Netherlands Visit HostPapa (affiliate link: /go/hostpapa) from $2.95/mo, renews $8.99/mo ![HostPapa homepage](/_astro/homepage-2026-10-13.xIiRjeLm_Z1jTnxx.webp?dpl=dpl_wVoJ6hM4T9kp8XUyrRhE6oXRnQ5f) _HostPapa homepage, captured Oct 13, 2026._ ## How HostPapa scores Six sub-scores with their weights. Scores updated Oct 13, 2026. [How each one is computed](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring). - **Performance (weight 25%)**: 7.0 - **Uptime (weight 20%)**: 7.0 - **Support (weight 15%)**: 8.0 - **Features (weight 15%)**: 7.0 - **Value (weight 15%)**: 7.0 - **Ease of use (weight 10%)**: 8.0 ### What we liked - **Every renewal price is published.** A renewal pricing page lists the regular monthly rate and the billed total for each plan on 1-month, 1-year, 2-year and 3-year terms, in US dollars. - **Five data centers you can choose.** Toronto, Buffalo, Miami, Los Angeles and Amsterdam, with Toronto for Canadian data residency and Amsterdam for GDPR. - **Staging and security on every plan.** Staging, a CDN and Imunify360 on Essentials; Protection Power with Imunify360 on Growth and above, free for the full term. - **Real phone support.** 24/7 phone, chat and email, with local numbers in 16 countries and staff in 37 countries. - **Long history.** Founded in 2006 in Burlington, Ontario, by Jamie Opalchuk; a string of acquisitions since, including Hostwinds and Tailor Made Servers in 2026. ### What held it back - **Backups are a first-year gift.** 1 GB on Essentials and 5 GB on Growth, free for the first year only, then a paid add-on; the plan cards say so in small print. - **Headline prices need 36 months.** $2.95 to $9.95 per month are 3-year promotional rates; monthly billing is $12.99 to $30.99 from day one. - **Resources described as multipliers.** 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x server resources, with no cores, RAM or inode figures on the plan cards. - **No measurements and no credits.** We found no independent uptime or response-time monitoring; the terms promise 99.9 percent as a reasonable-efforts commitment without a credit schedule. ## What did our tests show? HostIdea has not opened its own monitoring window for HostPapa yet, so there is no HostIdea uptime or response figure on this page. The published measurements we could find are listed below, attributed to the people who ran them. This section will carry our data when a window completes. No test results published yet. ### What do published measurements show? Longest independent window: 99.94% uptime over 30-day test (WP Hive). Response times reported: 130 ms (Bitcatcha, worldwide average for the US site; Canada 121.7 ms, Amsterdam 143 ms). Measurements published by others, as they state them. HostIdea did not run these tests; each row links to its source and shows the date we read it. | Source | Setup | Uptime | Response | Load test | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [HostScore](https://hostscore.net/review/hostpapa/)Jerry LowScore only · updated Sep 17, 2026 · read Oct 13, 2026 | Not stated | Not published | Not published | None | Overall HostScore 82.53 percent. States it has not run direct performance tests on HostPapa in the past 24 months. Published 4 September 2026. | | [WP Hive](https://wphive.com/reviews/hostpapa-web-hosting-review/)Tanvir FaisalIndependent test · updated Jun 25, 2026 · read Oct 13, 2026 | Not stated | 99.94% (30-day test) | Not published | None | Monitoring tool, plan and server location not stated; no response-time figure. | | [Bitcatcha](https://www.bitcatcha.com/web-hosting/hostpapa-review/)Daren LowIndependent test · updated Mar 19, 2026 · read Oct 13, 2026 | Los Angeles, Toronto and Amsterdam test sites · Bitcatcha Server Speed Checker | Not published | 130 msworldwide average for the US site; Canada 121.7 ms, Amsterdam 143 ms | None | Uptime widgets show a rounded "99%" for all three sites since September 2023, which is too coarse to compare with other sources. Largest Contentful Paint 1.98 s on WebPageTest for the US site. Plan not stated. | | [BloggersPassion](https://bloggerspassion.com/best-web-hosting/hostpapa-review/)Anil AgarwalIndependent test · updated Mar 4, 2026 · read Oct 13, 2026 | UptimeRobot | 100.00% (last 30 days) | Not published | None | GTmetrix fully loaded 638 ms with a B grade and an 88 percent performance score. Plan, server location and check interval not stated; a 99.99 percent figure also appears on the page. | _Methods differ between sources (check interval, plan, location and window), so the rows are not directly comparable with each other or with our own tests. [How we use published measurements](https://hostidea.com/methodology#where-the-numbers-come-from-today)._ ## Is HostPapa a good web host? A