Best cheap web hosting- quick menu
The best cheap web hosting provider doesn’t mean less features and compromise. It means paying for only what you need. The market is so competitive that even the basic plans are good enough to support a lot of websites. Still, don’t be fooled by some of the resources on offer. Anything that’s usually unlimited is often hard to use to its full potential, such as unlimited bandwidth. When looking for the best cheap web hosting, you should consider the price, performance, security, CMS support, uptime, and support based on your needs.
In this context cheap doesn’t mean sub-optimal. It just means low-priced plans for minimal resources for sites that don’t require a supercomputer to run them. If you think your site might need something more substantial, then you can check out our guide for best small business web hosting. If this looks like the guide for you, then here is the complete guide to the best cheap web hosting for 2024.
The best cheap web hosting of 2024
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Hostinger
If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable web hosting service, Hostinger is a great choice. Its pricing plans cater to a wide range of audiences, from budget-conscious single website owners to those with more demanding website requirements. With the cheapest plan starting at just $2.49/month (for a 48-month commitment), it offers some really great features at this price point. It includes hosting for up to 100 websites, 100 GB of SSD storage, unlimited free SSL certificates, and bandwidth, along with a free email and a free domain (worth $9.99).
When it comes to performance, NVMe SSD storage reduces the loading time for websites, ensuring a good user experience. Plus, if you’re someone who doesn’t like to get into the technicalities, Hostinger is super user-friendly and offers a custom control panel (hPanel), which is very intuitive. It keeps things simple and organized so that all your important go-to items are right in front of you. You also get a setup wizard to streamline your setup process.
There’s no phone support but that’s expected with cheap hosting and you do get 24/7 live chat and email support from Hostinger’s team to help you navigate through any issues.
Overall, if you’re looking for a cheap web hosting plan that can handle your website, offer immense features, and even guide you through your hosting and website-building journey, Hostinger is a great choice.
Namecheap
Namecheap’s cheapest shared hosting plan starts at $1.98, making it super affordable for small business owners who just want a basic shared hosting plan. This price is probably one of the cheapest in the shared hosting market and is ideal for people looking to make the most of their hosting at a cheap cost. In this plan, you get one domain name (limited TLDs), three websites, 20 GB SSD storage, 30 mailboxes, and more. A particular advantage to Namecheap is that they’re one of the best domain registrars around so they’re also a one-stop-shop for all your hosting needs.
For security measures, Namecheap provides SSL certificates and DDoS protection by including automatic backups and advanced firewalls. Plus, you get a two-factor authentication which adds an extra layer of security to your websites.
Although Namecheap doesn’t offer any email or phone support, it does have a 24/7 live chat option or even a ticketing system. To test this, we reached out to the customer support team with a query, and in around a couple of minutes, they managed to help us out with our needs.
In short, Namecheap could be a great option for someone who is looking to start a small personal blog or someone who is starting with website creation and doesn’t want a lot of burden on their pockets. With its super-affordable shared hosting plans and user-friendly interface, Namecheap can be your go-to option if you want simple yet powerful shared hosting.
DreamHost
DreamHost has been in the web hosting business for over 26 years now and has over 1.5 million websites hosted on its servers. Around 750,000 of them are WordPress sites showcasing its incredible use case for people using WordPress to build and manage their sites. On top of this, DreamHost also offers a free WordPress migration service to move your website to their hosting with limited downtime. Its cheapest hosting plan, “Shared Starter,” starts at $2.59/mo (3-year subscription). If you opt for a short-term hosting plan, the subscription surges significantly just like DreamHost’s competitors. With this plan, you get to host one website, free SSL certificate, WP Website Builder, WordPress installer, and much more. If you want to add a custom email address to this plan, you would need to buy it separately.
With Dreamhost, you can build websites with ease. Choose from over 200 starter sites and customize them with the user-friendly drag-and-drop builder, or create a unique site from scratch. The quick-start wizard helps you start with this website-building process smoothly and it even lets you design your own templates and layouts using 100 different design block options. Plus, if someone wants to build a Linux-powered website, Dreamhost can do that too.
