There are some really great and cheap web hosting deals available all year round, which is the best way to start your website building journey. Why? Because you are getting all the great qualities the web host has to offer at a discounted rate. While it’s true that some of the best web hosting companies are more expensive than others, many offer plans that cost as little as $2 per month and that doesn't compromise on quality either.
The best cheap web hosting providers offer domain names, email addresses, website builder services, loads of website templates, ample storage and bandwidth, impressive performance, free SSL certificates, 24/7 support and lots more features in a single package. In the process of finding the best cheap web hosting deals, we test each budget-friendly web host by signing up to the provider and using a test website to use all the features from each service. We are then able to compare which web host has the best deals based on what is on offer and how inexpensive it is. We found that it's not always the case that the bigger the price drop, the better the deal, therefore we check out how valuable each promotion is and how much you will save as a result.
If you’re looking for an affordable web hosting plan but don’t know which one to choose, you don’t need to worry as we’ve tested and ranked the most popular providers out there. Read on to find out the best cheap web hosting services currently available. We also have a list of the best cheap website builder deals on the market.
2023's best cheap web hosting service deals
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Our picks of 2023's best cheap web hosting services:
Hostinger has partnered with TechRadar Pro to offer a full refund (by way of an Amazon voucher) on its single shared hosting package.
As far as cheap web hosting goes, it doesn't get much cheaper than this. To be eligible, all you need to do is pay for your hosting, send us the email you used to buy the hosting package and the invoice number and we will send you an Amazon voucher to cover your cost in USD or GBP only (worth £41.88/$41.88). Other terms and conditions apply.
Hostinger is one of the biggest brands when it comes to web hosting with millions of websites hosted on its server. The hosting service is extremely affordable and good value for your money. Our latest exclusive offer represents a huge jump compared to what you usually get in the world of free web hosting providers.
With this offer, you get 30 GB of fast SSD storage with 100 GB monthly bandwidth, robust DNS management, Cloudflare protected nameservers plus full support (24x7x365) and uptime guarantee (99.9%), unheard of at this price point.
It also offers LiteSpeed accelerated WordPress hosting service complete with beginner-friendly features like auto-updates, site-building wizards and a database of ready-to-use tutorials.
For TechRadar readers only, Hostinger's Cloud Lite Hosting plan is $1.79 per month for the first three months and its Premium Shared Hosting plan is just $1.79 per month for the first 12 months.
Popular web host company Bluehost offers WordPress hosting for as cheap as $2.75 per month for 36 months. It also offers basic shared hosting from $2.75 monthly for the same period of time.
For the money you pay for Bluehost’s WordPress hosting, you get one website, 50 GB SSD storage and custom themes.
Not just a web hosting provider, Bluehost now also offers its very own website building service for a mere $2.75 (£1.98) per month (on a three-year contract).
Compared to its competitors, Bluehost’s cheapest managed WordPress hosting plan offers one WordPress website, 20 GB web storage, free SSL, all across 200+ global Edge servers for $9.96 per month for 36 months.
Investing your money into a Bluehost web hosting plan enables you to get an automated setup service for WordPress, not to mention other apps via a Mojo Marketplace-powered system. There’s also a cPanel-based area to allow expert users to tweak things. We did find in our tests, however, that Bluehost were not the fastest at responding to our queries via live chat and email.
Given that its prices begin at $3.99 per month, SiteGround may seem costly compared to other cheap web hosting services. But it actually offers plenty of value, given what you're getting, and SiteGround has plans for everyone.
The $3.99 StartUp plan includes a website, 10GB of web space, 10,000 monthly visits, unmetered traffic, free SSL, daily backup, a free content delivery network service from Cloudflare, free email, managed WordPress, unlimited databases and more. Although SiteGround's StartUp plan is not the cheapest on the list, we believe it's reasonably priced, especially based on all the features and addons it includes.
Should you need more space, visits and other advanced features, you can opt for the $6.69 GrowBig or $10.69 GoGeek plans. However, unless you’re running a large business, the StartUp plan will be fine for most people.
