The best IONOS alternative for people who did the maths on the $1 plan
IONOS advertises its Plus builder at $1 a month. Twelve months later it is $20, a twenty-fold jump on a plan that still has no store and no newsletter. Grigora is $12 a month billed annually, renews at $12, and has both.
Last updated September 2026
IONOS is a large, serious hosting company and its builder benefits from that: reliable infrastructure, a named personal consultant, and a domain and mailbox ecosystem under one login. The pricing is the problem. The headline $1 plan is a one-year introductory rate that renews at $20, the Starter's $6 becomes $14, and neither includes a store or a newsletter because IONOS sells those as other products. Grigora charges one price that does not change and includes the pieces IONOS sells separately.
- A renewal price that matches the sign-up price
- A store in the same plan, not a separate product line
- A newsletter and subscriber list included
- A CMS with directories and moderated comments
- AI that generates the whole first draft
- •Already keep domains, mail and hosting with IONOS
- •Value a named personal consultant on the phone
- •Want a cheap first year and will reassess before renewal
IONOS alternatives at a glance
How the host-bundled builders compare once the intro year ends.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Platform | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Sales commission | Export your site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grigora | One steady price, everything included | Yes | From $12/mo | 0% (processing only) | |
| IONOS | Host-bundled builder with a consultant | No | $1 intro, renews $20 | Store is a separate product | |
| Hostinger | Lowest sticker with a 48-month prepay | No | $2.99 intro, renews $10.99 | 0% (processing only) | |
| GoDaddy | Fast small-business presence | Yes (GoDaddy branding) | $9.99 intro, renews $14.99 | 0% (processing only) | |
| Wix | Templates and app market | Yes (Wix ads) | From $17/mo | 0% (processing only) | |
| Webnode | Cheap multilingual sites | Yes | From $4.50/mo | 0% (processing only) |
Prices as listed September 2026. Intro rates are shown with their renewal because the renewal is what you pay from year two. Verify current pricing on each provider's site.
Why people switch from IONOS to Grigora
The friction points IONOS builder users hit most often, and how Grigora handles them.
The renewal
$1 became $20. $6 became $14. The intro rate had a term, and the term ended.
The shop is another product
The website builder cannot sell. IONOS's store builder can, on its own price list.
No newsletter
Mailboxes are plentiful. Campaigns are not part of the builder.
SEO is an upsell
rankingCoach is good and it is another line on the invoice.
What IONOS does well
- A named personal consultant and 24/7 phone support
- Reliable infrastructure from a large hosting company
- Domains, mailboxes and hosting under one account
- A very cheap first year
Where IONOS falls short
- Intro rates renew at up to twenty times the advertised price
- The store is a separate product line
- No email marketing in the builder
- SEO tooling is a paid add-on, and there is no export
Grigora vs IONOS at a glance
Two prices for every IONOS plan. One for every Grigora plan.
Website Builder plans
All-in-one platform
Grigora vs IONOS: feature by feature
A category-by-category breakdown, pricing, AI, design, e-commerce, email, SEO, performance, and support.
The intro rate and what follows
Grigora winsIONOS's builder pricing is built on introductory rates with a one-year term. Starter is $6 then $14. Plus is $1 then $20, which IONOS itself labels a 96% saving. Pro is $17 against a list price of $32. Grigora's annual rate is the renewal rate.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $12/mo, renews $12 | $6/mo, then $14 |
| Plus | $20/mo, renews $20 | $1/mo, then $20 |
| Pro | $45/mo, renews $45 | $17/mo, list $32 |
| Biggest jump at renewal | None | 20x on Plus |
Takeaway: By year two, IONOS Plus costs the same as Grigora Pro and includes neither the store nor the newsletter.
Where the store is
Grigora winsThe IONOS website builder plans do not sell. IONOS's online-store builder is a separate product line with its own prices, so a business that wants both is buying two things. Grigora's store is part of every plan.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Store in the website plan | ||
| Catalog, variants and stock | Store product | |
| Digital downloads | Store product | |
| Orders in the same dashboard | Separate product | |
| Platform commission | 0% | Depends on the store product |
Takeaway: IONOS sells a site or a shop. Grigora sells a site that is also a shop.
