Best web hosting services for 2023

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Web hosting is an online service that is used to publish websites or web applications on the internet. Your business website needs web hosting in order to exist online. Why? Because it provides storage space and access for websites. 

You’ve landed on this guide, our best web hosting services hub, because you’re presumably about to launch a site and want help choosing a web hosting service that best suits your needs, or, you’ve already got a web hosting provider but you’re searching for a new one.

Not all web hosting providers are equal in regards to the quality of the service, therefore, we test and analyze each product range, compare control panels, explore their tools, build a site or two, try out each customer support option, and run some in-depth uptime and speed tests. The type of web host you choose only matters if you’re after a specific type of hosting. 

That’s why we’ve handpicked the best web hosting for almost every use case. You’ll find quality providers all-round, including the best shared hosting (a way to host your website on a single physical server that also hosts additional sites), the best WordPress hosting (hosting that has been optimized to better meet WordPress' performance and security needs), the best cloud hosting (hosting that makes applications and websites accessible using cloud resources), the best VPS hosting (a virtual platform that stores data), and more. 

The 10 major players on this guide include Hostinger, HostGator, Bluehost, Scala Hosting, to name a few. Each of these hosts have pros and cons but will, overall, get the hosting job done. Below are the best 3 web hosting services in brief

Quick list: top 3 providers in brief

1. Hostinger - Best all round hosting service

1. Hostinger - Best all round hosting service
Hostinger is our number one pick for several reasons. When testing its service compared to others, our site performed the best while being hosted on Hostinger. It has one of the most extensive lists of features that mostly come at no additional cost and it’s one of the cheapest.

Plans: Single (one site) | Premium (100 sites) | Business 100 sites | Cloud startup (300 sites)

Read more below ↴

2. HostGator - Best for beginners using shared hosting

2. HostGator - Best for beginners using shared hosting
HostGator missed first place by a small fraction as its service is extremely easy to use and its shared hosting plans all come with unmetered bandwidth and a free domain. HostGator is fast and has one of the most responsive customer support services on the market.

Plans: Hatchling (single site) | Baby (Up to 5 websites) | eCommerce (unlimited sites)

Read more below ↴

3. Bluehost - Best for WordPress users

3. Bluehost - Best for WordPress users
Bluehost is so accommodating to WordPress sites that it's the obvious choice for anyone in need of WordPress hosting. Bluehost’s custom control panel organizes account and hosting features, and reliably installs WordPress in barely a minute. If you’re a small business site that’s already well-versed in using the WordPress, Bluehost will be a breeze.

Plans: Basic (single site) | Choice plus (up to 3 sites) | eCommerce (up to 3 sites) | Pro (up to 5 sites)

Read more below ↴

The best web hosting services 2023

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

The ten web hosting services we've selected are the best in their respective categories, and while each web hosting provider offer several different types of hosting, we’ve highlighted each one based the specific service it exhales in the most.

The best web hosting services overall

Hostinger has one of the cheapest starting prices of all the mainstream web hosting companies (Image credit: Hostinger)
Feature-packed web hosting for a surprisingly low price

Specifications

Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Unlimited
24/7 customer support: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Terrific value for money
+
High-end features in even the cheapest plans 
+
Free automated WordPress migration
+
Good uptime during testing 
+
Payment accepted via card, Google Pay, PayPal, Alipay and cryptocurrency 

Reasons to avoid

-
No dedicated hosting 
-
No telephone support

With almost 20 years in the business, Lithuanian provider Hostinger has grown into a giant which offers everything from shared hosting, Minecraft hosting and an easy-to-use ecommerce-friendly website builder, to WordPress hosting, powerful VPS products and business-oriented email hosting.

Features

Value for money is a big Hostinger plus. Even the cheapest shared hosting plans come with a free domain, free SSL, email, backups, unlimited bandwidth, malware scanning and more.

Upgrading gets you professional extras such as fast NVMe storage, dedicated IPs, a free CDN, and speed-boosting WordPress object caching, amongst others.

There are surprise bonus features everywhere. Some providers can only host your website in North America, reducing speeds if your target audience is elsewhere. Hostinger has data centers in North America, Europe and Asia, and you can choose the site you need when you sign up.

And once you've got your plan, Hostinger doesn't just make it easy to install WordPress and create your first site: it now even has custom AI tools to generate text content (AI-generated images should arrive soon.)

