10 Best Cheap Web Hosting Providers
To enable other people to view your website on the internet, you need a web host. What web hosting providers essentially do is that they store the files of your website on their web servers (special computers connected to a high-speed network) and provide access to your site whenever visitors enter your domain name in their web browsers.
Web hosting is a ubiquitous and diversified service that is available for anyone who wants to launch a website. Web hosting is made available to customers through hosting plans with different features (disk space, bandwidth, RAM, CPU) and complementary hosting services (backups, updates, domain name registration, etc.) included with these plans for a recurring monthly or annual fee.
In the last couple of years, the hosting industry has seen a diversification of its services partly due to the emergence of new technologies and partly due to changing consumer demands and the rise in competition among hosting providers. Thus, more specialized hosting options have emerged (e.g. WordPress optimized hosting), and prices for the most commonly used hosting plans have gone down.
Top 10 Cheapest Web Hosting Providers
In the market for cheap hosting this year? We’ve chosen the best cheap hosting providers for you to check out.
| Web Host | Lowest Price | Money Back | Free Domain | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
 |
$2.75 / mo |
45-Day | ||
2 |
 |
$3.95 / mo |
30-Day | ||
3 |
 |
$3.99 / mo |
90-Day | ||
4 |
 |
$1.99 / mo |
30-Day | ||
5 |
 |
$3.99 / mo |
30-Day | ||
6 |
 |
$3.95 / mo |
30-Day | ||
7 |
 |
$3.15 / mo |
30-Day | ||
8 |
 |
$4.95 / mo |
30-Day | ||
9 |
 |
$5.00 / mo |
30-Day | ||
10 |
 |
$2.95 / mo |
30-Day |
The idea that good hosting doesn’t have to be expensive is slowly becoming a tenet in the industry. Indeed, for the most part, general hosting services are available at truly budget-friendly prices. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on the cheapest shared hosting plan available at each of the 10 hosting companies that we are going to cover.
1. HostGator
HostGator
HostGator is a well-known name in the hosting industry that managed to provide quality hosting services all the while keeping costs low. In operation since 2002, the company has won numerous industry awards, marking their commitment to quality.
Their entry-level shared hosting plan – the Hatchling – costs $3.45/month, and it includes: unmetered disk space and bandwidth, hosting for 1 domain, instant backups, no commitment period, 45-day money-back guarantee, Google AdWords and Yahoo/Bing ad credit ($100 each), unlimited MySQL databases, 1-click WordPress installation, unlimited email accounts, SSH access, ImageMagick included, audio-video streaming supported, possibility to enable SpamAssassin, Soholaunch website creation software, latest cPanel version, hotlink protection, IP Deny Manager, eCommerce capabilities, etc.
For even more features, you can refer to HostGator’s higher tier hosting plans (Baby and Business), or choose any of their VPS, dedicated, cloud or reseller hosting plans.
Whether you need hosting for a blog or an eCommerce site, HostGator’s budget-friendly hosting packages will deliver all the hosting services your website needs to operate at peak performance. – read our HostGator review
2. BlueHost
BlueHost is the flagship hosting company for WordPress sites, and recognized by the hosting industry as a quality hosting provider. They provide all kinds of hosting services, but their shared and WordPress optimized hosting plans are their most popular offerings.
Their most affordable shared hosting plan is the Basic plan, which costs $2.75/month. This plan includes hosting for 1 website, 50 GB website space, unmetered bandwidth, 1 free domain, 5 email accounts and 100 MB storage for each account. If you’re looking for an all-unlimited shared hosting plan, BlueHost lines up two other shared hosting plans that will satisfy your requirements. All shared hosting plans come with free automatic backups, cPanel included, CloudFlare built into your account, SSH access.
If you will ever need to upgrade to a VPS or a dedicated plan, you can do so with a single click, since hosting plans at BlueHost are designed with easy scalability in mind.
Another important feature of this hosting company’s shared hosting plans is the resource protection mechanism that prevents websites from using excessive resources in the detriment of other websites hosted on the same server. Thus, websites that overuse resources are assigned temporarily to isolated systems to protect the performance of neighbouring sites. – read our BlueHost review
3. InMotion Hosting
On the scene of web hosting since 2001, InMotion Hosting aims its services predominantly for business and corporate users. Even their shared hosting plans are branded as business hosting plans delivering top-notch features.
