The fact that there are many good web hosting services nowadays is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because you get to choose from a wider variety of hosts with cheaper packages but the downside is that decision-making is even tougher.
To narrow down your search, we have compiled this list based on customer-centric considerations like customer support, good uptime, user-friendliness, availability of windows and Linux servers, robust security measures, just to mention a few. Although the names on the list share some qualities, they have their unique strengths and, of course, their weaknesses.
Best Web Hosting Services and Providers
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is a top contender for the best web hosting services tag because their services afford you the freedom to create stable websites at affordable rates. They offer a range of services with their WordPress plan particularly eye-catching.
Plans offered:
- Shared hosting: Their cheapest package gives you a free domain name, free domain name transfer services, unlimited monthly data transfers, among other features. Upgrading gives you extra features like antispam tools, unlimited storage, and even a free IP address. Bluehost have annual plans as their shortest plans – they do not offer a monthly plan if you are thinking short-term. Their cheapest package if you choose the one-year plan goes for $7.99/month. If you commit to a long-term plan the rates will be lower.
- VPS Hosting: They offer three levels of hosting that are all Linux based. The prices range from $29.99/month to $119.99/month.
- Dedicated hosting: Out of the different configurations they sell, the cheapest dedicated hosting plan starts at $109/month. They use Linux-based servers.
- WordPress hosting: Bluehost uses Linux-based servers to power its WordPress hosting services. It has three plans; Basic, Plus, and Choice Plus that are priced the same as the shared hosting plans starting from $7.99/month. They also have another category, WordPress Pro. This category comes with back-end management extras and a couple of other WordPress-centric management features. The cheapest package starts at $29.99/month.
- Reseller hosting: It comes in four packages with tech support. The cheapest plan charges $18.99/month.
Benefits:
- Bluehost provides 24/7 customer support on the telephone, webchat, and a ticket-based system. They also have a knowledge base.
- They do daily backups for all clients
- They provide you with a free domain name to be used only on their plans
- They have good uptime
- They provide you with fast page-loading speeds
- Their plans are bundled with security measures like domain privacy and tools to prevent malware attacks
- Security features include antispam tools, SSH, account filters, and a free SSL certificate
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- They have a user-friendly interface
Downsides:
- They do not have windows-based servers
- They do not offer cloud hosting
- You have to them pay for site migration
2. HostGator
HostGator is a reliable web hosting service that offers both Windows and Linux-based systems for most of their packages. Their shared hosting plan is particularly impressive and the user-interface is beginner-friendly.
Plans offered:
- Shared Hosting: They are one of the best hosts when it comes to shared hosting. The plan comes with features like unlimited space, monthly data transfers, CMS-compatibility, easy-to-use website builders, private SSL, among others across the tiers. They offer both Windows and Linux-based packages and their monthly subscription model is perfect for your short-term needs. Prices start from $10.95/month.
- VPS Hosting: HostGator offers a couple of VPS hosting packages starting at $79.95/month for a one-year plan.
- Dedicated hosting: HostGator’s dedicated hosting provides both Windows and Linux servers. They deliver unlimited monthly data transfers, decent storage space, and unmetered bandwidth among other things. Their charges start from $119/month for the lowest package.
- Cloud Hosting: HostGator offers cloud hosting which is ideal for customers who want a seamlessly scalable hosting service. They only use Linux-based servers to deliver this plan. The charges range from $12.95/month to $19.95/month depending on the package you choose.
- WordPress hosting: This plan is worth considering if you swear by WordPress. Each of the packages under the plan provides page caching and an optimized hosting environment. The setup process is quite easy and the cheapest package starts at $14.95/month.
- Reseller hosting: They also provide reseller plans with the cheapest package going for $19.95 per month. HostGator allows you to rebrand the hosting services and provides you with tech support around the clock.
Benefits:
- Windows and Linux-based servers available.
- You can purchase a dedicated IP address
- Has good uptime
- Provides regular backups
- 45-day Money-back guarantee
- Has SSH access
- For security, they offer malware removal tools (paid), and spam-filtering tools.
- Provides 24/7 tech support
- Provides 24/7 customer service both on the phone and online.
