A website is only as good as its web hosting service, and businesses need websites to reach customers worldwide. Therefore, the web hosting provider you choose can significantly affect your site’s performance, including page load speed and overall web vitals.
Since many web hosts promise excellent performance but only a few truly deliver, it’s crucial to choose a quality provider to build, host, and launch your business website today.
This page lists the top-rated web hosting services that were purchased, tested, and analyzed by our experts from dozens of providers online. To help you make an informed decision, we’ll review the top 10 web hosting services of 2024 and recommend their best uses.
Top 10 Web Hosting Providers in 2024
- Hostinger – Best Overall
- SiteGround – Best for Security
- InMotion Hosting – Best for Customer Support
- A2 Hosting – Best for Speed
- DreamHost – Best for VPS
- Bluehost – Best for WordPress
- PlanetHoster – Best Value for Money
- HostGator – Best for Shared Hosting
- GreenGeeks – Best Eco-friendly Web Hosting
- GoDaddy – Best VPS Hosting for Developers
Best Web Hosting Providers for 2024 – Bought and Tested
Choosing the best web hosting provider for your website can be challenging, especially since reliability can’t be fully assessed without testing. However, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you, making it easier to choose the most dependable host for your website.
1. Hostinger – Best Overall Web Hosting Service for 2024
Hostinger is at the top of our ranking. After testing, we selected it as our favorite web hosting service because of its affordable pricing and exceptional performance. Hostinger is a very popular option for hosting WordPress websites and guarantees up to 100% performance score and a recorded loaded time of less than 700ms.
Hostinger is the most reliable web hosting service provider to trust with your website projects in 2024. They currently serve over 2 million happy website owners who enjoy optimized performance with powerful features and resources.
Here are the reasons why we recommend Hostinger as the best overall.
Hostinger Pricing & Features
Hostinger offers different types of web hosting services to help you succeed. Their shared and WordPress hosting offer the same customizable plans, ideal for small and medium-sized business websites.
The Premium plan is priced at under $3 per month. It includes 100 GB SSD storage, weekly backups, unlimited free SSL, the website builder, unlimited bandwidth, standard DDoS protection, and a free domain for the first year.
The #1 rated host in 2024 also allows you to upgrade to higher-tier plans, such as the Business plan for under $4 per month or the Cloud Startup plan for under $10. These plans provide enhanced access to premium features, priority support, increased security, powerful resources, and eCommerce features.
Cloud hosting is designed for large-scale projects, while VPS hosting provides dedicated resources that eliminate server performance issues. Both types are optimized for scaling professional websites, offering the flexibility to customize your server environment to meet the needs of your growing site. These plans typically deliver maximum performance and access to all the major features Hostinger offers.
There is still more. Hostinger’s Pro web hosting is an excellent choice for resellers and agencies managing multiple accounts. It provides a professional dashboard for managing multiple websites for your clients.
They also offer game server hosting plans to support over 80 popular games, including Minecraft, Palworld, and 7 Days to Die. The most affordable game server plan costs under $6 per month. Lastly, Hostinger offers a free automatic website migration service that enables you to transfer your website from another hosting provider seamlessly.
Hostinger Speed and Performance
In our recent Hostinger review, we evaluated the performance of our test website using one of Hostinger’s popular hosting plans.
The results confirmed Hostinger’s promise of optimized performance, making it the best hosting service provider in 2024. We achieved a performance score of 100% and a TTFB of 291ms, which measures the time Hostinger’s server takes to respond to a request, from connection to downloading webpage content.
Hostinger uses the LiteSpeed web server for all its services, offering superior performance, scalability, minimal resource consumption, and faster page loading speeds compared to NGINX and Apache.
When paired with Hostinger’s in-house CDN, Object Cache, and LiteSpeed Cache, which utilizes server-level caching and optimization features, this combination significantly enhances website loading speed.
Choosing a data center close to your audience reduces latency and enhances overall site performance. This leads to faster load times and improved conversion rates. Hostinger has data centers strategically located across 11 regions: three in the USA and one each in the United Kingdom, France, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, Lithuania, and the Netherlands.
Finally, you can change the location of your data center from the hPanel dashboard once every month at no extra cost.
Hostinger Backup and Security
Another reason that justifies that Hostinger is the #1 rated web hosting service is its top-level security.
Hostinger offers advanced security features to safeguard your website. Your site is shielded against DDoS attacks with Cloudflare-protected nameservers and DDoS protection. Additionally, you will get unlimited SSL security certificates, which encrypt website traffic, enhance user trust, secure data, and authenticate site ownership.
Hostinger has proven to be the most reliable; our test website remained operational throughout the test period. This reliability stems from their commitment to maintaining a 99.9% uptime guarantee, ensuring your website stays up and running consistently.
