The comparison · October 2026Managed hosting costs and what they include.
Compare published prices and check what each plan includes. These four configurations have different resources, so price alone does not tell you which one will suit your site.
Sources checked 18 October 2026USD · before taxNo performance rankings
No affiliate links or paid placements in this edition. Provider order is alphabetical; Liquid Web has two configurations to show the VPS/dedicated distinction.
Managed VPSDreamHost
Managed VPS Business
2 CPU cores · 2 GB RAM · 60 GB NVMe
A website owner who wants server administration handled and does not need root access.
DreamHost published billing comparison| Verified term | First 12 months of service | Renewal rate |
|---|
Monthly
$15.00/month initially | $432.89
Subscription only | $37.99/month
After 1 month |
Annual prepay
$13.75/month initially | $165.00
Subscription only
Upfront: $165.00 | $31.99/month
After 12 months |
Three years prepaid
$10.00/month initially | $120.00
Subscription only
Upfront: $360.00 | $24.99/month
After 36 months |
Introductory pricing for a new subscription. Monthly, annual and three-year plans have different renewal rates. Full selected term is charged upfront; tax is extra.
Management
Server updates, security patches and monitoring. You remain responsible for your applications.
Control panel
DreamHost panel included. This is not a cPanel plan.
Backups
Daily backups included. Published retention averages are about two weeks for files and five days for databases; not a long-term archive.
Migration & setup
Free DIY WordPress plugin for eligible sites. Professional transfer starts at $99 for one site; scope needs confirmation.
Purchase limits. No root or sudo. Standard MySQL runs on separate shared database servers; isolated MySQL VPS costs extra.
Managed VPSInMotion Hosting
Managed VPS · 4 vCPU
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 160 GB NVMe
An owner who needs cPanel/WHM, root access and more included resources, and can consider a longer term.
InMotion Hosting published billing comparison| Verified term | First 12 months of service | Renewal rate |
|---|
24-month offer
$43.49/month initially | $521.88
Subscription only
24-month term: $1,043.76 | $56.49/month
After 24 months |
$43.49/month equivalent for a 24-month term, renewing at $56.49/month equivalent. Checkout payment schedule and tax are unverified.
Management
OS and control-panel updates, monitoring and support. Custom changes made with root access remain your responsibility.
Control panel
cPanel and WHM advertised as included. Included account-license count is not established.
Backups
Daily automatic backups advertised. Base-plan storage, offsite destination and retention are not established; 300 GB belongs to a separate Premier Care tier.
Migration & setup
Launch Assist includes two hours for onboarding, setup and migration assistance. Additional/custom work may cost extra.
Purchase limits. Only the 24-month offer is verified here. A monthly or one-year price must not be inferred from it. 5 TB transfer allowance.
Managed VPSLiquid Web
Fully managed VPS · 4 GB
2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB SSD
An owner who needs full management, root access and an explicitly priced control panel.
Liquid Web published billing comparison| Verified term | First 12 months of service | Renewal rate |
|---|
Monthly
$72.00/month | $864.00
Subscription only | $72.00/month
Current monthly rate |
Annual prepay
$64.80/month initially | $777.60
Subscription only
Upfront: $777.60 | Unknown
After 12 months |
Monthly total is $17 hardware + $39 management + $16 panel. Annual first-year pricing applies a 10% discount to these components.
Management
Fully managed configuration. System and panel updates, monitoring and support are described in the product documentation.
Control panel
InterWorx is $16/month within the $72 configuration. Other control panels require a different quote.
Backups
The inspected configurator selects “None.” Marketing mentions backups, but an included usable backup allowance is not established for this configuration.
Migration & setup
Migration assistance is available. Free migration and any custom transfer price are not verified for this exact configuration.
Purchase limits. Michigan, AlmaLinux 9, InterWorx, no selected backup. 3 TB transfer allowance. Annual renewal is not documented in the inspected quote.
Managed dedicatedLiquid Web
Managed E-2134 · Cloud Dedicated
4 cores · 12 GB RAM · 383 GB SSD
An owner who has already established a need for dedicated resources, rather than choosing by a generic traffic threshold.
Liquid Web published billing comparison| Verified term | First 12 months of service | Renewal rate |
|---|
Monthly
$154.00/month | $1,848.00
Subscription only | $154.00/month
Current monthly rate |
Annual prepay
$138.60/month initially | $1,663.20
Subscription only
Upfront: $1,663.20 | Unknown
After 12 months |
Monthly total is $99 hardware + $39 management + $16 panel. Annual first-year pricing applies a 10% discount.
Management
Fully managed. The public purchase path is labeled Cloud Dedicated and uses virtualization with single-tenant resources.
Control panel
InterWorx is $16/month within the $154 configuration.
Backups
No backup is selected in the inspected configurator. Add and confirm a suitable backup service before relying on recovery.
Migration & setup
Assistance is offered; scope, eligibility and price for this exact migration require confirmation.
Purchase limits. Michigan, AlmaLinux 9, InterWorx. 10 TB transfer allowance. This is a cloud dedicated configuration, not proof of bare-metal performance.
Fit comes before the price comparison.
1. Start with your current workload.
Record peak memory use, disk space, database size, software requirements and transfer usage. These plans have different resources. We do not convert visitor counts into a recommended server size or claim that equal RAM means equal performance.
2. Check your access and management needs.
DreamHost’s managed environment excludes root and sudo. The selected Liquid Web configuration includes full management and InterWorx. InMotion advertises cPanel/WHM and root access. Confirm that your application and control-panel licenses fit the selected offer.
3. Treat backups as a separate requirement.
Ask what is backed up, where it is stored, how long versions remain available and whether restoration costs extra. A marketing reference to backups does not resolve a configurator with no backup selected.
4. Plan the move and the overlap.
Check eligibility before calling a migration free. Allow time to test the new site, coordinate DNS changes and keep your old service active until the move is complete. Your old host’s remaining bill is outside our default calculator.
5. Confirm the final order.
Check the selected term, full amount due, renewal rate, taxes, extra licenses and refund exclusions. The public prices here are a dated research snapshot, not a checkout guarantee.