Best Web Hosting Providers | Our Top 5 Picks (2024)

Best overall hosting provider

Pricing plans from: $2.95 per month

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Bluehost Features

Bluehost is our top-rated hosting provider with the highest average score of 4.8 out of 5, beating its competitors in the majority of our research categories. But why did it perform so well? Let’s take a look:

Bluehost’s cheapest option comes in the form of four shared hosting plans: Basic, Choice Plus, Online Store, and Pro. Signing up to any of these will guarantee you 99.98% uptime and plenty of features to utilize, including unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, and access to cPanel, which is very handy for managing your site hosting.

Bluehost also proved itself to be a strong option if help and support are a priority for you, with 24/7 phone help, live chat, and email support available.

If you need a little more power, Bluehost offers VPS and dedicated hosting plans. In fact, our research found it to be the best provider for dedicated hosting, scoring 4.9 out of 5, because of its affordability and strong performance.

And, if you’re running an online store, then Bluehost’s WooCommerce hosting plans are hard to beat. The option for unlimited websites and free third-party backups from CodeGuard push Bluehost ahead of its competitors to secure the number one spot.

Bluehost is also a fantastic option if you’re looking to integrate with a WordPress site – especially with its free WordPress migration service.

Once you’ve signed up to a plan, Bluehost’s in-house team reviews your site and, if it meets their criteria, then they’ll transfer your existing WordPress site to Bluehost for you – free of charge!

Bluehost is ideal for new WordPress sites, too. It’s been optimized for WordPress since 2014, and offers one-click setup. Our guide on how to install WordPress with Bluehost will show you just how simple the setup is!

Bluehost Pricing

What we loved most in our testing of Bluehost is that you can access numerous features for consistently cheap prices, no matter what plan you choose to go with.

Take a look below at the cheapest introductory prices for each hosting type:

Bluehost’s Basic shared plan might not accommodate all of your needs, especially if you’re a larger site, but for most, it’s a great and cheap option. SSL, unmetered bandwidth, 99.98% uptime, and 24/7 support come with each plan, so it’s really just a question of how much scalability you need.

More Information

• Bluehost Review: Read our full review if you want to look further into this host
• Bluehost Pricing: Check our article on Bluehost’s prices to find the right plan for you

Good for ecommerce hosting

Pricing plans from: $2.99 per month

Hostinger Features

Hostinger has recently moved up our list of the best web hosting providers, now scoring an average rating of 4.1out of 5.

So, who should use Hostinger? If you run a store, this could be a great choice, since Hostinger is great for ecommerce hosting. Though Bluehost takes the number one spot in our ecommerce research, Hostinger is a particularly affordable alternative to the top provider, with prices starting from $3.99 per month for its managed WooCommerce hosting plans.

Hostinger offers shared, VPS, cloud, and WordPress hosting, but it doesn’t have dedicated hosting plans – effectively putting a cap on scalability. That being said, its top VPS plan is fairly advanced and we don’t believe any small to medium-sized sites would have any trouble growing with the features provided on this option.

Though Hostinger has servers spread out across seven countries, making it great for international audiences, our testing found its site speed and uptime to be average, despite its advertised uptime of 99.99%.

Hostinger Pricing

Hostinger offers shared hosting plans from $2.99 per month, which is incredibly cheap, especially in comparison to many other providers in the list. GoDaddy, in comparison, offers plans from $4.99 per month. The catch? You won’t have as many free features as, say, Bluehost’s cheapest plan. Hostinger is a good, cheap alternative if price is a key factor.

When it coems to ecommerce specifically, Hostinger’s managed WooCommerce hosting plans are an affordable choice for sellers on a budget. Plans start from just $3.99 per month when you choose a 48-month subscription, and you get two months free!

Check out the introductory prices of Hostinger’s cheapest plans:

More Information

• Hostinger Review: Everything you need to know about Hostinger
• Hostinger Pricing: Your guide to this host’s affordable, value-laden pricing plans
• Hostinger Website Builder Review: A look at Hostinger’s website builder and what it offers

Speedy server response time

Pricing plans from: $6.99 per month

GoDaddy Hosting Features

GoDaddy has four shared hosting plans: Economy, Deluxe, Ultimate, and Maximum. All plans come with unmetered bandwidth, guaranteed 99.9% uptime, daily automatic backups, 24/7 network monitoring, free SSL, and a free domain. It takes second place in our list of the best web hosting providers, scoring 4 out of 5. This is thanks to its positive performance in our server response time, but GoDaddy misses out on the top spot because of its poor site speed.

