I Chose the Cheapest Hosting Plan in Canada. Here’s What Happened

$2.99/month.That’s what caught my eye.

I’d been delaying launching my photography portfolio website for months. Every time I looked at hosting prices, I’d convince myself to wait.

“Maybe next month when things are less tight,” I’d tell myself.

Then I saw a Facebook ad for $2.99/month hosting. Unlimited everything: one-click WordPress install and free domain for the first year. It seemed perfect for a freelance photographer like me trying to save some coins. It was like winning a jackpot.

I signed up immediately.

Four months later, I understood why it was so cheap.

The First Two Weeks: Everything Seemed Great

The setup was simple. I even received my login credentials within minutes, the control panel looked legitimate, and WordPress installed with one click, exactly as advertised.

Then I spent two weeks building my portfolio. First,  I uploaded my best landscape shots from Banff and street photography from downtown Toronto.

Then I created galleries. And finally, I added a contact form for booking inquiries.

When I finished, I had a website I was proud to share. I updated my Instagram bio with the link. I sent it to potential clients.

For the first two weeks, everything functioned perfectly.

Week Three: The First Red Flag

My website started loading noticeably slower. It was not disastrously slow, maybe 5 seconds instead of 2 seconds. But  it was slow enough for me to notice.

I assumed I’d done something wrong. Maybe my images were too large. The thing is I spent an entire Saturday afternoon optimizing photos and installing caching plugins.

The site sped up slightly and I thought that problem was gone.

Then a potential client messaged me: Hey, tried checking out your portfolio but your site wouldn’t load. Is the link correct?

I checked and she was right. My website timed out. Just… wouldn’t load.

Then I waited 30 minutes and it  came back online. I assumed it was just another temporary glitch.

Month Two: The Problems Became Consistent

I had  started getting inquiries from my website. I mean, real potential clients looking at my work. Then the complaints started appearing.

Your website takes forever to load.

I tried viewing your portfolio last night but got an error message.

I monitored my website obsessively. Sometimes it loaded in 2 seconds, other times 10 seconds, or it simply wouldn’t load at all.

I even contacted support and they responded 36 hours later saying everything looked fine on their end. Instead, they suggested that I should optimize my website better.

Then paid a developer $200 to audit and optimize everything. They compressed images, cleaned code, installed every recommended plugin. It helped for maybe a week.

But the slowness returned.

The Pattern I Eventually Recognized

I started documenting when my site was fast versus slow. Then I noticed it was fast in the mornings and painfully slow evenings and weekends.

That’s when a realization hit me: my website slowed down when other websites on the shared server experienced traffic.

I was on shared hosting. My site shared server resources with potentially hundreds of other websites. When those sites got busy, mine suffered.

The worst part? I had zero control. I’d optimized everything possible on my end. The problem was the overloaded server itself.

What This Cost Me

I didn’t track exact numbers, but I can estimate conservatively:

Lost bookings: 

At least 2-3 inquiries per week from people who couldn’t view my portfolio, submit contact forms and  $500 average booking value, that’s $1,000-$1,500 lost weekly. Over three months, approximately $15,000 in missed revenue.

Professional reputation damage:

Potential clients started mentioning my website issues. Some stopped checking my portfolio and just asked for Instagram examples instead, making me look less professional.

Wasted time:

I spent countless hours troubleshooting, optimizing, and stressing about my website instead of shooting or editing.

Lost search visibility:

My site had started ranking on page 2 for  the keyword: Toronto landscape photographer. After the speed issues, it dropped to page 4.

The Breaking Point

When a corporate client wanted to book me for a conference, they needed to review my portfolio to get approval from their marketing team.

My website was completely down for five consecutive hours. The worst part? It was during business hours on a Tuesday.

The client eventually found my Instagram, but commented: You might want to look into your website. It’s not very professional for someone at your level.

They were absolutely right. I was trying to present myself as a professional photographer while running my portfolio on hosting that cost less than a single Starbucks coffee.

That evening, I researched proper hosting that was neither cheap nor expensive. Just reliable hosting that could support a professional portfolio.

What I Learned About Budget Hosting

$2.99/month sounded brilliant at first. It sounded like the best deal and value for my money. But I learned that:

“Unlimited” is marketing, not reality.

The hosting advertised unlimited bandwidth and storage. But they buried very important terms of service about excessive resource usage. My modest traffic triggered these limits because the server was unfortunately oversold.

Support is essentially non-existent.

When problems arose, I submitted support tickets. The response time? 24-72 hours. By the time they responded, the issue had either resolved itself or I’d found workarounds.

Budget hosting dangerously oversells servers.

To offer $2.99/month pricing, they cram hundreds of websites onto single servers. When multiple sites experience traffic simultaneously, the entire server degrades. Your site becomes the most affected.

The renewal price increases dramatically.

That $2.99/month was promotional, first year only. Renewal jumped to $9.99/month. Still budget-tier, but I was already planning my exit at this point.

What I Did Next

I switched to hosting that costs $2.25/month when paid for three years upfront.

Yes, you read that correctly. I found better hosting that was actually cheaper in the long-term.

This happened when I noticed the  difference almost instantly. 

My portfolio loaded in under 2 seconds consistently with no random downtime, or client complaints about accessibility.

The new provider offered actual 24/7 support. My questions got answered within minutes via live chat.

Most importantly, my website maintained fast performance even during peak periods. The server infrastructure could handle traffic without degrading.

The Real Cost of Cheap Hosting

Here’s the calculation I should have done initially:

Budget hosting: $2.99/month = $36/year

Revenue lost to performance issues: ~$15,000 over three months = $60,000/year

Time wasted troubleshooting:~12 hours/month = 144 hours/year

Better hosting: $2.25/month = $81 for three years = $27/year

Revenue lost: $0

Time wasted: Perhaps 2 hours total across the entire year

In the process of trying to save $9 annually on hosting, I lost $60,000 annually in bookings.

That doesn’t account for reputation damage and the constant stress of wondering if my portfolio was accessible.

When Budget Hosting Makes Sense

I’m not suggesting everyone needs premium hosting. Budget hosting is appropriate if:

• You’re running a personal blog with minimal traffic
• You’re validating a business concept without taking bookings yet
• Your website is a static portfolio that doesn’t require fast loading
• You’re unconcerned about occasional downtime

But what if you’re operating a legitimate business? Or if clients need to access your work? 

Don’t make my mistake of choosing the cheapest option because it appears financially prudent.

What I Use Now

I switched to Truehost. Their hosting costs $2.25/month which is a three-year prepayment.

What I receive for my investment:

• Consistently fast loading (under 2 seconds)
• Genuine 24/7 support with minute-level response times
• Servers with proper resource allocation
• Daily automatic backups
• Free SSL certificate
• The ability to run my business without website anxiety

The difference between unreliable budget hosting and professional hosting? About the cost of one coffee per month.

I was losing bookings worth thousands of dollars because I tried to save a few dollars monthly.