Another key security feature is the automatic backup, which safeguards your website files by performing daily or weekly backups. This protects your site against data loss. With a simple one-click restore function, you can easily reinstate your site, maintaining a secure and reliable online presence.
That’s not all, you will also get a malware scanner to scan and remove unwanted malware infections before they start affecting your website. The web application firewall protects your site from threats by monitoring, filtering, and removing malicious web traffic to and from a web service.
Hostinger Customer Support
With Hostinger, you will get the best customer service. Their customer success agents are available to help anytime via live chat. This option is only available to existing Hostinger customers, though.
In addition, you can search for and follow step-by-step video walkthroughs and access a vast knowledgebase of in-depth tutorials to find the solution you need.
hPanel Control Panel
Hostinger is a leader among top hosting providers, featuring a customized control panel called hPanel. Its intuitive and minimalist design makes it easy to navigate and manage your hosting account.
You can monitor your website’s performance, view details of your hosting plan, add or migrate websites or domains, and access your files and databases.
Not only that, you can use the WP staging tool to test the new changes on your website before going live. You can also create and edit your site via the WordPress admin.
Pros
- Swift onboarding process
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Free domain for the 1st year
- Free automatic site migration tool
- Multiple data center locations
- Excellent speed and security
- 24/7 live chat support
Cons
- No dedicated server hosting
- Phone support is not available
After testing various hosts, we chose Hostinger as our top pick because it offers quality features at affordable rates across all plans.
Want to host your website on the leading hosting service provider? Buy a plan on Hostinger to get started.
2. SiteGround – Best for Security
SiteGround is not in first place, but it is one of our 10 best web hosting service providers for 2024. They are best known for providing top-notch security and over 3 million users have chosen SiteGround as their preferred hosting service.
Here are some of the reasons why they are widely adopted.
SiteGround Pricing and Features
SiteGround offers web hosting services built with speed and security in mind. This includes Shared web hosting, WordPress, WooCommerce, Cloud, and Reseller hosting. The Startup Plan costs less than $4 per month and supports one website. It includes 10 GB of web space and 10,000 monthly visits. However, the higher plans provide access to unlimited websites, 30% faster PHP, and on-demand backup copies.
All plans, regardless of the tier chosen, come with several standard features. These include unmetered traffic, free SSL certificates, daily backups, free email, a 30-day money-back guarantee, free CDN, enhanced security, and unlimited databases.
SiteGround also offers cloud hosting, which is ideal for growing sites that need high performance. You can choose from four pre-configured plans or customize your own cloud setup with your preferred CPU, memory, and SSD space.
The scalable cloud hosting plans start at $100/month and feature 4 CPU cores, 8 GB of memory, 40 GB of SSD space, and 5 TB of data transfer. This flexibility allows you to easily upgrade to higher plans for more cloud server resources as your needs grow.
SiteGround Speed and Performance
Unlike Hostinger, our favorite web hosting for 2024, which uses LiteSpeed web server technology, SiteGround powers its sites with the NGINX web server. SiteGround enhances site performance significantly, offering up to a 500% speed increase through various optimization features.
They have developed a custom ultrafast PHP setup that consumes less memory, reduces the Time to First Byte (TTFB), and makes your page load 30% faster on average.
Their free Speed Optimizer plugin enhances your site by automatically setting the latest PHP version, optimizing frontend and media, and boosting overall performance with minimal effort. You can also test your site speed, find out how fast your site is loading, get optimization tips, and track your progress.
That’s not all. SiteGround’s platform is built on premium Google Cloud infrastructure, ensuring exceptional reliability and speed with SSD persistent storage and an ultra-fast network.
Another feature that makes Siteground one of the fastest web hosting providers is their globally distributed data centers and CDN. This setup guarantees high redundancy, fast connectivity, and eco-friendly hosting. You can host your site at their server locations in the USA (four locations), Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Singapore, and Australia.
SiteGround Backup and Security
SiteGround is the most reliable when it comes to security. Their custom web application firewall ensures your website is regularly updated with new security rules to address any vulnerabilities.
Our #2 favorite pick also offers automatic daily backups of your site’s data and stores these backups across multiple geographic locations. This ensures that your data remains accessible even if your primary server and data center are compromised.
Additionally, the SiteGround security plugin enables you to add extra layers of protection to your website or application. They provide automatic updates for WordPress core and plugins, keeping your site secure and current.
Lastly, SiteGround offers a comprehensive site scanner security service. This service scans for threats, detects malware, and provides tools to respond effectively if your site is under attack. Other security features include free Let’s Encrypt SSL, spam protection, and unique account isolation.
