ChatGPT answers, unedited

If your goal is “start cheap, but don't paint myself into a corner when the blog takes off,” I’d choose Cloudways on DigitalOcean rather than the absolute-cheapest shared hosting.

My pick: Cloudways + DigitalOcean

Cloudways gives you a managed layer on top of cloud infrastructure. Its current entry-level WordPress setup is around $11/month, and you can scale the underlying server rather than rebuilding the site from scratch. Cloudways also supports DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS and Google Cloud. www.cloudways.com

The particularly nice part for your use case is migration: Cloudways offers a WordPress migrator and currently says WordPress migrations are free, including expert-assisted migrations. support.cloudways.com

I'd structure it like this:

What about Hostinger?

Hostinger is attractive if absolute minimum cost is your priority. Current comparisons put its inexpensive WordPress/shared plans around $4/month, making it substantially cheaper initially. hostmath.dev

But there's a tradeoff: shared hosting gives you less control over the underlying environment. When the blog becomes genuinely busy, you're more likely to make a host migration rather than simply resize your infrastructure.

So I'd rank them:

🥇 Cloudways/DigitalOcean — best “start cheap, grow smoothly” choice
🥈 Hostinger — best if saving every dollar matters right now
🥉 Kinsta/WP Engine — excellent, but unnecessarily expensive for a new blog

One important thing: your domain, DNS, WordPress database, media files, and backups should remain portable regardless of host. Don't build your business around proprietary hosting features. That makes a future move dramatically easier.

If you tell me roughly expected monthly traffic (e.g. 1k, 10k, 100k visitors) and whether you're using WordPress, I can give you the cheapest sensible setup at each growth stage.

If you’re starting a blog that you expect to scale, I’d optimize for cheap now + portable later, rather than simply picking the absolute cheapest host.

My pick: Hostinger + WordPress

hostinger.com is probably the best starting point for this use case.

• Low entry cost: current WordPress plans start around $3.99/month. Hostinger
• Easy to operate: WordPress installation, updates, caching, SSL, etc. are handled for you.
• Easy migration: Hostinger supports migrations from other WordPress hosts and can migrate the site's files/database for you. Hostinger Help Center
• Room to grow: you can move from shared hosting to higher-resource Cloud plans without necessarily changing your domain or rebuilding the site. Hostinger Hostinger Help Center
• Most importantly, WordPress itself is portable. If you eventually outgrow Hostinger, you can move the WordPress files/database to another host.

If you already know you'll get serious traffic

I'd actually consider starting one step up with Cloudways on DigitalOcean.

cloudways.com

It's more expensive than basic shared hosting, but you get managed cloud infrastructure, and Cloudways currently offers free WordPress migrations. DigitalOcean Cloudways Help Center You can also scale the underlying cloud resources rather than immediately doing a traditional host-to-host migration.

What I'd avoid

I wouldn't start on a proprietary website-builder blogging platform if your long-term plan is a large content site. Moving away can mean rebuilding rather than simply moving your files/database. For example, Hostinger explicitly says its automated migration doesn't apply to sites built with proprietary builders such as Blogger or Squarespace. Hostinger Help Center

The setup I'd use

Domain registrar → WordPress → Hostinger → Cloudflare/CDN → regular off-site backups

Then, when traffic grows:

Hostinger → Cloud/VPS/Cloudways → eventually AWS/GCP/etc.

The key is that your domain stays independent of your host and your content lives in WordPress, so you're never locked into the initial hosting company.

Bottom line:

• 💰 Cheapest sensible start: Hostinger
• 📈 Better if you expect growth soon: Cloudways/DigitalOcean
• 🏗️ Best long-term strategy: self-hosted WordPress, with the domain and backups kept independent of the host

If you tell me roughly how many monthly visitors you expect in year 1 (e.g. 5k, 50k, 500k), I can give you the cheapest setup I'd choose at each growth stage.

Bottom line: Start with Hostinger + WordPress + your own domain, keep independent backups, and plan to graduate to managed cloud/VPS hosting when traffic actually warrants it. That's the best balance of cheap now and painless later. WordPress Developer Resources

If you tell me roughly how much you're willing to spend per month ($3, $5, $10, etc.) and whether you're using WordPress, I can narrow it down to the best specific plan.