During our testing, DreamHost caught our attention with its super intuitive staging environments. If you want to have a glimpse of your website or simply want to test it before making it live, staging is your go-to option. It simply creates a duplicate of your website in an isolated environment. Apart from analyzing your site, you can even edit your site, test plugins, and recheck if everything is on point. Dreamhost offers this service with its VPS hosting and WordPress hosting plans.
If your website goes down for some reason, you don’t get any phone support with Dreamhost. All you can do is reach out to their chat and email support which is available 24/7. However, its quick response makes up for this shortcoming.
DreamHost’s security standards also impresses well. It offers a malware remover tool, DreamShield, which gets rid of corrupt files, and free WHOIS Privacy registration that stops others from spamming your site, and limiting your personal details. Plus, it also gives a Transport Layer Security (TLS) and an SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt without any extra cost.
SiteGround
SiteGround is ideal for someone who is looking to start a small business or for personal projects. You could get the cheapest hosting plan for $2.99/mo(annual subscription) where you get to host a single website, 10 GB web space, 10,000 monthly visits, and many other perks. With a solid uptime guarantee of 99.99%, SiteGround is a reliable web host that can run your website smoothly.
When it comes to managed hosting, this platform goes a step ahead and delivers hassle-free website management through its ultrafast managed WordPress hosting. With SiteGround, you get expert server management, including setup, maintenance, and security configurations. Plus, it also offers automatic updates for server software, including the operating system, web server software, PHP, and MySQL, ensuring that websites run on the latest, most secure, and fastest server configurations without manual intervention.
SiteGround used to have the classic cPanel until 2020, but then they replaced it with their custom control panel called Site Tools. It’s quite easy to use even if you’re a beginner, and it also delivers various modern options, including pinning your favorite/ most useful tools to the top of the screen. That’s not it. You even get a one-click install feature for various popular tools like WordPress, OpenCart, osTicket, Drupal, and Moodle. And, if you’re just starting out, SiteGround has named its tools quite well, like Backups and Site Scanner, and SSL Manager, which makes it even easier to understand.
Unlike its competitors, who offer a CDN plugin in their control panel, SiteGround comes with a CDN feature directly from Cloudflare. It comes free of cost for premium users only up to a certain time. What makes this hosting service even better is its utility of Google Cloud’s super-fast network, which is highly reliable. This lets your websites run on high performance and low latency, all being crucial factors for SEO and user journey.
But, if you’re on a tight budget and disk space is your top priority, SiteGround might not fullfil all your needs because of its super limited offering as compared to its competitors. For instance, Siteground offers 10 GB of disk space compared to Hostinger’s 100 GB of SSD storage. And, if you wish to upgrade your storage on SiteGround, you would need to upgrade to their cloud hosting plan, which is much more costly.
That said, if storage is not your priority and you want to build a small, powerful website that has a stellar performance and high loading speed, SiteGround can do it all for you with it’s CDN and caching.
Bluehost
Bluehost is a Utah-based web hosting service running since 2003. Since then, it has become one of the top brands in this domain. At the time of writing, it hosts more than two million websites across the world. It advertises an uptime guarantee of 99.98%.
It shines as a great choice for ecommerce sites, boasting a suite of features tailored to online businesses. With one-click installation of leading platforms like WooCommerce and Magento, setting up your online store is a breeze. Its robust servers ensure reliable uptime and lightning-fast loading speeds, crucial for keeping customers engaged and transactions flowing smoothly. Plus, BlueHost’s scalable hosting plans adapt effortlessly to your growing ecommerce venture, providing the flexibility needed to accommodate spikes in traffic and sales.
Using Bluehost is also quite easy, and even beginners can try out their hands with this tool. During our tests, we found BlueHost quite crisp and user-friendly. It runs in a combination of its own website management tools along with the classic cPanel. Recently, Bluehost has launched many new features that seem very useful. It acquired Yoast, a popular SEO WordPress plug-in that is available for free for all hosting plans except the basic plan. You can also use the “Maestro” tool if you have multiple websites to manage. Not just that, Bluehost has also added several website design tools and a premium theme marketplace to expand the options for website building.
