Today’s market offers so many options, so choosing a reputable web hosting provider with the right price, features, performance, and support might take a lot of time and effort. Start with our ranking and get an excellent overview of the best web hosting services out there.
Want to jump straight to the answer? Here are the top ten web hosting providers for most people, including our experts!
Check out our top Web Hosting Services:
- HostArmada – Best WordPress Hosting
- Hostens – Best Web Hosting for Security
- A2 Hosting – Fastest Web Hosting With Turbo Servers
- HostGator – Best Shared Hosting
- ChemiCloud – Best Web Hosting For Customer Support
- Hostinger – Best All-In-One Web Hosting for Beginners
- FastComet – Best Web Hosting Overall
- InterServer – Best Dedicated Server Hosting
- Verpex Hosting – Cheapest Web Hosting
- Bluehost – Best Affordable Web Hosting
What Is Web Hosting, and When Do I Need It?
Web hosting is an absolute must whether you are an individual or a business planning to build a website. You cannot create, grow or maintain your online presence without a web host because, this way – your site won’t exist.
Overall, web hosting is a type of Internet hosting service that offers the needed facilities to create and maintain your site and make it accessible on the World Wide Web. When you buy a web hosting plan, you are essentially renting server space that stores all the data needed for people to view your content online.
Still, there are significant differences between different web hosts in terms of services offered, quality, pricing terms, support, and so on. After all, you can get a hosting service from just a few dollars a month to thousands of dollars. First things first, how are web hosting services classified?
The Best Web Hosting Services Of 2023 (Bought and Tested):
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 5.0
- Features: 4.9
- Reliability: 5.0
- Ease of Use: 5.0
- Customer Support: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.9
HostArmada provides fast, reliable, and secure cloud SSD WordPress hosting. It’s the best WordPress hosting provider because it includes free cPanel, free domain, free SSL for all sites, web server cache, daily backups, cloud SSD storage, along with 24/7/365 human-powered, technical, customer support. These people can assist you with fast and secure website transfers, template or module installations, and other website-related issues!
What makes HostArmada great is the low number of clients per server. You can expect low server load and optimal website performance since you will have fewer neighboring sites in your shared WordPress environment. The cloud SSD technology, in turn, guarantees 99.9% uptime and no hardware failures. In addition, you can choose from a worldwide network of servers across Europe, Asia, Australia, and America.
The one-click WordPress installer allows for fantastic ease of use. Apart from it, you can expect tight website security with two security firewalls to ensure optimal levels of protection against nearly all attack types!
HostArmada does not have a BBB listing (only applicable for U.S.-based companies), however, Trustpilot awards them 4.9 stars out of five (with more than 446 user reviews).
Research Findings
- You get superior WordPress service at an affordable price, starting at $2.99 per month
- HostArmada provides free and seamless migrations from other WordPress hosting plans
- The customer support staff is excellent, quick, and knowledgeable about WP-specific issues
- You can navigate the service, even if you are a first-time user with the 1-click installer and easy to use client area
- HostArmada grants you an extensive number of free items (cPanel, daily backups, domain name, domain transfer, migration, SSL for all domains and subdomains)
- Benefit from frequent deals and discounts (customers rarely pay the regular prices)
- You will rarely experience server issues, downtime, and slow speeds (almost non-existent issues with these WordPress plans)
Check Out Our HostArmada Video Review
Pros:
- Reliable and ultra-fast service
- Freedom of design and flexibility (1-click installer, beginner-friendly control panel)
- Affordable prices (compared to other WP services of the same rank)
- Excellent customer support (live chat, ticketing system, phone, email, Knowledgebase
- Lots of freebies (cPanel, domain, SSL, migrations, daily backups)
Cons:
- Pretty pricey standard rates (fortunately, HostArmada offers discounts at almost all times)
Are you considering switching from your existing WordPress plan to HostArmada? Learn all there is to know about the service here. After all, its plans come with a free website migration service and no cancellation fees if you don’t like the service, so you have nothing to lose.
Hostens is an experienced provider that has been around since 2003. It offers one of the cheapest web hosting services on the market, all while maintaining a high level of quality. Each Hostens plan is jam-packed with excellent features, including SSL certificates, scheduled backups, the cPanel control panel, and many more. And to top it all off, Hostens provides a free website builder and its own amazing VPN service.
