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Top Hosting Services for Wordpress Websites 2019
Web hosting might not be the most exciting part of running a successful creative business. But if you want to win new work and clients, it’s essential that you have a robust, reliable website for your work – and it helps if you can find a good hosting deal while you’re at it.
When it comes to choosing the right web hosting service, though, the sheer choice of options available on the market can feel overwhelming, and make figuring out which one is right for your needs a tricky business. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best web hosting service providers, as well as the best cheap web hosting services for those on a tight budget. We’ve stripped away the jargon and condensed the complex spec sheets into easy-to-scan profiles, so you can easily navigate the different options.
Just starting to look at web hosting services? First, you’ll need to identify which tier of hosting is best suited to your needs. Web hosting companies usually offer three main paid-for tiers of hosting packages: shared web hosting (the cheapest, most basic), VPS hosting (more flexible) and dedicated servers (for complex websites). You’ll find a more detailed explanation of the different tiers at the bottom of this guide.
When choosing a tier, make sure you take into consideration any future growth you might expect your website to see. Then, simply choose the appropriate plan.
Read on for our pick of the best web hosting services, no matter the size of your website or budget... (And if you need a hand choosing which web builder to use in the first place, we've got you covered too.)
01. InMotion Hosting
The best overall shared web hosting
InMotion Hosting has been running since 2001, and is one of the world’s largest independent hosting companies. It offers several shared hosting plans, with prices starting at a tempting $2.95/£2.20 per month. To sweeten the deal, all of InMotion's plans come with a ton of great free features that other services might charge extra for. Think: malware and DDoS protection, basic backups, 'spam-safe' email and a WordPress-based Website Builder.
Technical features include PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python and PHP 7 support. InMotion provides both MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, and easy-to-use integration with Google Apps. It also provides excellent technical support, which is available 24/7, all year round, for US-based users.
InMotion offers both cPanel and Softaculous-powered hosting. In testing, our sister site TechRadar found InMotion’s overall performance levels are well above average. That’s great news for anyone who wants to see fast-loading websites.
Overall, there’s a lot to like here – and competitive pricing too. If you're not satisfied, there's a 90-day money-back guarantee, which knocks the industry-standard 45-day guarantee out of the park.
02. 1&1 IONOS
A solid offering from a major web hosting player
Recently, European hosting provider 1&1 joined forces with German cloud infrastructure specialist ProfitBricks and rebranded as 1&1 IONOS. 1&1 was already the biggest web hosting player in Europe, and this latest merger marks another step in its battle against GoDaddy for world domination.
At under a dollar a month for the first year, 1&1 IONOS' Business package will literally get you started for pennies. That will give you enough to kick things off on your site, until the fee is bumped up to $8/£5 per month after 12 months. At that point you would probably be better switching to the Pro package for only two dollars/pounds more per month.
The freebies aren’t bad with this provider, although they're not as impressive as they once were. All packages offer a free domain for the first year, and performance and storage scale depending on which package you're using. If you want malware protection, you'll need to stump up for a Pro account. A helpful touch is that every customer is assigned a personal consultant, to offer advice and support via phone, email or chat.
03. HostGator Hatchling
The best cheap web hosting option out there
When it comes to cheap web hosting, HostGator’s Hatchling plan is our top choice. The well-known Dallas-based company offers an impressive amount of unrestricted features in its basic Hatchling plan: there are no limits on bandwidth, web space, subdomains, MySQL databases, FTP and email accounts.
There's also one-click WordPress installation, cPanel-based site management and a 99.9 per cent uptime guarantee covering both server and network failures; plus 24/7 customer support, and $200 (£150) worth of Google and Bing Ads credits.
As you might expect with a cheap hosting plan, you can only operate one website on the Hatchling plan. And you won’t get a free domain name for a year, either. But we like the low pricing – it starts at $2.64/£1.95 per month on a three-year contract and the free transfers for new accounts within the first month after you’ve signed up. And a 45-day money-back guarantee means that if you’re not happy with the service, you can cancel it.