Domain registrar → WordPress → Hostinger → Cloudflare/CDN → regular off-site backups

Then, when traffic grows:

Hostinger → Cloud/VPS/Cloudways → eventually AWS/GCP/etc.

If you’re starting a blog and expect to scale, I’d optimize for easy migration + a clean WordPress setup, not the absolute cheapest host. Hosting is relatively easy to move later if you keep your stack portable. zerotowp.com

My shortlist:

My recommended path for most bloggers:

1. Buy your domain separately (keeps you independent).
2. Start with WordPress on Hostinger (or DreamHost if you prefer a more traditional host).
3. Use:
   • a lightweight theme
   • standard WordPress plugins
   • your own backups
   • Cloudflare for DNS/CDN
4. When traffic grows:
   • first upgrade your current hosting plan
   • then move to managed cloud (Cloudways) or premium WordPress hosting

A few things that make migration painless later:

• Avoid proprietary website builders if you think you’ll grow.
• Keep your domain at a separate registrar.
• Don’t let one host control your email, domain, and website together.
• Regularly export your WordPress database and uploads.

If I were starting a content blog today with a limited budget, I’d probably do WordPress + Hostinger for the first 1–2 years, then move to Cloudways or Kinsta only when traffic revenue justifies it. www.hostinger.comwebhostingguide.net

If you’re planning a blog that may eventually get serious traffic, I’d optimize for easy migration + easy scaling, not simply the absolute cheapest first year.

My picks

Hostinger currently advertises a $2.99/mo introductory WordPress plan, while Cloudways' DigitalOcean-based hosting starts around $11/mo and includes managed migration/scaling features. www.hostinger.comwww.cloudways.com

What I'd actually do

If you're a normal blogger: start with Hostinger + WordPress.

It's cheap, easy, and WordPress itself is portable. When you outgrow it, you can migrate the same WordPress database/files to Cloudways, a VPS, Kinsta, etc. Hostinger is particularly attractive if keeping the initial bill around $3–5/month matters. www.hostinger.com

If you already know you're going to pursue substantial traffic, start on Cloudways.

You're paying more initially, but you get a managed cloud environment rather than having to make the shared-hosting → VPS jump later. Cloudways supports vertical scaling and managed migrations, which makes the transition to higher traffic considerably less disruptive. www.cloudways.com

One important trick

Buy your domain separately from your hosting provider.

Then your architecture is:

Your domain → DNS → Hostinger/Cloudways → WordPress

When you eventually migrate, you move the website to the new server and change the DNS. Your domain, URLs, Google rankings, and email setup don't need to be tied to the host.

Also keep regular independent backups of your WordPress database and wp-content rather than relying exclusively on your host.

If you're willing to be more technical

For a content-heavy blog, I'd seriously consider Astro + Markdown/Git + Cloudflare instead of WordPress. Astro is designed for content-focused sites, and Cloudflare supports deploying Astro sites; a static blog can be extraordinarily cheap and can handle large traffic spikes without the usual WordPress-server scaling concerns. developers.cloudflare.com

My recommendation:

• 💰 Lowest hassle/price: Hostinger
• 🚀 Best "start small, grow big" choice: Cloudways
• 🧑‍💻 Technical + cheapest infrastructure: DigitalOcean
• ⚡ Maximum scalability for a mostly-static blog: Astro + Cloudflare

If you tell me roughly expected monthly visitors (e.g. 1k → 100k+) and whether you want WordPress, I can recommend the exact setup I'd start with and the point at which I'd scale it.

If you’re planning a blog that may eventually get serious traffic, I’d optimize for easy migration + scalable infrastructure, not just the absolute cheapest introductory price.

My pick: Cloudways

Cloudways is probably the best middle ground.

• You can start around $11/month on its lower-cost managed-cloud setup. www.cloudways.com
• It runs WordPress on cloud infrastructure rather than traditional shared hosting.
• You can scale resources as traffic grows rather than rebuilding the site from scratch.
• Cloudways offers free WordPress migrations, including a migration plugin and managed migration service. support.cloudways.com
• If you eventually outgrow the basic setup, its infrastructure has paths toward much larger deployments and autoscaling. support.cloudways.com

The important part: you're still running normal WordPress. Your content, database, themes, plugins, and media aren't locked into a proprietary blogging platform.

