Interesting Pay-as-you-go hosting company (With Lisp etc. on CGI)
nearlyfreespeech.net
nearlyfreespeech.net
If you need the bandwidth though, you can go to S3. Easily you could host your html at their site and then use S3 for the big files ($0.20/GB BW cost, $0.15GB storage cost at S3).
I think site pricing is based on the theory that people think that bandiwth is expensive and they are afraid of using too much-- so Dreamhost offers huge bandwith in their plans--- but they won't actually let you use it. Most places are like this... which makes nearlyfreespeach.net a really good-- honest and straightforward-- choice.
"When you use one of these services, you're betting your monthly fee that you're going to land in the "sweet spot," usually around 75% - 95% of what their package allows, where you're getting a great deal. Use too little and you're paying a lot for it. Use too much and they tack on overage charges.
When you do that, you're making that bet based on a few hours of research. The guys you're betting against take those bets for a living, all day every day. They have all the info, they hold all the cards, and they make a lot of money. It is possible to beat the odds and get a great deal. Like a casino, they can afford to let a few people "win" because so many people only think they do. But it's a lot of work, and it's a new game every month. "
https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/faq.php#30GB
Consider the websites I'm working on now, I need some advanced features so I have a medium sized package with way too much disk and bandwidth.
However, a lot of bandwidth is important as insurance so you don't pay overages and the host doesn't turn off your site for the month.
On the other hand, more important than that is the ability to upgrade to a better package at a later time. You should be able to upgrade to 800 GB bandwidth for about $80 to $120 a month. Though of course you'd want to get a dedicated server with that kind of traffic, it takes some time to research another web host, sign up, check them out, try them out at different times of day, upload some stuff, wait for the dns to propogate, and more. So, you want a host that lets you upgrade to an account with more bandwidth the same day you request it.
Hosts that have a $5 plan, an $8 plan, and a $12 plan as their highest, I would avoid. Hosts that have a $20 plan for 300GB, $60 for $500, and $80 for 800GB, I would think actually plan on their users using their bandwidth.
I signed up for KnownHost.com just now, who have the best uptime AND 38 servers with who knows how many VPS accounts on each one, and they have immediate e-mail support and a very fast VPS. I am going to have to switch to something else that has ruby on rails preinstalled because neither I nor the tech could figure it out, even after trying 6 different installation instructions, removing cpanel, with cpanel, etc.