The best web hosting providers play a key role in your website's success and location is a big part of that. We tested the top providers, focusing on speed, server locations, uptime, response time, disk space, cost, user interface, and support quality for the European Union.
Many of these hosts have some of the best Black Friday web hosting deals on right now.
Best web hosting providers in the EU
Best overall
Whether you’re a website newbie or a seasoned entrepreneur with a revenue-generating site, Hostinger has a low-cost plan to suit your needs.
The shared hosting range can handle most home and small business sites, for instance. Managed WordPress hosting is on hand for business users. Cloud and VPS (Virtual Private Server) plans have the power for larger projects, and Hostinger's Titan hosted email is a capable service which offers 50GB inboxes, built-in calendar and contacts, custom mobile apps and more.
Hostinger does have a gap at the very top of its range: there are no dedicated hosting products. But don't rule it out just yet. The company's top-of-the-range KVM 8 VPS (Virtual Private Server) plan offers 8 CPU cores, 32GB RAM, 400GB NVMe storage and 8TB bandwidth, which is considerably more powerful than many of the dedicated servers we see with other providers. Good news, especially when it's priced from just $21.99 a month.
Multiple data centers across North and South America, Europe and Asia improves your site performance, wherever in the world your target audience may be. You don't have to spend big money to get that level of choice, either: even the cheapest shared hosting plan (priced from a tiny $1.99 a month) allows you to decide where your site is hosted.
- Read our Hostinger review
- Get the best deal on Hostinger products with our Hostinger promo codes.
Best for ecommerce
ScalaHosting is a reliable hosting provider with consistently strong server speed. Their VPS servers’ performance is also as highly notable and competitive. To guarantee this, their 99.9% uptime guarantee offers offsetting account credits should there be more downtimes than expected. ScalaHosting also provide SPanel, Scala hosting’s alternative to cPanel.
Some of ScalaHosting’s strengths are their approach to security and impressive performance. Their own SPanel locks installation files for security, restricting hacker access to the server to upload malware. Traffic spikes do not become an issue either, as your site’s speed will remain untouched with their impressive connection time.
Support is also not overlooked and should not be, and ScalaHosting offers 24/7 chat support to ensure you get all the help you need anytime. ScalaHosting’s plans offer competitive pricing, though renewal fees can go pretty steep. Plans include unlimited bandwidth, guaranteed resources, unlimited databases, a free domain and free SSL, SShield Cyber security, SSD powered servers, and a lot more.
Other features of ScalaHosting include daily backups that are done remotely, a 1-click installer, free website migration, and the eleven years of progress ScalaHosting has on their hands, currently powering 700,000 websites from over 120 countries.
Establishing a name for your business is the most crucial part of achieving that ever elusive success. Don’t be afraid to test the waters whenever you have to, even if that means you fall once or twice. For as long as you set your eyes on the goal and trust in the process, rising to the challenge won’t be a difficult path to take.
- Read our ScalaHosting review
Best for WordPress
Bluehost has uptime credibility that is backed up by the two million plus websites they’re currently powering. Never mind that Bluehost has a free website builder, their unmetered (except for the basic plan) website spaces, unmetered bandwidth (applicable to all plans) and unlimited parked domains (except for the basic plan) all add icing to the cake.
Offering shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS hosting, and cloud hosting, Bluehost has a hosting plan perfect for your budget without compromising your site’s performance. Of course, premium tier plans will and should offer more features. Bluehost has a reported 99.99% uptime, which means a very slim margin of error in terms of affecting your visitor’s experience while browsing your site. It is important to note that Bluehost does not, however, offer any guarantee with their uptime promise, but their reputation for keeping this should be enough guarantee.
With Bluehost handling their servers themselves, you can only expect to be taken care of as soon as you sign up for a plan. Bluehost will ensure your website loads fast, is automatically backed up daily, your inbox protected from spam, and that your servers are monitored round the clock. Their technical support team can lend a hand anytime of the day, 7 days a week. All in all, Bluehost holds the top spot for all the reasons mentioned above and more.
