Buying guide · Hosting prices
7 South African hosting plans under R100 we checked on 7 October 2026
Headline price is the least reliable number in South African hosting. We read seven entry plans directly from each provider's own pricing page and recorded what the price actually requires — VAT treatment, billing term, renewal cost, storage and email.
Affiliate disclosure: AlphaTechs is reader-supported. If you buy through some links on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only list products we have verified ourselves, we publish the date we checked every price, and commission never changes a recommendation — the "who should NOT buy" sections exist for that reason.
Affiliate disclosure — Hostking: of the seven providers on this page, Hostking is the only one we can earn a commission from. We hold a Hostking affiliate relationship, so if you buy through our Hostking link we may earn a share of the sale at no extra cost to you. The other six links on this page are ordinary editorial links that earn us nothing. We have named below every place a competitor beats Hostking, because a comparison where the only paid option always wins is not a comparison.
1. Why the cheapest headline is usually the worst deal
Every provider below advertises a number under R100. Those numbers do not measure the same thing. Four differences decide what you actually pay:
VAT treatment is not the same — and most hosts do not say
xneelo states plainly on its site footer: "All prices are VAT inclusive." Truehost labels its own comparison table "Price (monthly, excl. VAT)". The other five providers on this page do not state VAT treatment on the pricing page we read. So R35 and R99 are not automatically comparable numbers.
Some prices require you to prepay for a year — or three
Hostking's R39.50/mo exists only when billed annually (R474 upfront). Truehost's headline R33/mo requires triennial billing. xneelo's R99 and Afrihost's R84 need no prepayment at all. A monthly buyer and an annual buyer pay different prices at the same host.
The renewal price is the price you live with
Hostking states its own renewal: R39.50 becomes R79/mo. Fairhost states its renewal: R50 stays R50/mo after the first month. Five of the seven plans did not state a differing renewal price on the page we read, which is not the same as confirming there is none.
Storage varies by 50× across these "same budget" plans
The plans below range from 1 GB (CoreHosting Iron) to 50 GB (Hostking Launch). Two plans with near-identical prices can differ by an order of magnitude in what they hold. That is why this page leads with storage, not price.
Our full comparison of the larger, more expensive tiers — including renewal terms and refund windows — is in the best web hosting in South Africa guide. This page is only about what you can get below the R100 line.
2. The seven plans side by side
Read from each provider's own pricing page on 7 October 2026. Where a provider did not state something, the cell says so rather than filling the gap.
Price and terms
| Provider · plan | Advertised price | VAT treatment | Billing required | Renewal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truehost · Starter | R35/mo (R400/yr) | VAT excluded — table says "excl. VAT" | Monthly, or R33/mo billed triennially | Not stated as differing |
| CoreHosting · Iron | R39/mo | Not stated | Monthly, or R31/mo billed yearly (Save 20%) | Not stated as differing |
| Hostking · Launch | R39.50/mo promo (R474 first year) | Not stated | Billed annually for the promo price | R79/mo — stated by Hostking |
| Fairhost · Fair Start | R50/mo (R45/mo billed yearly) | Not stated | Monthly | R50/mo — stated, no jump |
| Afrihost · Silver (Linux) | R84.00/mo | Not stated | Monthly — no fixed-term contract | R84.00/mo as advertised |
| xneelo · Basic | R99/mo | VAT inclusive — stated on site | Monthly — no promo term | R99/mo as advertised |
| 1-grid · Small | R99/month | Not stated | Monthly, or annual (save up to 10%) | Not stated as differing |
What you get for it
| Provider · plan | Storage | Websites | WordPress | .co.za domain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostking · Launch | 50 GB NVMe | 25 accounts | 1 | 1-click install | Free on annual plans |
| Truehost · Starter | 30 GB SSD | Unlimited | 10 | 1-click installer | Free on annual plans |
| 1-grid · Small | 10 GB SSD | 100 mail accounts | 1 | WordPress-ready, Plesk | Included |
| xneelo · Basic | 15 GB SSD | 100 mailboxes | 1 (+1 multiple domain) | Easy install wizard | Not stated |
| Afrihost · Silver | 2 GB | 50 accounts | 1 | Softaculous installer | Free first year only |
| Fairhost · Fair Start | 2 GB NVMe | Unlimited business emails | 1 | Separate WordPress product listed | Free on yearly billing |
| CoreHosting · Iron | 1 GB | 5 accounts | 1 | Softaculous installer | Not stated |
Higher tiers exist at most of these providers and several are still under R100 — Truehost Pro (R70/mo excl. VAT, 50 GB, 30 sites) and CoreHosting Steel (R85/mo, 2 GB) and Silver (R99/mo, 5 GB). We list each provider's entry plan so the seven rows stay comparable.
