• AMD targets Nvidia’s Blackwell with upcoming Instinct MI355X accelerator
• Oracle plans massive 30,000-unit MI355X cluster for high-performance AI workloads
• That’s in addition to Stargate, Oracle’s 64,000-GPU Nvidia GB200 cluster

While AI darling Nvidia continues to dominate the AI accelerator market, with a share of over 90%, its closest rival, AMD, is hoping to challenge the Blackwell lineup with its new Instinct MI355X series of GPUs.

The MI355X, now expected to arrive by mid-2025, is manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm node and built on AMD's new CDNA 4 architecture. It will feature 288GB of HBM3E memory, bandwidth of up to 8TB/sec, and support for FP6 and FP4 low-precision computing, positioning it as a strong rival to Nvidia’s Blackwell B100 and B200.

In 2024, we reported on a number of big wins for AMD, which included shipping thousands of its MI300X AI accelerators to Vultr, a leading privately-held cloud computing platform, and to Oracle. Now, the latter has announced plans to build a cluster of 30,000 MI355X AI accelerators.

Stargate

This latest news was revealed during Oracle’s recent Q2 2025 earnings call, where Larry Ellison, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, told investors, “In Q3, we signed a multi-billion dollar contract with AMD to build a cluster of 30,000 of their latest MI355X GPUs.”

Although he didn’t go into further detail beyond that, Ellison did talk about Project Stargate, saying, “We are in the process of building a gigantic 64,000 GPU liquid-cooled Nvidia GB200 cluster for AI training.”

He later added, “Stargate looks to be the biggest AI training project out there, and we expect that will allow us to grow our RPO even higher in the coming quarters. And we do expect our first large Stargate contract fairly soon.”

When questioned further about Stargate by a Deutsche Bank analyst, Ellison gave a reply that could just as easily apply to the cluster of MI355X AI accelerators Oracle is planning to build.

"The capability we have is to build these huge AI clusters with technology that actually runs faster and more economically than our competitors. So it really is a technology advantage we have over them. If you run faster and you pay by the hour, you cost less. So that technology advantage translates to an economic advantage which allows us to win a lot of these huge deals,” he said.

Ellison also touched on Oracle’s data center strategy, saying, “So, we can start our data centers smaller than our competitors and then we grow based on demand. Building these data centers is expensive, and they’re really expensive if they’re not full or at least half full. So we tend to start small and then add capacity as demand arises.”

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• AMD releases details of 288GB MI355X accelerator: 80% faster than MI325X

• Oracle reveals Newfold Digital is migrating to its cloud platform
• Newfold’s portfolio of hosting brands includes Bluehost and HostGator
• Bluehost is one of the web hosts recommended by WordPress.org

You may not be massively familiar with Newfold Digital, but the privately held global web and ecommerce giant provides a wide range of digital solutions to help businesses establish and grow their presence online including some of the best web hosting services.

In Oracle’s latest earnings call, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison talked about the gigantic 64,000-GPU, liquid-cooled Nvidia GB200 cluster Oracle is building for AI training, saying: "Our multicloud business at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft grew 200% in the last three months alone. But in addition to these rapidly growing existing businesses, new customers and new businesses are migrating to the Oracle Cloud at an unprecedented rate."

He then went on to reveal that "all four of the leading cloud security companies - CrowdStrike, Cybereason, Newfold Digital, and Palo Alto - they all decided to move to the Oracle Cloud." That’s huge news and highlights the company’s growing influence in the cloud market.

Database available everywhere

Ellison didn’t go into any specific details, so we don’t know how much business Newfold Digital is moving over to Oracle, or whether it has entirely shifted away from the likes of AWS, Google Cloud Platform, or Microsoft Azure.

He did, however, state, "Customers can get our database everywhere. They can install an Oracle Cloud region on their premises. They can get Oracle from Azure. They can get Oracle from Google. They can get Oracle from AWS. They obviously can get Oracle from OCI. And that Oracle database is becoming more and more capable. It does store most of the world’s valuable data."

Formed in 2021 through the merger of Endurance Web Presence and Web.com Group, it owns and operates a portfolio of well-known brands including Bluehost, HostGator, Network Solutions, and Register.com.

It serves millions of small-to-medium businesses globally and offers services such as domain registration, website hosting, the best website builder tools, email marketing, ecommerce solutions, and digital marketing services.

Bluehost, arguably the best known of Newfold Digital's businesses, powers millions of websites worldwide. It’s also officially recommended by WordPress.org (alongside Pressable and Hostinger), so that’s likely going to mean a lot of WordPress sites will be shifting over to Oracle Cloud in the near future.

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• Having trouble picking between Hostgator vs Bluehost?
• And these are the best UK web hosting services
• How to host a website for yourself or your business

With over two decades of experience, HostGator is a much-loved and well-respected provider in the web hosting world. There's a lot of good reasons that it's featured in our list of the best web hosting providers, not least the fact that every plan comes with unlimited storage and unmetered bandwidth.

With dedicated plans for a whole range of users, HostGator is the perfect partner for customers who need everything from a simple domain and web space bundle to business users that require the backup of around-the-clock support services and extensive e-commerce content.

Thanks to our exclusive link, you can now save up to 73% off on web hosting at HostGator. Considering you'll get all the tools to get the job done, including WordPress hosting, one-click installs and free SSL certificates, there's little reason to look elsewhere. You can also take a look at our full set of HostGator coupon codes for the latest offers.

Why we love HostGator

HostGator offers a wide range of products and services with core packages ranging from the Hatchling Plan, the Baby Plan and the Business Plan. These are suited to all kinds of individual or business requirements, as well as beginner and smaller-sized sites. Whatever your hosting needs are, HostGator has a plan for you.

An additional benefit if you sign up to a HostGator hosting plan is that you'll get a free HostGator domain for one year. And that's not the only way to save money; through their referral program each friend you refer will receive a 65% discount on a membership plan and you'll get $50 in credit.

The best shared hosting providers can give you the best bang for buck but with some compromise. Your site is stored on a web server along with many others, which means everyone shares the server costs and resources and can use a piece of that physical server. A shared hosting plan is popular due to its affordability and ease of use. It is an excellent way to create and maintain a website when you expect little traffic or work with a tight budget. It is also a perfect option for beginners due to its simplicity.

Once you grow out of your shared plan, or if you already have a site that needs it's own resources then you can check out the hosting options on our best web hosting guide.

The best shared web hosting services of 2026

Best shared hosting overall

This shared hosting recommendation is not your run of the mill shared hosting plan. It's not an all-in-one platform style solution for hosting newbies. Instead it's really what you need if you're specifically looking for shared hosting.

InMotion Hosting gives you a lot more for your money than most other companies and supports a lot more than WordPress, including Node.js on shared hosting plans. While many budget hosts limit your space and speed to keep costs down, InMotion provides high-speed storage and plenty of room for your files right from the start.

One of the main reasons people trust them is their long-term trial period. They give you three full months to test their services, which is much longer than the standard thirty days offered by their competitors. This shows they are confident in their service and gives you enough time to make sure your site runs perfectly before you are locked into a long-term commitment.

Security and help are also built into every plan. They include tools that automatically protect your site from hackers and viruses without you having to be a tech expert. If you do run into a problem, they have a dedicated support team available at any hour of the day or night. Because they handle the technical maintenance and security updates behind the scenes, you can focus on your work instead of worrying about your server.

Finally, they make it very easy to get started or move an existing project. If you already have a website elsewhere, they will move it over for you for free.

Read our InMotion Hosting review.

Best value shared hosting

A popular provider, Hostinger somehow manages to delivers plans which combine amongst the longest feature lists in the business, with the lowest of prices.

The Premium plan starts at only $2.49 a month for a 2-year commitment (renews at $12.19 a month), for instance, but it still gives you a free SSL, 1-click WordPress installation, a website builder, a free domain (with free privacy protection), a malware scanner, Cloudflare-protected nameservers, and can host up to 100 websites and 100 email accounts.

There are potential issues, too. The Premium plan only includes weekly backups, perhaps unacceptable for regularly updated sites where you can't afford to lose data. If you'd much rather accept daily and on-demand backups, one of the other two plans will be a better choice. The Business plan is priced at $3.49 a month (renews at $13.99 per month), and you can get the Cloud Startup plan, which can host up to 300 websites, for as little as $7.59 per month ($24.99 per month upon renewal).

Whatever plan you choose, Hostinger's user-friendly and intuitive control panel walks you through the process of creating email accounts, managing domains and other key tasks. Hostinger's servers are distributed across multiple data centers worldwide, minimizing latency and enhancing the overall user experience. Additionally, 24/7 support is available, and they offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, ensuring your website remains accessible to users at all times.

Overall, we find Hostinger's shared hosting excellent value for money. But if the service doesn't work for you, you're protected by a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our Hostinger review.

Best shared hosting for beginners

We often consider Bluehost an excellent choice for beginners because it removes the technical hurdles typically associated with starting a website. From the moment you sign up, the platform guides you through a setup wizard that handles the complex parts, such as connecting your domain and installing software.

The main advantage for a first-time user is the simplified dashboard. Instead of forcing you to navigate complex technical menus, Bluehost uses an intuitive interface where you can manage your site, email, and security in one place. They also include an AI-powered website builder that lets you create a professional-looking design by answering a few questions and dragging elements into place. This means you can go from having nothing to a live website without ever touching a line of code.

To make the process even more affordable and straightforward, Bluehost bundles all the essentials into its entry-level plans. You get a free domain name for your first year, a free security certificate to keep visitor data safe, and automatic updates to keep your site running smoothly. This all-in-one approach prevents the common frustration of having to buy multiple different services from different companies just to get a single site online.

Best shared hosting for small business

SiteGround offers some low-end shared hosting plans which may cost a little bit more than some budget rivals you’ll find on this page, but the upside is that they include all the core features that you’ll likely need.

The firm’s StartUp account is $2.99 a month initially, and $17.99 for renewal. With that you get unlimited traffic, email accounts and databases, not to mention one-click installation of apps like WordPress. It also bundles features that rival firms often charge for as extras like daily backups or CDN capabilities (Cloudflare).

Prices may seem high, but SiteGround gives you a lot for your money, and its shared and cloud hosting plans could be a smart choice for experienced business users with demanding or high-traffic websites.

StartUp hosting plan supports one website and provides plenty of features: unmetered traffic, free SSL, daily backup, free email, and more. It allows up to 10,000 visits monthly. Advanced plans support unlimited websites and extra web space. GrowBig allows 100,000 and GrowGeek 400,000 visits monthly. Also, backup copies are available on demand; you get 30% faster PHP, and they come with extra features we are sure you will love.

Another nifty touch is the provider’s SuperCacher system which caches frequently-accessed data in RAM, aiming to improve site performance. This could certainly help busy websites. Not everything is rosy here, though – for example the basic account limits you to 10GB of web space. Also, website support via the company’s knowledgebase is a rather shoddy experience, but there are other avenues of tech support which perform much better.

With free installation of the shopping cart of your choice, you can enjoy free features such as SSL, daily backups, and more to the bundle. A website-building option is also available. WordPress or Weebly is included in all plans.

With prices slightly higher than competitors, SiteGround's shared plans could be a good choice for anyone looking for fast and reliable hosting and is more interested in features and service quality than getting the lowest possible price.

Read our SiteGround review.

Best cheap shared hosting

If you want to do web hosting on a budget, then as this provider’s name suggests, it aims to be inexpensive. You get some impressive value-for-money with Namecheap, particularly with an initial discount for the first year, and there are some heavyweight plans here.

However, note the starter ‘value’ plan only gives you 20GB of drive space and 30 email accounts, but you can get that at a price as cheap as $1.58 per month (over a 2-year contract). Note that this plan renews at $4.48 per month, which is also super affordable.

As this provider name suggests, Namecheap is popular for its affordability. The basic plan supports hosting three websites, while most providers only allow a single site on their starter shared plan.

All plans come with unmetered bandwidth, a free website builder, domain name and privacy protection, free automatic SSL installation, and 24 hour website migration.

Softaculous app installs, updates, and maintains WordPress and 150+ other apps. cPanel gives you complete website control via your browser. A good set of core features includes a free domain, free migration, unlimited bandwidth, free website builder, and a minimum of twice-weekly backups. With advanced plans, auto-backup is available.

Namecheap offers a 99.9% connectivity guarantee and is a straightforward service to set up, with an initial welcome email pointing you in the right direction for everything you might need (backed up by some impressive FAQs). It also plays host to an excellent searchable knowledge base.

To round things off, testing proved that this company generally offers above average speeds compared to rivals, making this a great hosting provider for those who aren’t keen on doing too much damage to their wallet.

Read our Namecheap review.

HostArmada

Right off the bat, it’s important to understand the unique advantages of shared cloud hosting – and what HostArmada is trying to offer here. As the name suggests, shared cloud hosting combines the best of both worlds: shared hosting and cloud hosting. From shared hosting, it picks up affordability and resource-sharing, whereas from cloud hosting, it brings the benefits of scalability, geo-redundancy, and better performance.

Speaking of affordability, HostArmada’s packages start from just $1.99 a month (on a 3-year commitment, renews at $9.95 a month). If you don’t want to sign up for that long, however, you'll be glad to learn that both the 2-year and annual plans are also super cheap – at $2.19 (renews at $10.95) and $2.39 (renews at $11.95) a month, respectively. This is for the basic plan, which, despite being cheap, doesn’t pull any punches. You get 15 GB of fast NVMe storage, 2 CPU cores, and 2 GB of RAM, as well as free SSL for your website, unlimited email and FTP accounts, and 7 daily backups.

It’s worth noting that the entry-level plan allows you to host just a single website, but upgrade to the plan right next to it and unlock the ability to create and manage unlimited websites, with double the storage, CPU cores, and RAM. Furthermore, I liked the fact that irrespective of the plan you pick, essential security features such as malware/virus scanning and removal, brute-force protection, and network firewall are all there.

Additionally, quality-of-life features such as free website migration and cPanel for easy management are much appreciated. To round off an excellent package, HostArmada offers 24/7 customer support via live chat and email, meaning you can get your queries ironed out in a jiffy. Lastly, you get an industry-leading 45-day money-back guarantee with all shared hosting plans, giving you ample time to try out the service risk-free before committing.

Read our HostArmada review

• We discuss the merits of shared hosting vs dedicated hosting

Best shared hosting FAQs

How we test the best shared hosting providers

We test shared hosting using the same method we use to test web hosting in general. We sign up to each service provider and host our test website created by our team of experts.

Once we're in, we test the features on offer, the speed, overall performance, and general ease of use. We also use this to compare each pricing plan to work out if each service is good value for money.

Our experts are well versed on what makes a good shared hosting plan in comparison to what makes a great shared hosting plan.

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When it comes time to choose the best host for your website, you have plenty of options. HostGator and DreamHost offer amazing features that can be perfect depending on what kind of web hosting service you need. But which one among the two is the best?

This guide provides comprehensive information about DreamHost and HostGator so that you can make an informed decision. To figure out which host is best for your needs, it’s important to know all of their features, security, website builder offerings, performance, customer support as well as pricing. 

The goal here is to compare the two web hosting platforms and provide detailed reviews on each company, to help you make an informed decision about which web hosting is right for you. 

Main similarities and differences 

Both HostGator and DreamHost are popular web hosting providers with a long history in the industry. They offer a variety of services, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated server hosting, and more. Both companies have pros and cons, so it's important to compare them side-by-side to see which one is the best fit for you.

One of the main differences between the two companies is pricing. DreamHost is generally more expensive than HostGator. However, it does offer discounts for longer-term contracts and often run special promotions. HostGator, on the other hand, has a unique pricing model that allows you to save money by paying upfront for multiple years of service.

Another key difference is the level of customer support offered by each company. HostGator provides 24/7 support via phone, live chat, and email. They also have a large knowledge base and a community forum where you can find answers to common questions. DreamHost offers limited live support hours and does not have a phone number listed on its site. However, they do have an extensive knowledge base with step-by-step tutorials.

When it comes to features, both HostGator and DreamHost offer a wide range of options. However, HostGator includes more features in its basic plans, while DreamHost offers more advanced features in its higher-tier plans.

Plans and pricing 

HostGator offers three different web hosting plans: Hatchling, Baby, and Business plan. The Hatchling plan starts at $2.75 per month and includes a single website, one-click WordPress installs, free WordPress/cPanel website transfer, unmetered Bandwidth, free SSL certificate and free domain. 

The Baby plan starts at $3.50 per month and includes all the features in the Hatchling plan. The Business plan starts at $5.25 per month and includes all features in the Baby plan plus a private IP address, SEO tools and a dedicated account manager.

DreamHost offers three web hosting plans: Shared Starter, DreamPress, and VPS. The Shared Starter plan starts at $2.95 per month and includes one website, a free domain, unmetered bandwidth, fast SSD storage, WordPress Pre-installed, free SSL certificate, a WordPress website builder, and automated WordPress migrations. The VPS plan starts at $13.95 per month and is designed for WordPress sites. 

It includes everything in the Shared starter plan plus a managed WordPress hosting environment. The DreamPress plan starts at $16.95 per month and includes all the features in the Starter plan plus unlimited email, 24/7, WordPress support, on-demand backups, 1-click restore, jetpack pre‐installed, and 1-click staging.

Overall, both HostGator and DreamHost are comparable in terms of plans and pricing. However, if you are looking for a host that is budget friendly with flexible plans and pricing, HostGator may be a better option. But if you have the budget and you want more features and values for your money, DreamHost is the better option.

Features

HostGator offers a wide range of features that are designed to make your life easier. For example, it offer a one-click installer for WordPress which makes it easier to get started with your blog or website. They also offer 24/7 support so you can always get help when you need it.

On the other hand, DreamHost also offers a lot of features. It comes with an easy-to-use control panel, unlimited storage and bandwidth, automated WordPress migrations, on-demand backups, and free domain privacy protection plus more. 

The web host's customer support is also excellent and it offer a money-back guarantee so you can try them out without any risk. DreamHost offers much more features compared to HostGator. So if you are looking for a hosting company that offers more features, DreamHost is a good option.

Performance

HostGator's average uptime over the past year has been 99.99%. DreamHost's average uptime over the past year has been 99.96%.

In terms of performance, HostGator is the clear winner. Its servers are faster and more reliable than DreamHost's. If you're looking for a hosting provider that can give you the best possible performance, then HostGator is the way to go.

HostGator vs DreamHost website builder capabilities

HostGator's website builder, Gator, offers users a drag-and-drop interface, pre-designed templates, and 24/7 customer support. DreamHost's website builder, Dreamweaver, offers users a more advanced set of tools, including an HTML editor, CSS editor, and FTP access. Both HostGator and DreamHost offer a free domain name when you sign up for their web hosting plans.

If you're looking for an easy-to-use website builder, then HostGator is the way to go. However, if you want more control over your website and don't mind spending a bit more time learning how to use the Dreamweaver editor, then DreamHost is the better option.

Security 

Security is always a top priority when choosing a web hosting provider. Both HostGator and DreamHost offer secure options for their customers. 

HostGator offers a shared SSL certificate for all of its customers. This certificate encrypts the information that is exchanged between the customer and the server. In addition, HostGator has a private SSL certificate for an additional fee. This certificate encrypts all information exchanged between the customer and the server, including passwords and credit card information.

DreamHost, on the other hand, offers a shared SSL certificate for its customers. However, DreamHost goes a step further by offering a private SSL certificate, malware scanning and a dedicated IP address. This means that your website will have its own unique IP address, which makes it more difficult for hackers to access your information. Overall, DreamHost is a clear winner in terms of security features.

Customer support

HostGator and DreamHost are two of the most popular web hosting providers on the market. Both companies offer a variety of plans to suit different budgets and needs. But which one is better when it comes to customer support?

In our test, we found HostGator to be the clear winner when it comes to customer support. They offer 24/7 live chat support as well as phone and email support. Its team is always quick to respond and is helpful.

