In this comprehensive guide, we take a close look at the best cheap web hosting companies available today.
(Image credit: Bluehost)
The search for the best cheap web hosting might not be the most exciting you've ever done, but it will be worth it. Finding the right hosting service is crucial if you want to share your work online. Photographers, artists and other creatives across the world use websites for portfolios, ecommerce, and more to showcase and sell their creations; finding the right host makes it that much easier to create a high-quality, attractive site.
Although there are plenty of options when it comes to the best web hosting services, it can be quite hard to find the right one for you. As well as budget, you need to consider a wide range of factors, including things like image/video hosting capabilities, ease of use, and any specialist features you might need.
To help you do this, we’ve put together a shortlist of the best cheap web hosting providers. We’ve looked at a range of factors, including price, value for your money, compatibility with WordPress and other popular content management systems (CMS), main features and more. Read on for our list in full, or see today's best deal on web hosting below.
Hostinger – the best overall cheap web hosting
Hostinger's cloud hosting is brilliant value for money. Plus it keeps your website safe, via data centres spread around the globe. Prices for this cheap shared hosting start from just $0.99 per month.
A2 Hosting – Fast hosting with impressive performance Need a large amount of storage? A2 hosting could be the best option for you, with the cheapest startup plan offering 100 GB of storage and unmetered bandwidth. Starts at $2.99 per month.
Bluehost – up to 65 per cent off
Bluehost is the best web hosting service for those who are just starting out. It has up to 65 per cent off its shared hosting plans for up to the first 36 months, taking the initial price as low as $2.75 / £1.99 / €2.32 per month.
The best cheap web hosting in 2021
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Hostinger regularly features on lists of the best cheap web hosting providers. And for good reason. Its prices are great, its shared hosting plans are backed by a suite of great features, and it’s known for its impressive security and great customer service.
Prices for this cheap shared hosting start from just $0.99 per month (renewing at $2.99 per month) for a Single Shared Hosting plan. You will have to pay for 48 months upfront to access these prices, but we can confidently say that no other provider offers better value for money when it comes to reliable, beginner-friendly web hosting.
With a Single Shared Hosting subscription, you will be sharing a server with a number of other clients, which can occasionally cause small performance issues. This plan enables you to create one website with one email account and support for approximately 10,000 monthly visits, but you will be limited to 10 GB of storage, which could be a concern if you want to upload large media files.
More resources can be accessed by upgrading to Premium Shared Hosting ($2.59 per month, renews at $4.99 per month) or Business Shared Hosting ($3.99 per month, renews at $8.99 per month) plan. These include 20 GB and 100 GB of storage respectively, and both come with unlimited bandwidth and support for up to 100 website connections.
It’s also worth noting that Hostinger is known for its excellent customer service. Although phone support is notably absent, the company’s live chat agents are friendly and knowledgeable. And its security is up there with the best we’ve seen, especially when it comes to cheap shared hosting.
Overall, we’d highly recommend considering Hostinger if you’re looking for a budget hosting provider that you can rely on. That is, as long as you don’t need too much storage. For more info, see our Hostinger review.
(Image credit: A2 Hosting)
02. A2 Hosting
Great for fast hosting with impressive performance
Specifications
Cheapest plan: $2.99 per month
Storage: 100 GB
Bandwidth: Unmetered
Free domain: No
Free SSL: Yes
Reasons to buy
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Generous storage with cheapest plan
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Free website migration
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99.9% uptime guarantee
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Data centers in US, Europe, and Asia
Reasons to avoid
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Large price jump after introductory period
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Add-ons can get expensive
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No free domain
All things considered, A2 Hosting is a great option for those who need a large amount of storage space. It comes with a range of great features and offers great value for money, especially if you don’t need anything too fancy.
For example, the cheapest Startup plan costs just $2.99 per month for a three-year plan (renewing at $8.99 per month). This gives you an impressive 100 GB of storage, support for one website, and unmetered bandwidth. You will also have access to a free website migration service, support from the company’s friendly customer service team, and unlimited email accounts.
Alternatively, you can access unlimited website connections and unlimited SSD storage with a Drive plan, which starts from $4.99 per month ($11.99 on renewal).
On top of this, all plans come with free access to the A2 Hosting website builder, which is a great tool for creating simple portfolio and similar sites. There is also a full staging environment, the ability to choose your data centre location, and support for the CloudFlare content delivery network (CDN). Note, though, that a free domain isn’t included in any plan.
The bottom line: Seriously consider A2 Hosting if you need generous storage or want access to a beginner-friendly website builder. See our A2 Hosting review for more info.
Bluehost is one of the world’s most popular web hosts, and it has long been amongst the top-rated options for budget hosting. It provides great customer service, has a very beginner-friendly user interface, and comes with a suite of powerful tools.
