8 Best Web Hosting Services for Small Business in 2023
Elizabeth Kraus has more than a decade of first-hand experience building and growing a boutique digital marketing agency and double that in small and mid-size business marketing management. She provides expert answers to marketing questions related to branding, content marketing, web development, email, social media, and SEO.
Hazel Emnace writes content for small businesses in the USA, Australia, South East Asia, and New Zealand, from engaging copy to marketing tips for business owners.
This article is part of a larger series on Small Business Websites.
The best web hosting services for small businesses are budget-friendly and packed with extras like free domains, SSL certificates, and email accounts. They make it easy to build brand presence online with a website to generate leads and sales, and plans that scale as the needs of your site increase. See which web hosting providers made our list, and why.
- Best web hosting services overall: IONOS
- Best WordPress web hosting solution: Bluehost
- Best customer service: InMotion
- Most generous storage for media-heavy sites: HostGator
- Cheapest for unlimited website hosting: DreamHost
- Best 100% managed hosting plans: KnownHost
- Largest data center network for fast site load time: GoDaddy
- Most budget-friendly for agencies: Hostinger
Best Web Hosting for Small Businesses at a Glance
Web Hosting Provider | Hosting Plans From* | WordPress Plans From* | Uptime Guarantee | Score Out of 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | $1 | $1 | 99.98 | 4.6 |
 | $2.95 | $2.95 | 99.98% | 4.5 |
 | $3.59 | $5 | 99.9% | 4.5 |
 | $3.95 | $7.95 | 99% | 4.4 |
 | $2.95 | $2.95 | 100% | 4.3 |
 | $6.71 | $11.95 | 99.995% | 4.1 |
 | $6.99 | $8.99 | 100% | 3.6 |
 | $2.99 | $2.99 | 99.9% | 3.5 |
*Monthly cost based on a 12-month billing cycle, renews at a higher rate
IONOS: Best Web Hosting Services Overall
Overall Score:
4.6 / 5
Pros
- Choose from cheap web, WordPress, and site builder plans from $1 with free domain, SSL, and email
- Unlimited sites and storage
- Reliable, secure web hosting with 99.9%+ uptime and 2/47 support
- Free daily backups included
- Malware, site scan, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection
- Agency and reseller programs
Cons
- Railgun CDN only comes with the most expensive plan
- No free trial or demo version to test site builder plans
IONOS comes away with our top score for best web hosting for small businesses for several reasons. It’s the cheapest way to build your brand presence online—web hosting, WordPress hosting, and all-in-one site builder and hosting plans all start as low as $1 a month the first year. Plans come with a free domain, SSL, and business email, giving a small business everything needed to get its digital marketing off the ground.
IONOS also offers the broadest range of web hosting types starting at a low introductory cost per month, including:
- Shared web hosting from $1
- WordPress web hosting from $1
- Managed WordPress from $1
- Dedicated WordPress hosting from $18
- Site building and hosting from $1
- Dedicated hosting from $45
- VPS (virtual private server) hosting from $2
- Web hosting for agencies from 50 cents
- Joomla hosting from $1
- Jamstack (Deploy Now) hosting from $4 for three projects
- Ecommerce hosting plans for WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, Shopware, and OpenCart (starting cost varies)
As someone who has hosted several websites and domains with IONOS for more than a decade, I can personally attest to the high level of service provided. On rare occasions when I’ve had something go wrong, an IONOS tech is on the phone with me within minutes, and my issue is usually resolved in the same amount of time or less.
Plus, no matter which type of web hosting you opt for, your files are backed up every day. So if your website gets compromised or you make a mistake, you can quickly and easily restore a working version to minimize any potential downtime.
IONOS, which is also on our list of the best drag-and-drop website builders, also offers all-in-one hosting and site builder plans. These offer a far easier site-building experience for beginners than WordPress (but you can get WordPress hosting from IONOS at a super-low cost too).
