The comparer shows €1/month. Twelve months later the invoice doubled and the site crawls when three heavy plugins run. The issue was not « Europe » — it was mixing call-out price, offer type and shared CPU.
This comparison uses real entry price from IONOS, Hostinger, netcup, Scaleway, OVHcloud, Hetzner, Contabo and o2switch. No invented performance benchmarks.
Documented entry table
| Host | entry price | score | server country | types (excerpt) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IONOS | €1/mo | 8.3 | DE | shared, VPS, dedicated, cloud |
| Hostinger | €2/mo | 8.4 | LT | shared, VPS, ecommerce |
| netcup | €2/mo | 8.5 | DE | shared, VPS, dedicated |
| Scaleway | €2.99/mo | 8.6 | FR | VPS, sensitive, ecommerce |
| OVHcloud | €3.49/mo | 8.7 | FR | shared → dedicated |
| Hetzner | €3.79/mo | 8.5 | DE | VPS, dedicated |
| Contabo | €4/mo | 8.4 | DE | VPS, dedicated |
| o2switch | €7/mo | 8.4 | FR | shared, ecommerce |
Trap 1: renewal
Hostinger and IONOS profiles explicitly mention higher renewals / upsells in cons. A entry price of €1 or €2 describes entry, not necessarily year two. o2switch at €7 bets on a clearer single offer — different model, different risk.
Trap 2: comparing VPS and shared
Hetzner (€3.79) and Contabo (€4) are documented as VPS/dedicated, not one-click brochure shared. Scaleway (€2.99) is also VPS/cloud-sided. Aligning them with netcup shared or o2switch without reading types skews the choice.
Trap 3: shared CPU
On shared plans, noisy neighbours exist regardless of flag. A low entry price does not add CPU cores. When WooCommerce and cache overflow, the next tier is a VPS with the same host (OVHcloud, netcup, Hostinger) — not a invented benchmark.
Who for which entry budget
Lowest documented call-out: IONOS (€1) and Hostinger/netcup (€2). Entry cloud/VPS: Scaleway €2.99, Hetzner €3.79, Contabo €4. Predictable FR shared: o2switch €7. Broad FR catalogue: OVHcloud €3.49.
WordPress focus: best WordPress host. Countries: UK, AT, PL, PT.
Decide over 24 months
Multiply call-out by promo length, add announced renewal, add email/backup options. Ask support about CPU saturation policy. Compare tool.
Budget checklist: promo, renewal and staging
Freeze content changes for 48 h, full database and media export, restore test on staging, DNS cutover off-peak, watch errors for 24–48 h. Whatever entry price is displayed, this sequence avoids mixing a TTL issue with a host issue. Keep old-host access until business validation (forms, payments, transactional email).
Frequently asked questions
Which entry price is lowest in this panel?
IONOS starts at €1/month in our profile, then Hostinger and netcup at €2, Scaleway €2.99, OVHcloud €3.49, Hetzner €3.79, Contabo €4, o2switch €7.
Does a low entry price guarantee good shared hosting?
No. CPU is often still shared; Hostinger and IONOS profiles flag higher renewals in cons. Compare 24-month cost.
Are Hetzner and Contabo cheap shared hosts?
In our profiles they mainly list VPS/dedicated (entry price €3.79 and €4). That is not the same product as o2switch shared at €7.
Scaleway at €2.99 — for what?
Profile: VPS / sensitive / ecommerce, server country FR, score 8.6. Cloud/VPS-oriented rather than classic brochure shared.
Cheap in Europe means a profile entry price plus a renewal scenario — not an invented bench score.