- Overall Score: 4.4
- Pricing: 5.0
- Features: 4.5
- Performance: 4.0
- Support: 3.8
- User Friendly: 4.7
Pricing: The cheapest Hostens web hosting costs $0.10 per month and includes hosting for up to ten websites, 10 GB disk space, 1 TB bandwidth, ten databases, 100 email accounts, and the cPanel. Additionally, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for each plan.
Features: Hostens is well-known among customers for providing excellent free and paid features, including free SSL certificates, scheduled backups, a free domain with annual plans, a free website builder, installation of 100+ scripts and CMSs, cPanel, professional mail filter, DNS manager, a VPN service, SEO tools, and security audit.
Performance: Hostens offers a 99.95% uptime guarantee across all services. Additionally, it maintains a Tier-III data center in Lithuania, which it uses to power its robust cloud infrastructure. Moreover, it uses high-performance SSD servers across the board and has a response time of 256 ms. However, because the provider only maintains one data center in Lithuania, clients worldwide will not get stable performance.
Support: Hostens provides 24/7 customer support via email, social media, and a ticketing system. And while it does have a live chat option on its website, it does not work. Additionally, Hostens provides an extensive blog and knowledge base which cover many topics and have numerous helpful guides.
User-Friendly: Hostens is widely regarded as one of the most user-friendly providers. It has many one-click installs, and an intuitive UI, and uses the latest version of the cPanel. Additionally, it offers a free website builder that is extremely easy to use.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Very affordable plans
- Excellent free and paid features
- A 99.95% uptime guarantee
- A free and intuitive website builder
- SSD servers
Cons:
- Free domains are only available with annual plans
- Only one data center in Lithuania
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Features: 4.7
- Reliability: 4.7
- Ease of Use: 4.7
- Customer Support: 4.7
- Pricing: 4.6
A2 Hosting is a one-of-a-kind provider because it offers unique Turbo Servers in its hosting plans. With those Turbo Servers, A2 Hosting is able to provide some of the fastest web hosting services on the market!
A2 Hosting offers all kinds of shared hosting plans at affordable prices, suitable for hosting one site, multiple sites, and more. Its Turbo Servers allow you to have up to 20x faster performance than regular servers and are suitable for hosting unlimited websites.
All A2 Hosting plans include fast-paced SSD Storage, unlimited email accounts, unlimited web transfer, cPanel, free website builder, website staging, a free SSL certificate, free account migration, and more. Also, you will be protected from accidental deletion, data corruption, and other similar mistakes since A2 Hosting offers a free file recovery program.
The provider’s infrastructure consists of four data center locations across the world, including Michigan, USA, Arizona, USA, Amsterdam, Europe, and Singapore, Asia. What’s best, A2 Hosting works with LiteSpeed Web Server, which is a high-speed web server that offers faster performance compared to other web servers.
A2 Hosting receives 4.5 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Research Findings
- A2 Hosting offers shared web hosting, WordPress, VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting
- Turbo Features that provide up to 20x faster page loads
- It includes many free features in its plans, like free site migration, free automatic backups, a free website builder, and more
- Friendly and knowledgeable Guru Crew tech support is available 24/7/365
- Its data centers cover three continents, including North America, Asia, and Europe
Check Out Our A2 Hosting Video Review
Pros:
- Super-fast site speeds backed by Turbo Servers and high-performance LiteSpeed Web Servers
- Excellent performance – 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Allows users to host unlimited websites for super affordable prices
Cons:
- You will have to pay higher prices on renewal (but they are still worth the money regardless)
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 3.8
- Features: 3.8
- Reliability: 3.7
- Ease of Use: 3.8
- Customer Support: 3.6
- Pricing: 3.8
HostGator offers many hosting options, including easy and affordable shared hosting plans with a free domain for the first year. It’s the best shared hosting provider on the market because all its shared hosting plans are feature-rich and include unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, one-click WordPress installs, unlimited email addresses, 24/7 live chat support, and a free SSL certificate. In addition, the provider offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans and free domain transfers.
HostGator is excellent for hosting online stores as it comes with all the eCommerce tools you’ll need to set everything up. It also gives you access to cPanel, one of the easiest and most efficient control panels available. You’ll get $150 in Google Ads to promote your site and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Most of the provider’s servers are located in the US, but if you activate Cloudflare, you’ll get access to an additional 23 data centers worldwide.
This provider is super easy to use and comes with one-click installs for WordPress, Magento, Joomla, Drupal, phpBB, and more. It’s also partnered with SiteLock to provide you with solid website protection and malware removals.
HostGator does not have a BBB listing, but it has a rating of 4.1 on Trustpilot with 3,344 user reviews.