As part of the plans you get resource protection, an SSL certificate, and a DDoS via Cloudflare for free. Although if you go for shared hosting, you won’t get a firewall by default but Bluehost does use iptables in the form of a firewall for its VPS & dedicated plans. It even has a decent support team, offering 24/7 live chat and phone support. However, phone support is not available in their “Basic” plan.
Overall, Bluehost’s performance is top-notch. It delivers a quick loading time for websites, minimal downtime, and even handles sudden traffic spikes on the websites. We recommend this to small businesses and ecommerce websites who want a reliable hosting provider that can accommodate their needs.
IONOS
Formerly known as 1&1`or 1&1 IONOS, IONOS has been one of the top affordable web hosting platforms out there. It currently hosts over 12 million domains, making it one of the biggest web hosting providers in the entire Europe. Now, we’ve been seeing their pricing structure for a while now, and the internet has literally shouted that IONOS offers hosting for just a dollar. However, it’s not exactly like that. IONOS’s “Plus” hosting plan is indeed priced at a dollar but only for the first six months. After that, users are charged $12/ month, which anyway takes your monthly price to $6.50, making it costlier than most of the hosting providers on our list.
That said, IONOS justifies this price tag with its exceptional uptime guarantee of 99.9%. It supports a variety of hosting apps like Joomla, PrestaShop, TYPO3, and Drupal. You can also use a couple of marketing features with IONOS’s hosting plans, like Google Sitemaps, 10 to 100 mailing lists, and SiteAnalytics, all present with any shared hosting plan of IONOS.
Users also get 24/7 customer support via phone, email, and the live chat feature. However, when we tried reaching out to their team, we didn’t get an instant response, and their support team answered back our queries after several hours. While we signed up for the platform, we found that IONOS doesn’t have the traditional cPanel dashboard but a custom system that’s quite cluttered and not very user-friendly.
But if you’re not new in this domain and want a superior plan, IONOS shines bright when it comes to its VPS hosting plans. It offers scalable performance levels, enabling users to smoothly adjust CPU, RAM, and SSD storage according to fluctuating traffic demands. This ensures optimal performance without any disruptions. The option to select data center locations further boosts this adaptability, significantly reducing latency and accelerating site speeds for audiences worldwide.
Additionally, IONOS empowers users with full root access, allowing for extensive customization of the server environment. This includes the installation of custom software and precise configuration tweaks. Such comprehensive control, coupled with flexible resource scaling and strategic data center choices, positions IONOS as the definitive choice for those in search of a robust, adaptable, and user-focused VPS hosting experience.
OVH Cloud
OVHcloud is a Canadian-based company that was founded in 1999 and is currently offering its services in 140 countries. Its cheapest hosting plan starts at $1.04 where you get a free domain name, 1 GB of disk space, 2 email addresses, and pre-installed WordPress. Unlike the other web hostings that use cPanel for their services, OVHcloud uses a custom control panel, and although it’s quite modern, it isn’t very easy to use. But, if you spend some time around its ecosystem, you’ll surely get a grip on the tool. It even offers the latest PHP versions, delivering better stability, security, and performance. Plus, its servers are specially optimized and designed for a wide range of CMS, like WordPress, Joomla, Prestashop, and Drupal.
When it comes to the security and safety of your hosted websites, OVH goes a step ahead with advanced DDoS mitigation, both free and paid SSL certificates, for encrypting data and compliance with GDPR and other regulatory standards. It further offers a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect your website from common web vulnerabilities. If your website’s stable and strong performance is your main priority, OVH is there for you. With a global Content Delivery Network (CDN), it accelerates your content delivery, reduces page loading time, and even reduces latency for optimal user experience. However, if you’re going for the basic plan, you’ll have to buy this CDN for an additional $2.79/ month(annual subscription). But, if you choose OVH’s Performance Hosting plan, this CDN comes for free.
OVHcloud meets all the necessary requirements for being a good web hosting provider with an uptime of more than 99.5%. However, if the servers go down or you face some other issue, we’re afraid that OVH’s customer support might not be available for you instantly. During our tests, we tried reaching out to their team with a problem, and their chat team, which is available on weekdays from 8:30 A.M to 5 P.M EST, failed to respond immediately. Plus, there are no instant calling options, as you can only request a call back to the team by dropping your query. That being said, after a while, their team was able to help us out and fix our problems.