For some money off when using Bluehost, be sure to check out our Bluehost discount codes.
- Read our Bluehost review
Best for small business
SiteGround has a commitment to speed, uptime and support that makes them one of the leading hosting providers in the EU. Their servers are built on Google Cloud, accounting for its super-fast and secure network (using Let’s Encrypt SSL). They’re also among the most recommended hosting for WordPress sites, with their optimized WordPress hosting that includes features to scale your business or blog.
SiteGround lets you manage both your domain and your site at the same time, while one-click installers make it easy to get started with WordPress, Joomla and many other industry-standard web platforms.
Higher plan tiers offer even more perks, including a wider range of server resources to make use of in your site: Git integration, a staging tool that lets you test your site before launching and going live; and dynamic WordPress caching to optimize your WordPress experience, increasing your site or blog’s chances at being successful.
SiteGround hosts sites from their servers in three continents, with data center locations in Chicago, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore, which makes targeting your audience a lot easier. It’s also worth mentioning that SiteGround’s extremely fast servers come with the latest hardware and software to ensure the speed your site is getting is consistent.
- Read our SiteGround review
Best for beginners
DreamHost covers the entire spectrum when it comes to web hosting plans. From shared hosting at the lowest end, you can get everything in between up to dedicated servers and powerful cloud computing plans with a custom dashboard.
Beyond hosting, DreamHost caters to users with extra needs as well. The most essential of these seems to be their AI-centric tools, which include an AI website builder and content generator. For those who want a more hands-off approach, it even has marketing and website design services.
You can even schedule a short call with their Pro services team. They'll discuss your needs with you and offer helpful suggestions about the scope of suitable services.
If you're targeting localized traffic in the EU region, opt for DreamHost's data center in the Netherlands. If not, you also have a choice between the US East and West Coast regions.
- Read our DreamHost review
Best VPS for WordPress
Cloudways has a different approach in providing hosting services, but that hasn’t stopped them from providing some of the best services in the world. Cloudways is known for the speed and security they offer, ultimately providing a worry-free experience and excellent hosting solutions to power up your website and boost its success.
Since Cloudways believes your focus should be in setting up a great website and not looking into complex hosting details, so the company makes the experience super easy starting with their cloud providers, unlimited applications, 24/7 support, managed security, automated backups, real time monitoring and innovative control panel, to optimize your site’s performance.
Cloudways is one of the best WordPress hosting providers in the EU - it’s fast, reliable and secure and their high performance hosting and affordable plans are everything you need in reaching your business goals.
Other features of Cloudways that make it more desirable aside from the high performance yet affordable hosting are the easy set up, excellent uptime, free trial for when you want to see it first hand before you make a decision, flexible account plans and tiers to choose from, protected servers which means protected data and files, and a number of apps that can be used alongside your Cloudways tools so you can get most out of your website’s features.
- Read our Cloudways review
Best shared
HostGator’s reputation comes from their years of experience, with their unlimited bandwidth and storage, great customer support, intuitive dashboard, and tons of more perks to get your site on track. HostGator is known for their shared hosting plans, WordPress hosting plans, Virtual Private Server (VPS) plans, cloud hosting plans, a dedicated server, and their very own website builder.
Their hosting plans will give you unlimited bandwidth and database, weekly backups, 24-hour support, and low renewal costs. If you’re using Perl, Python and Ruby On Rails, you’re in good hands with HostGator. HostGator makes use of SSDs for hosting, which helps improve their server speed.
HostGator’s WordPress hosting that is dedicated to speed and security, VPS hosting with dedicated control and scalable resources, and dedicated hosting for full control and management including ultimate performance make HostGator a great choice for your site to reach its full potential. HostGator provides the best hosting solutions for personal websites and business websites alike, and to help you achieve your website goals no matter what.