Newsletter & email
Grigora winsIONOS bundles mailboxes generously and does not include email marketing in the builder. Grigora includes campaigns, automations and a subscriber list on every plan.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Email marketing in the plan | 2,500 to 25,000 subscribers | |
| Campaign builder | Included | Separate product or third-party |
| Automation and segmentation | Included | Separate |
| Mailboxes on your domain | From $5/mailbox | Included |
Takeaway: IONOS is strong on mailboxes and silent on newsletters.
Support & the consultant
IONOS winsIONOS's personal consultant is a genuine differentiator: a named person, reachable by phone, assigned to your account. Add 24/7 support and a large hosting knowledge base and this is the category IONOS wins outright. Grigora's support is email-based.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Named personal consultant | ||
| Phone support | ||
| 24/7 availability | ||
| Email support |
Takeaway: If having someone to call is the deciding factor, IONOS is the answer.
Blog & content
Grigora winsIONOS's builder has a blog module and it is a modest one. Grigora's CMS adds directories, author profiles, moderated comments and an AI writer.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Blog editor depth | Full CMS editor | Basic |
| Directories and collections | Built in | |
| Comments and moderation | Included, with admin replies | Limited |
| AI blog writing | AI text |
Takeaway: Adequate for news. Thin for a content strategy.
SEO: included or add-on
Grigora winsIONOS's answer to SEO is rankingCoach, a paid add-on. The builder covers metadata and sitemaps itself. Grigora includes schema controls, IndexNow and 210 free tools.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Meta and sitemap controls | ||
| SEO coaching or tooling | 210 free tools | rankingCoach, paid |
| Schema controls | Limited | |
| IndexNow submission |
Takeaway: IONOS charges for the SEO help. Grigora ships it.
AI & starting point
Grigora winsIONOS's builder offers AI-written text inside a template. Grigora generates the whole site, structure and copy, from a description, with credits for more afterwards.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Full site from a prompt | ||
| AI copy | ||
| AI credits included | 15,000 to 250,000 | Not metered as credits |
| Templates | 131 | Template library |
Takeaway: IONOS fills a template with AI. Grigora replaces the template with AI.
Ownership & export
Grigora winsIONOS's builder does not export a site. Grigora exports content so posts and pages move.
| Feature | Grigora | IONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Export content | ||
| HTML or CSS export | ||
| Leaving after the intro year | Cancel any time | Before the renewal term starts |
| White label for agencies | $199/mo plan |
Takeaway: No export and a renewal cliff is a combination that rewards staying put.
Grigora vs IONOS pricing
IONOS plans shown with their intro rate, term and renewal, as IONOS lists them.
Website, newsletter & store in one plan
Annual rates shown, and they are the renewal rates too.
One-year intro, then the real rate
IONOS Website Builder pricing as quoted 2026-09-02 from ionos.com/websites/website-builder. Online store plans are a separate IONOS product line. No email marketing in the builder plans.
In year one, IONOS Plus is $1 and Grigora Starter is $12. In year two, IONOS Plus is $20 and Grigora Starter is $12, with the store and the newsletter IONOS still does not include.
The real cost: Grigora vs IONOS
Two years of the plan most people are drawn to.
| What you pay for | IONOS | Grigora |
|---|---|---|
| Year one, Plus | $12 | $144 |
| Year two, Plus | $240 | $144 |
| Two-year total, Plus | $252 | $288 |
| Store | Separate IONOS product | Included |
| Email marketing | Not in the builder | Included (2,500 to 25,000 subs) |
| SEO tooling | rankingCoach, paid | 210 free tools |
| Personal consultant | Included | Not offered |
Grigora vs IONOS, side by side
IONOS leads with $1. Grigora leads with what $12 includes.
