Best Cheap Web Hosting Services (2017) Who Got #1 This Year?
Right from inception, web hosting has always been intriguing. Back in the 90s, the internet was still at its most basic form. Tell a tech-savvy millennial about it and they will probably think that was the most medieval time ever for techies.
Imagining that you could only use the internet for research and perhaps education in the fields of science and engineering sounds harsh. Yes, you could access your emails but even then it was only a few web pages. World Wide Web protocol was only just being written.
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Well, we have come a long way. Now web hosting is offered free of charge - what a time to be alive! In fact, we feel entitled to that but don’t forget that unlike paid hosting it comes with limitations. So how do we bridge that gap? Simple, find the best cheap hosting services. We believe we deserve the best no matter how much we are paying. And we are right!
So here are the 10 best cheap web hosting providers. And cheap doesn’t just mean basic features, you will be surprised that some of these cheap services offer support for both MySQL and PHP web scripts. In short, they are low cost but will give a good bang for your buck whether you are running an enterprise or for personal use.
Brand Name | Plans | Rating |
---|---|---|
HostGator | Shared, WordPress, Cloud, Dedicated, VPS | |
BlueHost | Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Reseller, WordPress | |
GreenGeeks | Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Reseller | |
InMotion Hosting | Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Reseller, WordPress | |
Ehost | Shared | |
Ideahost | Shared | |
FatCow Hosting | Shared, WordPress, VPS, Dedicated | |
Web Hosting Hub | Shared | |
Ipage | Shared | |
Justhost | Shared, VPS, Dedicated |
Hostgator is a great choice for a novice in web hosting. They offer month to month shared hosting plans which are ideal for anyone on a budget. Signing up for their longer plans, starting from six months up to 3 years is a more wiser choice as it helps you to save a lot more in the long run. So here is what you can generally expect:
- Unlimited disk storage
- Unlimited domain hosting
- Unlimited database
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited email
- Domain hosting
- MySQL databases
HostGator offers plans that are Windows or Linux based to small enterprises and large corporations. This is unique to them as they are among the very few web hosting providers that have dedicated servers in both Linux and Windows.
On top of all that, they will also let you install popular scripts like WordPress, Joomla and Concrete 5 using their installation app. And as your website grows, you will find it easier and affordable scaling to a more suitable plan from their offerings. Generally, it’s is a reliable and reputable budget option.
BlueHost
Racking up accolades as it steams along, BlueHost is arguably the top pick for the best cheap hosting services. Part of the web hosting magnate company Endurance international group (EIG) BlueHost easily comes top even among its competitors within the parent company. Having exceptional reliability, excellent customer service and benchmarks score, it is easily an ideal choice for any web master. It boasts of 24/7 customer via web, phone and ticket based support.
So let’s see why it has such a huge following:
- Unlimited disk storage
- Unlimited domain hosting
- MySQL databases and PHP compatibility
- IMAP/Secure IMAP email support
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free domain
- Free domain name for a year
- 3 different web based e-mail solutions
- 30-days’ pay back guarantee
Apart from the above fantastic features, BlueHost also allows you unlimited add on domains plus unlimited sub domains. This means you can add more websites to your hosting account. It also gives you a parked domain which essentially directs traffic to the website same as a main domain.
On top of all that, it also offers you the cPanel with features that allow you full administration of your website. While some people find the interface too basic, others love it because it is easy to understand and use. All these are in addition to holding up its reputation of a 99.99% server uptime and the one click installation of WordPress and other e-commerce platforms.
A word to the wise though, you may be a tad bit disappointed by the demand of your password by the support agents before they offer you help. Highly efficient and knowledgeable as they are, most people find this request off-putting because of the real fear of hackers. However, this drawback doesn’t take away from the incredibly impeccable hosting service provided by BlueHost because they offer you the option of using a special pin instead of revealing your information to the agent.
GreenGeeks
Just as their name suggests, GreenGeeks is an environmentally conscious web hosting company. Following their research which showed that 1390 pounds of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere every year are directly emitted by hosting companies, GreenGeeks bought triple the amount of green energy they use and pumped it in the local electrical grid. Web hosting companies release this amount of carbon dioxide because of the power they guzzle when running their servers.