If minimizing cost is the priority

Hostinger is a reasonable starting point. It's cheaper and very beginner-friendly, and current 2026 comparisons put its budget WordPress offerings around the $4/month range. www.techradar.com

I'd choose it if you're expecting low traffic for the first year or two and want to spend as little as possible.

The downside is that when you become large, you'll probably migrate to a VPS/cloud/managed WordPress provider rather than simply scaling the same environment.

If you want maximum technical flexibility

DigitalOcean is another strong option. Its basic cloud servers start around $4/month, and it has WordPress migration documentation plus a large ecosystem of cloud infrastructure. docs.digitalocean.com

But I'd not choose raw DigitalOcean for a first blog unless you're comfortable administering a server. You're trading money for more responsibility.

What I'd do

One other recommendation: use WordPress + your own domain from day one. Don't start on a proprietary blogging platform and worry about exporting everything later. The hosting provider is replaceable; your domain, URLs, database, and content architecture are what you want to keep stable.

If you tell me roughly “$5/mo,” “$10/mo,” or “$20/mo” as your starting budget and your expected traffic (e.g. 1k, 10k, or 100k monthly visitors), I can narrow this down to the best specific plan.

If your goal is “start cheap, but don't paint myself into a corner when the blog gets big,” I'd start with DigitalOcean + WordPress.

My picks

1. DigitalOcean — my recommendation

A 1 GB Droplet is currently $6/month, while 2 GB is $12/month; DigitalOcean explicitly positions its Basic Droplets for low-traffic websites, blogs and CMSs. You can later resize the server or move to more powerful infrastructure. www.digitalocean.com

DigitalOcean Droplet pricing

The important part is that you're running normal WordPress on a normal Linux server, rather than being locked into a proprietary blogging platform. DigitalOcean also documents migrations from shared hosting to Droplets. docs.digitalocean.com

I'd do:

WordPress → DigitalOcean → Cloudflare/CDN → regular automated backups

Start at $6–12/month, and scale vertically as traffic grows. Eventually you can separate the database, add caching, load balancing, object storage, etc., without changing your blogging platform.

2. Cloudways — if you don't want to manage a server

This is the easier option. Cloudways sits on top of cloud providers and handles much of the server management. It also provides free WordPress migrations and a migration plugin. www.cloudways.com

Cloudways

The downside is cost: it's substantially more expensive than running a small DigitalOcean VM yourself.

What I'd avoid

I wouldn't build the blog on Wix, Squarespace, Blogger, or another proprietary site builder if you already know you eventually want substantial traffic and flexibility. They're easy initially, but you're more constrained when you eventually need unusual caching, server configuration, database access, or a different hosting architecture.

I also wouldn't obsess over getting the absolute cheapest $2/month shared host. Saving $3/month now isn't worth making your future migration and performance tuning harder.

The architecture I'd choose

Today:

Domain → Cloudflare → DigitalOcean → Nginx → WordPress → MySQL

Then, as traffic grows:

Cloudflare → load balancer/cache → multiple app servers → separate database → object storage

The beauty is that WordPress and your domain stay the same throughout.

If you tell me roughly how many monthly visitors you expect in year 1 (e.g. 10k, 100k, 1M), I can recommend the exact starting setup and when I'd upgrade it.

If you’re building a blog that starts small but you expect traffic to grow, I’d optimize for easy migration + a clean path to stronger infrastructure, rather than simply picking the absolute cheapest host.

My pick: Hostinger → Cloudways

Start with Hostinger if you're very budget-conscious.

• Roughly $3–4/month on introductory pricing depending on the plan/promotion. www.hostinger.comwww.hostinger.com
• WordPress is easy to install and migrate.
• You get SSH/WP-CLI access, which is useful if you eventually become more technical. www.hostinger.comwww.hostinger.com
• When the blog gets serious traffic, you can migrate the same WordPress site elsewhere rather than rebuild it.

