Best web hosting of 2022
Picking the best web hosting service provider is key if you have a business you’re looking to create an online presence for and grow your clientele through an accessible website.
Top quality web hosting goes hand in hand with the best website builder services if you want your website to have a solid position on the web. Note that web hosting is not reserved exclusively for businesses, as anyone with a website, including portfolio and blogging sites can benefit from web hosting services.
In this article we explore everything you need to know about web hosting and thoroughly explain how we test each web hosting provider we’ve reviewed.
If you are looking for the best web hosting service for your website, we have detailed reviews for each web hosting provider, highlighting their respective strengths, weaknesses and features that may be important for your choice. Our rundown also includes information on pricing and why each particular web host may be an ideal fit for your needs.
To date, we have reviewed (and are continuously re-reviewing) over 160 web hosting and website builder service providers. No one has reviewed more web hosting providers than us online.
Below, you will find detailed summaries of the best web hosting providers created by our very own team of hosting experts, with details on how and why we chose them.
Best web hosting services – our top 3
What is web hosting?
Web hosting is the generic name given to the business of, well, hosting a website for organizations or individuals. Truth is that it can be done by individuals (e.g. I host a website from home) or by businesses. But that’s just the beginning: selecting a truly reliable, affordable, scalable web hosting provider is a daunting and overwhelming task, as there are so many options out there.
Many packages include a wealth of features that you may or may not place value upon, including a mailing list, a control panel, the ability to create online stores easily, simple web building tools, and varying levels of support (either over the phone or live chat).
Whether you’re looking to build a website for yourself, a website for your small business now or for the future, or a simple online store, or you just want to save money by moving to a cheaper web hosting provider, we’ve got you covered.
Choosing a host is very much a case of ‘horses for courses’ – it’s a question of getting the best and most appropriate solution that you can afford. There’s no need to hamstring yourself financially, though. If you’re just starting out, or you’re a relatively small business and you know your way around a server, you might like to consider a Virtual Private Server (VPS), for example – these provide the flexibility of a dedicated server, but at a reduced cost.
The best web hosting services of 2022
At the very top of the web hosting provider scoreboard is Bluehost. Arguably one of the largest website hosting providers in the world, Bluehost powers over two million websites globally.
From WordPress hosting, to managed hosting and WooCommerce, Bluehost has its hypothetical hands in plenty of hosting pots, all while delivering services at a top-quality standard.
For basic shared hosting, Bluehost cheapest plan goes for $2.75 per month (on a three-year contract), and its WordPress plans start at $2.00 per month, which includes one website and 50GB of SSD storage (although, that’s a discounted introductory rate).
For the money, you get automated setup for WordPress, not to mention other popular apps via a Mojo Marketplace-powered system. There’s also a cPanel-based area to allow expert users to tweak things.
Bluehost now also has its own website builder that features drag and drop editing, live editing, mobile editing, and stock image repository. It also includes over 300 templates, full WordPress access and custom CSS.
Generally, Bluehost offers good customer support, as well as a free site migration tool, and the end result is a mix of user-friendly aspects alongside a good amount of power.
Bluehost also offers a professional service to get your website started and it ranked in second place in our best website design services buyers guide.
More from Bluehost
- Read our in-depth Bluehost web hosting review to find out why it’s the best web hosting service overall
- If you are torn between two web hosting providers, read our Bluehost vs HostGator comparison article to help you make up your mind
- We also have a Bluehost vs TSOhost article where we compare both hosting providers to help you narrow your search
Hostinger offers a range of services including shared hosting, VPS hosting, cloud hosting and even specialised hosting solutions such as cPanel hosting and WordPress hosting.
Its WordPress hosting service is particularly impressive because it improves on the shared plans in several ways. Hostinger actively contributes to the WordPress codebase, and has a deep understanding of the CMS.
Hostinger has four WordPress hosting plans: Single WordPress, WordPress Starter, Business WordPress and WordPress Pro.
Its cheapest plan provides a single WordPress site, one email account, 30GB SSD, free SSL, WordPress acceleration, managed auto-updates, and all for $1.99 (for a four year period) and $3.99 after renewal.