Research Findings
- Affordable shared hosting plans with excellent features and many freebies.
- It offers $150 in Google Ads, which you can use to promote your site and gain traction.
- Users praise its customer support for being fast, knowledgeable, and friendly.
- Some of the free features you’ll get include a free domain for one year, free domain transfers, free SSL, and more.
- HostGator offers easy app integration with one-click installs for a number of apps.
- 24/7/365 customer support is available via HostGator’s live chat option and phone.
Pros:
- Reliable services and performance
- Suitable for beginners who have never hosted a website before
- Super-affordable prices with constant promos and deals
- Feature-rich plans with a few freebies included (domain, domain transfers, and SSL)
- Friendly customer support with quick response times and knowledgeable answers
Cons:
- Prices are higher on renewal (but still affordable)
Looking for a reliable shared hosting plan to get your website off the ground? HostGator is the perfect solution for you! So, check out its website and learn more about its excellent services today!
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 5.0
- Features: 5.0
- Reliability: 5.0
- Ease of use: 5.0
- Customer support: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.9
ChemiCloud is a newer web hosting provider that has already amassed thousands of customers. It offers a wide-ranging list of services for all types of customers. With ChemiCloud, you can get web hosting for a small or medium-sized website, VPS, Reseller, and WordPress hosting. However, the biggest advantage that ChemiCloud has over its rivals is its superior customer support.
ChemiCloud has and continues to earn high scores from customers worldwide. It provides round-the-clock support, responds quickly to customer inquiries, and provides a team of experts to help its customers with anything they might need.
ChemiCloud offers some of the best features, like a 45-day money-back guarantee, a drag-and-drop builder, free SSL Certificates, and a free domain name. Also, ChemiCloud has an excellent server infrastructure, with multiple data centers across America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. So, you can expect incredible performances with this company, like a 99.99% uptime guarantee, a loading speed of 405 seconds, a website speed of 278 ms, and advanced security features that will ensure that your website will stay protected.
Also, if you are looking to switch to ChemiCloud from another provider, you can do so for free because ChemiCloud offers free migrations.
Research Findings
- ChemiCloud is extremely easy to use and navigate because its custom control panel is the cPanel, which is simple to use and very well organized. Also, ChemiCloud has an intuitive interface and superior hosting features, making it easy for beginners to get started and learn faster
- ChemiCloud offers tools that make it easy to integrate different applications and languages on your website. You can use those tools for integrating platforms like Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, Magento, and others. You can also integrate coding and programming languages like PHP, Java, Python, etc., all from your cPanel
- ChemiCloud is dedicated to security and offers a variety of features, including SSH access, IP blocker, SSL/TLS, Manage API Tokens, Hotlink Protection, Leech Protection, ModSecurity, SSL/TLS Status, Two-Factor Authentication, SSL certificates, and Immunify360. All of these options are available in the cPanel
- ChemiCloud offers its customers free daily backups with every hosting plan. With just one click, you can manage your backups by accessing the JetBackup5 tool in your cPanel
- ChemiCloud has 24/7/365 customer support. It offers phone support, support tickets, email support, or live chat. Regardless of the way you choose to contact its customer support, you will get a fast and helpful reply from ChemiCloud’s team of experts
- ChemiCloud has a stellar reputation with over 40 000 satisfied customers around the world, numerous positive reviews, and quite a few awards to confirm its quality
Pros:
- Offers 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Includes free daily backups with each plan
- Excellent customer service
- Free domain for life
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- Advanced security features
Cons:
- It is a bit expensive
- The shortest pricing term is annual
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 4.6
- Features: 4.7
- Reliability: 4.6
- Ease of Use: 4.8
- Customer Support: 4.5
- Pricing: 4.6
Hostinger is one of the best web hosting providers on the market, with a wide-ranging offer to satisfy anyone’s demands. The company offers web hosting for small to medium websites, cloud, WordPress, and hosting for agencies. You can also find VPS, professional email, and domains. Still, Hostinger’s main advantage over its rivals is its entry-level hosting for beginners.
Even as a first-time user, you will have a smooth experience with Hostinger. You’ll benefit from its custom-built, intuitive, and fast control panel, the hPanel, available in 15 languages, an auto script installer, a super-friendly and knowledgeable support team that has your back 24/7, and lots of freebies in each plan.
Furthermore, you can rest assured that your website is up and running at best possible speeds. Hostinger’s performance is approved by industry experts, meaning you can offer your visitors the fastest browsing experience with HTTP/3, self-healing infrastructure, full SSD servers, and unlimited bandwidth, with no effort on your behalf.
