20+ Largest Web Hosting Companies (Feb. 2024): World & U.S. Markets

The largest web hosting companies provide the infrastructure to support roughly 2 billion websites — but which one is right for you?

Whether you’re looking to grow an online business, house your portfolio, or power a family blog, knowing which host to trust with your website can be tricky. The promising, young startup may offer appealing hardware configurations and performance at bargain rates — but how will the company’s network hold up to a rapidly increasing customer base and frequently emerging security threats?

Well-established hosting providers have withstood the test of time and continually deliver superb services. With years (and sometimes decades) in the industry, these hosts have grown to become highly respected global powerhouses. Take a look at the largest hosting providers (as measured by the percentage of the market), along with a few key factors to aid your decision:

World | US

Everyone seems to measure a host’s success differently. For some, it’s the number of websites hosted; For others, it’s the number of customers — or the number of domains registered, the amount of traffic handled, or the total revenue generated. Because the internet is a rapidly changing landscape, we sought to paint the most complete picture.

To get the most thorough glimpse of the hosting industry, we sourced our information from a variety of sources, including Datanyze, W3 Techs, and BuiltWith, to learn which hosts and technologies the top 35 million websites use.

1. GoDaddy — 15.6% of Websites

The grand poobah of web hosting companies, GoDaddy has dominated the industry for more than 20 years. Seemingly everyone’s first web host and domain registrar, GoDaddy boasts more than 84 million domain names under management and 7,000 employees around the world. GoDaddy, which also owns managed hosting leader Media Temple and the popular Host Europe Group, specializes in affordable and user-friendly shared hosting and domain registrations.

Users can find specialized options that cater to website builders, eCommerce stores, WordPress users, and site owners needing more a powerful virtualized or dedicated server. When you add in the vast array of SSL certificates, web security, online marketing, and email tools, GoDaddy surely has something for everyone.

2. Amazon Web Services — 11.1% of Websites

It should come as no surprise the company leading the charge in one of the industry’s hottest technologies ranks high on the list of largest hosting providers. Cloud-hosting behemoth Amazon Web Services extends beyond simple web hosting to power more than 90 services, including cloud computing, storage, networking, database, analytics, application services, deployment, management, mobile, developer tools, and systems for the Internet of Things.

The on-demand cloud platform began as an in-house innovation retail giant Amazon re-launched in 2006 after retooling its infrastructure to be more standardized and automated.

Due to the high degree of difficulty associated with AWS, combined with the lack of support commonly found among traditional web hosts, these cloud services are typically reserved for experienced developers and established, larger businesses.

3. Google Cloud Platform — 7.9% of Websites

Similar to Amazon, Google made the internal infrastructure known for powering some of the internet’s most highly trafficked sites publicly available to the world. Google Cloud comprises the public cloud infrastructure as well as G Suite and enterprise versions of Android, Chrome OS, and APIs for machine learning and mapping services.

With Google Cloud Platform, developers and website owners can experience more than 90 on-demand services, including cloud computing, analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, storage, and mapping.

The platform launched in 2008 and became generally available in late 2011, putting it a few years behind AWS, but the craze behind cloud computing launches Google to the forefront of the world’s biggest hosting providers.

4. 1&1 IONOS — 6.5% of Websites

Finally, moving to a web hosting company headquartered outside the US, 1&1 IONOS comes in as the fourth-largest web hosting provider in the world. The Germany-based host carries global appeal for its well-rounded suite of services, affordable prices, and customer support. The company employs more than 2,000 people worldwide and offers services in 10 countries throughout Europe and North America.

With roots dating all the way back to 1988, 1&1’s legacy has expanded to cover more than 12 million domain names and 70,000 servers worldwide. A 2017 merger between 1&1 and RedBricks led to the birth of 1&1 IONOS, which, starting in 2020, became known as simply IONOS.

In addition to the expected portfolio of shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting, IONOS offers domain name registrations, and a website builder, plus tools for eCommerce, email, online marketing, and security.

5. HostGator — 5.3% of Websites

The first brand from Endurance International Group to make our list, HostGator manages more than 9 million domains for nearly 500,000 customers. The company provides the full slate of powerful web hosting products, from shared to dedicated server hosting. In 2019, HostGator launched a proprietary drag-and-drop site builder, which we reviewed, that includes a free hosting plan, a domain name, customizable templates, and analytics.

