Vendor/Plan | Rating | Price($/mo) | Storage(GB) | Bandwidth(GB/mo) | Domain# | Free# | SSL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
123systems, Small | 0.33 | 10 | 50 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
123systems, Medium | 0.67 | 15 | 75 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
mytruehost, Bronze Plan | 1 | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
123systems, Large | 1 | 25 | 125 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
BigRock, Starter | 1.59 | 10 | unlimited | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
123systems, Enterprise | 1.67 | 75 | 500 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
MochaHost, Soho | 1.95 | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
MochaHost, Business | 1.98 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 1 | |
webhostingpad | 1.99 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
iPower,Pro Plus | 11.99 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 3 | 0 | |
hostingcouk,ultimate | 12 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
easyspace,Business | 12.78 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
littleoak,habitat | 13.33 | 15 | 500 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
BlueHost, Business Pro Plan | 13.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 1 | |
SiteGround, GoGeek Plan | 13.95 | 30 | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 1 | |
AlwaysWebHosting, | 14.95 | 15 | 150 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
liquidweb,standard | 14.95 | 5 | 120 | unlimited | 2 | 0 | |
GeneralDots, Ultimate | 14.99 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 1 | |
netfirms,the business plan | 14.99 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 5 | 1 | |
LCWSoft, eCommerce | 16.95 | 32 | 400 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
KAZZ Hosting, Pro 1500 | 19.95 | 1.5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
liquidweb,webmaster | 19.95 | 20 | 200 | unlimited | 3 | 0 | |
MochaHost, Mocha | 2.07 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
hostned, Linux Standard | 2.08 | 2.5 | 250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
HostGator,Hatchling Plan | 2.23 | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
iPage,essential plan | 2.25 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
hostmetro, mega max hosting | 2.45 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
ninjalion, Starter Plan | 2.46 | 2 | 20 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
GreenGeeks | 2.48 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
JustHost | 2.5 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
Mister.Net, Premium | 2.92 | 1 | 15 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
SiteGround, StartUp Plan | 2.95 | 10 | unlimited | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
hostdeal, WH-5 | 2.95 | 5 | 10 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
arvixe, BusinessClass | 22 | unlimited | unlimited | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
AlwaysWebHosting, | 24.95 | 25 | 250 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
liquidweb,professional | 24.95 | 40 | 320 | unlimited | 5 | 1 | |
lunarpages,business premium | 24.95 | 20 | 200 | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
littleoak,chestnut cloud pro | 26.67 | 25 | 1000 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
KAZZ Hosting, Pro 2000 | 29.95 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
mytruehost, Silver Plan | 3 | unlimited | unlimited | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
hostingcouk,beginner | 3 | 10 | 100 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
hostned, Linux Plus | 3.25 | 5 | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
BlueHost,Starter Plan | 3.49 | 100 | unlimited | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
BigRock, Advanced | 3.49 | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
HostGator, Baby Plan | 3.58 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
StableHost, Basic Plan | 3.95 | 1 | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
hostmonster | 3.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
epowhost, standard | 3.95 | 300 | 300 | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
iPower,Pro Plan | 3.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
lunarpages,starter | 3.95 | 5 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
nethosting | 3.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
Interserver | 3.96 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
iPower,starter plan | 3.99 | 5 | 250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
arvixe, BusinessClassPRO | 35 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 1 | |
arvixe, PersonalClass | 4 | unlimited | unlimited | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
eBoundHost | 4 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
FastCow | 4.08 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
ninjalion, Medium Plan | 4.13 | 5 | 50 | unlimited | 0 | 1 | |
webhostingbuzz, Buzz Light Plan | 4.95 | 400 | unlimited | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
hostmetro, business max hosting | 4.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 1 | |
unpicked | 4.95 | 15 | 300 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
LCWSoft, Personal | 4.95 | 8 | 240 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
hostdeal, WH-10 | 4.95 | 10 | 200 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
lunarpages | 4.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
