Top three picks:
1. Best for beginners: Hostinger
2. Best for the tech savvy: InMotion Hosting
3. Best for enterprise: ScalaHosting
What is web hosting?
How to choose
FAQ
There is a best web hosting provider for every type of website and picking the right one can make a big difference. I’ve handpicked the best web hosts for the most popular use cases based on our expert reviews and used industry leaders to compare control panels, try out tools, build a site or two, consult customer support, and run uptime and speed tests. Each review is independent and regularly updated to ensure you always have the most informed and accurate information. We do not sell page rankings.
Maybe you're just looking for the best website builder but keep in mind that using a host like Hostinger can be just as easy to set up but be a fraction of the total cost of running a website.
Top three best web hosting providers in short
Best web hosting services of 2024
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
The eleven web hosting services we've selected are the best in their respective categories, and while each web hosting provider offers several different types of hosting, I’ve highlighted each one based the service it excels in the most.
The best web hosting service for beginners
✔️ You've not set up a web host before: Hostinger make setting up web hosting super easy
✔️ You want a website builder: Hostinger's website builder has great reviews
❌ You feel pushed for time: That timer is counting down forever. There's no need to rush.
❌ You can't accept the renewal price: The prices will jump so be prepared
Hostinger are a really good host with great and easy to use features
With almost 20 years in the business, Lithuanian provider Hostinger has grown into a giant which offers everything from shared hosting, Minecraft hosting and an easy-to-use ecommerce-friendly website builder, to WordPress hosting, powerful VPS products, and business-oriented email hosting.
Features
Value for money is a big Hostinger plus. Even the cheapest shared hosting plans come with a free domain, free SSL, email, backups, unlimited bandwidth, malware scanning and more.
Upgrading gets you professional extras such as fast NVMe storage, dedicated IPs, a free CDN, and speed-boosting WordPress object caching, amongst others.
There are surprise bonus features everywhere. Some providers can only host your website in North America, reducing speeds if your target audience is elsewhere. Hostinger has data centers in North America, Europe and Asia, and you can choose the site you need when you sign up.
And once you've got your plan, Hostinger doesn't just make it easy to install WordPress and create your first site: it now even has custom AI tools to generate text content (AI-generated images should arrive soon).
My experience
Getting started with Hostinger is easy. There's support for paying by card, PayPal, crypto and others, and the well-designed web dashboard quickly pointed us in the right direction.
Hostinger doesn't offer the industry-standard cPanel control panel, but its own hPanel (and a simple 1-click installer for WordPress, WooCommerce and other top apps) helps even hosting newbies get their sites up and running.
My tests found Hostinger offered a capable 99.96% uptime over six months; not perfect, but better than its 99.9% uptime guarantee, and very acceptable for many sites.
There's no phone support, but Hostinger has 24/7 live chat, and its ticket system gave us helpful replies with some of the fastest response times I've seen (under two minutes in some cases).
What else you need to know
Hostinger doesn't provide high-end dedicated hosting plans, so it's not an ideal candidate for very demanding websites (that's sites with hundreds of thousands of visitors a month). But overall, we found Hostinger to be a top quality web hosting provider which offers an array of capable features for a very fair price.
Why it's best
Packed with features, the service is great for most users - so long as you don't run demanding, high-traffic sites. If you're unsure which service to choose, or if you're new to web hosting in general, I'd recommend choosing Hostinger as the best overall service - it's easy to use and understand, and it's also really fairly priced considering what you get.
Read our full Hostinger web hosting review
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Hostinger has some of the most competitive prices on the market | ★★★★★ |
| Ease of use | From signing up to navigating through, Hostinger is straightforward to use | ★★★★★ |
| Features | It has plenty of features in all departments, from security to technical details and more | ★★★★★ |
| Speed test | It's not sot significantly ahead of the competition when it comes to speed but it's pretty fast | ★★★★☆ |
The best managed WordPress hosting
✔️ You're using WordPress: WP Engine are optimized for WordPress
✔️ You want someone to manage your server: If you don't have the time or knowledge to manage your server it's all done for you
❌ You're on a budget: WP Engine are one of the more expensive options
❌ You're not using WordPress: Yes, this just an opposite of the buy if but it should be stressed. If you're not using WordPress there really isn't any point using this provider
One of the best hosts for WordPress and support
WP Engine is a professional web host which focuses entirely on delivering the best managed WordPress hosting around (although it does have some great WooCommerce plans, too). It's not cheap, but if you're more interested in power than price, then WP Engine is well worth a very close look.