Although HostGator promises the relatively standard 99.9% uptime guarantee, customers have an extended 45-day window to test services and request a refund, if needed. The company supplies around-the-clock support through phone calls and live chat to assist customers with their websites or online business.

6. Bluehost — 3.2% of Websites

If GoDaddy is the typical first web hosting provider for new site owners, Bluehost is the second. One of the flagship brands of parent company Endurance International Group, Bluehost oversees more than 2 million domains as part of its varied collection of services.

The company offers the full slate of shared, cloud, VPS, and dedicated hosting options, as well as platforms specifically tailored to WordPress and eCommerce. Founded in 2003 — the same year as WordPress — Bluehost is one of only three hosts endorsed by the ultra-popular content management system. The company’s optimized WordPress hosting introduces high-performance solid-state drives, NGINX web servers, a custom PHP-FPM configuration, a content delivery network, and a web application firewall for ultimate speed and security.

7. Hetzner Online — 2.7% of Websites

The first — and only — web host on this list that doesn’t offer hosting services to the United States, Hetzner Online is a highly sought hosting provider in Europe. The company runs state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly datacenter parks in Finland and near its headquarters in Germany.

Hetzner Online specializes in affordable but powerful dedicated servers, with prices ranging from €34 to €159 per month. The company also holds server auctions to sell its gently used — but fully operational — servers to customers for a bargain. With added attention to its cloud and shared hosting options, Hetzner Online serves a wide range of European customers.

8. Liquid Web — 2.5% of Websites

The first luxury hosting brand on our list, Liquid Web somehow skips right past the crowded and high-demand shared hosting market to reach more than 30,000 customers in more than 130 countries around the world. The company focuses on stellar managed services for its intriguing array of dedicated, cloud, and VPS arrangements; Liquid Web’s portfolio lists dedicated servers, cloud VPS, cloud dedicated, private cloud, and the Cloud Sites platform acquired from Rackspace.

More than 500 on-site professionals manage more than 500,000 websites from five global datacenters. In addition to some of the best customer support in the industry, Liquid Web promises 100% network and power uptime, along with replacement hardware and help desk responses in less than 30 minutes.

9. DigitalOcean — 2.2% of Websites

As its name suggests, DigitalOcean specializes in cloud hosting. The company boasts more than 500,000 customers in 177 countries and more than 575,000 web applications running on its servers.

Founded in 2011, DigitalOcean quickly launched its “simple cloud hosting” platform to give developers more control over their hosting options. The company carries a strong appeal for its low-cost and user-friendly services, as well as its wide range of integrations with popular hosting tools and applications.

10. WP Engine — 1.8% of Websites

The last host on our list, WP Engine, goes against the grain by specializing in WordPress hosting. The WordPress hosting provider has a portfolio of managed WordPress hosting plans that deliver a fully managed solution for users, complete with automatic updates, 24/7 customer support, and security.

While WP Engine doesn’t host as many websites as some of the other companies on this list, the brand still has a global footprint with servers in 35 countries and more than 70,000 customers in 150 countries. WP Engine also employs more than 600 people in offices across the United States and Europe.

With plans starting at $13.00 per month, WP Engine is one of the more expensive WordPress hosts. However, the company delivers on its promise of exceptional speed, security, and customer support.

Rather unsurprisingly, the United States represents the largest regional market for web and cloud hosting. Aside from the country’s large population, the US ranks among world leaders in terms of web connectivity per capita.

Although British scientist Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web while working in Switzerland, the origins of the internet trace back to research commissioned by the US Department of Defense. As of 2021, the United States represents 51% of the global web hosting market. Here are the top companies serving US websites and applications.

1. GoDaddy — 15.6% of Websites

Many American websites call GoDaddy home. The web hosting and domain registration behemoth counts 18 million customers in total but maintains an unshakeable US dominance. The company maintains 14 facilities, including locations in California, Washington, Iowa, England, Northern Ireland, and India, as well as a 270,000-square-foot building in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In addition to its longevity in the market, GoDaddy reached mass-market appeal with aggressive marketing campaigns; commercials have appeared during nearly every Super Bowl since 2005.

GoDaddy appeals to rookie site owners with ultra-simple domain and hosting tools and launched a GoCentral platform that includes a website builder, eCommerce store creator, and managed WordPress hosting that comes complete with templates, design services, and premium support.