Moreover, OVH Cloud’s Public Cloud services stand out for their excellent cost-to-performance ratio, providing users with access to quality hardware and network resources without a hefty price tag. The infrastructure supports a wide range of use cases, including AI applications and cybersecurity-focused projects, with features that promote easy management and deployment. Despite some limitations in support for beginners, the platform’s comprehensive offerings and technical capabilities make it suitable for a broad audience, from seasoned developers to businesses looking to scale their operations efficiently. OVH Cloud’s global positioning and emphasis on performance, customization, and security make it a compelling option for anyone in search of a reliable cloud hosting provider.
GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks was launched in 2008 and is one of the leading eco-friendly web hosting providers. What makes it special is its initiative to match your usage by 300% in the form of renewable energy and even plant a tree. Ultimately, users want a company to become sustainable and pocket-friendly, and GreenGreeks is just that. With the cheapest web hosting plan starting at $2.95/month (annual subscription), you get to host one website, along with 50GB of web space, 50 Email Accounts, a free domain name for the 1st year, and a built-in caching system. That said, if any of this doesn’t impress you, users can also use the 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee to part ties with the hosting plan.
Delivering high-quality service is a priority for GreenGeeks, and that’s why it claims a 99.95% uptime on its servers. While we tested them out for a while, it proved to be right. What makes it happen so smoothly is their powerful caching solution, LSCache, which ensures a quick loading time for your hosted websites. It also lets you scale your computing resources if you happen to see a traffic surge on your website. Users have the option to add more RAM or even update their plan hassle-free, making their sites fast and responsive even during such traffic spikes.
Plus, if you like to use different programming languages and frameworks for your work, GreenGeeks supports Perl, PHP, and Python. It shines further with the inclusion of multiple CMSs like WordPress, Magento, Drupal, Joomla, and more to make your job easier. Apart from this, if your site faces a problem, its support system is very responsive all the time. You can reach out to their Live Chat which is available 24/7, Email Support, and even Phone Support (9. A.M to midnight EST). So, if you’re looking for a hosting provider that is not only reliable for your website but is also eco-friendly, GreenGeeks can be your ideal choice.
HostGator
HostGator started in 2002 from a small room at Florida Atlantic University, and since then, they have hosted over 8 million domains to date. The pricing for the cheapest hosting plan at HostGator starts at $3.75/mo (annual subscription), making it a great option for people wanting to start a personal blog on a tight budget. In this plan, you get to host a single website, 10GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, malware scanning, etc.
All of HostGator’s plans offer a free SSL certificate along with unlimited bandwidth. Plus, you also get a free domain for the initial year. With this, you also get unlimited email accounts, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) accounts, and sub-domains that can help you further expand and grow your blogging website. Its customer support is also exceptional, offering live chat and phone support to its users. However, if you’re going for the “Hatchling” plan, you are only eligible to use the chat support. When it comes to performance, Hostgator delivers impressive numbers with 99.90% of uptime.
If you’re a blogger and don’t know much about web development, building a new website is very easy on HostGator as it comes with a drag-and-drop website builder. It has many templates across various categories, including personal portfolios, photography, tech, etc. Although these templates are customizable, they’re not very user-friendly. So, you might need some time to get used to this.
When it comes to the safety of your website, Hostgator has certain measures for it in place. It offers CodeGuard, which is a cloud-based daily backup solution. Along with it, you also get website monitoring, simple restore options, and malware detection. All of this is essential for businesses, but unfortunately, it doesn’t come along with your budget hosting plans. You would need to spend anywhere between $1.99/ month to $8.99/ month to avail this service. That said, if you find this feature too expensive and you don’t need daily backups, HostGator also offers weekly backup options at no extra cost.
Hostgator’s user interface is decent enough to use. It uses a mix of the traditional cPanel with its own customized dashboard that helps you manage your blog quite efficiently. In this, cPanel stores the advanced configurations, and its custom dashboard takes care of the basic features. Overall, Hostgator can be a reliable option if you want to start a blog with very low loading time and ultimate uptime, as it performs exceptionally well in this domain.