3. What each plan actually gives you
Hostking Launch — most storage under R100 (R39.50/mo annual)
Pros: 50 GB NVMe is the largest allowance on this page by a wide margin; 25 email accounts; unmetered bandwidth; free SSL; daily backups; free .co.za domain on annual plans; a stated 30-day money-back guarantee; 1-click WordPress install; support 07:00–22:00 SAST daily.
Cons: the R39.50 price requires annual prepayment and Hostking states it renews at R79/mo; one website only on this tier; VAT treatment is not stated on the pricing page; the pricing page does not carry an explicit month-to-month/no-contract statement.
Hostking publishes review scores on its own site: 4.2/5 on Google (410 reviews) and 4.3/5 on Trustpilot (573 reviews). Those are Hostking's figures, not ours — we did not audit them.
Truehost Starter — lowest headline price (R35/mo excl. VAT)
Pros: cheapest advertised figure here; 30 GB SSD; unlimited email; and — uniquely — 10 websites on the entry plan; free .co.za domain on annual plans; free website migrations; cPanel; daily backups; ~25,000 visits monthly quoted.
Cons: the price is explicitly excluding VAT (at South Africa's 15% VAT rate that is R40.25 including VAT — our arithmetic, not a Truehost figure); R33/mo needs triennial prepayment; renewal price is not stated as differing on the page we read.
CoreHosting Iron — cheapest flat monthly price (R39/mo)
Pros: R39/mo billed month-to-month — CoreHosting's own store states "Month to month billing" (its homepage also offers a cheaper R31/mo billed yearly, advertised as Save 20%); unlimited bandwidth; free SSL; daily backups; Softaculous for WordPress; the provider states "No Contracts — Cancel anytime", a 30-day guarantee, free migration, and a 99.9% uptime SLA; positioned as local NVMe infrastructure for South African businesses.
Cons: only 1 GB of storage — the smallest here by a factor of two, and 50× less than Hostking; 5 email accounts; VAT treatment not stated; a 1 GB plan is a brochure-site plan at best.
Fairhost Fair Start — flat price, no jump (R50/mo)
Pros: R50/mo and it stays R50/mo — Fairhost publishes the renewal on the same card; yearly billing drops it to R45/mo and adds a free .co.za domain; 2 GB NVMe; free cPanel; LiteSpeed caching; free SSL; SiteLock; JetBackup 5; unlimited business emails claimed in the page hero; 24/7/365 support.
Cons: 2 GB is small; VAT treatment not stated; Fairhost's own FAQ says hosting is not managed — "you are in the driver's seat" — and the shared plan page does not list WordPress explicitly, though a separate WordPress Hosting product is advertised.
Afrihost Silver — the flexibility pick (R84.00/mo)
Pros: the only provider here that states "No fixed-term contracts. No paperwork. All packages are month to month"; free setup with no additional setup fees; 50 email accounts; unlimited web traffic; website builder; Softaculous; free .co.za/.site/.online/.store/.tech domain for the first year; 25+ years trading.
Cons: only 2 GB of storage at R84 — you are paying twice Hostking's price for 4% of its storage; the free domain is first-year only; VAT treatment not stated on that page. Afrihost says openly on the same page: "We simply do not compete on price… there are many many cheaper options available." That is a deliberate choice, not a defect.
xneelo Basic — the transparency pick (R99/mo)
Pros: the only provider here that states VAT treatment on the page — "All prices are VAT inclusive"; no promotional billing term; 15 GB SSD; 100 mailboxes; 3 databases; unlimited traffic; daily backups retained 14 days; Let's Encrypt SSL; ModSecurity WAF and DDoS protection; 24/7 support; and you choose between South African or German servers at order. Formerly Hetzner SA.
Cons: R99 is the joint-highest price on this page; disk over-usage is charged at R20.00/GB; .co.za domain inclusion is not stated on the page we read.
1-grid Small — the domain-included pick (R99/month)
Pros: .co.za domain registration included with no first-year qualifier on the page we read — the only plan here that says it that way; 10 GB SSD; 100 mail accounts; Plesk control panel; annual billing saves up to 10%; WordPress-ready on the shared page.
Cons: R99 for 10 GB is the weakest storage-per-rand ratio of the three R99 plans; one website; VAT treatment and renewal not stated; 1-grid's dedicated WordPress hosting starts at R129/month, above this page's budget line.