2. Amazon Web Services — 8.6% of Websites

What’s more American than baseball? In addition to hosting countless websites and applications, Amazon Web Services is the driving force behind Major League Baseball’s Statcast calculations. The high-speed, high-accuracy, automated tool developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities relies on more than 17 petabytes of data the league generates each season.

Supreme and instantaneous scalability are among the signature advantages of AWS. Customers pay for only the resources used, instead of a flat monthly rate that can be tricky for businesses to budget. But AWS remains the leader for limitless hosting with dozens of services able to support your growing business website or application.

3. Google Cloud Platform — 6.0% of Websites

Google Cloud boasts the world’s largest global private cloud network, with 17 regions (and counting), more than 100 points of presence, and more than 100,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable. Companies the likes of Charles Schwab, Sony Music, Spotify, Johnson & Johnson, and Hearst trust Google Cloud, which follows the usual cloud hosting pay-as-you-go model.

In addition to the wildly popular email, productivity, and collaboration apps found within G Suite, Google Cloud is also well known for its support and integration with the container orchestration platform Kubernetes. Originally developed at Google, Kubernetes is now an open-source system maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Although AWS brands its container orchestration separately, major cloud providers Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud both use Kubernetes-based orchestration.

4. Bluehost — 5.0% of Websites

With the concentration of US datacenters in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, hosting customers may be surprised to discover Bluehost is headquartered near Provo, Utah, and maintains its servers in a 50,000-square-foot facility manned by more than 750 employees.

With the emphasis on shared and WordPress hosting, Bluehost tends to appeal to less-experienced site owners by maintaining user-friendly features, affordable rates, and around-the-clock support. But with recently revamped cloud and optimized WordPress plans to keep pace with its virtualized and dedicated servers, the company expertly serves the full range of customers.

5. HostGator — 3.7% of Websites

Started in 2002 by a student at Florida Atlantic University, HostGator has since grown from its dorm room roots into one of the country’s most popular web hosting services. The company outgrew its Boca Raton headquarters and moved to a 25,000-square-foot facility in Houston, Texas, before again expanding into an Austin office space that’s four times bigger.

HostGator, which started operations in India in 2011, expanded globally and now offers localized services in China, Russia, and Mexico. The company’s services can easily be customized into packages built to serve informal, personal projects, aspiring business owners, and even pro developers.

6. Liquid Web — 3.6% of Websites

From its headquarters in Lansing, Michigan, Liquid Web employs more than 250 experienced and highly trained systems administrators, engineers, and other tech support personnel to manage and maintain more than 25,000 servers across the company. Liquid Web also owns and operates core datacenters in Phoenix and Amsterdam.

That personal touch helps the company deliver on its 100% network and power uptime guarantees, along with timely hardware replacements and responses from support teams.

During the last few years, Liquid Web has made a calculated push into the managed WordPress and managed WooCommerce markets, combining the host’s white-glove service with two of the web’s most popular platforms. Joining forces with Nexcess, a formidable eCommerce hosting provider, was just one more example of Liquid Web gearing up to take over more of the web hosting service market.

7. Squarespace — 3.5% of Websites

Squarespace drops a few spots from its top-five global market position likely because of a crowded website builder industry. Founded in a dorm room at the University of Maryland in 2003, however, the company has largely maintained its US roots. The company’s 800-plus employees are concentrated in well-appointed offices in New York City, Portland, and Dublin.

Squarespace has brought its services to the masses by advertising in the Super Bowl every year since 2014 and by signing a sponsorship deal with the New York Knicks to add the company’s logo to their jerseys in 2017.

8. 1&1 IONOS — 3.3% of Websites

One of only two international web hosting services to break into the top 10 of the US web hosting market, 1&1 IONOS opened a 55,000-square-foot datacenter in Lenexa, Kansas, in 2008 and maintains US headquarters in Philadelphia. The company began introducing services to the US in 2003, with the full rollout of hosting, site building, and productivity products coming a year later.

Interesting differentiators include a proprietary website builder, recently relaunched and prepared to get site owners started with a one-page website in fewer than five minutes. The company also offers an online accounting program to help business owners easily create and send quotes and invoices.

9. DreamHost — 2.7% of Websites

Another host that seamlessly aligns its values and services around the open-source world and supremely popular WordPress content management system, DreamHost serves more than 400,000 customers spanning across 100-plus countries. The company, which started in a Harvey Mudd College dorm room in 1997, now hosts more than 1.5 million websites — roughly half of which use WordPress.

