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Just like you’ll spend weeks researching and inspecting your prospective home, you need to apply the same effort to choose your web hosting service.
After all, web hosting companies provide a home for your website. As you won’t move into a home with a broken door and leaking roof, you shouldn’t settle for mediocre web hosting services.
Now, this leads us to a vital question: what’s the best web hosting service for your website?
Frankly, there are many great options. The best option for your business will depend on your current needs.
Whatever your needs, you’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll provide web hosting reviews to help you make the best choice for your website right now.
Even if you use an underwhelming host currently, you can rectify that mistake by moving to the right host.
Let’s dive into the details.
What is web hosting and how does it work?
Web hosting is a service that allows you to rent or buy a space to house your website. When you purchase a web hosting plan, you have access to move your website files such as code, images, videos, etc. into the host server.
The function of your web host is to serve your website files to your visitors whenever they need them. So, when a visitor types one of your website’s URLs into a browser, your web host will render files associated with that page from its server.
How does your web hosting plan work? It depends on the type of hosting you purchase. Some common types include:
- Shared hosting: with this type, your website will be hosted on a server with many other websites. This is more suitable for bloggers and small businesses.
- Virtual private server (VPS) hosting: with VPS hosting, your website is isolated from other websites even if you’re on the same server. As a result, you have access to more drive space, memory, processor power, and customizations. This is suitable for bigger businesses that need more resources.
- Cloud hosting: this type of hosting allows you to access virtual servers. This means your website can move to different servers to ensure uptime.
- Dedicated hosting: if you run a mega website, dedicated hosting will allow you to customize and use a dedicated server to power your site.
In a nutshell, it’s impossible to run a website online without a host. This also underlines how important it is to use a reliable web host.
If you look around, you’ll probably find hundreds of web hosts online. But to save your website from downtime and loss of revenue, use a web host with a great record of performance.
Here are the top 10 web hosting services
To help you make the right choice, we’ve analyzed 10 of the best web hosting companies online today:
1. BlueHost
Best overall web hosting service
Summary:
Bluehost is the best hosting plan for beginners as it provides 1-click setup for WordPress and an intuitive drag-and-drop page builder.
With over 2 million hosted websites, Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting companies online.
First, it makes your website setup easy, even for a beginner.
For instance, if you want to use the WordPress content management system (CMS), a 1-click installation option takes care of the whole process. Then, Bluehost will guide you through common tasks such as setting up your blog or email for the first time.
For example: for a start-up, having a custom email address will make your business look more professional. Here, you have access to a number of free custom email addresses depending on your plan.
Based on the experience of most users, you can expect a great uptime (99.99%) which means your website will rarely be offline.
In addition, to improve security for visitors, Bluehost provides a free SSL certificate for your website.
Apart from the lowest plan (basic), other plans include unlimited storage space. This means you can host files on your website without a limit.
Another aspect you’ll love with Bluehost is their responsive 24/7 customer support. This includes the live chat, phone, and email options.
Beyond that, you can check their knowledge base, articles, and videos to resolve some common issues.
Bluehost offers shared, dedicated, and VPS hosting plans for their customers.
Pros:
- 1-click installation option for WordPress.
- An intuitive website builder.
- Custom email for your domain.
- A free SSL certificate.
- Great customer support.
Cons:
- Renewal charges are high compared to the first year.
- Website migration fees can be expensive.
Pricing Plans:
- Basic: costs $9.99/month.
- Plus: costs $14.99/month.
- Choice Plus: costs $18.99/month.
- Pro costs: costs $28.99/month.
- Refund Policy: 30-days.
How to Save:
- For new users, you’ll have about a 60% discount on these plans.
2. GreenGeeks
Most eco-friendly web host
Summary:
GreenGeeks is the best eco-friendly web host as they use renewable energy to power their servers.
Running web host servers consumes a lot of power. Unfortunately, many power generation sources also harm the environment. In light of this, GreenGeeks use renewable energy as its power source.
But beyond this, the company has solid hosting features. First, you have unlimited bandwidth across all its plans.
Furthermore, there’s a free SSL certificate to make your site more secure. LSCache and Cloudflare CDN integration makes it easy to increase your website speed.
GreenGeeks has server locations across different continents to ensure high speed worldwide. You also have a 99.9% uptime guarantee from the web hosting service.