Both the Business WordPress and WordPress Pro offer 200GB SSD storage unlimited bandwidth, a free domain worth $9.99. The difference between the Business WordPress plan and the WordPress Pro plan is the number of websites it lets you host. For $11.59 per month, you can host up to 300 websites and have access to a WordPress staging tool.
Hostinger is a strong choice for WordPress developers as it offers fast speeds and expert customer support. By opting for a WordPress-specific plan with Hostinger, you get additional support options and one-click installation.
It is also one of the biggest providers of free web hosting via its 000webhosting brand, and has amassed over 30 million users, and offers some of the lowest prices thanks to low running costs and overheads.
Hostinger gives their users a convenient choice of technology – cPanel or hPanel, its own customized control panel. A more intuitive hPpanel allows a better and more comfortable control of performance and features.
In regards to your website’s security, Hostinger uses server security tool BitNinja to guard all its servers against cyberattacks. On top of that, the company boasts that it uses integrated custom security software that is regularly updated.
More from Hostinger
- Read our Hostinger web hosting review for a more in-depth look at its features, pricing and more
- We’ve put two of the top European web hosting providers, Hostinger and SiteGround, head to head to see which is better
HostGator has been around since 2002 and has, over the years, grown to now cater to thousands of customers in the hosting department.
The web hosting provider is the best when it comes to shared hosting services because it is reliable, the price is affordable and the company boasts of 99.9% uptime.
HostGator offers three specific shared hosting plans, starting with the Hatchling subscription, which comes with unmetered bandwidth, free WordPress/cPanel website transfer and a free SSL certificate. The allocations are generous and should easily accommodate the requirements of a single domain.
Hostgator’s Hatchling plan is usually $2.64 per month, its Baby plan is $3.38 per month, and its business plan is $5.08 per month.
Aside from shared hosting, HostGator has a remarkable range of hosting services, from domains to dedicated servers.
HostGator also provides WordPress hosting and, like Bluehost, has its very own website builder service too, which is not uncommon for web hosting companies to have these days.
Some of the additional benefits HostGator has up its sleeves include a 45-day money-back guarantee, free transfers for new accounts within the first month after you’ve signed up, 24/7/365 live chat support, and a free domain for a year.
If you are looking for a web hosting service provider that will give you more for your money, then there’s lots that HostGator checks off the list.
More from HostGator
- Read our detailed HostGator web hosting review to find out more about its performance and site management capabilities
- When it comes to affordable, high-quality web hosting, find out which provider takes the win in our comparison article: HostGator vs Hostinger
InMotion Hosting is a popular web host that has been in business for over 15 years, with an impressive array of plans on offer including reseller hosting.
InMotion takes the lead in the reseller hosting department because its reseller plans come with a free WHMCS license, which allows for the automated setup and billing of clients.
This is great for anyone who wants to take a stab at becoming a web hosting provider. Web hosting services offer reseller schemes that allow you to buy a block of resources – disk space or bandwidth for example – to divide and sell it however you like.
InMotion’s Beginner reseller plan comes with 80GB of storage, 800GB of bandwidth, and can host up to 25 accounts, and costs $21.39 on a per monthly basis. However, this is discounted the longer you commit, with the cheapest option being $15.39 a month if you go for their 2-year contract.
Other plans increase limits and pricing based on how much more InMotion is offering, and there’s a 90-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.
All plans include assisted setup and migration, especially useful for those coming from other web hosts, and you won’t need to worry about the server side of things because InMotion takes care of all that for you.
InMotion Hosting provides both cPanel and Softaculous panels, and offers excellent technical support should you get stuck with anything. In our testing, we found that this web hosting provider’s overall performance levels were well above average, which is good news for those who want to see fast-loading websites.
More from InMotion Hosting
- Read our InMotion Hosting review for more details on its account management panel, WordPress hosting offerings and more
- To help you narrow down your options, read our InMotion Hosting vs SiteGround comparison article
Founded in California back in 2008, GreenGeeks proudly claims to be the ‘world’s #1 green energy web hosting provider’, not surprising given that it is dedicated entirely to green causes.
That’s a big statement, but there’s some substance behind it. The company doesn’t just say that its platform has been designed for maximum energy efficiency, it also promises that for every amperage it pulls from the grid, it invests three times that in the form of renewable energy via Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Therefore, your hosting isn’t just carbon-neutral, it’s also carbon-reducing.