Our experience

Getting started with Hostinger is easy. There's support for paying by card, PayPal, crypto and others, and the well-designed web dashboard quickly pointed us in the right direction. 

Hostinger doesn't offer the industry-standard cPanel control panel, but its own hPanel (and a simple 1-click installer for WordPress, WooCommerce and other top apps) helps even hosting newbies get their sites up and running.

Our tests found Hostinger offered a capable 99.96% uptime over six months; not perfect, but better than its 99.9% uptime guarantee, and very acceptable for many sites.

There's no phone support, but Hostinger has 24/7 live chat, and its ticket system gave us helpful replies with some of the fastest response times we've seen (under two minutes in some cases.)

What else you need to know

Hostinger doesn't provide high-end dedicated hosting plans, so it's not an ideal candidate for very demanding websites (that's sites with hundreds of thousands of visitors a month.) But overall, we found Hostinger to be a top quality web hosting provider which offers an array of capable features for a very fair price. 

Why it's best

Packed with features, the service is great for most users - so long as you don't run demanding, high-traffic sites. If you're unsure which service to choose, or if you're new to web hosting in general, we'd recommend choosing Hostinger as the best overall service - it's easy to use and understand, and it's also really fairly priced

Read our full Hostinger web hosting review

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Test results
AttributesNotesRating
Value for moneyHostinger has some of the most competitive prices on the market★★★★★
Ease of useFrom signing up to navigating through, Hostinger is straightforward to use★★★★★
FeaturesIt has plenty of features in all departments, from security to technical details and more ★★★★★
Speed testIt's not sot significantly ahead of the competition when it comes to speed but it's pretty fast★★★★☆

The best shared web hosting provider

HostGator Hatchling comes with an industry-leading 45-day warranty (Image credit: HostGator)
Great value hosting for home and business users

Specifications

Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Yes
24/7 customer support: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Stacks of business-friendly extras
+
Top quality cPanel site management, backup and malware-scanning services
+
Helpful live chat support during our test
+
Topped our speed charts

Reasons to avoid

-
A little downtime with our shared hosting site
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VPS and dedicated plans are short on configuration options

HostGator is a hugely popular Texas-based web host that has been helping its customers get online since 2002. The company has a very full range of hosting products (shared, website builder, WordPress, VPS, dedicated, reseller), and there are appealing business-friendly extras everywhere we looked.

Features

HostGator offers a decent feature set on all its products. Even its cheapest Hatchling plan includes unmetered bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, a free domain, free SSL, with a website builder thrown in.

The company piles on the business extras as you upgrade, though, including some we rarely see elsewhere. Even spending just a few dollars more on its Business shared plan adds a professional website migration service, a dedicated IP, a Positive SSL upgrade, SEO Tools, and $500 Google and $100 Microsoft ad credits.

All hosts offer their own add-on services, but can they be trusted with your business-critical site? HostGator gives you easy integration with some of the biggest names around, including CodeGuard for backups, SiteLock Security for malware scanning, and Google WorkSpace for team collaboration.

HostGator even offers various professional services to help improve online results, including web design, PPC and SEO consultations.

Testing

HostGator's web dashboard isn't the best designed we've seen, and we found it spent a little too much time trying to persuade us to buy more products.

Fortunately, the company makes up for all of that with its use of the industry-standard cPanel and its powerful site management tools. We think that's particularly good news for businesses, because there's no custom control panel to learn: if you've any previous web hosting experience, chances are you'll feel at home right away.

HostGator no longer offers an uptime guarantee, which is disappointing: but don't give up on the service because of that. We monitored a test HostGator site for 18 months and found even the cheapest shared account gave us a respectable 99.9% uptime. We expect HostGator's VPS and dedicated plans would be even better.

The real HostGator highlight was its speed, though: benchmarking tool GTmetrix found our test site delivered the fastest load times out of 15 top contenders.

What else you need to know

Although HostGator doesn't have a specialist WooCommerce product, its Website Builder has some powerful ecommerce plans which support unlimited products, selling on Facebook and Instagram, secure payments, advanced shipping and more. If you run into trouble, HostGator's 24/7 phone and live chat support is on hand, and in our experience, the support team resolves most issues within minutes. 