The cheapest hosting package at InMotion Hosting is the Launch plan, which costs $5.99/month. It’s slightly more expensive than the cheapest packages at the previous two hosting companies covered in our article, but they come with features that satisfies business needs as well. Therefore, the Launch plan includes: free SSD drives, free domain name, free data backups, SSH access, unlimited disk space and monthly transfers, 2 websites on 1 account, $250 free ad credit, BoldGrid website builder, WP-CLI enabled, Google Apps integration, business class hardware, cPanel control panel, WordPress, Joomla, or PrestaShop installed, SpamSafe Email, 1-click installer, etc.
A 90-day money-back guarantee is offered with all business plans as a quality guarantee for their services.
Being a full-service hosting company, InMotion offers the whole spectrum of available hosting packages from shared hosting to WordPress optimized hosting and even reseller hosting. – read our InMotion Hosting review
4. iPage.com
When it comes to affordable hosting, there is hardly any competition for iPage. It’s probably the best budget hosting currently available for the promotional price of $1.99/month. You may wonder whether there is any substance behind this attractive price, but iPage delivers a shared hosting service laden with amazing features.
So here’s what you can get at iPage for $1.99/month: unlimited disk space, unlimited email accounts, scalable bandwidth, unlimited domain names allowed, unlimited MySQL databases, free domain registration for 1 year, vDeck control panel, mobile optimized site builder, 1-click WordPress installer, content management systems (Joomla!, Drupal, WordPress), hundreds of templates and themes, photo galleries, site traffic reporting, etc.
In terms of marketing, iPage gives you $100 for Yahoo/Bing ads and another $100 for Google AdWords, a toll-free phone number (US only) and access to SEO marketing tools.
If you’re looking to add eCommerce capabilities to your website, iPage lines up a range of shopping carts (AgoraCart, OpenCart, ZenCart, PrestaShop, OSCommerce, etc.), easy 1-click installers, and PayPal integration.
Apart from this unlimited shared hosting plan, you can upgrade to other hosting plans including WordPress hosting, VPS, and dedicated hosting. – read our iPage review
5. JustHost
Hosting doesn’t have to be complicated, and JustHost strives to prove just that. The company was founded in 2008, and later acquired by the Endurance International Group.
JustHost is a relative newcomer to the industry, but it’s been around for long enough to make a mark. Their shared hosting plans aim to offer full hosting functionality even for individuals or companies that are on a tight budget.
Their cheapest hosting package, the Basic, is available for $3.75/month and lines up the following features: 50 GB disk space, hosting for 1 website, unmetered bandwidth, 1 free domain name, 5 email account with 100 MB storage for each. JustHost also offers 3 different webmail solutions, cPanel control panel, Secure Shell Access, hotlink protection, SpamAssassin protection, site statistics, etc. eCommerce functionality can also be achieved via the shopping carts offered with the plan and the 1-click installs.
JustHost delivers affordable hosting plans not only with their shared hosting plans, but also within their VPS and dedicated hosting tiers. – read our JustHost review
6. FatCow
FatCow has been providing hosting services for 10 years now, and the primary focus of their services is to offer simple and cheap hosting services that can be easily managed even by those who are less versed in technical matters. The whole concept of their website revolves around making hosting services seem approachable by anyone, even non-professionals.
FatCow’s cheapest plan costs $49/year, and comes with “oodles” (unlimited) of disk space and bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, free domain name, load balanced server architecture, daily backups, shopping carts, SSL secure server, SEO tools, PayPal integration, application installation wizards, point and click site building tools, advertising credit, cloud storage and 24×7 support.
If you outgrow your shared hosting plan at FatCow, you can easily switch to a VPS or dedicated plan, without any fuss or going through the hassle of migrating to another host.
Whether it’s your first time building a website or you already possess the necessary skills to build a site, FatCow’s simplicity allows you to seamlessly handle all your hosting related tasks. – read our FatCow review
7. HostMonster
HostMonster has been providing hosting services since 2005. They provide shared, VPS and dedicated hosting in several hosting packages designed to meet a variety of needs.