SiteGround Customer Support
SiteGround offers one of the most helpful customer support online, making it an excellent hosting provider in 2024. They have a 98% customer satisfaction rate based on rated interactions on Trustpilot and WPbeginner.
Their live chat feature allows you to speak with a support specialist and ask any relevant questions about your hosting. They also offer additional support via phone calls and tickets. The SiteGround support team is available 24/7 and will happily provide a quick resolution to any issue.
Their 24/7 customer support options require you to login to your account to gain access. This is not really good for new customers who just want to ask questions about the hosting services. Overall, SiteGround customer support is not beginner friendly.
Pros
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL
- Super fast storage
- Unmetered data transfer
- 100% Renewable energy data center
- Servers on 4 continents
- White label hosting
Cons
- No VPS or dedicated server hosting
- Expensive regular prices
When you finally do as much testing as we have, you will realize that SiteGround is one of the leading hosts for your website in 2024. Ready to get started? Experience the speed, 30% faster PHP, and optimized servers of SiteGround today.
3. Inmotion Hosting – Best for Customer Support
Inmotion Hosting is not the best of the best, but its reliable services and strong security features make it a leader in the hosting industry. They offer various hosting options, including shared, reseller, VPS, and dedicated server hosting, allowing you to start small and scale up as your website grows.
They promise up to 20x faster hosting that fits your budget. Here are some key reasons why we consider them as one of the best web hosting services in 2024.
Inmotion Hosting Pricing and Features
Inmotion Hosting provides domain and web hosting services at competitive starting prices: –
- Their shared hosting begins at under $3 per month,
- WordPress hosting starts at less than $3.5 per month,
- VPS hosting is available from $15 per month,
- and dedicated hosting starts at $35 per month.
All prices above require you to commit to a 1-year plan, after which you will pay the renewal costs, which are slightly higher.
Their basic shared hosting plan is beginner-friendly and ideal for new businesses, offering free SSL, 100 GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, enhanced speed and performance, 10 email addresses, and the capability to host two websites.
As your business grows, you can upgrade to higher plans with additional features like a free domain, unlimited websites, unlimited NVMe SSD storage, and unlimited email addresses.
For added convenience, you’ll receive the BoldGrid website builder to design your site, access to Google Workspace to enhance your productivity, one-click installs of over 400 applications, and an industry-leading 90-day money-back guarantee.
Their high-performance VPS hosting ensures faster site speeds and enhanced security with root access, while their dedicated hosting allows for custom servers tailored to your specifications.
VPS and dedicated server options are valuable investments, providing custom hardware and software configurations that enhance the reliability and stability of your website.
Inmotion Hosting Speed and Performance
Inmotion will boost your site’s speed with Ultrastack-optimized performance, a custom technology stack specifically fine-tuned for enhanced caching.
They offer premium hosting that is up to six times faster when you use their data centers, which are designed for optimal speed, deliverability, and performance.
Their data centers in the USA and the Netherlands are supported by highly redundant Tier 1 internet service providers, ensuring a lightning-fast connection. This setup boasts a 99.99% uptime guarantee, which our tests confirm is accurate.
Visit InMotion Hosting website
Inmotion’s Backup and Security
Inmotion provides web hosting solutions that secure your website with robust security tools. Your data is safeguarded with their free SSL certificate, featuring 2048-bit encryption, and their malware software routinely scans and removes any hacks or vulnerabilities on your website.
Our #3 favorite pick offers a backup manager that safeguards your site data, databases, and emails with daily backups and offers a one-click restore option.
Additionally, you can use the Monarx security solution to protect your site, scan for issues, and prevent threats. They also provide DDoS protection and access to tools like Spam Experts for enhanced security.
Inmotion Customer Support
Inmotion is the best rated for customer support in 2024. Their team of experts offers 24/7/365 assistance through phone, chat, and ticket support. Additionally, their support center features over 5,000 helpful guides and articles, enabling you to quickly find the answers you need by selecting a category or using the search function to locate related articles.
Pros
- Wide range of features
- Award-winning customer support
- Managed hosting professional services
- Easy website transfer
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Managed Hosting support for WordPress
Cons
- Monthly plans are slightly expensive
4. A2 Hosting – Best for Speed
While not the number 1 web hosting provider, A2 Hosting earns its spot among the top picks for its ultra-fast servers and scalable hosting solutions. It has a plan for everyone and every solution, from shared hosting to dedicated hosting.
What makes A2 the fastest are their turbo servers, which are up to 20 times faster, providing blazing speed and optimum performance.
This high-speed hosting enhances SEO rankings, improves conversion rates, and reduces bounce rates. Let’s explore some key reasons why they are one of the best rated hosts.
