Account & billing
Cancel Hostinger without losing your domain or your files
How to cancel Hostinger safely: turn off auto-renewal, cancel now for a refund, or close the account, and what happens to your domain, email and site files.
By Mr. Ahmed · 20+ years in tech
Published · 6 min read
The short answer
- 01There are three ways to cancel at Hostinger: turn off auto-renewal, cancel a plan immediately, or close the whole account.
- 02Turning off auto-renewal in Billing, then Subscriptions, keeps the plan running until the paid term ends and stops further charges.
- 03Immediate cancellation deletes the plan's files, databases and mailboxes, and includes a hosting refund only within the first 30 days.
- 04Cancelling hosting does not cancel your domain; it is a separate subscription that stays yours until it expires.
- 05Hostinger charges no cancellation fee.
Three different things all called "cancel"
Hostinger uses one word for three actions with very different consequences. Picking the wrong one is how someone deletes a site they meant to keep running until the end of the year.
| Action | Result | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Turn off auto-renewal | The plan keeps working until the paid term ends, then expires | You've paid for the term and simply won't renew |
| Cancel immediately | The plan stops now and its data is deleted; refunded if within 30 days | You're inside the guarantee and want the money back |
| Close the account | Everything on the account is removed | Every site and domain has already moved elsewhere |
Take three backups first
An immediate cancel deletes the plan's data. Turning off auto-renewal only delays the same outcome to the expiry date. Either way, copy these off before you do anything:
- Site files and databases. Open the website in hPanel, go to Files, then Backups, and download the latest file and database backup. A WordPress export plugin also works.
- Mailboxes. They are deleted with the plan. Export them through an IMAP email client, or migrate them to the new provider before you cancel.
- VPS data. A snapshot is fine for a safety net, but snapshots live on Hostinger and disappear with the server. Pull anything you need off the machine with
rsyncorscp.
rsync -avz user@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/var/www/ ./vps-backup/Option 1: let it run out (turn off auto-renewal)
If the term is already paid for, this is the boring choice, and it's the right one.
- 1In hPanel, open Billing, then Subscriptions.
- 2Find the plan and switch auto-renewal off, either in its settings or with the auto-renewal toggle.
- 3Confirm. Everything keeps working until the expiry date, and no further charge is taken.
Option 2: stop it now and claim the refund
Under Billing, then Subscriptions, open the plan's settings and pick the option to cancel the subscription now. During the first 30 days that comes with a hosting refund, and hPanel shows the figure before you confirm.
If you can't find the option, ask live chat in hPanel to cancel the plan and process the refund. Chat runs 24/7. The full rules are in the refund policy guide.
Option 3: close the account entirely
There isn't a self-service delete-account button for every situation. The sequence is: cancel or let every subscription expire, move your domains out, then ask support in chat to close the account and delete your personal data.
Your domain after cancelling
Cancelling hosting doesn't touch the domain registration. It remains yours until its expiry date, the plan's free domain included, and it keeps its existing DNS records.
To hold on to it long term, renew it at Hostinger or move it to another registrar. For a transfer, get the EPP code from the domain's settings in hPanel and unlock the domain. Newly registered or recently transferred domains carry a 60-day lock, so you may have to wait.
A bundled free domain renews at the normal domain price after its first year. If you don't want that, turn its auto-renewal off separately. More on that in the free domain guide.
Leaving because the renewal price jumped?
That is the most common reason, and changing hosts isn't always the cheapest answer. A new long-term plan at a promotional price can cost less than renewing the old one, and Hostinger's migration tool moves the site across in minutes.
Here's the arithmetic I'd do first: renewal price times term, versus a fresh plan's promotional price times term. If the fresh plan wins, WEBHOST2026 applies to it through this site. The renewal guide walks through it.
Questions people ask
Is there a fee to cancel Hostinger?
No. Turning off auto-renewal or cancelling a plan costs nothing. Within 30 days the hosting is refunded; after that you just aren't charged again.
Does my website go offline as soon as I cancel?
Only if you choose immediate cancellation. Turning off auto-renewal keeps the site online until the end of the term you paid for.
Can I cancel Hostinger hosting and keep the domain?
Yes. The domain is its own subscription and remains yours until it expires. Renew it or transfer it to another registrar when you're ready.
How do I stop Hostinger from charging my card?
Switch off auto-renewal on every subscription, including hosting, domain and email, in Billing then Subscriptions. You can also delete the saved card from the payment methods section.
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