best web hosting revies
Last Updated: August 24, 2018
To date, we’ve tracked over 30 different web hosting companies over a period of 37-months.
Including many ‘popular’ hosts, such as Bluehost, HostGator and iPage.
Here’s what we did in order to find out best web hosting:
- Signed up with 34 most popular web hosts.
- Set up a blank (WordPress) website.
- Tried out their customer support.
- Started to monitor their uptime and speed (since June, 2015).
- Published reviews (and still accepting user reviews).
If you’re into more detailed (last months data), check this live statistics page or thisGoogle spreadsheet.
10 Best Web Hosting Services in 2018
Earnings disclosure: Some of the web hosting services listed on this page contain affiliate links. This helps us to cover the expenses of testing and analyzing each web host. Thanks for your support.
HERE’S A LIST OF 10 BEST PERFORMING WEB HOSTING SERVICES BY UPTIME, LOAD TIME AND SUPPORT:
1. Bluehost: Best Reliability ($2.75/mo)
Load time: 427ms (6th in speed)Uptime: 99.99% (1st in uptime)
Cost: $2.75/mo
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~5min)
One of the most popular web hosts, hosting more than 2,000,000 websites and blogs since 2003. Officially recommended by WordPress.org.
2. HostGator Cloud: Best Cloud Hosting ($2.99/mo)
Load time: 424ms (5th in speed)Uptime: 99.96% (15th in uptime)
Cost: $2.99/mo (monthly plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~3min)
Founded in 2002, hosting 600,000+ websites. Most reliable web host by average uptime and load time on our test sites.
3. SiteGround: Best WordPress Host ($3.95/mo)
Load time: 716ms (14th in speed)Uptime: 99.99% (4th in uptime)
Cost: $3.95/mo
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~2min)
SiteGround.com is an officially recommended by WordPress.org. Founded in 2004, hosts 800,000 websites worldwide. BBB Rating of “A”.
4. A2 Hosting: Fastest Shared Hosting ($3.92/mo)
Load time: 413ms (1st in speed)
Uptime: 99.92% (26th in uptime)
Cost: $3.92/mo
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~8min)
Uptime: 99.92% (26th in uptime)
Cost: $3.92/mo
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~8min)
Founded in 2002 (USA) and currently hosting 200,000+ websites. Fastest page load time for our WordPress test site.
5. iPage: Cheap Option ($1.99/mo)
Load time: 821ms (20th in speed)Uptime: 99.97% (13th in uptime)
Cost: $1.99/mo (3-year plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~12min)
6. GoDaddy: Best Small Business Host ($2.49/mo)
Load time: 448msUptime: 99.95%
Cost: $2.49/mo (1-year plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~14 min)
7. MDDHosting: Good for Small Sites ($3.50/mo)
Load time: 393ms
Uptime: 99.95%
Cost: $3.50/mo (3-year plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~4min)
Uptime: 99.95%
Cost: $3.50/mo (3-year plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~4min)
8. InMotion: Best for Small Business ($6.39/mo)
Load time: 813msUptime: 99.93%
Cost: $6.39/mo (3-year plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~7min)
Founded in 2001 and hosting 300,000+ domains. US-based company with a fairly knowledgeable customer support.
9. Hostinger: Best Cheap Host ($2.15/mo)
Load time: 384msUptime: 99.97%
Cost: $2.15/mo (3 year plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~10min)
10. FastComet: Best for Web Designers ($2.95/mo)
Load time: 905msUptime: 99.98%
Cost: $2.95/mo (2-year plan)
Support: Live Chat (avg. response ~8min)
All 30 hosting services we’ve reviewed..