When creating your website, you can use either Weebly or WordPress. Both of these are free across all plans. And if you’re looking to develop an online store, there’s access to Magento, WooCommerce, OpenCart and Prestashop. SiteGround also enables users to install popular content management systems like Joomla and Drupal quickly.
If there’s ever an instance where you need help with something, you have plenty of support from SiteGround. Its support team is available 24/7 and should be able to help with a range of issues.
With plans starting at $2.49 per month, InMotion Hosting is one of the cheapest hosting services on the market and offers a variety of nifty features to help you set up an amazing website.
That dirt-cheap price provides you with the ability to create one website, plus 10GB of SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, a free email address, free SSL, a free website builder, a security suite and marketing tools.
When we reviewed InMotion Hosting, we were impressed with how great its account management console looks and how quick it is to create a website using this service. In fact, you can automatically install WordPress, Drupal, PrestaShop, Magento and lots of other website building services.
Another area that InMotion Hosting takes very seriously is customer support. It allows users to contact its customer service team 24/7, 365 days of the year, through live chat, email and phone. What’s more, the company offers plenty of online tutorials and advice in its community forum.
In terms of downsides, we felt that InMotion wasn’t the best in our shared hosting performance tests, but this is still a well-supported, feature-packed, great value web hosting service that’s well worth your attention.
As you can doubtless guess from the name, Namecheap is another affordable web hosting service. You can get a .com domain for just $8.88, while year-long shared hosting plans start at a thrifty price of $1.44 per month. There are also Namecheap promo codes you can use to save further.
If you were to sign up for the cheapest shared hosting plan, you’d be getting 20GB of storage, 30 email accounts, unmetered bandwidth, the ability to host three websites, a free website builder, 24/7 support and many more impressive features.
However, there are lots of other plans that suit a variety of different needs. For example, if you specifically want to create a WordPress site, there’s a dedicated plan that will allow you to create and manage one of these sites from an easy-to-use dashboard.
What we also really like about Namecheap is that it’s easy and fast to get set up after you’ve purchased a plan. There are lots of handy how-to guides for getting started, and the control panel is pretty easy to use.
In our review of Namecheap, we did question the lack of more advanced features and bonuses. But overall, Namecheap is an affordable and easy-to-use web hosting service that will suit lots of different people.
If you’ve never signed up for a web hosting package before and don’t want to break the bank, iPage is a great option. It aims to provide “everything you need to get online at an unbeatable value.”
You can get a subscription for just $1.99 per month, which provides unlimited websites, unlimited storage, free SSL, a free domain for one year, an email address, access to an easy-to-use website builder and 24/7 support. We found that not all iPage plans give monthly billing options, and committing to yearly plans may not be the most budget-friendly choice.
One of the best things about iPage is that it offers many different ways to design and build a website. Using iPage’s built-in website building functionality, you’ll be able to develop a mobile-friendly site easily. But you can also create a WordPress-based website with a single click. There’s access to other popular content management systems and hundreds of website templates, too.
For online sellers, iPage offers a free online store, a one-click installer, PayPal integration, email marketing integration, shopping carts and more. Other features include website traffic reporting, 24/7 network monitoring, high-performance servers, an enhanced security suite and a comprehensive control panel. If it turns out that this isn’t the right service for you, there’s a 30-day refund period, too.
Hostwinds proves that you can still get a high-performance web hosting service at an affordable price point. Its cheapest shared hosting plan costs $6.74 per month, providing unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space and one domain.
All subscriptions come with solid-state drives, instant setup, free website transfers, access to an easy-to-use control panel, unlimited subdomains, unlimited email accounts, unlimited databases, a free dedicated IP, free SSL and Weebly site builder.
If you want to create more than one website, there are two other shared hosting plans available. The Advanced plan offers four domains, while the Ultimate option has unlimited domains. Impressively, both are decently priced: $8.24 per month and $9.74 per month respectively.
When you create and publish a website via Hostwinds, you can expect great performance. In fact, the company promises to “guarantee 99.9999% uptime so your site will always be ready to greet your visitors”. If you experience an issue, you can speak to the Hostwinds support team via live chat, email, phone and online forums.
