10 Best Web Hosting Services in 2023
The most comprehensive web hosting test ever conducted
We tested the world’s most popular web hosting services to see which ones really live up to their claims. We launched actual websites on each provider’s servers and recorded loading speeds and uptime. We also evaluated features and pricing, and challenged the support teams to see if they could provide adequate help – even when things got tricky.
Our team spent long months carefully testing and collecting data on hundreds of web hosts from all over the world, and now, the results are in. We had quite a few surprises along the way – some of the hosts we were betting on ended up performing poorly, while others greatly exceeded our expectations. Let’s take a closer look at the best of the best.
#1 Hostinger: Best Performance & Low Cost
4.8
Lowest prices on the market for long-term plans
Uses LiteSpeed technology for top loading speed
Simple user experience with a proprietary control panel
Supports WordPress and hundreds of other CMSs
Hostinger is known for its aggressive marketing, so I was particularly curious to see if it was all just talk. My expectations were not very high, but what can I say? I was truly surprised. With such low prices, I never thought I’d see such excellent performance test results.
What do I mean by excellent? Well, our testing shows that even on Hostinger’s basic plan, which costs only $1.99 per month if you sign up for a year, loading speeds almost equaled what we saw from much more expensive services.
If you want to host anything from a personal blog to a business page and you’d like to get your website online as quickly and as cheaply as possible, you really can’t go wrong with Hostinger. Before you sign up, visit our Hostinger coupon page to see the best deals currently available.
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#2 IONOS: Premium Features on Your Budget
4.8
Dedicated support advisor and instantly scalable performance
One-click installation for WordPress and other popular apps
Low prices and a free domain with every plan
Daily automatic backups
Despite being a budget-friendly host, IONOS offers premium features that you’d usually only find with expensive managed solutions. For example, every customer is assigned a dedicated personal advisor at no extra cost. They will get to know your experience level and the goals you hope to achieve with your website, tailoring support accordingly. If you’re a beginner to web hosting, this can be incredibly helpful.
IONOS’ shared hosting plans also offer scalable resources, allowing you to temporarily or permanently improve the performance capabilities of your website. In contrast, most other budget hosts would require you to upgrade to an entirely new plan if you need more resources.
It’s worth noting that IONOS commonly offers big discounts – sometimes it’s one of the cheapest options available. That said, watch the renewal fees! While the prices may be great for your first hosting term, IONOS’ plans will renew at a higher price.
if you are looking for wordpress hosting rocket wordpress hosting is best option.
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#3 InterServer: Best Monthly Hosting Plan
4.8
The best choice for hosting on a month-to-month basis
Data centers on both US coasts let you serve American audiences quickly
Multiple security protocols included, including a malware scanner
Unlimited SSD storage
InterServer is one of the best options if you’re targeting a North American audience. When we tested its US data centers, the loading speeds all over the US and Canada were great. Even in many Western European countries, speeds were still acceptable – but keep in mind that visitors in other parts of the world may have to wait longer for your site to load.
There are other things to like about InterServer, though. I personally like how there’s only one shared plan, and it comes with unlimited resources. You get a generous allocation of server space and bandwidth, and InterServer doesn’t even limit the number of domains you can connect on a single account. This makes it ideal if you’re looking to build multiple small websites.
The fact that InterServer’s monthly rates are among the lowest on the market doesn’t hurt either. The basic plan costs only $2.50 for the first month right now. Interserver VPS hosting is most popular.
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#4 Nexcess: Best Managed Hosting
4.8
Best managed hosting for multiple platforms, from WordPress to Magento
Streamlined, custom-built control panels for maximum efficiency
Excellent worldwide speeds on a cloud-based network
Automatic full-website backups to a remote server
While Hostinger is a great cost-effective solution, you’ll have to make your own optimizations and reconfigurations to get the most out of it. The alternative is managed hosting, and Nexcess (part of the Liquid Web family) provides just that. It’s more expensive to have a true professional do the hard work for you, but it’s the easiest, safest, and most worry-free way to host a website.