And although Bluehost’s base plans are a little more expensive than some of the other options on this list, it still offers great value for money. Make sure you pay attention to the renewal prices though, as they can be quite high.
Prices start from $2.95 per month for a Basic plan with a 36-month subscription (renewing at $7.99 per month). With this, you can connect one site with 50 GB of SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, a free SSL certificate, and more.
If you require more storage for large media or other files, consider the Plus plan (from $5.45 per month, renews at $10.99), which comes with unlimited SSD storage and unlimited website connections.
Note, though, that Bluehost isn’t a great option if you want to set up an e-commerce website. Its online store plans are quite limited, and they certainly don’t offer very good value for money. See our Bluehost review for more details.
(Image credit: iPage)
04. iPage
Best budget host for multiple sites
Specifications
Cheapest plan: $1.99 per month
Storage: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unmetered
Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Yes
Reasons to buy
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Unlimited website connections
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Excellent speed and uptime
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Great e-commerce features
Reasons to avoid
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The control panel is quite limited
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Knowledge base lacks information
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Upselling attempts can be annoying
At first glance, iPage appears to offer everything you could ever ask for from a budget hosting provider. And when we dug deeper, there was nothing to suggest that things aren’t as they seem.
One thing that stood out to us was iPage’s simplicity. There is only one shared hosting option, the Go Plan. Prices start from a very competitive $1.99 per month for a three-year subscription, renewing at $7.99 per month. There are quite a lot of frustrating upselling attempts, but you should be able to ignore these if they don’t interest you.
Despite being cheap, this plan actually comes with a surprising number of advanced features. For example, you can connect an unlimited number of websites, with unlimited storage, scalable bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and access to a free (although basic) website builder. You will even get a free domain for the first year, which is something many budget hosts don’t offer.
There are also various online selling features, including a simple PayPal integration, a one-click installer supporting numerous third-party apps and add-ons, and various email marketing and other e-commerce tools.
All things considered, iPage is one of the best budget web hosts we’ve seen, and there’s little not to like about its shared hosting. Like all shared hosting, it’s not perfect. But it’s certainly pretty good.
Namecheap is one of the most affordable hosts we’ve used (Image credit: Namecheap)
05. Namecheap
Best for ease of use at an affordable price
Specifications
Cheapest plan: $1.28 per month
Storage: 20 GB
Bandwidth: Unmetered
Free domain: Yes
Free SSL: Yes
Reasons to buy
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Extremely competitive prices
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cPanel-based control panel
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Support for three sites with Starter plan
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Access to free website builder
Reasons to avoid
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Load speeds can be an issue
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Free domains come with limitations
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No automatic backups with Starter plan
Namecheap offers very competitively priced shared hosting backed by a suite of extras. All plans come with access to a free website builder—which is great for building portfolios and other basic sites—as well as free site migration, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain name for the first year, and a free SSL certificate.
Prices start at a low $1.28 per year for the Stellar plan, which gives you access to 20 GB of fast, modern SSD (solid-state drive) storage and a free domain name. What’s more, you only have to sign up for 12 months to access this price, and you will only pay $2.88 on renewal.
If you need more storage, the Stellar Plus plan could be a good choice. Coming in at $2.18 per month for the first year ($4.88 on renewal), it includes unmetered storage, unlimited website connections, and free automatic backups.
The main issue with Namecheap is its slow speeds and various upselling add-ons, but at the end of the day, there’s very little not to like here. It should definitely be on your list of potential web hosts if slightly slow load speeds aren’t going to be an issue for you.
If you’re planning to use WordPress to build your new website, DreamHost could just be the right host for your needs. It offers a range of WordPress-specific hosting options, with basic plans starting from just a few dollars per month.
A WordPress Starter plan will cost you just $2.59 per month for a three-year subscription. This includes one website connection, a free domain, unlimited traffic, and 50 GB of storage. Upgrading to the WordPress Unlimited plan (from $3.95 per month) will give you access to unlimited website connections and unlimited storage.
What’s more, both of these plans come with WordPress-specific features such as automatic WordPress migrations, pre-installed WordPress software, and optimised servers for top performance. New users will also benefit from the included WP Website Builder, as well as automatic daily backups and free domain privacy.
At the end of the day, DreamHost is arguably the best option for creatives who want to build a new website with WordPress. See our DreamHost review for more details.
Daniel is a freelance copywriter with over six years' experience writing for publications such as TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, and Hosting Review. He specialises in tech and finance, with a particular focus on website building, web hosting and related fields. For Creative Bloq, he mainly reviews software, including website builders, cloud hosting and web hosting services.
