Cheap web hosting refers to entry-level plans designed for those starting a new website on a low budget. These hosting services provide the essential features needed to launch a beginner website, suitable for small businesses or one-page static sites like portfolios.
However, cheap doesn’t mean poor or bad web hosting. Instead, it indicates a low price. Typically, these plans come with limited resources and basic features, offering a simple and user-friendly hosting solution.
Cheap web hosting consists of mostly shared hosting plans and costs between $1 to $5 per month. While the promotional offers might apply, the renewal prices are affordable as well.
At Gizmodo, we carry out independent research and testing of the best cheap web hosting providers that guarantee decent performance for your website. During our annual testing, our experts identified the 5 most affordable web hosting services to kickstart your website journey. Keep reading to discover them!
The 5 Best Cheap Web Hosting Providers in 2024: Quick Summary
- Hostinger – Best Cheap Web Host Overall
- A2 Hosting – Best for Speed
- DreamHost – Best for 100% Uptime
- HostGator – Best for Customer Support
- SiteGround – Best for Security
Best Cheap Web Hosting Providers for 2024 – Bought and Tested
We know you are on this page because you searched for a cheap web hosting provider offering plans that align with your budget.
Hence, we will discuss what each web hosting service offers and how much it would cost you to host your new website.
1. Hostinger – Best Overall Cheap Web Hosting
If you are looking for a cheap web hosting service with ample resources, our research shows that Hostinger is the best choice.
They offer the best price-performance ratio and everything you need to create and host a website. During our review of Hostinger, our test website recorded a 99.9% uptime and a blazing fast load time of less than 700ms.
Hostinger is also the best example that cheap doesn’t mean bad web hosting. Hence, they are the most affordable web hosting provider, offering great value to kickstart your projects with confidence in 2024. With the cheapest plan, you can manage up to 100 websites on one account with 100 GB SSD storage. This and many other reasons are why Hostinger is at the top of our ranking.
Pricing
Hostinger is our favorite choice for reasonably priced and low cost web hosting. For just below $3 per month, you get an all-in-one hosting solution with a free domain for the first year.
For beginners, a longer-term plan is the more economical choice. The monthly cost is substantially reduced, making it a budget-friendly option compared to the one-month plan, which requires you to pay a bit less than $12 per month, along with a $4.99 setup fee.
Another benefit of long-term plans is that they provide significant cost savings over time. With a 48-month plan, you can save up to $482 and only need to pay less than $8 per month when you renew. That’s not all; you will also get up to 3 months free if you choose the 48-month plan.
From our experience, investing in such a plan is a strategic decision that provides stability and affordability, making it the smarter choice for your website’s future. Hostinger offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to request a refund if you’re not satisfied with their service. This ensures you can try it risk-free, making it a win-win situation.
Speed and Performance Features
Another important reason why Hostinger is our top pick for inexpensive web hosting is its impressive features. Even the cheapest premium plan allows you to make a website with Hostinger website builder, WordPress, and many other CMS platforms. You can make the most out of WordPress with built-in features like a 1-click installer, free pre-built templates, WP auto-updates, and a vulnerability scanner.
With Hostinger, you will also get features that guarantee optimum website speed and performance. Their free CDN is designed to optimize your website speed by caching content on multiple servers globally, guaranteeing fast load times for your visitors.
Our research confirms that Hostinger guarantees a 99.9% uptime, ensuring your website remains accessible at all times. Extensive testing shows that Hostinger’s strategically located data centers in multiple countries provide exceptional global reach and reliability.
That’s not all. Hostinger’s servers use LiteSpeed web server technology combined with advanced caching solutions, ensuring maximum speed and optimized performance. You will also benefit from unlimited bandwidth, ensuring your website can handle any spikes in traffic without restrictions on the number of visitors. This feature allows your site to grow and accommodate increased traffic effortlessly.
Hostinger Backup and Security
Hostinger is consistently rated as a top provider for secure web hosting thanks to its robust security features. One of Hostinger’s standout features is its unlimited free SSL certificate, which uses an encryption protocol to protect information shared on your website from potential threats. Their daily and weekly backups also ensure your site’s data can be easily restored if it’s compromised by data loss, hacking, or technical issues.
In addition, you may receive a dedicated IP address, which ensures your website is less likely to be affected by security issues. You will also have more control over your hosting environment and improve the deliverability of emails sent from your website.