- They offer free site migration
Downsides:
- Relatively low slow speeds (still fast but lags behind competitors)
3. A2 Hosting
While they provide decent plans, their WordPress package is particularly impressive. They have a managed service called HostGuard Management that comes with 24/7 access to a support team. The team handles hardware and software, system configuration, and server security.
Plans offered:
- Shared hosting: This plan has both windows and Linux servers. Features across the tiers include unlimited storage, monthly data transfers, and preconfigured site caching. Pricing starts at $7.99/month.
- VPS hosting: Windows and Linux servers are available. The packages under this plan include Unmanaged, Managed, and Core VPS packages. The managed package comes with the HostGuard Management Service. VPS hosting starts at $5/month (unmanaged).
- Dedicated hosting: All the packages run on Linux servers with charges starting at $169/month.
- Cloud Hosting: The cheapest package, the Entry plan, starts at $5/month.
- WordPress hosting: Its Linux-based WordPress hosting comes with live malware protection, unlimited storage, and monthly data transfer. You can opt for the managed plan if you want a seamless setup.
- Reseller hosting: A2 has a variety of reseller packages. Starting at $19.99/month, they run on Linux or Windows servers, offer 24/7 tech support, and let you brand the servers.
Benefits:
- They offer CDN and Caching to all their customers.
- They have both Linux and Windows servers
- They provide automatic patching and malware scans for all plans
- They offer SSL certificates
- Fast page loading speeds
- They offer free site migration
- 24/7 customer support on the phone and online
- A 30-day money-back guarantee.
- They have good uptime
Downsides:
- Some plans do not have windows servers
- You have to purchase SSL certificates
4. InMotion Hosting
The hosting plans all come with email services. All their plans are Linux-based and the site-building tools are easy to use.
Plans offered:
- Shared hosting: All the tiers come with monthly data transfers, unlimited email and unlimited storage. The shared hosting packages start from $7.46/month for one-year subscriptions.
- VPS hosting: The VPS hosting packages they offer have good specs with the charges ranging from $41.64/month. Noteworthy properties across the packages are unlimited email, sizeable RAM and storage, MySQL databases, just to mention a few.
- Dedicated hosting: The dedicated servers offer a respectable amount of storage and RAM starting at $136/month
- WordPress hosting: Under this plan, you receive updates on third-party plugins and free daily backups on a WP-optimized server. Monthly subscription fees start from $8.99/month (annual package).
- Reseller hosting: It is the only plan that InMotion provides that has both Windows and Linux based servers. Starting at $27.99/month, you get unlimited cPanels and monthly data transfers.
Benefits:
- They provide site migration services
- 24/7 customer support on the phone and online
- They offer malware detection services
- You can purchase SSL certificates with dedicated IP Addresses
- Free SSH access
- Free remote backups.
- A 90-day money-back guarantee.
- Has good uptime
- They have easy-to-use website creation software
Downsides:
- They lack Windows servers on the majority of their plans
- Some plans do not have short-term (monthly) subscription packages forcing you to commit to a long-term plan even when you don’t want to
5. Dreamhost
They are one of the best hosting services when it comes to cloud hosting. Their interface is not intimidating to beginner webmasters and their robust security and data transfer features are a bonus.
Plans offered:
- Shared hosting: Their Starter package charges $4.95/month on a monthly renewal plan and $2.59/month on an annual subscription. If you upgrade to Unlimited package, you get email hosting.
- VPS hosting: The plans begin at $13.75/month. The packages under this plan offer unlimited monthly data transfer but run on servers with Ubuntu Linux only.
- Dedicated hosting: Their packages start from $149/month and come with unlimited data transfers. However, there are no Windows servers.
- WordPress hosting: This plan is referred to as DreamPress and it has rates starting from $16.95/month. It is feature-packed with the standout services being the auto-updates, automatic daily backups, and good security.
- Cloud hosting: The servers run both Windows and Linux operating systems. Beginning at $4.50/month, you receive unlimited monthly data transfers, sizeable RAM and storage across the tiers, and a couple of other services. DreamHost’s cloud hosting plan is among the best ones in the industry.
Benefits:
- They provide free SSL certificates
- You get SSH access
- A 97-day money-back guarantee.