However, GreenGeeks’ hosting range isn’t quite as impressive as some of the other providers on this list. There are the usual set of plans – shared products, application hosting, VPS, dedicated – but there isn’t much choice, and what you do get is mostly very average.
Although, there is one exception in GreenGeeks powerful shared hosting plan. It offers unlimited websites, emails, databases, web space and bandwidth, and throws in a free domain, shared SSL, Cloudflare CDN integration, nightly backups, the Softaculous one-click app installer, a simple website builder and support via email, chat and telephone. GreenGeek’s live chat support is 24/7, but its phone support is Monday to Sunday, 9 AM to 12 AM EST.
Pay for three years upfront and you can get everything for an equivalent $2.49 per month on its Lite plan – $10.95 on renewal – and a 30-day money-back guarantee represents a risk-free way to test the service for yourself. It’s a good deal, and shows that green hosting isn’t just about making eco-friendly gestures: you can find some capable products, too.
More from GreenGeeks
- Read our GreenGeeks review for a complete look at the hosting provider’s features, capabilities, support and more
US-based web hosting giant GoDaddy scores extremely high when it comes to multilingual support as its customer support is available to customers in over 15 different languages. Also, GoDaddy’s first line of support is its very well-presented web knowledgebase.
GoDaddy has four web hosting plans, Economy, Deluxe, Ultimate and Maximum. All plans include 1-click install of over 150 free apps, an easy-to-use control panel and 24/7 network security.
GoDaddy’s shared hosting starts at $5.99 per month on the three-year plan ($8.99 on renewal), which gets you 100GB storage, 10 databases, unmetered bandwidth and support for a single site.
The Ultimate plan supports unlimited websites, disk space and databases, unmetered bandwidth, premium DNS management and a free GoDaddy SSL certificate for a year.
GoDaddy’s Deluxe, Ultimate and Maximum plan lets you host an unlimited number of websites and offers unlimited storage too.
GoDaddy offers a 99.9% service uptime guarantee, and states discounts on monthly shared hosting purchases will be available to users if their service doesn’t uphold the guarantee.
More from GoDaddy
- Read our GoDaddy review for a complete overview of the web hosting provider’s performance and capabilities
Domain.com is better known as a good domain provider but they also offer powerful web hosting on a secure platform.
Hosting plans are generous, with even the most basic plan offering unlimited storage and scalable bandwidth. 10 databases are available as well as five FTP accounts, and there’s also a free SSL certificate by Let’s Encrypt provided.
The Deluxe plan offers 25 databases and 25 FTP accounts, while the Ultra account drops all restrictions entirely.
The Basic plan costs just $3.75 a month when billed yearly, the Deluxe costs $6.75, while the Ultra plan costs $13.75.
Built on top of a platform that is backed by 24/7 expert customer support, Domain.com also offers shared hosting that’s designed for all user types.
The one point to note is that Domain.com does not offer monthly plans, but instead only contracts for one, two, or three years and doesn’t charge extra depending on the length of the contract. If you don’t want to commit to an annual web hosting package, you’ll need to take a more in-depth look at the other web hosting providers in the line up.
Domain.com’s speedy and reliable performance results are appealing (and it’s fair value, too).
- Domain.com offers more than just domain registration services. For more on its web hosting service, read our in-depth Domain.com review
Liquid Web is an expert provider of high-end managed hosting solutions for everything from email to WordPress, WooCommerce, VPS, dedicated and assorted other cloud products.
Most plans deliver far more than you might expect. Liquid Web doesn’t just automatically update WordPress, for instance: it also updates your plugins in a separate, isolated environment to check for any issues before sending them live on your production site.
Liquid Web’s VPS and dedicated server plans add even more managed hosting features covering many areas. The company has its own data centers with fully managed hardware and network infrastructure.
Key software is installed, updated and supported, there are free external migrations, virus and spam protection keep threats at bay, and system monitoring enables speedy notification of problems.
Liquid Web won’t appeal to bargain hunters, and its baseline prices can be much higher than some of the competition. However, what you are paying for is the highest quality support and high end hardware, so you’re getting what you pay for.
With Liquid Web you get precisely what you pay for in terms of service quality and support.
