Best Web Hosting Services of 2023 {In Depth Review}
Do you want to skip reading and go to my top picks? The best web hosting service for most people in 2023 is Hostinger.
Getting your website up and running has never been easier. You can get a great idea on Thursday and start making money online by Saturday. But to do this you need a web hosting service.
The nice thing is that you no longer have to be a web developer to buy and set up hosting. Most hosting providers (including the ones I’ve listed below) do all the technical work for you and have detailed setup guides. You can have a website up and running in an hour or less, even if you’ve never done it before.
But finding the right hosting provider is difficult. There are many to choose from; How can you make sure that you are choosing the best provider for your website?
That’s why I’m here to help.
Based on my experience and research, here are my recommendations for the best web hosting services for you in 2023:
Hostinger: Best Overall
WP Engine: The best-managed WordPress host
DreamHost: The best option for fast and responsive website conversions
Bluehost: Best for WordPress Hosting for Beginners
Nexus: The Best E-Commerce Host
Cloudways: Best for cloud hosting
HostGator: The most affordable option for startups
InMotion: The best option for large scaling
SiteGround: Best WooCommerce Host
GreenGeeks: Best for always-on support
A2 Hosting: Best host for sites with lots of visual content
Keep reading for information on why these hosts are my top picks, and how much it will cost to host your site on each of them.
1 – Hostinger Review – Best Low-Cost Shared Hosting Option for Startups
Hostinger offers some of the most affordable shared hosting solutions on the market. Their prices literally start at just $1.99/month. This is a great deal.
You’ll need to sign a four-year contract to get the lowest possible monthly rate, but that total contract is going to be less than a year with other hosts.
Another reason I love Hostinger is that 24/7/365 support is baked into the price of every plan. For organizations with a small or non-existent IT staff, expert customer service is a huge advantage. This is the best option if you are specifically looking for a shared hosting service that is affordable and reliable.
professional
Unlimited bandwidth for just $3.99 per month
24/7/365 support
Unlimited Free SSL
Free WordPress acceleration tool with every plan
99.9% uptime SLA
Daily backups are available
cons
The basic plan has limited storage
There is no free domain in the cheapest plan
There is no dedicated hosting option
pricing
Hostinger offers three plans. Right now, you can save 80% on the cheapest plan or complete the business shared hosting plan, which costs just $4.99 per month. Along with this, you get unlimited bandwidth, 200 GB of storage, and daily website backups. This means if you mess up badly, you always have access to previous versions of your website.
2 – WP Engine Review – Best for Managed WordPress Hosting
With WP Engine, you get a blazing-fast and ultra-reliable WordPress site with no work on your part. The company invented the concept of managed WordPress hosting where the provider takes over all the backend technical work and WP Engine is still the leader in the field.
WP Engine exclusively hosts WordPress websites. And when you reach customer service, you’ll be talking to an expert who handles WordPress issues 24/7.
Of course, top-notch uptime, speed, and customer service mean WP Engine isn’t as cheap as others on this list. But if you don’t need to hire a WordPress developer to maintain your site’s security and performance or spend time figuring it out yourself, going with WP Engine can actually be cost-effective.
Each plan comes with best-in-class tools to develop your WordPress site. No other host offers such a variety and depth of features, such as a one-click staging area where you can build and test your site before it goes live.
This is a great hosting service if you want to take your WordPress site to the next level without IT headaches and responsibilities. Your teams can focus on building great sites and let WP Engine make sure everything runs smoothly.
professional
Fully managed service
Automatic WordPress updates
Blazing speed and performance
Integrated customizable themes
cons
Expensive compared to other hosting plans
No domains available
Email is different
Pricing
There are two basic pricing plans to choose from. A standard for managed WordPress hosting. The other is for managed WordPress with e-commerce functionality via WooCommerce. The former starts at $23 per month, while the latter’s entry-level plan starts at $56 per month. There is also an advanced plan that starts at $600 per month.
As a reader of my site, you can use the neilpatel20 coupon to get 20% off your first payment, making WP Engine an even better deal:
3 – DreamHost Review – Best option if you want fast and responsive website changes
DreamHost has been going above and beyond for its customers since 1996. The company offers two shared hosting packages. Both are eminently affordable with a boatload of useful features and amenities.
With Shared Starter, you get 50 GB of storage for one website, up to five subdomains, WordPress pre-installed and ready for you, and a domain, SSL certificate, and WordPress builder included for free.
Scale up to Shared Unlimited with no effort and very little additional cost to manage unlimited websites and subdomains with unlimited storage and free email attached to your domain. So that plan is very true to its name.
professional
1-Click Install WordPress
Free SSL certificate
Free domain included
Extra long money-back guarantee
cons
No phone-based support
Email is not included
No matter which plans you choose, you won’t be looking at more than $4 per month unless you choose a month-to-month plan.
