Website hosting is key for any website to succeed. The time a website takes to load completely matter a lot to every customer. Even a second delay can cause to loss business worth millions. Major criteria to Judge best web hosting platforms would be to test their speed, the loading capacity, SSL certificate, prices, domain registration, website builder tool and uptime.
The following results are based on selective best web hosts in 2023. All the platforms below are compared for their cheapest web hosting plans.
#1 Bluehost
Description:
Bluehost, founded in 2003, is one of the most well-known platforms for website hosting. It is known for its features, expertise, easy-to-use interface and support. Bluehost is fast and reliable for decades. It offers a variety of plugins, themes and third-party integrations all for free. Bluehost is a company dedicated to website hosting which makes it not only the best hosting software but also a cheap hosting platform It offers the best in class services at the most affordable prices.
Bluehost is very beginner-friendly and perfect for small businesses. It allows you to adjust the cache and also supports a coming soon page.
Features:-
Load Time:
Bluehost is known to have a 1.48ms average speed which is fine for a normal load website.
Uptime:
The website promises 99.98% uptime.
Domain:
Offers free domain name for 1 year
SSL:
The basic plan comes with a free SSL certificate for the first year
Storage:
10GB SSD
Websites Available:
The basic plan only comes with 1 website but if you opt for the choice plus plan it comes with unlimited website (limited file storage)
Security:
Good security measures with good resource protection such as external malware scans, automated malware removal, a security dashboard, blacklist monitoring are applied. You can also buy CodeGaurdBackup by paying $2.99 monthly fee.
Bandwidth:
Unmetered
Data Centers:
There are Data centres in the US, UK, China and India. There is no variation in plans as per data centres.
Support:
24/7 support on phone, email and live chat
Trial:
Bluehost offers 30 days money-back guarantee in case the user is not satisfied with the services. This makes it the best web hosting platform
Services provided:
Website hosting, Domain registration, Digital Marketing, Web Designing
Types of web hosting offered:
Shared hosting, WordPress hosting, Woo commerce, Dedicated hosting, VPS hosting
Highlight:
Bluehost is recommended by WordPress as one the best web hosting platforms for WordPress
Recommendation:
It is best suited for beginners and small business
Pros:
- Upgrading and downgrading is easy
- Free site builder with templates
- Offers good payment gateways
- Very good support services
- Offers end to end site migration
- The storage space is upgradeable on extra payment
- 1 click WordPress installation
Cons:
- The renewal prices are very high, so it is advisable to choose a plan annually.
- The reviews state the uptime goes to 99.89% in certain cases if the load is very high
- SSL certificate is only available for 1 year in the basic plan
- Does not offer site backups
- Select between 12 months or 36 months minimum subscription
Pricing:
The basic plan starts from $2.95/month on a 12-month subscription.
The above representation is only for 12 months. The site offers discounted rates on 36 months subscription. Please click the link for detailed plans and offers.
#2 HostGator
Description:
HostGator provides website statistic tools, application tools, password-protect directories, and custom error pages. The web hosting software offers automated backup by paying a small extra amount. It is the best web hosting platform which gives a reliable speed at the most competitive rates. HostGator has a great response time better than most platforms in the market today. The website hosting platform comes with unlimited bandwidth and works well on Windows and Linux both Operating Systems.
Features:
Load Time:
Average 1.03 secs is the load time of Hostgator
Uptime:
99.99% it is optimised loading speed
Domain:
Free for one year
SSL:
Hostgator is a cheap web hosting software, it gives a free SSL certificate permanently. No need for renewals.
Storage:
10GB Disk space
Website Available:
The Hatchling plan offers only one website whereas the eCommerce plan comes with unlimited websites on the plan.