More from Liquid Web
- Read our Liquid Web review that includes the full rundown of its products and offerings, as well as a detailed breakdown of Liquid Web’s pricing
If you want to do web hosting on a budget, then as this provider’s name suggests, it aims to be inexpensive. You get some impressive value-for-money with Namecheap, particularly with an initial discount for the first year, and there are some heavyweight plans here.
However, note the starter ‘value’ plan only gives you 20GB of hard drive space and 30 email accounts, but you get that at the price of just $2.88 per month.
Namecheap offers a 99.9% connectivity guarantee, and is a very easy service to set up, with an initial welcome email that points you in the right direction for everything you might need (backed up by some impressive FAQs). It also plays host to an excellent searchable knowledge base.
To round things off, testing proved that this company generally offers above average speeds compared to rivals, making this a great hosting provider for those who aren’t keen on doing too much damage to their wallet.
Namecheap’s feature-full packages are a superb solution for those who want to launch a start-up or run a small to medium-sized business on a tight budget.
More from Namecheap
- Read our Namecheap web hosting review for detailed information about its ease of use, speed and experience plus more
Hostwinds offers a range of dedicated server hosting with powerful configuration options for anything from general to heavy-duty use, which makes them ideal for hosting everything from company websites to gaming servers.
There are multiple base options to select, which you can then customize according to your preferences. The cheapest models have a quad-core single processor and start with at least 8GB of RAM, which would make them ideal for most typical users.
There are a good set of additional options available for customization, with different RAID configurations and a number of operating systems available, including standard CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, or Fedora options, as well as a Windows Server option.
A 1Gbps network link means that whichever bandwidth option you choose (all of which are generous) you shouldn’t need to worry about traffic being throttled at your end.
Full server management is provided, which will be handy for those not wanting to get overwhelmed by sys admin duties, with server monitoring and nightly backups also provided as part of the service.
If there’s one criticism we have, it’s that a control panel such as cPanel, Plesk, or Exim isn’t provided as standard, which can simplify a lot of server operations for users; however, if you contact Hostwinds, they’ll be happy to advise on the best option as an add-on, if you don’t feel comfortable with setting up one yourself.
More from Hostwinds
- Read our detailed Hostwinds web hosting review for information on its setup process, support and other capabilities
- We have a head-on contrast between Hostwinds and HostGator so you can narrow down and pick the best web hosting provider for you
Dreamhost offers standalone email hosting among the range of different packages that this established web hosting services provider offers.
Dreamhost’s email hosting offers 25GB of storage by default, with the ability to sync emails between desktop and mobile devices. Additionally, there’s an ad-free webmail software platform included.
Another key feature is a smart anti-spam filter, which ensures the filtering of spam messages, but also viruses, malware, and phishing attacks. The filter is adaptive to emerging threats, ensuring that you remain protected.
There are a couple of key advantages in having your own hosted email account. The first is that it remains connected to your company domain name, which looks far more professional than a free email account.
Additionally, it also means you have complete control over your own data, and that your emails won’t be automatically scanned to provide advertising at you, something free email providers do all too commonly.
Pricing is relatively inexpensive, and depends on whether you wish to pay on a monthly basis or commit to annual payments. Monthly plans cost just $1.99 a month, while a yearly commitment reduces this to the equivalent of $1.67 a month.
More from Dreamhost
- Read our in-depth Dreamhost review for more information on its servers and WordPress capabilities
- We have a comparison article to help you choose between InMotion Hosting and DreamHost
WP Engine offers a comprehensive managed WordPress service that can help you with setup, updates, security, performance optimization, troubleshooting and a whole lot more.
Much of this is invisible to the end user, as a good managed service should be. No need to worry about WordPress updates, for instance – WP Engine handles these for you. Not blindly, simply when they’re released, like many other hosts: the company tests them carefully, first, to make sure they don’t cause problems.
The powerful WP Engine platform adds many useful extras. A Staging area allows you to work on a copy of your site, which is perfect for testing new themes, plugins or anything else, without affecting the production site. In another highlight, integrated performance tests can benchmark your website and offer useful speedup tips.