A2 Hosting Pricing and Features
A2 offers blazing-fast, low-cost shared web hosting plans starting at less than $3 per month. It is beginner-friendly, requires no technical knowledge, and is easy to upgrade when necessary.
With this plan, you can host just one website, have 100 GB storage, unlimited transfers, 1 GB memory, free site migration, shared SSL certificate, free website builder, and website staging. This plan is perfect for first-time website owners, small businesses, and blog and forum owners.
You can also supercharge your website with a Turbo hosting plan designed for 20x faster speeds and optimal performance. These plans include all the benefits of the standard plan, plus unlimited websites, unlimited NVMe storage, LiteSpeed caching, and free A2 cloud backup.
For those building a WordPress website, the managed WP plans are an excellent choice. These plans feature performance optimization with the A2 optimizer plugin, enhanced performance with Turbo servers, top-notch security, automatic updates and backups, and a dedicated WordPress dashboard.
If you manage high-traffic websites, such as eCommerce platforms, or if you are a developer, consider exploring VPS servers for dedicated resources and root access. Alternatively, opt for dedicated servers to gain full control over your server with the highest level of security and protection.
A2 Hosting Speed and Performance
A2 stands out as the best hosting provider for speed. Their 20x turbo plans are hosted on a LiteSpeed web server, which is 11x faster than Apache used on the standard plans.
Choosing the Turbo plans will give you 40 times faster CPU performance and 3 times faster read/write speeds. This leads to better conversions, the ability to handle 9 times more traffic, and enhanced SEO rankings.
They also utilize HTTP/3, which speeds up page loading times by handling and prioritizing more HTTP requests more efficiently.
This key hosting provider deals exclusively with top-end servers, with 4 data center options available in the USA, Europe, and Asia. When your server is hosted with A2, its expert system administrators ensure that it includes the latest security patches. They also commit to maintaining your site’s availability with a 99.9% uptime guarantee, minimizing downtime.
A2 also created an optimized plugin to supercharge your WordPress websites. This tool has features designed to optimize your site and enhance performance.
It includes a user-friendly interface with image compression to improve page loading times. It minifies CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to reduce file sizes needed to view your site. Additionally, it adds CAPTCHA to logins and comments to deter bots.
A2 Backup and Security
The A2 cloud backup powered by Jetbackup is created to help you gain freedom from accidental data loss, mistakes, and data corruption. The file recovery tool is programmed to help restore your data from saved snapshots when necessary.
A2 also offers top-notch security with exceptional features. You will get automated SSL certificates that provide a trusted HTTPS for an encrypted connection for enhanced security and protection.
They also provide perpetual security features like Kernelcare, reinforced DDoS protection, web firewall, brute force defense, virus scanning, server hardening, and 24/7/365 server monitoring. These tools protect your site and squash threats before they impact it.
A2 Hosting Customer Support
The Guru Crew support team at A2 is handpicked to provide solutions to your hosting questions quickly and efficiently. To get real-time and fast hosting support, submit a ticket, call, email, or use the live chat option.
They are available round the clock, no matter where you are or whenever to provide the technical support you need.
You can also explore the A2 knowledgebase for tips and guides on various topics. It contains all the information you need to help resolve any issues with your account.
When you ask a question, customer support agents often reference the knowledge base to provide you with a pre-crafted solution to your problem.
Pros
- Low-cost shared web hosting
- 99.9% uptime commitment
- Exclusive WordPress hosting features
- 24/7 live chat, ticket, phone, and email support
- AI-powered performance optimization
Cons
- No free domain
- Plans are only cheap for long term commitments
5. DreamHost – Best for VPS
DreamHost is not the best overall but its premium web hosting services makes it one of the most widely adopted among people with specific high-performance needs.
It offers comprehensive tools and excellent uptime and is another leading web hosting provider highly recommended by WordPress.
At Dreamhost, you benefit from unhindered performance with dedicated server resources. You can manage your server or let their team handle it for you.
We tested their hassle-free hosting to assess its reliability. Here are some reasons why they are among our top 10 web hosting services for 2024.
DreamHost Pricing and Features
Dreamhost offers lightning-fast hosting solutions that provide choice, performance, and value for novices and experts. Their platform is optimized for WordPress, with basic monthly plans starting at under $2.60.
The plan includes access to a WordPress website builder, hosting for one website, fast SSD storage, unlimited traffic, a free domain, and SSL certificate.
Consider Dreamhost’s VPS hosting if you need isolated resources for the best performance. This solution provides unrivaled power, low latency, and high performance, with each plan offering resources specifically tailored to your website. Their fully managed WordPress VPS costs $10 per month and allows you to host up to five WordPress websites.
Dreamhost has a solution for every site or app requirement. If you need to scale up, their cloud and dedicated plans are excellent options for enhancing your WordPress-powered online store or website.