Then, when you're outgrowing shared hosting, I'd move to Cloudways.

Cloudways is particularly attractive for this strategy because it sits on top of cloud providers such as DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, GCP and Linode, so you can increase server resources without fundamentally changing your WordPress setup. support.cloudways.com It currently has plans starting around $11/month, although pricing varies by infrastructure and plan. www.cloudways.com

Cloudways also offers free WordPress migrations, including an unlimited self-service migration plugin. support.cloudways.com

The progression I'd use

Important: Don't lock yourself into a proprietary blogging platform if migration matters. I'd use self-hosted WordPress from day one. Your content, database, uploads, theme and plugins remain portable.

If you want the absolute cheapest reasonable option, Hostinger is my choice. If you can afford ~$10–15/month from day one, I'd actually start on Cloudways and eliminate the first migration altogether. Current comparisons also put Cloudways among the strongest value options for scalable managed WordPress hosting. webhostingguide.net

My recommendation for most new bloggers: self-hosted WordPress + Hostinger initially, with Cloudways as your planned upgrade path.

If you’re starting a WordPress blog and want the cheapest sensible path that won’t paint you into a corner later, I’d choose Cloudways on DigitalOcean.

My picks

\*Prices/promotions change.

Why I'd lean Cloudways: you're essentially getting a managed layer on top of cloud infrastructure. It currently offers free WordPress migration, backups, staging, SSL, caching, monitoring, and the ability to vertically scale resources. Its WordPress migrator can move a site from another host, too. www.digitalocean.com

The important part is that you're not locking yourself into some proprietary blogging platform. Your content remains standard WordPress, so if you eventually outgrow Cloudways, you can move the WordPress files/database to another host. DigitalOcean itself also documents migration from shared WordPress hosts. docs.digitalocean.com

What I'd actually do

Stage 1 — $11-ish/month:
Cloudways + DigitalOcean, WordPress, Cloudflare/CDN, automated backups.

Stage 2 — growing traffic:
Increase the server resources rather than migrating. Cloudways supports vertical scaling, and its current plans include caching/staging and migration tooling. www.cloudways.com

Stage 3 — genuinely large traffic:
Move to a more specialized architecture—potentially Cloudways Autoscale, a larger VPS/cloud setup, or a premium WordPress host. At that point, the cost of hosting is much less important than performance and reliability.

One thing I'd avoid

Don't start on Blogger.com/WordPress.com purely because migration seems convenient if your long-term goal is a serious independent site. Start with self-hosted WordPress and your own domain. That gives you maximum control over themes, plugins, databases, redirects, SEO, and eventual hosting changes.

If you're very comfortable with Linux/server administration, I'd actually start with a $4 DigitalOcean Droplet instead. DigitalOcean currently offers $4/month Droplets and one-click WordPress installation, but you'll be responsible for much more of the server administration yourself. www.digitalocean.com

Bottom line:
👉 Nontechnical blogger: Cloudways + DigitalOcean
👉 Technical blogger: DigitalOcean VPS
👉 Absolute minimum budget: Hostinger, then migrate when necessary

If you tell me roughly how much traffic you expect in year 1 (e.g. 1k, 10k, 100k monthly visitors), I can recommend the cheapest specific setup and when I'd upgrade it.

If you’re starting a blog with the intention of scaling, I’d optimize for easy migration + a clear upgrade path, not just the absolute lowest introductory price.

My pick: Cloudways

Cloudways is probably the best fit if you already know you want room to grow. It sits on cloud infrastructure such as DigitalOcean, so you can start relatively small and scale the server rather than rebuilding the site from scratch. It also offers free WordPress migration and automated backups. www.digitalocean.com

Why I'd choose it:

• Easy WordPress setup
• Managed server, so you don't have to become a Linux admin
• Can scale resources as traffic increases
• Free WordPress migration tools
• SSH/SFTP access and staging
• You're not locked into a proprietary blogging platform

The downside is that it's not the cheapest possible starting point.

If you want to spend as little as possible: Hostinger

Hostinger is the better "I just want to get my blog online cheaply" choice. Current 2026 comparisons put its entry WordPress plans among the strongest budget options. www.techradar.com

I'd use it if you're expecting very little traffic for the first year and want a beginner-friendly dashboard.

