Best Cheap Web Hosting Services

With technology paving the way to the future, absolutely everything has gone digital. From the way we order our food and clothes to the way we hold meetings or classes— all are now easily accessible through the internet or via our phones and tablets.

Today, it seems that everyone—from individuals seeking to establish their presence as a “brand” (such as writers) to small businesses that need to recruit a broader clientele—needs a website.

As dependence on websites increases for self-expression as well as for marketing, site designers should provide strong foundations to ensure that each reader or client has a smooth user experience.

One of the foundations for websites is selecting a reliable web hosting service. Web hosting provides the server space where your website’s information, photos, files, and content “live.” The web hosting service stores your files on its server and “hosts” your site. Generally, you pay for these services on either a monthly or annual basis.

That leaves you, as a novice website builder, deciding, “Which service might best fit my needs?” Let’s take a look at some of the best cheap web hosting sites available right now.

Best Cheap Web Hosting Sites for 2020 – Reviews

1. Hostinger

Originating from Kaunas, Lithuania, Hostinger’s original name was Hosting Media. The startup had dreams of becoming the best web hosting company out there, but it took a little while for the company to find its groove. Six years later, it rebranded as Hostinger and went global, setting up 39 offices and six data centers across the globe.

Hostinger’s objective is to create a smooth user experience. The company boasts cost-efficient prices for quality service to boot! Hostinger’s web-hosting plan and features include shared hosting, cloud hosting, and VPS hosting. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Hostinger. Read Full Review

Pros

• Speed—scores high on test runs in the U.S., Singapore, and Europe. Most reports show that Hostinger’s speed levels are A+
• 99.9% uptime guarantee—its uptime never dipped to 98%, which is ideal since any downtime on a site is lost opportunity
• Faster cache-manager loading—with its built-in cache manager, you get faster loading speeds
• Efficient customer support—an efficient 24/7 service with short turnaround response rates to client inquiries

Cons

• No free regular backup—charges a premium on regular backups

2. HostPapa

HostPapa is a Canadian company that offers a variety of services, including business-oriented activities like Microsoft Office 360, Advanced Business Email, G Suite, and more. One of the few web-hosting companies that are ICANN-certified, HostPapa’s target audience includes small- to medium-sized Canadian companies. It provides one free domain-hosting site for every domain purchase. Read Full Review

Pros

• Design templates—an extensive selection of design templates that you can use to spruce up your websites, including mobile-friendly templates
• Ease of use—a very user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop features that helps even newbie clients build a professional website in minutes.
• Widgets and apps—make your website more interactive 
• Free Site Migrations and SSL Certificates

Cons:

• Chat support—inconsistent turnaround response, especially during peak hours
• Misleading price options—despite the listing of prices and plans, beware of hidden fees. Be sure to read the fine print before purchasing
• Non-automated backup options—users must back up files manually

3. A2 Hosting

This relatively small Michigan-based company, founded in 2003, is a member of a global network that offers high performance, fast speed, and excellent support to customers. Its portfolio features shared Linux hosting services, Cloud, WordPress, and VPS. The company caters to small consumers and big enterprises. A2 Hosting has a large following, including many high-profile bloggers. Read Full Review

Pros:

• Performance and speed—with its global data centers A2 Hosting lives up to the expectation of excellent performance
• Support—ready to respond to clients’ inquiries through email, live chat, and hotline, as well as a dedicated FAQs page and Quick Reference Guides

1. Transparency—integrity and transparency are part of the company’s values
2. Customization Features

Cons:

• Pricey—a bit more expensive than other web host pricing plans
• Upsells—a LOT of upsells that can either be very confusing or overwhelming
• Few freebies—scrimps on the bonus and freebies that other web hosting sites provide

4. Greengeeks

Founded in 2008 in California, the commitment of Greengeeks, which hosts more than 500,000 websites, is to be both cost-efficient and environmentally friendly while offering the best quality of web hosting experience to its customers. 

Clients seem happy with the personalized service and 24/7 customer support and note that GreenGeeks takes constructive feedback seriously. GreenGeeks is one of the leading web hosting providers who offer competitive and environmentally friendly solutions. Read Full Review

Pros:

• Environmentally friendly—its 300% energy hosting services are healthy for the planet
• Fast server performance as compared to the global web-hosting standard
• Strategic server locations with global data centers
• Hosting plans that cater to all types of audiences, even beginners
• Excellent customer support with a fast response turnaround time
• Money-back program for dissatisfied clients

Cons:

• Non-refundable set-up fee
• An annual increase in plan fees

5. SiteGround 

SiteGround is a web hosting company, founded in 2004 in Sofia, Bulgaria, that serves over two million domains globally. Its IT portfolio includes shared hosting services and also offers enterprise solutions, as well as email hosting and domain registration.