DreamHost, on the other hand, only offers email support. While they do have a knowledge base where you can find answers to some common questions, it’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for. And if you need help from a real person, you’ll have to wait for a response during business hours.

Final thought

HostGator is the better option if you're looking for a web hosting provider with great performance, pricing, and customer support. However, DreamHost is a good choice if you want more security, features, and control over your website. 

• Check out our list of the best cheap web hosting deals on the market

Combined search for free website builders and free web hosting is at its highest in almost two years as people come to terms with the cost-of-living crisis and wider economic downturn.

From May to June 2022 alone, the search volume for free web hosting doubled, with there also being a sharp increase in the number of people looking for the best free website builder services.

This is reflected in the number of site visits some of the top web hosting and website builder services have received. 

The shift towards free web hosting 

There is also some evidence to suggest this shift may have been playing out over a number of years.

According to data shared exclusively with TechRadar Pro by Similarweb, GoDaddy has lost roughly 20 million site visits in the last two years while cheap web hosting provider Namecheap gained around eight million.

It’s not just GoDaddy that has taken a hit; popular hosting providers such as Bluehost and HostGator also experienced a significant drop in website visitors from May 2019 to May 2022.

Along with Namecheap, affordable hosting provider Hostinger also saw an increase in site visits as monthly visits increased steadily from just over two million in 2019 to 8.2 million in 2022.

Interestingly, the search for cheap web hosting took a significant drop in June 2022 as free web hosting became an increasingly popular search. Although, in the last twelve months, there has been a 30% increase in the number of searches for cheap web hosting, a 44% increase in the search for cheap website hosting and a 20% increase in the search volume for cheap website builders.

Last year, our research found that web hosting and website builder traffic slumped post-COVID. Coupling the damage from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has magnified the slowdown in the global economy, which is entering what could become a protracted period of feeble growth and elevated inflation, according to the Word Bank’s statistics, which is reflected in the shift in web hosting needs from online users. 

• Build your online presence with the best website builder service providers on the market

Magento is a popular ecommerce platform that helps businesses create and manage their online stores. But in order to run a Magento store, businesses need to host their website on a server. This is where Magento hosting comes in.

You can get web hosting that's specifically designed for Magento websites. It provides the necessary resources and support needed to run a Magento store. This includes things like increased memory and processor limits, as well as specialized security features.

Magento hosting can be provided by both traditional web hosting companies or companies that specialize in the area. If you're running a small or medium-sized Magento store, then a traditional web host may be a good option. But if you're running a large or complex Magento store, then you may need to consider a specialized web host.

There are many hosting companies offering Magento hosting; however, the choice can be difficult. To make it easier for you, we've highlighted everything you need to know about these for your ecommerce needs.

What is Magento?

Magento is a powerful and versatile open-source ecommerce platform that enables businesses to create and manage sophisticated online stores. As one of the most popular ecommerce solutions globally, it provides comprehensive tools for catalog management, customer engagement, and order processing.

The platform offers extensive features for product management, allowing merchants to handle multiple product images, customer reviews, inventory tracking, and complex product configurations. Its robust catalog management system enables efficient organization of products through attributes, categories, and batch updates, making it ideal for stores with large inventories.

Magento's architecture is built for scalability, supporting everything from small startups to large enterprises. The platform utilizes a sophisticated database structure, typically running on MySQL or MariaDB, combined with advanced application logic to handle complex ecommerce operations.

Most importantly, however, Magento provides multi-store capabilities that allow businesses to manage multiple online stores from a single installation. This feature enables companies to create separate storefronts for different regions, languages, or brands while maintaining centralized control over operations.

Why does Magento need separate hosting?

Magento is a content management system (CMS) that helps businesses create and manage their website content, including product pages, blog posts, and other forms of digital content. But it does not come with its own storage space, which creates the need for a third-party web host to run it.

Magento's sophisticated architecture and resource-intensive nature necessitate specialized hosting solutions that differ from standard web hosting. Unlike simpler content management systems, Magento requires specific server configurations and optimizations to function effectively and deliver optimal performance.

The platform's extensive feature set and complex database operations demand substantial computing resources. Standard shared hosting environments often lack the necessary power and bandwidth to efficiently run a Magento store, which can lead to slow loading times and poor performance.

Security considerations also play a crucial role in the need for specialized hosting. As an ecommerce platform processing sensitive customer and payment information, Magento requires robust security measures and compliance with various regulations.

Dedicated hosting providers typically offer enhanced security features and regular updates specifically designed for ecommerce operations.

Additionally, Magento's technical requirements include specific PHP configurations, caching systems, and database optimizations that aren't typically available in standard hosting environments. These specialized needs make it essential to choose a hosting provider that understands and caters to Magento's unique requirements.

How does Magento hosting work? 

Magento hosting providers offer specialized server environments specifically configured to meet the platform's technical requirements and performance demands. These environments are optimized for Magento's architecture, ensuring proper resource allocation and system configurations.

The hosting infrastructure typically consists of multiple components working together. At its foundation is a web server, usually Apache or Nginx, configured specifically to run Magento. This is coupled with a database server optimized for Magento's complex queries and data operations.

Most of these hosting solutions also incorporate advanced caching mechanisms and content delivery networks to enhance performance. These systems help reduce server load and improve page loading times by caching frequently accessed content and distributing it efficiently across global networks.

Hosting providers typically offer different tiers of service, ranging from shared hosting to dedicated servers. Depending on the scale of your online business, you need to opt for a type of server that offers the right amount of resources.

Most providers also include automated backup systems, security monitoring, and regular maintenance updates to ensure the stability and security of Magento installations. These services are crucial for maintaining consistent performance and protecting sensitive customer data.

Who should use Magento hosting? 

Magento hosting is perfect for businesses that are looking to sell online.

Magento is a powerful ecommerce platform that provides businesses with everything they need to create an online store. It provides businesses with a complete ecommerce solution that includes everything from a shopping cart to a payment gateway.

The best Magento hosting providers 

A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is one of the popular choices when it comes to hosting for Magento. It provides a fast, secure, and scalable hosting platform that is perfect for running Magento. A2 Hosting's managed Magento hosting plans include features such as:

• Free Magento Installation: Set up your online store without the hassle of a manual installation.
• A2 Optimized: Their team of experts has fine-tuned A2's servers specifically for Magento, so you can rest assured that your site will be running at peak performance levels at all times.
• Turbo Servers: Thanks to A2's Turbo Server option, you can enjoy up to 20X faster page loading speeds on your Magento site.
• Free & Easy Site Migration: They'll help you move your existing Magento site over to A2 Hosting at no charge.
• 24/7/365 Guru Crew Support: A2's team of Magento experts is standing by 24/7 to help you with anything you need, whether it's resolving issues or providing advice.

InMotion Hosting

If you're looking for a hosting company that can provide you with the resources and support you need to run your Magento site, InMotion Hosting is an excellent choice.

They offer a wide range of plans designed to meet the needs of both small and large online businesses, and their team is always available to help you get the most out of your account. Plus, InMotion servers are optimized for Magento performance, so you can rest assured that your site will run quickly and smoothly.

InMotion Hosting has been in business since 2001, and they have a long history of providing quality hosting services to its customers.

This hosting company guarantees its customers a 99.9% uptime, with 24/7/365 customer support service available to help you with any issues you may have. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

HostGator

HostGator is a great option for those looking for an affordable and reliable web host for their Magento store.

HostGator offers several Magento hosting plans, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. The company also offers a money-back guarantee, so you can try out their services with no risk. They also off 24/7/365 customer support.

Benefits of Magento hosting

Magento is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms on the market today. Due to its popularity, there are plenty of Magento hosting providers out there. But with so many choices, it can be difficult to know which provider is right for you.

Here are some things to consider when choosing a Magento hosting provider:

1. Platform support

One of the most important things to look for in a Magento hosting provider is support for all of Magento’s features. Your provider should be able to offer you access to all of the features that make Magento such a powerful ecommerce platform.

2. Excellent uptime

Another important thing to consider when choosing a Magento hosting provider is uptime. Your provider should offer you an excellent uptime guarantee so that you can be sure your store is always up and running.

3. Scalability

As your business grows, you’ll need a hosting provider that can scale with you. Look for a provider that offers scalable plans so that you can upgrade your service as your needs change.

4. Affordable pricing

Magento can be a bit pricey, so you’ll want to find a hosting provider that offers affordable plans. Be sure to compare the features and pricing of different providers to find the best deal for your store.

5. Expert support

When something goes wrong with your store, you’ll want to be able to get help from a knowledgeable support team. Look for a provider that offers 24/7 support so that you can always get the help you need.

Choosing the right Magento hosting provider is essential to the success of your online store. Be sure to keep these things in mind when making your decision.

Types of Magento hosting 

If you're running a Magento store, you need to make sure you have a good hosting solution in place. After all, your host will be responsible for keeping your site up and running. If you choose a bad host, you could end up with a lot of problems which include slow loading speeds, poor customer support and inadequate security.

There are four main types of Magento hosting: shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated. Let's take a look at each one so you can decide which is right for your store.

1. Shared hosting

Shared hosting is the most popular type of Magento hosting. As the name suggests, it means that your site will be sharing a server with other sites. This is a great option for small businesses or stores with low traffic levels.

The main advantage of shared hosting is that it's very affordable. You can find plans for as little as $5 per month. However, the downside is that your site will be sharing resources with other sites, so you may experience some slowdown during peak times.

2. VPS hosting

VPS (virtual private server) hosting is a step up from shared hosting. With VPS hosting, you'll still be sharing a server with other sites. However, you'll have your own virtual server and you'll be able to customize it to meet your specific needs.

VPS hosting is a great option for stores with medium to high traffic levels. It's more expensive than shared hosting, but you'll get more resources and flexibility. Plans start at around $30 per month.

3. Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting is the newest type of Magento hosting. With cloud hosting, your site will be hosted on a network of servers, which means you'll have access to more resources and you won't be affected by other sites on the same server.

Cloud hosting is a great option for high-traffic stores or stores that need extra scalability. Plans start at around $50 per month.

4. Dedicated hosting

Dedicated hosting is the most expensive type of Magento hosting. With dedicated hosting, you'll have your own server and you won't have to share it with anyone else. This is a great option for large businesses or stores with very high traffic levels.

Dedicated hosting plans start at around $100 per month. However, if you need a lot of resources, you could end up paying much more.

Managed vs unmanaged Magento hosting 

If you're running a Magento store, you'll need to choose between managed and unmanaged hosting. So, which is best for your store?

Managed Magento Hosting is a great option if you don't have the time or expertise to manage your server. Your host will take care of all the technical aspects of running your store, including updates, security, and performance.

Unmanaged Magento Hosting is a good choice if you're comfortable managing your server. You'll be responsible for updating Magento and keeping your server secure, but you'll have more control over how your store runs.

Both managed and unmanaged Magento hosting have their pros and cons. Ultimately, the best option for your store depends on the level of handholding and support that your business requires.

How much does Magento hosting cost?

The cost of Magento hosting can vary depending on the type of hosting you choose and the features and functionality you require. Shared hosting plans can start as low as $5 per month, while more robust dedicated or cloud-based hosting services can cost upwards of $500 per month.

When selecting a Magento hosting provider, be sure to consider your specific needs and budget in order to find the best option for your business.

Choosing the right Magento hosting

Magento is a powerful ecommerce platform that provides businesses with a flexible and scalable solution for their online stores. Magento hosting services provide features and resources that are optimized for Magento, making it easier and faster to set up and run an online store.

There are many benefits of using Magento hosting, including improved performance, security, and scalability. Magento hosting also offers several advanced features such as unlimited products, categories, and customers, as well as support for multiple languages and currencies.

If you're looking for a robust and scalable ecommerce platform for your business, then a dedicated solution like A2 Hosting or InMotion is definitely worth considering. Choosing the right web host from the get-go will help you avoid a lot of the headache and frustration associated with initial setup and ongoing maintenance.

HostGator is renowned as one of the best web hosting providers and has been helping customers get online since 2002.

These days the company is owned by Newfold Digital (previously Endurance International Group), the hosting giant who also runs Bluehost, iPage, Domain.com, and Network Solutions.

HostGator's cartoon mascot, cheerful website and low headline prices might leave you thinking it's mostly for consumers and hosting newbies, but in reality the service offers a full range of products for all levels of user.

• Want to try HostGator? Check out the website here

What hosting plans does HostGator offer? 

HostGator's range starts with low-cost shared hosting, simple to manage, but with all the features many sites will ever need.

If you don't have a website already, HostGator's website builder helps you create a starting design in minutes. Editing can be as easy as typing in some text, and dragging and dropping images, contact forms and anything else you need onto the page.

More powerful VPS and dedicated products deliver extra speed and reliability, and are better suited for large or business-critical sites.

There's also a capable managed WordPress range, reseller hosting, domain registration and more.

Shared hosting

When you sign up for a shared plan, HostGator places your website on a single server, which also hosts many other accounts. As everyone is using the same CPU, hard drive, and network connection, speeds aren't the best and can be more unreliable than VPS plans.

HostGator's shared hosting starts at just $2.75 a month over three years ($10.99 on renewal). It supports 10 sites, and provides everything we'd hope to see: free domain for the first year, 10 GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, WordPress preinstalled, free SSL, the powerful cPanel control panel, and 24/7 support, all protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Upgrading to the top-of-the-range plan gets you support for 50 websites, along with a Cloudflare CDN, two extra CPUs, daily website backups for one year, and domain privacy for one year. This plan renews at $21.99 a month, so in my opinion, it's not worth it when you get most of those features included in your plan with SiteGround for $17.99 a month.

Hostinger's shared hosting is an interesting HostGator alternative too. Its plans are priced similarly to HostGator's but you get a lot of paid for add-ons that are part of your plan at no extra cost.

Overall, HostGator's shared hosting is a capable product which has loads of features, but still remains very easy to use. It's just the higher level plans lack some value.

WordPress hosting

WordPress is a popular platform which can help you build anything from a simple single-page website, to a personal blog, a professional business site or (with help from add-ons like WooCommerce) a full-featured web store.

Other benefits are less visible, though also important. Managed WordPress servers are optimized for WordPress. They supposedly deliver more speed and higher security. The support team has more WordPress expertise and can help solve tricky WordPress-specific issues.

Despite these advantages, the managed WordPress plans are only a little more expensive, with prices starting at $3.50 a month over three years ($16.49 on renewal) for the basic plan.

This looks like a good deal to us, but after the first year, some features like email, domain, and CDN become paid-for addons, which increases the price. For managed hosting, SiteGround and Hostinger offer better value overall.

VPS hosting 

VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting, like shared hosting, has multiple accounts on the same server. But there aren't as many, and every VPS gets its own resources. If you buy a VPS with two CPU cores and 4GB RAM, for instance, no other account can use them, ensuring your site delivers higher and more consistent speeds. While shared hosting might run into trouble if you have tens of thousands of visitors a month, a good VPS can handle hundreds of thousands.

HostGator has only three VPS plans. The starter product gives you 4 GB DDR5 RAM, 2 CPU cores, 100GB NVMe storage, and 1 dedicated IP from $34.99 a month for 12 months, $53.99 on renewal.

The top-of-the-range plan offers 8 cores, 16 GB DDR5 RAM and 450 NVMe GB storage for $82.99 a month over 12 months, rising to $128.99 on renewal.

These are capable products, all fully managed (which means HostGator offers full support to keep the VPS updated and running smoothly), and should deliver solid and speedy hosting for larger, resource-hungry websites. But other providers typically have a far wider range of plans, and if you're looking for something cheaper, more powerful or configurable, it's well worth checking a few alternatives on the best VPS hosting guide.

It's worth noting that the 30-day money back guarantee does not cover plans purchased on the monthly basis. If you need a VPS for a quick spin then I suggest InMotion Hosting.

Dedicated hosting 

Choose dedicated hosting and the server, the CPU, the RAM, the network connection is all yours, ensuring you'll never be affected by other site's behavior.

Another big plus for experienced users is the ability to set up the server just as you'd like. You can choose the hardware specs, the operating system, web server and more, and tweak them to suit your precise needs.

HostGator's dedicated server hosting products (like its VPS range) is limited, with only three server configurations.

These start with a 8-core, 32 GB DDR5 RAM and 1000 GB NVMe storage, priced at $141.19 a month over three years, $188.79 on renewal.

The top-of-the-range is an 32-core, 128 GB DDR5 RAM and 3000 GB NVMe storage for $312.19 a month over three years, $391.19 on renewal.

Both systems support Windows as well as Linux, a welcome option you won't see with most web hosts.

These are decent mid-range systems, fully managed with 24/7 support, and good value for what you're getting. But with three plans only, your choice is very limited. If you're looking for something outside of this middle ground, a cheaper or more powerful server, there are many more options available.

HostGator offers some valuable add-ons

Add-ons are something that most web hosts offer. It's an upsell attempt to try to get new users to pay more. It's also something I tend to ignore because of those reasons. However, HostGator is special and you may want to seriously consider some of their add-on services.

For example, you can get:

• SiteLock for $2.99/mo. If you sign up for this security tool separately it'll cost you around $16.58/mo
• Yoast Premium for $2.99/mo. This handy SEO plugin normally costs around $9.80/mo.

You don't have to sign up for these, but Yoast can be very useful for those who aren't familiar with SEO concepts. Although there's a free version of it available, Yoast Premium has much more guidance for new users.

Site migration: Be prepared for some DIY

One of the biggest pains I feel the most at HostGator is that they don't offer free website migrations. At many hosts, this is often part and parcel of their enticement to new customers.

Instead, HostGator wants you to pay them $149.99 to migrate your website from your previous host. Email migration is charged separately, at $99 per account.

Rather than pay these fees, I recommend you consider using a plugin for WordPress sites. UpdraftPlus (it's free!), for example, lets you export your WordPress site. You can then install the plugin on your HostGator account and import those files.

Does HostGator have a website builder?

Website builders are just about the easiest way to start a site. Choose from a selection of designs, drag and drop elements like text blocks, photos, maps and video onto the page, then customize the content to make it your own. Even newcomers could have a good-looking site online within hours.

All HostGator's shared hosting products include a free version of the Weebly site builder. This limits sites to six pages and displays a HostGator link in the footer, but it might work for kids or just learning what a website builder can do.

HostGator has a far better option in its stand-alone Gator Website Builder plan. Instead of asking you to choose a template, then drag and drop page blocks, Gator Builder asks you some questions and then automatically builds a site to suit your needs.

Prices start low at $3.84 a month over two years, $7.68 on renewal, which gets you hosting, a free domain, free SSL, the Gator Builder, and even support for a tiny three-product web store.

The top-of-the-range Gator Builder plan lifts the product limit, helps encourage customers with up to ten email campaigns a month, includes an appointment booking system and allows taking payments with no transaction fees. Those are some valuable e-commerce extras, yet it's still cheap at $9.22 a month over two years, $18.45 on renewal.

Put it all together and Gator Builder is well worth a look, especially for newcomers looking to take their first steps into the web design waters.

If you're looking for more features, try Wix. It's just as easy to get started, but gives you many more design and website tools, and you can try it out and build your first site for free.

GoDaddy's Website Builder also has a surprisingly capable free option (there's email marketing, an appointments system, even the ability to sell online with GoDaddy Payments), along with some business-friendly paid plans. And Bluehost's WordPress-based website builder has 300+ appealing templates, a custom image library and support for unlimited websites, but starts at only $2.95 a month.

Can I build a web store with HostGator?

HostGator doesn't have the same ecommerce-focused products as the likes of Bluehost and GoDaddy, but as we've discussed above, the Website Builder's Express Store plan is a simple solution for smaller web stores.

If you're looking for more power or features, then opting for a specialist WooCommerce hosting plan could make more sense (WooCommerce is one of the best ecommerce platforms around).

