- Ionos blames its partner’s license costs for the sudden pricing change
- Customers say the short notice makes migration nearly impossible this month
- Small business web hosting users risk downtime if they drop Plesk
Ionos, one of Europe’s largest providers of web hosting, has sparked a backlash from customers after announcing a sudden price increase for its virtual private server (VPS) plans.
The company attributed the rise to higher license fees from its partner WebPros International, the developer behind the popular Plesk and cPanel management tools.
Customers, however, say the short notice and mid-contract timing have left them frustrated and scrambling for alternatives.
Customers question mid-contract price changes
The email sent to VPS users stated that an additional £5 per month, excluding VAT, would now apply for every Plesk license tied to their servers.
While the amount may seem small, many customers operate multiple servers, making the increase substantial.
The notice gave them just over a month to decide whether to pay the new charge or remove Plesk from their systems entirely.
Some users questioned whether introducing a new cost mid-contract was fair, arguing that such changes should only apply upon renewal.
Others complained that the 30-day warning period was inadequate for migrating services to another host, especially for businesses relying on complex multi-server setups.
For small business web hosting users, the timing could not be worse, as many of these companies depend on Plesk as a control panel to manage email, domains, and websites without needing technical expertise.
Removing it, as Ionos suggested, could create serious administrative challenges.
While alternatives to Plesk exist, switching control panels can cause downtime, configuration issues, or even data loss if not handled carefully.
The controversy highlights a recurring issue in web hosting, where changes in licensing or vendor relationships can quickly affect customers who rely on supposedly “free” bundled tools.
Customers pointed to Ionos’s own terms, which allow for price adjustments with 30 days’ written notice.
However, some questioned whether charging separately for something that had previously been advertised as free was legitimate.
The company’s lack of public response has only amplified dissatisfaction. Multiple attempts by journalists to reach Ionos have gone unanswered for days.
As more free web hosting and low-cost providers compete in the market, trust and transparency are becoming as valuable as technical reliability.
For now, Ionos users are left weighing whether to pay more, adapt their systems, or find a new host altogether.
Via The Register
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