Security:
This web hosting software protects users from DDoS attacks while offering Sitelock and CodeGaurd backups on extra payment
Bandwidth:
HostGator comes with Unmetered Bandwidth (within terms)
Data Centres:
All over the USA. CDN over North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia
Support:
The website hosting software gives 24/7 live chat, whereas phone support is available for premium users
Trial:
30 days money back guarantee if the customer is not happy with the services
Services provided:
Website Hosting, Website Security Tools, Web Designing, Pay-per-click, Search Engine Optimisation and Domain Registration
Types of web hosting offered:
Shared hosting, Website Builder, WordPress hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Cloud Hosting and Reseller hosting. View comparison summary of features here: Comparison
Highlight:
HostGator is the fastest and most affordable for shared web hosting
Recommendation:
Suited for small and medium enterprises
Pros:
- Free migration of data
- 24/7 response team for timely replies
- Services include email services
- One-click WordPress install
- Offers subscription for a single month, the time frame is very flexible
- Offers emails also
- Come with latest CPanel hosting for control pannel
Cons:
- No site backups free of cost
- It automatically attaches add-ons during plan checkout
- Only chat support with basic plan
- Renewal plans are expensive
Pricing:
The Basic Hatchling plan is $2.75 per month for 36 months subscription. For a single month, it is $11.95/month. You can subscribe for 1 month, 6 months, 12 months and 36 months
#3 Liquid Web
Description:
Liquid Web is known for managed web hosting as an experienced company since 1996. It is the best website hosting platform for its premium services as it has a reputation and goodwill for its services. Liquid Web does not offer shared hosting though it is popular for virtual private hosting and dedicated hosting. Liquid Web is the parent company of Nexcess used for managed WordPress and Woo commerce. This web hosting platform is equipped to handle high-load capacity websites with ample high-resolution items.
Features:-
Load Time:
The load time is within 1.3 seconds which is brilliant as per industry
Uptime:
Liquid Web has a record 99.992% uptime (almost 100%), one of the best industry-standard
Domain:
Liquid Web does not provide Domain registration services
SSL:
The web hosting service does give an SSL certificate but it needs to be uploaded manually
Storage:
The basic plan known as “Spark” comes with 15GB storage
Websites available:
It comes with unlimited website options for it can handle the load
Security:
Liquid Web comes with DDoS protection, server security package and an integrated firewall.
Bandwidth:
Liquid Web gives 2TB bandwidth and upto 10TB in higher plans which is more than suffiecient
Data Centres:
The best web host own their own data centres which are located at US and Europe
Support:
Liquid Web is known for its real-time heroic support available within working hours policy. The live chat is available 24/7, the email and phone support has a record response time of within 59 seconds
Trial:
Liquid Web does not give a free trial but offers a 30-day refund
Services provided:
Liquid web is only and only involved in website hosting in different forms
Types of web hosting offered:
Dedicated server hosting, VPS, cloud dedicated, managed word press, managed Woo commerce, Magento Cloud, DAtabase hosting
Highlight:
The impeccable customer support is the highlight of Liquid web. It has all queries solved within a record time. There is nothing the website and youtube channel do not tell you about.
Recommendation:
Liquid Web is a Premium web hosting software suitable to handle large traffic, typically for large businesses.
Pros:
- Liquid Web gives automatic daily backups
- The web hosting platform comes with pre-installed WordPress
- It assists in hassle-free migration at no additional cost
- The Dashboard offers cPanel with WP, and iThemes Sync Pro
- The backup restoration is never so easy with a single click, a 30-day backup is maintained with the servers.
- Access to unlimited email accounts
- Comes with beaver builder lite which is suitable for drag and drop
- The youtube channel has videos on everything related to the software
- The best website hosting software is upgradable to all your extra needs at of course some charges.
Cons:
- Domain registration is not supported and hence increases the work of manual domain registration
- The control panel is complicated and not suitable for beginners
- Shared hosting is not available
- It has premium pricing and is not suitable for cheap web hosting
- WordPress installation is difficult
Pricing:
There are different prices for every plan. It is best to check out the available plans to select the most suitable one for you. The dedicated server website hosting starts from $149.25 per month Please click the link to know about the different product plans offered by Liquid Web: Plans
#4 Web.com
Description:
You may have heard the name of web.com only in relation to website building and domain registration services, but the lesser known fact to everyone is Web.com also provides web hosting and wordpress hosting services. It is a one-stop solution for website hosting, building, domain registration, security and back-ups. It is truly the best web hosting service, as it is an all-in-one package packed with features.