DreamHost Speed and Performance
Dreamhost offers a 100% uptime guarantee, quality web hosting, and extreme speed on its optimized servers. Depending on your preference, you can choose either Apache or Nginx as your server.
Each of their hosting plans comes with built-in caching, which increases your site’s speed and performance.
They also offer pro services like SEO marketing to help you find your site in search results.
DreamHost Backup and Security
For security, Dreamhost provides free SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt, ensuring a secure and trusted connection for visitors to your site.
They also offer Jetpack for free, a powerful WordPress plugin that enhances your site with features like brute force protection and downtime monitoring.
Dreamhost’s automated daily backup feature also keeps your site data safe and readily available for quick one-click restoration whenever needed.
Automatic WordPress updates also mean you don’t have to worry about installing security patches, PHP releases, or the latest WordPress versions. Other security features include auto-enabled sFTP and multi-factor authentication.
DreamHost Customer Support
Whether you need help setting up your website or want tips on getting started, you can reach out to DreamHost’s sales help via the chat widget. You can also contact them via email through the Dreamhost panel dashboard.
During testing, we received a response from a live chat agent in less than 1 minute. This quick turnaround demonstrates their commitment to 100% customer satisfaction.
DreamHost also offers professional services, allowing you to hire experts for website design, management, web development, SEO, and social media marketing. These services allow you to focus on other important aspects of your business while experts handle the technical details of your site.
Pros
- 100% uptime guaranteed
- Professional services add-ons
- WordPress website builder
- Custom control panel
Cons
- No phone support (Call back support requires you to pay a price tag)
- Some important features cost extra
If you’re looking for a WordPress-friendly provider, DreamHost offers fully featured WordPress hosting that ensures fast and reliable site performance. Try them out today!
6. Bluehost – Best for WordPress
Bluehost may not be the leader, but it’s a leading choice for many website owners. We found that setting up WordPress websites with Bluehost is quick and easy.
If you need to use the popular CMS, you will get world-class WordPress support and an all-inclusive solution for various website needs. Here are some reasons why this platform is one of our favorite web hosting services.
Bluehost Pricing and Features
Bluehost offers all the essentials for building and launching impressive WordPress sites. Their basic WP hosting plan, priced at under $3, supports one website, provides 10 GB of storage, and includes chat support.
Higher-priced plans offer additional resources and features, including support for up to 3 or 50 websites in the top-tier plan and both phone and chat support.
The WP hosting plans feature Bluehost’s Wondersuite, which guides you through the onboarding process to build a branded website, profitable blog, or online store.
After answering questions about your site’s purpose, you can customize pre-made themes and web pages to match your style.
Additionally, you can opt for cloud hosting for 100% network uptime, choose VPS hosting for root access and customization of your virtual environment, or select a dedicated hosting plan if you need your own single-tenant server.
Like Dreamhost, Bluehost also offers professional services such as web design, digital marketing, and on-demand WordPress expert support.
Bluehost Speed and Performance
Bluehost is one of our favorite web hosting providers for a reason. it enhances your website speed by managing the technical details for you. You benefit from an advanced caching layer for faster speeds, including static and dynamic caching.
They also provide updated PHP and MySQL for a rapid Time To First Byte (TTFB) and a free CDN to speed up content delivery and to ensure your site’s data is distributed globally.
With Bluehost, you will get a WP-specific hosting platform built for speed and reliability. They use Apache software on their web server to ensure fast website speed.
Bluehost Backup and Security
People are more likely to purchase from secure websites because they trust these sites to protect their sensitive information, such as payment details, usernames, and passwords, from malicious third parties.
Bluehost enhances this security by offering two SSL certificate options: a free Let’s Encrypt SSL included with all plans and a premium SSL from Comodo with a $10,000 warranty, ensuring your site is safe for receiving customer payments.
No one wants to risk losing valuable work. Bluehost safeguards your website with automated daily backups and monitoring, plus offers 1-click restoration through CodeGuard.
Additionally, with SiteLock, your site is protected from hackers, malicious attacks, and spammers while also helping to prevent your site from being blacklisted by search engines.
Bluehost Customer Support
Bluehost provides 24/7 customer support through both phone and live chat. Their agents are always available to answer questions and solve problems.
For more support, you can also access a comprehensive knowledge base that includes articles, how-to guides, instructions, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Pros
- Chat and phone support
- WordPress optimized platform
- Daily website backups
- Free domain for 1st year
Cons
- Only US servers
- Entry-level limitations (No backup solution and phone support)
7. PlanetHoster – Best Value for Money
PlanetHoster is not our favorite choice, but it is recognized as a top web hosting provider in 2024, offering excellent value for money.