IONOS Pricing & Features
Click the tabs below to get more details about IONOS shared, WordPress, site builder, and virtual private and dedicated hosting options.
If we were to have one complaint, it’s that IONOS’ Railgun content delivery network (CDN) is locked behind the highest-plan tier for web hosting. If this concerns you, we recommend you consider Bluehost as the best alternative, as Cloudflare CDN for site load speed is included in its base tier plan.
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Beginner and customer-friendly: Having 24/7 support means you won’t have to struggle to set up your site or hosting features. This is particularly useful for digital marketing agencies managing multiple client sites as well as beginners and small businesses wanting to build a strong online presence.
- Control pricing and features: Most products have scalable plans and the ability to add on extra features, increase speed, and so on. This allows you to control your costs without sacrificing website performance.
- Site building services: IONOS offers affordable website building services for those wanting to skip the learning curve altogether. Plans include a one-time and monthly fee so that you also have support for managing your site and making changes on an ongoing basis.
- Online marketing add-ons: Create and manage all your online listings in one place by subscribing to a List Local plan. Choose a Google Ads Management plan for creating, tracking, and optimizing your Google Ad campaigns. Learn search engine optimization (SEO) and improve your site’s Google rankings with an IONOS rankingCoach plan.
- Digital agency solution: IONOS’ partner program has perks like single-dashboard client management and three-month free product trials. It also has a directory listing in the Agency Partner Network for more exposure, a direct line to your personal IONOS consultant, and professional tools for agencies, freelancers, and the like.
Our Expert Opinion
IONOS is a one-stop digital marketing shop for building a website with a variety of web hosting solutions. Its tools and dashboards are user-friendly, and 24/7 expert support is just a click away if you get stuck. Take advantage of the 30-day money-back guarantee to test-drive the website hosting option best for your business.
Need more information to make the right choice? Find out what web hosting is and how to choose a provider.
Bluehost: Best WordPress Hosting Solution
Overall Score:
4.5 / 5
Pros
- WordPress website and online store hosting packages from $2.95
- Free Cloudflare CDN for fast site loading from anywhere
- WordPress-recommended hosting includes a free domain, SSL, CDN, no-code page builder, templates, and from five to unlimited emails
Cons
- Cost increases sharply on renewal
- Domain privacy requires an upgrade to at least the third-tier plan
- Backups don’t come in the first two plans
WordPress-recommended hosting company Bluehost is our top pick for best WordPress website hosting for small businesses. Its WordPress plans come with everything you need to build a website on WordPress, but without the headaches and learning curve, thanks to the Bluehost Builder, which comes with every plan.
In addition to WordPress hosting, Bluehost offers:
- Shared web hosting from $2.95
- Shared WordPress hosting from $2.95
- Managed WordPress hosting from $29.99
- WooCommerce online store hosting from $9.95 the first year
- VPS hosting from $39.99
- Dedicated hosting from $125.99
The Bluehost Builder streamlines the process of building on WordPress. No need to master complex code or try to decipher the less-than-intuitive Gutenberg builder that comes with WordPress. Your theme, premade templates, and even email marketing apps start in the base tier, with additional plugins and features added to each plan.
Bluehost WordPress Hosting Pricing & Features
Click on the tabs below to see which Bluehost web hosting plan has the best combination of pricing and features for your small business website:
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Online marketing services: Bluehost offers full-service web design, marketing, and content management services as well as SEO, pay-per-click ad management, and site migration services. (However, DreamHost and InMotion provide free site migration.)
- Online store setup services: Bluehost promises those choosing a WordPress online store web hosting ($9.99 per month the first year) 24/7 support, including help setting up your store, adding products, installing and using plugins, and customizing your online store’s features.
- Free CDN: Your Bluehost web hosting package includes free Cloudflare CDN (content delivery network). It distributes your site’s content to servers across the globe so that it can be loaded from a nearby server to the site visitor. This improves site and page load times, which, in turn, benefits your site’s SEO and site visitor experience (you have to enable this in your account to activate it).
