Bundle offers are just upselling disguised as savings

Hey folks, keeping this open because it's a genuine pricing discussion, but let's stay constructive. I've already removed one affiliate link.

OP's point about bundled "free" add-ons is worth examining. I've seen three threads this month where users signed up for $2.50 plans and landed at $10.50 after "recommended" SSL, CDN, and backup selections.

If you've got a specific provider experience, name them. If you're defending bundle pricing, explain the actual cost structure. Both sides help the community.

Back in 2009, I paid $7/month for a cPanel shared host. It came with nothing extra. If I wanted SSL, I bought a cert. If I wanted CDN, I used CoralCDN or I suffered.

They don't make them like that anymore. Now every checkout flow has three pre-checked boxes and a "free domain" that renews at $18.99.

I was with KnownHost for a hobby forum from 2011 to 2019. My total stack: Debian, nginx, Let's Encrypt when it launched. Monthly cost never budged. The new user experience today is designed to obfuscate, not serve.

The $8 "savings" on GreenCloudVPS's bundle? That's the actual price. The base plan is a loss leader to get you to the upsell screen.