GoDaddy’s support has also improved in recent years. Its 24/7 live chat and phone service are very good, but it doesn’t offer any email support. If help and support are a must-have for you, consider HostGator, which came out on top in our research.

GoDaddy Hosting Pricing

GoDaddy is definitely a feature-rich hosting provider and a solid option to choose, but its cost does let it down. Pricing between plans and hosting types can be erratic, and Windows users have to pay more than Linux users, which isn’t ideal for all customers.

GoDaddy’s cheapest introductory prices are below:

More Information

• GoDaddy Hosting Review: For a detailed view of GoDaddy’s hosting services
• GoDaddy Website Builder Review: Read more about GoDaddy and the website building service it provides

Best site speed and uptime

Pricing plans from: $1 per month

IONOS Features

In third place is IONOS, scoring 4 out of 5 in our recent research. IONOS came first in our testing for both site speed and uptime – and by quite a gap! It beat every hosting provider in all of our checks. Efficiency and reliability when hosting are critical, so the guarantee of a stable connection can offer users some peace of mind.

Of course, it’s not at the very top of our overall list for a reason because, unfortunately, IONOS is lacking in help and support options. It also pushes a number of additional charges on users, from a setup fee ($50 for dedicated hosting plans) to extra costs for Windows users. However, IONOS does provide three cheap shared hosting plans: Starter, Plus, and Ultimate. Its shared hosting plans start at $1 per month (billed annually). All guarantee unlimited bandwidth, 99.99% uptime, automatic backups, and a free domain.

IONOS Pricing

Despite the additional charges we’ve touched on, IONOS is great value for money. The plans are cheap and competitive, and its prices are unbeatable for ecommerce hosting. Its WooCommerce hosting plans start at $8 per month (billed annually), and IONOS scores 4.4 out of 5 for price in our ecommerce hosting research. In comparison, Bluehost – our top-rated ecommerce hosting provider – scores 3.2 out of 5 for price, with its WooCommerce hosting plans costing $9.95 per month (billed annually). We’ve summarized IONOS’ cheapest monthly costs below:

More Information

• IONOS Review: Everything you need to know about IONOS’ hosting plans

Good option for startup sellers

Pricing plans from: $2.99 per month

SiteGround Features

SiteGround is not as well-rounded as other hosting providers on this list, scoring 3.7 out of 5 overall. For shared hosting, it offers three plans to choose from: StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek. But, it’s also one of the leading providers for WordPress-managed hosting, recommended by WordPress itself, which we think is pretty impressive! With this type of hosting, you’ll unlock automatic WordPress updates, expert WordPress support, and free installation.

SiteGround’s shared hosting features have seen a boost from our previous research, scoring 4.5 out of 5 instead of 4.3. The daily backups, free SSL, and tools to help you grow your website or store, make it a particularly ecommerce-friendly hosting provider.

SiteGround Pricing

Its limited plans make it difficult to scale, but we recommend starting with a shared plan – SiteGround promotes its most popular plan, GrowBig, as a good place to begin. For a 12-month plan, GrowBig will set you back $4.99 per month (billed annually). Take a look at the introductory prices below:

More Information

• SiteGround Review: Get the full lowdown in our in-depth review

The size and type of website you own will dictate what hosting plan you need. Your budget, the features you require, and how you built your site will also play a part in your decision. But, ultimately, it’s best to choose one priority that you value most and base your decision on that feature.

For example, if good customer service and impressive help and support features are both important to you, then GoDaddy is your best bet. But, if site speed and uptime are your non-negotiable priority, then IONOS could be the best option for you. And if you’re looking for a WordPress-focused hosting solution, then Bluehost is our number one choice.

More Information

• Web Hosting Services Comparison Chart: If you’re still unsure and scratching your head, check out our comparison chart to help you decide!
• Common Web Hosting Problems: Know what to avoid and how to fix these common issues

This decision ultimately depends on what you want in a hosting provider. You can’t really go wrong with any of the five providers listed above, but some will be a better fit than others. Looking for ecommerce hosting? Consider Hostinger. Want reliable site speed? Choose IONOS.

That being said, the provider that consistently delivers across all of our research is Bluehost. Its plans are very affordable and they all boast impressive features – that’s why it earns the number one spot in our research. Try it out for yourself, and let us know what you think!