Finding cheap and reliable website hosting is at the very start of every online business. Whether you are a blogger, a course creator, or an online entrepreneur, you will need a good hosting company to keep all your valuable information in the web space. In this overview, I compared the best domain and hosting services in 2021.
Choosing a hosting company is a very important step for your business. It is responsible for your website’s performance, loading speed, and security. You may invest thousands of dollars into promotion, create the best marketing strategy, and have an awesome customer service team, but all of these will be worth nothing if your site won’t load. Choosing the wrong hosting company can make all your marketing efforts worthless.
When choosing hosting providers you need to make sure they are reliable. This is why I have put together a list of the 9 best web hosting services in 2021 for you.
The good news is the technology has evolved in recent years. You now have a lot of options for hosting your website. And even better, many of them are very affordable. This helps startups and blogging newbies to get into the business quickly.
Disclosure: This project is reader-supported. This means I earn a commission when you purchase through some of the links on this website. There’s no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! Full disclosure here.
But first things first.
What does it mean to host a website?
What is web hosting? Think of hosting as a virtual space that you rent in order to run a business. If you had a physical business like a shop or a restaurant, you would rent a piece of land from a landlord (a hosting company) and then you build a shop (your website) on this spot. Same with webspace: you rent space from a hosting company to build your website.
What should you look for in a hosting company? Why are the best web hosting services consider the best?
What is the best web hosting service?
The best hosting companies take care of the following for you:
Speed to make sure your site loads fast when a client opens it
Security to avoid attacks and downtimes
Uptime - the percentage of time when your site is up and running
Integrations to ensure a smooth workflow with your content management system.
All of them work great for certain business needs. Just like every person, every company is unique. The best hosting company for small business may have a slightly different offer than the best blog hosting companies. Let’s find out what is the best website hosting service for YOU.
1. A2 hosting - the best hosting to increase your loading speed
A2 is proud to have the fastest hosting service. This is no secret that the website hosting provider is one of the major factors for your site loading speed. A2 takes this issue very seriously. With their turbo servers, which are 20X faster than others, your site loading speed will skyrocket.
This means a major increase in SEO and higher positions in Google. This also means a lower bounce rate and high conversions, because people love fast loading sites. Leave behind the competition that kept their site visitors waiting! With this host, you are guaranteed to lead the way.
Their 99,9% uptime commitment is another major plus. Your website will be up and running almost 24/7. And this is ultimately what all of us want, right? Not many hosting companies can meet this high standard.
Free account migration makes it super-easy to migrate from other hosting providers. If you want to transfer a website to a new host, this is a good choice. And 27/7/365 support team will make this transition smooth for you.
A2 hosting meets WordPress server requirements by default and works perfectly with this platform. With their hosting WordPress comes pre-installed and the install is optimized to ensure high speed and security.
If you have never used WordPress and want an easier option at the start, they have a solution for you, too! You can use A2 custom site builder to create your own site from scratch. This comes with different pricing plans and starts at as low as $2,99/mo
You can try the service safely thanks to the money-back guarantee. Nevertheless, 97% of users would recommend A2 Hosting to a friend.
2. Bluehost - the best blog web hosting service for beginners
The most popular choice for web building newbies with low prices and all the necessary features. The starting price is only 2.95 per month and with this, you get 50 GB of webspace and free SSL.
Bluehost is the best managed WordPress hosting provider. In fact, they are officially recommended by WordPress as one of the website hosting companies. You also get a bunch of WordPress-related features like secure WordPress install, WordPress auto-updates, and free WordPress migration. This means if you already have a WordPress site with another host, you can transfer it to Bluehost absolutely free. It also comes with a convenient site analytics dashboard.
If you are new to Bluehost, with your registration you’ll get
Free domain for one year so you can have a .com or .org address
Free SSL, so browsers and users consider your site secure
Free email, so you look professional when you reach out to people
If you are new to blogging and you want to create your first WordPress site, you can do this in minutes with Bluehost. The interface is super-easy and perfect for beginners. In fact, you can also install WordPress and start building your website in just a few clicks:
Go to Bluehost.com and click Get started
Select your plan starting from $3.95 per month
Choose a domain name or enter the one you own. Remember the 36-months plan comes with a free domain name for one year. Make sure you get it!
Enter your account information
Submit
Voila! You are an owner of a piece of web space! Now let’s connect WordPress. It’s really easy.
Once you have signed up for an account, Bluehost will install WordPress automatically, if you have purchased shared hosting. If you chose another hosting option there is still an easy one-click install:
Go to your control panel and choose MySites. The new windows will pop up with the most popular CMS.
Choose WordPress and click Start building
Enter the account information for your website
Yes! It is that simple!
Save money with this special deal:
Buy 36 months and get the monthly price $3.95 USD instead of $8.99 per month! This is almost $200 in savings!