With this host, you have access to web, WordPress, VPS, and reseller hosting. In addition, there’s 24/7 live chat support.
Pros:
- Good for sustaining the environment.
- Responsive customer support.
Cons:
- 24/7 support isn’t available on the phone.
- Potential struggle with higher traffic or traffic spike.
Pricing Plans:
- Lite costs: $10.95/month.
- Pro costs: $15.95/month.
- Premium: costs $25.95/month.
- Refund Policy: 30-days.
How to Save:
- For new users, you’ll get over a 50% discount on these plans.
3. WP Engine
Safest web host
Summary:
WP Engine is also the best host for managed WordPress hosting and scaling your business.
As the most popular CMS, there are millions of websites using WordPress. If high performance is your utmost objective, you should consider WP Engine as a hosting service.
With WP-Engine the chances of your website being blazing fast are much higher. With robust caching, WP Engine helps to maintain a high website speed. In addition, access to MaxCDN helps to reduce your web page load size.
Another advantage you have here is that maintenance tasks are done automatically. These include handling setups, testing updates thoroughly before pushing them out, ensuring security, and optimizing performance.
There’s also a daily backup of your files which is vital in case of a security breach. Then, you have an SSL certificate for your website. Furthermore, their intrusion detection and protection system secures your website from DDoS attacks, malware, brute force attacks, and more.
These server and security processes ensure that you have excellent uptime. Another lovely feature is WP Engine’s staging area. Here, you can test new designs and tools before implementing them on your website.
If you have any issues with your website, WP Engine provides 24/7 live chat with knowledgeable support staff.
Pros:
- Access to premium WordPress themes and tools.
- Excellent customer service.
- High website load speed.
- Has a staging area.
Cons:
- Only available for WordPress users.
- Powerful features can overwhelm an inexperienced WordPress user.
- Expensive compared to competitors.
Pricing Plans:
- Managed WordPress: starts at $20/month.
- eCommerce solutions: start at $50/month.
- Refund Policy: 60-days.
How to Save:
- By selecting annual plans you will have around a 20% discount.
4. SiteGround
Most reliable web host
Summary:
SiteGround is the best web host for uptime and speed. That’s why it has one of the highest client satisfaction among web hosts.
As one of WordPress.org’s recommended hosts, SiteGround excels in some vital aspects of hosting. For instance, this web host has one of the best uptimes of any host. So, you can rest assured that your website will always be available to visitors.
More so, your website will load at higher speeds compared to other providers. This is due to their SSD disks and software solutions such as SG Optimizer and HTTP/2. There’s also free access to a CDN that can increase speed.
Beyond these, SiteGround values security, and there’s a low chance of a malware attack on your website. The free Let’s Encrypt SSL also improves your website security.
On SiteGround, you can subscribe to various hosting types such as web, WordPress, WooCommerce, cloud, and reseller hosting.
Pros:
- Amazing uptime.
- Responsive customer support.
- High level of security.
Cons:
- Limited storage for the cheapest plan.
- More expensive than competitors.
Pricing Plans:
- StartUp: costs $14.99/month.
- GrowBig: costs $24.99/month.
- GoGeek: costs $39.99/month.
- Refund Policy: 30-days.
How to Save:
- For new users, SiteGround offers a 73% discount.
5. A2 Hosting
Fastest web hosting
Summary:
A2 Hosting is the best web hosting service for fast and reliable shared hosting.
One of the first needs of every visitor is speed. Nobody wants to wait forever. With A2 Hosting, they won’t have to.
Compared to its competitors, A2 Hosting offers one of the best web load times you’ll find. Beyond that, your website will be available to visitors most of the time. In fact, the company offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
If you’re creating a website, there’s a 1-click install option for WordPress and other content management systems (CMSs) such as Drupal, Joomla, and Magento. If you want to move from an underperforming host, A2 Hosting has a free migration service to do the work.
To ensure security, there’s 24/7 server monitoring and malware screening. In addition, there’s a range of SSL certificates to protect visitors. Finally, when you have issues, you can depend on their 24/7 customer support to resolve them.
Pros:
- Fast website loading times.
- Anytime money-back guarantee.
- Excellent uptime.
Cons:
- Some features missing on the cheaper plans.
- High renewal price.
Pricing Plans:
- Startup: costs $10.99/month.
- Drive: costs $12.99/month.