Their cheapest hosting package, the Basic package, starts at $4.95/month and comes with the same offerings in terms of disk space, bandwidth and email offered by BlueHost’s Basic package and JustHost’s package (hosting for 1 domain, unmetered bandwidth, 50 GB disk space, 5 email addresses and 100 MB storage for each). A free domain name, cPanel control panel, a free site builder, 1-click WordPress install, $100 Yahoo/Bing and $100 Google AdWords credit are also provided.
At HostMonster, you can get access to 100 open-source plugins, themes, and apps via the MOJO marketplace, and install everything you need with a single click.
If the entry-level shared hosting plan is not enough for your website, you have two other shared hosting options that you can check out, or you can opt for a VPS or dedicated plan. – read our HostMonster review
eHost.com
eHost has been present in the web hosting scene since 1998, thus, they have amassed significant experience in providing web hosting services. Their platform hosts over one million websites thanks to the feature rich shared hosting plan they offer for a pocket-friendly price.
The company focuses on simplicity and aims to draw in customers that are looking for an affordable shared hosting plan to host small to middle-sized websites. Hence, they offer a single, unlimited shared hosting plan that costs $2.75/month.
In terms of features, eHost’s shared hosting plan comes with unlimited storage space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited domains allowed, unlimited email accounts and unlimited MySQL databases. A free domain name is also included with the plan.
Apart from these, the company also offers cPanel, a choice of shopping carts, a drag and drop site builder with thousands of templates, PayPal integration, load balanced servers, site analytics software, 24×7 support on all channels (phone, email, chat), virus checking, etc.
Marketing wise, you can take advantage of online marketing guides and $100 credit offered for Yahoo/Bing paid ads, all included with your plan. – read our eHost Review
HostClear
HostClear is a shared hosting only provider that focuses on offering a single all-inclusive hosting plan for your blog, website or small eCommerce site.
Instead of spreading out their hosting services throughout more hosting plans, they offer a single shared hosting plan for the monthly price of $2.99. The storage space and bandwidth they offer are unmetered, and they allow you to host unlimited domains on your account as well as unlimited databases.
They offer the industry-standard cPanel control panel, choice of shopping carts, PayPal integration, site traffic reporting tool, free marketing credit, virus checking tools, drag and drop site builder, personalized domain name, blog setup wizard, access to thousands of templates, etc.
The only disadvantage of HostClear is that you don’t have the option to switch to VPS or dedicated plans when your site outgrows the shared hosting plan. This is a disadvantage that you will run into with any hosting provider that offers only shared hosting plans (e.g. eHost). Therefore, if you don’t plan on expanding your site too much or don’t foresee a rapid growth for your website, you can opt for HostClear’s shared hosting package. If, however, you plan on developing your site and drawing in more and more visitors, you should opt for a hosting company that offers the whole spectrum of hosting plans. – read our HostClear review
IdeaHost
Just like HostClear, IdeaHost is also a shared hosting-only hosting company, so the same recommendations mentioned at HostClear hold true for IdeaHost as well.
IdeHost’s shared hosting plan is also an unmetered plan (unmetered disk space and bandwidth, unlimited domain names and MySQL databases), and comes with cPanel included. A free domain name (for 1 year) is included, a free site builder (up to 6 pages) and access to templates and set-up wizards (blog, photo gallery) are also provided. You have the option to choose between more shopping carts to add some eCommerce capabilities to your site and integrate PayPal as your payment method.
If you’re looking for ways to promote your site, IdeaHost grants you access to online marketing guides and throws in $100 advertising credit (Yahoo/Bing) so you can market your site.
Customer support is available on all channels (email, chat, phone) 24×7. – read our IdeaHost review
Conclusion
The hosting industry is abundant in affordable shared hosting plans and most hosting companies offer unlimited plans with an arsenal of features to build, promote and keep your website secure without being a financial burden for you or your business.
You may notice similarities between the design and services offered by some of the hosting companies discussed in the article. One reason is that some companies are just different brands of the same parent company (e.g. BlueHost, IdeaHost and HostClear are owned by the Endurance International Group), another reason is that there are certain quality standards in the hosting industry that reputable hosting providers will get in line with (e.g. providing cPanel).
Featured Image: Freepik.com
David Cross
David is the chief editor at WebHostingMedia right from the beginning. He has a great passion for building and managing websites and creating helpful content. He is also interested in programming - currently learning python.
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