This level of power isn’t cheap. Even the most basic WP Engine plan costs $30 a month ($22.50 a month initially), more than three times the price of the budget competition. But if you’re looking for an optimized environment, with quality tools and excellent support, this could be a price worth paying.
WP Engine’s interface is professional and well laid out, but the powerful features might mean a steep learning curve for inexperienced users.
More from WP Engine
- Read our detailed WP Engine review for a closer look at its features, interface and performance capabilities
5 things you much know before buying a web hosting service
From our experience, we believe these are the five key things to consider when selecting yours:
1. You almost always get what you paid for. If your website is primarily a hobby on the side then this shouldn’t matter as much. However, as an essential business tool, it’s often a false economy to go for the cheapest hosting deal (or a free one) on offer but that doesn’t mean that all cheap deals are bad.
2. Beware of pricing tricks. The overwhelming majority of web hosting vendors offer low prices at the beginning of their contracts, but jack up the pricing after the introductory period ends, which can be 24, 36 or even 60 months after signing up. Always look for the total cost of ownership. As for the above, it doesn’t mean that paying five years in advance is a bad thing.
3. Just how trustworthy is the hosting provider? Just about anyone can pretend to be a real web host and just be reselling someone else’s products. So, look to see how long they’ve been around, if they have a contact address, who owns them, are they making realistic promises on the website and so on. Google is your friend here.
4. Know your limits. How comfortable are you with creating your own website? Do you need external help to understand the numerous ramifications (including legal and commercial ones) that publishing one entails?
5. Consider web builders. You don’t need web hosting to get online, and site builders offer an interesting and compelling alternative. However, you can’t migrate your content easily if you want to leave because of their proprietary nature.
Best web hosting service FAQs
Web hosting features and benefits
If you’re new to web hosting, some of the terms and features may sound confusing. To help you understand them, we’ve come up with a quick explainer for the most common elements in web hosting services:
SSL certificate. This feature encrypts the connection between your website and your visitors’ browsers, preventing hackers from accessing it. Hosting providers usually provide one for free from Let’s Encrypt. Some also offer a premium version as an add-on, which can provide a better warranty and level of verification.
Unmetered bandwidth. This means the hosting provider won’t monitor or cap the amount of data transferred, so there’s no need to worry about extra bandwidth usage fees once the website’s traffic grows. Each company has a different policy on unmetered resources, so make sure to read their terms and conditions beforehand.
SSD disk space. Compared to HDDs, SSDs are a much more reliable storage solution. They’re less prone to disk failures and can serve data twenty times faster, speeding up your website’s performance.
cPanel. With this control panel, new users can manage their hosting via an intuitive interface – no technical skills required. You can access different features, check out your resource usage, and configure the domain’s settings within a few clicks.
WordPress auto-installer. This feature lets you set up WordPress in a few clicks from the hosting’s control panel. That way, there’s no need to download and upload the CMS files yourself.
Website migration. Most hosting providers allow transferring an existing site from another host to their servers. Typically, you have to insert some information about the website, submit a ticket to their customer support team, and wait a few hours for the migration to initiate.
Custom HTML and CSS. The control panel should provide access to your website’s files, including HTML and CSS, via the file manager or an FTP client. Feel free to edit them to customize the site’s front end to your liking.
How we test each web hosting provider
We weigh up the details of what you get, (as well as what you don’t) and rank each web hosting provider based on the quality of its features that many customers will use, and how clear the web hosting company is on what the customer is getting in every product.
Because we know it’s important to pick a web hosting company you can trust, we focus on whether each web hosting provider presents its products in an honest, clear and transparent way. In our tests, this is easy to pick up on as we compare the list of features each company claims it offers, to what we actually have access to once we begin using their service.
Lastly, our web host speed tests are generally based on the cheapest shared hosting plan available from a provider.
We then upload a basic static site to our web space, including HTML and CSS files and some images, and configure Uptime.com to check the availability and server response time of our site at five-minute intervals. This gives us a general indication of the speed and uptime you are likely going to experience when you finally make a decision on the best web hosting provider for you.
Each web hosting provider below has been selected based on it being at the top of its game for one aspect of web hosting service or another. From shared hosting to reseller hosting, we have put together the best of the best for you to find a web hosting company that suits your individual needs.