And if you are already hosting elsewhere, you can utilize Hostinger’s automated migration tool for WordPress or let its team handle the job for you.
Research Findings
- You don’t need any hosting experience to start with Hostinger, thanks to its easy-to-use control panel, intuitive interface, and superior hosting features
- Hostinger is dedicated to security (Cloudflare-protected nameservers, unlimited free SSL, in-house developed WAF, DDoS protection, and backups) and won’t leave you exposed to cyberattacks
- Hostinger loves WordPress and includes LiteSpeed caching, HTTP/2, HTTP/3 (Quic) and IPv6, PHP8, GZIP compression, threat detection, and the latest infrastructure updates in its offer
- Each Hostinger plan comes with a 99.9% uptime guarantee, enterprise hardware, and caching technologies for superior website performance
- You’ll get help whenever you need it with a customer support team ready to assist you with all hosting-related topics 24/7/365
- Hostinger has an amazing reputation with thousands of satisfied users from around the globe, dozens of positive reviews, and awards to confirm its quality
Pros:
- No experience is required (anyone can launch their website in minutes with Hostinger)
- Includes everything you need for WordPress (managed WordPress, WordPress acceleration, and WordPress staging tool)
- Unmatched performance and total security (global data centers, 99.%, robust security, and speed acceleration)
Cons:
- Only existing customers get access to live chat support, no phone support (still, customer support is available 24/7 to help)
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Features: 4.8
- Reliability: 4.8
- Ease of Use: 4.9
- Customer Support: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.7
FastComet is the best website hosting provider for most. First, it has a well-rounded offer, including a wide range of services, such as shared hosting plans, cloud VPS hosting, WordPress hosting, WooCommerce, OpenCart, Magento hosting, and dedicated CPU servers.
In addition, FastComet provides domains, Sitebuilder, along with the most powerful and intuitive cloud control panel out there. Better yet, it is the home of many free applications, including the Softaculous app installer.
When it comes to performance, FastComet delivers strong uptimes and solid server performance. You can benefit from a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a 100% transparency guarantee as a customer. Its infrastructure is developed to deliver the optimal speed, powered by ten strategically located datacenters and a global CDN network.
The best part about FastComet is its price-value ratio. While you get many valuable features and freebies, such as daily backups, cPanel, free domain transfer, and managed migrations, you won’t have to pay a high price for it. Instead, FastComet is all about customer satisfaction and affordable prices. Almost always, there’s a good deal to benefit from – whether it’s a one-time deal or a recurring discount, you can get top-notch service and save a few bucks in the process.
Last but not least, all of it is backed up with a remarkable level of customer support. FastComet’s team is available day or night, rain or shine, anytime 24/7/365. You can reach them using live chat, phone, email, or ticketing system and receive instant and precious technical support.
Fastcommet does not have a BBB listing (only applicable for U.S.-based companies), however, Trustpilot awards them 4.9 stars out of five (with more than 2,253 user reviews).
Research Findings
- FastComet’s SSD-only cloud and Cloudflare CDN caching can grant you 300% faster access to your files and databases compared to non-SSD hosting providers
- FastComet rewards you with a lot of freebies, even in the cheapest plans (free domain transfer, free Cloudflare CDN, free 24/7 priority support, daily and weekly backups, managed migrations, and more)
- Powered by the most popular and powerful control panel – cPanel
- Get 100% customer satisfaction or your money back
- You can browse the one-click app marketplace with over 450 apps ready to be installed in seconds
- FastComet is a superior DIY solution with over 20 frameworks and the most popular development tools
- Customers benefit from always-free in-house technical support available 24/7 and step-by-step tutorials and people-powered site transfer without downtime
- Multiple server locations, WAF, malware scan & reports, SpamExperts, Let’s Encrypt, RocketBooster
- Starting from $2.95 per month, which is way cheaper than providers of the same rank
Pros:
- Fast and reliable service (multiple server locations, SSD, CDN, speed, and security enhancements)
- Lots of features included for free (in-house Website Builder, domain transfer, daily backups, priority support)
- 100% satisfaction or a money-back guarantee (7 or 45-day policy)
Cons:
- Some features are locked to the pricier plans (for example, you cannot get RocketBooster with the cheapest shared hosting plan)
- Unspecified traffic (you get a fair usage quota in some plans, which is enough for personal, small business, and community websites)
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 4.4
- Features: 4.4
- Reliability: 4.4
- Ease of Use: 4.4
- Customer Support: 4.3
- Pricing: 4.5
InterServer offers one of the most affordable, top-notch dedicated servers on the market. It’s the best-dedicated server hosting because it allows for many free features, including DDOS Protection, 1GB or 10GB port, 150TB transfer, Remote Reboots, managed support, zero setup fees, 24/7 uptime monitoring, Remote KVM, 4-hour provisioning, data migration, IPMI or ILO Access, and Remote OS Reinstall.