myhosting,personal | 4.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
netfirms,the plus plan | 4.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
liquidweb,semi-dedicated | 40 | 40 | unlimited | unlimited | 5 | 1 | |
lunarpages,business advantage | 44.95 | 40 | 400 | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
mytruehost, Gold Plan | 5 | unlimited | unlimited | 26 | 0 | 0 | |
BigRock, Business | 5.39 | unlimited | unlimited | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
hostned, Linux Pro | 5.75 | 15 | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
HostGator, Bussiness Plan | 5.83 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 1 | |
BlueHost,Plus Plan | 5.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
StableHost, Stable Plan | 5.95 | 7 | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
epowhost, pro | 5.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
KAZZ Hosting, Basic | 5.95 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
fastdomain | 5.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
web,essential | 5.95 | 300 | unlimited | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
hostingcouk,advanced | 6 | 25 | 500 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
easyspace,StarterPlus | 6.38 | 10 | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
littleoak,sapling cloud | 6.67 | 5 | 50 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
SiteGround, CrowBig Plan | 6.95 | 20 | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 1 | |
webhostingbuzz, Buzz Power Plan | 6.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
hostdeal, WH-20 | 6.95 | 20 | 400 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
GeneralDots, economy | 6.99 | 100 | unlimited | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
GeneralDots, Deluxe | 6.99 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
lunarpages,business enterprise | 64.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
arvixe, PersonalClassPRO | 7 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
mytruehost, Platinum Plan | 7 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 100000000 | 0 | |
BigRock, Pro | 7.39 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
ninjalion, Premium Plan | 7.46 | 10 | 100 | unlimited | 0 | 1 | |
web,professional | 7.95 | 500 | unlimited | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
DreamHost | 8.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
hostingcouk,business | 9 | 100 | 1000 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
StableHost, Plus Plan | 9.95 | 20 | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 0 | |
webhostingbuzz, Buzz Premier Plan | 9.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 1 | 0 | |
AlwaysWebHosting, Bronze | 9.95 | 10 | 100 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
LCWSoft, Business | 9.95 | 16 | 320 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
KAZZ Hosting, Pro 1000 | 9.95 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
lunarpages,windows hosting | 9.95 | unlimited | unlimited | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
myhosting,business | 9.95 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 0 | 1 | |
web,premium | 9.95 | unlimited | unlimited | 10 | 1 | 0 | |
ninjalion, Ultimate Plan | 9.96 | 20 | 200 | unlimited | 0 | 1 | |
netfirms,the advantage plan | 9.99 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 2 | 0 |
Note that Domain# means the total number of domain and add-on/parked domains allowed. Free# means the number of domain names you can register free of charge if you order the hosting service with the vendor. SSL means whether free private SSL certification is included in the hosting plan. This chart only compares shared web hosting services. For other types of hosting such as VPS, please refer to http://domainhostseotool.com. Reviews on the hosting providers are welcome here.
How to use this web hosting services comparison chart?
1. determine your requirements
Blog hosting, ecommerce hosting, joomla hosting, drupal hosting, WordPress hosting, email hosting, file hosting, video hosting, etc, all have different requirements on the hosting services and different hosting companies have different hosting features.
In this chart, we compare web hosting providers and web hosting packages in terms of price, storage, bandwidth, domain#, free domain#, SSL#, and rating.
- Domains allowed: how many websites can you build? When you order a hosting service, you are required to provide a main domain name, which is used to set up your account. You may be confused about the difference between this main domain name and other add-on domain names added later in CPanel. In fact there is little difference between them except the main domain name is used to configure some account information such as the ftp account name. From the view of a website builder, there is no difference between them. Although mainstream hosting companies provide unlimited domain hosting, cheap hosting service may only allow one or a few(typically 6) domains.
- Storage: how much disk space can you use? Typically file hosting such as a download site needs big storage while blog hosting, email hosting, etc. do not use much disk space. Mainstream hosting companies or advanced hosting plans usually provide unlimited storage. Cheap web hosting may have limitation on the usable disk space. Some hosting companies have the policy that if you use more disk space than the limit, you will be charged additional fee. SSD disk storage is an emergent feature as it performs well as to database read/write and error-resilience.