They provide unlimited web hosting along with dedicated cloud servers. While their hosting platform may appear disorganized, it includes numerous premium features even in their most affordable plan.
PlanetHoster Features and Services
PlanetHoster’s standard web hosting plan, which costs only 6€ per month, allows you to create several hosting accounts on their 100% optimized platform to host your CMS. The plan also provides access to free incoming migration, unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, Sitebuilder included, and unlimited free SSL certificates.
They use LScache and LiteSpeed Enterprise web servers, which offer HTTP/3, advanced cache, and asynchronous SSL exchange for maximum performance. You can also choose from their certified data centers in France, Switzerland, or Canada. This ensures your website experiences low latency and fast loading times.
PlanetHoster offers robust security features for your website. Their anti-malware protection quickly detects malicious codes in your files or emails, typically within a minute. Their hosting infrastructure is fortified against DDoS attacks with specialized anti-DDoS protection.
Furthermore, to ensure the safety of your website data, backups are performed every 12 hours at an alternate data center.
Ranked as our #7 top pick, PlanetHoster guarantees 24/7 support through email, live chat, phone, and a ticket system.
Pros
- Free domain name for life
- LiteSpeed + LSCache
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- 24/7 support and instant activation
Cons
- No data center in the US
- Recent price increase
- N0C platform could be improved
8. HostGator – Best for Shared Hosting
Although not the biggest name in web hosting, HostGator is an excellent choice for new website owners with its easy-to-use cPanel and affordable shared hosting plans.
Their hosting platform is built by web pros to help you scale from easy to expert. Here is why they are not our favorite pick in 2024:
HostGator Pricing and Features
HostGator offers all types of hosting for every website. You can start with their web hosting plans and then scale to VPS or dedicated hosting. If you need hosting specifically for WordPress or eCommerce, you have options tailored to those needs as well.
The web hosting plan starts at less than $4 per month. It includes access to 10 GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, SSL for the first year, malware scanning, pre-installed WP, and chat support.
However, you can scale to higher plans when your site needs an upgrade. The plans offer more resources, such as access to host more websites, Cloudflare CDN, phone and chat support, and increased performance with vCPUs.
HostGator Speed and Performance
HostGator guarantees 99.9% uptime for your site and has two data centers in the USA. It also uses Cloudflare CDN to distribute your content to over 23 locations at lightning speed to your customers worldwide. This guarantees faster load times and better performance for your website and app.
HostGator Backup and Security
HostGator enhances your website’s security with three free solutions. First, Sitelock Fix protects your site from viruses and other threats with daily scans that download your website data, remove any malware, and upload a clean version back to your site. You can also scan and remove malware with the malware scanning tool.
At the same time, you will receive an SSL certificate that adds a layer of trust, indicated by the padlock icon, reassuring your customers that your site is secure.
Moreover, the CodeGuard tool offers automatic daily backups to keep your website files and databases safe and ready for restoration whenever necessary.
HostGator Customer Support
HostGator provides round-the-clock support through phone and chat and continuously monitors hosting servers 24/7/365 to ensure reliable performance and promptly address any issues.
You can also find answers to frequently asked questions in their knowledge base or explore new topics on the HostGator blog.
Pros
- Free domain for 1st year
- Website backups
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Uptime
Cons
- Datacenter is limited
- Slow live chat response
- Clunky user experience
9. GreenGeeks – Best Eco-friendly Web Hosting
GreenGeeks is not on top of our ranking of the best hosting providers, but its commitment to eco-friendly hosting and impressive load times place it firmly among the preferred options for the best web hosting services in 2024. Here is why we still like them:
GreenGeeks Pricing and Features
GreenGeeks offers scalable web hosting services ideal for growing businesses. Their shared web hosting plans start at under $3 per month and provide standard performance.
Each plan includes a free domain, 50 GB of web space, built-in caching, a free SSL certificate, unmetered data transfer, a free CDN, and unlimited databases.
This comprehensive package is particularly impressive given the special pricing, making it an excellent choice for small websites just starting out.
The web hosting plans for WP hosting are the same, but you can scale up to higher plans to host multiple sites and get better performance.
GreenGeeks Speed and Performance
With GreenGeeks, every minute counts. They offer ultra-fast web hosting with the latest speed technology for blazing-fast performance and peace of mind. They use HTTP/3 and the latest PHP to ensure you enjoy significantly faster page loads.
They also harness LiteSpeed’s caching technology, LScache, and Redis to host your favorite CMS app or website at lightning-fast speeds.
That’s not all. You will also get one-click integration to a free content delivery network, allowing your web page to load faster for your customers.
They also ensure faster page loads with LiteSpeed web server technology, the latest solid-state drives, and MySQL/MariaDB database servers.
