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The Best Web Hosting Services – Ultimate Review

Sezmi

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It can be difficult and confusing to find the right web hosting service for your website. It can be difficult, especially since there are so many web hosting options and a dizzying array.

My goal is help you find the right web hosting for you.

These considerations include, but are not limited, to your budget, technical requirements, as well as the type of support that you expect.

Based on my experience with numerous web hosting companies, these are the best 11 web hosting companies for you.

Each host has its strengths and weaknesses. I also discuss who they are best suited for. Finally, I give you an overview of the things to consider when choosing a web hosting provider. You can also read my web hosting comparisons and reviews if you’re interested in getting into the details.

The Best Web Hosting Options

Instead of listing the top web hosts, I have broken the list down into the most appropriate host for each purpose.

• Best Overall — InMotion Hosting
• Bluehost — Best for Beginners Hosting
• HostGator — Best Value Web Host
• Namecheap – Best Web Hosting at a Cheap Price
• SiteGround is the Best International Host
• Best Independent Host — DreamHost
• GreenGeeks is the Best Eco-Friendly Host
• Best Hosting Features — Hostinger
• A2 Hosting is the best web hosting service
• HostPapa — Best Small Biz Hosting
• Best Basic Host — Website Hosting Hub

Other Top Rated Ratings

InMotion Hosting

Starting at $2.29/mo.

My rating: 9.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 90 Days

Uptime Guarantee: No

No cost website migration

Review of InMotion Hosting

Features

• One year free domain
• Free website builder
• SSL Certificate Free
• Unlimited websites
• Unlimited storage (Launch plan or higher)
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• cPanel

They are a good company, but there are tradeoffs. They don’t offer the most affordable hosting plans. InMotion Hosting is focused on reliable hosting that provides high uptime. They’ve been extremely helpful each time I’ve reached out to technical support.

InMotion Hosting was established in 2001 as an independent hosting company. They offer hosting services that include web hosting, VPS hosting, WordPress, and even enterprise IAAS.

A wide variety of complementary products are also offered by them, including domains, website builders, and email hosting. They are based in Los Angeles, Virginia Beach and offer all US-based customer service.

Since their inception, they have experienced steady and strong growth. Despite industry consolidations and mergers, they remain independent and founder-run. Their products are usually focused on small businesses and agencies.

InMotion Hosting offers the benefit of another web host so you can expand with them. You can upgrade from a shared hosting account, to a VPS, cloud or dedicated hosting option.

InMotion Hosting Pricing

* Prices per month for a 36-month subscription

Visit InMotion Hosting

Best for

InMotion Hosting is ideal for small businesses, non-profits, and agencies that need a reliable, long-term hosting company.

Strengths

There are a few strengths and benefits to InMotion Hosting. They have a strong focus on customer service that solves problems. They provide excellent documentation and have a robust ticketing system. They have been my website provider for nearly 10 years. I have never experienced any problems. Review aggregators give them high marks.

They have maintained a consistent level of performance for a long time. They provide a strong, sustainable infrastructure that can be maintained and improved over time.

They offer a product line that is of real value and not just marketing hype. Their WordPress hosting product is not just a fancy web hosting service, but actually adds value. They offer a shared hosting plan with excellent product specifications and a long guarantee.

Weaknesses

InMotion Hosting is not an exception. Every hosting company has its tradeoffs. Their biggest weakness is their inability to be the best at any one metric. However, they are excellent overall. There are many hosting companies that offer a better dashboard or marginally better performance or pricing or have a better product line-up or more support.

They are more likely to be #2 or #3 for many metrics than #1 for one.

Bluehost

Start at $2.95/mo

My rating: 9.5/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

Uptime Guarantee: No

No cost website migration

Bluehost Review

Features

• Unlimited websites (Plus plan or higher)
• Unlimited Storage (Plus plan & higer).
• SSL Certificate Free
• CDN Free
• One year free domain

Bluehost is a web hosting company that has been around since 1999. Bluehost has helped millions of people start their first website. They are now owned by Newfold Digital (formerly Endurance International) and are based in Provo.

Since the inception of WordPress, they have been an official provider of shared hosting for the WordPress Foundation. Although they offer many hosting products, their main focus is on shared web hosting.