Features
Unlike some web hosts, WP Engine's plans aren't just the regular shared range with WordPress preinstalled. They're build for WordPress from the bottom up, with customized server and caching setups, extra security features, easier setup and genuinely valuable extras.
The difference is obvious. Lesser providers may give you free themes, but they're often basic offerings you'll never want to use. WP Engine throws in 10 gorgeous StudioPress themes, premium products with real value.
Staging is another WP Engine benefit. Whether I changed themes, adding site features or just making a few updates, the Staging area allowed us to safely test these on a copy of my site, before we put them live.
I found valuable extras everywhere we looked. WordPress has a vast library of free plugins, for instance, and most hosts allow you to install whatever you like. But WP Engine maintains a list of dubious plugins which bring performance or security problems, and warns you about anything dodgy, potentially saving you a lot of pain later.
Testing
The WP Engine dashboard isn't for beginners, and regular use of terms like Git, CNAME and redirect rules might confuse the not-so-technical. But it only took me a few minutes to begin to find my way around, and if you need more help, there's a truly outstanding support site. (Some of WP Engine's guides deliver more than I'd expect from a paid WordPress training course).
My performance tests saw WP Engine trample all over the conventional shared hosting competition, with only Liquid Web's own managed WordPress plan delivering better. Yes, WP Engine is more expensive than many, but it spends that cash wisely on quality servers, a fast network and its pile of premium features.
Support is vital when you're running a business-critical site. WP Engine only provides chat support with its cheapest plan, but the agents delivered speedy and expert responses to my test questions, and upgrading to a higher product gets you phone support, too.
What else you need to know
WP Engine may look expensive, but it's also very confident you'll be happy with the service: sign up and you're protected by a very generous 60-day money-back guarantee.
Why it's best
With its laser-focus on WordPress, and its useful list of plugins that may cause issues with your site, I recommend checking out WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.
Read our full WP Engine review
For more information about WordPress hosting see our full best WordPress hosting guide
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | WP Engine is expensive and although it comes with lots of features, some could be included as part of the overall price | ★★★☆☆ |
| Ease of use | Not the easiest to use for beginners but still straightforward enough | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | Lots of great features but a lot comes at an extra cost | ★★★★☆ |
| Speed test | WP Engine performed exceptionally well in our speed test | ★★★★★ |
The best shared web hosting provider
✔️ You're looking for speed: HostGator had some great speeds in my test
✔️ You're running a business: HostGator's tools make running a business easier
❌ You don't look at the renewal price: HostGator and other hosts owned by the Newfold Digital have a reputation of hiking up prices.
Great host with great reviews and features
HostGator is a hugely popular Texas-based web host that has been helping its customers get online since 2002. The company has a very full range of hosting products (shared, website builder, WordPress, VPS, dedicated, reseller), and there are appealing business-friendly extras everywhere we looked.
Features
HostGator offers a decent feature set on all its products. Even its cheapest Hatchling plan includes unmetered bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, a free domain, free SSL, with a website builder thrown in.
The company piles on the business extras as you upgrade, though, including some we rarely see elsewhere. Even spending just a few dollars more on its Business shared plan adds a professional website migration service, a dedicated IP, a Positive SSL upgrade, SEO Tools, and $500 Google and $100 Microsoft ad credits.
All hosts offer their own add-on services, but can they be trusted with your business-critical site? HostGator gives you easy integration with some of the biggest names around, including CodeGuard for backups, SiteLock Security for malware scanning, and Google WorkSpace for team collaboration.
HostGator even offers various professional services to help improve online results, including web design, PPC and SEO consultations.