The important thing is that you run standard WordPress, keep your domain registered separately, and maintain your own backups. Then moving to another host later is relatively straightforward; WordPress itself supports migration between hosts. learn.wordpress.org

The path I'd use

Starting from zero → Hostinger → Cloudways → larger cloud/VPS

That gives you:

$ → $$$ → $$$$

without having to change your blogging software or domain.

But if you can afford roughly $10–15/month from day one, I'd skip the cheap shared-hosting stage and start on Cloudways. You're paying a little more now to avoid the "my blog suddenly got popular and now I need to migrate it" problem later.

One thing I'd avoid: proprietary website builders or hosting that makes your content difficult to export. Your domain + WordPress database + media files should remain portable.

If you tell me your expected monthly budget ($3, $10, $20, etc.) and whether you're using WordPress, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 options.

If your plan is “start cheap, but avoid a painful rebuild when the blog gets big,” I’d start with WordPress on a mainstream host, rather than a proprietary blogging platform.

My pick: Hostinger

Hostinger is probably the best starting point for this particular strategy.

• Cheap to start: current 2026 comparisons put entry WordPress plans around $3/month on promotional terms. www.quicksprout.comhostadvice.comwebhostingguide.net
• Easy migration later: Hostinger supports WordPress migrations, so you're not locked into its platform. www.hostinger.com
• Standard WordPress: your posts, media, database, themes, plugins, and domain aren't trapped in a proprietary system.
• Room to grow: you can move from shared hosting to its higher-resource/cloud options before eventually moving to something like Cloudways, Kinsta, or your own VPS. www.quicksprout.comhostadvice.comwebhostingguide.net
• Beginner-friendly: the management interface is considerably easier than starting directly with a VPS.

The important part isn't actually the host

Set things up so the host is replaceable from day one:

1. Buy your domain separately from your hosting account.
2. Use self-hosted WordPress, not a proprietary website builder.
3. Keep regular independent backups of the WordPress database + wp-content.
4. Use a lightweight, mainstream theme and avoid host-specific functionality.
5. Put Cloudflare/CDN in front of the site when traffic starts becoming significant.
6. When traffic grows, upgrade infrastructure before changing your CMS.

That way, your eventual migration is basically:

Hostinger → better WordPress hosting → cloud/VPS

rather than:

cheap proprietary platform → rebuild entire website → lose SEO/data/design → cry

What I'd avoid

I wouldn't choose a super-cheap host purely because it costs $1–2/month if its ecosystem makes moving difficult. Also, don't optimize around the introductory price: renewal prices can be substantially higher. Current comparisons specifically flag this issue with budget hosts. webhostingguide.net

If you expect the blog to become very high traffic, there's another interesting approach: start on inexpensive WordPress hosting, but choose a setup that makes the eventual jump to managed cloud WordPress straightforward. Cloudways, for example, sits in that middle ground between cheap shared hosting and managing a server yourself. hostmath.dev

Bottom line: I'd start with Hostinger + self-hosted WordPress + your own domain + independent backups. Spend as little as necessary initially, while preserving the ability to move the exact same WordPress site later.

If you’re starting a blog that you expect to grow, I’d optimize for easy migration + easy scaling, not the absolute cheapest first-year price.

My pick: Cloudways

Cloudways is probably the best middle ground.

• Managed WordPress, so you don't have to become a server administrator.
• Runs on cloud infrastructure such as DigitalOcean, which gives you a much better growth path than typical shared hosting.
• You can scale the server vertically as traffic increases instead of necessarily moving the site to an entirely different host.
• It provides automated backups, staging, SSL, and migration assistance. www.digitalocean.comwww.digitalocean.com
• Current pricing is higher than bargain shared hosting, but the tradeoff is that you're buying yourself a much easier growth path. webhostingguide.net

If your budget is really tight: Hostinger

Hostinger is a sensible starting point for a small blog. It's inexpensive and beginner-friendly, and current 2026 reviews continue to rate it highly for value. www.techradar.com

The downside is that once you're getting substantial traffic, you'll probably want to move to a more scalable environment. That's not inherently difficult with WordPress—WordPress itself supports moving the files and database between servers. www.digitalocean.comdeveloper.wordpress.orgwww.digitalocean.comdeveloper.wordpress.org

I wouldn't start with raw DigitalOcean unless you're technical

DigitalOcean is extremely cheap and gives you excellent infrastructure flexibility, but you're responsible for much more of the server administration. www.digitalocean.comwww.digitalocean.com

For a blogger, I'd rather spend a few extra dollars on managed hosting than spend your time maintaining Linux, PHP, MySQL, security, backups, caching, etc.