Is Grigora the right IONOS alternative for you?
Where Grigora is the better deal, and where IONOS genuinely is.
Best IONOS alternative for businesses that sell
The store is in the plan rather than a separate IONOS product, and the price does not change at renewal.
… for anyone whose intro year is ending
$1 becomes $20. That is the moment to compare what $20 buys elsewhere.
… for sites with a newsletter
IONOS gives you mailboxes. Grigora gives you the campaign tool and the list.
IONOS is the right call if…
You want a named consultant on the phone and you already run domains and mail with IONOS.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Grigora if…
- You want the renewal to match the sign-up price
- You want the store in the website plan
- You want a newsletter included
- You want a full AI-generated draft
- You are an agency that resells
Choose IONOS if…
- •A personal consultant and phone support decide it
- •Your domains and mailboxes are already with IONOS
- •You want the cheapest possible first year
How to switch from IONOS to Grigora
IONOS's builder has no export, so pages are rebuilt. Time the move before the intro term renews, and leave the domain where it is.
- 1
Check your renewal date
The intro rate ends after one year. Move before the renewal term begins.
- 2
Start your Grigora site
Describe the business in a sentence and the AI generates a first draft with pages, layout and copy.
- 3
Copy the content across
Pull text and images from the live IONOS site into the block editor.
- 4
Set up the list and the store
Import contacts into the built-in newsletter and products into Grigora Commerce, no separate product needed.
- 5
Point the domain
Keep the domain and mailboxes at IONOS and point the site at Grigora, redirecting old URLs.
Why people look for an IONOS alternative in 2026
IONOS is a good hosting company with a builder attached, and the builder is priced the way hosting is priced: a deep introductory discount on a term, followed by the real rate. That model is normal in hosting. It is a surprise on a website builder.
The dollar plan
Plus is advertised at $1 a month, a 96% discount, on a one-year term. IONOS's own page says what comes next: then $20 a month. Starter's $6 becomes $14. Pro's $17 sits against a $32 list price. Nothing about this is hidden; it is simply not the number in the headline.
The builder does not sell
IONOS sells an online-store builder as a separate product line. The website builder plans, including the $20 Plus, are site plans. A business that needs both is buying two products from the same company.
Marketing is elsewhere
No email campaigns in the builder, and SEO help through rankingCoach, a paid add-on. The plan is a site and a consultant; the growth tools are invoiced separately.
How Grigora compares
Grigora charges one rate and includes the pieces IONOS sells separately.
The price is the price
Starter at $12 a month billed annually includes the site, the CMS with directories and moderated comments, a newsletter with 2,500 subscribers, and a store with no platform commission on your own gateway. It renews at $12.
Where IONOS still wins
The consultant. A named person you can phone is rare at any price, and IONOS provides one. If that, plus keeping domains and mail in one account, matters more than the store and the newsletter, IONOS is a defensible choice. Read the renewal line first.
Frequently asked questions
For businesses that want one price with the store and newsletter included, Grigora is the strongest all-in-one IONOS alternative at $12/mo billed annually, renewing at the same rate. If a personal consultant and phone support decide it, IONOS keeps that advantage.
As quoted in September 2026, Starter is $6/mo on a one-year term then $14/mo, Plus is $1/mo on a one-year term then $20/mo, and Pro is $17/mo on a one-year term against a $32 list price. The intro rates are introductory; the renewal rates are what you pay from year two.
The website builder plans are site plans. IONOS sells its online-store builder as a separate product line. Grigora includes a store on every plan.
Not in the builder plans. IONOS includes mailboxes rather than campaign tools. Grigora includes email marketing with 2,500 to 25,000 subscribers depending on plan.
A named support contact assigned to your account and reachable by phone. It is a genuine IONOS advantage that Grigora does not offer.
Yes. Leave the domain and mailboxes at IONOS and point the domain at your Grigora site, or transfer it later. Redirect old URLs to preserve rankings.
Compare Grigora with other platforms
Make the switch from IONOS to Grigora
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