Are you concerned they are too concerned with staying environmentally correct? Don’t be! They are just as concerned about providing a reliable web hosting service. They actually bring the industry’s leading perks to you. You are guaranteed:
- 99% server uptime
- Unlimited web space
- Free website builder
- Domain hosting
- Free domain name registration or transfer
- Free marketing and SEO tools
- Free nightly backups
- 30 days pay back guarantee
This is in addition to the usual unlimited bandwidth, unlimited emails as well as storage. GreenGeeks also has no limit on the number of domains you can host or the MySQL databases you can host.
When it comes to their cPanel, they have included Softaculous and Fantastico script installers. With these you can go ahead and install popular script platforms like Joomla, WordPress, Magento, and Zen cart. Additionally GreenGeeks provides support for Google Apps integration and SSH access.
A fantastic feature that they also offer is the free migration service. It is invaluable if you already have an existing website, want to change web hosts, and are keen on avoiding major downtime. They handle it professionally for you and you end up with no major downtime.
Not only do all their servers run on quad-core processors, they are also powered by solid state drive accelerated Raid-10 for high end performance. When it comes to customer service they promise a 15 to 20 minute response time to your email on top of live chats and phone support.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion is actually considered one of the best cheap web hosting providers in the world. As one of the few web hosting companies not owned by Endurance International Group (EIG), they have done very well for themselves. Having been given an A+ rating for outstanding service by Better Business Solutions as well as being the top rated CNET hosting company for the last 13 years, they have earned the moniker “nerd’s choice”
Their claim to magnificence comes from a myriad of factors including offering high speed, guaranteed 100% server uptime, excellent customer support, and more hosting plans than other web hosting sites; four to be precise.
Let us look at what you will be getting from InMotion:
- Free Solid state drives
- Flexible coding options
- Free domain name
- Unlimited data back up and emails
- Feature filled scripts and Add ons
- Guaranteed 99.99% server uptime
- Free e-commerce, add-ons and website builders
- Smtp, pop3, imap and webmail services
So confident are InMotion in their capability that instead of the 30 days money back guarantee that is given by most web hosting companies, they give a 90 days money back guarantee. However, their confidence comes from the training they offer their support staff. Before even being allowed to help a customer, the staff has to undergo rigorous 160 hrs of training on non-technical and technical elements of the business.
In 2013, they gave their website a facelift that included add ons, scripts and over 310 apps that are easily installed. They use the Softaculous installer for apps like social networking systems and shopping cart software.
Since InMotion uses the Linux based hosting plans, the cPanel is their web management tool. Therefore, you can expect the usual ease of use, excellent support and dependability.
Ehost
Ehost is best suited for novices in the area of web hosting. For the 20 years Ehost has been operating they were not very popular and had to do something to change that. So they became part of Endurance International Group (EIG) and in 2015 they refurbished by getting a new website as well as a new control panel in place of the vDeck they were using before. Plus they lowered their prices even with the new features in place.
Now everything did not magically change for them but it has been a steady uphill climb. They still have challenges in terms of the plans as they only offer shared hosting. This is sufficient for small websites but once a website starts to see a lot of traffic, the owner will have to move it to another web host. However, we are still up in the air about whether this is really a challenge or Ehost wants to carve out a niche in small websites and novices. Let’s look at what to expect
- Drag and drop site builder
- 99 server uptime
- 45 days money back guarantee
- Free marketing credits
- Free domain name
- Unlimited domains
- One email address
- MySQL database
- Drag and drop site builder
- 99 server uptime
- 45 days money back guarantee
- Free marketing credits
- Free domain name
- Unlimited domains
- One email address
- MySQL database
The uptime is great for both websites that run on WordPress and those built by website builder bearing in mind they are hosted on different servers and are on shared hosting. In terms of performance, Ehost also scores very highly when loading images on websites that have a page size of 3.8MB and just as well on websites that are almost 4 times as big (12MB).
For quick installation of blogging platforms like Joomla, WordPress, Drupal and Concrete 5 use Ehost’s quick install tool is efficient for automatic installations. You can install many of the latest versions of different software automatically with this tool.
Also expect 24/7 efficient customer support; phone, email and chat. We can confidently say that Ehost has redeemed itself tremendously and indeed has good cheap web hosting offerings.
Ideahost
New to web hosting, Ideahost has only been in the industry for 1 year. Established in 2015 under Endurance International Group (EIG), it offers shared hosting for small enterprises and website owners. Now, although it only offers the shared hosting services, it does so in 3 packages, all of which offer the average hosting features like a tool for WordPress installation, email and website management among others.