The important part: make the blog portable

Regardless of host, set things up so you can leave at any time:

1. Use self-hosted WordPress, not a proprietary blogging platform.
2. Register your domain separately from your host.
3. Keep independent backups of both the WordPress files and database. WordPress specifically recommends treating those as a complete backup set. developer.wordpress.org
4. Avoid hosting-specific plugins/themes where possible.
5. Keep your URLs/permalinks stable.
6. Use a CDN such as Cloudflare independently of your host if appropriate.

That way, your hosting provider becomes largely interchangeable.

My practical recommendation:
$3–5/mo budget → Hostinger now, migrate later if needed.
$10–15+/mo budget → Cloudways now and grow into it.
Technical/dev background → DigitalOcean can be the cheapest long-term route.

For your specific goal—cheap now, but minimal pain when the blog takes off—I'd choose Cloudways.

If you mean a self-hosted WordPress blog, I’d start with Hostinger if keeping costs low is the priority.

My pick: Hostinger → Cloud/VPS later

Hostinger currently supports moving WordPress between its hosting tiers, including web → cloud plans, and you can also manually move the files/database if needed. www.hostinger.com

The important part: don't use a proprietary website builder. Build the blog with WordPress.org and keep your domain registered separately. That way, when traffic grows, you're moving a portable WordPress site rather than rebuilding the whole thing.

A sensible progression would be:

$3–5/mo shared hosting → Hostinger Cloud → managed VPS/Cloudways → larger cloud infrastructure

Cloudways is particularly attractive for the second stage because it sits on cloud infrastructure such as DigitalOcean/Vultr/AWS and provides a WordPress migration tool. support.cloudways.com

One thing I'd avoid

Don't choose hosting solely because it has the absolute cheapest introductory price. Look for:

• WordPress + standard PHP/MySQL
• Full file/database backups
• SFTP/SSH access
• Ability to change DNS independently
• Easy staging
• No proprietary CMS lock-in
• A clear path from shared → cloud/VPS

Bottom line: For a new blogger who expects to grow but doesn't want to overspend today, Hostinger is probably the best starting point. Current 2026 comparisons also place it among the strongest value options for beginners, while Cloudways is better suited to the next growth stage. www.techradar.com

If by "blogger" you mean Google Blogger/Blogspot, rather than WordPress, that's a different recommendation—the migration strategy is quite different.

If your priority is cheap now + painless scaling later, I’d avoid locking the blog into a proprietary website builder. The best choice depends on how you plan to build it:

My picks

For most bloggers, I'd choose Cloudflare Pages if you don't need WordPress. Cloudflare documents migrations from platforms including Vercel, Netlify and GitHub Pages, which is a good sign that you're not getting trapped in the platform. developers.cloudflare.com

If you specifically want WordPress, I'd start with DigitalOcean/Cloudways rather than an ultra-cheap shared host. DigitalOcean currently lists Droplets from $4/month, while its managed Cloudways offering is designed to scale WordPress infrastructure as your needs grow. developers.cloudflare.comwww.digitalocean.com

If you're building a modern custom blog, DigitalOcean App Platform is particularly migration-friendly: it deploys from Git repositories or Docker images, and you can increase container resources or add containers as traffic grows. The smallest current App Platform container is $5/month. docs.digitalocean.com

The bigger decision: architecture

Whatever host you choose, do these from day one:

• Own your domain independently of the host.
• Keep your blog content in a portable format/database.
• Put code in GitHub/GitLab rather than editing files only through a hosting dashboard.
• Keep images/assets separately organized.
• Use a CDN such as Cloudflare.
• Don't rely heavily on host-specific plugins or proprietary features.
• Have regular database/content backups.