This will allow you to use the free email feature to send and receive emails under a custom domain name. With Hostinger, you can seamlessly create up to 100 email addresses, each with 1 GB of storage.
Finally, you can safeguard your website with DDoS protection to prevent attacks and a malware scanner to automatically remove compromised files. And it doesn’t stop there; the web application firewall adds an extra layer of security by filtering and monitoring HTTP traffic between your website and the internet.
Customer Support
Hostinger offers 24/7 expert assistance to ensure you get help whenever you need it. Their dedicated support team is known for quick response times and providing comprehensive customer service through live chat, email, and an extensive knowledge base.
However, you must create an account with Hostinger to receive help from their agents.
Pros
- Free professional business email address
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Register a free domain name for 1 year
- Multiple data center locations
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7 live chat support
- Powerful hPanel control panel
Cons
- No dedicated server hosting
- Phone support is not available
Are you looking for a low cost and reliable web hosting solution? Look no further than Hostinger! With their cheap web hosting plans, you can enjoy impressive features like 24/7 expert support, unlimited free SSL certificates, and global CDN for optimum speed and performance.
Our advice: Hostinger’s long-term plans are more beginner-friendly due to their cost savings. Consider choosing a 12-month, 24-month, or 48-month plan to save more!
2. A2 Hosting – Best for Speed
A2 Hosting is another great cheap web hosting provider that offers high performance at a low cost.
While they are not our top choice, A2 Hosting provides one of the fastest, cheapest, and cost-effective shared hosting solutions. Beyond this, they offer scalable plans that allow you to upgrade your website with up to 40x CPU performance and 20x turbo speed.
Another reason A2 Hosting is our #2 favorite pick is its top-of-the-line servers. These fast servers are located in the best data centers and feature the latest security patches. This setup allows A2 Hosting to confidently guarantee a 99.9% uptime, ensuring your site is up and running 24/7.
Here are other key reasons why A2 is one of the best cheap hosts in 2024.
Pricing
Like Hostinger, A2 Hosting offers some of the cheapest introductory prices for those looking to set up a professional website while staying within a budget.
In addition, A2 Hosting frequently offers low-cost promotional prices on their web hosting plans. Their standard startup plan typically costs less than $3 per month, but it is available for under $2 at the time of this review.
Unlike Hostinger, which allows you to host up to 100 websites on one account, A2 Hosting supports hosting only one website on their entry-level plan. If you are looking to host and manage more than 1 website, it could be the reason to look elsewhere. However, 100 GB storage available on the entry-level plan combined with limited occupancy is a great start for a single site.
In addition, if you are considering switching to A2 because it offers one of the cheapest deals, you will get free site migration. The process is fast, and 100% worry-free, and the expert site migration team will support you throughout the process.
Speed and Performance Features
When it comes to speed and comprehensive features, A2 stands out as a top choice for users because of its high-speed servers and robust infrastructure. One feature that worked magic for us is the A2-optimized software.
This built-in tool is pre-tuned to provide the best performance and most secure settings, with automatic optimizations such as caching and compression.
Another feature worth mentioning is their Anycast DNS solution, which duplicates DNS records across A2’s global network. This action brings them closer to your visitors and increases performance when your site is visited, with fast response times, low latency, and increased redundancy.
The only downside is that the Turbo servers, which guarantee up to 20 times faster page loads, are not cheap, but they are still affordable for those who value performance over price.
Another notable absence if you choose the entry-level plan is the LiteSpeed web server, which is only offered on the Turbo plans. LiteSpeed is a drop-in server for Apache, and 11x faster, so you might want to consider your choices when choosing your preferred web hosting plan.
Beyond this, we still rate A2 as a preferred web host due to its exceptional speed. Their SSD-powered servers eliminate the frustrations of clunky and slow websites, ensuring a smooth and fast experience for your visitors.
Backup and Security
Our analysis confirms that A2 is another top security pick. They offer reinforced DDoS protection, which ensures instant attack detection and rapid mitigation against even the most sophisticated DDoS attacks.
Like many top affordable web hosts, A2 also provides a free SSL certificate to ensure your website has a trusted HTTPS connection for encryption.
And there’s more: A2 offers proactive perpetual security protection against malicious attackers and security threats. These features include a virus scanner, hosting firewall, brute force defense, and 24/7/365 security monitoring.