Bluehost Pricing

* Prices per month for 12-month subscription

Visit Bluehost

Best for

Bluehost is the best choice for new or beginner customers who are looking for an affordable, accessible platform to create a website.

Strengths

Bluehost is a shared hosting provider with many key strengths. Bluehost is a well-known and trusted brand that offers a solid product. They are large enough to provide service for millions of customers at an affordable price. They’re sort of like the Starbucks of hosting. Bluehost is also a good choice for new or beginner website owners. Although it is easier to build a store than a website builder, it can be difficult at first. Bluehost is a great choice for customers who want to go from being sign-ups to becoming active.

Weaknesses

Bluehost is like any other popular brand (e.g. Starbucks), and Bluehost has its weaknesses and strengths that make them a better choice for customers. Their performance is good, but it is not as great as direct competitors. They have very strict and low limits for shared hosting. The limits are acceptable for most customers but may become an issue for large websites or those that are rapidly growing.

HostGator

Start at $2.75/mo.

My rating: 9.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 45 Days

Uptime Guarantee: Yes

No cost website migration

HostGator Review

Features

• Install WordPress in one click
• SSL Certificate Free
• One year free domain name
• cPanel
• Unmetered bandwidth
• Unlimited websites (Baby Plan and higher)

HostGator, a sister company to Bluehost, is one of the most popular hosting brands. Newfold Digital, formerly Endurance International, now owns them. Although they specialize in shared hosting, they also offer cloud hosting and a drag-and-drop website builder.

HostGator Pricing

* Prices per month for a 36-month subscription

HostGator

Best for

Hostgator is great for those looking for cheap, reliable hosting or for people who want to create a lot of websites on one account that allows unlimited sites.

Strengths

HostGator has been known for its value pricing, which is the price you pay for the features they offer. Their Baby web hosting plan remains one of the most affordable hosting plans available for a single site on the Internet. You get a free SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited storage with almost all shared hosting plans. HostGator is a reliable brand that has maintained a consistent performance over the years.

Weaknesses

HostGator’s biggest weakness is their constant upsells, and the confusing backend navigation. Although their backend navigation has improved somewhat since the website redesign, they still have a lot of upsells, cross-sells and upsells. It’s understandable that subscriptions are so expensive, but it is still irritating.

Namecheap

Buy a.COM for $0.98

My rating: 9.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

Uptime Guarantee: Yes

No cost website migration

Namecheap Review

Features

• Unmetered bandwidth
• No cost website builder
• Privacy protection for domain names is free
• SSL Certificate Free
• CDN Free
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Cpanel

Namecheap was founded in 2000 as an independent, ICANN-accredited web service company. Although they were originally founded to register domain names, they have since expanded to provide a range of hosting services.

Namecheap Pricing

* Prices per month for 12-month subscription

Namecheap

Best for

Namecheap is the best choice for small website owners who want ease-of-use and great pricing. Check out my Namecheap review.

Strengths

Namecheap’s main strengths are its pricing and its usability. Namecheap offers some of the best prices in the shared hosting market. Namecheap also integrates cPanel into their account dashboard so it is easy to start and manage websites.

Weaknesses

Namecheap’s two biggest weaknesses are: They have strict and low plan limits. For large websites, their storage space and other resources are very limited. They don’t offer phone support which is crucial for many customers.

SiteGround

Enjoy Discounts up to 73%

My rating: 8.5/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

Uptime Guarantee: No

No cost website migration

SiteGround Review

Features

• SSL Certificate Free
• CDN Free
• Get a free email
• 30-Day Money Back guarantee

SiteGround, an independent hosting company with a growing reputation, is becoming more popular within the WordPress community. They offer a wide range of hosting services, including popular shared hosting.

SiteGround was established in 2004. It is located in Bulgaria, with offices and data centers around the globe.

SiteGround Pricing

* Prices per month for 12-month subscription

SiteGround

Best for

SiteGround is a great host for website owners looking for international data centers, or for websites with a higher budget. SiteGround is a popular choice for freelancers, agencies and white-label resellers.

Strengths

SiteGround is a strong hosting company. SiteGround is a global hosting company that is focused on the world in a way that US-based companies aren’t. They have data centers around the world, making them very attractive for websites that have owners or readers in Europe, Asia and Africa.