- Turbo boost: costs $20.99/month.
- Turbo max: costs $25.99/month.
- Refund Policy: 30-days.
How to Save:
- For new users, A2 Hosting offers a 50% discount.
6. LiquidWeb
Best customer support
Summary:
LiquidWeb is the best web hosting company for fully-managed web hosting and phone support for business.
If you’re just starting your website and are on a budget, LiquidWeb may not be for you. But if your utmost consideration is a premium service, then this is a host you should consider.
First, this is a managed web hosting service that does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. For instance, if you use the managed WordPress plan, LiquidWeb will automatically update your WordPress version. Furthermore, it will update plugins in an isolated environment to ensure safety before implementing them on your website.
There’s malware scanning and removal to keep your website safe. You also have access to an SSL certificate and a VPN. Since you’ll have email needs, email hosting comes with their plans.
On LiquidWeb, you can buy managed WordPress, managed WooCommerce, VPS, and dedicated, and cloud hosting. Another feature of this host you’ll love is their excellent customer support. You can get hold of a support rep in under a minute through their support channels.
Pros:
- Powerful features.
- Excellent customer support.
- Excellent uptime.
Cons:
- No shared hosting option.
- Expensive plans compared to competitors.
- No money-back guarantee for a trial period.
- No shared hosting option.
- Expensive plans compared to competitors.
- No money-back guarantee for a trial period.
Pricing Plans:
- Managed WordPress: starts at $13.3/month.
- VPS: starts at $25/month.
- Refund Policy: 30-days.
How to Save:
- LiquidWeb often updates its discount deals, but it can offer up to 72% off if you are a new user and select the 24 month plan.
7. InMotion Hosting
Most affordable WP host
Summary:
InMotion Hosting is the best web hosting service for affordable managed WordPress and VPS hosting.
Frankly, your business will outgrow shared hosting with time. While some hosting services have great shared hosting features, they’re lacking when you need more features.
With InMotion, you can purchase managed WordPress and VPS hosting plans that are reliable. First, they have firewalls, DDoS protection, and hacking protections to secure their servers. Therefore, their servers are fast and reliable.
With managed VPS hosting, the InMotion team will handle the technical tasks and take care of security. So, you don’t need to configure the server yourself and run the risk of making mistakes.
If you run an ecommerce website, this host is suitable due to its fast load times. Beyond that, you have an excellent uptime of 99.99%. Furthermore, when there’s an issue with your server, InMotion can immediately get your website back up by transferring it to another server in that cluster.
Pros:
- Managed VPS hosting.
- Excellent customer support.
Cons:
- Phone verification can be difficult for non-US-based customers.
- No monthly billing plans.
Pricing Plans:
- Managed WordPress Hosting: starts at $3.99/month. For your first subscription if you go for a 2-year subscription.
- VPS: starts at $19.99/month.
- Refund Policy: 90-days.
How to Save:
- InMotion often updates its coupon codes and promos on this page.
8. HostGator
Best for its variety of shared hosting options
Summary:
HostGator is best for minimal needs and has one of the best shared hosting services.
With over 2 million websites hosted with HostGator, it’s one of the most popular web hosts. This is mainly due to the quality of its shared hosting plans. For instance, the web hosting company provides both unlimited disk space and bandwidth for all plans.
Then, there’s a free transfer from your current hosts to HostGator. The service guarantees a 99.9% uptime for websites hosted on their servers. To even increase transparency, you can track your site’s performance in the server stats menu.
With this hosting company, you’ll find many hosting options. These include shared, cloud, VPS, managed WordPress, and dedicated server hosting.
You also have access to a free SSL certificate which makes your website credible to visitors. To aid your marketing efforts, HostGator throws in a $150 Google Ads credit into their plans. Lastly, you have access to a 24/7 live chat, phone, and email support.
Pros:
- The interface is easy to use.
- Offers many hosting options.
- Responsive customer support.
Cons:
- Website load speed is not the fastest.
- Some add-ons cost more money.
Pricing Plans:
- Hatchling: costs $2.75/month.
- Baby: costs $3.5/month.
- Business: costs $5.25/month.
- Refund Policy: 45-days.
How to Save:
- These are introductory offers at over 60% discount and you can take advantage if you buy a 3-year subscription.
