Best Web Hosting for 2022 – CNET [CNET]

The inspiration to start your own website could come from anywhere. Maybe you’re thinking of starting a side business, or you’re one of the millions who recently left a job and want to start your own business. Maybe you want to start a blog for fun. No matter what your reason, it’s an exciting process. 

It’s also a complicated venture that involves a lot of decisions. You need to have an idea for what your site should contain or be about, and you have to choose a company to house your website. The number of web hosting services can be confusing and the choice can be hard. So we looked over the data for 22 web hosting services to make things a little easier on you.

While we didn’t test the services, we did carefully examine each service’s offerings and ranked them according to essential web hosting features. Here’s what we looked for to determine the best web hosting services. You can also check out CNET’s 11 things to know about web hosting for more information about these and other features.

• Hosting plans: We checked to see if the service offered shared, VPS and dedicated hosting plans. Inclusion of all three plan types allows customers to scale their plan up as their site grows. 
• Security features: Services need to include some basic security features such as SSL certificates, DDoS protections and backups to protect your data as well as your visitors’. The best web hosts do this at no extra charge.
• Uptime of 99.9% or higher: An uptime of 99.9% or higher ensures your site won’t go down for more than 20 minutes a month, so you keep losses of readers and sales to a minimum.
• Customer support: All services offer some kind of customer support. Some say they offer customer service 24/7, but they mean you can email them any time. That’s a good start, but what if you have an issue that needs immediate attention? Some offer live chat which is better, and others offer phone support which is best.

The best web hosting services meet all four of those criteria. If a service falls short on one or more of those measures, you’ll find it in our list of other web hosting services to consider or our list of additional web hosts we looked at.

For some important terms to know about web hosting, jump to the bottom of this article.

Note: Pricing for web hosting is a bit tricky to follow. Listed prices are generally introductory rates attached to contracts that usually last a year or more and renew at the regular rate at the end of the contract. And as with other services that use introductory rates to lure in customers, the regular rate is usually much higher — double your intro rate, or more. These contracts are also usually paid upfront rather than month-to-month, even though companies will list them as monthly costs. Again, make sure you check the renewal price, as most services say they auto-renew contracts to ensure sites stay up at all times. Actual month-to-month plans can cost at least three times as much as longer contracts.

Best web hosting services

Other web hosting services to consider

These services don’t offer one of the three hosting options, don’t include sufficient security features or have some limited customer service options. The following services aren’t as robust as our top picks, but they’re still reasonable offerings.

SiteGround

SiteGround is a good option if you’re new to web hosting. It offers a 99.99% uptime, 24/7 customer support and plans include security features like SSL certificates, spam protection and a web access firewall to help protect your site. The company also has a 100% renewable energy match. However, Siteground offers shared, cloud, WordPress and reseller hosting options, so while these are good options to have, as your site grows and gains more traffic you might want to consider a service that offers VPS or dedicated hosting. 

SiteGround plans start at $4 a month.

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GoDaddy Web Hosting

GoDaddy Web Hosting offers unmetered storage and bandwidth with its plans so you can upload as many images and videos onto your site as you want. GoDaddy offers shared, VPS, dedicated and WordPress hosting plans, has a 99.9% uptime guarantee and 24/7 customer support. However, its security offerings are inconsistent. For example, SSL certificates are included with some higher-tiered shared plans, but not lower-tiered plans. If this is your first site, you might want to start with one of the lower-tiered options, but the lack of security features might push you to get a more expensive plan.

GoDaddy Web Hosting plans start at $6 a month.

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Dreamhost

Dreamhost offers a 97-day money back guarantee, which is the longest money back time frame for a web hosting service on this list. If you’re new to web hosting, this time frame could give you enough time to make an informed decision about whether to stay with Dreamhost or not. It offers shared, VPS, dedicated and WordPress hosting plans, as well as an upgraded WordPress plan called DreamPress. Dreamhost has a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and plans come with security features like SSL certificates and malware remover. Dreamhost’s drawback is it doesn’t offer 24/7 chat or phone support. Chat support is available seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. PT, and phone support is only available upon callback request. Dreamhost does offer a step-by-step online guide with how to handle technical issues if you think you need tech support. The least expensive plan is also only for one month of hosting. Afterwards, the price renews to the standard rate which is about quadruple the starting price.