Our Expert Opinion
Building a website on WordPress is challenging. Building a full-scale online store on WordPress is doubly so—but Bluehost can make all that pain go away. The WordPress-recommended web hosting company has ecommerce-ready plans to streamline the process of getting your online store, well, online.
InMotion: Web Host With the Best Customer Support
Overall Score:
4.5 / 5
Pros
- 24/7 U.S.-based support
- No-downtime site migration (free)
- DDoS, hack, and malware protection
- Intuitive control panel
- Unlimited emails and storage after base tier
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- BoldGrid WordPress website builder included free (same as DreamHost)
Cons
- Upper-tier plans get pricey on renewal
- Resources included in the base plan may not be enough for growing websites
- Occasional downtime issues
- Free domain not included in lowest-tier shared hosting plan
While InMotion’s prices (especially on renewal) don’t rival IONOS or Hostinger, it offers the best web hosting for small businesses wanting top-notch customer support. We put that to the test when evaluating the service, hitting up InMotion’s live chat team with questions about the Launch and Power plans. We had a live support agent asking to help us within about 10 seconds and had our answers in less than two minutes.
While its WordPress plans (with free BoldGrid page builder) are the best option for most small businesses, like most web hosting companies, InMotion offers a range of services:
- Shared hosting from $3.49*
- WordPress website hosting plans from $4.49*
- Managed WordPress from $15
- WooCommerce plans from $15
- Reseller hosting from $16.99*
- VPS from $24.99*
- Dedicated website hosting from $89.99*
*Renew at a higher cost
Many InMotion services offer payment flexibility with longer terms as well as month-to-month plans. The starting costs above represent the starting price with 12-month annual billing.
While all of the best web hosting services for small businesses have support resources, InMotion’s are arguably the most robust and user-friendly. In fact, right in the cPanel are at least 90 links to educational and instructional resources as well as a community forum for InMotion customers. You can also get notified whenever new resources are added, which is great support for beginners and agencies managing multiple sites.
InMotion Pricing & Features
Below, you’ll find pricing for InMotion’s shared and WordPress hosting plans. Click on the tabs to compare pricing and features.
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Strong security in all plans: Unlike providers that require a higher-tier purchase for security features like DDoS and malware protection, this comes in all of InMotion’s hosting plans. Likewise, free backups are included; however, daily backups aren’t automatic in all plans, unlike IONOS.
- Payment flexibility: InMotion offers the most flexibility to choose the payment plan that works best for your business with monthly, one-year, three-year, and other payment terms.
- Customer satisfaction guarantee: Only DreamHost offers a longer money-back guarantee than InMotion’s 90-day promise.
Our Expert Opinion
Don’t downplay the value of getting great support with your website hosting service. It can make all the difference when something goes wrong, or you just need help to get the most value for your dollar. Choose InMotion if customer care and support are top priorities when choosing web hosting for your small business.
HostGator: High Storage Hosting for Media-heavy Sites
Overall Score:
4.4 / 5
Pros
- Cheap plans with free domain, SSL, email, and large storage for content-heavy websites
- 99.9% uptime
- $600 in ad spend match credits in all but base plan
Cons
- Cloudflare CDN requires highest plan
- Migration services only included in the highest-tier plan
- Will need the most expensive plan to get search engine optimization (SEO) tools
- More expensive than DreamHost for unlimited websites
Like other popular web hosting providers, HostGator is known for its range of shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated servers, and WordPress hosting plans. They feature the “HostGator Guarantee,” which includes 24/7 customer support, a 45-day money-back guarantee, and 99.9% website uptime. In fact, they claim that they will give a one-month credit to accounts that experience downtime below their guarantee.