Along with shared hosting plans, Hostwinds also offers cloud hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated hosting. So whatever you’re looking for (minus WordPress hosting), you should find a product that suits your needs.
Charging $5 per month for its cheapest plan, InterServer isn’t nearly as cost-effective as most of the other providers mentioned in this list. But you’re still getting a good helping of features for this price point.
With InterServer’s standard web hosting plan, you get unlimited SSD storage, unlimited email accounts, over 450 cloud applications, global content caching, free website migration, free SSL, a simple control panel, a website builder, InterShield protection and many more features.
We were really impressed with the large amount of cloud apps provided by InterServer. They include WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Prestashop, Magento, Mambo and lots more. With these apps, you’re able to create a website in one click.
Another plus point with InterServer is that it offers different tools to ensure your website is always secure. Its free security solution, InterShield Security, consists of a cyber-attack blocker, an automatic virus scanner, a machine learning-based firewall and a malware database.
It’s also worth mentioning that InterServer offers a price-lock guarantee, which means that you’ll continue to pay the same price that you signed up with. So if you were to go for the $5 per month plan, you don’t need to worry about this amount ever increasing. So long-term, this could work out a much cheaper option than at first glance...
Fasthosts is an excellent option if you’re looking for a reputable web hosting provider that offers affordable prices. Having launched in 1999, the company has built up an impressive reputation, particularly over the past few years.
The UK-based outfit has four web hosting plans on offer. Ignite is the cheapest of the plans, costing £1 ($1.40) per month. For this price, you’re provided with one website, unlimited bandwidth, 10GB of SSD storage, two 1GB databases, a single 2GB mailbox, a few basic SEO tools, a year-long free domain, 24/7 support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Do note that Fasthosts' Ignite plan doesn't come with a free SSL certificate, which will incur an extra cost for you to outsource.
But if you’re happy to spend a bit more money, you can get more features with the other three plans. The "recommended" plan, called Momentum, costs £5 ($6.52) per month and gives you three websites, 20GB of SSD storage, 20 x 1GB databases, 100 x 2GB mailboxes, and all the features you get with the basic plan.
Meanwhile, the Ultimate plan offers unlimited websites, 120GB SSD storage, 120 x 1GB databases and 1090 x 2GB mailboxes for £10 ($13.25) per month. So it’s fair to say there’s a plan for everyone.
Whichever plan you choose, you’ll still receive standard features like SSH, raw log files, an online file manager, unlimited subdomains, custom error images, unlimited email forwarders, unlimited FTP accounts, a one-click app installer and more.
Just like Fasthosts, DreamHost is another provider that has been around for a long time. It’s not only a highly trusted and respected web hosting company, but it’s super-cheap and offers web hosting plans for pretty much everyone.
DreamHost’s cheapest shared web hosting plan starts at a bargain price of $2.59 per month. It offers one website, a free web domain, unlimited traffic, SSD storage, a free SSL certificate and a WordPress installer, a WordPress website builder and free WordPress migrations. Unfortunately, if you want a custom email address, you'll need to pay an additional fee to add this to the Starter Plan.
But should you want to create more than one website and have access to unlimited email addresses, you can always choose the Shared Unlimited Plan. This plan starts at $3.95 per month, which is pretty reasonable.
Either way, DreamHost provides all its shared hosting customers with unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage, an easy-to-use control panel, a one-click website installer, free privacy protection, free SSL security, automated backups and more.
DreamHost also prides itself on providing excellent customer support. You’ll find a comprehensive knowledgebase full of helpful guides and FAQs, along with 24/7 live chat and customer support email.
Given that there are more than 455 million WordPress websites on the internet, you may be thinking of creating one of your own. If that’s the case, you’ll definitely want to sign up for a WordPress-savvy web hosting service like WP Engine.
With its cheapest monthly plan starting at $22.5 per month, WP Engine cannot nearly compete with some of the budget-friendly providers on this list. Not purely on price, anyway, but if you want a high-quality, WordPress-focused product, you get plenty of value for your money here in relative terms. That includes 10GB of storage, 50GB of bandwidth and one website (with up to 25,000 views per month). Exclusive to TechRadar readers, you'll get 25% off all shared hosting plans with the discount code techradar25 once you reach the checkout section of your purchase.