Testing
HostGator's web dashboard isn't the best designed I've seen, and I found it spent a little too much time trying to persuade us to buy more products.
Fortunately, the company makes up for all of that with its use of the industry-standard cPanel and its powerful site management tools. I think that's particularly good news for businesses, because there's no custom control panel to learn: if you've any previous web hosting experience, chances are you'll feel at home right away.
HostGator no longer offers an uptime guarantee, which is disappointing: but don't give up on the service because of that. I monitored a test HostGator site for 18 months and found even the cheapest shared account gave us a respectable 99.9% uptime. I expect HostGator's VPS and dedicated plans would be even better.
The real HostGator highlight was its speed, though: benchmarking tool GTmetrix found my test site delivered the fastest load times out of 15 top contenders.
What else you need to know
Although HostGator doesn't have a specialist WooCommerce product, its Website Builder has some powerful ecommerce plans which support unlimited products, selling on Facebook and Instagram, secure payments, advanced shipping and more. If you run into trouble, HostGator's 24/7 phone and live chat support is on hand, and in my experience, the support team resolves most issues within minutes.
Why it's best
If you're running multiple websites and need them stored on the same web server, I recommend checking out HostGator as it offers a specific shared hosting product. Jump to our web hosting FAQs to find out more about how shared hosting works.
Read our full HostGator review
For more information about shared hosting see our full best shared hosting guide
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | HostGator is affordable but the add-ons could get pricey if you pick a cheaper plan | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | We found it easy to get started and navigate through the dashboard | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | HostGator has just about ever feature you'll need from a web host | ★★★★★ |
| Speed test | HostGator performed the best in our speed test compared to the other hosts | ★★★★★ |
The best cloud web hosting
✔️ You want scalability: ScalaHosting's architecture make the provisioning of resources speedy and easy
✔️ You have a growing site: New businesses often don't know how many resources are needed. This is where cloud hosting shines
❌ You have a low volume of steady and stable traffic: The features provided will be wasted
Too many host use the word cloud without having any cloud benefits. ScalaHosting are cloud through-and-through
ScalaHosting is an experienced Dallas-based provider with 15 years experience in the web hosting business.
The company has plenty of budget hosting plans for simple sites and projects, but it's made my list for its strong VPS range, which is still very affordable but has the power to handle very demanding business and other websites.
Features
ScalaHosting has eye-catching features right across its range. Signing up for shared hosting gets you unlimited emails and daily offsite backups, often premium extras elsewhere. Even the cheapest plan uses fast NVMe storage, while many competitors only use slower standard SSD.
The VPS range stands out for its extreme configurability. Other hosts might force you to choose from 3 or 4 basic products, but ScalaHosting allows you to build your own plan, using anything from 2 to 24 cores, 4 to 64GB RAM, and 50 to 2000GB storage (vastly more powerful than I've seen elsewhere).
Then there are the free site migrations. Some providers promise this, then give you a plugin to do it yourself; ScalaHosting carefully migrates all your sites for you, and will even migrate them elsewhere if you're not happy and cancel your account.
Once you're up and running, your site benefits from free SSL, speed-boosting CDN integration, real-time malware protection, and experts can choose their preferred web server (Apache, Apache with NGINX, OpenLiteSpeed and more).
Testing
ScalaHosting allows customers to manage their web space via its own custom control panel, SPanel. I usually prefer the industry-standard cPanel, but SPanel is a powerful, easy-to-use alternative, and a great web home for newbies and experts alike.
I tested ScalaHosting performance by using top benchmarking tool GTmetrix to measure download speeds. The results were fractionally below average, but far ahead of the budget competition, and well within reach of big names such as GoDaddy,
I went on to monitor my test site availability for a year, and ScalaHosting scored a very reasonable 99.94% (and that's with the cheapest shared plan: VPS hosting should be even better).
What else you need to know
Sign up with ScalaHosting and (with most products) you're protected by its generous Anytime Money-Back Guarantee. Not only does this give you 100% of your money back if you cancel within 30 days, but you can also get prorated refunds after that (pay for a year, you can cancel after 6 months and still be refunded for the 50% you haven't used).