In all three levels of HostGator’s shared web hosting plans, you can expect unlimited storage and bandwidth, making it the most affordable option in terms of storage. This is exceptionally useful for ecommerce businesses. As well as shared web hosting, HostGator offers:
- Shared hosting from $3.95*
- Website builder plans from $4.61*
- Ecommerce website builder plans from $9.99*
- Bandwidth-limited WordPress plans from $7.95*
- VPS plans from $23.95*
- Dedicated website hosting from $109.97*
- Reseller plans from $24.95*
*Monthly cost with 12-month annual billing; month-to-month, six-month, and 36-month plans are also available. Plans renew at a higher cost after the introductory period.
HostGator Pricing & Features
Click on the tabs below to learn about HostGator’s shared web hosting and WordPress hosting plans.
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Free unlimited email: HostGator is the only web hosting company offering unlimited emails with all website hosting plans (although DreamHost and Bluehost offer this in all but the base tier).
- Website builder: Like IONOS, HostGator offers an all-in-one site builder plan at a low cost. Site builders are the easiest way for website beginners to quickly make a small business website without the learning curve of WordPress.
- Lots of storage at a low cost: Media-heavy blogs and websites for creatives can fill up quickly with high-quality images, videos, and other media. HostGator’s Baby and Business plans have the storage to meet this need.
Our Expert Opinion
HostGator offers a wide range of services at low introductory prices, and its business plan is perfect for corporate or creative websites that need a lot of storage. It is a low-risk choice and is proven to be a reliable web hosting service, which you can check for yourself by taking advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee.
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS), but it’s not the only one and comes with a hefty learning curve. Check out our article explaining what a web content management system is and how to choose the best one for your small business.
DreamHost: Cheapest Plans for Unlimited Web Hosting
Overall Score:
4.3 / 5
Pros
- 97-day money back guarantee—longer than any other web hosting services
- Cheap Shared Unlimited plan with unlimited websites, traffic, and email addresses
- BoldGrid WordPress website builder
- Free WordPress site migrations
- Domain privacy free in all plans
- 100% uptime guarantee
Cons
- Proprietary interface is somewhat dated, which makes it less intuitive than more visually oriented cPanels
- Subpar user reports regarding customer support
- Some customers report occasional site speed lag
DreamHost’s Shared Unlimited plan makes it a natural fit for our list of the best website hosting for small businesses. With annual payment, this plan comes with unlimited websites, emails, and traffic for $2.95 a month for the first year. All shared hosting plans also include automated daily backups, free WordPress site migration, and automatic management of WordPress core and security updates.
In addition, DreamHost has the BoldGrid WordPress page builder theme free in shared hosting plans. This eliminates a great deal of the learning curve needed to build a WordPress site. There are more than 200 industry-specific templates, drag-and-drop editing, content blocks, and a Quick-Start Inspirations Wizard to streamline the process even more.
Like IONOS, DreamHost offers a wide array of website hosting and related services, such as:
- Shared website hosting plans from $2.59
- WordPress plans with website builder from $2.59
- Managed WordPress plans from $16.95
- WooCommerce plans from $16.95
- Cloud hosting from $4.50
- VPS from $10
- Dedicated server hosting from $149
- Email hosting from $1.67 per mailbox
- Website management from $59 per month
In addition, DreamHost offers professional services from full web development (from $1,499) to web development by the hour and site management. You can also purchase search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing services directly from this provider, making it a great option for those needing a one-stop digital marketing solution.
DreamHost Pricing & Features
Take a closer look at DreamHost’s shared and WordPress hosting packages in the tabs below.
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Unlimited plan, unlimited value: The 12-month introductory price for the Shared Unlimited web hosting plan is the same as its base plan. While the renewal cost is higher, this gives startups and small businesses a plan they can use to grow and scale more quickly at a low price during the first year.
- DreamHost Academy: Features don’t matter if you can’t easily understand and access them. DreamHost Academy is filled with information to help you successfully navigate and explore the system, ensuring you can find and access the benefits you need most. Additional support includes 24/7 ticketing, live chat, and phone callbacks.