Dreamhost plans start at $2 a month.

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Hostwinds

Hostwinds offers unlimited storage and bandwidth, as well as unlimited free business email accounts with each plan. It offers shared, managed and unmanaged VPS, dedicated, reseller and cloud hosting plans, has a 99.99% uptime guarantee and offers 24/7 chat support. Hostwinds plans also come with free SSL certificates and free nightly backups. However, in comparison to other services, Hostwinds isn’t as forthcoming with information on other features or plan differences. Usually services show detailed charts that lay out what features come with plans. Hostwind’s shared chart, for example, only lists bandwidth, disk space and how many domains come with each plan. Since bandwidth and disk space are unlimited, the only noticeable differences with each plan are the domains offered with each plan, the price and name of each plan.

Hostwinds plans start at $6.74 a month.

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Glowhost

Glowhost’s worldwide data centers give you the flexibility to host your site from a certain region if you anticipate most of your traffic will come from that region. Glowhost offers shared, cloud VPS, dedicated, semi-dedicated, reseller and what Glowhost calls an elastic plan which it compares to a managed VPS plan. Security features include free SSL certificates and McAfee Secure, which starts at $30 a year, and customer support is available by phone or chat 24/7. Uptime is harder to discern though. Some dedicated hosting plans guarantee 100% uptime, but a Glowhost administrator in 2008 said it could range between 99.5% and 99.9%, which means your site could be down for at least a day over the course of one year.

Glowhost plans start at $3.47 a month.

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iPage

iPage offers customers a free website builder to get their site up and running, as well as ecommerce tools to easily integrate into your site. iPage offers shared, VPS, dedicated and WordPress hosting plans, and has a 99.9% uptime guarantee. The service also offers 24/7 chat support, as well as phone support available seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. Eastern time. Each iPage plan comes with a free SSL certificate, but additional security features like daily malware scans and backups are not included. To fill those security gaps, iPage offers SiteLock, which starts at an extra $3.99 a month. iPage’s site is also hard to navigate in comparison to other services. For example, I had to scroll to the bottom of its homepage to find additional web hosting plans, like VPS and dedicated.

iPage plans start at $2 a month.

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Mochahost

Mochahost, unlike most other web hosting services, locks in your price no matter how long you stay with the service. That means you don’t get a shock when your three-year contract renews at a much higher rate. Mochahost offers shared, VPS, dedicated cloud, WordPress and reseller plans, a 100% uptime guarantee and 24/7 live chat support. Phone support is also available on callback. Free SSL certificates are included in each plan as well, but other security features like spam and malware filters come at an additional cost or with more expensive plans.

Mochahost plans start at $1.95 a month.

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HostPapa

HostPapa has global data centers, so you can choose the best data center to reach your visitors the quickest. Hosting options include shared, VPS, managed WordPress, reseller hosting and PapaCare Plus, which is similar to managed shared hosting. HostPapa has free SSL certificates, DDoS protection and other security features included in each plan, a 99.9% uptime guarantee and 24/7 phone, chat and email support. However, the lack of a dedicated hosting option means if your site grows too large, you will have to migrate to another service. Also, if you choose HostPapa, make sure to look over what you are buying when you’re checking out. As I went through checkout, some features, like automated backups and a security tool, were automatically added for an additional charge. When comparing plans, these additional features are mentioned and marked as included in higher-tier plans, but not in all plans.

HostPapa plans start at $3.95 a month.

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Hostinger

Hostinger offers a competitive price point. Shared and WordPress plans start at $2 a month, VPS plans start at $3.95 and cloud hosting plans start at $10 a month. There are also video modules on YouTube to show you how to, for example, build your WordPress site or how to change your domain name. Plans include SSL certificates and all servers have an advanced security module to protect your data. Some lower-tier plans offer weekly backups, while higher-tier plans offer daily backups. Hostinger has a 99.9% uptime guarantee, too. Customer support is limited, though. Live chat is available 24/7, as is email, but Hostinger doesn’t offer phone support. 