Built on simplicity, Ideahost has much the same idea as its sister company, Ehost. That is to get into the small business and individual website niche. Here is what they offer
- Free domain name
- Unlimited domains
- Free webmail services
- Drag and drop website builder
- MySQL databases
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free marketing tools
- 30-day money back guarantee
The sign up and use of the account are both fairly simple. You don’t need prior IT knowledge as they do not use programming language. Unfortunately, once your website starts to experience more traffic or you need specific requirements met, you will have to move to another web host because Ideahost doesn’t offer VPS or dedicated servers.
The company offers 99.99% server uptime and upholds that guarantee with the uptime even registering at 100%.
FatCow Hosting
Another Endurance International Group offering is FatCow hosting. Established in 1998, FatCow carved out a niche for themselves with small to medium sized enterprises. Being under EIG makes it fair game for all its sister companies but it can hold its own. It’s been a while since it was formed and dominated the space of web hosting. Let’s see what it offers now:
- Unlimited disk storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited add on domains
- 30-day money back guarantee
- 99% server uptime
- FTP accounts
- MySQL databases
There are 2 major advantages with FatCow as a web host. First is the uptime. Fatcow is a reliable host that has a great uptime record. Second is their daily back up service. This is not a guaranteed feature with most budget hosts which gives them an upper hand. The daily backup service is a wonderful feature as it means you do not have to invest in third party backups and your information is protected.
It also comes with the FatCow installation tool so you can install all your favorite e-commerce platforms; Magento and WordPress among others.
Web Hosting Hub
Hosting over 1000 companies, web hosting hub is clearly a popular hosting site. Operating since 2010, web hosting is the sister company to InMotion. So what makes them so special? They have a personal on boarding call. Once you have an account, their rep calls you to help you optimally utilize your account. Other great features include:
- 20x faster SSD hosting
- Free domain
- Unlimited domains
- Free premium website builder
- Website backups
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free marketing credits
- Free web transfer
- IMAP email
The uptime with web hosting hub can easily be said to be 100%. They also feature the cPanel which is a favorite because of ease of use and reliability. You can easily install blogging platforms using the install tool or even create them using the 310+ free tools it provides.
Additional good features include unlimited MySQL databases, unlimited FTP accounts as well as unlimited email addresses.
Ipage
This is yet another offering from the webhosting mogul Endurance International Group (EIG). Meant for both the amateur and the professional web master, ipage has features that are synonymous with all EIG web hosting companies. After their relaunch in 2009, they became a real force to reckon with. Better yet, their costs are lower than other budget hosting site by at least 76% and at most by 450%
Following that bit of good news, here is what they offer
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 99% server uptime
- Free domain
- Free web transfer
- MySQL databases
They use the cPanel and WHM, a popular feature. Their support team is popular because they help with even technical issues like SSH. Other great functions include an efficient support ticketing system, competitive server hardware, and no overcharge for the bandwidth.
Justhost
Let’s close out with Justhost, an ideal and cheaper option for both the seasoned veteran and the green first timer. Most people are usually taken by their ridiculously inexpensive introductory price. However, that is not all Justhost nailed. So, here’s what to expect:
- Unlimited databases
- 99% server uptime
- Free domain
- Unlimited add on domains
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited storage
- 24/7 customer support
- MySQL databases
One of their popular features is the anytime money back guarantee. It has made them a favorite in today’s world of 30, 45 and 90-day money back guarantees. You are also guaranteed a real person to talk to when it comes to customer support; not a machine or robot.
Now all these amazing efforts have paid off for Justhost. It has numerous accolades from the Host of the Year for 2010 from WebHostingChoice.com to the FindMyHost.com Editor’s choice award. This is in addition to the Best Features Award in 2010 and the number one Pick Award from Best10WebHosting.com. Going by this, it’s safe to say you are in good hands with Justhost.
Conclusion
To the many who kept asking “Is web hosting cheap?” Well, having looked at all these top cheap hosting providers, your mind must be reeling. One thing we encourage is to do your research thoroughly before committing to a web host. Check out as many reviews as you can. Not everyone complains, however, you do not want to find yourself stuck with a web host that doesn’t deliver what they said they would.
Two things to note in this business; unlimited isn’t always as unlimited as you think and when you find a web host that performs, is fast and has great hosting resources, do not let it go. Many who’ve tried HostGator speak of it the same way. Want proof? Please watch the video below:
It’s an option you will want to try out both for cheap hosting services as well as everything else that matters in web hosting.