4 – BlueHost Review – Best for WordPress Hosting for Beginners
Bluehost is one of the best web hosting options for new WordPress sites. Thanks to Bluehost’s reliability and long history of WordPress hosting, they are one of only three hosting providers officially recommended by WordPress.org.
With plans starting at just $2.95 per month, it’s an affordable way to get quality web hosting. If you want to go beyond the entry-level plan, Bluehost’s mid-tier and professional plans are also competitively priced.
When you compare Bluehost’s features to other web hosts on the market, you’ll quickly see that you’re getting exceptional value for your investment.
If you need some help or run into problems, the Bluehost customer support team is there for you via phone support and live chat. Page load times are also difficult. Just make sure you don’t overwhelm your site with too many unnecessary WordPress plugins.
professional
1-Click Install WordPress
24/7 support
Over $175 in exclusive offers are available
cons
Prices increase rapidly after the first year
Small storage in the basic plan
Pricing
Pricing starts at $2.295 per month for Bluehost’s Basic plan. A high-performance server option is available for $13.95 per month.
5 – Nexus Review – Best for eCommerce Hosting
If you want a hands-off hosting solution for your online store, Nexcess is an incredibly smart choice.
They offer a fleet of fully managed hosting options, including special packages for WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento Plus, you get one-click auto-scaling to handle unexpected traffic spikes, 24/7 monitoring, and customer support, and premium SSL certificates to keep your site and visitors safe.
In short, you’ll get everything you need to start, manage and scale your online store
With that being said, it’s not the cheapest option on this list. But you get more features, better support, and better performance with a higher price tag.
So, if you need better security or expect to grow faster, Nexcess is an excellent e-commerce hosting solution.
professional
Fully managed hosting
Unlimited email accounts
30 days back up
Integrated plugins included (Ostra Pro, Elementor, WP Forms, and more)
Free Immigration
cons
There are no free domains
No money-back guarantee
WordPress hosting plans start at $9.50 per month for one store, 15 GB of space, and two TB of bandwidth. Pay annually to get four months of free hosting.
Use coupon code NEIL50 for 50% off for 3 months. Sign up now.
6 – Cloudways Review — The easiest way to get a performance boost from cloud hosting
Many of my choices on this list focus on getting the best deal for shared hosting. But what if you know that shared hosting won’t cut it for your site?
You don’t have to spring for dedicated hosting, nor do you have to go with complicated options that require serious technical knowledge. Cloudways makes it incredibly easy to get all the performance benefits of good hosting without sacrificing ease of use.
Cloudways, true to its name, offers exceptional speed, reliability and scalability with cloud hosting. With cloud hosting, your site can draw from a vast infrastructure of servers spread across the country or the world. That way, if one has load time or uptime issues, your site can pull the same data from the other without degrading the visitor experience.
Scalability is another prominent quality of cloud hosting and Cloudways makes it easy to change resources to your site’s exact needs.
Start by selecting your initial package. Choose your preferred server provider by choosing from DigitalOcean, AWS, Linode, Vultr, or Google Cloud.
Then, select your plan. For each server provider, there are four or eight options that scale in terms of RAM, processing power, storage, and allocated bandwidth.
DigitalOcean and Vultr are unique in that they have parallel plans for standard and more powerful server configurations. With DigitalOcean, you can choose premium Droplets, which use better processors and storage drives. Vultr’s high-frequency options are similar, also adding high-quality memory.
With Cloudways, you get the benefits of fully managed hosting. That means Cloudways will take care of automated backups, caching, monitoring, and server maintenance for you. You’ll never have to get your hands dirty to ensure you’re getting the best performance.
This is further supported by their always-on customer support. Get live chat support any time of the day.
professional
Cloud hosting
managed environment
Choice of cloud providers
Very scalable
cons
May be more expensive than other options
No free domain name
Email is not included
Pricing
Cloudy’s hosting plans start as low as $10 per month for the most basic Digital Ocean package.
And, since Cloudways is a pay-as-you-go service where you only get charged for the resources you use, you can even opt for hourly billing. This can lower your monthly bill quite a bit if you have a website that experiences peaks and valleys in popularity.
If you ever need to adjust your specs or even change infrastructure, Cloudways lets you do so quickly and without incurring penalty fees.
Also, you can start that plan for free. That’s right, Cloudways offers a free three-day trial with no credit card required, allowing you to test it out and then upgrade resources when you’re ready to pay.
It’s a great total package at a reasonable price. So, if you don’t want to dabble in the shallow end of shared hosting anymore, look to Cloudway for the easiest route to get better performance with cloud hosting. Use promo code NEIL PATEL to get 25% off for 3 months
7 – Hostgator Review – Most Affordable Option for Startups
HostGator gives you solid web hosting for one of the lowest rates out there. They are perfect if you are looking for the most affordable way to start posting content online.