GreenGeeks has data centers in North America, Asia, and Europe, allowing you to host your website closer to your visitors. This proximity ensures faster page loading times and a better overall customer experience.
GreenGeeks Backup and Security
GreenGeeks is among this ranking of the best web hosting providers and security is a top priority. Their experts keep your site safe from malware with complimentary cleanups. Also, their container-based technology enhances your site’s security and isolation, ensuring stability and availability.
The platform also includes enterprise-level firewall and DDoS protection. This advanced firewall, powered by AI, detects and neutralizes various attacks.
Furthermore, their network is monitored 24/7 to defend against DDoS attacks, providing peace of mind about your website’s security.
GreenGeeks Customer Support
GreenGeeks has carefully selected its top-tier support staff, which is reflected in its 24/7 availability and swift resolution of any issues.
You can easily get help through its live chat feature or by phone, ensuring you receive the support you need whenever you need it. During testing, their sales agent replied in less than a minute, which is impressive.
Pros
- Free nightly backup
- Eco-friendly web hosting
- Easy-to-use control panel
Cons
- No discounts on VPS plans
- Dedicated servers are expensive
- Customer support could be a bit better
10. GoDaddy – Best VPS Hosting for Developers
Even though GoDaddy is not the #1 rated web hosting service, it is a reputable provider known for offering generous server resources. It is also renowned for its domain services, which include tools to generate, search for, and auction domain names.
GoDaddy Pricing and Features
GoDaddy offers multiple scalable standards and high-performance hosting plans for both shared web hosting and VPS hosting. They also provide the same feature on all plans, which is quite impressive, considering most web hosts do not offer the best features on their basic plans.
The basic web hosting plan starts at just below $6 per month and includes 25GB NVMe storage, 10 databases, support for 1 website, free email, a free SSL certificate, a free WP migration tool, and shared RAM and vCPU resources.
The high-performance plans are great for multiple, high-traffic, or resource-heavy sites. They offer flexible resources that help you grow.
GoDaddy also offers flexible and affordable VPS hosting, with root access and the option to configure your server to suit your hardware requirements. We recommend their WP hosting plans to get the tools you need to manage the site you want.
GoDaddy Speed and Performance
GoDaddy is not the fastest but it uses the latest optimized hardware, which guarantees up to 40x faster server response times. With global data centers that guarantee speedier load times, you will get a stable uptime of 99.9%.
For better high-end performance, they use NVMe SSD to ensure your files are retrieved very fast with high-speed data transfers.
GoDaddy Backup and Security
GoDaddy prioritizes the security of its customers’ websites with 24/7 network security and DDoS protection. It offers automatic daily backups to protect your data, allowing you to restore a saved copy of your site content from previous days if needed.
Additionally, GoDaddy provides free unlimited SSL certificates for all websites, ensuring data encryption between your customers’ browsers and your site. GoDaddy also conducts 24/7 security monitoring to detect suspicious activity and help prevent DDoS attacks.
GoDaddy Customer Support
GoDaddy’s trained guides are available 24/7 to help resolve any issues. You can reach their award-winning support team via chat or phone. You can also search the Help Center for frequently asked questions tailored to your needs.
Pros
- Free website builder
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free domain name
Cons
- It can be a bit expensive (require long-term plans to get a discount)
- The control panel options are not free
- Security tools are extras
How Do I Select a Web Host?
Before selecting a web host for your website, several key factors must be considered to determine whether the provider is good. These factors can help you choose the right web hosting service that meets your performance and hosting needs.
We will discuss the factors so you can better understand what you should look out for.
Pricing
Budget is a crucial factor when users select a web hosting plan. You might prefer the high performance of a dedicated server, but your budget may only allow for shared or VPS hosting.
Before choosing any plan, it’s essential to decide whether price or performance is more important. If performance is a priority, as it is for many website owners, you’ll need to assess the server resources required to support your site and the quality of features available.
If price is a major factor, you need to weigh it against the resources you will get or the quality of performance the plan offers.
Also, the overall value of the hosting plan can guide you in selecting a top web hosting service. For instance, many providers offer their best features, such as discounts, free domains, website builders, and optimization tools, in their premium plans with long-term commitments.
If you choose a shared web hosting plan, you can expect initial monthly costs ranging from $3 to $30, depending on your chosen plan. These low prices are often available only with long-term commitments, ranging from one to four years. In contrast, month-to-month plans with most hosting providers typically cost between $10 and $50 per month.
Some providers offer their WordPress hosting plans at the same price as their shared web hosting plans, although in some cases, the cost for WordPress hosting may be slightly higher.
Finally, VPS and dedicated servers provide superior performance and are more expensive. They are recommended for resource-intensive projects such as large eCommerce stores, web apps, or online gaming servers. If your site is small or medium-sized, you can start with shared web hosting and upgrade as your traffic grows and your needs increase.
