Hosting Migration Payback Calculator

Switching hosts has a real price even when the new provider offers free migration, because someone has to test the site, move email, update DNS and watch for problems. This calculator compares that one-time cost with the yearly benefit so you can see whether a move pays off and how quickly.

Enter the total one-time cost of switching, including your own or your staff's time at a realistic hourly rate, any paid migration service, an overlap month where you pay both hosts, and a buffer for fixing issues. Then enter the yearly benefit: the difference between your old and new hosting bills at renewal prices, the value of maintenance hours you will no longer spend, and the estimated cost of outages or slow pages you expect to avoid. Choose a horizon, usually three years, because that is a common promotional term.

Illustrative example: a switch costing $600 in time and fees, with a yearly benefit of $480 and no growth, pays back in 600 / 480 = 1.25 years and yields 480 x 3 - 600 = $840 of net gain over three years. If the benefit is mostly a promotional discount that expires, enter the renewal-based figure for later years instead, or the result will look better than reality. Benefits that you cannot measure, such as better support, can be left out; if the move only pays off when you count them, that is useful information too.