Shared hosting rates start at $2.75/month. You might not get souped-up hosting features at such a price, but you’re getting a reliable host that gives startups an inexpensive option to get their website up and running.
And, just like Bluehost, they have a responsive telephone line with a live chat that you can access at any moment. You can also find a huge database with common questions for beginners, along with professional opinions and solutions to those problems.
Hostgator serves as a pretty low-risk option for those of you who have never set up hosting for a website before. If you want to host several sites on a simple shared plan and still want low prices, HostGator’s an intermediate package (called the Baby Plan) starts at just $3.50 per month.
Hostgator offers something for everyone. In addition to shared hosting plans, there are also dedicated hosting, VPS (virtual private server) hosting, and a website builder. It has everything you need to get started and scale your site.
professional
Wide range of plans
Very affordable
Free domain and free site transfer
Free SSL certificate
cons
No phone support
Pricing
HostGator offers three shared hosting plans starting at $2.75 per month. Remember, these great introductory rates are only available if you commit to HostGator services for three years.
That being said, HostGator offers upgraded hosting options if you find that your website is becoming too popular. They also sport some of the best rates for more powerful VPS hosting.
If you want to find your website at the lowest cost, take advantage of HostGator’s 45-day money-back guarantee and try their shared hosting today.
8 – InMotion Review – Best Option for Big Scaling
Are you positive that your website is going to dominate the online space? Then you should definitely take a closer look at InMotion.
Their VPS and dedicated hosting services are far from cheap, but few providers are at this level of the web hosting game.
Premium services come with premium prices. And it doesn’t come at a higher premium than dedicated hosting. You’re getting a server to yourself. So, no matter how popular your site is, it will always be available to visitors and loaded in the blink of an eye when they want to stop by.
Don’t go all the way for dedicated hosting. InMotion’s VPS plans are more affordable while offering significantly better overall performance than shared or cloud hosting.
These plans start at just $17.99 per month. And, all of InMotion’s VPS plans are fully managed, meaning you don’t have to worry about your comfort level with server management.
The VPS plans to scale resources from a dual-core processor with 4 GB RAM and 90 GB storage to 8 CPU cores, 16 GB RAM, and 360 GB storage. So, you can get a really souped-up hosting plan this way too.
You don’t have to pay a premium to use InMotion though. The company also offers a range of affordable shared hosting plans to get you started.
professional
24/7/365 customer support
Free SSL certificate
90-day money-back guarantee
cons
Expensive compared to other hosting options
Most shared hosting plans do not have a monthly billing option
Pricing
InMotion Hosting may come with a hefty price tag, but it offers a lot. Dedicated hosting starts at $139.99 per month. It sounds like a lot, but it still represents excellent value. Shared hosting is as cheap as any provider on this list, starting at $2.29 per month.
9 – SiteGround Review – Best for WooCommerce Hosting
Do you want to sell your products online? Then you probably need a good, reliable WooCommerce hosting service.
If so, you should take a look at SiteGround. They have a dedicated hosting plan that will make it easy to get your WooCommerce site off the ground
SiteGround really wants to over-deliver, even if you choose their cheapest options. You get unmetered traffic and 10 GB of storage space on their lowest-cost hosting plan.
You also get a bunch of useful extras for free, like a CDN, SSL certificate, email, and daily backups, as well as a free site migration and one-click WordPress installation.
It all comes with the Startup plan, which costs just $3.49 per month For this you have to commit for one year only. Many other hosts offer this good initial price with only a two or three-year advance commitment.
If you want to launch and host a fleet of web stores, Siteground’s two high-octane plans allow for unlimited websites. GrowBig and GoGeek give you progressively more storage space and monthly visits while adding power user and agency features.
So if you are looking for the best WooCommerce solution, SiteGround is the hosting service for you.
professional
Expert WooCommerce hosting
Excellent customer support
Unmetered traffic on all plans
Free SSL, CDN, Email, and other extras
30-day money-back guarantee
cons
No dedicated or VPS hosting
After the first year the price can increase rapidly.
pricing
Startup – $3.49/month
GrowBig – $5.99/month
GoGeek – $9.99/month
SiteGround WooCommerce hosting starts at $3.49. The GrowBig plan will be sufficient for most stores.
10 – GreenGeeks Review – Best for always-on support
There is nothing more frustrating than having something go wrong and having no one to turn to for help. And, in the high-stakes world of web hosting, not having a support center to contact is unacceptable. Just think of the lost revenue and disappointed visitors who will never come back if your site is down at a critical time.
With GreenGeeks, you get a strong knowledge base, 24/7/365 live chat support, email support that gets back to you within 15-20 minutes, and live phone support available Monday through Sunday from 9 am to midnight Eastern Standard Time. .
