Web Hosting Reviews You Can Trust
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BlueHost Web Hosting Review
- Easy-to-use interface
- Best WordPress integration
- Budget-level pricing
- Small amount of storage
- No monthly shared hosting plans
- No cloud hosting plans
WP Engine Web Hosting Review
- Excellent uptime
- Good customer service
- Real-time threat detection.
- Best suited for WordPress Sites
- Doesn't sell domains
- Doesn't come with email
- Backend is too complex
SiteGround Web Hosting Review
- Excellent customer service
- Free Site Migration for 1 Website
- Extremely fast servers
- No month-to-month shared hosting plans
- No Free Domain Name
- Renewal prices are too high
GreenGeeks Web Hosting Review
- Unlimited Web Space
- Unlimited Data Transfer
- Unlimited Email
- Unlimited MySQL Databases
- 99.9% Uptime
- No Website Staging
- No 24/7 Phone Support
A2 Web Hosting Review
- Fastest Shared Hosting Provider
- Efficient Customer Support
- Free Site Migrations
- High Renewal Rates
- Confusing sign-up process
InMotion Web Hosting Review
- Several plans to choose from
- Excellent customer support
- Offers free SSL certificate
- All plans come with a free domain name
- The company offers a 90-day guarantee on most plans
- Does not offer Windows-based hosting
- Most data centers are in North America
Liquid Web Hosting Review
- Dedicated and High-Performing Servers
- High Security
- Great Customer Support
- 100% Uptime guaranteed
- Highly Expensive
- No Shared Web Hosting
HostGator Web Hosting Review
- Easy to use for new users
- Free advertising credit and SEO tool
- Excellent customer support
- Impressive up-time guarantee
- Access to free site-building tools
- Does not offer Windows-based VPS hosting
- Shorter contracts can be expensive
DreamHost Web Hosting Review
- Offers some exclusive domain-management tools
- All packages come with unlimited bandwidth
- The money-back guarantee is quite good (97 days)
- Several packages to choose from
- The company is carbon-neutral, i.e.: green
- Limited customer support
- Does not offer cPanel
GoDaddy Web Hosting Review
- Available on both Windows- and Linux-based servers.
- The email service is integrated tightly into Microsoft applications.
- They offer excellent 24/7 customer support.
- Free domain name provided with all yearly plans
- Offers no cloud hosting
- They have limited live chat support (only on workdays, working hours)
- There are a few upsells at checkout.
Our Mission
There are nearly hundreds of web hosting providers in the market today, websites hosted online, but only a few are really good. Our mission is to provide clarity on the web hosting decisions facing new website owners everyday. We will lead you to the right direction for web hosting needs.
Our Readers
How to find the best web hosting service?
It can seem very challenging to find the right web hosting service for your online business. Web hosting is an essential part of running a successful online business. Therefore, it is very important to choose a web hosting service covers all of these areas: (1) Ease of Use, (2) Availability & Uptime, (3) Speed & Performance, (4) Security and (5) Customer Support.
If you are looking for right hosting service to start your website, those three elements will help you pick the best hosting provider for your specific needs.
At HostingVote, our experts reviewed the top major web hosting providers in the industry, so you won’t have to waste your time and money.
What is web hosting?
Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to host a website onto the internet. A web hosting provider is a business, such as Bluehost and Siteground, that provides the back-end technologies and services for the website to be viewed in the internet.
So, how does the internet users view the website? The website is stored in a special computer (CPU) called servers. When an internet user types your domain name (i.e., https://www.yourdomain.com) into their browser, their computer will connect to the server and your website will be delivered to their browser.
Each hosting provider have some features that comes with their services:
- Email Accounts: When you purchase a domain name (your brand name), the email account features are provided by your hosting company. You can create a domain email account (e.g. yourname@yourdomain.com)
- Free SSL Certificate: This is what enable websites to move from HTTP to HTTPS and it will protect tranismmion of data such as credit card details, account login information and any other sensitive information.
- WordPress Support: WordPress is the most powerful content management tool in the market. This is the easiest way to create and manage websites.
Please keep in mind that most hosting providers will ask you to purchase a domain name in order to host your website. If you don’t have one, most of them will help you purchase one.
We will talk about that next.
What is the different between hosting and domain?
It is important to know the difference between web hosting and domain registration.
Web hosting is where your website files will be stored in a server and served to internet user via internet. Domain Registration is an one or more words (e.g. hostingvote.com) that directs internet users to a specific website files via a browser.
our domain is the brand of your website and it does not do anything on its own without a hosting plan. In this case, it’s really important to choose a domain name that’s short and memorable.
If you plan on buying a domain name without web hosting, you can do so at Namecheap. Your domain name will sit there until you “point” your domain to a web hosting service. The hosting company usually have instructions on how to “point” your domain name to your hosting account.
If you plan on buying the domain and hosting together, we recommend to use Bluehost and Siteground. This is the most convenient path to creating a website and makes the most sense. Most hosting providers usually bundle specials and discounts if you purchase a domain and hosting plan together.
What are the different types of web hosting?