Why it's best

If you're running multiple websites and need them stored on the same web server, we recommend checking out HostGator as it offers a specific shared hosting product. Jump to our web hosting FAQs to find out more about how shared hosting works.

Read our full HostGator review

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Test results
AttributesNotesRating
Value for moneyHostGator is affordable but the add-ons could get pricey if you pick a cheaper plan★★★★☆
Ease of useWe found it easy to get started and navigate through the dashboard★★★★☆
FeaturesHostGator has just about ever feature you'll need from a web host★★★★★
Speed testHostGator performed the best in our speed test compared to the other hosts ★★★★★

The best cloud web hosting

ScalaHosting logo on grey background

ScalaHosting  (Image credit: ScalaHosting)
Shared hosting, ultra-configurable VPS, and that's just the start

Specifications

Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Yes
24/7 customer support: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Low cost and full featured shared hosting
+
Professional and hugely configurable VPS plans
+
Helpful ticket and live chat support
+
Generous money-back guarantee

Reasons to avoid

-
No phone support
-
No cheap starter VPS plans

ScalaHosting is an experienced Dallas-based provider with 15 years experience in the web hosting business.

The company has plenty of budget hosting plans for simple sites and projects, but it's made our list for its strong VPS range, which is still very affordable but has the power to handle very demanding business and other websites.

Features

ScalaHosting has eye-catching features right across its range. Signing up for shared hosting gets you unlimited emails and daily offsite backups, often premium extras elsewhere. Even the cheapest plan uses fast NVMe storage, while many competitors only use slower standard SSD.

The VPS range stands out for its extreme configurability. Other hosts might force you to choose from 3 or 4 basic products, but ScalaHosting allows you to build your own plan, using anything from 2 to 24 cores, 4 to 64GB RAM, and 50 to 2000GB storage (vastly more powerful than we've seen elsewhere.)

Then there are the free site migrations. Some providers promise this, then give you a plugin to do it yourself; ScalaHosting carefully migrates all your sites for you, and will even migrate them elsewhere if you're not happy and cancel your account.

Once you're up and running, your site benefits from free SSL, speed-boosting CDN integration, real-time malware protection, and experts can choose their preferred web server (Apache, Apache with NGINX, OpenLiteSpeed and more.)

Testing

ScalaHosting allows customers to manage their web space via its own custom control panel, SPanel. We usually prefer the industry-standard cPanel, but SPanel is a powerful, easy-to-use alternative, and a great web home for newbies and experts alike.

We tested ScalaHosting performance by using top benchmarking tool GTmetrix to measure download speeds. The results were fractionally below average, but far ahead of the budget competition, and well within reach of big names such as GoDaddy,

We went on to monitor our test site availability for a year, and ScalaHosting scored a very reasonable 99.94% (and that's with the cheapest shared plan: VPS hosting should be even better.)

What else you need to know

Sign up with ScalaHosting and (with most products) you're protected by its generous Anytime Money-Back Guarantee. Not only does this give you 100% of your money back if you cancel within 30 days, but you can also get prorated refunds after that (pay for a year, you can cancel after 6 months and still be refunded for the 50% you haven't used).

Why it's best

Cloud hosting is a service where a website or application is hosted on a network of interconnected servers, rather than a single physical server. We've looked in depth at this in our guide What is cloud hosting and how do you use it? As resources are allocated to a virtual server, you only pay for what you need as you need them. if you're looking for a cloud hosting service that scales with your business, ScalaHosting should be on your list.

Read our full Scala Hosting review

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Test results
AttributesNotesRating
Value for moneyIt's affordable and has full featured shared hosting plans★★★★☆
Ease of useIts dashboard is intuitive and the signing up process is straightforward★★★★☆
FeaturesYou'll find features that cover all aspects of what you need to run a functioning site★★★★★
Speed testScala Hosting wasn't the fastest but our site performed well enough★★★☆☆

The best reseller web hosting

InMotion shared business hosting impressed our reviewer when tested (Image credit: InMotion Hosting)
A professional hosting service for resellers

Specifications

Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Yes
24/7 customer support: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Wide range of products 
+
Value reseller accounts with 25+ cPanel licenses, dedicated IPs, NVMe storage
+
Up to 90-day money-back period 
+
24x7-US-based support via phone, live chat, ticket, community forum 

Reasons to avoid

-
No Windows hosting 
-
Most shared plans don't have a monthly billing option 
-
US-only data centers

InMotion Hosting is an experienced web host with an impressive array of plans for every type of user.

