It's the latter. I don't know why it costs so much, this is the first time I have ever hosted anything so I didn't realize I was overpaying. The way it was phrased I thought I had a year free and then it would be 29$/month but they just started charging me immediately. I haven't had time to look into it. I'll investigate tonight, thanks for pointing it out.
If you want to try another (cheaper) service I personally use Lunanode.com for most things. If you're willing to take a risk with availability find something on lowendbox.com.