That way, when you hit 50k → 500k → millions of visits, you're mostly changing infrastructure rather than rebuilding the site.

My default recommendation:
Astro/Hugo + Cloudflare Pages for a content-focused blog; WordPress + Cloudways/DigitalOcean if you want WordPress's editor and plugin ecosystem.

If your goal is “start cheap, but don’t paint myself into a corner when traffic takes off,” I’d start with WordPress on Hostinger.

My pick: Hostinger + WordPress

Hostinger WordPress hosting

Why:

• Cheap entry point: Hostinger currently advertises hosting from about $1.99/month on promotional terms, though renewal pricing is higher. www.hostinger.com
• Easy migration: It offers free WordPress migrations and has tools for moving between its own hosting tiers. www.hostinger.com
• Clear upgrade path: You can start on shared hosting and move to its managed cloud hosting or VPS offerings as the site grows. Its current cloud plans advertise substantially more CPU/RAM and resources. www.hostinger.com
• WordPress is portable: Your posts, database, media, themes, and plugins aren't locked to Hostinger. If you eventually outgrow it, moving to another WordPress host is relatively straightforward.

What I'd actually do

The important thing is not to optimize for the absolute cheapest $/month. Optimize for portability. Keep your own domain, use WordPress, take regular backups, and avoid proprietary website builders.

One alternative

If you're comfortable with a developer-oriented setup and your blog can be static/generated (Hugo, Astro, Next.js static export, etc.), Cloudflare Pages is even more attractive: its free tier currently offers unlimited static requests and bandwidth. developers.cloudflare.com

That's potentially the cheapest/scalability-friendly option of all—but it's a different blogging workflow than WordPress.

Bottom line: For a normal blogger who wants simplicity today and an easy escape route tomorrow, Hostinger + WordPress is the sweet spot. I wouldn't start with a VPS just because you might get big traffic; let the traffic pay for the infrastructure upgrade.

If your priority is cheap now + painless migration/scaling later, I’d choose based on what your blog runs on:

My pick: WordPress → Hostinger, then move to cloud later

For a typical Blogger-style content site, WordPress on inexpensive shared hosting is probably the best starting point. Hostinger is currently among the cheaper mainstream options, and shared hosting is perfectly reasonable while traffic is small. www.techradar.com

The important part is not getting locked into the host:

• Use WordPress, not a proprietary site builder.
• Own your domain name separately from the host.
• Keep regular backups of the WordPress database and wp-content.
• Put Cloudflare in front of the site for DNS/CDN/DDoS protection. Cloudflare's free tier includes CDN and unmetered DDoS protection. www.cloudflare.com
• When traffic grows, move the same WordPress site to a VPS/cloud WordPress provider without changing your domain or content structure.

If you're comfortable with a little technical setup

I'd actually consider DigitalOcean App Platform from the beginning.

It starts at $5/month for a 512-MiB shared container and supports containers, scaling, managed infrastructure, and Git-based deployment. www.digitalocean.com

That gives you a much cleaner scaling path:

$5 container → larger container → multiple containers/autoscaling → managed database/CDN

The downside is that it's not as beginner-friendly as ordinary WordPress hosting, especially if you want to install WordPress and plugins with minimal technical work.

If your blog can be static

This is the cheapest/scalability-friendly option of all:

Hugo/Astro/Eleventy → Cloudflare Pages

Cloudflare Pages currently offers free static hosting with unlimited static requests and bandwidth. pages.cloudflare.com

You'd write/manage posts through Markdown or a CMS rather than traditional WordPress. Migration and scaling are excellent, but the workflow is less convenient if you want WordPress-style editing.

What I'd do

The biggest mistake isn't choosing the "wrong" cheap host—it's choosing a platform that makes migration difficult. Keep your domain, content, database, images, and site configuration portable, and changing hosts later becomes relatively routine.

If you tell me roughly expected monthly visitors (e.g. 5k → 100k → 1M) and whether you want WordPress, I can give you a specific cheapest-to-scale setup and when I'd upgrade each component.