With InterServer, you can choose from 2-cores, 4-cores, 12-cores, 16-cores, 24-cores, Xeon, AMD Epyc, or Ryzen processors. Also, you can find that the provider offers plenty of operating system choices depending upon your needs and application requirements, including CentOS, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Redhat Fedora, Cloud Linux, and Windows 8/12. Better yet, the company provides rapid deployment so that you can expect your dedicated server to be ready in approximately 15 minutes.
Worry not; if you are not a master of command-line interfaces, InterServers has you covered. It offers the best control panels on the market (cPanel & WHM, Plesk, and DirectAdmin) to allow you to manage and monitor your dedicated server easily. All of it is backed up with epic support available 24/7 over live chat, phone, email, or even Facebook chat. And if you want to take things to another level, taking the ultimate hands-off approach, you can always go for a managed dedicated solution.
Interserver receives 4.6 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Research Findings
- InterServer’s dedicated server hosting starts at $49.00 per month, which is highly affordable
- Its dedicated hosting comes with a lot of free features included (DDoS, 24/7 uptime monitoring, data migration, and more)
- You can choose from plenty of operating systems to suit your needs and app requirements
- InterServer also offers large storage servers with up to 120 Terabytes of storage space
- InterServer doesn’t have high renewal rates. Instead, the company is fully transparent regarding pricing (30-day guarantee included)
- Cloudflare and its global network of caching data centers allow InterServer to provide a 99.9% uptime guarantee and ultra-fast speeds
- 70% of InterServer’s customers have migrated from other hosts and found the quality they were looking for
Check Out Our InterServer Video Review
Pros:
- Suitable for all users (various OS choices, processors, and configurations)
- Cheap and transparent pricing without hidden fees
- Round-the-clock expert support and managed solutions available
- 99.99% uptime in practice
Cons:
- Pretty outdated website and UI design that’s not beginner-friendly (good thing customer support is available to help)
- Only US-based data centers (luckily, the provider has Cloudflare CDN integration)
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Reliability: 5.0
- Ease of Use: 4.9
- Customer Support: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.8
Verpex is the cheapest web hosting available for the quality it provides. You can benefit from excellent plans with superior features starting at $0.30 per month.
Users usually link high prices to quality, but it doesn’t have to be that way, and Verpex is the real-life proof. The provider offers the fastest cloud hosting plans to grow with your site, suitable for all startups, established businesses, bloggers, or even managing multiple sites.
With Verpex, you can expect instant setup, free domains, superfast SSD drives, the most popular cPanel control panel, LiteSpeed webserver, free SSL certificates, free migration, daily backups, and more. And that’s not where it ends. The provider also grants you full WordPress optimization and an auto-installer for any tool you want to install to your site.
The Verpex infrastructure consists of 12 server locations across five continents, from Europe to Asia, Australia, North and South America. And what about the best part? Verpex engineers are available around-the-clock to help you with any issues. You can reach these professionals via live chat, phone, and ticket 24/7/365.
Verpex does not have a BBB listing (only applicable for U.S.-based companies), however, Trustpilot awards them 4.7 stars out of five (with more than 115 user reviews).
Research Findings
- Choose from cloud, WordPress hosting, managed servers, resellers, and more
- You can trust Verpex to deliver lightning-fast loading speeds regardless of your website traffic (1.8s load time and 8182kb speed score)
- Verpex offers the cheapest web hosting with the broadest range of free goods (domain transfer and registration, SSL certificates, free migrations, daily backups, etc.)