Bluehost's baseline WooCommerce plan includes tools to simplify building your site, take payments and collect customer reviews from only $7.45 a month on the annual plan ($18.99 on renewal). InMotion Hosting gives you even more choice, with optimized OpenCart and Magento software, bonus features and a pile of performance-boosting tweaks.

How fast is HostGator?

We assess web host performance by signing up for a shared hosting package, using a standard WordPress template to create a basic site, then watching how it performs in different situations.

Uptime - the proportion of time a website is available to visitors - is a vital factor in hosting success. We test this by using Uptime.com to try to access our test site every five minutes over 14 days, and logging any failures. HostGator managed 99.63% uptime, and although that sounds like a high figure, it's a little disappointing for a short test (most providers manage 100%.)

We measure website load speeds by using GTmetrix to access our test site, then calculate how long it takes to display the main content (a value known as Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP.) The lower a site's LCP, the faster and more responsive it feels.

This time HostGator trampled all over the competition, with an LCP of 0.551 seconds earning it first place out of our last 15 tests. The lead isn't huge - most providers score between 0.600 and 0.800 seconds - but this is an important stat, and a good result for HostGator.

We're also interested to see how a site performs when it's busy. The service k6 helps us figure this out by unleashing 20 simultaneous visitors on the site and monitoring what happens. This time the results were typical of most providers, with our HostGator site handling a very acceptable average of 15 requests per second.

For each host we also perform a WordPress benchmark test. This enable us to get a bird's eye view of how the plan is able to handle core WordPress operations, such as file movement or database operations.

It's here that we find that HostGator offers some impressive scores, outperforming some distinguished brands like Bluehost. However, do note that these are snapshots, and not always indicative of real-world performance.

The siege test is where things get more similar to real-world operations. During this test, we throw increasing numbers of virtual users at HostGator to see how it handles multiple simultaneous transactions.

What we observed was interesting. HostGator tries to process an impressive number of transactions, which was great. Unfortunately, it wasn't able to handle them flawlessly, resulting in some failing.

Overall, however, the failure rate was small (and unsurprising for shared hosting). It's still great performance, in any case.

How easy is HostGator to use?

HostGator's customer portal has a helpful Create Website guide which walks hosting newcomers through their first site-building steps: installing WordPress, choosing another CMS or app, maybe uploading files via FTP. This doesn't do very much, but it's still a welcome touch which could be very handy if you're still finding your way around.

The rest of the portal is little more than lists of links. Click here to open the WordPress dashboard, there to create email accounts, and over there to manage your domains. There's even a Search box to find relevant support documents without opening a separate tab at the HostGator knowledgebase.

This is useful, but HostGator spoils the effect by regularly trying to sell you more stuff. At least eight of the control panel links were mostly about pushing other products. You'll quickly learn which links to avoid, but we don't think that should be necessary. If you've spent maybe hundreds of dollars on a hosting package, we expect its dashboard to focus on helping you use that, not selling you even more.

Fortunately, once you identify the useful links, they point you to some top-quality hosting tools. HostGator's shared hosting plans all come with cPanel, for instance, a very popular platform which has all the features you need to manage domains, emails, web space, databases and more.

Put aside the over-enthusiastic marketing, then, and HostGator is relatively straightforward to operate, even for newcomers to the hosting world.

How good is HostGator's support?

Run into any issues at HostGator and its web knowledgebase could be the quickest route to an answer.

Searching for common hosting terms brings a huge number of hits, but that's partly because there are duplicates or not-so-relevant articles in the list.

When we searched for 'subdomain', the top result was an article called '[Featured] HostGator Datacenter Migration', for instance: not something we'd expect to come first. And the next three articles were titled 'What is a subdomain name and how to create one', 'Please read before creating a subdomain' and 'How to create a subdomain' (a blog post.) What we really want is a single comprehensive page, but here we'd probably open and read all three.

The various articles mostly have a lot of helpful content, and they can also be filtered according to their category. If you're only interested in cPanel guides, say, or video tutorials, you can view those results only with a click.

When you finally reach your chosen article, there's usually a lot of helpful content, but we found this wasn't always well maintained. The How To Create a Subdomain piece has broken image link icons where its screenshots used to be, for instance, making it less than useful as a tutorial.

If you can't find what you need, there's real live help available 24/7 via telephone, live chat and email.

Our experience with HostGator support has been excellent over the years, and it was broadly positive in this review. Email queries received speedy and accurate replies, and although we waited a lengthy 19 minutes to get a response on one live chat session, once the agent arrived he did a good job of identifying our fictional test problem and pointing us to the best and easiest solution.

Final verdict

HostGator has some of the best shared hosting plans around, speedy, great value, with a pile of features and responsive support on tap when you need it. Its high-end VPS and dedicated plans can't match the power of the best of the competition, but there's still a huge amount to like here for both home and big business users.

HostGator FAQs

Check out the latest Hostgator coupon codes to get discounts this month.

Cloud hosting is one of the best web hosting types for reliability and power. It is especially suitable for the best ecommerce hosting. Cloud hosting can be more expensive and isn't a requirement for everyone. Small and simple websites that are not affected by small amounts of downtime would find better value for money with the best shared hosting or best VPS hosting packages.

The best cloud hosting providers of 2026

Best cloud hosting overall

Founded in 1997, Liquid Web is a top choice for businesses that want high-quality fully managed cloud hosting across VPS, WordPress, dedicated, Magento, and WooCommerce products.

Liquid Web’s Cloud VPS plans start so low that just about every small business that wants to benefit from cloud infrastructure can join. At $5/month, it offers 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, and 30 GB SSD storage—and depending on your needs, you can go as high as 8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, and 640 GB SSD.

All plans support auto scaling, a key feature of cloud hosting, that allocates resources based on real-time demands and workloads. This way, you only pay for the resources you use, ultimately saving you money.

Liquid Web’s autoscaling works by constantly monitoring your website and the traffic it receives. If/when the incoming traffic begins to exceed concurrent capacity, the service automatically scales your resources, thereby avoiding site slowdowns, crashes, and potential customers abandoning your website.

There’s also protection from DDoS attacks and cloud backups but you’ll have to spend extra for those. This is unlike its managed VPS hosting where every single plan comes with 10 TB bandwidth, 50 GB cyber backups, CloudFlare CDN, and excellent security offerings, such as an integrated firewall, protection from DDoS attacks, and a dedicated IP address.

Then there are dedicated cloud servers that combine the benefits of a dedicated server and the flexibility of cloud hosting. The plans in this tier are not cheap but they're tailor-made for enterprise-grade businesses—even the most basic plan comes with 6 cores, 16 GB RAM, 480 GB SSD, and 10 TB bandwidth. Also, you get instant provisioning and an integrated load balance and firewall.

Liquid Web offer a 100% uptime guarantee and Liquid Web’s Service Level Agreement states that you’ll get credits if it doesn’t deliver on its promises. This is true for both hardware and network services, making Liquid Web one of the most reliable cloud hosting providers I’ve seen.

One of the highlights of the service is its prompt customer support—24/7/365 availability. Moreover, they have a 59-second initial response time on phone support and live chat and 59 minutes when you contact them through their helpdesk.

Best cloud hosting for ecommerce

ScalaHosting’s cloud range stands out, first and foremost, for configurability. You can create a custom cloud VPS with as much as 24 CPU cores, 64 GB RAM, and 2,000 GB storage. Obviously this level is resources is not for everyone and ScalaHosting can help you select the right amount of resources for you. If you need more? No bother, just add more without downtime thanks to the cloud infrastructure.

Pricing-wise, ScalaHosting presents a solid proposition—the starter plan Build #1 comes with 2 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM, and 50 GB NVMe SSD storage (which delivers up to 10x faster website speed than standard SATA SSDs), plus automatic offsite backups and unmetered bandwidth for a reasonable $29.95/month (12-month plan). Regardless of the plan you choose (there’s a total of four of them), you get CloudFlare CDN and protection from brute-force attacks built-in.

For example, under Site Popularity in the custom builder, you can enter your daily number of website visits and it will automatically suggest a configuration that is ideal for your site. This, combined with self-managed VPS hosting and the ability to scale up and down with a single click, makes ScalaHosting suitable for virtually every single business and expertise level, regardless of size.

An interesting ScalaHosting offering is its custom control panel known as SPanel which might interest customers who want more control in managing their web space. It’s arguably more secure (real-time malware protection), more lightweight (can run on a VPS with less than 1GB RAM), and feature-packed than the industry-standard cPanel. There is a terminal directly integrated into the panel and support is integrated too.

The panel is democratized and users can submit what features they want to have and vote on each other's suggestions. SPanel comes as standard with all ScalaHosting VPS plans, whereas cPanel demands an extra investment—it starts at $26.95 for 5 accounts, and the price increases as you add more websites. On the other hand, SPanel allows you to host unlimited accounts and websites at no additional cost. SPanel is available for hosting plans not with ScalaHosting too

I also like that ScalaHosting offers free site migrations, unlike other big-name providers. Migrations can be a pain, especially if you’re a small business without a core tech team. But with ScalaHosting’s skilled technicians, all you have to do is give them your login details to the old hosting service. Moreover, even if you decide to switch back, Scala’s experts will help you with that, too.

Speaking of switching back, ScalaHosting is one of the few providers I’ve seen that offer anytime unconditional money-back guarantee (30 days) and promises prorated refunds should you choose to cancel midway through your plan. So, if you pay for two years and cancel after a year, you’ll be refunded 50% of your original payment.

SiteGround

If you have a smaller business, that's too large for shared hosting and VPS is not suitable for you, SiteGround offer cloud hosting but packaged neatly in more affordable packages. For example, the GrowBig plan looks like a standard web hosting package but because it's on cloud infrastructure you get the added bonus of geo-redundancy, with backups stored in a different location. You can also host one website from one account in multiple data centers around the globe. The plan is shared and managed so should your site or other sites need more resources SiteGround will add them when required. If your site has some complex requirements then SiteGround may not be able to configure the server for you so it's best to check with support if you have anything other than a standard WordPress or wooCommerce site.

Security-wise there's not a fault to be found, as Google Cloud’s data centers enjoy multi-layered security. This includes limiting the server room’s access to certified employees, 24/7 availability of security teams, and SiteGround's geo-distributed daily backup system and in-house monitoring that checks server status every half a second. I also rate SiteGround’s built-in CDN network very highly, as it can significantly boost (5x) your website’s speeds by caching your site content on 15+ CDN locations.

SiteGround also have fully cloud plans that mean business. Its entry-level cloud hosting plan starts at a whopping $100/month and comes with 4 CPU cores, 8 GB memory, and 40 GB SSD storage—that’s more than enough for most SMBs.

In the cloud plans, SiteGround give you two options for scaling—you can add CPU and or RAM at any time with a click or use an auto-scaling option. The latter automatically adds more resources during unexpected jumps in traffic, making it preferable for large businesses with multiple websites.

One of SiteGround’s major selling points is that its data centers are part of the green Google Cloud infrastructure, meaning it's an environment-friendly cloud hosting service.

Google is, first and foremost, carbon-neutral. Secondly, it matches all electricity consumed by its servers and offices with energy generated from renewable sources, including wind and solar.

DreamHost

DreamHost offers its cloud computing service under a product it calls DreamCompute, which is very versatile, as you can use it to host websites with the software of your choice, run your own MySQL server, for gaming, or as a Plex Media Server—the flexibility is brilliant.

The company itself is vastly experienced, being established in 1997. At the time of writing, it has hosted over 1.5 million websites, serving 400k+ customers—and throw in its 24/7/365 customer service and you can see why it's a highly popular hosting provider across the board, whether that's shared, VPS, managed, dedicated, or cloud hosting.

Now, about its cloud hosting wing, DreamHost is right up there with IONOS as the cheapest. You can get started with DreamCompute at just $0.0075 per hour where you get 512MB RAM, 1 vCPU, free bandwidth, and 80 GB SSD storage.

Like IONOS, there's a maximum monthly price here, too. For example, for the above-mentioned plan, the max monthly price is $4.50 (with IONOS, it’s $4.00), which is just 600 hours (or 25 days). So, you're essentially getting 120 hours (5 days) of service free every single month.

Not only that, but all DreamHost accounts also come with 100 GB of block storage at no additional cost. You can, of course, get extra storage, but that too, is super cheap—just $10 for every 100 GB chunk. Storage-wise (both SSD and block), DreamHost is better than IONOS, which is why it’s my top choice for small businesses.

Also, DreamCompute is much cheaper (more than twice as cheap) as, say, OVHcloud, another pay-per-hour cloud hosting provider. OVHcloud's entry-level plan with 2 vCPU, 7 GB RAM, and 50GB storage is $0.184/hour, whereas DreamHost provides 4v CPU, 8 GB RAM, and 80 GB storage for just $0.08/hour.

A highlight of the service is auto-scaling. You can change your server automatically using OpenStack-compatible API requests. DreamHost is also lightning-fast, allowing you to go live in 30 seconds or less. This is made possible with its smart architecture that's based on fast SSD disks, next-gen processors, and accelerated networks. Plus, its entire infrastructure is open-source, which, security-wise, is a huge plus.

What DreamHost is not is ideal for really expansive and large enterprises. It caps out at 8 vCPU and 16GB RAM, whereas almost every other provider on my list has high ceilings. For instance, ScalaHosting’s custom cloud VPS can provide 24 CPU cores, 64 GB RAM, and 2,000 GB storage.

Best cloud hosting for medium sized businesses

In the latest updates from Hostinger the company rolled out support for geo-redundancy and auto-scaling across the cloud hosting products. This makes it one of the best value cloud hosting solutions for medium sized businesses.

Other cloud hosting plans at this level use cloud infrastructure but don't always pass the benefits of cloud on to customers. Instead, traditional hosting plans are packaged on cloud servers with the limitations of traditional architecture and are cloud only in name.

Hostinger have three cloud plans. Cloud Startup, Cloud Professional, and Cloud Enterprise. The plans range from supporting 200K monthly visits as standard up to 400K on the highest level plan. Each plan only supports 100 websites which could be a restriction for some resellers.

As usual with Hostinger, you get a bunch of free features will all plans. Websites with global visitors will benefit from the included CDN and new site owners will benefit from the free domain name with a value of up to $9.99 for the first year.

Technical specifications include 100 to 300 PHP workers, 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 inodes (with a limit to 800 databases for each plan), 300 sub domains, and 100 to 150 MySQL max user connections. An unlimited amount of FTP accounts and cronjobs are also a feature across all plans.

For website creation the AI website builder is included and a drag-and-drop website builder together with 150 templates designed by professionals. For WordPress there are WordPress AI tools, a staging tool, smart auto updates, one click installers, plus WP-CLI and SSH.

All-in-all this is a very capable cloud hosting provider suitable for medium sized businesses that don't require the top level of cloud performance packages but still require the reliability and flexibility of cloud hosting at the lower end of the budget.

InMotion Hosting

InMotion Hosting was founded in 2001 and provides a comprehensive cloud hosting service for Linux OS, including CentOS, Ubuntu, Alma, or Debian that is affordable and can also cater to full-fledged enterprises, thanks to premium-level feature-packed plans.

It's worth noting that InMotion Hosting's cloud VPS is Linux-only. Other solutions, such as bare-metal (dedicated) servers, support multiple OS options.

Unlike other providers, InMotion Hosting makes a clear-cut distinction between standard SSD and fast NVMe SSD plans—the latter costs a little bit more but is undoubtedly a better choice if you’re after blazing speeds.

Prices for InMotion Hosting start at $6/month for which you get 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 30 GB standard SSD storage, and 2 TB bandwidth. The same specifications with 30 GB NVMe SSD storage costs $7/month. The plans come with live-state and scheduled server snapshots for easy rollbacks, enterprise-grade fiber optics for fast data transfer, and security features like dedicated IP address and DDoS protection.

InMotion is also my top choice for businesses that want to pay on a month-to-month basis and not have the hassle of worrying about price increases on renewal. This is because its prices remain constant regardless of whether you pick the annual or monthly subscription—and the 30-day money-back guarantee is the perfect cherry on top.

What's even better (and surprising) is that the 30-day money-back guarantee is even available to those who go forward with a monthly plan. That said, if you’re convinced of its service and want to stay long-term, I recommend getting in touch with a customer support agent who should be able to get you a decent discount on the yearly plan.

What's more, customer support is also top-notch. You get 5 ways to get your questions answered, including 24/7/365 phone support, email, live chat, online tutorials, and community-based Q&A.

OVHcloud

OVHcloud is a French company that was founded in 1999 and now delivers shared hosting, public and private cloud products, and dedicated server solutions in 140 countries worldwide, making it one of Europe’s leading cloud providers. Also, it boasts around 32 world-class data centers along with multiple points of presence (PoPs), so irrespective of where your visitors are from, OVHcloud will provide performance.

The provider offers two cloud products—public and private. The latter is designed for large enterprises that want dedicated infrastructure on isolated servers + the benefits of cloud. So, OVHcloud’s Public Cloud, which comes with a 99.999% SLA and ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, 27018 and 27701 certifications, is where the party's at for most businesses and websites.

Right off the bat, I liked the sheer number of options it offers. There are as many as 9 broad filters, including storage, network, databases, data analytics, etc., and then several subdivisions inside each of them, allowing you to zero in on the perfect plan for your business’s needs.

This makes OVHcloud great for niche businesses. For example, for eSports and online gaming businesses, it comes with dedicated game servers and specially designed machines that help them provide optimal gaming performance to their customers, including minimal latency and DDoS protection.

Then it also offers machine learning, deep learning, and big data solutions—something I've seen very few providers do—where its on-demand scalable resources and storage capacity serve as the perfect solution for AI and data-driven businesses.

Also, if you want to steer clear of the extreme customization, you can do that too—just stick to the General Purpose plans that are suited to all needs. No matter the plan you pick, you will get a generous $200 credit so that you can test OVHcloud’s services risk-free.

Speaking of pricing, one of OVHcloud’s standout offerings is its pay-per-hour model. Prices for its Public Cloud plans start at $0.184/hour which fetches you 2 vCPU, 7 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD, and a public network speed of 250 Mbps guaranteed. Of course, you can also choose to pay on a monthly basis, where the aforementioned plan will cost you $65.60.

OVHcloud is admittedly not a small business-first cloud hosting service, considering its prices, but that’s where its web hosting plans come in—it’s hands down the cheapest web hosting provider with plans starting as low as $1.04 per month.

While these plans are not out-and-out cloud, you still get scalability, as you can migrate from one solution to another as your needs change. Plus, given that there are a total of 7 configurations to choose from, there’s enough flexibility, too.

Cloudways

vCPU: 1-96 cores | RAM: 1-384 GB | Storage: 20-1,280 GB | Auto-scaling: Yes (with Cloudways Autonomous) | Redundancy: Yes

Cloudways is an out-and-out cloud hosting service, serving over 100K agencies, SMBs, and individuals worldwide. It partnered with DigitalOcean in August 2022 and now offers true cloud benefits, excellent security, easy management, and robust support for multisite, ecommerce, and SMB hosting, among others.

Cloudways is the only hosting service on my list that gives users an option between 3 top cloud providers—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean (Cloudways’s native service). There are lots of plans to choose from across the three providers (and you can also pay by the hour), so you can pick what best fits your budget and need for resources.

All plans come with auto-healing (any issues are resolved automatically and promptly), optimized caching, hourly automated backups, DDoS mitigation, Free SSL, regular security patches, a vulnerability scanner, etc. You can also switch PHP versions (7.4, 8.1, and 8.2) at the server level with a single click.

However, it’s worth noting that storage on both AWS and Google Cloud is capped at 20 GB no matter the plan you pick, so if you need disk space of, say, 50 GB or more (up to 1,280 GB), then DigitalOcean is a no-brainer pick. But again, AWS and Google Cloud have a lot more data centers than DigitalOcean.