9. Hostinger
Best for low-budget hosting
Summary:
Hostinger is one of the most affordable web hosting services and provides quality services at those price points.
If you want to create a reliable website on a low budget, Hostinger is one of the few services to consider. Beyond that, the platform makes the setup easy if you’re just creating your website. With the auto-installer, you can set up WordPress and other CMSs in one click.
Unlike other hosts, Hostinger has its own control panel, hPanel, which is easy to use for customers. One aspect Hostinger does well is its loading speed.
To improve your website speed, you can select a server of the most popular country for your visitors. There’s also access to LiteSpeedCache for WordPress and support for Cloudflare CDN.
For WordPress developers, there are tools to code and experiment with PHP, FTP, cPanel, and MySQL at no extra cost.
Hostinger offers shared, VPS, cloud, cPanel, and WordPress hosting. You also have access to 24/7 live chat support in up to 20 languages.
Pros:
- Affordable hosting plans
- A multilingual customer support
- Fast loading time
- Easy-to-use CPanel dashboard
- Email and domain features are available
- Great for WordPress developers
- Free website migration
Cons:
- No phone support
- Missing features on the budget plans
- Uptime may drop on the lower plans
Pricing Plans:
- Single: shared hosting costs $9.99/month.
- Premium: shared costs $11.99/month.
- Business: shared costs $16.99/month.
- Refund Policy: 30-days.
How to Save:
- If you subscribe for 48 months, you can get up to an 80% discount on the price.
10. Dreamhost
Best for month-to-month plans
Summary:
Dreamhost is the best web host service for affordable month-to-month plans.
If you want to have your website online but can’t find $80 to pay in advance for a web host, then Dreamhost may be your best bet. The company offers monthly plans that are even cheaper than some competitors’ annual discounted prices.
Beyond that, Dreamhost has features to help you effectively host your website. For instance, you have unlimited bandwidth on all plans and generous storage for web files.
Moreso, you have access to Dreamhost email hosting with 25GB of storage by default. Although, if you use the lowest plan, you have to pay $1.67 monthly for this feature.
To make your website secure, Dreamhost has a smart anti-spam feature to filter spam messages, viruses, and malware. On Dreamhost, you have access to hosting types such as shared website, VPS, managed WordPress, dedicated server, and cloud hosting.
Pros:
- Affordable hosting plans.
- Unlimited bandwidth and generous storage for every plan.
- A 97-day money-back guarantee.
Cons:
- Low-tier plan users have to pay for technical support over the phone.
- Advanced features missing in the low-tier plans.
- No free email account on the starter plan.
- Servers are only in the United States.
Pricing Plans:
- Shared Starter: starts at $1.99/month.
- Shared Unlimited: starts at $2.99/month. For subsequent months, you’ll pay $7.99 and $13.99, respectively.
- Refund Policy: 97-days.
How to Save:
- The annual plans start at $2.95 monthly at over a 60% discount.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the best web hosting services.
Here are some common questions you may have before choosing a suitable web host for your business:
Can I get free web hosting?
Yes, you can. However, it’s not advisable to go for a free web host. That’s because such a host will lack some vital features you need to run your website efficiently.
What is the difference between web hosting and WordPress hosting?
Web hosting refers to hosting any website online, while WordPress hosting refers to hosting sites that use the WordPress content management system (CMS). Therefore, WordPress hosting is a subset of web hosting.
Can I host my own website?
Yes, you can host your own website. But you need to set up a server for that. Unfortunately, if you’re reading this guide, you probably lack the skills to do that.
How do I get a free domain name?
Some web hosting services offer a free domain name for your first year as a customer. After that, however, you’ll pay for subsequent years. Therefore, you’re unlikely to get a free domain name forever.
How do I create my own website?
First, you need to know what you want to do on your website. Then, register for a web host and domain name. Most web hosts have website builders that will help you build your site.
Which web hosting service is the overall best?
Well, that depends on your needs and budget. When looking for a web host, you should look for one that meets your needs best. That’s the best web hosting service for you.
Final Thoughts
Selecting a web host for your website is a vital endeavor. That’s why you should read about the great options you have today.
But even beyond that, you have to define your needs in a website host. Then, you’ll be able to choose a hosting company according to those needs. In this guide, we’ve explored the best hosting services and their strong points.
What’s your best hosting service, and are you looking to move to another host? Let’s know in the comments!