Hostinger plans start at $2 a month.

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WebHostingPad

WebHostingPad offers shared, managed and unmanaged VPS, WordPress and a mini hosting plan for smaller sites. Each plan includes free SSL certificates and SiteLock Lite, and WebHostingHub has a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Chat support is available 24/7, but phone support is only available Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Central Time. WebHostingPad also offers competitive prices, starting at $1.99 a month, but they’re only available with four-year and five-year contracts. There is a mini plan that has a fixed price point of $3 a month, but it’s offered with a three-year contract, otherwise the price is $3.50 a month for one year or $3.25 a month for two years. Domains are also an additional $17 at checkout.

WebHostingPad plans start at $2 a month.

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More web hosting services we looked at

Most of these services specialize in one type of hosting, like shared or WordPress, which means they’re not the best if you plan to grow your site. They also tend to be missing some security features and customer support options. However, they could be right for you and your needs if you have specific or smaller-scale hosting needs.

Liquid Web: No shared hosting. Security features include an integrated firewall and standard DDoS protections. Offers 99.99% uptime and 24/7 chat or phone support. Prices start at $25 a month.

Web Hosting Hub: Offers shared and WordPress hosting. Has free SSL certificates but other security features cost extra. Offers 99.9% uptime and has 24/7 chat and phone support. Prices start at $6 a month.

WP Engine: Offers WordPress hosting. Security features like free SSL certificates and daily backups. Has a 99.95% uptime guarantee and offers 24/7 chat and phone support. Prices start at $20 a month.

Kinsta: Offers WordPress hosting. Security features like free SSL certificates and automatic backups. Has a 99.9% uptime and 24/7 chat support. Prices start at $25 a month billed at $300 a year.

Pantheon: Offers WordPress hosting. Security features include DDoS protection and automated backups. Offers 99.9% uptime and customer support is available 24/7 via chat, phone or even Slack. Prices start at $41 a month. 

Web hosting services compared

Provider	A2 Hosting	InMotion Hosting	Ionos	NameCheap	Bluehost	GreenGeeks	HostGator	AccuWeb Hosting
Superlative	Best for customer service	Best for first-time website owners	Best security features	Best cheap web host	Best for WordPress sites	Best clean-energy web host	Best for data-heavy sites	Best for global customers
Monthly shared plan starting price	$3	$2.49	$0.50	$1.58	$2.95	$2.95	$2.75	$5.49
Security features	Great	Great	Great	Good	Good	Good	Good	Great
Uptime guarantee	99.9%	99.99%	99.99%	99.9%	99.9%	99.9%	99.9%	99.99%
Customer support	Great	Great	Great	Good	Great	Good	Great	Good

Terms to know

If you’re confused about any terms above, I’m going to try and explain them as best I can down here. You can check out CNET’s web hosting FAQ or tips to help secure your site for more information, too.

Web hosting: This is the act of storing a website’s data on a server or series of servers. Imagine a website as a work of art. That art needs to be housed somewhere for people to see, and web hosting is like a gallery where art can be stored for others to view.

Shared hosting: Typically the most basic and least expensive web hosting option available. Continuing the art example, shared hosting is like a small gallery presented in a coffee shop. Yes, the art you created is there, but so is art by other people. Shared hosting is similar. You’re usually charged a few bucks a month to house your site, but you don’t get a lot of resources to help you take care of your site. These plans usually cost between $2.50 to $15 a month.

VPS hosting: Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting is a step up from shared hosting and is a little bit more expensive. Here, your art is stored in a gallery downtown. Again, other art is stored and displayed alongside yours, but unlike shared hosting, each artist has their own booth within the gallery. With VPS hosting, you get more resources and those resources allow you to handle more traffic and display more items. These plans usually cost between $20-$80 a month.