If you want more than one website, higher storage and better performance, there are other plans available. However, every plan comes with over 35 StudioPress themes, transferable websites, an SSH gateway, automated SSL certificate, 24/7 live chat and lots more.
When it came to us creating our own WordPress site, WP Engine offers lots of how-to guides and recommendations so that we never got stuck in the process. And it further provides 24/7 support right around the year.
WP-Engine is certainly a trustworthy service, with customers including Dropbox, Network Rail, Cancer Research UK, Ryanair and The Telegraph. But this is definitely a service targeted at business and technical-minded users, which means some people might find it a little confusing. For individual users, there are definitely easier and cheaper web hosting providers out there.
Best cheap web hosting service FAQs
How we test the best cheap web hosting
In the same way we test web hosting providers, cheap but top quality solutions also need a test website for us to use it. Our experts sign up and test the range of products each host has on offer and compare its affordability.
Introductory discounts also make a difference. Having a hosting plan quadruple in price at renewal time is an issue you might want to think about if you're looking for a long-term relationship with a host.
We are also constantly monitoring new web hosting deals and working behind the scenes to get exclusive promo codes from quality web hosting providers for TechRadar readers.
Our list includes hosting that's extremely affordable and others that are a little more pricey, however, this is because we believe that the quality of the web host should not be compromised.
How to choose the best cheap web hosting service for you
From our experience, we believe these are the five key things to consider when selecting yours:
1. You almost always get what you paid for. If your website is primarily a hobby on the side then this shouldn't matter as much. However, as an essential business tool, it's often a false economy to go for the cheapest hosting deal (or a free one) on offer but that doesn't mean that all cheap deals are bad.
2. Beware of pricing tricks. The overwhelming majority of web hosting vendors offer low prices at the beginning of their contracts, but jack up the pricing after the introductory period ends, which can be 24, 36 or even 60 months after signing up. Always look for the total cost of ownership. As for the above, it doesn't mean that paying five years in advance is a bad thing.
3. Just how trustworthy is the hosting provider? Just about anyone can pretend to be a real web host and just be reselling someone else’s products. So, look to see how long they’ve been around, if they have a contact address, who owns them, are they making realistic promises on the website and so on. Google is your friend here.
4. Know your limits. How comfortable are you with creating your own website? Do you need external help to understand the numerous ramifications (including legal and commercial ones) that publishing one entails?
5. Consider web builders. You don't need web hosting to get online, and site builders offer an interesting and compelling alternative. However, you can't migrate your content easily if you want to leave because of their proprietary nature.
Cheap web hosting: What is it actually?
So, let’s start by explaining what web hosting means. It’s essentially when a company provides access to servers that host all the files that form the foundations of your website.
Not every business has the money or real-estate space to operate its own web servers, but web hosting companies present a more sustainable and affordable way to create and maintain a website.
Different types of web hosting companies exist. While some target larger enterprises with dedicated and virtual private server hosting, many others offer shared hosting plans that work out cheaper. By opting for a shared hosting plan, your website will be stored on a server used by lots of other people.
Typically, a “cheap web host” refers to shared hosting plans as these are more affordable than other types of hosting. In fact, you can buy a shared hosting plan for less than $2 per month.
The vast majority of cheap web hosting services offer a choice of monthly and yearly plans, so you shouldn't struggle to find a plan that suits your needs.
What makes a good cheap web host?
Now that you have a better understanding of web hosting and what defines a cheap web host, you might be curious about what you’ll actually get from a more affordable web hosting plan.
Most cheap web hosting plans come with a free website, a domain name, unlimited bandwidth, subdomains, email accounts, plenty of storage, a website builder, one-click CMS installers, databases, SSL, backups, 24/7 support and lots of other extras.
What you’ll tend to find is that while cheap hosting plans offer loads of different features, there will be caps on things like storage, the number of websites you can create, and email addresses.
Usually, cheap web hosts are aimed at individuals and small businesses because these limits probably won’t matter. Meanwhile, large enterprises may find these restrictions constraining. For example, they’ll probably need more email addresses and storage.