This starts with consumer and small business-friendly shared, website builder and WordPress hosting products. High-end users could try its configurable VPS plans and powerful dedicated servers, or the enterprise-level hosted private cloud solutions. And InMotion Hosting can help you become your own web host with its high value reseller accounts.

Features

InMotion Hosting offers a strong set of features across all its plans. Even its cheapest shared hosting products include free SSL, two websites 10 email addresses, for instance, and the company can migrate your site from a current host for free (no need to do it yourself with a plugin, InMotion Hosting handles it for you.)

Great hosting reseller accounts must include plenty of features and resources, to attract customers and make sure they all get a powerful product. And InMotion Hosting scores heavily here, with standout extras everywhere you go.

You get at least 25 cPanel licenses, for instance (supporting up to 25 customers.) There's high-speed NVMe storage, a feature you won't see even with some premium web hosts, unlimited bandwidth with the higher accounts, and 1-5 dedicated IPs (perfect for selling at a premium.)

The excellent cPanel and 1-click installer Softaculous makes it easy for your clients to manage their web space, but if they do need help, InMotion Hosting offers 24/7 live chat support. Meanwhile, once you've set up the industry-standard WHMCS, it manages all the accounts and billing for you.

Testing

Signing up for our test InMotion Hosting account took seconds, and installing a sample WordPress site was almost as straightforward: a good start.

Uptime.com reported a perfect 100% uptime for our site during the review, and when we used GTmetrix to stress-test our server, it consistently managed faster-than-average load times (and twice as fast as some of the budget competition.)

24/7 support is available via live chat, ticket and phone. Ticket responses can take a few hours, but opting for live chat got us near-instant and very helpful replies.

What else you need to know

While most hosts offer only a 30-day money-back guarantee, InMotion Hosting gives you an amazing 90 days for most plans (including reseller): a very major plus. 

Why it's best

For companies like web design and marketing agencies, and even freelancers, the ability to sell domains and plans to clients is a must - and in our experience, the reselling packages are where InMotion Hosting really excels. 

Read our full InMotion Hosting review

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Test results
AttributesNotesRating
Value for moneyMost of InMotion Hosting's plans are good value for money★★★☆☆
Ease of useIt was easy to use but the layout of the dashboard could be more simplistic★★★★☆
FeaturesLots of important and vital features including in each plan★★★★★
Speed testInMotion Hosting was the fourth fastest in our recent speed tests★★★★☆

The best web hosting for WordPress

Bluehost logo on blue background with spotlight effect

Bluehost has been recognized as a quality web host by WordPress.org, the organization that oversees the development of the world's most popular CMS (Image credit: Bluehost)
An ecommerce essential geared towards WordPress

Specifications

Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Yes
24/7customer support: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Premium ecommerce features
+
Intuitive web dashboard 
+
Expert live chat and phone support 
+
Low prices in year one 

Reasons to avoid

-
No monthly billing (minimum one-year plans) 
-
VPS and Dedicated plan lack customization

Bluehost is one of the world's largest web hosting providers, and has almost two decades of experience in helping users build a quality home on the web. 

The company has a strong core set of hosting plans (shared, VPS, WordPress, dedicated) for all budgets, but its WooCommerce range is a particular highlight for anyone looking to build a great web store.

Features

New to ecommerce? Bluehost's WooCommerce plans include a wizard to guide you through the store creation process. You can begin adding products immediately, physical or digital, and there are no limits on the number of products you can sell.

Premium WooCommerce plugins equip your store with high-end features such as gift cards, wishlists, smart promo tools (buy one, get one free; frequently bought together), there's even a full bookings system (rentals, courses, Airbnb stays, whatever you need.)

Bluehost hasn't forgotten the hosting basics, either, and every plan includes free SSL, daily backups and automated WordPress updates,

Although we've focused on ecommerce, there's a lot to like right across the Bluehost range. The shared plans have a free CDN, malware scanning and custom WordPress themes; the VPS and dedicated plans include a cPanel license for extra ease of use, and professional email plans have up to an 80GB inbox to cope with the busiest of business lives.