Cloudways is a top choice for businesses that want to host and manage multiple WordPress websites with hundreds of concurrent users. Not only do you get the above-mentioned catalog of features, but also unlimited website installations and team management features.

The company has joined hands with Cloudflare Enterprise to offer free CDN and DDoS protection—and you get a no-nonsense, easy-to-use dashboard for real-time control over your website performance. In addition to free website migrations, the uptime’s decent at 99.99% and with 400-600 ms loading speeds, you can rest assured that your websites will be up and running at all times.

Now, what I really like about Cloudways is its auto-scaling. It’s available as part of its Cloudways Autonomous product which has separate pricing and harnesses the power of Kubernetes and its cutting-edge infrastructure for top-notch scalability and reliability. There are 7 plans to choose from here, ranging from $35-$1,640/month, 15-200 GB disk space, 30-1,500K unique visits, and 100-3,000 GB bandwidth.

What’s even better is that the provider explicitly mentions the cost of auto-scaling. It’s $1 each for every 10 GB of additional bandwidth, 1,000 extra visits, and 1 GB of added disk space. This is excellent since most providers don’t offer auto-scaling and/or aren’t clear about its true cost.

Cloud hosting FAQs

The authors

We list the best managed WordPress hosting, to make it simple and easy to configure your own website without needing to micromanage simple hosting tasks.

Managed WordPress hosting gives you the peace of mind that there is always someone there taking care of the hosting infrastructure for your site. Day and night, weekday and weekend if there is a problem (when not if, really) someone will be on hand to install critical updates and make sure everything is working smoothly.

Managed WordPress hosting can also give you better speeds and performance if you're not an expert on how to configure a WordPress site and server. Most of the best WordPress hosing providers offer managed WordPress hosting but not all. These are our top pics specifically for those who need managed hosting.

The best managed WordPress hosting of 2025 in full

Best managed WordPress hosting overall

Hostinger's managed WordPress hosting may not match WP Engine for power, but it still all the core essentials you'd expect (and a whole lot more) for a fraction of the price.

Free auto website migration imports your site from a previous host, for instance (there's 1-click WordPress installation if you're starting from scratch.) A custom LiteSpeed setup and WordPress object cache improves performance, staging support allows you to test site updates before they go live, and there's WooCommerce performance optimization, a WordPress vulnerability scanner, on-demand backups and more.

Prices start at a tiny $2.99 a month over four years for the Premium plan. The $3.99 a month Business plan adds more resources and daily backups, and the high-end Cloud Startup plan adds a dedicated IP and priority support for $9.99 a month. There's no trial, but all plans are protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you're able to request a refund if the service isn't right for you.

Read our full Hostinger review.

Get the best deal on Hostinger products with our Hostinger promo codes.

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Best flexible managed WordPress hosting

InMotion Hosting is an employee-owned and operated domain name and web hosting company founded in 2001.

InMotion Hosting offers plans for a variety of users, from dedicated and shared to VPS and WordPress hosting along with several e-commerce tools.

WordPress hosting plans start off at $3.49 per month (for the initial payment on the 3-year plan) and that includes one website and 100GB SSD storage, being suitable for 20,000 visitors a month. InMotion has four price plans available and all of them offer unlimited data transfers.

Besides having numerous price plans for each of its hosting options, InMotion Hosting has numerous free add-ons, free e-commerce tools, and unlimited emails.

While there is no free trial, and prices are far from cheap compared to some rivals, InMotion Hosting does include an impressively lengthy 90-day money-back guarantee.

Read our InMotion Hosting review.

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Best managed WordPress hosting for management

WP Engine is the leading WordPress digital platform. It hosts excellent uptime, WordPress-specific security and unlimited monthly transfers.

WP Engine doesn't forget the core hosting essentials, either, and even the most basic plans include free SSL, automatic and on-demand backups, and 24/7 support.

You can use WP Engine’s ‘actionable intelligence’ to gain insight into the performance of your pages, content and applications.

WP Engine has four different price plans. All include free migration and free page performance. If you pay for a year’s subscription upfront, you get three months free.

Prices start off at $24 per month ($20 per month if you choose annual billing) which includes a 60-day risk free guarantee. Higher plans get you more resources and support extra sites. WP Engine is more expensive than most of the shared hosting competition, but it's a quality service, and well worth the premium for demanding or high-traffic sites.

Read our WP Engine review.

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Best affordable managed WordPress hosting

Namecheap's EasyWP managed WordPress hosting isn't the most powerful or feature-packed around, but as the name suggests, it's simple to use, and delivers great speeds for a very price.

Standout performance features include Namecheap's custom cloud platform, its custom EasyWP WordPress cache plugin and a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) with even the cheapest plan. Namecheap claims that what you put all this together, its EasyWP platform is around three times faster than running WordPress on standard shared hosting.

Pricing starts at $2.91 a month billed annually for a basic 10GB storage setup capable of handling around 50,000 visitors per month. The Easy WP Pro plan offers the best value, though, with 50GB storage, more resources, free SSL and support for up to 200,000 visitors a month, yet still priced cheap at only $4.91 a month.

Although we're not completely confident about the '3x as fast' claim, Namecheap's EasyWP is a likeable setup for novices and the budget-conscious. But experts might be disappointed by the lack of features: no staging, no cPanel or automatic updates, amongst others. And almost uniquely, even the top-of-the-range EasyWP plan only supports a single site. If you might want to run other WordPress sites, you'll have to buy a new plan for each one, so bear that in mind.

Read our Namecheap review.

Check out our Namecheap promo codes to get the best deals on Namecheap products.

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Best managed WordPress hosting for small websites

SiteGround was founded in 2004 and provides shared hosting, cloud hosting and dedicated servers.

SiteGround lets you choose from one of six data centers on which to host your website. These are based in Sidney (Australia), Singapore (Asia), Iowa (USA), Frankfurt (Germany), Eemshaven (Netherlands) and London (UK).

SiteGround offers users CloudFlare CDN, free SSL certificates and daily backups of their website’s data. All of their shared hosting plans include managed WordPress.

The platform’s customer support includes live chat as well as a phone option. All support services are available 24/7.

The ‘StartUp’ plan begins at $14.99 per month (with a $3.99 initial payment) which includes one website, 10GB web space and is suitable for 10,000 visits monthly. The ‘GrowBig’ plan for $24.99 monthly ($6.69 for initial payment) allows for multiple websites, 20GB of web space and is suitable for 25,000 visits.

SiteGround’s ‘GoGeek’ plan starts at $39.99 per month ($10.69 for initial payment) which includes 40GB of web space and is suitable for 100,000 visits monthly. SiteGround does not offer a free trial but has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Some users have reported issues with being automatically logged out when signing in on multiple devices.

Read our SiteGround review.

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Best managed WordPress hosting for beginners

Bluehost, a web hosting company founded in 2003, tries to make the daunting task of starting a new web site easy. It offers plenty of options to those new to web hosting while still offering tools for the more experienced user.

All new subscribers can set up a WordPress site with a single click of their mouse. Also, newbies can rely on Blue Spark, a specialized service that helps new users with everything WordPress related.

Bluehost are currently offering all their WordPress plans at a reduced rate. Prices start at $2.75 a month for a single WordPress site complete with 50GB of website space. The ‘Plus’ and ‘Premium’ packages are on offer for $5.45 per month. These both include unlimited WordPress sites and unlimited website space. The ‘Premium’ package includes domain privacy and SiteBackup Pro. Furthermore, WP Pro plans are available, which bring additional improvements and features with prices starting at $9.95. To save money all year round, be sure to check out our Bluehost promo codes.

More inexperienced users have reported that the dashboard can be difficult to navigate if you are unfamiliar with all the terminology.

Read our Bluehost review.

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Best managed WordPress hosting for enterprise

WordPress VIP is a fully managed cloud platform. Users of VIP have access to expert guidance, code review and around the clock support.

Customers get their own Git repository and ZenDesk account. Once your code is ready, you send it to the VIP team. Experts at VIP go through each line of code in your repository. This can take 4-6 weeks. If any issues are found, they’re raised on GitHub. Once these have been removed the code is transferred to your project and you are online. VIP adheres to strict coding standards.

One of the main attractions of VIP is the ‘always on’ support. VIP engineers watch for any issues that may arise and fix them proactively on behalf of the client. Once rectified, a report will be sent to you explaining what occurred.

Sadly, pricing details aren't available on the site, and would-be customers will need to contact WordPress VIP directly in order to get a quote.

Further note that some users have reported delays with setting up and building sites, although of course your mileage may well vary.

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Best managed WordPress hosting for ecommerce

Nexcess, a Liquid Web brand, specializing in managed WordPress, Magento, and WooCommerce hosting. It has a decent server infrastructure, and offers a range of plans on a solid and reliable platform, which has been configured for optimized WordPress performance.

Its cheapest managed WordPress hosting plan costs $13.30 per month for the first three months and increases to $19 per month after. In that plan, you get 15GB of storage, 2TB of bandwidth and can host a single WordPress website.

Additional paid plans that allow you to host multiple WordPress websites are also available, with increases to disk space and bandwidth along with the number of sites to host. The hosting provider has plans that let you host up to 250 websites, offering a generous 800GB of storage and 10TB of bandwidth.

Nexcess also promises no traffic limits, limited pageviews, or fees of extra resource use. The company provides automatic plugin updates, which are routinely tested to ensure they are running smoothly, malware monitoring, multi-layered caching, and one-click staging to keep your WordPress website performing at its peak.

Additionally, users have full server access, free SSL certificates, daily backups, as well as developer tools as required. And if you have an existing WordPress website you can migrate it to Nexcess for free.

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Best budget managed WordPress hosting

DreamHost is owned by New Dream Network LLC which was founded in 1996. It’s both a web hosting provider and a domain name registrar.

DreamHost’s ‘Shared Starter’ plan starts at $2.59 per month. This includes a shared hosting server, a single WordPress website, unlimited traffic, 1-click SSL certificate, fast SSD storage, 24/7 support and an upgrade to add email.

The ‘DreamPress’ (managed WordPress plan) package starts at $16.95. This includes all of what the ‘Shared Starter’ plan has to offer along with 30GB SSD storage, JetPack free preinstalled, daily backups and a few other extras.

All of DreamHost’s hosting solutions are fully managed services, although note that some inexperienced users have reported issues with getting started. Also, email costs extra with the starter plan, so check carefully before you sign up.

Read our DreamHost review.

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Best managed WordPress hosting for content

HostGator was founded in 2002, and it provides shared, reseller, VPS and dedicated web hosting.

HostGator’s Website Builder comes with a handy drag and drop feature, and includes a wide range of themes. Some of the features are pre-built to help make the creation process easier and faster.

HostGator claims that load times for WordPress sites are up to 2.5 times faster when compared to its own shared hosting due to the superior server architecture of its managed WordPress hosting.

This host offers a WordPress Cloud Interface where you can manage backups, access all your email accounts and other hosting options. You can also allocate server bandwidth from here.

HostGator offers three WordPress cloud hosting plans. The ‘Starter’ plan is currently priced from $5.95 per month for 1 site, 100,000 visits per month, 1GB free backups and a free SSL certificate. The ‘Standard’ plan is on offer from $7.95 per month for 2 sites, 200,000 visits per month, 2GB backups and a free SSL certificate.

HostGator’s ‘Business’ plan is also on offer at $9.95 per month. This includes 3hree sites, 500,000 visits, 3GB backups and a free SSL certificate. However, do note that the prices quoted are based on multi-year subscriptions.

According to online commentators, the purchase price for additional domains can be quite steep.

Read our HostGator review.

You could save on HostGator VPS hosting with our HostGator promo codes.

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Best managed WordPress hosting for small business

IONOS is owned by a German company, United Internet. It was founded in 1988, and offers domain registration, cloud servers, VPS and dedicated servers.

IONOS boasts excellent customer support and easy to use web creation tools. More inexperienced users might find this provider more suitable to their needs.

IONOS’s packages start at $3 per month, renewing at $4 per month. This includes 1 WordPress project, 25GB SSD storage, unlimited visitors and managed WordPress. Upon registration, you are offered a domain name free for 12 months. This is only valid upon purchase of any of the firm's plans.

Users who sign up for the ‘Business’ plan receive 100GB SSD storage, 100 email accounts (2GB each), max CPU & MEM resources and unlimited visitors. This plan starts at $1 for the first year and then $8 per month thereafter.

The ‘Unlimited’ plan has a price of $8 per month for the first year, with renewal being $16 per month. It includes unlimited projects and unlimited SSD storage, unlimited databases and email accounts, as well as SiteLock malware protection and RailGun CDN.

Note that some online commentators have complained of issues around downtime.

Read our IONOS review.

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Best managed WordPress hosting FAQs

How we tested the best managed WordPress hosting service

Our experts sign up for each managed WordPress hosting provider and test their services, looking out for the features each have highlighted on its website.

During our test, we also measure the speed and overall performance of each managed WordPress hosting provider using test websites created by our experts.

That way, we are able to come up with a conclusion on whether each provider is offering services that are good value for your money.

It's possible to handle many of these tasks your WordPress site needs by yourself or install plugins to handle them for you on your non-managed website. However, this generally takes up a lot of time, therefore, we also test how easy each managed WordPress hosting provider makes it to run a WordPress website successfully.

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We list the best cPanel hosting, to make it simple and easy to choose a hosting provider that is sure to improve the user interface of your website for ease of use.

cPanel is one of the best hosting panels and has been an industry-standard for a long time. Thanks to its mix of power, features and ease of use it's very popular. So, it's no wonder why people look specifically for hosts that offer cPanel to manager their hosting because it's trusty and familiar.

A lot of the best web hosting providers provide cPanel or their own hosting panel. If you're not sold on any of the options here or cPanel is starting to become more expensive then you can also try one of the best cPanel alternatives.

The best cPanel hosting services of 2025 in full:

Best cPanel hosting overall

Bluehost offers easy-to-use cPanel site management everywhere, from its starter shared hosting plans, to VPS and dedicated hosting ranges, managed WordPress plans and WooCommerce-powered web stores.

And unlike some of the competition, Bluehost doesn't treat cPanel as an optional extra, where you're pay a premium to use in with your account. Just about every plan includes cPanel as standard, no additional costs involved.

Bluehost's benefits go way beyond cPanel, though, and the company delivers more than you might expect in just about every area.

Its Choice Plus plan is 'only' a mid-range shared hosting plan, for instance, but it still supports hosting three websites, with a free CDN, custom WordPress themes, a free domain name, and even free domain privacy to hide your personal details from spammers (often a premium extra with other providers.)

This isn't quite as generous as it sounds. Although Bluehost's plans often have low prices for the first term, these can sometimes more than double on renewal. If you're tempted, browse the small print very closely when you sign up, to be sure you avoid any unexpected price hikes later. To save some money when using Bluehost, check out our Bluehost promo codes.

On balance, though, Bluehost is a polished and professional cPanel hosting provider which offers an array of powerful plans for just about every personal and business need.

Read our full Bluehost review.

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Best cPanel hosting for small business

HostGator bundles cPanel for free as one of the benefits of its feature-packed shared hosting plans, but life is a little more complicated elsewhere. CPanel is a premium extra with its VPS plans, and although it's bundled with dedicated Linux hosting, you get the similar Plesk control panel if you're using Windows.

Shared hosting is a HostGator highlight. Unlike many competitors, even its cheapest shared plan includes all the core hosting essentials: 1-click WordPress installs; a free domain; free SSL; basic backups; unlimited bandwidth, subdomains and email addresses, and the list goes on.

There's more than enough there for personal and small business users, and upgrading to the Business plan takes the service to a whole new level. Unlimited websites and storage, professional web migration, Cloudflare CDN, a dedicated IP and a Positive SSL certificate make it a good choice for more demanding users.

If you're building a business-critical or high-traffic site, HostGator's VPS or dedicated hosting plans are more likely to deliver the power you need. The company doesn't have the number of plans or configurability that we see with some providers, and they don't offer the same value as HostGator's shared products, but these are still quality products which should be up to hosting the most heavy-duty of web projects.

Read our full HostGator review.

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Best cPanel hosting for performance

A2 Hosting offers the choice of shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, cloud hosting and even reseller hosting.

A2 Hosting’s USP is its focus on performance and security. Each of the shared hosting plans include a variety of A2 offerings such as free HackScan Protection to block hacks before they can harm your website and data, along with protections against brute force attacks and DDoS protection.

Even better, A2 Hosting offers plans geared for WordPress hosting, and even allows installing hundreds of other software with a single click, thanks to Softaculous integration, which takes away the installation pains that might deter novice website owners.

With 24/7 support over email, chat and phone, A2 Hosting has a sharp focus on providing the best user experience to its customers. As the focus is on speed and performance, A2Hosting also lets you choose the server location. You can choose the server closest to you on the order form itself, and the options are Michigan and Arizona in the USA, Amsterdam in Europe and Singapore in Asia.

The ability to handle traffic spikes is a key factor in deciding the hosting provider. You can get peace of mind with the Turbo plans, which also include Litespeed Web Server. The result is a site far faster than those powered by Apache or Nginx. Coupled with free automatic backups and easy restoration of data, it’s easy to see why these top tier plans make sense for businesses and professionals alike.

But if you’re not limited by your budget, the VPS plans might make more sense for established businesses and websites that expect heavy traffic, such as online stores with a catalogue of hundreds of products catering to thousands of unique visitors a month.

Read our full A2 Hosting review.

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Best cPanel hosting for scalability

With InMotion Hosting, it’s a case of saving the best for last. InMotion offers a number of hosting plans, be it shared, dedicated or VPS. With the exception of the cheapest shared hosting plan, all other plans include cPanel control panel.

For each of it’s four shared hosting plans, InMotion provides the ideal target user. For instance, the Core plan, at $2.29/month is stated to be meant for beginners and offers 100GB storage space, one free email address, a host of security tools such as DDoS protection, SSL certificate, malware protection and automatic backups, as well as marketing tools to help you promote your online venture. The Power shared hosting plan targets websites that expect heavy traffic, while the Pro plan, at $12.99/month is meant for online stores.

Also, the Core, Launch and Power shared hosting plans only allow for a one, two or three year commitment, and it’s not possible to buy a monthly subscription for these plans. If you want to purchase a monthly plan, your only recourse is to opt for the Pro plan.

InMotion also provides a choice of managed VPS servers. The prices are significantly higher if you opt for less than a three year subscription. For more advanced users who are skilled in the arts of system administration and confident with their command-line skills, or already have a trained administrator at hand, InMotion Hosting also offers a choice of nine unmanaged Cloud VPS plans.

Apart from all that, InMotion Hosting also offers four dedicated hosting plans with resources enough to host your own gaming server, or media streaming platform.

Read our full InMotion Hosting review.

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Best cPanel hosting FAQs

Hosting a website involves carefully weighing a great number of disparate factors, such as search engine optimization (SEO) and security, in addition to the amount of expected visitors per month, the type of content hosted on the website, etc.

More importantly, a website is more than just a collection of data. It’s an amalgamation of many different but essential components that help you provide a cohesive and professional experience to all visitors. There’s the database, which is home to all your data. An email service to help you communicate with your clients. A properly configured web server that ensures visitors to your website have a seamless and smooth experience when accessing the different parts of your website. Even apart from that, there’s a whole other piece of analytical information that can help you get a better understanding of your visitors.

A control panel, such as cPanel provides an intuitive user interface that helps you manage all these different yet intricate components of your website, without overwhelming you. Whether it’s creating or managing email accounts, installing software, managing backups, checking visitor stats, or otherwise performing administrative tasks, cPanel can be used to easily manage all these different operations from the comfort of a web browser.

You can gauge the popularity of cPanel from the fact that just about all hosting providers offer it as the default control panel to manage their services. Not only that, many times, hosting providers receive poor reviews for featuring non-standard control panels, by which we mean a control panel that’s quite different from cPanel.

How we test the best cPanel hosting services

We test all cPanel hosting services by signing up and going through all the features on offer from easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) to the support documentation.