Plus, you will get A2 Cloud backup powered by Jetbackup to easily restore your data from saved snapshots when recovery is necessary.
Customer Support
A2 Hosting offers robust customer support with multiple contact options to ensure you get help whenever you need it. You can submit a ticket for detailed answers to your questions or use the live chat to ask the Guru Crew support team about your hosting service. On top of that, you can call their support line for instant responses to your inquiries.
For those who prefer self-help, A2 Hosting provides a comprehensive knowledge base that is searchable by specific topics and articles, allowing you to find solutions independently. This multifaceted support system ensures that you have access to assistance in the way that best suits your needs.
To learn more about this budget web host, feel free to read our review of A2 Hosting.
Pros
- Ultrafast and reliable hosting at affordable prices
- Better performance with Turbo servers (up to 20x faster)
- Free website migration
- 24/7 live chat, ticket, phone, and email support
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 99.9% uptime commitment
Cons
- No free domain
- Initial setup difficulty
- Regular rates are slightly expensive
For fast speeds at inexpensive prices, consider choosing A2 Hosting’s cheap web hosting plans to set up your website.
3. DreamHost – Best for 100% Uptime
DreamHost is another affordable web hosting provider worth considering for your website.
Although not the top recommended provider, it performs excellently and is particularly popular for hosting WordPress websites.
Their 100% uptime guarantee makes DreamHost a highly sought-after provider, trusted by over 1.5 million websites.
We appreciate DreamHost for its affordability and reliability. Plus, their 97-day money-back guarantee sets them apart, offering peace of mind if you decide to switch hosts. Here are more reasons why we like them.
Pricing and Features
Although they do not offer the cheapest premium plan, their entry-level shared hosting plans are not expensive. The shared starter plan costs below $3 per month and is packed with value-added features that guarantee performance and extreme speed.
While you might need to pay upfront for 3 years to get the cheapest price, the renewal prices are competitive and not expensive.
As a DreamHost customer, you will benefit from free integrated features at no extra charge. You will receive a free domain, unlimited traffic, fast SSD storage, and free automated WordPress migrations.
Discover the hosting plans of Dreamhost
In addition, creating a beautiful WordPress website is effortless with the site builder, which includes a drag-and-drop editor and free professional templates.
Another feature you will find interesting is the AI business advisor powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o and trained by experts at Dreamhost.
This tool offers access to 24/7 resources for business advice, actionable insights, and creative problem-solving to help you overcome business challenges and achieve your goals.
Backup and Security
When it comes to security, DreamHost does not have many features you can rely on. For example, the free Jetpack security feature is not available on the cheap shared hosting plans.
However, you will receive on-demand daily backups to protect your website files, as well as a one-click restore option to recover them when necessary.
The only free security feature available is an SSL certificate, which ensures a secure connection for your visitors.
They also include support for automatic WordPress updates and free domain privacy. However, you might consider looking elsewhere if you are heavy on security.
Customer Support
If you’re stuck or need hosting tips, you can contact their experts anytime. DreamHost offers 24/7/365 assistance via chat and email through their in-built panel.
Their 100% in-house team members do their best to provide one-touch resolution for any issues you encounter.
While they provide phone support through callbacks, you cannot reach them directly by phone.
However, they gathered years of web hosting FAQs into a massive comprehensive knowledgebase. Thanks to continual updates, you can find relevant answers using the searchable archive.
Choose DreamHost for 100% uptime and the best hosting for WordPress sites.
Pros
- Recommended for WordPress websites
- Built-in server-level caching for fast speed
- Free domain and SSL certificate
- Comprehensive knowledge base
- Dreamhost control panel
Cons
- Free Jetpack is not available on entry-level plans
- Phone support is not available (only supports callbacks)
- Limited data center locations
4. HostGator – Best for Customer Support
HostGator may not be in first place, but it consistently ranks among the best cheap web hosting providers.
It excels in offering 24/7/365 chat and phone support, making it a top choice for reliable and accessible customer service.
Over the past two decades, HostGator has provided reliable hosting services and remains one of the most inexpensive options available.
Despite the package being one of the cheapest, the performance is still top notch. HostGator ensures stable server performance, offering a 99.9% uptime. You can expect website speeds of under 431 ms and average page loading times of around 660 ms.