reasonable one for the right buyer: a small business, often Canadian, that wants a phone number to call and a data center it can name. The plans are ordinary cPanel hosting, and HostPapa is more honest about renewals than most. The two things to understand are that the headline prices require three years upfront, and that the backups quietly become a paid add-on after year one. Everything in this review is a published fact we checked on the date given, a third-party assessment cited by name, or a gap we name as a gap. ## What do you get on each plan? | Plan | Websites | Storage | CPU and RAM | Backups | Mailboxes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Essentials | 1 | 25 GB | 1x (HostPapa publishes relative tiers) | 1 GB automated backups, free for the first year only | Not stated on the plan card | | Growth | 5 | 100 GB | 2x | 5 GB automated backups, free for the first year only | Not stated on the plan card | | Premium | Unlimited | 200 GB | 4x | Automated backups, free for the first year only | Not stated on the plan card | | Elite | Unlimited | Unlimited | 8x | Automated backups, free for the first year only | Not stated on the plan card | Essentials - **Websites**: 1 - **Storage**: 25 GB - **CPU and RAM**: 1x (HostPapa publishes relative tiers) - **Backups**: 1 GB automated backups, free for the first year only - **Mailboxes**: Not stated on the plan card Growth - **Websites**: 5 - **Storage**: 100 GB - **CPU and RAM**: 2x - **Backups**: 5 GB automated backups, free for the first year only - **Mailboxes**: Not stated on the plan card Premium - **Websites**: Unlimited - **Storage**: 200 GB - **CPU and RAM**: 4x - **Backups**: Automated backups, free for the first year only - **Mailboxes**: Not stated on the plan card Elite - **Websites**: Unlimited - **Storage**: Unlimited - **CPU and RAM**: 8x - **Backups**: Automated backups, free for the first year only - **Mailboxes**: Not stated on the plan card _From the official plan pages, checked Oct 13, 2026. [Source](https://www.hostpapa.com/shared-hosting)_ Every plan includes NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain for the first year on terms of one year or longer, a standard SSL certificate, a CDN, staging, CloudLinux servers, free website migration and 24/7 support. Essentials gets basic Imunify360 security; Growth and above get Protection Power with Imunify360 for the full term. Resources are described as 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x “server resources”, a relative measure HostPapa does not translate into cores, RAM or inodes on the plan cards. The backup line deserves its own sentence: Essentials includes 1 GB and Growth 5 GB of automated backups “free for the first year”. After that, automated website backup is an add-on with its own renewal price on the renewal pricing page. ## What does it cost? | Plan | Monthly | 36 months | | --- | --- | --- | | Essentials | $12.99/mosame at renewal | $2.95/mothen $8.99/mo | | Growth | $17.99/mosame at renewal | $5.95/mothen $13.99/mo | | Premium | $24.99/mosame at renewal | $6.95/mothen $19.99/mo | | Elite | $30.99/mosame at renewal | $9.95/mothen $27.99/mo | Essentials - **Monthly**: $12.99/mosame at renewal - **36 months**: $2.95/morenews $8.99/mo Growth - **Monthly**: $17.99/mosame at renewal - **36 months**: $5.95/morenews $13.99/mo Premium - **Monthly**: $24.99/mosame at renewal - **36 months**: $6.95/morenews $19.99/mo Elite - **Monthly**: $30.99/mosame at renewal - **36 months**: $9.95/morenews $27.99/mo _Per month, USD, before tax; terms are paid upfront, and the renewal is shown under each price. Read from the official pricing page on Oct 13, 2026. [Source](https://www.hostpapa.com/renewal-pricing/)_ The promotional prices on the plan cards ($2.95 to $9.95 per month) apply to a three-year term. HostPapa’s renewal pricing page, which we read on 13 October 2026, gives the regular rate for every term: | Plan | Monthly | 1 year | 2 years | 3 years | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Essentials | $12.99 | $10.99 ($131.88) | $9.99 ($239.76) | $8.99 ($323.64) | | Growth | $17.99 | $15.99 ($191.88) | $14.99 ($359.76) | $13.99 ($503.64) | | Premium | $24.99 | $21.99 ($263.88) | $20.99 ($503.76) | $19.99 ($719.64) | | Elite | $30.99 | $29.99 ($359.88) | $28.99 ($695.76) | $27.99 ($1,007.64) | Promotional prices for the 1-year and 2-year terms are not shown on the plan cards, so the table above lists the monthly and 3-year terms. The terms of service say promotional rates end without further notice at the end of the initial term; other price increases come with 30 days’ notice. ### Six-year cost on the entry plan | Route | Years 1 to 6 | | --- | --- | | 3-year promo, then 3-year renewal | $106.20 + $323.64 = $429.84 | | Month to month | $12.99 × 72 = $935.28 | ## How do refunds work? The service guarantee page gives a full refund of hosting fees if you cancel within 30 days of signup, with domain names, domain privacy, setup fees, mobile websites and other add-ons excluded, and the clock starting at activation regardless of promotions or free trials. The plan cards add that cancelling in the first term triggers a non-refundable fee for the free domain. The terms of service state that amounts paid in advance are otherwise not refunded. ## What does the uptime guarantee say? The marketing pages promise a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee. The terms of service phrase it as HostPapa using reasonable efforts to keep hosting services available at least 99.9 percent of the time, measured monthly, excluding scheduled maintenance, which is any work done in a published maintenance window (midnight to 3 a.m. Toronto, London or Sydney time) or announced 48 hours ahead. We found no service credit schedule in the terms or on the guarantee page, so treat the figure as a target. ## Where are the servers? Five data centers: Toronto, Buffalo, Miami, Los Angeles and Amsterdam. The data centers page says customers can choose a location to match their regulatory needs, naming Toronto for Canadian data (PIPEDA) and Amsterdam for GDPR. The about page records the Amsterdam and California sites opening in 2020 and, in 2026, the acquisitions of Hostwinds (Seattle, Dallas and Amsterdam data centers) and Tailor Made Servers in Dallas under the ColoCrossing brand, which may add locations for other products. ## How fast and reliable is it? No one we found has published a year of monitoring for HostPapa. HostScore’s review by Jerry Low, published 4 September 2026 and updated 17 September 2026, scores HostPapa 82.53 percent, notes HTTP/2 and a global CDN, and says it has not run direct performance tests on HostPapa in the past 24 months. Three shorter measurements exist: - WP Hive’s review by Tanvir Faisal, published 25 June 2026, reports 99.94 percent uptime over a 30-day test, without naming the tool, plan or location. - BloggersPassion’s review by Anil Agarwal, updated 4 March 2026, reports 100 percent on UptimeRobot over the last 30 days and a GTmetrix full load of 638 milliseconds, without stating the plan or location. - Bitcatcha’s review by Daren Low, updated 19 March 2026, runs test sites in Los Angeles, Toronto and Amsterdam. Its Server Speed Checker reads worldwide averages of 130.4, 121.7 and 143 milliseconds respectively, and WebPageTest measured a Largest Contentful Paint of 1.98 seconds on the US site. Its uptime widgets show a rounded “99%” for all three sites since September 2023, too coarse to compare with anything. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is a track record. The stack is standard for the category: CloudLinux, NVMe, a CDN, no LiteSpeed or Redis mentioned on the plan cards. ## How good is the support? Phone, live chat and email, 24/7, with local phone numbers in 16 countries and staff spread across 37 countries, according to HostPapa. HostScore reports chat answering within seconds and ticket replies ranging from one to eight hours in one user’s experience. Trustpilot showed a 4.8 out of 5 score from about 2,800 reviews on 13 October 2026. We have not timed tickets ourselves and will add real ones to the support table on this page. ## Who owns HostPapa, and where is it? HostPapa, Inc. was founded in 2006 in Burlington, Ontario, by Jamie Opalchuk, who still leads it. The about page lists a long run of acquisitions: WebServe, MezzoHost, HostLabs, SecureLive, Canvas Host, Korax, Data Deposit Box, LFC Hosting, PacificHost, iHost, Deluxe Corporation’s hosting business, and in 2026 Hostwinds and Tailor Made Servers. The terms are governed by Ontario law. ## What is missing or unclear? - Cores, RAM and inode limits behind the 1x to 8x resource tiers. - Promotional prices on the 1-year and 2-year terms. - The price of the backup add-on after the first year, which sits on the renewal pricing page under its own heading. - A long independent monitoring window with a stated plan and location; the three 30-day figures we found are from unstated plans and one does not name its tool. - HostIdea’s own monitoring, support timing and load testing have not started. ## Who should choose HostPapa, and who should look elsewhere? Choose it if you want a Canadian or US data center you can pick, phone support in your language, and a host that tells you the renewal price before you buy. Growth is the sensible plan: five sites, 100 GB and the better security bundle for $5.95 a month on three years. Look elsewhere if you want backups included for good (Flashcloud and FastComet keep 30 