Why it's best
Cloud hosting is a service where a website or application is hosted on a network of interconnected servers, rather than a single physical server. I've looked in depth at this in our guide What is cloud hosting and how do you use it? As resources are allocated to a virtual server, you only pay for what you need as you need them. if you're looking for a cloud hosting service that scales with your business, ScalaHosting should be on your list.
Read our full Scala Hosting review
For more information about the best cloud hosting see our full best cloud hosting guide
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | It's affordable and has full featured shared hosting plans | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | Its dashboard is intuitive and the signing up process is straightforward | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | You'll find features that cover all aspects of what you need to run a functioning site | ★★★★★ |
| Speed test | Scala Hosting wasn't the fastest but our site performed well enough | ★★★☆☆ |
The best managed web hosting
✔️ Stability is a necessity: Liquid web have a reputation for fast and reliable servers that come with an SLA
❌ You're on a budget: Some of the plans are not the cheapest
Liquid Web will be there when you need them to
Founded in 1997, Liquid Web is an expert provider of top-quality managed hosting solutions for everything from email to WordPress, WooCommerce, VPS, dedicated and assorted other cloud products.
The service isn't aimed at consumers - it doesn't even have a shared hosting range - but if your priority is less on price, more on speed, reliability and features, then Liquid Web has a lot to offer.
Features
Liquid Web's VPS range looks expensive, with prices starting at $20 a month, but check the features and it's a different story.
Some budget hosts might start their VPS range with a tiny $1 or $2 a month plan, but look at the small print and it'll be underpowered and almost unusable. Liquid Web starts a capable 2 CPU, 2GB RAM setup which will handle most tasks at a decent speed.
Liquid Web offers access to an amazing 10Gbps network connection, 10-30x the speed I see with most hosts.
There's no messing around by promising 'unmetered' bandwidth, which typically means 'there's a limit but I won't tell you what it is.' Instead, even the cheapest VPS plans include a massive 10TB bandwidth allowance.
Your host promises 99.9% uptime? Liquid Web not only offers 99.999% uptime, it has a strict Service Level Guarantee explaining how you'll get credits if that doesn't happen.
So, yes, Liquid Web prices may seem high, but it's a top quality service, and I think it offers decent value for what you get.
Testing
If you haven't got the resources or knowledge to undertake key maintenance tasks, then a managed hosting service is essential. These can be carried out by your web hosting provider - and in my experience, Liquid Web made it really easy to monitor and manage my test website. Head to our FAQs section for more information on what managed hosting is and why it matters.
Liquid Web's dashboard design is clean and straightforward, and I found it easy to locate everything necessary to monitor and manage my website.
After installing my standard test WordPress website, in-depth monitoring throughout the review found excellent load times and 100% uptime.
What you need to know
If you run into trouble, Liquid Web has a vast knowledgebase covering everything from detailed text manuals to more user-friendly YouTube explainer videos.
Why it's best
Liquid Web's highlight is its customer support team, though, who you can reach 24/7 via telephone, live chat or email. Whatever route I tried, responses were fast (the company actually guarantees a first reply within 59 minutes via email, 59 seconds via live chat or phone), and I've always found the agents to be friendly, expert, and happy to go the extra mile to resolve my issues.
Read our full Liquid Web review
For more information about managed hosting see our full best managed hosting guide
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Liquid Web is a bit more on the pricey side and offers most of the features as the other web hosts on the list | ★★★☆☆ |
| Ease of use | Liquid Web's dashboard is straightforward and easy to use | ★★★★★ |
| Features | Liquid Web has sufficient features but doesn't offer shared hosting | ★★★☆☆ |
| Speed test | Our site was fast while hosted on Liquid Web | ★★★★☆ |
The best green web host
✔️ You want to host a WordPress site: Optimised WordPress plans from $2.95/mo
✔️ You expect your business to grow: Simple scaling to meet increasing demands
❌ You don't want to pay above average prices: This isn't the cheapest host
Loads of hosting providers are green these days. GreenGeeks are definitely the most green but they're not far in front of InMotion Hosting and SiteGround.