If your web host doesn't come with cPanel hosting, which is rare because most of the major players do, you’ll also have to bear the responsibility of applying security patches, updating and securing essential components such as PHP, etc. We test these features and compare them against each other.

Pricing is also a crucial factor as well as customer support, therefore, in the same way we test web hosting services in these categories, we look for the cPanel hosting provider that's affordable but doesn't compromise on the quality of its service.

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The best small business website builders make it easy to build not just a website using drag-and-drop functionality, but also a website that's ready for use for a range of small business purposes.

Every business needs a website to showcase their products and services, as well as communicate with their consumers. To create a website, many companies offer the best website builder software platforms, which allow you to build anything from a simple single-page website to a professional web store, with no coding or web design experience.

Each business will need a website for slightly different reasons and not all website builders are perfect in every scenario. For example, certain website builders are better suited to musicians, photographers, or creatives building a portfolio.

For small businesses, the primary concern is likely to be budget. Thankfully, there are plenty of affordable options out there that allow small businesses to build fully functional websites with all the features they might need.

We've brought to you a rundown of the best website builders for small businesses. To determine how well they perform, we've compared these website builders across various points. We looked at what types of sites they're best suited to create, the diversity of their templates, and their overall speed and performance. We evaluated their storage options, bandwidth, and pricing, among many other aspects.

Also, we've reviewed the best website builders for musicians and the best alternatives to WordPress.

These are the best small business website builders of 2026 in full:

Wix is one of the most comprehensive website builders we’ve encountered, and this is no different when it comes to small business websites. With such a wide range of features, it’s no wonder Wix is the go-to platform for over 200 million registered users. 

The free version provides a basic service with limited bandwidth and storage (500MB). However, opting for any of the paid plans - such as the Business Basic package for ecommerce at $17/month (yearly subscription) - will get you unlimited bandwidth and 20GB storage, a free domain for one year, Google Ad vouchers, and more. There’s also a 14-day money-back guarantee if things don’t work out.

Wix’s website editor operates under the simple drag-and-drop principle, offering hundreds of different attractive and customizable design options, tools. It also includes features such as an image editor, animations, video backgrounds, and proprietary and third-party apps.

Businesses can also take advantage of additional tools like Wix Turbo, Wix Bookings, Wix Restaurants and Wix Hotels.

• Read our Wix website builder review.

Weebly is another powerful player in the website builder market, excelling with its broad offering that includes a free tier with Weebly branded ads, as well as a range of paid plans for various budgets and businesses.

The free plan limits you to 500MB of storage space, but the paid packages - starting with the Pro plan at $12/month (paid annually) - remove such restrictions.

With the Pro plan, you’ll also get access to a free domain, $100 Google Ads credit, SEO tools, advanced site stats, phone customer service, and support for a web store with up to 25 items. If this isn’t enough, the powerful Business plan at $25/month removes the item count limitation and adds more high-end features like coupon codes, item reviews, a shipping calculator, and so on.

Like Wix, Weebly's is a drag-and-drop editing platform, which is exceptionally simple to use - even for novices. We only had a couple of bones to pick with it, surrounding the lack of certain customization options and the missing global Undo feature. That said, there are plenty of professionally designed templates to choose from, suitable for any kind of business, as well as access to free images for your website.

• Read our Weebly review.

BigCommerce has all the necessary tools and features to help you build, maintain, and grow your ecommerce website. The WYSIWYG editor is limited to only seven free templates, but more can be acquired via the theme store for around $145.

Starting at $29.95/month, BigCommerce can hardly be called cheap, but this deep and high-quality platform is certainly worth the spend.

The Standard package includes hundreds of built-in features, including in a branded online store, dedicated SSL, coupons, discounts, gift cards, product reviews, social/marketplace integrations, POS, a blog, BigCommerce mobile app, 24/7 live support and more.

If you’re unsure about whether this platform is suitable for you, there’s a 15-day free trial, plus three months of BigCommerce for free once your trial ends, if you do end up pulling the trigger on a subscription.

• Read our BigCommerce review.

Unlike some competitors, Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan, but at $12/month its cheapest package is more than generous, making it a very price competitive small business website builder. You’ll get access to unlimited storage and bandwidth, an SSL certificate, SEO features, image/video galleries, intelligent image optimization, professional web store, performance boosting CDN support, free fonts, a free domain for a year, and more.

However, this package doesn’t include an online store. If that's what you're after, you'll need the Business plan at $18/month (billed annually) or one of the commerce plans starting at $26/month.

The drag-and-drop editor is exceptionally easy to master, letting you customize each element of your website. It might appear a little basic, but you get to choose from a host of beautiful templates that you can tweak to your liking.

All users can take advantage of the 14-day free trial before making up their mind about any of the pricing plans.

• Read our Squarespace website builder review.

One of the cheapest website builders in the industry is offered by HostGator, a popular web hosting provider that has affordable plans for every budget. 

For as little as $3.84/month if you take the two-year package, HostGator will supply you with unlimited bandwidth and storage for your website, with no limitations on the number of pages. You’ll also get a free domain for one year, website hosting, a free SSL certificate, as well as $200 in ad vouchers. If your business requires a store, going for the most expensive plan (still cheaper than some) at $9.22/month will also net you full ecommerce functionality.

HostGator provides an intuitive website editing process through its drag-and-drop platform, allowing you to choose from more than 200 mobile-friendly templates that you can tailor to your needs and preferences. All users will also get access to analytics, SEO optimization, and live feeds from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Unfortunately, some blogging options offered by the competition are missing, such as the ability to schedule posts. Regardless, HostGator provides a powerful and efficient website building solution.

• Read our Hostgator Website Builder review.

Small business website builder FAQs

The best small business website builders: How we test

In the same way we test web hosting services, our reviewers also sign up and purchase plans from website builders and go through the same process a beginner would when creating a website for the first time.

We look at the features offered, ease-of-use, pricing, functionality, support and other add-ons like blogging and ecommerce capabilities. A key feature we look for in a website builder is if it offers you a free trial period to make up your mind and have a feel of the website builder before making a more permanent commitment.

Once our reviewers sign up to each website builder, they create a website to get an accurate depiction of what you can expect. We have tested and reviewed all website builders listed below.

Because nothing can be 100% perfect, we made sure to dig out the positives and negatives of each website builder so that you have a clear understanding of what to expect.

We also look at the packages each website builder offers to small businesses and compare them against each other.

If you're looking to start a website, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that allows you to build a website such as a blog or ecommerce store from scratch. It is free and open source software released under the GPL.

WordPress is used by millions of people around the world, including many large organizations, such as The Guardian, Forbes, and The New York Times. Despite the abundance of brand new website builders and content management systems, WordPress remains the most popular choice for webmasters. 

So, how do you get started with WordPress? One of the easiest ways is to buy WordPress hosting with WordPress pre-installed. Another, sometimes cheaper but not always, but more complex way is to buy a VPS server and install WordPress yourself.

This guide will show you how to install WordPress using different methods.

How to install WordPress with Hostinger

First, head over to Hostinger and select the web hosting plan that's right for you. Once you've chosen your plan, create an account by entering your email address and choosing a strong password. Then, select your preferred payment method and complete the checkout process.

Next, you’ll need to install WordPress. Log into your hPanel dashboard and scroll down to the 'Website' section. Then, click on the 'Auto Installer' icon and select WordPress from the list of scripts.

On the next page, enter your domain name, choose a username and password for your WordPress account, and select a language for your site. Finally, click 'Install' and wait a few seconds for the process to complete.

By now, the WordPress dashboard should show up on the screen. Depending on the hosting plan, you may see some pre-installed plugins, such as LiteSpeed Cache to boost performance. 

To log into your site's admin panel, simply add '/wp-admin' to the end of your domain name (e.g., example.com/wp-admin) and enter your chosen username and password. From here, you can start customizing your site to match your unique style and personality.

How to install WordPress with Bluehost

Bluehost is a US-based company with robust WordPress site hosting plans. It has a marketplace full of custom themes and plugins for its clients, making it easy to find any extension you might need. The subscriptions start from $3.95/month.

Here’s how to install WordPress with Bluehost:

First, sign up for a Bluehost account. You can choose from several different plans, but we recommend the Basic plan for most users. 

Once you've signed up for an account, log in to your Bluehost control panel and click on the "website section". Next click on the "Install WordPress" icon. 

On the next screen, select the domain name where you want to install WordPress and click "Check Domain". 

Now that you've selected your domain, it's time to choose a theme for your WordPress site. Bluehost offers a few free themes, or you can choose from the many themes available in the WordPress theme directory. 

Once you've selected a theme, it's time to start adding content to your WordPress site. You can create new pages and posts, add images and videos, and more. Be sure to check out the Bluehost Knowledge Base for more information on using WordPress. 

Click Login to WordPress to sign in to the dashboard. Alternatively, return to the My Sites tab from Bluerock and view the site you’ve created.  

How to install WordPress with HostGator

HostGator is one of the most budget-friendly web hosts on the market. The most affordable plan costs $2.75/month and includes a free domain name, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited disk space, and Google Ads credits for launching an online business.

To install WordPress with HostGator, simply go to their website and fill out your information in the signup section. Once you have completed and submitted your information, you will receive an email from HostGator with your login credentials. 

Now that you have your login credentials, you can begin the process of installing WordPress. First, you will need to log into your HostGator account and navigate to the "My Accounts" page. From there, click on the "WordPress Installer" link under the "Advanced Features" section. 

On the next page, you will be asked to select which domain you would like to install WordPress on. After making your selection, click on the "Check Domain" button. 

Once your domain has been checked, you will be taken to the next page where you will be able to choose your WordPress settings. Be sure to fill out all of the required fields and then click on the "Install WordPress" button. 

• Those who buy the domain on another provider will have to replace their current nameservers with the one provided by HostGator, shown at the bottom of the page. Copy this information, log in to your domain registrant account, and paste it into the DNS settings.
• Return to this page and press Verify Connection. Wait between 24 and 72 hours for the DNS propagation to complete.

How to install WordPress using cPanel

Some hosting providers don’t offer an automatic WordPress installer like the ones we’ve mentioned. However, there’s still an easy way to install WordPress if the host offers cPanel. 

cPanel is a widely-used control panel for web hosting management. Depending on the hosting service, it usually has a built-in app installation script that you can use to install WordPress and other CMSs. Some popular examples are Softaculous, Fantastico, or QuickInstall.

If your cPanel is version 92 or up, use WP Toolkit instead. This is a new in-app feature from cPanel, allowing any user to install, configure, and manage a WordPress website. 

The steps are more or less the same with all app installers, though we’ll use Softaculous as an example.

Open cPanel from the hosting account interface. Alternatively, type in your domain name on the web browser and add /cpanel at the end. 

Scroll down to locate the apps installer icon.

Next, hover over the WordPress icon and click Install. 

Fill in the required information for the site settings and admin account. It’s also possible to configure the automatic upgrade and backup settings. Once done, press the Install button down below.  

Wait for a few minutes to complete the installation. Then, click on the link provided to access the WordPress dashboard. 

How to install WordPress on a VPS using FTP

Locate your FTP account information

The first step to installing WordPress manually is to find your FTP account information.

It’s usually available in your hosting management dashboard on a page typically called FTP Accounts or FTP Manager.

Click on the page to see the account credentials. If you don’t know the password, consider changing it. Keep this tab open. 

Now, open your FTP client and connect it to your web server. Those using FileZilla can go to File -> Site Manager… on the top menu. 

On the window, click New Site. Fill in the FTP account information in the appropriate fields. For the Protocol, select FTP - File Transfer Protocol. Choose to Use explicit FTP over TLS if available for the Encryption. Set the Logon type to Normal. 

Finally, press the Connect button.

After establishing the connection, the application should look like the picture above. The Local Site panel shows your computer files, while the Remote Site displays the ones inside the WordPress site. 

Upload the WordPress files

With the connection established, you can start installing WordPress by transferring the package files to the web server. 

On the Remote Site panel, select the public_html folder. This is the root directory of all the website files. 

Then, on the Local Site section, find the extracted WordPress files on your computer. Select all and right-click to Upload them to the public_html directory. Then simply wait for the transfer to complete before moving on to the next step.

Create a new database

Let’s create a database to store all of your WordPress site content. 

To do this, log in to your hosting account’s control panel and locate a button that allows access to the MySQL Database. In Hostinger, this setting is available under the Databases section. 

The page should have a section where you can create a new MySQL database and user. Fill in the required fields:

• Database name
• Database username
• Database password

Those using cPanel can create a database by using the MySQL Database Wizard. The required fields are the same as in the previous example. 

Configure the wp-config.php file

wp-config.php holds information about the website’s database. You need to configure this file so that WordPress can communicate with the newly-created database and retrieve data from it. 

The wp-config.php file is usually accessible from the File Manager on the web host’s control panel, which is where you can organize and edit the website files. 

From there, open the public_html web directory. Then locate the wp-config-sample.php file. Rename this to wp-config.php, then open it.

Scroll down until you find the information highlighted above.  

Replace the database_name_here, username_here, and password_here with the database information you created in the previous step. Once done, press Save.

Run the WordPress installation script

The WordPress installation can now begin. Type in the website’s domain on the web browser to access the setup page.

First, select a language to use the software and press Continue. 

Next, insert the required information about the website and the administrator login credentials. Then click the Install WordPress button.

The WordPress sign-in page will appear. Use the login credentials you created, and the admin panel will show up on the screen. If everything went well, you’ll have just installed WordPress manually.

How to configure permalinks on WordPress

If you're running a WordPress site, there's a good chance you'll want to change the way your permalinks are configured. By default, WordPress uses what's called "ugly" permalinks, which look something like this:

?p=123

While these permalinks work just fine, they're not very user-friendly or SEO-friendly. There are a few different ways you can go about changing your permalink structure. The easiest way is to simply go to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard and select the desired permalink structure from the list of options.

If you want to change your permalink structure to something that's not on the list, you can do so by selecting the "Custom Structure" option and entering the desired structure in the field provided. Just be sure to use the proper code for each element of your permalink (e.g. %postname% for the post slug).

Once you've selected or entered your desired permalink structure, simply click "Save Changes" and WordPress will take care of the rest. That's all there is to it! In just a few seconds, you can have much more user-friendly and SEO-friendly permalinks on your WordPress site.

There are a few things to keep in mind when changing your permalink structure. First, if you're using an "ugly" permalink structure (?p=123), changing to a different permalink structure will result in 404 errors for all of your existing content.

To avoid this, you can use a plugin like Redirection to set up redirects from your old URLs to your new ones. Alternatively, you can simply update your .htaccess file with the proper redirect rules.

Second, be sure not to change your permalink structure too frequently. Doing so can result in a loss of traffic and search engine rankings. If you do need to change your permalink structure, make sure you set up redirects from your old URLs to your new ones.

To change the URL structure on WordPress, go to the Settings -> Permalinks tab on the dashboard. 

Choose one of the structures provided. The best practice is to use the Post name as it’s short yet descriptive, though it may not be suitable for a news publication. Some also create a custom structure using the category and post name variables to show the user their location on a website. 

After picking a URL structure, scroll down to Save Changes. 

Which WordPress installation method is best for you?

There are a few things to consider when deciding which method is best for you. If you are new to WordPress, we recommend using the SiteGround Wizard to install WordPress. The SiteGround Wizard makes it easy to install WordPress with just a few clicks. If you are experienced with WordPress, you may want to use the manual installation method. The manual installation gives you more control over the installation process and allows you to fine-tune your settings.

Another thing to consider is whether or not you want a fresh WordPress install or if you want to migrate an existing site to WordPress. Migrating an existing site can be done with either the SiteGround Migration Plugin or by manually exporting your content from your old platform and importing it into WordPress.

• One-click installer via hosting provider - It’s the most effortless way to install WordPress, only requiring a few clicks and a form to fill in. 
• cPanel with an apps installer - Use this method if the hosting provider uses cPanel, but doesn’t offer a built-in one-click WordPress installer. The process is just as fast and easy as the previous one. 
• Install WordPress manually using FTP - This option is best if the previous methods aren’t available or if you don’t want to get any pre-installed plugins. The process is longer and much more involved, so it’s important to pay attention to the instructions. 

Next steps

Now that you know how to install WordPress, all that’s left to do is turn your website into reality. Choose a web hosting company, initiate the software installation, configure the permalinks, and pick some themes and plugins to customize the site.

Make sure to follow our WordPress site tips to set yourself up for success, such as installing an SSL certificate and submitting your website to Google Search Console. These two, in particular, can boost your likelihood of ranking high on search engine results pages.

• We've also rounded up the best website builder

Just having a website isn't enough to boost your online presence, you need to have an aesthetically pleasing site that's able to cater to your target digital market's needs. That said, with options presented to you from all angles, choosing the right hosting solutions for your website can be overwhelming - especially for those who are still starting. 

In this article, we will discuss two different web hosting providers that can cover your digital needs. The differences and similarities of both providers, including which one has the best plan for those who are on a budget and for those who are willing to invest in a plan, are included in this head-to-head comparison.

We will include their best features brick by brick and other relevant information to help you decide which hosting provider is the best for your website.

• Check out our top picks for the best small business web host in 2021
• Take a peek as we list our top reseller hosting services 
• Take your pick from our roundup of the best cloud hosting services 

Main similarities and differences

Both hosts offer the same functionality for personal and business websites. They offer the same services as shared web hosting, VPS, and dedicated server plans.

Although they have similarities when it comes to most of their features, one can still differ from the other. 

HostGator offers a much faster loading speed and has a WordPress hosting option. Hostwinds, on the other hand, owns 100% of their servers and systems, which means that when a problem arises, they can directly fix it. 

Another key difference is their try-before-you-buy options. While HostGator offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, Hostwinds offers a refund request within 72 hours of your purchase, which is not much time, in some cases, to decide if you want to keep it or not.

HostGator may offer their services for less than $3 but will charge more when it's time to renew your plan.

Pricing

Hostwinds offers a more flexible plan depending on your web hosting needs, however, HostGator is currently offering an introductory price of less than $3 per month for their plans. Let's compare their shared web hosting pricing.

HostGator has three shared hosting plans with their lowest introductory plan starting at $2.75 per month and $5.25 per month for their business plan. Their most recommended baby plan comes with unlimited websites, one-click WordPress installs, free WordPress/cPanel website transfer, unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and a free domain.

Hostwinds also offers three plans, the basic one starting at $6.74 per month. Their more advanced plan starts at $8.24 per month, and their ultimate plan at $9.74 per month. These plans come with unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, unlimited domains, SSD, instant setup, and free dedicated IP.

With Hostwinds’ flexible plan pricing, this round definitely belongs to them.

Features

Hostwinds offers loaded features that come with SSD storage, solid uptime, and the option to add cloud backup. It is an upgrade for those who are after performance-driven results. The plan includes higher PHP memory limits, higher inode limits, and more outbound email limits. 

If you prefer WordPress hosting, HostGator has the advantage. Their recommended standard plan offers one-click WordPress installs and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Their WordPress web hosting is designed to help you set up quicker and easier. Hostwinds doesn't offer WordPress hosting.

If you need help building your website, Hostwinds offers Weebly, their in-house website builder, while HostGator has custom site builders available as well. 

Hostwinds also has excellent reseller hosting packages for those who want to get into the web hosting business. Compared to the HostGator reseller plan which starts at $19.95 per month that comes with 600GB bandwidth, unlimited websites, and 60GB disk space, Hostwinds’ reseller plans start at $8.99 per month and includes unlimited email, storage, and data transfers. 

HostGator offers add-ons that make it an even better hosting provider of choice, especially for small business owners. Of course, these additional tools come apart from the unlimited bandwidth, dedicated servers, free website migration, free domain for a year, and all the other features that make it an excellent choice.

With the demand and preference for WordPress constantly increasing, we’d have to say HostGator wins this tight round.