Dedicated hosting: Dedicated hosting is similar in that you get a whole server to house your site. This is your own wing of an art gallery. Everything in this wing is your art and you get dedicated people to help take care of your art. These plans are the most expensive, but you get the most resources too. These plans usually cost between $80-$300 a month.

Reseller hosting: Back to the art example. Imagine you don’t own any art to display, but you see a bunch of people who want to display their art. You have some money so you buy a space in a building and make an art gallery for artists to display their work for a fee. That’s reseller hosting. You buy space on a server, not to use, but to resell to people in order to make money. 

Cloud hosting: Cloud hosting is like having copies of your art featured in a network of galleries. Your art is no longer in one gallery or even a wing, it is in two or more galleries. That way, even if one gallery is closed your art is still viewable in another gallery. Cloud hosting is similar in that your data is stored in a network of servers so if anything happens to one server, visitors can still visit your site like usual. These are generally used by larger businesses and organizations.

WordPress hosting: WordPress hosting is a type of hosting that is optimized to use WordPress as a content management system. Imagine you are trying to get into the art world but don’t really know where to start. You go to a coffee shop and ask what kind of art they hang on the walls and they say, “We only hang oil paintings. In fact, here’s some canvas, brushes and paints to get you started.” That’s like WordPress hosting. The way your site’s content is managed is already decided for you. And WordPress is a popular content management system used by many organizations. WordPress offers over 54,000 plugins to help build your site. This system is usually pretty easy for people to learn, which means WordPress is a good choice for people who are hosting their first site.

Un/managed hosting plans: Unmanaged hosting plans place responsibility for some administrative work on you, the customer. Managed hosting plans, however, put that responsibility on the web hosting service provider. Unmanaged is like if you hang your art in a gallery and you have to clean it, make sure it’s hung right and generally maintain it. Managed is like gallery employees handling those tasks for you. Unmanaged plans are generally more cost effective, but managed plans free you up to focus on your site.

Uptime: This is a measurement of how long your site stays up without going down. The longer your site stays up, the more traffic it can handle and the more money you can potentially make if your site is for a business. Imagine you’ve narrowed down where to hang your art to two places: One is open two days a week and the other is open seven days a week. You want more people to see your art so you go with the place open seven days a week. That’s similar to uptime. However, uptime can be confusing. Generally when you see something is 99% effective, you think that’s pretty good. But a 99% uptime means your site is down for over three days a year. The closer your uptime is to 100%, the better.

SSL certificates: Secure socket layer (SSL) certificates are a form of cryptographic protocols that encrypt and authenticate data between servers, machines and applications operating within a network. These are like a coded language between the server your site is hosted on and the computer of a visitor. Imagine your art is up, but in order to view it people need to know the password, like a speakeasy. If they don’t know the password, they can’t view your art. SSLs word in a similar way. These protect your data and your visitor’s data.

WAF: A web application firewall (WAF) is a layer of security on your site that filters, monitors and blocks malicious traffic from accessing your site. You have hung your art up, and in order to protect your art and anyone who’s come to see it, the gallery has hired a bouncer to pat down people as they walk in to see your art. The bouncer is the WAF. If traffic looks suspicious, the WAF blocks it. 

DDoS protection: Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a flood of traffic to your site that shuts down your site, and potentially the sites of others depending on your hosting plan. Imagine you hang your art up in a coffee shop, for example, and someone doesn’t like your art so they convince hundreds of thousands of people to swarm the shop to stop anyone from seeing your art. Not only can most people not see your art because of the crowd, but people can’t see other artist’s work either. Having DDoS protections in place helps monitor your site’s traffic for anything suspicious, and stops DDoS attacks from happening before they cause significant damage.

Website builder: Some web hosting services offer free website builders with plans. Imagine you have an idea for a mural-sized painting. Yes, you could use your fingers, but you’ll probably use some brushes and rollers to make it easier and to have more control. The brushes and rollers are like website builders. Instead of coding your site from scratch, website builders are tools that help you easily create your site.

For more on web hosting, check out the best website builders, the best VPN services and the best identity theft protection services.