With 500 employees at branches across Europe, SiteGround’s data centers are in the U.S., Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and Singapore. It promises clients:

• the best, most updated technology to power websites
• a fully-managed service by which customers have more access to and better control over their websites
• a security-first mindset with constant security monitoring

With these features, Siteground ticks a lot of the boxes needed to be a great web hosting company. Read Full Review

Pros:

• 4x more speed—offers speed and performance up to 4x faster than competitors because of its strategic data centers
• Excellent uptime—a consistent uptime since 2014
• 24/7 customer service—including phone service to cater to its global clients
• Free daily backup
• Custom dashboard tools
• Cost-efficient introductory price—introductory price is at 53% off! Grab it while you still can!

Cons:

• Limited shared-hosting plan options
• Higher price renewal after the affordable introductory price

6. Bluehost

BlueHost is a U.S.-based web-hosting provider that is part of a parent company called Endurance International Group. Other web hosting sites such as Hostgator and iPage are also part of EIG. Bluehost offers a wide variety of IT solutions as below. Read Full Review

• Domain registration
• Shared hosting
• WordPress hosting
• VPS
• Dedicated servers

Pros:

• Cheap introductory rate but higher renewal rates
• Excellent, consistent uptime
• Good storage capability
• Unmetered bandwidth and unlimited traffic 

Cons:

• Inconsistent customer support
• Annoying Upsells
• Inconsistent Speed
• U.S. servers only
• Limited default backup options so clients can purchase one of their upsells for a more comprehensive backup option
• No free migration as in most web-hosting services: to migrate five websites, Bluehost will charge around $150
• No cloud-hosting services

7. Cloudways

Cloudways is a recently established, Malta-based web-hosting company that offers numerous cloud services for app development and websites, which it manages on a single server. It also has global data centers in strategic locations across the globe.

Pros:

• Free trial period is ideal for people who just want to check out this service for a few days before deciding to purchase
• No limits on the number of websites that users can host
• Pay-as-you-go charges for services with no annoying upsells
• Easy installation process to install CMS or PHP systems
• Free, automatic updates – other web hosting sites charge additional fees for these
• Free site migration

Cons:

• No cPanel – Because Cloudways provides a console for users to manage their websites, it does not offer a cPanel
• Cloudways if for people who want to learn the technicalities of IT
• Cloudways does not provide host domain registrations

8. DreamHost

Dreamhost, established in 1996 in Los Angeles, now hosts almost 1.5 million websites. Its target users are developers, designers, and digital marketers. Like many hosting websites, DreamHost offers a variety of services such as shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and cloud hosting. Let us take a look at what gives DreamHost an edge over its competitors. Read Full Review

Pros:

• Cost-efficient! – DreamHost is one of the most affordable web hosting sites as compared to others.
• Excellent uptime and speed performance – Compared to competitors’ performance and the global scale
• Unlimited websites and storage capacity
• Contemporary backend – the cPanel dashboards look very modern and easy to use, even for a newbie
• No annoying upsells – The company’s pricing plans are very clear in black-and-white, which means that what you see is what you get. This company has no promotions for add-ins, unlike some competitors.
• Money-back guarantee – If clients are not happy with this service, the company offers a 97-day money-back guarantee program

Cons:

• Not many single-click installs – Single-click installs are great for the efficiency of use, but Dreamhost does not provide this ease of installation.
• U.S.-based servers only
• No email account – The domain registration and email account are not included in the Dreamhost starter plan and need to be purchased separately; however, the price is fairly reasonable.
• Lack of advanced features – For larger enterprises, be wary. since DreamHost is missing advanced features such as built-in caching and advanced backup solutions.
• Limited customer support – Dreamhost’s chat support only operates from 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM, so you may expect delays in response turnaround time.

9. HostGator

Hostgator originated in Florida in 2002, and within a decade, in 2012, EIG acquired the company for more than $200 million. Hostgator offers a wide variety of services such as domain name registration, shared hosting plans, WordPress hosting, VPS, cloud hosting, and website building. With Hostgator’s comprehensive portfolio, let’s take a look at some of its pros and cons.

Pros:

• Unlimited storage capabilities
• Flexible payment options – HostGator also offers a wide variety of payment options ranging from payment on an annual basis to a monthly basis payment scheme.
• Comprehensive programming language – This company offers and supports many programming languages such as PHP, Ruby on Rails, Perl, and Python.
• Fast speed and performance – as compared to other web hosting sites, HostGator remains competitive.
• Unmetered Bandwidth – HostGator does not limit traffic to your website.