Features:-
Load Time:
The load time is below 3 seconds which is the recommended industry-standard
Uptime:
The web hosting is also cheap hosting as it guarantees 99.9% uptime
Domain:
Free domain for one year
SSL:
The basic plan does not come with free SSL certificate, only the Plus and Premium offer free SSL certificate
Storage:
The website hosting service offers upto 10 GB storage
Websites:
1 website, 25 FTP accounts and business email can be hosted
Security:
Unfortunately the basic plan does not offer a free SSL certificate like many others. But if you sign up for the website builder plan, it comes with bundled services and an SSL certificate as well. On payment, web.com offers SSL certificates, website security, website backup, cyber security solutions, and expert support options. Check details here: Website Security
Bandwidth:
Web.com offers unmetered bandwidth
Data Centres:
Web.com has its major data at QTS Atlanta Metro Data Center
Support:
The 24/7 phone, ticket, text message and live chat support makes web.com one of the best web hosting platform
Trial:
There is no free trial or refund available whatsoever for the plans.
Services provided:
Website builder, Domain registration, Website hosting, marketing services, expert services and SEO tools
Types of web hosting offered:
Shared website hosting and WordPress hosting
Highlight:
All-in-one services for the website. Web.com provides bundled services which cover all you need to start your new wbsite
Recommendation :
It is good for building and managing basic websites for beginners, and small businesses
Pros:
- Drag and drop website builder is a very convenient tool that is included in all the plans of web.com
- The basic website can entertain upto 15,000 visitors as guaranteed by the host which is a top class traffic handling
- Web.com comes with many template options which makes website building a quick and easy task
- Developer tools like Ruby, Perl and python are available
- Its a one stop solution to all website needs
- Website setup is easy and user-friendly
Cons:
- There is no provision of free trial or refund which is a big downside
- It is more focussed on website building over website hosting
- There are extra charges for a lot of services and basic plan offers very few advantages
- Offers only annual or 3 years subscription, there is no provision for only a month trial
- Renewal rates are more than double after the first year
- The biigest issue with web.com is he discounted price is for only and only first month. From the second month, it charges hiked prices even on annual subscription
Pricing:
The basic plan for shared web hosting starts at $2.95/month (only the first month) for annual subscription
#5 Namecheap
Description:
Namecheap is serving in the market for 21 years for web hosting and domain registration, since the time it was found in the year 2000. Namecheap is the most easy-to-use interface. It is packed with good features and has no major issues involved. Namecheap
Features:-
Load Time:
Namecheap takes 1.3 seconds to completely load the website, which is very fast
Uptime:
The uptime is sound 99.87%, which is good but not the best
Domain:
Free domain for 1 year
SSL:
Free SSL is available only for the first year, after that, it is set on auto renew
Storage:
The web hosting service comes with 20 GB storage and 30 domain based mailboxes
Websites:
There can be up to 3 websites in the basic plan
Security:
Namecheap does have safety measurements in place at the right time.
Bandwidth:
The best web hosting service allows unmetered bandwidth, which is very good for scaling the business
Data Centres:
The data centres are located in the US, UK and Europe
Support:
There are 24-hour available support
Trial:
There is no free trial period, but they do have money back policy
Services provided:
Website builder, Domain registration, WordPress hosting, security tools
Types of web hosting offered:
Shared hosting, WordPress hosting, email marketing, security tools, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting and email hosting
Highlight:
The highlight of Namecheap is the variety it offers at affordable prices
Recommendation:
Namecheap is recommended for personal and tiny projects for testing purposes
Pros:
- The company’s own website builder in addition to wordpress is a very favourable for beginners and new users
- The software comes with custom control panel and can be attached to cPanel tool.
- CDN is supersonic and free of cost.
- Migrating to Namecheap is easy with one click
Cons:
- Namecheap is not suitable for handling large traffic spikes
- Namecheap is a little low in performance
- The prices vary as per the data centre you choose
- There are no backup provisions with Namecheap
Pricing:
Pricing starts from 1.98 per month on annual park. Please note this special price is only for the first year. To check prices on monthly basis or 2 years please click the following link: Plans
There are plenty of players in the market for web hosting. There is no single plan which is suitable to everyone, you have to choose as per the features you need and the type of your website. The size may vary from just an informational website, blogging or personal website or heavy traffic eCommerce website. A web hosting server can be changed incase a plan is not found suitable but one also needs to consider the costs of migration.
Bonus:
Website hosting has to be strong to build a good website. To make the marketing stronger email marketing software offloads all your worries of Customer Relationship Management.