daily copies at no charge), published resource figures (Hosting.com prints cores and RAM), or a shorter commitment at the headline price. ## How we scored this review The scores on this page are provisional. Uptime and performance reflect the absence of measurements and a standard stack. Features credit staging, security and locations against the first-year-only backups and the vague resource tiers. Value weighs a three-year commitment and moderate renewals. Support reflects the channels, the country coverage and a large positive rating sample, not timed tickets. Each score will be recomputed when data exists, and the review history on this page will show the change. ## How much does HostPapa cost? The Essentials plan starts at $2.95/mo on a 36-month term and renews at $8.99/mo. 30 days full refund. | Plan | Intro | Renews at | Term | Sites | Storage | Highlights | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Essentials | $2.95/mo | $8.99/mo | 36 months | 1 | 25 GB | 1x server resources, Staging, CDN, basic Imunify360 security, Renews at $10.99/mo on 1-year, $9.99 on 2-year, $12.99 monthly | | Growth | $5.95/mo | $13.99/mo | 36 months | 5 | 100 GB | 2x server resources, Advanced security: Protection Power plus Imunify360, Renews at $15.99/mo on 1-year, $14.99 on 2-year, $17.99 monthly | | Premium | $6.95/mo | $19.99/mo | 36 months | unlimited | 200 GB | 4x server resources, Unlimited websites, Renews at $21.99/mo on 1-year, $20.99 on 2-year, $24.99 monthly | | Elite | $9.95/mo | $27.99/mo | 36 months | unlimited | Unlimited | 8x server resources, Unmetered NVMe storage, Renews at $29.99/mo on 1-year, $28.99 on 2-year, $30.99 monthly | _Prices verified on Oct 13, 2026[Official pricing page](https://www.hostpapa.com/renewal-pricing/)Intro price requires the listed term, billed upfront. USD, US region.Visit HostPapa (affiliate link: /go/hostpapa)_ ## What is included? | Feature | Included | | --- | --- | | Free domain | First year, on terms of one year or longer, select extensions; a non-refundable domain fee applies if you cancel in the first termKnowledge base, free domain name registration | | Free SSL | Standard certificate | | Automated backups | 1 GB on Essentials and 5 GB on Growth free for the first year; a paid add-on afterwards | | Staging | On every plan | | CDN | Yes | | Security | Imunify360 basic on Essentials; Protection Power plus Imunify360 on Growth and above, free for the full term | | Free migration | Yes | | Server resources | Relative tiers 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x; cores, inodes and database size not published on the plan cards | | Uptime guarantee | 99.9% measured monthly, excluding scheduled maintenance, as a reasonable-efforts commitment; no credit schedule in the termsTerms of service | | Choice of data center | Toronto, Buffalo, Miami, Los Angeles or Amsterdam, per the data centers page | | Phone support | 24/7, local numbers in 16 countries | | Windows hosting | No | _Features verified on Oct 13, 2026 against the [official feature page](https://www.hostpapa.com/shared-hosting)._ ## How good is HostPapa's support? Support tests are scheduled for the next quarter. ## Alternatives to HostPapa [8.7 out of 10](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring) ### [Flashcloud](https://hostidea.com/reviews/flashcloud)Our pick Shared and WordPress hosting with a free domain for life, 30-day backups and an anytime prorated refund Best for: Small business sites; WordPress sites that want backups and a domain included; Owners who want the first site built for them; Audiences in North America, Europe or Southeast Asia $2.79/mo intro, $9.99/mo renewal Visit Flashcloud (affiliate link: /go/flashcloud) [8.0 out of 10](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring) ### [SiteGround](https://hostidea.com/reviews/siteground) Managed-feel shared hosting on Google Cloud with daily backups and staging; the renewals are the price Best for: WordPress sites that want backups, staging and a CDN included; Small businesses that value support reputation over price; Audiences near one of its eleven data centers; Agencies on GoGeek (Git, white label, priority support) $2.99/mo intro, $17.99/mo renewal Visit SiteGround (affiliate link: /go/siteground) [7.5 out of 10](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring) ### [FastComet](https://hostidea.com/reviews/fastcomet) cPanel hosting on LiteSpeed with 30 daily offsite backups and 12 locations; small disks, now part of World Host Group Best for: Sites whose visitors are near one of its 12 locations; Owners who want phone support and cPanel; Small sites on a low first-year price; Developers who want Node.js and SSH on shared plans $1.99/mo intro, $9.95/mo renewal Visit FastComet (affiliate link: /go/fastcomet) ## Frequently asked questions - **### How much does HostPapa cost after the promotion?