| RANK | WEB HOST | COST | SUPPORT | UPTIME | LOAD TIME | RATING |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BlueHost | $2.75/mo | 10/10 | >99.99% | 427ms | ★★★★★ |
| 2 | HostGator Cloud | $2.99/mo | 10/10 | 99.96% | 424ms | ★★★★★ |
| 3 | SiteGround | $3.95/mo | 10/10 | 99.99% | 716ms | ★★★★ |
| 4 | A2 Hosting | $3.92/mo | 10/10 | 99.92% | 367ms | ★★★★ |
| 5 | iPage | $1.99/mo | 9/10 | 99.97% | 821ms | ★★★★ |
| 6 | GoDaddy | $2.49/mo | 9/10 | 99.95% | 448ms | ★★★★ |
| 7 | MDDHosting | $3.50/mo | 9/10 | 99.95% | 393ms | ★★★★ |
| 8 | InMotion Hosting | $6.39/mo | 9/10 | 99.93% | 813ms | ★★★ |
| 9 | Hostinger | $2.15/mo | 8/10 | 99.97% | 384ms | ★★★ |
| 10 | FastComet | $2.95/mo | 8/10 | 99.98% | 905ms | ★★★ |
| 11 | DigitalOcean | $5.00/mo | 8/10 | 99.99% | 400ms | ★★★ |
| 12 | Site5 Hosting | $6.95/mo | 9/10 | 99.99% | 690ms | ★★★ |
| 13 | WebHostingHub | $4.99/mo | 7/10 | 99.95% | 718ms | ★★★ |
| 14 | ASmallOrange | $5.92/mo | 9/10 | 99.98% | 690ms | ★★★ |
| 15 | WebHostingBuzz | $4.95/mo | 10/10 | 99.95% | 520ms | ★★★ |
| 16 | JustHost | $3.49/mo | 7/10 | 99.98% | 747ms | ★★★ |
| 17 | GreenGeeks | $3.95/mo | 9/10 | 99.94% | 519ms | ★★ |
| 18 | HostGator(Shared) | $2.75/mo | 8/10 | 99.98% | 977ms | ★★ |
| 19 | HostPapa | $3.95/mo | 9/10 | 99.98% | 909ms | ★★ |
| 20 | Midphase | $2.78/mo | 8/10 | 99.99% | 1100ms | ★★ |
| 21 | LunarPages | $9.95/mo | 7/10 | 99.96% | 820ms | ★★ |
| 22 | DreamHost | $7.95/mo | 8/10 | 99.94% | 704ms | ★★ |
| 23 | HostRocket | $5.99/mo | 8/10 | 99.98% | 1065ms | ★ |
| 24 | One.com | $2.45/mo | 8/10 | 99.70% | 666ms | ★ |
| 25 | HostNine | $6.99/mo | 8/10 | 99.92% | 722ms | ★ |
| 26 | HostMonster | $4.95/mo | 8/10 | 99.95% | 998ms | ★ |
| 27 | WestHost | $4.00/mo | 7/10 | 99.92% | 822ms | ★ |
| 28 | Hosting24 | $2.15/mo | 9/10 | 99.94% | 951ms | ★ |
| 29 | NameCheap | $2.88/mo | 8/10 | 99.88% | 989ms | ★ |
| 30 | FatCow | $4.00/mo | 8/10 | 99.78% | 1262ms | ★ |
| 31 | HostMetro | $2.95/mo | 8/10 | 99.82% | 1499ms | ★ |
| 32 | IxWebHosting | $3.95/mo | 7/10 | 99.84% | 1170ms | ★ |
| 33 | Arvixe | $7.00/mo | 7/10 | 99.72% | 5620ms | ★ |
| 34 | WebHostingPad | $1.99/mo | 8/10 | 97.04% | 1316ms | ★ |
About Our Web Hosting Review Process
Unlike other sites, we actually pay for and sign up for web hosting.
We break down information about available packages and services, hidden fees, payment methods, and more. When we look at a web host, we start by reading over their terms of agreement to find out if there are any hidden, unfair terms that consumers should know about.
Then, we take a look at what kind of customer support they offer, whether it’s live chat, phone, ticket, or email. Once we get a test site up and running, we evaluate the user interface of the host’s control panel and the total activation time.
