Before you can budget for a website, you need a figure for the web hosting cost in Kenya, and the good news is that it is a modest line in most budgets. For 2026, reliable shared hosting begins at KSh 80 a month, and a managed VPS costs a few thousand shillings. Below we cover the actual prices, what each one should include, the extra charges worth avoiding and how to match a plan to your business.
A quick pointer first: this article deals with the price of hosting alone. For the cost of designing and building the website itself, see our companion piece on what a website costs in Kenya in 2026.
Why does hosting cost anything at all?
Hosting keeps the files that make up your website on a server that stays online 24/7, so anyone who types your domain can load your pages. In effect, you rent storage and computing power on a machine that someone else secures, manages and keeps running. Your fee pays for that hardware, the electricity and cooling in the data centre, security, backups and the support staff who keep it all working. New to the idea? Our plain-language introduction to web hosting in Kenya starts from the very beginning.
2026 prices: the web hosting cost in Kenya at SiteBoma
These are SiteBoma's current prices, set out so you can plan with real numbers. Nearly every blog, small business and new online shop should begin on shared hosting and step up to a VPS only once it has clearly been outgrown.
| Plan | Suited to | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared Starter | Portfolios, personal sites and small blogs | KSh 80/mo | KSh 800/yr |
| Shared Business | Small shops and business sites that are growing | KSh 120/mo | KSh 1,200/yr |
| Shared Professional | WooCommerce stores and busier sites | KSh 250/mo | KSh 2,500/yr |
| Managed VPS | Apps, high-traffic sites and anyone needing full root access | from KSh 2,500/mo | n/a |
Our pricing page always carries the latest figures and is the one to trust if anything differs. The complete feature list for the entry plans is on the shared hosting page.
What shared hosting costs in Kenya
On shared hosting, your website sits on one server alongside other websites and they split its resources, which is what keeps the price so low. Between KSh 80 and KSh 250 a month covers what most Kenyan businesses need, whether that is a salon's booking page or a modest online shop. On most plans, paying for the full year brings the effective monthly rate down.
What VPS hosting costs in Kenya
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) reserves resources for you alone and gives you full root access, with managed plans starting at around KSh 2,500 a month. The usual reasons to move up are rising traffic, custom applications, or shared resources starting to feel cramped. Unsure whether you have reached that point? Read our comparison of shared hosting and VPS in Kenya along with our advice on the right time to upgrade to a VPS.
What a fair price should already include
A reasonable hosting price in Kenya covers the basics without extra charges. Each SiteBoma shared plan comes with all of the following at no added cost:
- A free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt, giving you the HTTPS padlock that browsers and customers now look for. Our guide to the free SSL certificate explains more.
- LiteSpeed web servers, so your pages load quickly.
- Daily backups, kept for 7 days, so one bad edit or attack does not cost you the whole site.
- Simple payment on Paystack's secure checkout, by M-Pesa or by Visa or Mastercard card, charged in KES.
- Support from a local Kenyan team who know your market and work in your time zone.
- Uptime you can check for yourself, measured every minute and published on our status page rather than simply claimed.
When another host bills SSL or backups as extras, add those charges in before you compare.
Remember to budget for a domain
A domain name is paid for once a year, separately from hosting, and it costs little. Registering a Kenyan .co.ke domain costs KSh 1,200/yr and renewing it costs KSh 1,700, and WHOIS privacy comes free. Popular choices:
| Extension | Yearly price | Usually chosen by |
|---|---|---|
| .co.ke | KSh 1,200/yr | Businesses based in Kenya |
| .com | KSh 1,150/yr | Brands with a global audience |
| .org | KSh 1,150/yr | NGOs and other organisations |
| .ke | KSh 3,000/yr | Short, premium Kenyan names |
| .africa | KSh 1,800/yr | Brands working across Africa |
Every extension we offer is listed on the domain search page. For a walkthrough, see our guide to registering a .co.ke domain.
Why hosting prices in Kenya differ
There are a handful of legitimate reasons one plan or provider costs more than another:
- Resources: extra storage, bandwidth and CPU push the price up.
- Shared or reserved: shared hosting is the cheapest, while VPS and dedicated servers cost more because the resources are set aside for you.
- Hardware and software: LiteSpeed and SSD or NVMe storage cost more than old, slow setups, and they earn the difference.
- How much support you get: managed hosting with real local support is priced above bare, do-it-yourself hosting.
- How often you pay: a yearly bill nearly always works out cheaper per month.
Extra charges to look out for
The advertised figure does not always tell you everything. When you compare the web hosting cost in Kenya across providers, check for these:
- Higher renewal prices: some providers promote a cheap first term and then charge double on renewal. Find out what year two costs.
- Charging for SSL: a basic SSL certificate should never be an extra.
- Paying for backups: backups belong in the plan, not in an add-on you only learn about after something breaks.
- Migration fees: moving an existing website ought to be simple, so ask about this before you sign up.
- Support based only overseas: slow replies from another time zone cost you downtime and worry.
Picking the plan that fits
Do not overthink it. For a new business website, blog or small shop, begin on shared hosting, where the Business plan at KSh 120/mo is the right balance for most people. Look at a VPS only when traffic grows or a custom application needs root access. If your cash flow can handle it, pay for the year to get the lower effective rate. Before you buy, confirm that free SSL, daily backups and payment by M-Pesa are part of the deal. To compare providers more widely, see our list of the best web hosting in Kenya for 2026.
Hosting cost questions, answered
What is the monthly cost of web hosting in Kenya?
Dependable shared hosting begins at KSh 80/mo on the Starter plan. Business, a popular choice, is KSh 120/mo, and Professional is KSh 250/mo. Managed VPS hosting begins at roughly KSh 2,500/mo. The pricing page always shows the current figures.
Can cheap hosting in Kenya actually be good?
It can, provided the basics are not left out. A plan at KSh 80 to 250/mo suits most small business websites if it includes free SSL, daily backups, LiteSpeed performance and genuine local support. Low prices only cause trouble when a provider saves money on security, backups or uptime.
Is M-Pesa accepted for hosting payments?
Yes. Every SiteBoma hosting plan can be paid on Paystack's secure checkout, using M-Pesa straight from your phone or a Visa or Mastercard card. You are charged in Kenyan shillings, and with M-Pesa you do not need a card at all.
Is a domain name included with hosting?
In most cases the two are charged separately. Registering a .co.ke domain costs KSh 1,200/yr and renewing it costs KSh 1,700/yr, with WHOIS privacy at no charge. Buy the domain together with your hosting and both will renew on the same schedule. All the options are on the domains page.
Is it better to pay for hosting monthly or yearly?
A yearly payment nearly always lowers the effective monthly price and spares you a renewal every month. The Starter plan, for instance, costs KSh 80/mo or KSh 800/yr. If your cash flow allows it, go yearly.
Want to get your site online without paying over the odds? Compare all the plans on the SiteBoma pricing page, or go straight to budget-friendly shared hosting from KSh 80/mo, with free SSL, daily backups and payment by M-Pesa or card included.