Nexcess primarily offers premium shared hosting with autoscaling technology. This allows Nexcess to increase or decrease your available resources in response to traffic surges – this service is included in all plans free for 24 hours per month. You get an optimized hosting environment right out of the box – all you need to do is build your website and get traffic
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#5 Kinsta: Fastest Managed WordPress Hosting
4.7
Fastest, most consistent loading speeds in our testing
Easy-to-use, minimum-fuss control panel
30+ worldwide data center locations built on Google Cloud
Specifically designed for WordPress hosting
Let me say this right away: if price wasn’t an issue, Kinsta would absolutely be #1 on this list. There’s so much to love about the service, from the stylish and ultra-easy-to-use panel to the phenomenal page loading speeds we recorded every time we tested it. It’s a fully-managed service, much like Nexcess’, but with a few key differences. It only supports WordPress, its professional support team is more readily available (responses
in under one minute, 24/7), and performance is even better.
I’ll let you in on a little insider secret. Kinsta doesn’t really care about affiliate deals, advertising, or any of the things that providers like Hostinger and WpEngine spend so much time and money on. It’s clear that they focus on one thing, and one thing only – delivering the best product possible. So, what’s not to like? First, there’s no email hosting. Second, the price. It’s even more expensive than Nexcess (which in itself isn’t cheap), but if your budget allows it, Kinstashould definitely be your choice.
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#6 InMotion Hosting: Best US-Based Support
4.7
American host with multiple US locations
Haggling a bit can get you great prices
A detailed knowledge base, superior to most other hosts
Slightly confusing interface
InMotion Hosting is very similar to InterServer in the sense that both companies maintain data centers on both US coasts, aimed mostly at American audiences. We’ve tested InMotion’s D.C. data centers and found that while speeds were not as fast as InterServer, they were still well within an acceptable range.
So, why not just go with InterServer? Because while InterServer’s hosting does not lack strengths, the company has a huge problem delivering quality support. InMotion Hosting does a decidedly better job at recruiting actual English speakers and training them properly, making it that much easier to get help.
The support experience doesn’t end there. InMotion has amassed what is maybe the most detailed knowledge base around, filled with countless tutorials on how to perform each and every hosting-related task. If you’re a beginner, you should have all the resources you need to build your first site
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#7 A2 Hosting: Great Speed & Uptime Scores
4.7
Best low-priced option for features and performance
Faster loading times than most shared hosting providers
Multiple upgrade options, from enhanced shared plans to powerful VPSs
An “anytime” pro-rata refund lets you enjoy discounted prices without the commitment
While InMotion Hosting combines excellent support, great features, and respectable speeds, A2 Hosting delivers a slightly different mix: features are generally similar, but loading speeds are even better. The support? Nothing to write home about.
A2’s long history in the web hosting business makes it even easier to recommend. With a proven record of consistent loading speeds and high uptime over many years, it’s the kind of host you can simply trust.
If you feel generally confident about your ability to follow guides and tutorials, the lack of available (and/or knowledgeable) support agents shouldn’t be that much of an issue. Given the fact that you can always quit the service and get a pro-rata refund, I’d say it’s worth trying.
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#8 FastComet: Best Servers Outside of US & EU
4.7
Best for reaching audiences in Asia and Oceania
Decent performance and uptime
Great management dashboard with smart cPanel integrations
A great support experience almost all of the time
FastComet’s use case is simple – if you want to reach audiences in Asia without paying a premium, it’s one of your best and most reliable options. You also won’t have to risk it with a local host, where bureaucracy and the language barrier are bound to be an issue. FastComet offers a streamlined and easy-to-use service that makes it easy to serve audiences from India to Japan.
FastComet’s deployment and performance in the US and Europe are nothing to scoff at either, but it’s the extra locations that make it a true gem. Don’t even try serving South-Asian visitors from a data center located in Europe – they’ll jump ship long before your website loads.
Another great part of the service is FastComet’s highly-trained support agents, which I’ve had mostly fantastic experiences with. The only issue is that occasionally you might get matched up with a less enthusiastic agent who will waste your time and say, “I’m sorry, that issue isn’t covered by our support service.” But mysteriously, I’ve found that the next agent I speak with is almost always more eager to help.
