How to Cancel DreamHost and Get a Refund (Credit vs Refund Explained)
How to cancel a DreamHost hosting plan or close your account, why cancelling a plan gives account credit while closing the account gives a refund, and the 30-day window.
- dreamhost
- cancellation
DreamHost handles cancellations differently from most hosts. Cancelling a single plan turns any refundable amount into account credit. To get money back to your card, you close the whole account.
The refund rules
- WordPress and shared hosting: Full refund if cancelled within 30 days of opening the account.
- DreamPress: Full refund if cancelled within 30 days of opening the account.
- Yearly renewals: Cancelled within 30 days of renewal, you get credit equal to the current subscription cost.
- Domain registrations: Not refundable. They stay yours for the full term, even if you close the account.
Credit or refund? If you cancel a service and keep the account open, eligible amounts become credit on your DreamHost balance. If you close the account, eligible credit is refunded.
Option 1: Close your account (to get a refund)
- Back up your website files, databases, and email.
- Open the Manage Account page and click Close Account at the top right.
- Complete the exit survey and click Next: Product Summary.
- Select any services or domains you want to keep, then click Next: Review Balances.
- Pay any balance shown, then click Next: Finalize Closure.
- Review the summary and click Confirm. DreamHost emails a confirmation.
If you used the free domain registration credit, DreamHost asks you to pay for that registration before closing, so you keep control of the domain (unless it is within 30 days of expiring).
Option 2: Cancel one shared hosting plan
Use this if you are keeping other DreamHost services:
- On the Manage Account page, click Manage next to the plan.
- Scroll down and click Cancel.
- Choose No Hosting (DNS Only), or Another Hosting Service to move the site to another plan.
- Click Cancel Plan.
The plan ends immediately. If the plan has email and you have no other email plan, DreamHost asks whether to keep it: Keep Emails Active adds a paid email plan to your cart.
Changed your mind? Before the billing period ends, click Manage on the plan and then Reactivate on the "Cancellation Pending" page.
Moving to another host?
Copy your site and switch DNS before you cancel. If price is the reason, compare five-year costs on the DreamHost renewal price page, or see DreamHost against Bluehost and Hostinger.
Sources: Refunds and Account Credits, Closing your account overview, and Deleting a Shared Hosting plan (DreamHost Knowledge Base).
