Hourly vs Monthly Hosting Billing?

[arindamb]

Hey there,
Just visited some hosting companies on the forum and some are offering hourly hosting billing, some will charge monthly, I would like to know your thoughts regarding between hourly and monthly billing options. Do you feel more comfortable paying for hosting services by the hour or by the month or annual?

 

[tarunap]

I feel hourly bases for hosting companies doesn't work out its a tedious thing to maintain. It might for Data Centres though. It is always monthly that is easy to go.

 

[AbeloHost]

Hourly is great for those who don't need to run software on their VPS at all times. Saves costs.

 

[RDO Servers]

Hourly billing can be good, it you need something for a short period of time. However it is not ideal for something that will be online 24/7. Many services like Cloud Hosting using hourly billing, based on the resources you use each hour. The problem is you may have a $20 bill one month, and a $2,000 bill next month if you get a spike in traffic.

Hourly is great for those who don't need to run software on their VPS at all times. Saves costs.

That does not apply to scripts that run at certain times. Typically you are still charged the hours, unless you actually delete/destroy the VPS when you are done with it, then recreate it and install everything again when you need to use it again.

 

[DDSvpsHost]

I have not come across too many service providers offering billing by the hour. I think the web hosting market is complicated as is (with so many different plans and pricing structures). Best to keep it simple, I think monthly/yearly and if you want to throw in quarterly. Though hourly will be doable for those using less resources.

But when dealing with dedicated servers or long term production then it won't matter as much.

 

[m3server]

The best thing to do is find a plan that offers what you are going to need for the month and use it. Hourly based billing is going to have your bill jumping all over from month to month. Most will have fine print explaining charges for this and that and before you know it you are paying way more then a set monthly plan.