4. Where each provider wins — including where Hostking loses
We can earn commission only from Hostking on this page. So here is the same comparison written from the other side.
| If your priority is… | The winner is… | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest headline price | Truehost Starter | R35/mo — but excl. VAT, so ≈R40.25 incl. VAT at 15% |
| Lowest price with no prepayment and no VAT caveat stated | CoreHosting Iron | R39/mo available monthly, no contract — a R31/mo yearly option also exists; VAT treatment not stated either |
| Month-to-month, no contract | Afrihost | Only provider here that states it in those words |
| VAT transparency | xneelo | Only provider here that states VAT treatment at all |
| A price that does not jump at renewal | Fairhost / xneelo / Afrihost | Each publishes a renewal equal to the advertised price |
| Most storage under R100 | Hostking Launch | 50 GB vs 30 GB next best — needs annual prepayment |
| Most websites on the entry plan | Truehost Starter | 10 websites vs 1 on every other entry plan here |
| Free .co.za with no first-year qualifier | 1-grid Small | "Includes .co.za domain registration" |
| Choosing your server country | xneelo Basic | South African or German server, selected at order |
Hostking wins exactly one row on this page — storage — and we have said what it costs to get that win: annual prepayment and an unstated VAT position. If lowest price, contract flexibility or VAT clarity matters more to you than disk space, buy from someone else on this table.
5. Who should not buy an under-R100 plan
- Anyone running a busy online store. Shared hosting at any of these prices shares a server with other customers. Under sale-day traffic it will be the first thing to feel it.
- Anyone who needs more than one website and picks anything except Truehost. Six of these seven entry plans host exactly one site. Truehost Starter hosts ten.
- Anyone storing much more than 2 GB. CoreHosting Iron, Afrihost Silver and Fairhost Fair Start all sit at 1–2 GB. A WordPress site with images passes that quickly.
- Anyone who will not read the renewal line. R39.50 becoming R79/mo is a fair deal for 50 GB. It is a bad surprise if you budgeted on the first number only.
- Anyone who needs a dedicated IP, Windows/ASP.NET, or guaranteed resources. None of these plans offer that — it is a different product at a different price.
6. FAQ
Which of these is actually the cheapest?
Depends what you are measuring. Truehost has the lowest advertised number (R35/mo) but it excludes VAT. CoreHosting Iron is the lowest monthly number (R39/mo, "Month to month billing" on its own store, plus a R31/mo yearly option) but does not state VAT. xneelo has the clearest number (R99/mo, VAT inclusive, no promo term) and the most expensive. There is no single cheapest — which is why this page exists.
Is R39.50/mo really available monthly?
No. Hostking states R39.50/mo applies "when billed annually" for R474 for the first year, and that it renews at R79/mo. A monthly buyer pays a different price. Read the billing term, not the headline.
Does cheap shared hosting work for WordPress?
Yes, for a brochure site, portfolio, blog or small business site with modest traffic. Six of the seven plans here include a one-click or Softaculous WordPress installer. Cheap shared hosting becomes a problem when you put a busy store or heavy application on it — not because the plan is inexpensive.
Do I need hosting if I only use WhatsApp and Instagram?
No. If customers find you on social platforms, a website is optional and a Google Business Profile is free. Buy hosting when you need a link you own, email at your own domain, or search traffic.
Will these prices still be valid next month?
Maybe not. Promotional pricing in this market moves often. Every figure on this page was read from the provider's own site on 7 October 2026 — re-check before you buy, and tell us if something has changed.
Related guides
- Best web hosting in South Africa — the wider comparison, with renewal terms and refund windows for larger plans.
Not sure which one fits?
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Prices last verified: 7 October 2026 — every price, storage figure, email count and billing term above was read from the provider's own pricing page: truehost.co.za, hostking.co.za, corehosting.co.za, fairhost.co.za, afrihost.com, xneelo.co.za and 1grid.co.za. Prices and promos change without notice; re-check before buying.
Scope of this comparison: we checked these seven providers. We did not check every hosting company trading in South Africa, so this page does not claim to name the cheapest host in the country — only the cheapest of the seven we verified, on the date above.
Independence: AlphaTechs may earn a commission on the Hostking link. The other six providers on this page are ordinary editorial links that pay us nothing. Commission never sets the ranking — the criteria are published in section 1, and every place a competitor beats Hostking is written out in section 4. Spot a price that changed? Tell us on WhatsApp.