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#9 Hostpapa: Easiest-to-Use Control Panel
4.7
A hybrid between shared and managed hosting, offering the best of both worlds
Powerful features, much more streamlined than cPanel-based hosts
Performance is mediocre
Support is difficult to reach
Hostpapa has quite an interesting story. Up until lately, it was simply a very good and very dependable
cPanel-based provider, meaning it did pretty much what every other shared host does, although usually better. After the hosting industry shakeup caused by cPanel raising its license fees, Hostpapa became a different beast
altogether.
After months of intense testing and development, Hostpapa launched Site Tools, a ridiculously easy-to-use control
panel. It lets you set up all important aspects of your hosting quickly, even if you’re a total novice. But…server performance could do with an improvement. In our testing, page loading speed was consistently slower than
the average. Not by much, but it’s worth noting. Still, Hostpapa offers an attractive set of features that make it one of the easiest platforms to work with.
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#10 GreenGeeks: Best Customer Support
4.6
The best support you can find for shared hosting
Dedicated and well-trained support agents that always go the extra mile
Bargain prices and free domain with long-term plans
Green, environmentally-conscious hosting that invests in renewable energy
GreenGeeks is best known as a low-priced and eco-friendly web host, but there’s so much more to its service beyond a noble commitment to the environment.
We love GreenGeeks for many reasons, from its multiple data centers that deliver surprisingly fast speeds, to the powerful cPanel features it includes with every plan. And yet, the best part of GreenGeeks is – hands-down – the support experience.
Even premium hosts may struggle to maintain a professional live support service 24/7. GreenGeeks’ team outperforms them all, and it’s a real pleasure to work with them. They really know what they’re doing, go way beyond what’s expected when lending a hand, and are always a live chat away.
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See Kinsta's Best Plans
Kinsta’s hosting is of the highest quality you’ll find, and the plans offer incredible value for money.
FAQ
Why is Bluehost not included in your list of top web hosts?
Because after testing Bluehost, I found hardly any reasons to recommend it. The internet is filled with “top hosts” rankings that put Bluehost in first place, but the reason for that has everything to do with the money Bluehost is paying them via affiliate programs. In 2023, you’re much better off with one of our recommended hosting providers above.
Can I host a website for free?
Kind of. Free hosting exists, but while it won’t cost you money, it will cost you visitors. Free services are slow, unreliable, and insecure, and if you use one, you should expect anything from frequent downtime to your entire project being hacked and/or blacklisted. It’s best to avoid these issues altogether, and go with a great cost-effective solution like Hostinger and Hostgator instead.
What is the average cost to host a website?
If you intend to pay monthly, you’ll find that most shared hosting services go for around $10 a month. The best deal is InterServer’s shared plan at $7 a month. Premium managed hosting providers, like Nexcess and Kinsta, are more
expensive, but come with a lot of added value. Don’t forget to consider domain name costs when making your budget, and keep in mind that long-term contracts will get you better deals – up to 85% savings with Hostinger, for example.
Other hosts that my colleagues and I tested were Namecheap, Dreamhost, A Small Orange, iPage, Web Hosting Hub, FatCow, and One.com. The conclusion is the same for all of them: you can do better. I’m here to make sure that you will do better.
Can I change my web hosting company?
Yes, you can. If you’re unhappy with your current web host, know that many of the companies on this list provide
free website migrations. Contact support after signing up to your new service, and the agents will happily take care of everything for you. Some hosts, like InterServer, will even clean a hacked website as part of the process.
Which web host is best for small businesses?
Hostinger is an excellent and affordable option if you’re looking to showcase your business, but I wouldn’t recommend using it for a full-fledged e-commerce store. If your website is going to be the center of your business strategy, and
especially if you plan on selling products, IONOS or GreenGeeks are much better choices. if you want wordpress web hosting then go for rocke.net.
Which web hosts offer free SSL?
All hosts on our top 10 list currently offer free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates. Keep in mind that vendors sometimes change plan features, so during the sign-up process, be sure to double-check that an SSL certificate is indeed included in the package.