- Read our HostGator review
- You could save on HostGator VPS hosting with our HostGator promo codes.
Best for bilingual support
HostPapa is a consistent contender for its performance. It offers affordable and competitively priced plans for the needs of both beginners and seasoned website experts. They also have strong enough servers for powerful sites, so if you want your site to reach its full potential, HostPapa is one of your best options.
Though their plan pricings are affordable, that does not mean hosting speed is compromised in any way. HostPapa does have a reputation for excellent uptimes and fast loading speeds, and their 24/7 bilingual customer support does not fall behind. Other features offered by HostPapa include a free domain name, easy-to-use hosting tools that give you full control of your site, and fast, not to mention reliable storage and apps.
HostPapa hosting plans also come with pre-installed WordPress and Jetpack for when you feel like your website can benefit more from these platforms. Site migration and domain transfer are both free and easy, making switching to HostPapa the next easiest thing to signing up. Free site migration and domain transfer are two of the main selling points of HostPapa, second to their consistent speed and uptime.
HostPapa is independently owned and invests in the best technology to offer you only the best hosting services you need for your website to reach its maximum potential. HostPapa is reliable, fast and offers excellent customer support to help you every step of the way.
- Read our HostPapa review
How we test the best EU web hosting
According to statistics from Web tribunal, there are over 330,000 web hosting service providers.
We narrow down the hosting providers in Europe and to begin our testing process. How we test the web hosting providers is then further narrowed down into sections.
We look at the range of products on offer and compare features, plus we check the affordability of the host and how easy it is to use. Lastly, we use test websites created by our team to check the performance and reliability of the web hosting provider.
These are all the elements that also provide us with the data to pick the best EU web hosting services.
EU web hosting FAQs
Why does server location matter when choosing a web host?
Server location plays a key role in website performance, user experience, and SEO. The physical distance between the server and your audience affects loading speed and latency — the farther data travels, the longer it takes to reach users. Hosting your site closer to your audience reduces the number of network hops, resulting in faster response times.
Server location is particularly important for targeting specific markets. For example, hosting on European servers ensures faster loading times for European users. This is especially critical for e-commerce sites, where even a 1-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by up to 7%.
Server location also impacts SEO. Search engines factor in server location when calculating a website’s geographical relevance. Hosting your site near your audience can improve local search rankings and overall SEO performance.
Why should I choose a web hosting service in the EU?
Choosing EU-based web hosting has several advantages for businesses targeting European customers. First, European hosting providers often invest more in high-quality hardware and customer support, leading to better website performance and reliability.
EU hosting also ensures compliance with data protection laws like GDPR, which is essential for maintaining customer trust and avoiding legal issues. European hosts are required to uphold strict standards for data security and privacy, making them a good choice for businesses handling sensitive information.
Additionally, the EU has excellent internet infrastructure, including major Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in key cities, which provide fast and reliable network performance. Hosting in the EU means faster loading times for European users and reduced latency. Many providers also offer 24/7 technical support in European time zones, making it easier to resolve any issues quickly
How to choose the best EU web hosting services?
There are several key factors to take into consideration when whittling down your choice of best EU web hosting. Firstly, consider your knowledge base. Are you a seasoned web developer keen to flex your muscles? Or are you a relative site-hosting newbie, or someone simply looking for the simplest and least stressful option? Your answer will play a key part in your choice and some web hosting options are designed for users with specific skill sets.
You should also consider the size of your website, and also its typical traffic, both of which will have a bearing on the calibre of hosting you should be seeking.
Also consider what other traits you require your website to have. Will it have a payment gateway and therefore require robust data security measures? Does it need to be the quickest website online, or are you happy simply that it is easy to use and maintain? Once you've got the answers to these questions, you'll be in a good space to pick the best EU web hosting package for you.
- We also have a list of the best UK web hosting services on the market
- You've reached the end of the page. Jump back up to the top ^