- Real-time SEO recommendations: DreamHost’s new WordPress website builder offers real-time search engine optimization (SEO) recommendations to help you attract your audience and grow your brand’s online presence.
Our Expert Opinion
DreamHost offers the best unlimited WordPress web hosting for small businesses. The site builder simplifies building your site with premade templates and content blocks. Wizards guide your way with design inspiration and SEO recommendations, and the DreamHost team takes care of tough stuff like core updates or migrating your site from another server.
KnownHost: Best 100% Fully Managed Web Hosting Services
Overall Score:
4.1 / 5
Pros
- 99.99% uptimes
- 100% fully managed services
- Free setup, migration, and backups
- 100% satisfaction guarantee
- Change your plan (up or down) at any time
- 24/7 support
Cons
- Base plans have the lowest included storage of any services on this list
- IONOS managed plans are cheaper the first year (though less robust)
- Plans don’t include a free domain the first year, unlike most of its rivals
- Cloudflare CDN isn’t included
KnownHost is a web hosting service that is well-known for its fully managed services and great customer support. Technical site issues that arise from outdated or incorrectly configured CMS and plugins can make your site lag or even break it altogether. Managed web and WordPress hosting is the best for small businesses that want to ensure installation, setup, and maintenance are done right, especially for beginners.
KnownHost customers enjoy 99.99% plus uptimes for their websites with an array of web hosting services, including first-year monthly pricing with annual plans for:
- Fully managed web hosting from $6.71
- Managed WordPress plans from $11.95
- Reseller plans from $10.46
- Semi-dedicated hosting from $28
- VPS plans from $17
- Cloud-hosting from $25.50
- Dedicated servers from $49
Like InMotion and HostGator, with KnownHost you get a range of payment term options. This allows you to choose the best terms for your business’ budget month to month or sign up for the long term to get the most savings.
KnownHost Pricing & Features
Click on the tabs below to see what is included in KnownHost’s 100% managed shared website hosting and WordPress plans:
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Cheap fully managed services: Save time and skip the learning curve altogether with fully managed services at an affordable cost.
- Plans for every budget: While memory and storage might push you to a higher-plan tier, any size business can have the luxury of fully managed web hosting with KnownHost’s range of plans, pricing, and payment terms.
- High uptimes: Apart from DreamHost’s boast of 100%, KnownHost offers the highest uptimes for ensuring your site is online and available to prospects and customers 24/7.
Our Expert Opinion
We first learned of KnownHost while sifting through review sites and forums like Reddit, where we discovered this provider is a go-to for techies. Now that we’ve taken a peek under the hood ourselves, we confidently recommend KnownHost as a time and money-saving web hosting provider for small businesses, especially those wanting managed services for peace of mind.
GoDaddy: Largest Delivery Network for Fast Site Speed & Loading
Overall Score:
3.6 / 5
Pros
- Data centers in Europe, USA, and Asia, with fast load speeds that cover most of the world
- Around-the-clock network security and DDoS protection
- Plans bundled with Microsoft 365 Email Essentials
Cons
- Features like backup recovery, SSL, domain, and other feature add-ons
- No cloud hosting, fewer options in shared web hosting, and basic features only for WordPress hosting
- Comparable plans are cheaper with most other providers
- Hostinger and DreamHost are better for multi-address email hosting
No serious discussion of the best web hosting platforms for small businesses is complete without a mention of GoDaddy. As of today, the downside we previously included (that things like domains, SSL, and backups weren’t baked into GoDaddy plans) has been addressed, though plans generally cost a bit more than with other platforms.