There are too many options in the world of web hosting. Each option is catered around the website owners needs based on the amount of storage capacity, control, technical knowledge requirement, server speed and reliability.
We have curated the best website hosting providers based on the five types of web hosting:
1. Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is perfect for beginners. With a shared hosting plan, all domains share the same server resources such as CPU (Central Processing Unit) and RAM (Random Access Memory). The cost of shared hosting plans are relatively low because all resources are shared. If you’re on a budget, this is an excellent choice for beginners and non-technical people.
Shared hosting pros:
- Ideal for beginners and small websites
- Extremely affordable
- Easy to set up
- No technical knowledge required
Shared hosting cons:
- Limited server resources
- Websites can be slow
- Servers can get overload
- Not great for website growth
2. Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
VPS hosting is perfect for website owners who need more control. With a VPS Hosting plan, a website is hosted within its own space on the server with dedicated resources. However, it is still shared with other websites but significantly lower than a shared plan. When a website outgrows a shared plan, upgrading to a VPS plan makes the most sense.
This is an excellent choice for website owners who want more freedom and flexibility than a shared plan.
VPS hosting pros:
- Dedicated server resources
- Faster loading speeds than shared hosting
- More affordable than dedicated hosting
- Great for sites that stores large videos and images
VPS hosting cons:
- Limited WordPress Support
- Requires more technical knowledge
- Sharing the main server with other sites
- Still has some limitations of what you can control
3. WordPress Hosting
WordPress hosting is intended to optimize WordPress websites. The WordPress optimization includes security, speed, daily backups, website uptime, and scalability. It is more expensive than shared and VPS hosting because you don’t have to deal with WordPress updates and weekly maintenance. You can focus on content and everything else will take care of itself.
This is an ideal choice for heavy WordPress users who want hassle-free and very targeted solution.
WordPress hosting pros:
- Specifically optimized for WordPress
- Specialized WordPress support
- Enhanced security for WordPress
- One-click WordPress installation
WordPress hosting cons:
- Only host WordPress sites
- Hard to customize
- Expensive compared to other alternatives
- Less control and flexibility
4. Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is ideal for large websites. With a dedicated hosting plan, you will have a dedicated server for your website. The cost of dedicated hosting plans are relatively high because you will have complete technical control over software and configurations. You should expect fast loading speeds and high uptime rates with dedicated hosting.
A dedicated hosting plan is a great choice for high-traffic websites. This is also great for those who want to be responsible for installing updates and monitoring everything like database errors. We don’t recommend it for beginners and low-traffic websites.
Dedicated hosting pros:
- Optimal website performance
- Not sharing resources with other sites
- Very fast load times
- Complete control over the server
Dedicated hosting cons:
- Very expensive web hosting
- Requires a high-level technical knowledge
- You are responsible for everything
- You are responsible for glitches or errors
5. Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is the best option for websites that get high volumes of traffic. With a cloud hosting plan, you will get better website performance and enhanced tech flexibility over traditional web hosting. The downside of cloud hosting is that not all could providers can mitigate security risks such as the threats of hacking, privacy breaches, and cyber-attacks.
The upside of cloud hosting is that a website owner can determine how much memory, processing power, and storage space is required to run their website. It is basically like renting storage space for your website. You only pay for what is used.
Cloud hosting pros:
- You pay for what you use
- Better tech flexibility over traditional hosting
- Highly suitable for website growth
- Reliable data centers
Cloud hosting cons:
- Hosting costs can differ from month to month
- Limited monthly bandwidth
- Higher security issues
- Difficult data management
Let’s Recap…
Web hosts are the backbone for your website. Not all web host providers are the same as they have different technology infrastructure. Your web hosting needs depends on your needs such as speed, security and customer support.
Every component of your website depends on your web host provider. They provide the technology and server space required for your website. Once you figure out what type of web hosting is the best option for you, you can focus on building your online business.
- Shared Hosting — Best for beginners and small websites. – BlueHost
- VPS Hosting — Best for website growth. – InMotion
- WordPress Hosting — Best for WordPress sites. – WP Engine
- Dedicated Hosting — Best for large-sized websites. – HostGator
- Cloud Hosting — Best for medium-sized websites. – Siteground
Frequently asked questions
There is no “best” web hosting service. Each and every web host provider has some pros and cons. It all depends on what you’re looking for. Read our Best Web Hosting Providers based on our research to help you make a decision.
Yes, you can host your own website. However, we don’t recommend hosting your own website as it will bring many performance and consistency issues. It is better to leave the web hosting technicalities to the professionals, so you can focus on growing your business.
Website hosting costs can vary, with prices starting at $2.75 for shared hosting to over $750 for dedicated hosting. With all the web hosting plans and advanced technologies swirling around the marketplace, hosting services are probably cheaper than you might expect. You will definitely want to shop around for the hosting company that fulfills your hosting needs.
Anyone can buy a domain name without web hosting. To do so, you visit a domain name registrar, type in the domain you want to buy and pay a fee. Just a reminder, you cannot buy a domain that is already registered by another person or business. You can purchase a domain name at Namecheap!