GreenGeeks has an excellent range of shared and VPS hosting services that are good for the environment. Plans start at just $2.95 a month (rising to $11.95 a month after the second year). The entry level plan comes with 50GB web space, a free domain name for one year, unlimited databases and free nightly backups.
GreenGeeks are particularly good for those wanting a green hosting solution for a WordPress site as they offer managed WordPress hosting plans which can take a lot of the hassle out of running a website. All servers provided by the company respectable in terms of performance with even the lowest plans providing free caching and CDN, and unmetered bandwidth.
GreenGeeks don't provide dedicated servers or any cloud options so for more powerful plans you might want to check out SiteGround or InMotion Hosting which also have really impressive green credentials. If you try GreenGeeks but find out they're not powerful enough GreenGeeks offers free website migration and a 30 day money back guarantee so there is nothing to lose.
What else you need to know
GreenGeeks might not have the top end plans demanded by the most energy and resource consuming sites but what they do provide performs really well at that level. If you genuinely care about the environment and don't have such a demanding website then you'd be hard pressed to find another hosting provider that aligns with your goals
Why it's best
They care about the environment, they care about their customers, and they care about their products.
Read the full GreenGeeks review
For more information about the best green hosting see our full best green hosting guide
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Plans are good value with low starting prices | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | Not difficult to use and if you do have problems there's support | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | Plenty of in-house features for security, speed, and management | ★★★★☆ |
Best dedicated servers
✔️ You have an established business: InMotion Hosting have experience hosting a range of medium-sized businesses
✔️ You want dedicated or managed plans: InMotion Hosting have a strong reputation in this area too
❌ You're on a budget: Some of the plans are not the cheapest
InMotion Hosting have a great reputation for managed hosting and dedicated hosting plus they also rate well for resellers
Since 2001 InMotion Hosting has grow to have over 170,000 customers providing a range of hosting services including shared, WordPress hosting, VPS, reseller, and dedicated. The dedicated plans start at a reasonable $35/month and offer good value for money for what you get. If you choose InMotion Hosting, you'll benefit from free website transfer and server setup, as well as free backup storage of 10GB-1TB depending on the plan you choose.
The highlight of InMotion Hosting's dedicated servers is their comprehensive set of security features, including, automatic updates, a custom firewall, free SSL certificates with 2048-bit encryption, and DDoS protection to better protect your internet-facing applications.
You get a backup manager as standard with all dedicated InMotion hosting plans. This off-server backup and recovery service protects your data from mishaps and disasters. InMotion’s infrastructure is connected to four Tier 1 ISPs, so your website will always be online even if a natural disaster were to occur.
InMotion Hosting's data centers are in locked vaults protected by hand scanners and armed guards. They don't only protect your servers though. They also do their bit for protecting the environment. InMotion Hosting has invested heavily in green cooling technology to not only make servers more efficient but also reduce costs and save the planet.
InMotion hosting does offer phone support from the Advanced plan onwards. The Aspire and Essentials plans only come with live chat and ticket support. If you need class-leading support and a lower spec plan, we recommend checking out HostGator for dedicated servers. It's important to note that InMotion hosting plans are all Linux-only. There's no support for Windows OS.
For more information about dedicated hosting see our full best dedicated hosting guide
What else you need to know
While most hosts offer only a 30-day money-back guarantee, InMotion Hosting gives you an amazing 90 days for most plans (including reseller): a very major plus.
Why it's best
For companies like web design and marketing agencies, and even freelancers, the ability to sell domains and plans to clients is a must - and in my experience, the reselling packages are where InMotion Hosting really excels.
Read our full InMotion Hosting review
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Most of InMotion Hosting's plans are good value for money | ★★★☆☆ |
| Ease of use | It was easy to use but the layout of the dashboard could be more simplistic | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | Lots of important and vital features including in each plan | ★★★★★ |
| Speed test | InMotion Hosting was the fourth fastest in our recent speed tests | ★★★★☆ |