Security

When it comes to security, both hosts offer SSL certification across their plans with additional protection options via add-ons. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate ensures that any data information sent from your website visitor's web browser to the server remains private. 

Hostwinds offers Windshield, a security feature that enhances your VPS's security against security hazards. They also offer an automatic daily backup add-on for all their services. HostGator does seem to have integrations that boost security, but it’s worth noting that these are only available via third-party apps, thereby costing more. 

Hostwinds’ security features have been found to be more superior to HostGator’s. 

Ease of use

Much like many other hosting providers, both HostGator and Hostwinds have great feedback when it comes to ease of use.

The HostGator control panel is very much straightforward, accessible, and can easily be navigated. Once you are logged in to your cPanel, you can easily access all your tools and features from there. If you have previously used similar cPanels from other hosting services, then navigating on HostGator's cPanel is as easy as pie.

The same goes with Hostwinds with its most common cPanel features. If you have worked with a standard Linux server, you won't have trouble with its easy-to-navigate control panel.

Both are beginner-friendly, so both win this round.

Customer support

Support is undoubtedly one of the most crucial features of a hosting provider. Of course, it’s important to ensure that your site is always up.

HostGator and Hostwinds both offer 24/7/365 customer support services with superb and helpful agents ready to answer your queries anytime you’re in need of support with your website. 

Hostwinds live chat average response time is 30 seconds, and the option to submit a ticket via email is also available. Even without phone support, the fast response time and self-help resources ensure you are covered anytime you need help. HostGator offers live chat apart from email, self-help resources, and phone support. 

Hostwinds provides an excellent customer support experience, but HostGator’s live chat feature certainly makes it win this round.

Verdict

Both HostGator and Hostwinds are fantastic hosting providers that offer super services to both personal and small to medium business websites. In launching your new website, it's important to keep in mind that seamless navigation, security, and a fast loading speed all contribute to the overall user experience.

It certainly varies from your website's needs and wants, but overall, we can tell that Hostwinds offer a bit more of an edge over HostGator due to its flexible services plan, value for money, ease of use, and better customer support. 

Despite this verdict, however, Hostwinds put up a good fight, and, in the end, is still worthy of being at the top amongst the best.

• Also, don't forget to take a look at our list of the best anonymous hosting of 2021

A domain name is what people enter into a web browser in order to 'go to' a website. They’re a much faster and intuitive alternative than having to remember an entire IP address and have become one of the most crucial branding elements of a site.

When you start a business, one of the first things you need to do is create a website. Part of that is coming up with a brand name that can be used as a domain name.

Domain names typically consist of their name, separated by a dot from the TLD (Top-level domain), such as .com or .xyz. Your choice of both of these elements will significantly impact how easily visitors can find, remember, and recommend your website to others.

There are currently over 364 million registered domains worldwide (that's gown by 16 million since I last updated this page). This makes finding and buying the perfect domain name pretty challenging because you desired domain name could have already been purchased by someone else. What’s more, not every domain registrar offers the same prices and conditions.

If you’re planning to purchase a domain for your site, this article is for you. We’ll show you how to buy a domain name from various registrars and web hosting providers, as well as showcase some domain name registration tips to keep in mind. 

How to buy a domain name in five steps

While the process of buying a domain name is relatively simple, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. 

When put together properly, a domain should be catchy, give the target audience an idea of what the website offers, and entice them to visit it. 

Follow these steps to buy a domain name:

• Determine the purpose of the website. From there, brainstorm a list of potential domain names that are relevant and ideally include a keyword of your website’s niche.
• Pick a brandable name. From the list, select a domain name that sounds concise, memorable, and easy to spell and pronounce. It should be catchy enough that users can share it easily with others. Avoid long, complicated names and symbols.
• Check the domain name’s availability. Use a checker tool to see if it’s on sale and which TLDs or domain extensions are available. The most popular TLD is .com, as most users are familiar with it.
• Choose one of the best domain registrars or best web hosting providers to buy the domain from. For the best domain registrar, we recommend Namecheap.com because it's a versatile provider that provides excellent value for money. If you choose to go down the web hosting provider route, we recommend Hostinger because it offers you a domain for free and they're the best web host overall based on our experience. Make sure it offers basic features like DNS management and email forwarding. Also, compare the pricing, renewal rates, add-ons, and support to see which one offers the best value for money.
• Register the domain name. Complete the payment and domain registration process. A domain name can be available for use between one to ten years, depending on your preferences. Finally, remember to check your email to verify the domain ownership.

After finalizing the domain purchase, start building your website. If you buy a domain name and web hosting plan from separate vendors, make sure to point the domain to your hosting account so that visitors can open your website correctly.

Now that you’re familiar with the general steps, we’ll explain how to buy a domain name from top domain registrar and web hosting service providers.

How to register a domain name with Hostinger

Known for its fast and user-friendly web hosting, Hostinger also provides affordable domain registration services. This European company has .com domains starting from $9.99/year, which is one of the lowest prices offered on the market.

Hostinger offers alternative TLDs such as .online, .xyz, .tech, and .store, so there are more options to experiment with if the .com domain names are unavailable.

To buy a domain name with Hostinger, navigate to their domain checker page. Then enter your desired name on the field and press Search.

Click Make it Yours and you'll be directed to the cart where you can choose the duration of the domain and add additional purchases like email or hosting.

Press the Checkout Now button to finalize the payment and create a Hostinger account. Once that’s done, the system will redirect you to the domain control panel to complete the domain registration process. 

The required contact details include your name, email address, physical address, and phone number. If the domain is for commercial purposes, insert the business name. Review the information and click Finish registration. 

Once finished, Hostinger will send a message to your email address asking to verify the domain ownership through a link. The system will temporarily suspend the domain if it’s not validated within 15 days, so it’s best to complete this step immediately.

How to register a domain name with Bluehost

Bluehost is a web hosting company based in the United States. Like Hostinger, it also offers a domain registration service. It even includes a free domain name for one year in its most affordable subscription, which costs $1.99/month for the first year.

Besides the generic TLDs, this hosting company has a wide array of alternative extensions for various niches – such as .ink, .photo, and .guru. While they’re not as popular as .com, they can be an excellent touch to make your website stand out. 

To get a domain name from Bluehost, open the Domains page on the site. Then insert a keyword paired with your desired domain name extension on the search bar.

The page will reveal if the domain name is available. If not, choose one of the other options below. 

A .com extension costs $12.99/year, which is the average price. On the other hand, the privacy and protection service is $11.88/year.

Click Proceed to start the checkout process. Bluehost will offer to bundle the domain name with a 30-day free trial for a shared web hosting service and a free SSL certificate. An email service plan with Microsoft 365 is also available, ranging between $2.99/month and $3.99/month.

Press one of the Proceed buttons to complete the order. Fill in the billing information and choose a method to pay for the domain name registration fee. 

Once done, Bluehost will send a verification email to your inbox to validate the domain ownership. Click on the link, and the domain name should now be usable. 

Note that all Bluehost customers are subject to automatic renewals. However, it’s possible to change this setting within 16 days of the expiration date. 

That said, we recommend enabling this feature anyway. If you forget to renew the terms, your website will be unavailable, and the domain can return for sale on the open market within a few weeks. 

How to register a domain name with HostGator

Next, we’ll explain how to get a domain name on HostGator. Part of the same group as Bluehost, it offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder and feature-rich web hosting services.  

The first step to buying a domain name on HostGator is to open the Domains page on their website. Insert a domain name and on the search field and press the Enter key.

If the domain is unavailable, pick a recommended alternative with a different domain extension or name variation.

The cost for a .com domain at HostGator is similar to Bluehost, starting from $12.99/year. Bundling the item with a privacy and protection feature is also possible, costing $14.95/year. Pick between one, two, or a three-year registration period, then click Continue To Checkout.

Now, create a HostGator account and fill in your billing information. HostGator has two payment options – credit card and PayPal. 

Before finalizing the purchase, HostGator will preview the order. Here, you can set custom nameservers to point the domain name to a third-party hosting account if desired. Click Place Your Order once everything looks right.

Finally, HostGator will send a domain ownership validation request to your registered email address. Remember to click on the link within 15 days to prevent the domain from temporary suspension.

Besides the steps above, HostGator also offers a domain name registration service via their support team. However, this alternative method is only applicable to certain TLDs.

How to register a domain name with Wix

Wix is one of the most widely-used website builders, having powered over 200 million users worldwide. While it allows creating a website for free, you will need a premium plan to connect a custom domain name.

The price for a .com domain name is $19.35/year. Note that Wix’s list of extensions is not as vast as other registrars, as it doesn’t support such TLDs as .io, .tech, or .live. However, more generic options are available. 

Navigate to Wix’s domains page to begin the domain name search. Then, enter a term using a domain extension and press Search. If someone else has taken the name, it will suggest other options with different TLDs. 

After finding a domain name you like, click Get It Now. The next step is to choose between getting a premium website builder plan or simply buying a domain name. The first option will make the domain registration fee free of charge. 

For illustration purposes, we will go with the latter route by clicking Get It Now. At this stage, you will have to sign up for a Wix account. 

Now, pick whether to register the domain name for one, two, or three years. Wix offers a discount for longer registration periods.

Then fill in the contact information, including your name, phone number, email, address, and postal code. 

If you’re going to manage the domain and handle any tech-related issues it encounters, check the Tech Contact Info and Admin Contact Info boxes below. Otherwise, fill in the fields with the relevant contact details.   

Lastly, enter your credit card information and invoice details to finalize the purchase. Check your registered email address inbox, as Wix will send a message to confirm the domain’s contact details.

How to register a domain name with GoDaddy

With over 20 million customers, GoDaddy is both a domain registrar and web hosting powerhouse. It has a wide array of domain extensions ranging from .com and .org to newer selections like .fun or .law. The company plans to add even more TLDs to its collection in the future. 

To buy a domain on GoDaddy, start with a domain name search on their homepage. The system will reveal whether the name is available for purchase using your desired extension.

If the .com version is taken, GoDaddy offers a domain broker service, where a representative will negotiate with the owner to purchase the name for you. You will pay $119.99 and a 20% commission to hire the agent in addition to the domain registration fee.

Click Add to Cart on a domain name and continue to checkout. On the next page, GoDaddy will offer several add-ons to bundle the order with.

As an added bonus GoDaddy includes free privacy protection forever. This can protect you from bad actors trying to steal your information for illicit gains. 

Choose any of the extras and press the Continue to Cart button. Then, a review of the purchase will appear, which also includes a free trial to GoDaddy’s website builder for one month. It’s also possible to change the registration period to up to five years.

The next step is to create a GoDaddy account and fill in the billing information. There are three payment methods available – credit card, PayPal, and check. 

After completing the payment process, the domain name is yours. As with previous domain registrars and web hosts, GoDaddy will send an email with a link to validate the domain ownership. 

How to register a domain name with Namecheap

As the name suggests, this Namecheap offers great value for money. Its .com domains start from $16.98/year (but new customers can get one for $6.49), which is a low price compared to the rest of the market. 

To buy a domain name on Namecheap, head over to the homepage and insert a name on the search field. Alternatively, head to the Bulk Domain Name Search tool and enter up to 5,000 keywords and find multiple domains at once.

The site will redirect you to the search results page. Feel free to sort the available domains by cost, extension, or alphabetical order. Click Add to Cart on the name you want to register and the Checkout button on the bottom-right corner to continue with the payment process. 

The page will preview the order and suggest several add-ons to add to the cart, including PremiumDNS for a performance and security boost. This domain registrar also provides a free privacy and protection feature. 

Confirm the order to move on to the next step – creating a Namecheap account. Insert your contact information, including your name, phone number, email, and physical address. Enter a company name and tick the I’m registering on behalf of a company box if applicable.

Press Continue to go to the Setup page. Here, specify the contact information for the domain’s registrant, administrator, technical support, and billings. If you’re responsible for all these things, select User default account contact. Otherwise, choose to Add new contact where appropriate. 

Click Continue to complete the payment process. Choose between using a credit card, PayPal, or Namecheap Account Funds. Also, feel free to enable automatic renewal for the domain registration.

Finally, review the order and finalize the payment. Once finished, check for a verification email in your inbox and click on the link to validate the domain ownership.

Tips when registering a domain name

Obtaining the right domain name from the start is important, especially if you’re creating a business or personal brand website. Changing domains is not only expensive but also potentially damages search engine rankings and conversion rates.

With this in mind, here are some things to consider when buying a domain name: 

• If the domain name is unavailable, use a name generator. Namelix is an excellent example of this. Insert the business name or website name, then choose a naming length and style. The tool will come up with some ideas based on your criteria.
• Avoid hyphens and numbers. They can make the domain name difficult to share via word-of-mouth. 
• Include rhyme, rhythm, or alliteration. These poetic devices can make the domain name easier to remember.
• Check the trademark database. Steer clear from domain names that sound too similar to existing brands to avoid getting into legal trouble. 
• Check for corresponding social media handles. To make your brand’s online presence easier to discover, it’s best to use the same name for all of your social profiles. 
• If possible, buy the misspelled variations of the domain name. That way, you won’t miss out on any potential traffic. For instance, Google owns gogle.com so that people who mistype their URL can use the search engine immediately. 
• Think long-term. Make sure the domain name can support your brand now and in the future. Avoid trending terms to leave room for growth. 
• Choose a reliable domain registrar. Check their terms of service and reputation before making the purchase. If you’re new to domain name registration, it helps to pick a company with a responsive support team. 

Conclusion

We’ve shown you how to buy a domain name with different registrars and web hosting providers – from Hostinger, HostGator, to Domain.com. No matter which vendor you choose, make sure it offers the best service for your money. 

Domain names are a long-term investment, so take your time to brainstorm the perfect one for your website. Most importantly, the name should be concise, catchy, and relevant to your business so that it remains top-of-mind for your target audience. 

With the tips and tutorials explained above, you should be on your way to getting a great domain name. Best of luck.

• We've also featured the best website builder

With over two million domains hosted, HostGator helps users streamline getting an online presence with fast and reliable services - making it one of the hottest hosting providers in the world. 

HostGator marks the end of summer by extending their summer super sale until 11am on Tuesday, August 24th. This super sale means getting up to 70% off of HostGator's most popular hosting plans, plus free domain registration.

Included in this super sale are HostGator's hatchling, baby, and business hosting packages, all of which offer unlimited storage, unmetered bandwidth, and unbeatable hosting service. 

• Check out our list of the best cloud hosting services
• We picked out the best WordPress hosting services for you here
• Send emails with ease with the best email hosting providers

HostGator has a reputation for providing affordable plan pricing, lightning-fast server speed, 24/7 support channels availability, a solid uptime of their servers, and one-click WordPress installs. These features coupled with HostGator's free website builder make it great for simple small business sites.

Advanced users who make up for 30% of HostGator's users also get advanced features such as raw log files access, full Unix shell, full CGI access, unlimited SFTP users, HostGator Portal Control Panel, iPv6 Support, and Rails, Python, and Perl Support, among others. 

HostGator's stats prove it is one of the most notable web hosting providers around, and with each plan offering more than the promise of reliable service (with over 99% uptime), a respectable server speed that results in a respectable load time of 734 ms, world-class 24/7/365 support, security features, and a 45-day money-back guarantee, it's no wonder HostGator is preferred by many. 

Why is this a great deal?

Despite being known for offering some of the most affordable hosting services, HostGator still makes hosting even more within reach as they slash the prices of these already cheap services even further with their summer deal. 

HostGator lets you level up your hosting by providing all of the must-haves your website needs to scale and throws in a few extras such as security, data safety, professional email, automated backups, and even SEO tools. 

The Hatchling, Baby, and Business plans all have offerings to accommodate your different website needs, and signing up for an account with HostGator is an easy and straightforward process so you can get started in an instant. 

HostGator is one of the best names in web hosting across the globe, and since they're making all of their plans more affordable for everyone, it's pretty difficult to pass up on this amazing summer deal.

• Manage your website with the best cPanel hosting of 2021

Windows hosting services can host your websites and apps on dedicated Microsoft technologies like ASP.NET or .NET. In fact, they can even run different products like Exchange or Microsoft SQL Server. Now, although many web host services use Linux servers,Windows hosting is still vital for sites dependent on Microsoft.

Such hosting generally comes with Plesk for easy management, plus one-click installations for popular apps such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, phpBB, and more. And, if you opt for a VPS or dedicated plan, you get remote desktop access that helps manage the server from its own interface. However, Windows hosting is a bit more expensive, thanks to the Microsoft license fees.

Still, if you need Microsoft technologies, Windows hosting can deliver a great service at a surprisingly low price. We tested and compared these providers across uptime, features, storage, bandwidth, and overall performance, among other things.

We've also reviewed the best ecommerce hosting.

The best Windows hosting services of 2026 in full:

Best overall

Windows hosting has a reputation for being costly, but the shared Windows range from IONOS shows that it doesn't have to be that way.

Prices start at $6 a month for the first six months and $12 afterward, yet even the most basic plan is better specified than some of the Linux competition. You get 1 website, 100GB web space and unlimited bandwidth, plus daily backups, 24/7 phone and email support, a free domain and a free wildcard SSL certificate thrown in.

Windows-specific features include support for 25 Microsoft SQL databases of up to 2GB each, ASP.NET 4.8, ASP.NET Ajax and MVC 3, 4 and 5. There's support for SQL import, SSI and dedicated app pools, and your site runs on Windows Server 2022 (many hosts are still using Server 2019.)

Next, the Pro plan comes at $7/month and then increases to $14/month. It supports up to 5 websites and the storage increases to 250 GB.

Ramping up to the top-of-the-range Expert Windows plan gets you 500GB storage, ten times the RAM (2GB vs. 200MB) and up to 500 databases. Again, this is good value at $11 a month for the first six months, and $22/month thereafter.

There's one potential catch in email support; all three plans only come with a single email account, although it is a decent one (2GB inbox, anti-spam and anti-phishing thrown in.)

These are shared plans and don't give you full control over the server, but more flexible VPS and dedicated plans are also available, initially priced from $3/month for a 2v core, 2GB and 80GB setup.

Factor in the one-month trial and IONOS could be a sensible choice for novices looking to try out Windows hosting with the minimum of risk.

Read the full IONOS review.

• Sign up for Ionos US deals here.
• Sign up for Ionos UK deals here.

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Best basic

GoDaddy offers hosting options for both basic and advanced users. But, if you want dedicated Windows hosting, there are multiple options, catering to different use cases.

GoDaddy’s 2 vCPU / 4GB RAM plan starts at $17.99/month (with a three-year term) and suits moderate traffic needs. You get snapshot backups, 100 GB NVMe SSD storage, and the option to install Linux or Windows.

Stepping up the power, the 4 vCPU / 8GB RAM plan comes in at $34.99/month on the same term. It’s designed for heavier workloads or bigger online stores. Along with increased CPU and RAM, you can choose between cPanel or Plesk, both of which simplify server management.

For resource-intensive projects, you have the 4 vCPU / 16GB RAM plan worth $44.99/month. It includes 200 GB NVMe SSD storage and added IP addresses to accommodate larger-scale deployments.

Plus, all the plans come with four Global Data Centers(United States, Europe, and Singapore), 24/7 network monitoring, advanced DDoS, free SSL certificate with a dedicated IP.

You can save on your GoDaddy subscription with our GoDaddy promo codes.

Read the full GoDaddy review.

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Best mid-range

Hostwinds' Windows VPS hosting plans could be a great choice for the more experienced user, with no less than 10 plans making it much easier to find the exact level of service you need.

The baseline specification is impressive. Every plan offers free site migrations, SSD storage, and 1Gbps network connectivity (100Mbps is common with other providers). You also get the ability to use Windows Server 2012, 2016 or 2019, along with nightly backups and 99.99999% uptime guaranteed overall.

The starter plan offers relatively limited resources, with one CPU core, 1GB RAM, 30GB disk space and 1TB traffic per month. But it comes at $16.99/month for unmanaged Windows hosting (where you manage the server software), $17.24/month for managed hosting (where Hostwinds handles everything.)

