Can you buy a month’s worth of web hosting for less than the price of a Starbucks grande cappuccino? Yes, you can, and it’ll be quality web hosting, too, as we discovered when researching the best web hosting services for this buyer’s guide. The average advertised monthly price for the 10 hosting providers we listed is a low $3.19 — just add content.
We also discovered, when we looked a little closer at the details of those cheap web hosting plans, that three of the immutable laws of bargains still apply here. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Always check the fine print. And, most important of all: You get what you pay for.
You’re an ideal candidate for the services we review here if you already have experience with web hosting and don’t need much hand-holding. If you lack those technical skills, consider hiring a designer/consultant who has the requisite background, and let them help with the comparison.
The listings that follow offer a starting point for your research and do not represent hands-on reviews or formal recommendations. All information was accurate as of February 2021, but details can change on a moment’s notice. Because the details of promotional prices and hosting plans vary so greatly, we haven’t included prices in the capsule listings that follow and instead recommend that you compare prices and plans carefully based on your long-term needs. Our goal is to provide the information you need to build a shortlist and then evaluate and compare alternatives, ideally using the trial period each provider offers.
- Customer Support: Phone, chat, ticket available 24/7/365
- Backup: Complimentary backups are provided for accounts up to 50GB “on a best effort basis.” Each weekday backup is kept for seven days, each Sunday backup is retained for a month. Options for manual backups include full server, home directory, MySQL databases, and email forwarders/filters.
- Security: SSL support is free, via Let’s Encrypt, and two-factor authentication is standard. Out-of-date version detection is included, with WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal installations patched automatically.
A2 (the name is a shout-out to the company’s home in Ann Arbor, Michigan) makes it easy to get started, with free migration, one-click Softaculous installers for a wide range of software packages, and “optimized” WordPress installations. Website building software is included with all shared plans. Non-promo pricing of the high-performance Turbo Boost and Turbo Max tiers ranges from $21 to $26 a month, compared to $11 for the Startup tier.
Platform runs two million website
- Customer Support: Available via call and chat, 24/7.
- Backup: Automated backups are not free; instead, you can pay $2.99 per month for Codeguard, a site backup tool that does unlimited daily backups of your websites.
- Security: Two-factor authentication is standard, and free SSL certificates are offered via Let’s Encrypt.
In business since 2005, Bluehost claims that its platform runs two million websites. Shared hosting plans above the basic level include one Microsoft Office 365 Email Essentials license, which is free for the first month. The company offers three tiers of managed WordPress hosting, with hundreds of free WordPress themes and a high-end option geared to online shopping. For $150, you can transfer up to five sites and up to 20 email accounts from another provider. The Weebly website builder is standard for all customers.
Full range of higher-end plans available too
- Customer Support: Support is available 24/7, but live chat is limited to 5:30am to 9:30pm (Pacific Time) and phone support is via callback.
- Backup: Automated daily backups are retained for two weeks.
- Security: Two-factor authentication is standard. Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates are free on shared plans; Comodo certificates start at $15 a year. The DreamShield malware scanner costs $3 per month per domain, and you’ll pay $199 for assistance in cleaning up a hacked website.
You won’t find any introductory pricing here. Instead, the low prices come with three-year commitments. Shared plans come in only two options: Starter (one website, email is an extra charge) and Unlimited (as many websites and email accounts as you wish). For those shared plans, there’s a 97-day money-back guarantee. The company also has a full range of higher-end plans, including managed WordPress, VPS, and dedicated server offerings. Site transfer is included with managed WordPress plans and costs $99 with shared hosting plans.
- Customer Support: Phone and live chat options are available 24/7/365 via phone and LiveChat.
- Backup: Daily CodeGuard backups and weekly offsite backups are included.
- Security: Two-factor authentication is not available. Server monitoring is standard.
If we were looking for a generic hosting provider, we found it here. The prices are competitive, and you get free site transfers and a decent website builder package with every plan. The “QuickInstall” feature allows one-click access to tons of apps. We like the no-contract policy and the 45-day money-back guarantee.
Absolute lowest introductory prices
- Customer Support: We were slightly put off by the lack of live chat for new customer inquiries. For paying customers, a representative confirmed that phone support is not available, but live chat and email support options are.
- Backup: Daily backups are standard.
- Security: Two-factor authentication is available as part of each customer’s profile. Additional security features protect against DDoS attacks.
Hostinger has some of the absolute lowest introductory prices we’ve seen, with limited-time offers starting at 99 cents per month. Their website builder is limited, but the templates we saw looked well designed. They also boast of cutting-edge “Next Generation Tech,” such as “customizable server-level caching solutions that can serve up to 3x more requests per second” and data centers in seven global locations. That’s an odd mix, but we suspect it will be appealing to tech-driven bargain hunters.
Entry-level tiers include strict limitations
- Customer Support: The support center offers an almost overwhelming number of options, but traditional chat, phone, and ticket options are available for customers.
- Backup: Automated backups are an option, “available at checkout.”
- Security: Two-factor authentication is standard.
InMotion Hosting’s landing page features a list of reasonable price tags on a wide range of plans (“no hidden – anything”), with commitments to open source and investments in technology like PCI compliance, as well as the promise of a U.S.-based customer service team. Entry-level tiers include strict limitations on the number of websites and allowed storage. Management tools include a CPanel option that’s different from most. Free “no downtime” transfers are available. The BoldGrid website builder package is free with all plans, or you can pay $99 for a custom-built QuickStarter website with a promised 2-day turnaround.
One-size-fits-all options perfect for SMBs
- Customer Support: 24/7 phone and chat support is standard.
- Backup: Backup plans are an extra-cost option, with Basic and Pro tiers ranging from $1.27 to $2.99 per month based on contract length.
- Security: Two-factor authentication is not available.
iPage has been around for more than two decades and offers one-size-fits-all options that are perfect for any small business that has a hard time making decisions. The $1.99 per month starting rate resets to a not-too-painful $7.99 tariff when the introductory period ends. The free web-builder software offers hundreds of themes but supports a maximum of six pages. The VDeck control panel might confuse anyone expecting the generic CPanel option (see this review for a detailed comparison).