3. WP Engine - the best business hosting service for ambitious entrepreneurs and enterprise
WP Engine is the best choice for serious online entrepreneurs who make investments into their online business. While it is more expensive than the previous options, it totally pays off with enhanced security, speed, and uptime. If you have invested money into content, marketing, web development, and advertising, you don’t want your site to be down when a client clicks on your ad.
With this host, your site will load faster and the bounce rate will go down. In fact, after switching to WP Engine, sites see the loading speed increase of 40%
It starts with 25 USD a month if billed annually. This is the best scalable website hosting - the perfect solution if you want your business to grow fast. While with other sites you are limited with the number of plugins you can install, WP engine with their powerful caching keeps your site up and running, no matter how much you add on. They also back up your files, so you don’t have to worry about them.
4. Hostgator - the best affordable web hosting service for scalable projects
Hostgator is often compared to Bluehost. Although not as widely known, they have a great offering at a very low price. With website hosting cost starting at just 2,75 a month, they offer:
Unlimited storage
Unmetered bandwidth
Free domain
Free SSL certificate
One-click WordPress installs
This price is a promo price for the initial subscription. If you extend it next year, the price will go up.
While Hostgator is not as popular as the first two companies on the list, it is well-established in the market. Hostgator has been serving businesses since 2002 and hosted more than 8 million websites during this time. They offer multiple website hosting plans starting at only $2,75/mo, which is a very good price for unlimited traffic. You can always get a more advanced package as your business grows. This is the best option if you are looking for scalable website hosting.
They have a 45-day guarantee. So if you are not happy with the hosting you will get a full refund, no questions asked. This proves they are very sure to get their job right. And if you have any issues, you can always contact 24/7/365 customer support.
Hostgator also guarantees 99% uptime. This is better than the average. This ensures your website doesn’t go down and your amazing content is available to visitors nearly all the time.
On top of these, you get 150USD to spend on Google ads, which is a good bonus for every new business. And if you are planning to open an online shop, you get eCommerce tools developed for you. So you can sell your goods and services with no extra effort.
5. Dreamhost - best and cheap hosting services company with a monthly plan
Dreamhost is not as popular as Bluehost, but is nevertheless worth considering.
This is a stable company, founded back in 1996 and over the years they have hosted more than 1.5 million websites. Furthermore, they were the “Editor’s choice” winner with PCMag (a leading publication in the digital world) for 5 years in a row.
So what exactly do they have to offer?
It is optimized for WordPress, so you can get your site up and running in a few clicks. You even get WP builder, so you can use design tools and build your website or blog with no coding required.
You also get a free domain with a new website (like with the other companies we have considered.
Dreamhost doesn’t track bandwidth or traffic, so you don’t have to worry about paying extra when you get more website visitors. They also have a 97-day money-back guarantee. This speaks for good customer satisfaction for sure!
The most amazing about Dreamhost is its 100% uptime guarantee. They definitely beat the competition here! Very few hosting companies can guarantee that your website will be up and running 100% of the time.
For as low as $2.59 a month (if paid annually) a WordPress site owner will get some nice features with this website hosting. Pay monthly if you prefer. The website hosting cost starts at only $4.95, so it is one of the cheapest monthly hosting companies. Note, that $4.95 is a promo monthly price, it goes up after 3 months.
A significant drawback is that they only have servers in North America. So if your audience is in Canada or the US, this will be a great value for money offer for you. However, if you focus on people from Europe or Asia, this may not be the best solution for you. Look for the companies that have servers distributed internationally.
Save money with this special deal
Get a 3year plan and pay only $2.65 per month. A free domain is included. This way you save 63% or more than $150.
Try Dreamhost NOW
6. Hostinger - the best cheap web hosting company for an annual plan
You can get web hosting for as low as $1.39 per month if you pay annually for your website hosting. Monthly billing is also available and starts from XXX. This breaking offer comes with:
10 GB SSD Storage
10 000 monthly visits 100 GB Bandwidth
WP managing tools
Can you believe this is all available for slightly over a dollar a month? You don’t have to take their word for it! Try the service with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
With a premium plan, you also get 10GB of email storage, free domain, 150 USD in Google ads, Unlimited Bandwidth, and much more.
The WordPress beginners will love the WP starter site-building wizard, automatic updates, the most important plugging, and easy-to-use WP tutorials. All of these backed with 24/7 support make this a very good deal.
7. Green Geeks is the best eco-friendly hosting
If you are a strong environmental supporter, you may already know the internet adds a lot to pollution. Going with this hosting provider you are making an eco-friendly choice.
You can get the lowest package at $2,49 a month for a dedicated WordPress or WooCommerce website hosting with free SSL.
Green Geeks website hosting proposal comes with an amazing set of freebies:
Unlimited Web Space
Unmetered Data Transfer
Free SSL Certificate
Free Domain Name for 1st Year
Free Nightly Backup
Free CDN
Unlimited E-mail Accounts
WordPress Installer/Updates
Unlimited Databases
Standard Performance
LSCache Included
300% Green Energy Match
They also have Shared, Reseller, and VPS, so as your business grows, they have a suitable solution for you.
