How Much?

What my expenses are for this website.

How Much?
Quit throwing money at my Linux laptop! (Photo by Kenny Eliason / Unsplash)

There's been a thing where folx break down how much their blog is costing them. Axxuy has done it, inspired by someone (Contains Moderate Peril), and in turn inspired thoughts to text, and in turn has inspired me, and I'll probably inspire you. Long live trends!

The Breakdown

Because of course I'm long-winded about this.

Domain

Through Porkbun, it is around $11 USD per year.

And it's nothing special, being the good ol' Dot Com address. I tend to purchase my domain names 5 or 10 years at a time, because the cost can fluctuate by the year.

Hosting

I use Ghost's managed hosting. That's $180 USD per year.

I ran out of wheredowhales to do it all myself, and decided I can afford to dodge this particular headache (especially when it comes to sending out email newsletters). I'm in the starter tier, since I don't want/need much (yet).

Oh Yeah, and Email

Also through Porkbun. As it stands, it's $24 USD per year.

Sounds Expensive?

More often than not, it's the hosting that'll getcha. I'm on the pricier side because I outsource the setup and server stuff and snafus.

For me, the cost is comparable to that of a streaming service or an MMORPG subscription.

--The Cost of Blogging in 2026 by Contains Moderate Peril

I get more out of it than say, continuing to reward YouTube's bad behavior. And I can yap on it! More enrichment!

Corner Cutting

Yunohost is in my backpocket for a reason!

I can bring the price down by self-hosting (or capital-s Self-Hosting from the kitchen bathroom). Something to consider in the future, when I have the time/patience/etc. to. If I outgrow the Starter tier and it'd be cheaper to do some things myself, that's also an option.

I can change blogging platforms, too, including just using a static site generator and uploading the changes.

And there's always options for newslettering– but since I feel anything relating to emails is Not to be Fucked With, I'll gladly eat the (reasonable) cost to leave that bit to the professionals.

Speaking of, Porkbun's email isn't bad once I break it down per month, which is about $2 USD. And yet I find myself wondering if I could go even cheaper. I doubt it, but I am poised to be proven wrong– because I really feel like I am!

The Price On This Particular Hobby

  • Domain: $11/year
  • Hosting: $180/year
  • Email: $24/year

Total, in USD? about $215/year. It helps that I keep my overall subscriptions to a minimum. Because remember: capitalism really hates it when you share your Netflix account.

...Anyone got room for one more on their Peacock account? I never got around to watching Bel-Aire.

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