Cons:

• Tricky price plan – Be sure to read the fine print, since the company may offer affordable initial plans, but you may find hefty fees involved when you sign up for a renewal period.
• Pesky upsells – The upsells that Hostgator offers are often confusing, not to mention annoying, to its clients.
• Sub=Par performance on uptime – Compared to its competitors, HostGator’s uptime performance can be improved.
• Limited advanced features – Owners and developers of larger websites will find a very limited menu of advanced features through HostGator’s web-hosting service. Among the missing features that many people desire are a built-in cache system and staging areas.
• Slow support response – Reviews show that even merely connecting to customer support takes up to 30 minutes, not to mention the time it may take to resolve a client’s problem or issue.

10. Inmotion Hosting 

Many website builders and designers consider Inmotion hosting, established in 2001, to be one of the most popular U.S. website-hosting services. Like other web hosting sites, Inmotion, which has now grown to 300 employees, offers a rather competitive and comprehensive portfolio. Its services include the following:

• Domain registration
• Shared hosting
• WordPress shared hosting
• VPS
• Dedicated servers
• Cloud servers
• Website development

Let’s take a look at the Pros and Cons of Inmotion as a website-hosting service:

Pros:

• Unlimited storage capacities to ensure that clients have everything they want
• No bandwidth limitation or limits to your website traffic
• Excellent uptime performance compared to other web-hosting sites
• Ease of Use, with an extremely user-friendly interface that even newbies can keep up with
• Great customer support and response turnaround time for questions and inquiries

Cons:

• No free backups – While many other web-hosting services offer this feature for free, Inmotion requires additional fees for backup services.
• Limited advanced features – If you are a website builder or developer with a larger company that requires heavy website traffic or special features, be sure to note that Inmotion offers limited advanced features.
• Speed can be improved – While not exactly a dealbreaker, Inmotion does not boast the highest speed in comparison with its competitors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it cheaper to host my own website?

While it may be cheaper to host your own website, your productivity may drop significantly lower. For those who might want to learn the ropes of web-hosting services and are running on a tight budget with more time, then hosting your own website may be the answer. For those who just want to start their own website ASAP, you are better off with a more accomplished and credible web-hosting service, since that company has had years to master the craft—and its ultimate objective is to make sure you have a smooth customer experience.

How much should I pay for web hosting?

Web-hosting price plans will differ depending upon the hosting service you want to use. A shared web-hosting service plan is usually significantly cheaper, priced at $3 to $7. VPS hosting, on the other hand, will be more expensive and is usually priced at $20 to $30 per month. Please also note that when choosing a web-hosting service, you should consider the features you need for your site in addition to the credibility and reputation of the web-hosting service.

How much does it cost to host a website on GoDaddy?

Web-hosting price plans for GoDaddy would again largely depend on the type of web-hosting service you want, including the features you want to have included in your plan. GoDaddy offers 20 hosting plans across five different hosting types. The most basic shared hosting plan costs less than $3 per month while other, more exclusive, dedicated plans cost $180 per month. WordPress hosting is at $5 per month, business hosting is at $20 per month, and VPS hosting is at $30 per month.

How much does it cost to host a website on Google?

One of the cheapest web-hosting platforms is Google Web Hosting, priced at under $45 per month. This price plan service already includes a Custom 2 Core 3.75 GB hosting solution. If you add $10, your hosting solution goes up to 4.25 GB. Compared to other web-hosting sites, Google is competitive not just in price but also in terms of performance.

Can I use AWS for Web Hosting? 

AWS, or Amazon Web Services, also provides web hosting. Amazon Web Services offers a wide variety of web-hosting solutions that target a comprehensive customer portfolio that includes non-profit organizations, government, and businesses alike. These services are useful for e-commerce, marketing, or simply for information purposes. AWS boasts of the following services: having broad platform support, worldwide data centers, and flexible payment options. AWS also offers simple web hosting services and simple web page app hosting as well as providing more advanced enterprise solutions.

Is WordPress better than Wix?

Since these are two of the most popular web-hosting sites, let’s compare WordPress and Wix.

Ease of Use and Flexibility

WordPress offers its clients more freedom and flexibility to build upon their website since it is a self-hosted website. Wix, on the other hand, is a hosted platform—so much of the control and access is up to its developers. 

Cost

WordPress is free of charge for its most basic features, and yes, you can establish a website on its basic functionalities. However, add-ons for WordPress can be a bit pricey. Wix, on the other, offers a very cut-and-dry fixed-price plan with no additional charges or hidden fees.

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