DreamHost, currently headquartered in Los Angeles, supports the WordPress community with code contributions, thought leadership, and WordCamp sponsorships, and has spun off several other open-source projects surrounding the Ceph file system and network virtualization. The company’s optimized WordPress hosting platform, DreamPress, offers an important middle ground between generic shared servers and ultra-expensive premium managed hosting.

10. Shopify — 2.6% of Websites

The Canadian eCommerce platform Shopify rounds out our top 10 most popular hosts in the US by covering all needs on online entrepreneurs. Shopify is responsible for more than $72 billion in sales, powering more than 600,000 businesses worldwide.

Behind a mission of making business ownership and growth better for everyone, Shopify founders originally built the platform to sell snowboard equipment. The company has since grown from a team of five people working out of a local coffee shop to more than 3,000 employees working in five offices across North America. The full-service platform includes custom domain names, professional themes, and tools for inventory management, order fulfillment, payment processing, and point-of-sale software.

While some may call the web hosting industry over-saturated, we prefer the term fiercely competitive; achieving a noteworthy share of the market is a huge victory, let alone keeping it year after year. Next, we’ll highlight noteworthy players in the space, some of who have held the top-10 positioning in years past.

Squarespace

Departing from our traditional web and cloud hosting companies, the Squarespace site builder and included hosting packages make the cut by not offering a free plan or licensing its platform to third-party partners, which keeps paying customers in-house. The lean company employs only about 800 people and prioritizes drag-and-drop features and premium templates in favor of a coding-driven backend.

Since its founding in 2003, Squarespace has added robust eCommerce tools, domain name services, and analytics to help website and business owners grow their online presence — and to help the company compete with the biggest in the business.

OVHcloud — Largest Web Hosting Company in France

The only French host to make our list, OVHcloud boasts more than 1.5 million customers in 184 countries, with more than 260,000 servers across 19 datacenters.

OVH was founded in 1999, building a web hosting empire that now includes cloud, dedicated, shared, and virtual private server options, as well as a popular webmail service.

OVH’s VPS plans start at just $34 per month, and the company’s datacenters run entirely on renewable energy. OVH has also developed custom hardware — including an exclusive server design — to provide customers with even more power and speed.

IBM Cloud

Perhaps more commonly known as SoftLayer or Bluemix, the rebranded IBM Cloud encompasses both Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products to give customers a one-stop shop for all things cloud computing, storage, and networking. The company’s network excels with resiliency and redundancy, with nearly 60 datacenters spread across 19 countries in six continents. Two datacenters, in Dallas and Ashburn, Virginia, are specifically reserved for federal government agencies that need to adhere to stringent compliance and security requirements.

IBM Cloud supports access to other IBM tools and services, such as the question-answering system Watson, making the platform a natural fit for companies and developers looking for solutions around natural language processing, machine learning, and automation. Because of the wide range of programs available, IBM Cloud’s portfolio lists more than 170 cloud-based services.

Hosting customers and site owners frequently turn to the industry’s biggest brands when it comes to sourcing the technology to power their online dreams.

Name recognition and reputation drives a lot of business, and the established brands detailed above have — in most cases — withstood a decade or more of growing pains and industry shifts.

That experience and expertise translate into hosting knowledge and customer support built for mass-market appeal.

Although these hosts are all safe bets to help you accomplish your website goals, we understand if you want to keep your eyes open and see what else is out there. Just because the companies above serve the most customers and host the most websites doesn’t mean there aren’t dozens of other fish in the sea.

Smaller companies sometimes offer unique services custom-built to serve a specific niche in the wider web hosting industry, and they can be more nimble and able to capitalize on emerging trends.

Plus, fewer customers might mean less strain on the company’s support staff, hopefully resulting in shorter wait times and more personal assistance.

Popular companies like InMotion Hosting, WordPress.com, and Media Temple narrowly missed the cut as some of the largest hosting companies but still bring top-notch services to all levels of site owners and developers.

Even smaller, boutique hosts often can offer more personalized support systems and flexible infrastructure options because they have less customer demands and more time to spend on optimizing their services.

Be sure to check out some of our other frequently recommended hosts to ensure you’re getting the full scope of available services, prices, and options. Happy hosting!