If you have a really tight budget, we strongly recommend reading our comparison of cheap web hosting providers.
Speed and Optimization
A slow website can drive away visitors and reduce conversion rates. Therefore, choosing a top-notch hosting provider that can guarantee fast website speeds is important. Ideally, your website should load within 1-2 seconds, achievable only with a reliable web hosting service.
The first step in optimizing your site is choosing a web host with a fast web server. The LiteSpeed web server is faster than Apache and Nginx combined.
Apache is the oldest and most used web server, while Nginx is a newer and faster server software than Apache. Apache is widely used because it is free.
However, the LiteSpeed web server is not free but a drop-in replacement for Apache. It is lightweight and can serve static content better, resulting in better performance and security.
Furthermore, most web hosting providers have data centers located in strategic locations worldwide. Hosting your website in a data center near your audience reduces latency, leading to faster page loads, better user experience, and SEO results.
Another optimization feature web hosts use is the content delivery network (CDN). A version of your site data is distributed on multiple servers, delivering content to users based on their request location. This reduces web page loading latency and creates faster response times.
When selecting a web host, it’s important to choose one that uses the best optimization technology tailored to your site’s specific needs.
Uptime Guarantee
Uptime is the time your website is available and functioning properly online. Most web hosting providers will promise a 99.9% uptime guarantee, allowing 8.76 hours of downtime annually to carry out updates and infrastructure maintenance.
Hence, a top web hosting provider must be able to maintain their uptime guarantee, as downtime can be bad for most business websites.
- Before choosing the web host, use third-party services to check the uptime of the host’s own website or other websites hosted by the provider.
- You can also seek advice from web hosting professionals who have tested the web host’s uptime reliability to get the performance results.
- Another way is to read reviews and testimonials about such web host or use their trial period to test their uptime, if available.
These steps can help you make an informed decision when selecting a web hosting service for your website.
Security Features
Security is non-negotiable when selecting the best web hosting service. Most websites collect sensitive information from their customers through contact forms or online sales. This is where SSL certificates come in.
SSL certificates create an encrypted connection between the web server and the browser to prevent third parties from gaining access. They improve security by preventing malicious attacks and establishing trust with your customers. You’ll know SSL is in place when you see a padlock icon in the address bar, and the URL starts with HTTPS.
Other key security features include malware scanning to find and remove malware and web application firewall filters and monitor HTTP traffic to and from your website. What’s more, Anti DDoS protection protects a targeted server or network from DDoS attacks, which might affect the availability of a website or application.
Backup is another security feature you should look for when choosing a web host. Depending on your chosen plan, some web hosts offer daily or weekly backups. This automatically saves a copy of your website files, allowing you to restore it if any issue occurs.
Customer Support
Customer support is an extension of a web hosting service. The best web hosting providers must have knowledgeable and experienced staff who can quickly provide guidance about any issue. You should be able to contact your web host’s customer support via live chat, phone, email, or ticket system and get a response in at least 2 minutes.
Also, choose a web host that offers easy setup, allowing you to create an account and set up your website by following an onboarding process. Lastly, ensure the host has a knowledgebase where you can quickly search for helpful articles and guides about a hosting topic.
The Best Web Hosting Services: Final Thoughts
We’ve made choosing your next web host simple. Our top 10 web hosting services will eliminate the hassle of finding the best host for your website.
We selected them only after testing their services and checking for relevant factors like performance, security, customer support, speed, and uptime.
Having reviewed some of the best web hosting services available, you must now select one that aligns with your specific needs. First, clarify what kind of website you want to create, understand the resources required, and consider the features each host offers for optimum performance.
Finally, factor in the cost to ensure it fits within your budget. By carefully evaluating each provider that deserves to be among the top picks, you can choose which web hosting service best suits your project.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you still have questions after reading our guide on the best web hosting for a website, we recommend reading the following.
Which Web Hosting Provider is the best and why?
Hostinger is the #1 rated hosting provider and is often preferred for its affordability, rich features, and faster loading speeds.
How do I choose a web hosting plan?
Go to your web hosting provider’s website, choose the type of web hosting, and plan that aligns with your website’s size, traffic expectations, and specific features like security and performance.
Which is better, GoDaddy or Hostinger?
Hostinger is better than GoDaddy because it offers more affordable plans that focus on performance and ease of use.
What are the 4 types of web hosting?
There are four types of web hosting: shared, cloud, VPS (Virtual Private Server), and dedicated hosting.
How much does it cost to host a website?
The cost depends on your chosen host, the hosting package, and the commitment period. On average, you can expect to pay less than $5 per month for basic shared hosting to start a new website.