Signing up for web hosting without a domain name is a bit like building a new house and never putting up the mailbox at the end of the driveway. Sure, your home will look just as amazing, but how will people find you?
For a modest site, you can get fantastic performance if you choose a web host with a good track record and the right plan for your needs. In many cases, you can even get away with paying less than $5 per month for hosting.
Even though a custom website domain doesn’t cost much, some site owners opt for free alternatives in the form of subdomains provided by the hosting company. The difference between domains and subdomains is slight, but it can make all the difference to someone just getting started online.
Given how much cutting-edge technology it takes, the cost to build a website is surprisingly low. As you can see earlier in the article, several no-cost options exist that can get you online relatively easily. As your site gains prominence, however, you should expect to pay at least a little bit to keep up with your growth.
Like any other form of shopping, what you spend on web hosting depends on what exactly you buy. Shared hosting typically costs $5 or less per month, making it the most common and affordable service.
1. Bluehost
Best all around
- Basic plan starts at $2.75 per month
- One website
- 50 GB SSD storage
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free domain registration
- Free SSL certificate
Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosts & our first choice as the most cost-effective hosting solution. In our last WordPress hosting survey, they got a rating of 8.07 out of ten, coming in at number four. Keep in mind, though – this survey covers experiences from across their whole range of plans.
To get the best prices from Bluehost, you need to pre-pay for at least three years of hosting. They also offer one and two-year contracts, but no month-to-month options.
Considering you have to make a large upfront payment if you want to use Bluehost, we’d recommend you opt for its Plus plan instead. With the plus tier, you can host unlimited websites and get unmetered bandwidth, all at $5.45 per month, which makes it a much better deal.
HostGator: Key Info
Cheapest plan: $5.95/month (36-month subscription)
Money-back guarantee: 45 days
Features include:
- One-click WordPress installation
- Automatic WordPress software updates
- Free WordPress migration
- Free domain name
- Free backups
- Free SSL certificate
- 24/7 support
What Do You Get For Your Money?
Features
The truth is, HostGator doesn’t add much more to its WordPress plan to justify the higher entry price. Its standout features include unmetered bandwidth (to support up to 100k visitors per month), free backups, and a free domain name. Its 99.99% uptime guarantee is also worth shouting about!
Ease of Use
HostGator’s control panel is a little outdated and clunky, which could prove to be frustrating or tricky for beginners. The good news is that setup is easy with one-click WordPress installation, or free site migration if you’re switching from another host. It also provides free backups, so you can relax knowing your content is protected.
Customer support
HostGator provides superb customer support round the clock via phone and live chat. We tested it out ourselves and found that overall, HostGator exceeded our support expectations by 3% – not as good as Bluehost, but not as bad as A2 Hosting. HostGator’s knowledge base was by far its best support resource.
2. Hostinger
Cheapest on the list
- Single shared hosting plan starts at $1.39 per month
- One website
- 100 GB of bandwidth
- Unmetered storage
- Free SSL certificate
Hostinger is by far the cheapest web host option for most WordPress users if you’re willing to pay for multiple years upfront. Their basic one-website plan starts at $1.39 per month, and they’re close to Bluehost with regard to user satisfaction.
Once you start looking at the numbers, though, the picture gets a bit more complicated. To get the $1.39 price, you need to pre-pay for four years of hosting in advance. The next option is a two-year contract, which basically doubles prices. If you pay month-by-month, you can expect the price to be nearly ten times dearer.
Even taking this into account, four years of hosting for a single website at around $48 is a pretty good deal. However, upon renewal, the price rises to $2.15 per month. Simply put, this means you’re better off getting the four years in advance.