- You will receive instant 24/7 support from experienced technicians
- Placing your site closer to your users will allow for the ultimate performance – you can choose from many server locations available worldwide
Check Out Our Verpex Video Review
Pros:
- The best price-value ratio on the market (cheapest web hosting with the most freebies – domain, SSL, backups)
- Incredible ease of use (cPanel, Softaculous one-click installer)
- Excellent support available 24/7 via live chat, email, or phone with 99% support case resolution
Cons:
- A 99.5% uptime guarantee which is a bit low
Rating based on expert review:
- Overall Score: 2.6
- Features: 2.6
- Reliability: 2.5
- Ease of use: 2.6
- Customer support: 2.4
- Pricing: 2.7
Bluehost is the perfect provider for anyone looking for stable and reliable shared hosting. It offers four different shared hosting plans, ranging from $2.95 per month for the cheapest to $13.95 for the most expensive one. Each shared hosting plan has different features and resource amounts. However, all plans include resource protection, domain manager, SSL Certificates, Google Ads, and Google My Business.
In addition to shared hosting, Bluehost offers WordPress, dedicated, and VPS hosting plans at affordable prices. And if you are not satisfied with its services for any reason, you can get a refund if you cancel your subscription within 30 days. With its plans, you can get a free domain, free SSL, free CDN, an intuitive control panel, and 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone chat, and email ticketing. Bluehost also has an excellent knowledge base where you can find solutions to many issues.
Bluehost is a great option for beginners and developers alike. Beginners will find Bluehost’s modified and expanded version of the cPanel especially helpful because it makes managing their accounts easy and simple. The Bluehost control panel includes a unified login, domain and email management features, easy upgrades, and integration with and hotlinks to its help functionalities and technical support options.
Bluehost has data centers in Provo, Utah, and Houston, Texas. However, you can use the free CDN it offers to access Cloudflare’s worldwide network of data centers, which will improve the time it takes to deliver your content to customers and decrease page load times.
Research Findings
- Websites hosted with Bluehost take up to 1.8 seconds to load fully. Although this is not the fastest of load speeds, it doesn’t fluctuate much, which makes it quite dependable and stable
- Bluehost’s average uptime is 99.99%, and the load time for a static website is 422 ms. For WordPress websites, however, the page load time is 650 ms
- Bluehost is one of the cheapest providers available today, starting at $2.95 per month for the introductory shared hosting plan
- Aside from free SSL Certificates, Bluehost offers other great security features to its customers, like hiding personal information that you used when you signed up for a private domain, features to prevent malware attacks, tools for automatic daily backups, and spam protection for your email address
- Bluehost’s resource protection service makes sure that your site and its performance are protected and not affected by other websites on the shared server
Pros:
- Open-source provider
- Excellent customer support
- Offers cheap plans
- Quite easy to use
- Its shared hosting plans offer a lot of storage
Cons:
- Renewal rates are high
- No free migration
- No monthly billing cycle
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
How Did We Choose The Top 10 Web Hosting?
- Price To Value Ratio10%
- Uptime, Speed, and Performance25%
- Features20%
- Ease of Use and Customer Support15%
- Brand Reputation30%
How Do We Test and Rank?
At HostAdvice, we carefully develop the lists of the best web hosting providers through an extensive research process. We rely on real-time performance and testing during this time, ranking the web hosts against the following criteria.
Our experts have tested dozens of products from leading web hosting companies in the past year only. More importantly, these professionals constantly update their review methodologies to reflect the market and customer demands better. For instance, we have recently upgraded our formal uptime and speed monitoring processes to better assess and present real-time results as opposed to blurry promises. In this regard, we especially value transparency and honesty from the web host. The best-case scenario is when the web hosting company promises top-notch quality and sustains these high levels worldwide.
We’ve allocated specific percentages to different factors depending on their importance for a web hosting service. The higher the weight, the more critical the factor.
- Price To Value Ratio (10%): number and variety of plans available, price range compared to web hosting companies on the same rank, freebies, trial periods, money-back guarantees, deals, and discounts for new and recurring customers. For more insights check out our Web hosting pricing page.
- Uptime, Speed, and Performance (25%): number, quality, and dispersion of server locations, uptime/downtime commitments, loading speeds, latency, CDN, other speed and security features, and available add-ons.
- Features (20%): any constraints included in the plans (type of hardware and amount included) – number of sites, traffic allowed, CPU, RAM, bandwidth, server storage space, domains, SSLs, backups, email, control panel, WordPress, OS, or programming language compatibility, and more!
- Ease of Use and Customer Support (15%): overall ease of navigation, control panel, availability of assistance (Knowledgebase, 24/7 customer support via live chat, email, phone), technical knowledge and skill of the staff, response times, ability to resolve issues.
- Brand Reputation (30%): the experience of our experts along with customers worldwide, their first-hand user reviews, incidents with the web host, previous downtime issues, years on the market, awards, recognitions, etc.