As well as offering plenty of features, most cheap web hosts also provide plenty of affordable subscriptions. You should be able to sign up for a monthly or yearly plan. Typically, annual plans work out cheaper when compared to monthly plans, but you’ll need to commit for longer or pay an upfront fee. Either way, one of the best cheap web hosting services will offer great value.
Free vs cheap web hosting
If you’ve done a bit of research into web hosting, you may have noticed that you can create a website without paying any money at all.
Many free web hosting services are available on the market, but they do have a range of downsides. For starters, they don’t offer the same amount of features you get with a cheap web hosting service. You’ll have to deal with things like limited storage and bandwidth.
What's more, the URL of your website will most likely contain the name of the free hosting provider, and its branding might appear on your website. Many of these services also run adverts, lack proper security and don't have great customer service.
If you haven't created a website before and want to give it a go before you take out a premium plan, there’s nothing wrong with choosing a free service. But we wouldn’t recommend that you stick with free web hosting in the long-term.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Should you want to create a professional-looking website, you’ll want to steer clear of free web hosting. By choosing a cheap web hosting plan, you can create a great website that won’t cost an arm and a leg.
What is the cheapest way to host a website?
The most obvious way to save money when creating a website is by choosing one of the best cheap web hosting services. As mentioned, you can get web hosting for as little as $2 per month nowadays, and obviously there are plenty of options you can see on this page.
But there are several things to bear in mind to save even more money. Firstly, you’ll want to choose a shared web hosting plan. These are often cheaper than other types of plans because you’re sharing a server with other people. Meanwhile, if you want a dedicated server, you’ll need to pay more money. But shared hosting will be sufficient for individuals and small businesses.
Another way you can save money is by signing up for an annual plan. Usually, when you divide a yearly plan by 12 months, it’ll work out cheaper than a monthly subscription. That said, you’ll need to commit for longer (or pay an upfront fee) and have less flexibility when compared to monthly plans. But you’ll still be saving more money in the long-term.
Of course, you could always sign up for a free provider. However, as we said before, there are a lot of downsides to these plans.
Lastly, top quality web hosts almost always slash its prices during Cyber week, therefore, keeping your eyes peeled for the best Black Friday web hosting deals around that time will definitely save you some money.
What makes web hosting expensive?
While lots of web hosting services offer great value for money, there are many ways they can become expensive.
Typically, if you want a dedicated server, you'll need to pay more money. Shared hosting is cheaper because you’ll share a server with other people, and therefore it’s more economical (although performance levels won't be as good as a dedicated option; you are sharing resources, of course).
Web hosting plans can quickly get expensive when you start increasing your storage and adding more features to your subscription. Most people will find basic shared hosting plans sufficient, and choosing one of these is how you’ll get the most value for money.
Many providers offer several shared hosting plans, so if you think the basic plan doesn’t have enough features, you can always upgrade to one of the other shared hosting subscriptions. Of course, you will be spending more money as a result.
More of the best cheap web hosting deals
Terms and conditions for hosting free web hosting offer
1. Purchase the single shared hosting package ($3.49/£3.49 per month for 12 months) from Hostinger and apply to receive a free Amazon voucher worth £41.88/$41.88. You may purchase a longer subscription but you will receive the same Amazon voucher value as stated above. You MUST use this affiliated link and remain a subscriber for 60 days before you apply for the free Amazon voucher.
2. Submit the proof of purchase to TechRadar by emailing desire.athow@futurenet.com. Your proof of purchase will include the invoice or order number and the email address that you used to purchase the package. We will verify your purchase with Hostinger. We reserve the right to withhold the voucher if we are unable to verify your purchase. Our decision is final as to whether or not your purchase is eligible.
3. Please note that it may take up to 15 working days for your purchase to be verified and the voucher to be issued. For eligible purchases, the voucher will be an e-voucher sent to the email address you provided us with your submission.
4. The voucher will be issued either in US dollars or Pound Sterling depending on your location. Your voucher can only be redeemed at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. It is non transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or other consideration. Your details will only be used to verify the validity of your purchase and not for any other purpose.
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