We prioritized the most affordable subscriptions from each hosting provider and considered the rest of their features.We noted introductory offers and free trials when available, but we were mainly interested in the ongoing cost of a hosting service over the long term.
We reviewed customer experiences to understand how well the service functions in practice. Keep in mind that some cheap hosting services advertise an initial rate and then raise the price when it’s time to renew. Most platforms also offer much lower rates in exchange for a longer commitment.
What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a service that offers the physical resources – specifically servers – needed to power websites. A web host houses all of your website data and content.
A reliable web hosting service ensures your website stays up and running, and remains secure. When you pay a web hosting service provider, you are paying for their multiple layers of security as well as their physical data storage.
There are different types of web hosting including shared, dedicated, VPS, cloud, and e-commerce. The type you choose should depend on your business needs, how much traffic you have and the size of your site.
How To Choose the Best Cheap Web Host
Web hosting makes your site accessible on the internet, and it’s one of the main factors that contribute to site performance. While more expensive hosting plans offer better performance and additional features, you don’t need to break the bank to get reliable hosting.
Looking for cheap web hosting is all about balancing your budget with the needs of your site. We considered three fundamental criteria when evaluating cheap web hosts:
Pricing: Pricing is critical when it comes to cheap hosting. Every provider on this list offers a relatively affordable subscription, but some are significantly more budget-friendly than others. While some free hosting providers are out there, we primarily focused on low-cost paid plans that come with a more comprehensive set of features.
Uptime and performance: Saving money on web hosting won’t do you any good if your site isn’t reliably available. You shouldn’t expect cutting-edge performance from a budget hosting plan, but you should at least be able to keep your site online.
Subscription options: Using a hosting service with more powerful plans makes it easier to scale up your web hosting as your site attracts more traffic over time. While moving to another hosting provider is always an option, it’s more straightforward to upgrade subscription from your existing provider simply.
The introductory price for the business plan is an amazing deal
While some other cheap hosting providers offer lower prices than 1&1 IONOS over the long haul, you can’t beat its $1 per month introductory offer on the Business subscription. This mid-tier option comes with unlimited storage, databases, and domains, plus professional email and a free domain for just one year.
1&1 IONOS also provides Windows hosting plans. These subscriptions come with at least 25 structured query language (SQL) databases and up to 500 for the Expert tier. Unfortunately, 1&1 IONOS is more expensive than competitors like AccuWeb Hosting for Windows hosting. The cheapest 1&1 IONOS plan costs $6 per month after the introductory offer, compared to just $3.52 per month with AccuWeb.
Linux shared hosting with 1&1 IONOS runs from $6 to $16 per month following the end of the first year. This puts the platform somewhere in the middle regarding pricing — it’s noticeably pricier than budget alternatives like Hostinger but still more affordable than A2 Hosting and other expensive hosting providers.
Pros and cons of 1&1 IONOS
Pros
Free SSL
Cons
Not the most affordable option over the long term
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GoDaddy
Best web hosting customer service
24/7 customer service through phone or live chat
One year of Microsoft 365 Email with all hosting plans
While GoDaddy isn’t the only cheap web hosting provider offering 24/7 customer support, we found that reviewers and consumers are highly impressed with GoDaddy’s response times and informative answers. Unlike other services that only provide chat or phone support at certain times, you can access GoDaddy’s 24/7 support via chat or telephone. There’s also an outstanding collection of resources, including text guides, how-to videos, and an active support forum that receives numerous posts daily.
All GoDaddy hosting subscriptions provide a free domain for one year plus one year of free access to Microsoft 365 Email. This makes it an especially good hosting provider for organizations using Microsoft 365 Email or other Microsoft productivity tools.
GoDaddy’s Economy shared hosting plan starts at $2.99 per month before renewing at $8.99 per month. Economic subscribers are limited to 100 GB of storage, a single website, and just ten databases. While Hostinger is an affordable option for budget-conscious site creators, the GoDaddy Economy tier has additional features such as 100 GB of storage instead of 30 GB, unmetered bandwidth instead of a 100 GB limit, and a free domain name for the first year.
Pros and cons of GoDaddy
Pros
An active support forum
Cons
The cheapest subscription costs $8.99, much higher than the most affordable alternatives.
While HostGator isn’t the cheapest option we looked at, its advertising credits offset most or even all of the cost of a HostGator plan for a few years. Every subscription comes with a $100 credit for Microsoft Advertising plus a $150 credit for Google Ads — as long as you spend $25 on the corresponding platform. That’s up to $250 in ad credits with a subscription that only costs $99 for the first three years and slightly more than $83 per year after that.
Another unique HostGator feature is its support for unmetered bandwidth and disk space. Unlike other providers, HostGator doesn’t limit those tools to specific plans — they’re available at each HostGator subscription tier. You also get access to email, a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, and a free domain name for one year.
HostGator subscriptions get substantially more expensive after the introductory offer, so make sure to check the long-term price before committing. For example, the Hatchling plan starts at $2.64 per month for the first three years but increases to $6.95 per month for the next three years. That makes HostGator more expensive than an alternative like Hostinger, which costs $1.39 per month for the first four years and $2.99 per month from there.