Testing

Bluehost scored well for ease of use. WordPress came pre-installed with our shared hosting plan, the dashboard had useful shortcuts to common tasks, and we easily found our way around.

After creating a test WordPress website, we monitored its availability for a year. Uptime was very acceptable at 99.95%, and that was only Bluehost's cheapest shared account: we'd expect even better with the higher plans.

Speed was outstanding, with Bluehost ranking a close second to HostGator out of 15 contenders. 

Bluehost doesn't have ticket support, maybe a concern if you've complex issues which can't be fixed in one session. The live chat agents are knowledgeable and helpful, though, and Bluehost's phone support delivered some of the most expert troubleshooting assistance we've seen.

What else you need to know

Bluehost plans aren't always as configurable as we'd like. There's no choice of data center, for instance, and the VPS and dedicated plans are relatively basic.

We've found the service can be more expensive than average, too, once the introductory deals expire. Check the renewal prices before you sign up, just to avoid any surprises later. 

Why it's best

There's plenty of advanced tools like here - but that doesn't mean it's not great for the basics, too. Given the uptimes with our WordPress test site and the firm's automated WordPress updates, Bluehost is a top pick if that's where you maintain your website. 

Read our full Bluehost review

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Test results
AttributesNotesRating
Value for moneyBluehost is affordable enough and has enough features to justify the price★★★★☆
Ease of useIts dashboard is intuitive and the signing up process is straightforward★★★★☆
FeaturesBluehost has it all which is testament to its reputation★★★★★
Speed testBluehost performed really well in our speed and uptime tests★★★★☆

The best unlimited web hosting

Namecheap has expanded its offerings beyond web hosting to include a VPN (Image credit: Namecheap)
Cheap web hosting packages that are value for money

Specifications

Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Yes
24/7 customer support: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Temptingly low prices
+
Every hosting product you need in one place (maybe) 
+
Free domains include domain privacy in year one 
+
Valuable bonus features with even the cheapest plans 

Reasons to avoid

-
No phone support 
-
No Windows hosting
-
SSL only free in year one with shared hosting plans

Namecheap began life more than 20 years ago as a domain registrar, but over the years it's expanded to offer a vast range of hosting, business and other services. If you like the convenience of getting all the web-related products you need from a single provider, then Namecheap could be your perfect partner.

Features

Namecheap offers a full range of hosting plans, from budget shared products and a website builder, to managed WordPress, VPS and dedicated hosting for demanding sites, even reseller products if you'd like to set up as a hosting provider.

Prices are temptingly low, and the specs are impressive. All shared plans get a free domain (with domain privacy), at least 3 websites and 30 email accounts, and 1-click WordPress installs and more. But beware: SSL is free only in year one for shared hosting plans.

Namecheap is a capable domain registrar, with wider domain support and way more tools and extras than you'll see with other hosts.

Looking a more trusted SSL certificate? Namecheap sells everything you need (and for some of the lowest prices around.)

That's just the start. You can also sign up for business email hosting; speed up your site with premium DNS or Namecheap's own CDN; there are image creation tools, marketing services, Namecheap even has a VPN (no, really.)

Testing

Namecheap's account control panel confused us at first, with lists, sidebars, menus and icons everywhere we looked. But once we'd spent a few moments exploring and mastering the basics, the dashboard worked very well, giving us quick and easy access to all the most important site management areas.

Although Namecheap deserves credit for its wide range of hosting products, the high-end plans in particular don't give you the choice of the top competition. There are only three VPS plans, for instance, and no Windows hosting.

Our tests found Namecheap achieved 100% uptime over the period: great news. Speeds weren't quite as impressive, with our site (on a shared hosting plan) managing slightly below average load times. They were still very acceptable for a budget host, though, and overall Namecheap offers good value for what you get.

What else you need to know

There's no phone support, but we had helpful and reasonably quick responses via both live chat and ticket, and there's a huge web knowledgebase if you're happy to search for solutions yourself.

Why it's best

There are big differences between unlimited vs metered vs unmetered bandwidth hosting. If you're tired of strict storage limits on hosting accounts, good news: Namecheap has unmetered storage (no fixed limits) on some plans. While plenty of other web hosting services offer unlimited bandwidths, we found Namecheap's prices to be fair value for money considering what's on offer.

Read the full Namecheap review