As such, GoDaddy has the potential to be a robust web hosting service but at a higher cost vs competitors like IONOS and Bluehost. Nevertheless, GoDaddy is a solid choice thanks to its extensive network of data centers, ensuring fast site speed and loading from anywhere. Here’s what to expect for introductory monthly pricing of annually billed hosting plans with GoDaddy:
- Shared web hosting from $6.99
- WordPress plans from $8.99
- All-in-one site builder and hosting plans from $9.99
- Business hosting (Web Hosting Plus / VPS) from $21.99
- VPS from $4.99 per month (36-month term)
- Dedicated SSD hosting from $139.99 per month (24-month term)
From personal experience troubleshooting a client’s WordPress site, one disappointing aspect of web hosting with GoDaddy that stands out to me is its customer service. While support is technically available 24/7, unless you pay a relatively high fee for personalized support, GoDaddy’s tech team is just there to confirm that everything is working on their side.
If you want support with WordPress specifically, DreamHost plans or KnownHost’s managed services are better options. If you would like a dedicated success consultant or tech support that can help you with your database, installation, configuration, plugin troubleshooting, and more, IONOS is the way to go.
GoDaddy Pricing & Features
Click on the tabs below to compare some of the hosting plan features and pricing you’ll find in GoDaddy plans.
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Payment processing: GoDaddy makes it easy to take payments online with the GoDaddy Payments plugin, with processing fees of 2.3% plus 30 cents per transaction.
- Microsoft email free for one year: From two to five Microsoft Email Essentials come bundled with all hosting plans for one year, including unlimited aliases.
- Strong load time from multi-servers: GoDaddy’s 99.9% uptime guarantee holds its end of the bargain, with websites rarely experiencing downtime during observation periods. It is a reliable choice for hosting either media-heavy or traffic-heavy websites.
Our Expert Opinion
GoDaddy has all the essential features to host your website and build your brand presence online. Those on a tight budget will find that IONOS is a better value for the money and also offers far more robust and personalized customer support, should you need it. Still, GoDaddy’s large network of data centers worldwide means your site will load fast from anywhere.
Hostinger: Best Budget Alternative for Basic Web Hosting
Overall Score:
3.5 / 5
Pros
- Low-cost website hosting plans
- All plans come with the Zyro website builder and WordPress site-building wizard
- Enhanced security
- Plans come with free SSL certificate
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- More downtime vs others on this list
- Single and Starter plans lack free daily backups, CDN, and SSH
- No free domain in the base tier
- No phone support
- No dedicated hosting offered
Hostinger provides a low-cost entry into web hosting with a $1.99 monthly rate, second only to IONOS for affordability. The basic plan comes with a strong range of features, including unlimited free SSL, WordPress page builder theme, weekly backups, and 99.9% uptime. The base plan is a bit bare-boned compared to others, especially vs the robust features in DreamHost’s Shared Unlimited plan at just a dollar more per month the first year.
One downside of Hostinger is the lack of dedicated server hosting. Still, you will find plans and monthly pricing (when billed annually) for:
- Web hosting from $2.99
- WordPress plans from $2.99
- Website builder and hosting plans from $2.99
- Agency-friendly, multi-site plans starting at $3.99 the first year for up to 100 websites
- VPS from $3.99
- Cloud-hosting from $9.99
- Email hosting plans for Google Workspace and Titan
In 2019, Hostinger revealed that a large number of users were exposed to a security breach. They greatly improved security features and updated security components in all plans, including Cloudflare-protected nameservers and DDoS protection.
Hostinger deserves this spot on the list of best small business website hosting, but it lacks some of the features that are offered by major competitors. The basic plan does not have unlimited storage, bandwidth, or email—in fact, it has some of the lowest inclusions for those features. Nevertheless, the entry-level plan can accommodate around 10,000 website visits a month.
Hostinger Pricing & Features
Click on the tabs below to take a closer look at Hostinger’s ultra-affordable web hosting plans for small businesses.
Unique Features for Small Businesses
- Cloudfare protected nameservers: As mentioned, Hostinger stepped up their security game, and this includes the Cloudfare DNS Firewall, DDoS protection that has mitigated some of the largest DDoS attacks to-date. This ensures your web traffic will continue to flow even if your origin nameservers are compromised.