- Bandwidth: how many bytes can you transfer in a month? This terminology causes a little confusion because it traditionally means the transfer speed of a device such as your network adapter and its unit is usually bps(bits per second). So when you see a 100G bandwidth on the homepage of a web hosting company, you should not consider it as the network speed it can provide. Although most hosting companies claim unlimited bandwidth, there is never such a thing as unlimited bandwidth. If you overuse your hosting service, your account would be suspended. Cheap website hosting usually has restriction on the bandwidth usage. When your website grows up and the traffic to your site increases, sooner or later, the bandwidth limitation will be exceeded and you will be forced to upgrade your hosting service plan. This is a good thing because it indicates the blossom of your business. But we have noticed dishonest behavior of some hosting companies such as exaggerating the data of your bandwidth utilization.
- Free domain name: some hosting companies attract customers by providing free domain registration if you order their hosting service. This is a very attractive sales strategy for those seeking the cheapest web hosting because registering a domain name alone will cost about 9$/year. Note that some hosting companies provide 1 year free domain name while others provide life time free domain registration. Also note that before you choose such kind of hosting package, make it clear that if there is a fee when you transfer your domain name to another hosting provider in the future.
- SSL: Private SSL certification is important for e-commerce websites as it provides the security when customers fill their privacy information online. Customers get alerted when they check-out via a non https webpage and less likely complete their orders because it will leak out their finance information such as credit card number/pin. SSL certification usually requires separate purchase and is not cheap compared to the hosting fee. But advanced service plan of mainstream hosting companies often includes a free SSL certification.
- New features: as the competition among hosting companies becomes intenser, more and more new features are introduced such as website promotion services(you can even get 100$ google adwords credit or bing/yahoo ads credits.), website seo services(make your website rank well in the search results of google/yahoo/bing), website vulnerability scan services, and so on and so forth.
You can go to Wikipedia for many other hosting features, but here I tell you some features that should be looked down upon. Many hosting companies list various software installation tools such as WordPress, Joomla, Softaculous, mysql, all kind of php scripts, etc. in CPanel and their service introduction page with intent to attract potential customers. This is in fact not that effective because these software are usually free and so common in these days and most of them are never used by customers(although CPanel itself is a valuable software and sometimes is the only reason why some customers choose shared hosting instead of VPS).
Extremely important factors that should be considered and are kept under cover: stability and page load time. You could not find the two performance metrics in hosting company’s advertising pages but they are indeed the most important factors to inspect if you do serious business. Although most hosting services claim to have 99% uptime, do you check it for yourself? Do you find your website is hard to load(you may need to refresh several times before it loads up in your browser. In my opinion, if you see your webpage after 3 refreshes, the uptime should be 33.3%, although hosting companies never admit this.)? Long page load time makes visitors to your website impatient and unwilling to stay on your website. Even they are patient enough to wait for your webpage to load up, they will less likey come back to your website again, and this will eventually damage your business. Long page load up time also affects SEO performance of your website because crawlers fetch fewer webpages in a fixed time. This is the most serious problem for some cheap website hosting companies because often too many websites are hosted on one server leading to slow response time of individual websites. This is also a problem for top web hosting companies because they have too many customers, which are squeezed on limited servers. So choosing the best hosting service can not just reply on their big name. An impartial hosting service review from an existing customer is the best testimony so we welcome your reviews here.
2. web hosting price comparison
Once your requirements are determined, compare the prices of the web hosting providers and web hosting packages in the chart. You can easily pick out the cheapest web hosting plan by sorting the chart. But hosting price comparison is not that straight-forward because some companies provide coupon codes that you should take into account. Some coupons may reduce your web hosting cost by half.
3. check the website of the webhosting providers
After comparing the companies in the web host comparison chart, you may have a few candidates in hand. Now you should open their websites one by one(by clicking on the first column in the chart), compare their connection speed, see if you are comfortable with their website design, and if they have special payment method you prefer, then choose the best one to buy.
4. rating the hosting services you bought
By clicking the second column of this comparison chart, you can give your ratings and reviews for the shared hosting service you ordered. This website hosting comparison chart will benefit from your opinions and provide good insights for future customers.