Upgrading to a higher plan gets you more power. For example, a four CPU core, 8GB RAM, 150GB disk space and 3TB bandwidth setup is priced at $62.99/month for the Unmanaged VPS.

(When you're comparing prices with other providers, keep in mind that these are Unmanaged VPS plans, not more basic shared offerings. They're also billed monthly, with no long-term contract, and unlike some of the rest, the price won't double when the introductory deal runs out.) The Fully Managed Windows VPS are currently cheaper due to the first-cycle promotional offer.

Put it all together and these seem well-designed hosting plans which are powerful, configurable, and with excellent support. If basic Windows hosting isn't enough, Hostwinds could be worth a try.

Read the full Hostwinds review.

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Best for features

HostGator's rather limited range of three Windows hosting plans mean it can't compete with Hostwinds for flexibility, but take a closer look at the details and there's a lot to like here.

The starter Plan only supports one website, for instance, but also comes with 5 email accounts, Unlimited MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server databases, unmetered disk space and bandwidth, free SSL, backups and more. It starts cheap, too, at $4.76 a month over three years (though beware, it renews at $12.99.)

There is a potential downside in HostGator's relatively dated software: Windows Server 2016, ASP 4.7 and PHP 7.1 (IONOS offers 2022, 4.8 and 8.1.) This won't matter to everyone, but check your technical Windows requirements before you sign up.

Next you have the Personal Plan which comes with unmetered disk space, unlimited email accounts, and latest Plesk Panel - Onyx 17.5. Lastly, the Enterprise plan supports 5 domains, along with free upgrade to Positive SSL and a dedicated IP.

If you're looking for a dedicated plan, keep in mind that you can set it up with whatever technology you like. Headline prices are reasonable, too, with plans starting at under $90 a month. Be sure to carefully check the small print, though – you might have to sign up for three years to get these prices, and large introductory discounts mean that you could pay more than double on renewal.

Read the full HostGator review.

You could save on HostGator VPS hosting with our HostGator promo codes.

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Best for support

Liquid Web is a popular provider of high-end professional web hosting services, and its current range includes some very capable Windows products.

The company's Managed VPS Windows hosting plans, for instance, are stuffed with premium features: unlimited sites, 10TB of monthly bandwidth, at least 100GB of Acronis backups, and a very fast 10Gbps connection.

And yet, starter prices are still very affordable at $60.06/month (on the two-year plan) for a 4GB RAM, 4 core, 100GB storage VPS. You also get Windows 2022 server and 50 GB Acronis Cyber Backups. The closest setup at Hostwinds (8GB RAM, 4 core, 150GB storage, 3TB RAM) is priced at a very similar $62.99/month.

That's just the start. Demanding users will love Liquid Web's vast range of more advanced hosting plans, from cloud and dedicated products, to VMware, Microsoft SQL Hosting, Active Directory and more. (Even if you don't need any of those right now, don't dismiss them. It's important to know there's an upgrade path available if your site grows and you need something more powerful.)

The other two plans of 8 GB RAM and 16 GB RAM, come at $79.54/month and $139.08/month respectively. They too offer 50 GB Acronis Cyber Backups and Obsidian Plesk Version.

Whatever product you choose can be fully managed by Liquid Web's excellent support team. The firm doesn’t just promise to keep your site up and running, there’s a commitment with a 100% uptime SLA (service level agreement), a strong sign of confidence in its services that you rarely see elsewhere.

Read the full Liquid Web review.

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Best Windows hosting FAQs

The best Windows hosting services: How we test

Testing and choosing the best Windows hosting is not too different from how we test the best web hosting services. Because Windows hosting is website hosting that uses a Windows operating system, we round up those hosting providers that offer the service and then began to test its performance, features and add-ons.

Because only a small number of providers offer Windows hosting, comparing its strengths and weaknesses is relatively easy.

We evaluate each feature provided, from 24/7 security monitoring to DDoS protection using a test website that also uses other Windows tools and languages, like Microsoft Exchange or ASP.NET.

We also compare prices to make sure the Windows hosting service is good value for money.

Get in touch

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You’ve started a website and have reached the crucial decision of which web hosting service provider to choose. If you’ve narrowed your choices down to two of the biggest names in web hosting, Bluehost and HostGator, we can help you make the right decision. 

Whether you’re just switching providers or are looking to find the perfect choice before you start building your dream website, we will take you through each web hosting service to give you better insight. 

From security to site performance, let’s take a deeper look at what these platforms have to offer and how they can make a difference to your website and, eventually, your business. 

Bluehost vs HostGator: Main similarities and differences

Not only are Bluehost and HostGator leading names in web hosting, but they also power over 10 million of the currently active domains around the world right now. This is in part due to their notable reliability, load times, features, and low pricing. 

Before the big comparison, it’s important to note what Bluehost and HostGator share in common (apart from being web hosting companies). For starters, both Bluehost and HostGator prove reliable, with over 99% uptime. They’re also known for their equally competitive user support, and an almost similar page speed (more of that later.) 

In terms of features, however, HostGator leads the game with its built-in website builder that offers intuitive design templates and even e-commerce functionality - a feature users won’t find with Bluehost. 

Bluehost vs HostGator: Speed and uptime 

As the two foundations of the core features of any web host, speed and uptime play an invaluable role in the success of your site. If you want to keep your visitors on your site, you’ll want to keep your page speed fast. 

Both Bluehost and Hostgator are strong competitors performance-wise, with Hostgator averaging 700 ms in page speed, and Bluehost trailing not so far behind at 729 ms over the past ten months. There’s not much of a difference, but these stats should help users who still can’t decide between the two. 

In terms of uptime guarantee, Bluehost falls slightly behind with 99.98%, while Hostgator offers 99.99%. The dependability exhibited by both in uptime makes them the toughest contenders in web hosting.

Bluehost vs HostGator: Types of hosting 

Bluehost offers different types of hosting, including shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS hosting, and WordPress hosting. Shared hosting is the easiest, most common way to get your website connected, while WordPress hosting is great for businesses running a WordPress site. 

Hostgator, on the other hand, offers shared hosting, cloud hosting, managed WordPress hosting, Virtual Private Servers (VPS), and dedicated servers. Shared hosting and Managed WordPress hosting are two of Hostgator’s most popular choices. 

Bluehost vs HostGator: Pricing

Bluehost’s plans start at $2.95 (basic) per month and comes with 50GB of storage space, custom themes, 24/7 support, five email accounts and a free domain for a year. Other plans include plus, choice plus, and pro, which range from $5.45 per month to $13.95 per month. 

Hostgator only comes with three plans: hatchling, baby, and business. The hatchling plan, which includes one domain, one-click installs and unlimited email, costs $2.75 per month. The next plan, the baby plan, which has the same features as the hatchling plans plus unlimited domains, costs $3.50 per month. Hostgator’s best plan, the business plan, offers everything in the baby plan plus unlimited websites. 

When it comes to renewal prices, Bluehost is a bit more steep. The trick to keeping the costs to a minimum is to sign up for longer contracts. Hostgator’s 45-day money back guarantee also beats Bluehost’s 30 days, but it’s important to note that Hostgator only offers this for its shared or VPS hosting. 

Bluehost vs HostGator: Website migration 

If you’re looking to switch hosting providers, migrating to Bluehost servers is free only for WordPress sites. Therefore, if you are running a website that is not WordPress-based, migrating will incur a fee of $149.99. This includes moving up to five websites and 20 email accounts. There is an option, however, for users to handle the migration instead of paying Bluehost to do it. This requires a little bit of technical knowledge, though, otherwise it can easily freak someone out. 

HostGator, on the other hand, allows website migration for both WordPress and cPanel website files. This includes a single domain registration transfer as well as databases and scripts. This service is free if done within 30 days of the sign-up date, and to accounts that are recently upgraded.

Bluehost vs HostGator: Customer support 

You want to be able to get the help you need when you need it (because there will come a time when you need support from your hosting company). It is essential to have a hosting company with high quality, responsive, friendly and knowledgeable customer and technical support.

Getting the support you need at any time is essential, especially when running a website. That’s why your hosting provider must have responsive and reliable customer support to get you through every difficulty. All of Hostgator’s web plans include 24/7 support 365 days a week. Hostgator support is available via live chat or via its toll-free number: 1-866-96-GATOR. 

Bluehost’s exceptional customer support makes it an easy choice for users. From support tickets, 24/7 phone and email support, support tickets and live chat, the user experience is always regarded as exceeding expectations. Their dedicated support is also available 24/7/365.

Bluehost vs HostGator: WordPress integration 

As one of the most popular website building software available, WordPress is behind 39.6% of the websites you see today. Installing WordPress with Bluehost is one of the easiest things you can do. The process is easy and seamless, and can be done in five simple steps. 

With Hostgator, it’s the same one-click install for WordPress. This can be done as soon as a user purchases a hosting plan. HostGator allows WordPress installation using Softaculous, a software that helps automate web applications installation. However, there is also an option to install WordPress manually, which is a fairly easy process, which the company provides a step by step “how to install guide” for users to follow. 

Verdict

Bluehost and HostGator have a lot in common, but in a head-to-head comparison, Bluehost is usually a top choice. It comes in strong with its solid uptime, great customer service and is worth the money. Though only WordPress migration is offered for free, manually migrating sites outside of WordPress can be a worthwhile task, especially if you want to save on the costs of migration.

We feature the best Magento hosting providers, to make it simple and easy to set up and run Magento ecommerce features for your growing business.

Magento (now known as Adobe Commerce) is one of the best ecommerce platforms right now. First released in 2008, the platform’s ever growing popularity brought it to the notice of Adobe, which successfully purchased it for a price of $1.68 billion in May 2018.

While there are other ecommerce solutions like Shopify and WooCommerce, Magento stands apart for a number of reasons. For one, it’s open source, which means you can tailor it to your needs without any coding restrictions.

But even if you don't care about that, Magento's default offerings are plentiful to cater to small and large businesses alike. With it powering your online store, your ecommerce website will be equipped with all the essential tools that make online shopping a pleasant experience, such as product categories, recommendations, cart abandonment reminders, marketing and email promotion, and much more.

While a lot of the best web hosting providers offer Magento hosting these providers stand out from the rest with their Magento hosting.

The best Magento hosting providers of 2025 in full:

Best overall

Nexcess offers a fully managed Magento hosting service with four packages to choose from. Its cheapest plan sits in the same ball park as InMotion Hosting's Magento solution.

Each plan includes nightly backups, containers (ElasticSearch, Varnish, RabbitMQ and SOLR), as well as the option to get your money back after 30 days should you no longer wish to continue with the service.

Its XS plan comes with a generous 50 GB of disk space, allows up to 20 cocurrent users, and lets you host up to 10 domains for $34.30/mo for three months. Although, once the three months is up, you'll have to fork out $49 per month.

Nexcess has its own built-in Content Delivery Network (CDN), offers automated scaling for concurrency during traffic surges with 24 hours for free, and similar to its managed WordPress hosting offering, it offers automatic nightly malware monitoring.

Features such as auto scaling allow you to bypass PHP capacity limits for short durations of time, which is what Nexcess is offering. Also, free Magento website migrations are included with any Nexcess package you choose.

Read our full Nexcess review

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Best runner-up

ScalaHosting is an excellent choice for Magento store owners, offering fully managed VPS solutions that combine strong performance with affordability. Their VPS plans start at just $12.71 per month, which is about 40% cheaper than many other managed VPS providers.

One of ScalaHosting’s standout features is its proprietary control panel, SPanel. Designed for non-technical users, SPanel simplifies server management with one-click Magento installations and useful tools like backup management, security controls, and performance optimization.

In terms of security, Scala includes SShield protection, which blocks 99.998% of cyber threats in real time. Other features include free SSL certificates, proactive patch management, dedicated firewalls, and PCI compliance, making it well-suited for ecommerce businesses.

On the performance side, ScalaHosting guarantees 99.99% uptime with average response times of 443ms. Their infrastructure uses NVMe storage and LiteSpeed web servers, perfect for Magento’s resource-heavy requirements. Built-in caching and HTTP/2 support further enhance loading speeds.

Another major advantage of ScalaHosting is its fully managed services. Their team takes care of server maintenance, security updates, and performance optimization, so store owners can focus on their business. This includes daily offsite backups with multiple restore points and real-time malware scanning.

While the Magento-specific features may not be as extensive as some competitors, their well-built VPS infrastructure and comprehensive management services make ScalaHosting a reliable option for Magento stores of all sizes.

Read our full ScalaHosting review

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Best for performance

Although A2 Hosting offers four different plans for other hosting solutions such as WordPress, you’re limited only to the Turbo Boost and the Turbo Max plans for Magento. Both these plans offer a host of features that appeal to small and even large businesses. This includes a free website builder to help you quickly put together a cohesive e-commerce website, 24/7/365 support over phone, email and even live chat.

The entire focus of A2 Hosting is geared towards ensuring high performance, which is why in addition to offering unlimited NVMe storage space, you also get to choose the location of the data centre. This is important because the closer a data centre is to your clients, the faster the performance. You can choose the server closest to you on the order form itself, and the options are Michigan and Arizona in the USA, Amsterdam in Europe and Singapore in Asia.

The Turbo plans offer AMD EPYC servers, and coupled with the NVMe drives boast of handling 9X more traffic and 3X faster read/write speeds. The speed advantage cannot be overstated, especially for large online stores with catalogs of many different products and options.

Read our full A2 Hosting review

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Best affordable

HostGator offers Magento hosting on its shared plans, but there’s no clarity on the resources that you get with these plans. There’s no information about the RAM, disk space, number of visitors, etc. that are permitted with each plan, which is surprising.

Apart from these shared hosting plans, HostGator also provides dedicated and VPS hosting.

Depending on the content of your website, or the catalogue of the online store, the number of monthly visitors, etc., it makes more sense to opt for dedicated or VPS hosting rather than a shared plan. Thankfully, you can do just that with HostGator as it provides a 1-click Magneto installer and a free website builder, so you can quickly set up your online store on a dedicated or VPS plan.

If you’re just starting out, and don’t have a vast catalogue or even dedicated customer base, it might make sense to try the cheap shared plans, especially considering the 45-day money back guarantee. But if you want your online store to serve hundreds of users, or more, at the same time, and process hundreds or thousands of orders, billing requests simultaneously, the dedicated or VPS hosting plans are the only real choice.

A dedicated or VPS Plan however is far more expensive than a shared hosting plan but offers far greater security and dedicated system resources such as 8-30 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD or SSD running Linux or Windows, etc.

Read our full HostGator review

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Best for scalability

Compared to HostGator’s dedicated or VPS Plans, InMotion Hosting's plans for Magento are far more pocket friendly. It’s cheapest plan boasts 2 GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 45 GB SSD storage and 4 TB of bandwidth, along with a few additional features such as free SSL, a dedicated IP address, free website transfer and setup etc. The price gets costlier as you reduce the duration to 2-year, 1-year, 6-month, etc.

Each of the plans include SSD storage, and apart from the four basic plans, InMotion also gives the choice of three premium plans with far greater system resources available for use. The premium plans make sense for established stores, or at least those businesses that already have a well planned roadmap geared towards expansion and want to deliver the best performance to visitors to their online stores.

Each of the plans also include features that make sense for ecommerce stores such as SEO tools and comprehensive reporting. The latter feature allows you to quickly take stock of popular search terms on your online store, assess inventory, active orders, etc.

All the plans include cPanel and InMotion also provides command-line access so you can install Magento manually if you have the expertise to do so. If not, you can use Softaculous to easily install Magento with a single click, but InMotion charges $5/mo for this service.

Read our full InMotion Hosting review

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Best for shared hosting

FastComet also promotes shared hosting plans for Magento but unlike HostGator, there’s far greater transparency in the resources available in each plan. The costliest plan, FastCloud Extra, provides 35 GB SSD storage, free website transfer, let’s you create multiple websites, 100,000 unique monthly visitors, 6 CPU cores, 6 GB RAM and a whole host of other features such as 45-day money-back guarantee, and more. You can also perform 30 daily backups and restore data with the 1-click restore manager.

If you don’t need that many resources, and don’t expect that many monthly visitors, you can opt for the cheaper FastCloud or FastCloud Plus plans.

All of these shared hosting plans include excellent security features such as protection from malware and exploits, brute-force attacks, BitNinja Server Security which guards against DDoS and other automated attacks, hacked website recovery and much more.

On top of that, FastComet also lets you choose the location of the data center. This is useful because the closer a data center is to your target visitors, the greater performance they’ll experience when accessing your online store. Currently, you can choose a server from four different locations in the USA, apart from Canada, Europe (Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt), India, Singapore and Australia. With such a wide spread of data center locations. you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a server location that’s nearest to your website visitors.

Read our full FastComet review.

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Best cloud hosting

When considering a hosting solution, you have the choice of shared hosting, VPS or dedicated hosting. If you don’t mind shelling a little extra for the promise of near perfect uptime, excellent performance, scalability, etc., it makes sense to opt for cloud hosting.

This option might appeal to medium to large businesses who might have the need to scale up server resources at a moment's notice to meet demand. With Cloudways, you can choose from among some of the biggest names in cloud hosting, including AWS and Google Cloud, as well as other popular hosts such as Digital Ocean, Linode and Vultr. Each of these cloud services has a large number of data centres and you can choose the one that best suits you.

In addition to global data centers, each plan you opt for comes with 24/7 support and a host of security solutions to ensure maximum uptime of your online store. Furthermore, you can also tap the tech support for optimum configuration of your service to deliver the best performance to all visitors to your website.

Read our full Cloudways review.

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Best Magento hosting FAQs

How we test each Magento hosting service provider

The aim of the game with Magento hosting is to find a provider that helps your website stay fast even when high-traffic events occur.

Our reviewers test each hosting service by signing up and purchasing a plan to check out what each web hosting provider offers new users, as well as how easy it is to navigate around each brand’s dashboard.

We pay a great deal of attention to the support that is offered to you as Magento is quite a complex platform that requires technical knowledge.

A top quality Magento hosting solution reduces the risk of performance issues, downtime and general security issues.

Get in touch

• Want to find out about commercial or marketing opportunities? Click here
• Out of date info, errors, complaints or broken links? Give us a nudge
• Got a suggestion for a product or service provider? Message us directly

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Note: The Gator website builder is now unfortunately discontinued and not available for use. But worry not, it you are looking for a great (alternative) website builder, we have some recommendations::

• Wix: Ideal for those looking for an all-in-one website builder - read our full Wix review here.
• Bluehost: Great for building powerful websites on WordPress - read our Bluehost website builder review here.
• Hostinger: An affordable option with advanced AI website building tools - read our full Hostinger website builder review here.

Alternatively, check out our list of the best website builder platforms. Doing so will give you all the information and insight you need to find a perfect Gator website builder alternative.

Gator Website Builder bundles excellent web hosting from HostGator with a user-friendly website builder tool, which makes it easy to create a quality online presence.

Gator offers an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interface that makes creating your own website simple and straightforward.

What is Gator website builder by HostGator?

Gator is a website builder created by HostGator that makes website building easier than ever before. It's designed to be intuitive, so even if you don't have any experience in web design, you can still create a great-looking website with ease.

The drag-and-drop editor allows you to customize your site without having to write code. With Gator, you can choose from hundreds of templates and customize them with your own images, text, videos, and other content.

Pricing: Is Gator good value for money? 

Gator offers three plans, each of which is tailored to meet the needs of different types of businesses. The Start plan is Gator’s most basic plan, but it still includes some great features such as intelligent site building, free hosting, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, bookings capability, fast websites (CDN), and a free SSL certificate. Additionally, you can access Unsplash’s image library with the Start plan. However, this plan has a limit of only three products that can be sold through your website. This makes it ideal if you are just starting out with online sales or have fewer than three products to offer customers. The monthly cost of the Start plan is $3.84.