Should you need more tips on buying a web hosting service, what the different types of hosting services are, or how to choose the best web hosting service for you, scroll down to the bottom of this page for all this and more.
How to explain web hosting in very simple terms
Shared hosting is like renting each room in a property. Put too many websites on one server and the quality of service can drop if some become too popular or hog too many resources (think noisy neighbors and bathroom huggers).
VPS is a step above shared hosting. You get your own private virtual server (the equivalent of flats) but you still share some amenities with others tenants that live in the same block like the garden or the doorway.
Dedicated hosting is the equivalent of a house; an entire server just for one customer. Expensive but worth it if you are ambitious. There are still limitations though but dedicated hosting allows for more flexibility.
The “building” analogy applies to the other variations/categories: eco-house, retail stores, art displays, houses in India, land developers etc.
Which is the best web hosting service provider?
What are the different types of hosting services?
Virtual Private Servers (VPS) or Cloud hosting enable you to scale resources as and when you need them, rather than being restricted by the limitations of a physical server. They draw from a pool of processing power, memory and storage depending on your requirements. VPS usually take one physical server and allocated dedicated resources whereas cloud hosting take a bunch of servers and allocate resources across them.
With a dedicated web server, you have the entire web server for your own use, with significantly faster performance at the core of the offering. You will have to pay extra though, and you’ll be responsible for maintenance.
Web hosting companies usually offer three main paid-for tiers of hosting packages. Other than the aforementioned tiers, we will also be considering WordPress hosting, as well as more powerful website builder software.
PS: We’ve used the word resources a lot in this description. The word itself is an umbrella term for compute (like the processor), storage (the SSD or HDD), system memory (RAM) and networking (usually the bandwidth and throughput).
How to choose the best web hosting service
Very small businesses will usually opt for a shared or managed service, as these are sometimes called. Costs are low, but your business will be sharing its server with several other enterprises. You can always move up to a virtual private network (or VPS) if needed.
A dedicated server, as its name suggests, is just one server reserved for your business. Dedicated servers are not as expensive as they once were, and can make economic sense if you want your business to have its own server platform, and don’t want to have to worry about other businesses on a shared server impacting your online business if they have problems.
It’s important to look closely at the service level (SLA) that will be attached to your dedicated server. Look for any additional costs, such as maintenance, or other ‘extras’ that aren’t covered in the rental cost.
And lastly, try and buy server space that you can expand into. You don’t want to find after a few months that you’ve outgrown your server and need to move to a new one.
Lastly, as the cloud has made a major impact right across the business environment, business web hosting has also embraced the cloud, and now offers an alternative to the traditional hosting methods. The power of cloud hosting is the flexibility it offers: in effect, your business can buy just the space and hosting services it needs now, and expand at anytime with no disruption to business.
Which web hosting is better? Paid or free?
Don’t get us wrong: we love them, we’ve even produced a best free web hosting guide; however, using them for businesses purposes is fraught with potential issues that make it hard to recommend them.
Unlike free software, services (web hosting or VPN for example) cost money to run, which is why most web hosting companies use a freemium business model, and will try to convince you to move to a cheap, paid service.
Expect a number of limitations on disk space and bandwidth. You won’t get an SSL certificate, which is a sine qua non condition for running a proper business website. You won’t have regular backups, and some will even shut down your website for one hour a day!
Instead, we’d recommend checking out our best cheap web hosting sites guide, which we regularly update to include the hottest deals around.
Which is the best web hosting for beginners?
The easiest and most common type of hosting is shared hosting and Bluehost’s shared hosting plan is the most economical way to get your website connected to the Internet.
Bluehost’s shared hosting platform is managed which means users don’t have to worry about server management and platform patches.
Bluehost also has built their own custom hosting dashboard on top of its cPanel dashboard that makes it a lot easier to manage important parts of your hosting account.
What are the biggest web hosting companies in the world
As of March 2021, the biggest web hosting company is Godaddy when it comes to market capitalization, followed by United Internet and Newfold Digital (which is private but involved a transaction valued at around $3 billion).
Some might argue that Wix – with a $17 billion market capitalization – and Square, the owner of Weebly, are even better web hosting companies. By that logic though, one should include the likes of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Alibaba and Microsoft Azure, all of which are far, far bigger.