How To Choose The Best Host For You?
Choosing the best web host for your needs and budget is indeed a tricky task. As explained, there are significant differences between the types of web hosting. So, the best way to start is to establish what you are looking for; then, start analyzing different hosts and offers.
For instance, the important features you should look for in dedicated hosting are very different from those you should aim for in shared hosting. The question is, what do you want to accomplish with your site?
Are you looking for a beginner-friendly solution supporting low to medium traffic? Shared hosting it is! On the other hand, if you need advanced features, root access, and ultimate customization freedom, you should opt for dedicated servers, and so on.
Still, several standard features make one hosting company better than another. Here’s how to spot a valuable and high-quality host worthy of your time and money.
Features to Look for in a Good Web Hosting Provider
Regardless of the type of web hosting you choose, ensure your potential web host satisfies the following criteria:
- Uptime commitment: you should avoid downtime at all costs as it can make you lose website visitors. The best web hosting options come with uptime guarantees and sufficient technologies to back up the uptime promise. You should not accept anything below 99.95% and aim towards 100%. Even though you can rarely find a 100% uptime guarantee, 99.99% are more frequent and sufficient offers. Also, carefully read the SLA agreement. How will the web host compensate you in case of downtime?
- Powerful security: quality web hosting providers prioritize security, in addition to performance and speed. It would be best to look for a powerful firewall, the latest versions of antivirus software, constant monitoring, automatic updates and patches, and malware detection and removal.
- A good backup policy: backups represent a second layer of security that comes into play when everything else fails. Needless to say, they are necessary. A quality web host should include free daily backups as part of the hosting plans to help you recover lost or corrupted files. If backups are paid add-ons, ensure you get a low price for it. Avoid manual backups as a first option; automated solutions should always be set up.
- Flexible contracts: you don’t want the web host to lock you into a contract, and even if they do, you must be careful of the conditions. The best web hosting providers come with monthly plans and pay-as-you-go options and allow you to leave at any time. Also, you should be able to leave a contract with no cancellation fees, even if you have signed up for a longer-term contract. Beware what you are signing up for – you don’t want to be paying higher renewal prices just because you have to.
- Customer support available 24/7 is a must. Regardless of your skills and experience, someone should be available at all times to provide you with immediate assistance. The best web hosting companies are available 24/7/365 via live chat, email, or phone and provide fast response times. Also, their answers should be technical and helpful.
- Low hosting restrictions and limitations: the more freedom you get, the better. It would be best to establish what you will and won’t be able to do with a specific web host. Review any limits that the web host might imply, such as the number of domains, file transfer, resource usage, etc.
- Option to scale: as your business grows, you should be able to do the same. So, unless you are sure that your website traffic will stay consistent (which is practically impossible to estimate), you should opt-in for a web hosting provider that allows you to upgrade your plan and resources easily.
- More freebies than paid add-ons: you don’t want to be paying for a service that other web hosting companies give out for free. Sure, you cannot get everything for free in one place, so it would be best to sort out your priorities, including a free domain, email, SSL certificates, a Website Builder, cPanel, etc. The best website hosting companies allow for many free goods or features within the hosting plans.
Five Important Tips Before Buying a Web Hosting Service
Are you stuck in decision-making? Which web host is the best for you? Here are five tips to facilitate your choice!
- You always get what you pay for: even the best free web hosting won’t be sufficient if you opt for a quality service. Shared hosting will be enough if you are a blogger or a startup. Otherwise, be prepared to “empty” your budget. While the best web hosting providers deliver excellent price to value ratios, and cheap deals aren’t always bad, the best deals always come with some cost attached.
- Beware of pricing tricks: web hosting providers usually list low starting prices. However, you would have to commit to the longer term, say two or three years, to get this deal. So, you won’t be paying the promised $3 but over $100 in advance. Also, if you get a monthly deal, beware of the renewal rates. You might be getting a first-time discount, but this price might increase once the promotional period is over, and the deal might become less attractive.
- Always read the fine print: are you used to seeing “unlimited” offers, especially in shared hosting plans? Beware of these offers because unlimited doesn’t exist in web hosting. Web hosts usually use these terms to make them more understandable to beginners. And usually, you will get enough resources (disk storage or bandwidth) for a low-traffic site. However, if you have at least some hosting knowledge, it would be better to read the terms of service and know what you are getting yourself into.