04. DreamHost
Excellent value web hosting if you'll use its many features
DreamHost offers shared, WordPress, web, VPS and dedicated hosting, with loads of custom and unexpected features. Key selling points include a 100% per cent uptime guarantee, unlimited 24/7 support via email and Twitter, SSD drives for speed and, unbelievably, a whopping 97-day money-back guarantee.
DreamHost also boasts impressive security features and extensive domain management tools for users who are familiar with website administration. Pricing is fair, too, starting at $7.95/£6/month. With unlimited everything, DreamHost makes for a fantastic balance of features and price.
05. GoDaddy
A good all-round service which is well-known, respected and trusted
US-based GoDaddy is one of the largest web hosting companies around. As one of the few that’s done television advertising, it’s probably the best known, too.
Even its cheapest web hosting package ($5.50/£4) comes with 100GB storage, unmetered bandwidth, and a free domain – with plenty of options due to GoDaddy's vast domain name repository. GoDaddy also boasts a guaranteed 99.9 per cent uptime, free backup and restore, and expert hosting support available 24/7, all year round.
One feature we particularly like is that on every package you can increase hosting capacity on demand directly from your account – handy if you experience a sudden surge in traffic.
06. Bluehost
The number one preferred partner of WordPress
WordPress is still the most popular website builder, and Utah-based web hosting company Bluehost is WordPress’s preferred partner. Bluehost does a good job of balancing price and features for less experienced businesses, while offering lots of options for more advanced users. Its shared hosting packages start with the home user-oriented 'basic' plan, which kicks off from $2.99/£2.20 per month (on a three-year contract); with WordPress plans starting at $20/£16 per month – although bear in mind that’s a discounted introductory rate.
For that, you get automated setup for WordPress, as well as other popular apps via a Mojo Marketplace-powered system. Plus, there’s a cPanel-based area, so if you know what you’re doing, you can tweak things.
Bluehost also gives you a free domain, and provides a free Weebly-based website builder to create a site up to six pages, although website templates aren’t included. And bear in mind that none of the plans include SSL, but certificates are available as an add-on from $50 (£40) a year.
With great customer support on offer too, this makes for powerful, feature-packed, user-friendly web hosting – with customisation options for the more demanding user. That said, people who don't want lengthy commitments will probably prefer HostGator's month-to-month options.
07. WP Engine
Premium WordPress hosting for demanding users
WP Engine is another WordPress hosting wizard. Unlike the other web host providers here, WP Engine only provides managed WordPress hosting: there are no e-commerce plans, VPS, dedicated servers or anything else. And while it’s expensive for casual users, it offers speed, power and high-end premium features for more demanding users.
There are some valuable benefits to going with WP Engine. The service tests WordPress updates and patches before applying them to your site, while a custom caching system optimises performance. In addition, real-time threat detection is included – and if you do get hacked, the service promises it'll be fixed for free.
The base Startup plan costs $35/£25 per month, although you get two months free if you pay upfront for an annual subscription. This gives you the power to run a single website with 25,000 visits per month and a limit of 50GB bandwidth. An SSL certificate and CDN functionality are included in that price, as is a free migration. WP Engine also promises a 99.95% service availability guarantee.
You can try out any of the WP Engine plans free for 60 days, and with a free site migration service and free SSL certificate, switching over is simple and secure.
Source:CB
Netflix is raise their monthly charges from $11 to $13
Netflix is getting another price hike. The most popular plan, which includes HD streaming on two devices at once, will go up from $11 per month to $13 per month, effective immediately. Its cheapest $8-per-month plan will be sneaking up to $9, and its premium ultra-high-def $14-per-month plan is now $16, reaching just every-so-slightly above competitor HBO Go's $15-per-month fee.
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| NETFLIX Charges |
The new prices take effect immediately, unlike some of Netflix's previous rate raises, which have come with a grace period. It seems like after four bit-by-bit price increases, Netflix is plenty happy to just pull the trigger on these.
The increase in cost is designed to support (and is likewise probably a consequence of) Netflix's increasing push for original content, which includes popular shows like Stranger Things and viral movies like Bird Box.
At $13 per month, its most popular plan is still a little cheaper than HBO Go, but as it moves in on that space, it's hard to know how long that will remain the case, and whether or not this latest two-buck increase will prove more than current subscribers are willing to shell out.
Source: PM