The Site plan has all of the same features as the Start plan plus calendar management and a side-by-side view of staff calendars for email notifications. It also allows up to 10 products to be sold through your website. The price for the Site plan is $5.99/mo. This plan may be better suited for businesses that have more than three products and need additional functionality like calendar management or staff calendars for email notifications.

If you need even more features than what is included in the Site plan then consider investing in Gator’s Store plan which includes everything in the Site plan plus unlimited product sales capabilities, priority support, and no transaction fees. This option costs $9.22/mo. The Store plan may be beneficial if your business sells multiple products or services that need to be managed through your website with unlimited product sales capabilities.

HostGator also offer you a 45-day money back guarantee on the hosting fee, should you not be satisfied with their service.

Setup

Signing up for Gator Website Builder is simple and straightforward. The interface is familiar, and generally easy to use. A left-hand sidebar enables managing key areas of your hosting (websites, domains), while the opening screen prompts you to create your website, and once you're up and running, gives you a few very basic stats (unique visitors, total visits, page views, bounce rate.)

Tapping the Create A Site link displays thumbnails of Gator's hundreds of templates. There’s a lot to explore, but you can use keywords to narrow down your search.

Features

The editing interface is familiar and straightforward. A left-hand sidebar enables adding various types of content to the site; a toolbar at the top of the screen has a range of essential functions (page navigation, undo/ redo, desktop or mobile views, Save, Preview and Publish options), and the rest of the screen is reserved for the content of your current page.

Gator's pages are initially built from predefined sections. These start with a header and a footer, but you can add others to display particular content types (text, images, videos, image galleries, schedule, a Features, Contact Us, Join My Mailing List section, and more.)

Each section comes in multiple templates, with their own layout and formatting. Sections like Images & Text, Video & Text and Text & Buttons allow you to include further content. Pick whatever most closely matches your needs, and you can add it to the page in a couple of clicks.

You’ll also find Elements which you can drag onto your pages - to help you further customise these templates, or create sections on your own from scratch. There are a good range of elements in most of the key areas, and include multiple button types, live feeds to Twitter and Instagram, various PayPal buttons (Buy Now, Add To Cart, Donate, and Check Out), and a range of social media features (social links, sharing icons, Like buttons, Follow buttons and more.)

Page layouts are generally very flexible. Existing section elements can be moved or resized, and new elements may be dropped onto the page with pixel-level precision.

Clicking any object within a section - a text block, an image, a menu, social media buttons - displays a floating toolbar above it, with actions you can perform. These start with a decent set of standard options, including the ability to add animations (have an image fly in from the left, for instance), use drop shadows, or have the element move with the page. But there are also a good number of more element-specific tweaks to explore.

Add a video gallery, you can set up the number of items on a space, how they're positioned, the entrance and exit transitions, the transition timings, SEO information, and set up any custom element behaviours (display a pop-up image when an element is clicked, for instance.)

Although all sites are advertised as fully responsive, The Mobile Preview section feels pretty limited, only offering an illustration of what your site would look like on a phone in vertical orientation. You can’t appear to be able to rotate it, or even see what it would look like on a larger tablet.

Smart design keeps Gator easy to use. Key functions are available in a click or two, and most of the complicated stuff is tucked away where it won't baffle newbies. Overall, it's a well-balanced editor which has plenty to offer both first-timers and more demanding users.

Blogging

Adding a blog to your Gator site, and managing it afterwards, is quick and easy.

The process starts by selecting your preferred templates. New blog posts are created using a subset of the standard page editor. There are all the usual text formatting commands, but you don't get access to the main editing widgets, and the Add Element button only allows for the insertion of images, videos, lines, headings and paragraphs. If you want to add a map, or an image gallery, or any of the other components available in the main editor, you're out of luck.

There are plenty of ways to customise how your post looks and behaves on the blog page. You're able to set a title, a cover image, and a summary, as well as assigning tags to help users find related posts, and pin a post to the top of the blog.

There's no option to schedule posts, unfortunately. Blog comments are supported by the Facebook comments system only, which can't be controlled or configured in any way. The blog has one advanced feature in its optional RSS support, but otherwise it's very much about the basics only.

E-commerce

As mentioned above, all of Gator Website Builder plans give you an option to extend your site with a simple web store, but only the high end one offers you all the bells and whistles.

The store supports both physical goods and digital products. You can make the digital download time-limited, or set a maximum number of times a customer can download the same product from a single purchase.

If you need to import a ready-made product catalog, Gator accepts various formats such as Excel, Google Sheets, ecwid, and CSV. If your needs are more modest and you only have a few products to sell, you can input the data manually as well.

There is very little control over how products will be structured and displayed however. Your time will mostly be spent entering product details and configuring key store data (address, preferred currency, and so on.)

Product descriptions are basic, but there is enough power here for many simple sites. You start by entering one or more images, along with some formatted text and a price. There's support for product variants (size, color) and organizing products into categories (shoes, accessories). Setting up and applying discounts should appeal to potential customers, and adding a weight allows the site to automatically calculate shipping rates.

None of this begins to compete in depth and power with specialist e-commerce providers like Shopify, but Gator is undeniably easy to use, and much cheaper. You could manually add three or four products in a few minutes. Shipping and tax calculations (with international support) are built in, PayPal integration enables taking payments right away, and creating a Stripe account gets you card support, too. There’s also an option for Cash on Delivery.

Experienced users won't be impressed, but Gator Website Designer could be a reasonable choice for creating a simple web store.

Final verdict 

Gator Website Builder's smartly-designed editor is a great way to quick create professional and good-looking websites. The integrated blog and web store are relatively basic, though, and are unlikely to satisfy demanding or experienced users, but could well be appealing to beginners.

• We've also featured the best small business website builder

You might also want to check out our other web hosting buying guides:

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Check out the latest Hostgator coupon codes to get discounts this month.

Note: The Gator website builder is now discontinued. Here are some great alternatives we recommend considering:

1. Wix: A great all-in-one website builder - you can read our full Wix review here.
2. Bluehost: A powerful WordPress based website builder - you can read our Bluehost website builder review here.
3. Hostinger: An affordable website builder with advanced AI tools - you can read our full Hostinger website builder review here.

Alternatively, you can check out our full list of the best website builders for more expert insight and advice on finding the best website builder for you.

For a beginner, the thought of building a website can be overwhelming. The technicalities are enough to scare anyone away and instead seek professional help. A web designer can make a huge deal of difference, but will also charge an arm and a leg. Having no knowledge in coding, web design, and other technicalities should not deprive you of the opportunity to have the online presence that you need to start your journey to success.

Thanks to tutorials on YouTube and many other sites, it is now possible for any beginner to build a website from scratch. That means for every new business venture, anyone without the technical knowledge in codes and web design can get the online presence they need to get the business running, and invest in a professional website once they can. 

If you need a website sooner than later, you’ll find the walkthrough below to be more helpful than you think so you can get your professional-looking website running and monetizing in no time. This is a walkthrough of how to create a website using HostGator’s Gator Website Builder, one of the easiest, most promising easy drag-and-drop website builders made with beginners in mind. 

• We've put together a list of the best website builder software around
• These are the best web hosting services for your website
• Also check out our roundup of the best web design software

Who Is HostGator?

HostGator has made a name for itself in the web hosting business by powering over 8 million sites worldwide. They also gave us Gator, HostGator’s own easy to use website builder. 

Gator provides a platform for any beginner to explore and create a website that can start generating income. It features the drag-and-drop editor, tons of templates and a myriad of features that can help you get started and finish your website. One of Gator’s strengths is its social media integration.

Here’s how to build a website using HostGator’s website builder:

1. Go to HostGator's website

Once on the page, hover your mouse over Hosting, and choose Website Builder. 

As soon as you click on Website Builder, you’ll be prompted to the recommended plans- Starter, Premium and eCommerce- along with the pricing and their features. In most cases, the Starter Package will give you all the features of a working website. Or at least what you need at the moment. If you’re wanting to build something big, you might have to reconsider this option. 

The Starter Package includes free hosting, a domain name, the drag and drop builder, customizable templates, website analytics, free SSL certificate and 24/7 support. 

2. Select a package

Depending on your needs, each package will have something to offer to meet them. For beginners, the starter package usually does the trick. If you have a more advanced set of skills in design and knowledge in website building, or are needing eCommerce functionality, you may go with the second and third package options. 

Once you have chosen your package, click on the “Buy now!” button just below the package features. 

3. Choose your domain name

You’re starting to bring your website to life, and the first step is to give it a name. If you’ve decided on the domain name before logging on to the HostGator website, this should only take seconds. If you haven’t the slightest idea yet, there are tons of domain name generators online that can give you tons of ideas and recommended domain names you can choose from. 

The importance of choosing an appropriate domain name can be viewed as similar to choosing an appropriate name for your business. However, not all of the appropriate or desired domain names are always available, so always have backup choices. 

After typing in your chosen domain, click on “Get Domain!”. Doing so will check the entire web if your domain name is available. As soon as you see the congratulatory message, you’re good to go. Otherwise, you can just go ahead and type a different domain name. 

This page will also ask you again which plan you’re going to choose, so if you think the choice you initially made on step 2 didn’t necessarily reflect your website needs, this is your chance to make a final choice. 

4. Create an account

As with any website where you sign up, you will be asked to create a username and set a password for your HostGator account. You’ll also fill out on the same page your payment details. You can pay with a VISA, Mastercard or American Express, or via PayPal. After filling out your billing details, you will see the order summary at the bottom. If you have a discount code, this is also where you can put that in. Once your purchase is confirmed, you will be redirected to the next step.

5. Select your apps

As soon as the purchase goes through, you will be able to add selected apps for additional monthly recurring charges. You may also choose not to add apps in the meantime. 

6. Create your website

This is where the real fun starts. As soon as you make it to this page, you will be shown a wide selection of awesome templates you can choose from. Note that any text, images, videos, etc. you may find on these templates are completely customizable. You can do this as you create your website.

Tip: You can preview the template before actually choosing one

7. Start editing

You’ll find this button on the upper right hand side of your screen. As soon as you click this button, HostGator will give you a quick, 15-second tour. During the tour, you will be shown how to navigate pages, how to add pages, the mobile editor, and how to add different elements and buttons to your site. 

On the left, you’ll find all the options for editing - adding elements (social, images, videos, maps, shapes, PayPal, site navigation, buttons, contact, files, HTML /page embed, etc.), adding a page, managing your pages, customizing these pages, etc. Here, you can also edit the sections of your website, as well as add and remove them. By clicking on these sections, you can make changes to the page. You can edit the text, add images/videos, and so much more.

Adding elements is as easy as dragging the element you want to add from the selection and dropping it where you want it on your site. Deleting something is also as easy as finding that delete button and it’s gone. 

The mobile button on the center top will show you what your site will look like on mobile, making your website mobile-friendly in the process. With billions of mobile phone users across the globe these days, it is imperative for any website to be mobile-friendly and accessible. This will convert well for your site. From here, you can make changes as well, making sure that your website looks just as impressive on mobile as its desktop counterpart. 

Clicking on an image on any page will allow you to edit its style, design, size and position, and even add animations to it. When you click on ‘Change Style’, you’ll see a menu where you can change the background, border, overlay effect, border width, roundness, and opacity. You can also change an image’s size and position, element appearance, etc. Here, you can also upload your own image or use stock images (available for use.) 

With all the options for easy editing and designing, you’re almost guaranteed to not only achieve your desired website design, but also to have fun in the process. You can continue to edit your website as you please - add text, change font style and size, add videos/images, add/delete pages, making sure to create a website that will mirror your brand. 

Tip: Create space on your page before adding more things in. Not doing so will result in overlapping elements, as Gator does not make the existing text/elements automatically adjust whenever you add something in. it is, however, easy to move elements around as you design your site

Once satisfied with your work, you can go ahead and publish your site. It’s as easy as clicking on the Publish button. 

8. You're done

Well done! Now, clicking on the dropdown menu on the top left of your screen will allow you to manage your sites. This is especially helpful if you are wanting to claim the domain name for your site, or change it. HostGator is going to show you a couple of suggestions of domain names you can choose from. Whichever plan you chose will include this domain for free, so you can choose any domain name available. 

Next, you will be prompted to select how long you want your domain subscription to last. The first year is absolutely free, and HostGator will make sure to mention that. Here is also where HostGator mentions that all your plans will automatically renew upon expiration of your free domain. Confirm your purchase and your site will be ready for publishing. 

It is important to note that most, if not all of the template choices you will be given are mobile-friendly. You can choose between an eCommerce site, a blog, a business site, a site for your portfolio or a technology site. HostGator also allows you to constantly view how your site is doing with its analytics, which are easy to understand. You can keep your social media engagement easily with its social media tools, as well as integrate your productivity tools so you can easily monitor your site.

HostGator is behind over 8 million websites across the globe, and with Gator Website Builder, HostGator has made it even easier for entrepreneurs both fresh and seasoned to reach the world with its easy drag-and-drop feature and stunning templates that make website creation a breeze. Pre-built templates basically provide the framework of the website, and it’s only a matter of a few minutes of editing before the website can go live and start monetizing. 

Domain transfer

If you’ve purchased a domain elsewhere and want to move forward with HostGator, transferring it is also fairly easy. It is not, however, recommended, since signing up for any of HostGator’s plans will give you the domain free for a year. In certain situations where it is inevitable, it’s definitely possible to do so, and won’t be as time-consuming as it would seem to be. 

Each template HostGator offers you is professionally-designed and mobile-friendly. Most websites require mobile-friendly sales, and HostGator makes sure this is covered. Editing your mobile site will not in any way affect your site’s desktop version, so you can make your edits anytime. 

Your HostGator website now has its own unique domain name (for free) and unlimited storage and bandwidth. This simply means you won’t have to worry about the size of the elements you’re wanting to add to make your website look even more professional, or about the traffic that you might drive into your website. None of these will slow it down. 

This is exactly why HostGator is perfect for portfolio sites, or heavy-traffic eCommerce sites. Huge galleries of images, videos and whatnot, as well as heavy traffic are things you should be excited and not worried about. 

As with most hosting plans, you will also appreciate HostGator’s 24/7 phone, live chat and email support. When things go wrong inevitably, Gator has got your back to ensure your website is back up and running in no time. 

• We feature the best password managers.

• We've also highlighted the best shared hosting

One of the biggest players in the web hosting industry may be set for a big-name return sooner than expected.

Some more information has come to light regarding Brent Oxley’s next web hosting venture. Oxley made his name as the founder of HostGator, once one of the fastest-growing companies in the US, before selling up in 2012.

For a couple of years now, there have been reports that Oxley is planning to re-enter the web hosting space under his ‘Create.com’ domain. Now it appears that those reports are about to come true after it was confirmed that Oxley had signed a new office lease for the company in Houston, Texas – the same city where HostGator is headquartered.  

• We've put together a list of the best website builder software around
• The best web hosting service available today
• Here are the best free website builders

Not much is known about Oxley’s new hosting venture, which is said to be launching soon, with only a simple landing page associated with the brand currently. However, an interview with Oxley from 2018 suggests that he is keen to take some customers away from his old company.

Back with a vengeance

“A day doesn’t seem to go by without an old customer reaching out to share all the issues they’re having at [HostGator],” Oxley told DomainInvesting.com. “When I was shopping HostGator all interested parties always asked what the secret sauce was and when I told them customer service and uptime they’d hate my answer. The reason is because they all thought they could make millions more by outsourcing to India and that the customers wouldn’t notice. I’ll be coming back with a vengeance and this time I won’t be a sell-out!”

Not too long ago, Oxley listed ‘Create.com’ for sale, but the online businessman is clearly now determined to re-enter the web hosting sphere. He also would have made plenty of money from selling other domains. His collection is reportedly worth more than $25 million and contains a number of one-word domains, including broker.com, drone.com and document.com.

• We've also highlighted the best free web hosting services

Hostgator is one of the best web hosting providers out there and, while the service isn't perfect, this exclusive offer for TechRadar readers makes for an attractive proposition indeed.

For the next 24  hours, you can get a staggering 70% off the average suggested retail price across all shared web hosting packages (Hatchling, Baby and Business) with 12, 24 and 36-month contracts.

With Hostgator plans, you get a free domain name (for the first year), 45-day money back guarantee, all year round technical support and a free SSL certificate. You'll also get unmetered disk space (which doesn’t mean you can use it for cloud storage), unlimited email addresses and cPanel.

• Check out our list of the best dedicated web hosting services around
• Here's our list of the best small business web hosting available
• We've built a list of the best WordPress hosting services on the market

In addition, you get $200 worth of marketing credit to spend on ads to promote your website (should you need to), as well as free website transfer.

The cheapest Baby plan (starting at $2.08 per month) will allow you to install one website with unlimited domains, while the Business plan (starting from $4.48 per month) adds free SEO tools, one free dedicated IP and an upgrade to the more capable Positive SSL.

As always, just bear in mind that all these packages come with WordPress by default and, while they are not as powerful as Virtual Private Servers, they will probably be good enough as a starter option.

Prices are only valid for the first term which, in the case of Hostgator, is up to three years.

• Here's our list of the best shared web hosting services out there

Check out the latest Hostgator coupon codes to get discounts this month.

In a competitive market, web hosting platforms are constantly trying to outshine one another by dropping their prices and offering new features. And our #2 favorite web hosting provider in the world - HostGator - is no exception.

HostGator is currently offering a massive 70% off all of its annual shared hosting packages. So that means you can get your website up and running for as little as just $2.08 per month. Ideal if you're using these peculiar times to get a new small business venture off the ground, or are ready to show the world what you've been doing with your newly found spare time. HostGator will also add free domain registration to sweeten the deal further.

HostGator says that all you have to do is enter the coupon code MAY70 at the checkout when you go to purchase. But actually, it seems that the discount has already been applied when you click through...nice and easy!

Below we explain more on this HostGator sale, so you can see all the features you get for that meagre spend. But you need to be aware that this offer is only available for a limited time - you'll need to hurry and snap up this deal, as it is only valid until this Thursday, May 21.

This web hosting bargain from HostGator:

NOTE: OFFER ENDS ON THURSDAY, MAY 21 AT 11.59PM CT

• Read more: compare it to the rest with our best web hosting guide

Some of the world's most popular web hosting services were affected by serious security flaws that could have put millions of users at risk, reports have claimed.

Findings from a security researcher found that five major hosting providers suffered from shortcomings that could have allowed hackers to steal user information or even hijack accounts.

Sites including Bluehost, DreamHost, Hostgator, OVH and iPage were affected, according to researcher Paulos Yibelo, meaning around seven million accounts could have been hit.

“All five had at least one serious vulnerability allowing a user account hijack,” he told TechCrunch.

Web hosting security

Yibelo carried out a number of attacks on the five sites, finding that even relatively simple assaults were often successful.

This included embedding malicious JavaScript on a Bluehsot page populated by pet pictures that would allow a hacker to inject their own personal information and lock out the original user.

Perhaps most worryingly, he found that iPage did not require an old or current password when resetting the account’s login details, meaning a hacker could gain access with a "one-click" attack by creating a malicious web address which, when clicked, would reset the password to whatever the attacker wanted.

The attacks were particularly effective when combined with a targeted spear-phishing campaign targeting high-profile users, Yibelo added.

A spokesperson for Endurance, the owner of Bluehost, Hostgator and iPage, said the company has “taken steps to address and patch the potential vulnerabilities in question,” but could not confirm if user accounts or data had been compromised. 

DreamHost said it had fixed the bugs within 48 hours, and could not find evidence of user accounts being affected.

“After a thorough review of our system access logs we can confirm that no customer accounts were affected and no customer data was compromised,” DreamHost spokesperson Brett Dunst said. “The exploit would have required a logged-in DreamHost user to click a specially formatted malicious link to alter their own account’s contact information.”

• The best web hosting service for you website in 2019