SiteGround also has a reputation for providing high-performance products. SiteGround is known for its managed WordPress hosting and shared web hosting. SiteGround also offers solid technical support and resources.

Weaknesses

SiteGround has some weaknesses. SiteGround has a few weaknesses. First, they offer excellent pricing for their initial plans. However, prices quickly rise across all plans. Unfortunately, certain key features are included in the top-tier plans. They also moved their server dashboard from industry-standard cPanel into a custom dashboard. It is a well-done task and improves their services. It is, however, too restrictive and creates another learning curve for those migrating from other hosts.

DreamHost

Start at $2.59/mo

My rating: 9.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 97 Days

Uptime Guarantee: Yes

No cost website migration

DreamHost Review

Features

• 1-Click WordPress Installation
• 97-Day Money-Back Guarantee
• One year free domain
• Unlimited Traffic

DreamHost is one the most well-known and established hosting companies online. They’ve been in business since 1997, which is a positive digital standard. Today they serve over 1.5 million websites and 400,000 customers around the world. They are an independent company and employees own them (i.e. they are not another Newfold Digital or GoDaddy brand). They have been a long-standing supporter of open source software and community-built software, such as WordPress.

DreamHost Pricing

* Prices per month for a 36-month subscription

DreamHost

Best for

DreamHost is a great choice for those who want a technical solid host with an independent streak.

Strengths

DreamHost is known for its ease-of-use plan design and easy onboarding. All shared hosting plans come with an impressive feature set.

Weaknesses

DreamHost’s weakness is its pricing. Anyone transferring from a cPanel server to DreamHost will need to learn how to use their custom backend. They do not offer phone support.

GreenGeeks

Start at $2.95/mo

My rating: 8.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

Uptime Guarantee: Yes

No cost website migration

GreenGeeks Review

Features

• Unmetered data transfer
• SSL Certificate Free
• One year free domain
• Free nightly backups
• CDN Free

GreenGeeks, an independent hosting company that is rapidly growing, is based in California but has data centers all over the US and Europe. GreenGeeks is a greener host that focuses on customer service. GreenGeeks, a traditional web host, offers a range of hosting services including VPS, Shared, Reseller, and Reseller hosting. They also offer additional services such as domain registration, website builder and WordPress hosting.

GreenGeeks was established in 2008 by an industry veteran with the promise of eco-friendliness in an ever-dangerous industry.

GreenGeeks Pricing

* Prices per month for a 36-month subscription

GreenGeeks

Best for

GreenGeeks is the best choice for anyone who wants a simple, low-carbon hosting company that also offers great prices.

Strengths

GreenGeeks is a strong hosting company. They are an independent company with great customer support. GreenGeeks’ sustainability mission is integrated into the company’s business goals and operations. GreenGeeks also takes conservation measures at their data centers and purchases Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), which is 3x more electricity than they use, from Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

Weaknesses

GreenGeeks weaknesses are in their product bundles and onboarding. Their hosting onboarding is a bit old-fashioned. They can be difficult to work with if you’re trying to migrate from a non-cPanel host or start your first website. They don’t offer the same product bundles or bonuses as many of their direct competitors. Their bundles only include shared hosting.

Hostinger

Start at $1.39/mo

My rating: 8.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

Uptime Guarantee: Yes

No cost website migration

Hostinger Review

Features

• SSL Certificate Free
• 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
• 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Hostinger, an independent European web hosting company, has seen rapid growth in the past decade. Hostinger is also the parent company to the 000Webhost and Niagahoster brands, as well as Weblink. Their low prices have earned them a good reputation.

Hostinger offers email and website building services, as well as other complementary services. They offer 24-hour support and a 30-day guarantee of satisfaction.

Hostinger Pricing

* Prices per month for a 48-month Subscription

Visit Hostinger

Best for

Hostinger is the best option for those outside of the US who want to save money and have solid hosting options.

Strengths

Hostinger’s is known for two things. Hostinger’s has two main strengths. First, their pricing is very competitive. This price drops regularly during sales promotions. Hostinger makes it possible to run your website at a very affordable price. Hostinger is a global company that offers a variety of data centers around the world so you can choose according to your target audience.