All your content is secure with their 24-hour backup.
They guarantee 99,9% uptime, so your site will be up and running most of the time, and they also have 24/7/365 support in case you ever have any questions.
And if you don't like it, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
8. Cloudways - the best cloud hosting services company
Cloudways is a good company with 5 cloud servers.
This is especially good for experienced developers because it gives you full control over your applications and servers. With this company, you will have fewer restrictions and more freedom in managing your site. But as we all know “with great power comes great responsibility”. This is the provider for you, is are professional with web development and know exactly what you are doing.
Contrary to shared hosting, offered by the majority of the hosting companies, Cloudways are proud to offer dedicated resources. They claim to reduce your page load times thanks to their SSD drives (which are 3x faster) and PHP 7 servers. You can easily install CDN without getting too much into technical details. Built-in advanced caches for the most popular CRMs make the websites work even faster. For you, this means enhanced server and app performance.
Sleep well without having to worry about your website crushing. Most of the server issues, that could possibly occur, are resolved automatically thanks to auto-healing restarts. You can install SSL in one click and absolutely free, so your site has a trusted certificate that fulfills all the HTTPS requirements. There is also bot protection in place, meaning you are safe from malicious bots and various attacks that could harm your site.
The basic plan starts from 10 USD per month. This is limited to 25GB storage and 1 TB bandwidth.
9. Namecheap - the best budget hosting service for bloggers and entrepreneurs
The brand name speaks for itself. They offer some the most budget-friendly packages in the industry. The lowest plan is only $1.28/mo for the first year for up to 3 sites (not 1 as in most basic plans). And it even comes with a free Website Builder and email solution.
You still have the opportunity for scalability, when your business grows. There are more professional offers for larger businesses. You can also get Reseller, VPS, or dedicated hosting plan for the best site performance.
You can get email hosting separately (for basic plans) or included in your hosting package. Make sure you appear professional when you communicate with clients and prospects with this simple tool.
Most of their packages come with free migration and 24/7 chat support which will make your life a lot easier.
They also have great prices for domain names! Make sure to check them out.
This is my top list of the best website hosting sites. As you see, there are many hosting options. If you are looking where to host website, you can choose your best web host from this list.
Web hosting FAQ
What is the best hosting company for a small business?
All the companies on the list offer multiple website hosting plans. For a small business, look for the medium package. I don’t recommend getting the cheapest plan for business needs. It is more suitable for bloggers and freelancers. When you have a team of people, working for you, and invest in marketing and advertising, you need reliable website hosting.
At the same time, I understand the small business’ budget is often limited, so you can’t afford a premium plan. And you don’t need to - you would only be overpaying for the features you don’t need. You can always upgrade your website hosting plan when your business grows.
What are the best blog hosting services?
As a blogger, you will most likely be using WordPress. So when choosing the best blog web hosts pay attention to integration with WordPress. This will not be difficult. Most hosting providers have managed WordPress hosting. You will also find a one-click WordPress install and easy and free WordPress migration, in case you want to transfer the website to a new host.
Can you host email and website separately?
If you do email marketing or interact with your clients via email, of course, you want to look professional. Instead of name@gmail.com you want your email to look like name@yourdomain.com. Yes, you can get only hosting from a company, and get email hosting from another company.
But in most cases, it doesn’t make sense. First, email is often included in the hosting package. Second, it is more convenient to manage all your hosting in one place. You need to connect your email to the hosting and update some DNS records. It is easier to work with one dashboard that you are familiar with.
What is a self-hosted website?
If you have a self-hosted website, it means you manage your own hosting. You are free to decide what is the cheapest and best web hosting service for your business. You pay monthly or annually for the hosting of your choice. This is often compared with hosted sites, meaning somebody else takes care of the hosting for you.
Hosted vs non-hosted website. Which one is better?
When you have a hosted site this means your content management company takes care of your hosting for you. With a non-hosted site, you need to pay for hosting to your hosting services provider.
The most popular hosted sites are blogging platforms like wordpress.com and site-building platforms like Wix and Weebly. The good thing about hosted websites - they are free. This is perfect for personal use and a small group project. However, on such websites, you cannot have your own domain name. Instead, it will look like name.wordpress.com or name.wix.com. Also, such sites will be missing some important features like lead capture forms or analytics.
With blogging platforms, you have no upgrade option. You only have opportunities to grow within the platform.
Site builders are more scalable. Once you upgrade from a Free plan to Premium or Business, you can get a professional website with all the necessary features:
domain name
SSL certificate
search engine optimization
lead generation
social sharing buttons
and much more
After switching to a paid plan, your site would still be considered “hosted”, because you don’t choose your hosting company. Your site building platform arranges the hosting for you.