Free SSL stopped being a differentiator years ago: Lets Encrypt made certificates free and automatic, so essentially every reputable host now includes free SSL, and choosing a cheap plan based on whether it offers it is like choosing a car based on whether it has wheels. The useful question is not which cheap host has free SSL - almost all do - but what you are actually giving up for the low price once SSL is off the table.
Hosts advertise free SSL as a feature because it sounds like one. It is table stakes. So this post spends one section on SSL and the rest on what actually varies.
Table of contents
- Why free SSL is now universal
- What actually varies in cheap hosting
- The hidden costs of cheap
- How to actually compare cheap plans
- Where RunxBuild fits
- FAQ
Why free SSL is now universal
Before Lets Encrypt, an SSL certificate was a paid annual purchase, often $50 to $70 a year, and a manual install. That is where the feature framing comes from. Lets Encrypt, a free certificate authority, changed it: certificates are free, issued automatically, and renew every 90 days with no human involvement.
cPanel integrated it as AutoSSL, so any host running cPanel got free automatic SSL by default, and the rest of the industry followed. Today, a host that does not include free SSL is a red flag, not a bargain. So treat free SSL as a minimum requirement you verify in one minute, then move on to what actually differs.
What actually varies in cheap hosting
With SSL settled, the real differences between cheap plans are performance, resource limits, and what happens when you grow. Shared hosting packs many sites on one server, so your site’s speed depends on your neighbours. Resource caps on CPU, memory, and concurrent processes decide whether a traffic bump slows you down or takes you offline.
Then there is the renewal trap: the advertised price is usually an introductory rate for the first term, and renewal can be two or three times higher. And support quality, backup frequency, and how painful it is to move off all matter more than the SSL checkbox. Those are where cheap plans genuinely diverge.
The hidden costs of cheap
Cheap hosting is cheap for reasons, and it is worth knowing which reasons you can live with. Oversold shared servers mean variable performance. Low resource limits mean your site can be throttled during exactly the traffic spike you wanted. Add-ons that other hosts bundle - backups, a CDN, email, a staging environment - are sometimes paid extras that erase the price advantage.
The honest framing: for a small, low-traffic site, cheap shared hosting with free SSL is perfectly reasonable. The cost shows up when the site grows and the cheap plan’s ceilings - performance, resources, support - turn into real problems at the worst time.
How to actually compare cheap plans
Ignore the SSL line - assume it is there and move on. Compare four things instead. The renewal price, not the intro price, because that is what you will actually pay. The resource limits, so you know the ceiling. What is bundled versus billed extra, so the comparison is like-for-like. And the exit cost - how hard it is to move your site if the host disappoints.
That comparison tells you something; free SSL tells you nothing, because they all have it. A plan that is a dollar cheaper but renews at triple and throttles under load is not the cheaper plan.
Where RunxBuild fits
On RunxBuild, SSL is handled automatically on custom domains - it is not a line item because, like the rest of the industry, it is simply included. What you are actually choosing is the plan, and those are transparent: a general ladder from a Free plan (15 free days a month, then $1.80) up through Basic at $6 and beyond, with the price you see being the price you pay, not an intro rate.
For static sites, 120GB of bandwidth is included before any per-GB charge. Rather than compare on the feature that every host has, model the plan you would actually run in the calculator - compute, database, bandwidth - and compare on the number that matters.
How this fits the rest of the stack
The cost of a project is the sum of its line items, not the headline number, and the RunxBuild hosting calculator is the right place to add them up: the service, the database, the storage, the bandwidth, each a separate figure. Model it before committing, not after the first invoice. The RunxBuild dashboard is where the running project shows its real usage in one place.
Useful related references:
FAQ
Do I have to pay for an SSL certificate?
No. Lets Encrypt issues certificates for free and renews them automatically every 90 days, and essentially every reputable host now includes free SSL on hosted domains. Paying for a certificate only makes sense for specific needs like extended-validation certificates, which most sites do not require.
Is cheap hosting with free SSL a good deal?
Free SSL is universal, so it is not what makes a plan a good deal - every plan has it. Judge a cheap plan on its renewal price, resource limits, what is bundled versus billed extra, and how hard it is to leave, not on the SSL checkbox.
Why is my hosting renewal more expensive than I signed up for?
The advertised price is usually an introductory rate for the first term, and renewals revert to a higher standard price, often two to three times more. Always check the renewal price before signing up, because that is the figure you will pay for most of the relationship.
What is the catch with very cheap shared hosting?
Cheap shared hosting packs many sites per server, so performance depends on your neighbours, resource caps can throttle you during traffic spikes, and features other hosts bundle may be paid extras. For a small low-traffic site it is fine; the limits bite as the site grows.
Does RunxBuild include free SSL?
Yes, SSL is handled automatically on custom domains and is simply included rather than a separate charge, matching the rest of the industry. The choice you actually make is the plan, which is priced transparently without introductory-rate surprises.