Weaknesses

Hostinger’s weaknesses can be summarized as “limitations”. Their performance is inconsistent and limited. Although it’s fine, it is not as consistent as other brands. They have a lower support level than other brands and place limits on resource allocations.

A2 Hosting

Save up to 72%

My rating: 8.5/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

Uptime Guarantee: No

No cost website migration

A2 Hosting Review

Features

• Money-Back Garantee
• Free automated backups (Drive plan or higher)
• Free website migration

A2 Hosting was founded in 2003 as an independent web hosting company. Although they are based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, they serve all hosting markets worldwide. A2 Hosting is a fast-paced, high-performance hosting provider that offers excellent support.

A2 Hosting Pricing

* Prices per month for a 36 month subscription

Visit A2 Hosting

Best for

A2 Hosting is the best choice for DIYers and small business owners who need a reliable, independent hosting company that offers good support.

Strengths

A2 Hosting boasts a few strengths. A2 Hosting is generally more expensive than other competitors but they offer deep discounts. They offer a wide range of hosting features as well as solid customer support.

Weaknesses

A2 Hosting’s weaknesses include repeated upsells and a confusing signup process.

HostPapa

Find out More

My rating: 8.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days

Uptime Guarantee: Yes

No cost website migration

HostPapa Review

Features

• One year free domain
• SSL Certificate Free
• Bandwidth Unmetered

HostPapa, a web hosting company located in Toronto, Canada, is not part of a large holding company.

They offer a variety of hosting services including shared hosting and virtual private servers. Their focus is on small businesses rather than bloggers or internet-only operators. HostPapa was founded in 2006 and has experienced rapid growth over the years.

HostPapa Pricing

* Prices per month for a 36 month subscription

HostPapa

Best for

HostPapa is the best choice for DIYers and small businesses who need a simple, reliable shared hosting provider.

Strengths

HostPapa is known for their ability to provide a consistent and all-around product. They offer excellent pricing, reliable support and great performance. While they are not the best in every category, they do a great job overall.

Weaknesses

HostPapa’s biggest weakness is their exaggerated marketing copy and the lack of bonuses and bundles in their products. While I believe that a good hosting product at an affordable price is sufficient, I feel HostPapa makes it seem more complicated than it really is.

Web Hosting Hub

Enjoy Discounts up to 58%

My rating: 8.0/10

Money-Back Guarantee: 90 Days

Uptime Guarantee: No

Free website migration

Web Hosting Hub Review

Features

• Pre-Installed WordPress
• One year free domain
• Free website migration
• Unlimited Desk Space
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• Unlimited email addresses

Web Hosting Hub was founded by InMotion Hosting, its parent company. Web Hosting Hub is a small, focused, and stable hosting provider. It is not owned or controlled by any of the three large web services holding companies (ie. GoDaddy, Endurance and Web.com). They also offer good performance and support for businesses who want a simple website.

Web Hosting Hub was established in 2010 and has experienced steady organic growth over the years.

Pricing for Web Hosting Hub

* Prices per month for a 36-month subscription

Web Hosting Hub

Best for

Web Hosting Hub is the best choice for DIYers and small business owners looking for a simple, affordable web hosting service that offers good support.

Strengths

Web Hosting Hub boasts a few key strengths. They offer deep discounts on shared hosting plans. They offer solid customer support and a wide range of shared hosting plans.

Weaknesses

Web Hosting Hub’s biggest weakness is their strict adherence to shared hosting plans. If you have a fast-growing website you will need to switch to another hosting company once Web Hosting Hub outgrows you.

What should you look for in a web hosting service?

Two key factors are important to know what to look out for in a web host provider

1. Web hosting plans are the most important thing for website owners. Web hosting is usually a shared server.
   
   These plans are usually good for websites that receive 20,000 visitors per month. Although there are many variables involved in this number, it is a reasonable range.
2. Web hosting offers a lot of flexibility. WordPress can be used on any Linux shared hosting provider. It can also run email. It can run email services, scripts, CMS, and any other online service you need.

This quiz covers all aspects of web hosting and maps out the best web hosting options based on my experiences in running websites and consulting for a variety of clients.

My web hosting reviews contain details about my personal experiences.