Here are some of the reasons why they are widely adopted:
Pricing and Features
As expected, HostGator also offers affordable introductory prices.
The cheap hosting packages are only available for the first term only, and not for successive renewal periods. However, the price difference is still affordable for beginners.
HostGator’s cheapest package costs less than $4 per month for a 36-month period and renews at just under $10 per month. It allows you to host up to 10 websites on one account with access to a free domain if you choose any of the annual periods.
The hosting plan also comes with unmetered bandwidth, meaning you won’t be charged based on the amount of traffic your website receives.
Furthermore, you can create a website with WordPress pre-installed, making it easy to get your site up and running quickly without any technical hassle. For an additional cost, you can also access eCommerce tools to set up your online store, allowing you to sell goods and services to your customers.
You will also get the latest cPanel control panel to easily manage your website’s settings, files, and applications.
Backup and Security
One of the freebies you will get with the hatchling plan is an SSL certificate for the 1st year only. However, you can opt for the Baby or Business plan if you prefer to get lifetime access to a free SSL certificate.
The free SSL will be installed on all domains on your account to prevent malware attacks. You can also add positive SSL in checkout to keep your visitors safe and build trust in your website.
HostGator also offers frequent automatic website backups to help you recover your site files. While this service is not free, it is highly recommended. Additionally, with free malware scanning, you can eliminate unwanted threats and ensure your website remains secure.
Customer Support
HostGator is among the best cheap web hosting providers in 2024, thanks to its prompt and professional customer service. Their proactive approach and swift resolution of issues is backed by 24/7 chat and phone support, ensuring a reliable and responsive service experience.
We tested the reliability of HostGator’s live chat support. After clicking a few prompts to get started, an agent was recommended within seconds. The chat was very helpful, and the agent provided valuable advice based on our request.
If you choose HostGator and need assistance, using their live chat option is a great way to get the help you need for your website.
Pros
- Free SSL certificate and email accounts
- User friendly website builder
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Unmetered bandwidth for cheap shared hosting plans
- 30 days money back guarantee
Cons
- Only US servers available
- Security features like SiteBackup and Sitelock essentials
- eCommerce tools cost an extra $4.99/month
Ready to take your website to the next level? Choose HostGator for its 24/7/365 expert customer support and flexible plans that let you scale from easy to expert.
5. SiteGround – Best for Security
SiteGround is another top choice if you’re looking for a budget web hosting in 2024. While it doesn’t offer the cheapest premium pricing, SiteGround makes our list due to its focus on security and speed.
SiteGround is also built for performance on top of Google Cloud infrastructure with multiple custom speed optimizations. This guarantees ultrafast speeds for your websites.
Another reason why SiteGround is one of our favorite cheap web hosts is their user friendly Client Area.
They provide a range of 1-click tools within the client interface to allow you complete common tasks on your website and server.
SiteGround is also one of our top picks for inexpensive web hosting for the following reasons:
Pricing and Features
SiteGround is last on our list solely due to its high renewal price. Based on performance, it would rank high among the best cheap web hosts, right behind Hostinger.
Their startup plans cost less than $4 per month for the initial term and renew at $17.99 per month. While this may be too expensive for beginners, SiteGround is worth considering if you have the budget and are looking for a top-quality host.
Discover the different web hosting options from SiteGround
One of the free features that make SiteGround a great host is their reliable email service. You can create unlimited email accounts at your website’s domain name at no extra cost. They also offer free spam protection and a webmail service interface, allowing you to access your email from anywhere using their app.
With SiteGround, you’ll receive free custom-built WordPress starter and migrator plugins to easily create and migrate a functional site. On top of that, they provide a free speed optimizer plugin to enhance both front-end and server-side performance.
You can also get a free CDN service at SiteGround to speed up your page load times for visitors from different geographical locations.
Furthermore, if you plan to build an online store, the shared hosting plan comes with eCommerce capabilities. This includes a free installation of WooCommerce, the easiest shopping cart to use.
Backup and Security
The enhanced security feature offered by SiteGround is one of the reasons why it is one of the most inexpensive hosts in 2024. The service is designed to proactively protect your site from malicious code and hack attacks that can affect your traffic.
To do that, they make use of a web application firewall, which constantly adds new security rules to stop web vulnerabilities. At the same time, their AI developed anti-bot system effectively blocks millions of security threats to keep your application safe.