We also monitor our site performance by plugging our domain names into Pingdom to look at speed and uptime.
We look at how fast sites load in certain countries and across certain devices. Our reviews also look at the quality of customer support for each host. We actually contact each host to see how long they take to respond and whether or not they are friendly and helpful.
Based on everything we look over, we assign a total rating for each host that ranges from 0 to 10
If you wish to submit your own web hosting review, click here.
Why Uptime and Load Time Matters
Uptime and load time matter because they affect traffic, which can, in turn, affect your overall revenue.
You’ve got to keep an eye on both of these metrics because they indicate your site’s quality of performance. Uptime refers to the total time that your website is up and running with no problems. Downtime refers to when the time when your website is offline and unavailable to visitors and potential customers.
Any time your website isn’t running, you’re losing money.
At the same time, if you have a slow load time, your bounce rate will be off the charts. People don’t want to wait forever for web pages to load. In fact, they won’t wait longer than 3 seconds if they’re using a mobile device to browse, and more page views happen on mobile than on desktop.
That’s why you should make sure that your load times are fast and that your uptime is high.
What is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting consists of multiple websites on the same web server owned by the web host.
This is easily the most popular (and cheapest) method of web hosting. However, if your site has high traffic, you might not want to go with shared hosting. Sometimes, resources aren’t shared equally when it comes to this hosting method.
Remember how I told you that a server provides resources for storing files? Well, these resources, like hard drive space and RAM, can slow down if a site you’re sharing the server with is receiving tons of visitors or has incorrect coding.
This can lead to your website going down or experiencing super slow load times, so only go with shared hosting if your revenue doesn’t depend on your site’s performance (or if you don’t receive gobs of traffic).
What is Cloud Hosting?
Unlike shared hosting that relies on one server, cloud hosting uses a cluster of servers that work together to store your website’s files and data.
Cloud-based hosting is great because it’s more efficient and secure than other hosting methods.These cloud systems protect your site against attacks better than traditional hosting systems because all the resources of multiple servers are in one virtual network.
Since the servers are virtual, clients only pay for what they need and use. And if a physical server connected to the cloud goes offline or malfunctions, the virtual servers won’t be affected.
Think of it as a pay-as-you-go cell phone plan: you’ll never pay for resources you don’t need. And, if you need more to cover a jump in traffic, all you’ve got to do is pay a bit more money for that period of time.
What is WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting is for WordPress websites only. It’s fast because every aspect of WordPress servers has been optimized for setting up WordPress.
Your loading speeds will be much faster on WordPress in comparison to some other shared hosting sites. This is also true for your uptime. It’s also more secure because you’ve got a support team of WordPress experts to back you up if your website is attacked. Plus, your server will always be up to date.
WordPress is a bit less customizable than other hosts, though. For example, certain plugins aren’t permitted, and some plugins can’t be altered. Also, if you choose WordPress as your host, then you will also have to use WordPress as your CMS; it won’t allow you to use an outside CMS.
Site Transfers (FREE or Not?)
What if you pick a web host only to find that you don’t like it? Site transfers allow you to move your website to another host.
Moving to another website consists of transferring the website’s files and databases, configuring your site with the new host, and directing your domain’s DNS to the new host. Once you pick a new site host, they can usually help you out with this process. The cost will depend on the host you’re switching to, but it will probably be anywhere from $150-$400.
But some web hosts on our list, like GreenGeeks and HostGator, offer free web transfers.
For paid transfers, you can usually transfer more than one site. It’s only $149.99 to migrate as many as five websites and 20 email accounts to Bluehost.
The site transfer will usually take a few days.
For a host like HostPapa, it will take 5 to 7 days to complete a site transfer. They recommend modifying DNS entries before starting the transfer so that it takes less time.
They can also update your DNS entries, but this service will add 24 to 72 hours before your site becomes live. With A2 Hosting, it’ll take anywhere from 2 to 4 days.
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