- Access to Zyro website builder: All plans include free access to the Zyro WordPress website builder theme, whose key appeal is its ease of use and simplicity. With templates and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features, it makes building a website quick and easy.
- Cheap multi-site plans: Hostinger’s multi-site plans are affordable, making them a great option for web freelancers and digital marketing agencies.
Our Expert Opinion
If price is a big factor for you in choosing your web hosting provider, Hostinger can be just the bang for the buck. All plans include features that can help you easily create your website, all while keeping it quick and secure. Take advantage of the 30-day money-back guarantee and low entry pricing to get started.
How We Evaluated the Best Small Business Website Hosting
Foundational to building a successful website is to have web hosting that is tailored to your business’ needs and budget. Click on any of the tabs for details about the criteria we used to determine the best web hosting services.
25%
Pricing
25%
General Features
20%
Support
15%
Niche Features
15%
Expert Score
25% of Overall Score
For small businesses, cost is often a deciding factor for selecting any vendor, including website hosting. We gave a higher score to web hosts offering low introductory pricing and affordable renewal rates, especially where low-cost doesn’t equate to a low value for the customer.
25% of Overall Score
General features include everything from storage and bandwidth to inclusions like a free domain, SSL, and business email, which are essential for building an online brand presence. In addition, we looked for plans that allow you to build multiple websites, content delivery networks (CDN) to ensure fast site loading worldwide, uptime guarantees, and whether free backups were included to protect your site.
20% of Overall Score
Web hosting is complex and entails highly technical expertise. For this reason, we favored hosting companies offering 24/7 customer support on various channels. We also looked at customer reviews that indicated a provider would go above and beyond. In addition, we tapped our team’s firsthand experience with providers to see which provided the best customer care and support.
15% of Overall Score
Niche features pack added value to web hosting plans. Some of the extras we looked for here included whether the web hosting company was agency- and reseller-friendly, and has a user-friendly cPanel for easy administration. Plus, we checked if WordPress plans came with a free WordPress page builder, and if you could create unlimited subdomains or get dedicated hosting as your website needs scale.
15% of Overall Score
Our expert score is primarily based on firsthand experience with each provider and our expertise in what to look for in a web hosting company. In addition, we considered aggregate and individual customer reviews and comments as to the expert score for overall features, value, ease of use, and popularity.
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the different types of web hosting?
The most common type of web hosting is shared web hosting. Shared hosting is the cheapest, and thus most popular with small businesses. Managed hosting adds things like installation, updates, and maintenance to your plan. Other types to consider are virtual private servers (or network, aka VPS and VPN) and dedicated hosting. These more expensive options come with increased security and speed, which is ideal for large and growing websites.
Where can I host my business website?
IONOS and Bluehost are great choices for hosting a business website. Plans come with a domain, SSL, email, and everything needed to build a strong brand presence. Bluehost is a WordPress-recommended hosting company, and all plans come with a no-code WordPress site builder. The budget-friendly and reliable IONOS has web, WordPress, and non-WordPress site builder plans where you can host your site for as little as $1 a month.
What is the best hosting for beginners?
The best hosting for beginners comes with drag-and-drop website builders like Wix that include hosting, a domain, SSL security, and an intuitive site builder. When considering hosting alone, look for a small business-friendly web host with affordable introductory pricing, all-inclusive plans, and a free WordPress page builder theme. Bluehost and DreamHost are great examples of beginner-friendly WordPress hosting companies.
Bottom Line
The best web hosting companies offer generous plans with valuable freebies and ample storage and bandwidth—all for small business budget-friendly pricing. Based on our comparison, IONOS is the overall best web hosting company for small businesses. IONOS offers multiple products to help you build a small business website quickly and affordably, in plans starting from $1 per month.