- Has good uptime
- Unlimited data transfers every month
- Provides free hosting to non-profits
- Customer support is only 24/7 available on chat and tickets (not Telephone)
Downsides:
- They do not offer window-based servers for a majority of their services
- They lack reseller hosting services
- No customer support on the telephone (to be fair, the online chats are very responsive)
6. LiquidWeb
Although they are on the higher-end in terms of pricing, they provide managed hosting. This means that the servers are offsite and their staff handles a couple of maintenance and support tasks for you to let you focus on other things that need your valuable time. Their VPS and dedicated plans are among the best you can find.
Plans offered:
- VPS hosting: Starting at $4.99/month, the servers run on both Windows and Linux. The RAM and storage are pretty decent and you can request for a more powerful server if you need it.
- Dedicated hosting: Starting at $199/per month, their dedicated servers have impressive RAM and storage with backup for peak website performance. At such high fees, the plan seems to be targeting big businesses.
- WordPress hosting: Their WordPress web hosting packages come with the CMS preinstalled and they provide automatic updates. They start at $119/month.
- Cloud hosting: Their cloud hosting packages let you choose between Microsoft and Linux operating systems. This plan lets your hosting needs grow together with your business. The cheapest package goes for $4.99/month.
- Reseller hosting: Starting at $59/month, this plan comes with The WebHost Manager Complete Solution (WHMCS). The features of the reseller packages are similar to those Liquid Web provides directly and they come with 24/7 tech support. They do not provide shared hosting services.
Benefits:
- Has good uptime
- Excellent customer service via phone and webchat
- Provides free nightly backups
- Managed hosting is meant to make life easy for users and provide extra security to the servers.
- Most services go above and beyond what competitors provide spec-wise which explains the price ranges.
- Security features include SSL certificates, VPNs, malware removal, and firewalls.
- Has Linux and Windows-based servers
Downsides:
- Relatively expensive (no surprises there given the services they offer)
- They do not offer shared hosting even for resellers.
7. GoDaddy
While many people know it for selling domain names, GoDaddy is also quite popular for its web hosting services. It serves both commercial and personal customers capably and provides discounts if you commit to long-term subscriptions. They provide Microsoft-centric email hosting services among other things.
Plans offered:
- Shared hosting: This plan runs on Linux and Windows-based servers. Across the board, you get unlimited storage and monthly data transfers, among other services. The cheapest package starts at $1/month for new users with a renewal of $7.99/month for subsequent months. This discount affords you the luxury to test out their service before you commit to them.
- VPS hosting: GoDaddy’s VPS servers run both Linux and Windows. Noteworthy features include unlimited monthly data transfers and domains, sizeable RAM and storage, and a free SSL certificate (one year). The cheapest package charges $19.99/month for new users with a renewal of $29.99/month for subsequent months.
- Dedicated hosting: You can choose between Windows and Linux based servers. The cheapest package goes for $89.99/month for new users with renewals starting at $169/month. They offer multiple CPU cores, unlimited monthly data transfers, and free SSL certificates.
- WordPress hosting: GoDaddy provides both unmanaged and managed hosting plans for WordPress users. The unmanaged plans have similarities to the shared hosting plans in terms of pricing and specs. The managed ones have more features to afford you greater flexibility. This plan comes with the preinstalled CMS bundled with nightly updates, free SSL certificates, among other features. The managed plans start from $24.99/month (for all users; old and new).
- Reseller hosting: they offer two packages: Basic at $8.99/month and Pro at $14.99/month. They provide credit card processing services as part of the plan. You can brand the servers you rent out and receive 24/7 tech support.
Benefits:
- Offers 24/7 customer support via telephone and live webchat
- Has good uptime
- A 45-day money-back guarantee
- Provides e-commerce software
- Most plans come with Office 365 Starter Email. The Business Premium plan gives you additional tools and Microsoft apps.
- Both Windows and Linux-based servers available
- Most plans have free SSL certificates for new users with the option to purchase down the line
- Additional Security features include automatic malware scanning and firewalls.
Downsides:
- There is no cloud hosting
- Ever-increasing complaints concerning hit and miss customer support
Conclusion
All the picks on the list have good uptime, vital security features, and 24/7 customer care service. We believe that these three elements are vital if you want to have a constant online presence, hosting features notwithstanding.
The best web hosts provide a range of hosting plans at affordable rates for both business and personal use. Of course, some hosts outshine others with regards to certain plans but the fact that there are many excellent choices keeps them on toes to the consumer’s benefit.