**: From the renewal pricing page on 13 October 2026, per month: Essentials $12.99 monthly, $10.99 on a 1-year term, $9.99 on 2 years, $8.99 on 3 years; Growth $17.99, $15.99, $14.99, $13.99; Premium $24.99, $21.99, $20.99, $19.99; Elite $30.99, $29.99, $28.99, $27.99. - **### Are backups included with HostPapa hosting?**: Only in the first year. The plan cards list 1 GB (Essentials) and 5 GB (Growth) of automated backups free for the first year; afterwards automated website backup is a paid add-on with its own renewal price. - **### What is HostPapa's refund policy?**: A full refund of hosting fees if you cancel within 30 days of signup. Domain names, domain privacy, setup fees, mobile websites and other add-ons are non-refundable, and the period starts at activation regardless of promotions or trials. - **### Where are HostPapa's servers?**: Toronto, Buffalo, Miami, Los Angeles and Amsterdam. The data centers page says you can choose a location to match your regulatory needs, with Toronto for Canadian data and Amsterdam for GDPR. - **### Does the free domain stay free?**: No. It covers the first year on plans with a term of one year or longer, on an eligible extension, and renews at the then-current price. If you cancel before the end of the first year, a non-refundable domain fee is charged. ## Review history 1. Oct 13, 2026Added published third-party measurements under thirdParty\[\]: WP Hive (25 June 2026), BloggersPassion (updated 4 March 2026) and Bitcatcha (updated 19 March 2026), all short windows without a stated plan, plus HostScore's note that it ran no direct tests. Scores unchanged; the review still says no year-scale measurement exists. 2. Oct 13, 2026First version built from verified sources: the shared hosting page (plan cards and 3-year promotional prices), the renewal pricing page (regular rates on every term in USD), the service guarantee page, the terms of service, the data centers page, the free domain knowledge base article and the about page. HostScore's 17 September 2026 review cited; no independent monitoring with numbers was found. No HostIdea window is open yet; scores are provisional. [source](https://www.hostpapa.com/renewal-pricing/) ## Sources 1. [HostPapa shared web hosting plans](https://www.hostpapa.com/shared-hosting), accessed Oct 13, 2026 2. [HostPapa renewal pricing (all plans, all terms, USD)](https://www.hostpapa.com/renewal-pricing/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 3. [HostPapa service guarantee (30-day refund, uptime)](https://www.hostpapa.com/why-hostpapa/service-guarantee/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 4. [HostPapa terms of service](https://www.hostpapa.com/terms), accessed Oct 13, 2026 5. [HostPapa data centers](https://www.hostpapa.com/about-hostpapa/data-centers/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 6. [HostPapa knowledge base, free domain name registration](https://www.hostpapa.com/knowledgebase/hostpapa-free-domain-name-registration/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 7. [HostPapa about page (history and acquisitions)](https://www.hostpapa.com/about-hostpapa/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 8. [HostScore, HostPapa review by Jerry Low (updated 17 September 2026)](https://hostscore.net/review/hostpapa/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 9. [Trustpilot, HostPapa reviews](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.hostpapa.com), accessed Oct 13, 2026 10. [WP Hive, HostPapa review by Tanvir Faisal (25 June 2026)](https://wphive.com/reviews/hostpapa-web-hosting-review/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 11. [BloggersPassion, HostPapa review by Anil Agarwal (updated 4 March 2026)](https://bloggerspassion.com/best-web-hosting/hostpapa-review/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 12. [Bitcatcha, HostPapa review by Daren Low (updated 19 March 2026)](https://www.bitcatcha.com/web-hosting/hostpapa-review/), accessed Oct 13, 2026 Share[](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhostidea.com%2Freviews%2Fhostpapa&text=HostPapa%20review%202026%3A%20four%20cPanel%20plans%2C%20every%20renewal%20price%2C%20and%20the%20add-ons%20that%20stop%20being%20free%20after%20year%20one)[](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhostidea.com%2Freviews%2Fhostpapa)[](mailto:?subject=HostPapa%20review%202026%3A%20four%20cPanel%20plans%2C%20every%20renewal%20price%2C%20and%20the%20add-ons%20that%20stop%20being%20free%20after%20year%20one&body=https%3A%2F%2Fhostidea.com%2Freviews%2Fhostpapa) HostPapa from $2.95/mo Visit HostPapa (affiliate link: /go/hostpapa)