It’s not just the many options for getting help when you need it – it’s the support that’s always available at the moment. Which is much better than other web hosts.
Sure, support is great, I hear you ask, but you know, what about the actual hosting?
Well, GreenGeeks not only offers a full array of hosting options – from basic and WordPress-specific options to VPS and reseller hosting – but they also offer an eco-friendly hosting option. The hosting platform is made as efficient as possible and runs on renewable energy. What’s more, the company matches three times the energy it uses in the form of renewable energy credits through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and plants a tree for every hosting account.
professional
Eco-friendly alternative
Cost-effective
Free Immigration
cons
Phone support is not 24/7
Pricing
GreenGeeks hosting plans start at $2.49/month (including WordPress and WooCommerce hosting).
If you want a little more power, GreenGeeks’ VPS hosting plans start a little more expensive than others ($39.95/month), but don’t require an annual commitment to secure. So, after a year no price increase and no surprises.
Check out their hosting options and sign up with GreenGeeks today.
11 – A2 Hosting Review – Best for sites with lots of visual content
Among the factors that differentiate one hosting plan from another, speed and uptime grab all the headlines. And, for good reason no one wants a slow or unavailable site.
But if your website has ambitious plans to display lots of media or large files like videos and 3D renderings, don’t sleep on the amount of storage web hosts offer.
If this resonates with you, give A2 Hosting a serious look as your next web host. They come with the most generous storage space allocation in all web hosting.
This applies no matter what type of hosting you’re in the market for.
A2’s entry-level shared hosting, called the Startup plan, starts as low as $2.49 per month but comes with 100 GB of SSD disk space. The cheapest shared plans from most other providers can be up to 50 GB. Right off the bat, the A2 leads the pack and gives you more room for videos, photos, GIFs, and more.
Any of A2’s shared plans above Startup come with unlimited storage, and its top two tiers let you upgrade from SSDs to NVMe drives that tend to be at least three times faster.
Unlimited storage might set off some alarm bells for you if you’ve done some web hosting research. And, really, that doesn’t mean you can start uploading terabytes worth of files to your A2 website willy-nilly.
But they are generous with their acceptable usage policy regarding your plan’s disk space. Your primary limit to keeping in mind is the raw number of files you can upload. As of this writing, their total limit is 600,000 files – which should be enough for most of you.
And, heck, if you’re approaching half a million media and other files on your website, it might be time to do some spring cleaning anyway.
Another thing to keep in mind is any limitations on your backups and server rewinds. A2’s emergency site recovery service only covers up to 50 GB of site data. Be sure to be careful about storing your own backups if you’re blowing it in the past.
But it’s really for terms. A2 sets you up for media-rich websites on every plan better than any other hosting provider.
This also applies to their WordPress and VPS hosting options. The former gives you NMVe storage on every plan, with the cheapest starting at 50 GB. This means your WordPress site can have a lot of content and you know it will load faster for visitors than comparable WordPress hosts.
With VPS, you have three standards and three turbo plans to choose from, with the former using SSD and the latter using NVMe.
Any way you slice it, A2 Hosting delivers products for people who want to make their websites pop with photos and videos or even if you want to let your site visitors upload their own photos and videos.
professional
Unlimited storage on most plans
24/7/365 support
Free Immigration
Money back guarantee
cons
Can be relatively expensive
The Turbo Boost option is only available on more expensive plans
Pricing
A2 Hosting’s plans start at just $2.99 per month. But anyone with a website that has a lot of images will want to choose one of the two plans that come with Turbo Boost, the A2’s speed and performance optimization tool. They start at $6.99 per month.
FAQs
What is the difference between web hosting and web server?
A web server is a computer that stores your website and transmits it to the Internet. A web host is a company or service that uses web servers to store and display your website.
What is the difference between host and domain?
The host is the computer server where your website files are stored. The domain is the website address.
Can I host a website without a domain name?
You can host a website without your own domain name by piggybacking on another provider like WordPress.com. But having your own domain name gives you much more control over your web presence.
How many types of web hosting are there?
There are four main types of web hosting: shared, dedicated, VPS, and cloud. Shared hosting stores your website on a server with other websites. Dedicated hosting gives your website its own private server. A VPS or virtual private server is similar to dedicated hosting, but it does not rely on a physical server. Cloud hosting uses cloud resources to host your website.
How is a website hosted?
A website is hosted on a web server, a dedicated computer that stores your website’s files and transmits them over the Internet when a user visits your website’s URL and requests them.
Conclusion
You’re likely going to have a long-term relationship with the hosting service you choose. So look carefully at each option that catches your eye today and select the one that best suits your needs.
All of these are reliable hosting providers with a track record of quality service. Whether you choose one of my top recommendations or find your own, use the tips and best practices we’ve covered to make an educated decision.
Having a reliable web host is essential in today’s world. Make this decision the future of your business depends on it.
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