Another reason SiteGround is a bit cheap is their automated daily backup feature. Unlike other providers like HostGator, which charge extra, SiteGround includes this service for free. It automatically saves your site’s files and databases, allowing you to restore backup copies whenever needed.
For an additional layer of security, SiteGround stores files and their backup copies in different data centers. This ensures you have access to your backups even if there is an issue with your primary data center.
Customer Support
SiteGround stands out as one of the best cheap hosting providers due to its excellent customer support. Their support team consists of highly competent tech specialists with extensive field experience.
Regardless of the type or cost of your hosting package, SiteGround’s support agents are known for being fast, friendly, and helpful. They will resolve your issue or escalate it to the most experienced specialist free of charge, eliminating the need to pay for priority support. In fact, you can use their instant AI assistant to get quick and relevant answers based on your request.
SiteGround aims not only to resolve issues but also to empower clients. Their Knowledge Base articles help you become a capable webmaster, equipped to handle site issues independently.
In our experience with SiteGround, regardless of the severity of the issues we presented, the agents were able to resolve them on the first contact.You can reach SiteGround support 24/7 through live chat, email, a ticketing system, and phone calls. No matter how you choose to contact them, you will receive top-notch service delivery.
Pros
- 24/7 expert support
- Free automated daily backups
- Built-in caching for up to 5x faster sites
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Expensive renewal prices
- Limited server space
- No Free domain
Ready to get started? Choose a hosting provider that guarantees the security of your site with impressive built-in features at very affordable introductory prices.
How we choose the best cheap web hosting
At Gizmodo, our experts conducted a thorough research process to determine the 5 best cheap web hosting providers of 2024. This process took an entire month, during which we meticulously collected and analyzed data to provide you with the most reliable recommendations.
For each hosting provider evaluated, we followed a detailed testing procedure:
- Opening a New Account: We created brand-new accounts with each web host to experience the process from a beginner’s perspective.
- Onboarding Experience: Starting from scratch, we went through their entire onboarding process to assess ease of use and user-friendliness.
- Pricing: We compared the cost of their entry-level plans and weighed it against the value of features and resources offered. Finally, we ensured that the renewal rates were reasonable to make our final selections.
- Security features: We assessed the quality of their security features and evaluated how these measures would impact the safety of your website and customers.
- Customer Support Testing: We engaged in three separate support interactions with each provider to gauge the helpfulness and responsiveness of their customer service.
After completing these tests, we identified which hosting providers offered the best value for various use cases. Whether your priority is getting the lowest rate or securing a host with specific benefits like speed or 99.9% uptime, we have you covered.
Wrapping Up: The 5 Best Cheap Web Hosting Services
If you are new to web hosting, starting with cheap and reliable hosts is crucial to avoid incurring exorbitant renewal charges.
A budget-friendly web hosting service is suitable if you don’t require extensive resources or extra features. You want inexpensive hosting from a reliable provider to make it easy to manage your site and get help when needed.
However, ensure that an affordable web hosting plan doesn’t restrict your ability to grow or scale up to better plans. While the cheapest plans often involve shared hosting, consider the different tiers your web host offers.
Most affordable web hosting plans come with promotional prices, meaning you pay as little as possible for your first term. Be aware that hosting providers will increase your rates after the promotional period ends. Educate yourself on these renewal rates before committing to a host.
FAQ
If you still have questions after reading our guide on the best cheap web hosting providers, we recommend checking out the following FAQs.
Which hosting is the best and cheapest?
Hostinger is the best overall cheap web hosting provider. For less than $3 per month, you will get access to a free domain, unlimited bandwidth, fast SSD storage, and a free SSL certificate.
Is shared web hosting expensive?
No, shared web hosting is generally very affordable, making it a popular choice for beginners and small businesses.
Cheap or free hosting, which is better?
Affordable hosting is better than free hosting for several reasons:
- Domain: Cheap hosting provides access to a custom domain, while free hosting is limited to the host’s subdomain.
- Performance: Free web hosting often incurs slow loading times, whereas cheap web hosting offers enhanced performance with faster load times.
- Ads: Free web hosting typically includes ads, while inexpensive web hosting is ad-free.
What is a good monthly price for cheap web hosting?
A good monthly price for cheap web hosting is typically around $2 to $5.