- Switching providers? Look for free site migrations: say you have a web hosting plan, but you have found a more attractive deal on the market. It doesn’t matter if it’s because of an introductory discount, a better feature set, or any other reason – you have to migrate your website. So, you need a web hosting company that offers free or low-cost site migrations. The best web hosting companies take care of the whole process and migrate your site in an hour or a few hours free of charge.
- Check what others are saying: you cannot determine whether a web host is reliable or not solely by browsing their website. Instead, you should check the company’s trustworthiness by analyzing what third parties are saying. At this point, you can check user reviews on other sites, google the web host’s reputation, how long they have been on the market, past incidents, awards, and recognitions.
As mentioned, some web hosts are best for particular niches, industries, services, and demands. You’ve got a lay of the land for what web hosting is and the available types of web hosting services on the market. Still, you might be indecisive. So, we’ll be as specific as possible!
Best Web Hosting By Industry
- Hostinger – Best Website Hosting For Photographers
- Kamatera – Best Web Hosting Services for Developers
- Webdock – Best Web Hosting For SEO
- Verpex – Best Reseller Hosting
*Click here to learn more about the best reseller hosting providers
Best Web Hosting By Popular Demands
- 000Webhost– Best Free Web Hosting
Free web hosting might be a good start if you launch your first website or don’t need too many resources to support your traffic. Still, if you choose this alternative, eventually, you will have to upgrade to a paid hosting plan. Click here to assess the best free web hosting providers.
- Fastcomet– Best Web Hosting For Small Business
Startups and small businesses usually work on a budget. You need a cheap web hosting plan or an all-in-one solution if you are one. Click here to learn more about the best web hosting providers for your small business.
- A2Hosting– Best Email Hosting
The best email hosting providers store and protect your email data using anti-spam filtering and anti-malware, sync your web and mobile apps and prevent any downtime. Click here to learn more about the best email hosting providers!
- Webdock– Fastest Web Hosting
The fastest web hosting plans are usually based on SSD storage and provide other speed-enhancing features, from server infrastructure to popular add-ons, such as Cloudflare CDN, to reduce latency. In turn, they account for optimal performance and lightning-fast website load speeds.
- Dreamhost– Best WooCommerce hosting
WooCommerce hosting offers you a hassle-free way to set up your online store, allowing you the freedom to focus on growing your business. Click here to read more about the best WooCommerce hosting services on the market.
- Fastcomet– Best eCommerce Hosting
Ecommerce hosting refers to a web hosting platform that serves an electronic commerce website, featuring payment processing services, security initiatives, SSL, shopping cart software, and more. Click here to explore the best eCommerce hosting providers.
- TMDHosting– Best Hosting Site For Blogging
If you are looking for web hosting to support your blog, cheap web hosting providers with particular ease of use, featuring one-click install and optimization, are the best choice. Click here to find the best blog hosting providers.
- Hostens– Best Web Hosting For Beginners
Choose from the best free web hosting providers, shared hosting, and managed VPS plans. Either way, get the cPanel, WordPress integrations, one-click install, and 24/7 customer support for the best experience.
- Webdock – unlimited BW- Best Video Hosting
Video hosting refers to getting your video content online and distributing it over the web.
- Verpex– Best Hosting For Multiple Websites
You can host more than one website on a single account. The best hosting for multiple websites supports unlimited domains and easy management and navigation.
- Webdock– Best Hosting For Startups
Shared hosting and Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are two of the best options for a startup website. Choose a cheap web hosting plan with a good feature set and many free goods.
- GreenGeeks– Best Green Web Host
Get your website online and save the environment at the same time. The best green web hosts have advanced technologies and processes, immediately granting you a competitive advantage.
- Wix– Best Web Hosting With A Site Builder
Website Builders come in especially handy for designing your site, primarily if they feature drag and drop and one-click install for beginners. Get a web hosting plan with a Site Builder included for free!
- Verpex– Best Hosting For Web Migration
The in-house team should perform a seamless migration while you can sit and observe, taking the hands-off approach.
Best Web Hosting: Final Recommendations
So much information, guides, tips, and explanations, and one thing is for sure – there’s no one size fits with web hosting. The most important thing is to establish your needs and match them with the web host’s offer. A great tip at this point is to look at what your competitors are doing. It will give you a sense of direction on the best web hosting alternative for your business.
Also, analyze the standard qualities that each web hosting company should possess. Regardless of your choice, the web host should provide optimal performance, reliability, speed, and security backed up with round-the-clock customer support. Ensure you are getting the best value for the price you are paying. And if you are indecisive, follow our recommendations – this way, you cannot go wrong!