Pros and cons of HostGator
Pros
Support for unmetered bandwidth and disk space
Cons
Price more than doubled after the first three years
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Bluehost
Best cheap web host for uptime
Up to $150 in Google Ads matching for new customers
Page load speeds up to 20x faster than standard drives
It’s difficult to predict how different hosting providers will work for you, but Bluehost stands out from other hosts due to its strong performance on tests by several prominent reviewers. Individual consumers report similarly reliable uptime, fast speeds, and relatively few slowdowns. PCMag couldn’t find any Bluehost downtime in two weeks, while WebsiteSetup monitored its connection for one year and ended up with 99.95% uptime.
Another key advantage for Bluehost over other hosting providers is the platform’s offer of up to $150 in Google Ads credit through a matching program. Unfortunately, the Bluehost website doesn’t provide any additional details for this service other than that it’s only valid for new Google Ads customers in the United States.
Bluehost offers extremely low prices for new subscribers, with shared hosting available from just $2.75 per month for the first 36 months. Like many other providers, it raises those prices substantially after the initial term. The cheapest plan goes from $2.75 to $8.99 per month, roughly three times the cost of the cheapest Hostinger subscription. Shared hosting plans go up to $26.99 per month for the Pro tier, while managed WordPress hosting arrangements run from $29.99 to $59.99, depending on your needs. These rates make Bluehost noticeably more expensive than Hostinger and other budget alternatives.
Pros and cons of BlueHost
Pros
Low prices for new subscribers
Cons
It starts at $8.99 per month after introductory offer
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DreamHost
Best cheap web host with an uptime guarantee
Get your money back up to 97 days after opening a new subscription
Several new features added during the last few years
DreamHost offers a unique guarantee of 100% uptime, immediately setting it apart from other providers. While it can’t guarantee that your site will never go down, it does offer some compensation for downtime — you’ll receive credit for a free day of service on your next renewal for each hour your site is down. Furthermore, shared hosting users can ask for a full refund within 97 days of subscribing if they have any issues with the service.
Additionally, DreamHost provides several other digital services, including WordPress design, Google Workspace subscriptions, and marketing plus website management. All DreamHost subscriptions come with live chat support plus 24/7 customer service through support tickets. It has also added a variety of new features during the last few years, including G Suite integration plus WordPress staging (2019), free WordPress migration (2020), and SEO assistance through marketgoo (2022).
Shared web hosting from DreamHost starts at $2.59 per month when you agree to a three-year commitment. While you’ll have to commit to three years to get the lowest prices, that price will be the same when you renew your subscription. That’s a welcome change from providers like HostGator that more than double the monthly fee after the initial term.
Pros and cons of DreamHost
Pros
Get your money back up to 97 days after opening a new subscription
Cons
DreamHost site owners may still experience some limited downtime
While some platforms offer lower introductory pricing or free options with limited features, Hostinger has the most affordable paid plan of the providers we reviewed. The Single shared web hosting plan comes with 30 GB of SSD storage, 100 GB of bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, 768 MB of RAM, and a 3 GB database for just $1.39 per month for the first subscription of four years before increasing to $2.99 per month. While this tier doesn’t include a free domain name, it’s important to remember that most other cheap web hosting plans stop providing this service after one year.
Furthermore, Hostinger offers managed WordPress subscriptions that include automatic updates, 24/7 tech support, and optimization through LiteSpeed third-party plugins. While you could oversee updates and plugins on your own, Hostinger provides a 99.99% uptime guarantee while allowing you to focus on the front end of your site.
Hostinger’s lowest prices are only available with an initial subscription of four years. For example, Single shared hosting starts at $0.99 per month before increasing to $2.99 when you renew your subscription. Premium comes with 100 GB of SSD storage, 100 free email addresses, a free domain name for one year, unlimited bandwidth, and other extra features for $5.99 per month ($2.59 per month for an initial subscription). The Business tier at $3.99 to $8.99 per month offers even more tools, including 200 GB of storage, a free content delivery network (CDN), and automatic daily backups. Managed WordPress plans start at $1.99 to $3.99 after renewing.
Pros and cons of Hostinger
Pros
Reliable uptime
Cons
Listed prices go up after your first subscription
The single plan doesn’t include a free domain name.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cheap Web Hosting
Is free web hosting worth it?
Free is good, but it's not necessarily worthwhile in the long run. Free hosting doesn't have a great reputation for speed, uptime, and availability. In short, free website hosting might be a good option for you if you want to operate a test website and don't want to invest any money at all.
Which hosting is best for beginners?
Shared hosting is relatively simple and affordable. Small enterprises and personal websites that don't need sophisticated configuration or more bandwidth can use it. Therefore, shared hosting is a great option for novices who needs an economical hosting plan.
Which hosting is cheapest?
1&1 Ionos has the cheapest hosting plan. Their web hosting plans start at $1 per month.