January 25, 2019
12:39 pm
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Once seen as something of a luxury, websites have become an absolute necessity for any company or individual who wants to make an impact in the online sphere. And if you’re looking to launch your own website, you’re going to need more than just the tools to build it – you'll need somewhere to put it, too. Fortunately, with the help of web hosting providers, you’ll be able to get your website live on the web easily and affordably.
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a wide-eyed rookie, it’s worth remembering that getting a website on the internet takes more than just a budget and a keen eye for design. You also have to enlist a web hosting provider that can actually deliver your site to the internet’s many users.
If you're unsure about what web hosting is, how it works, or – all importantly – how much it costs, read on for our comprehensive guide to web hosting.
In This Guide:
What Is Web Hosting?
Simply put, web hosting means storing all the data that makes up your website on a remote server location. After you design and build a site, it has to “live” somewhere for it to exist on the internet. That's where web hosting comes in – after all, you wouldn’t buy a TV if you didn’t have a house to put it in, and you can’t launch a website without a server to host it on.
While some website builders provide web hosting within their pricing plans (which we’ll talk about later), getting a standalone web server hosting provider has its own set of benefits. Depending on which type of hosting plan you get set up with, you can take advantage of everything from lower prices and improved speeds to easy scalability and secure servers.
When it comes to the cost of these web hosting providers, you can expect to be billed on a monthly basis. Prices range widely from provider to provider and plan to plan, which means nailing down exactly what you need from a web hosting provider is essential to making the right decision. You can spend anywhere from $2 to $10 a month on simple shared or personal hosting plans, whereas heavy-duty business plans on dedicated servers can run you as much as a few hundred, or even a few thousand dollars a month.
Web Hosting Providers and Plans
There are a number of helpful web hosting providers that will give you the technical support you need to launch your website without breaking the bank. Take a look at a few of the best web hosting providers below, and read on for a basic comparison of some of their features and pricing plans.
- BlueHost
- HostGator
- GoDaddy Web Hosting
- 1&1 Web Hosting
- InMotion
- WPEngine
- A2 Hosting
In addition to the variety of providers you can choose from, you’ll also find that each brand has a number of plans, offering everything from basic to enterprise-level hosting at different price points. Whether you’re a huge company that needs to manage increased traffic or a small business that's simply trying to improve their online presence, one of these providers will have the features and cost you need to get the job done.
When it comes to web server hosting, it’s also important to note what type of plan you need, which will depend on what you’re looking for in a website. Each type has a specific set of benefits and downfalls, depending on what you’re using them for. These types include:
- Shared hosting – sharing a server with other websites. Cheaper option with potential for slower speeds, great for beginners
- Dedicated hosting – getting a server all to yourself. Much more expensive, but gives you much more control. Great for larger, scaling companies
- Cloud hosting – hosted across a variety of servers. Less downtime thanks to multiple servers, great for fast growing companies
- VPS hosting – sharing a server, but you get your own “area.” Perfect in-between option from shared and dedicated hosting
- WordPress hosting – plans that cater to WordPress designed sites. Some providers are designed specifically for this purpose.
Want to know more? Check out the Best Web Hosting Providers
Web Hosting for Personal Sites
The key to understanding web hosting is to know what you're using it for, and most people are using it for personal websites. If you aren't expecting a huge amount of traffic or a life-or-death situation if a server goes down, it's safe to say that a shared hosting plan will suffice for your particular needs.
As the name suggests, shared hosting involves sharing a server with other websites. Just like with roommates, shared hosting allows you to cut costs by splitting the cost of the server among the other users. However, if the other sites take up too many online resources, you could end up with a slowed down site. Fortunately, most providers will manage this discrepancy – as long as you've got a good one.
Take a look at this handy table to get a better idea of what you can expect from the major brands as far as a shared hosting plan is concerned.
Scroll horizontally to view full table on mobile devices
| Bluehost | GoDaddy | InMotion | WPEngine | A2 Hosting | HostGator | 1&1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Number of Plans | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Starting Price (monthly) | $7.99 | $7.99 | $7.99 | $35 | $7.99 | $6.95 | $4 |
| Highest Price (monthly) | $23.99 | $33.99 | $15.99 | $290 | $18.99 | $14.95 | $14 |
| Money back guarantee | 30 Days | ✗ | 90 Days | 60 Days | ANYTIME | 45 Days | 60 Days |
| cPanel | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ |
| Unmetered transfer | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ |
| Free Backups | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ (Only on Turbo Plan – most expensive) | ✗($35.88 start price) | ✔ |
| Free Domain | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ |
| Amount of Sites Included | Basic: 1 Plus: Unlimited Choice Plus: Unlimited Go Pro: Unlimited | Economy: 1 Deluxe: Unlimited Ultimate: Unlimited Maximum: Unlimited | Launch: 2 Power: 6 Pro: Unlimited | StartUp: 1 Growth: 5 Scale: 15 | Lite: 1 Swift: Unlimited Turbo: Unlimited | Hatchling: 1 Baby: Unlimited Business: Unlimited | Essential: 1 Business: 5 Expert: 50 |
| Sub Domains | Basic: 25 Plus: Unlimited Choice Plus: Unlimited Go Pro: Unlimited | Economy: 25 Deluxe: Unlimited Ultimate: Unlimited Maximum: Unlimited | Launch: 25 Power: 100 Pro: Unlimited | Across all plans: Unlimited | Lite: 5 Swift: Unlimited Turbo: Unlimited | Across all plans: Unlimited | Across all plans: 10,000 |
| Email Account | Basic: 5 Plus: Unlimited Choice Plus: Unlimited Go Pro: Unlimited | Free business email for first year | Across all plans: Unlimited | ✗ | Lite: 25 Swift: Unlimited Turbo: Unlimited | Across all plans: Unlimited | Essential: 25 Business: 100 Expert: 500 |
| Included SSL Certificates | Yes, free on Pro Plan | Ultimate: Free for 1 year Maximum: Free | Yes, on ALL plans | Yes, on ALL plans | Yes, on ALL plans | Yes, on ALL plans | Yes, on ALL plans |
| Monthly Visitor Limit | Across all plans: 32,000 (between 7,000-8,000 per week) | N/A* | Across all plans: 360,000 (between 400-500 per hour) | StartUp: 25,000 Growth: 100,000 Scale: 400,000 | *Unattainable | Across all plans: 240,000 | Across all plans: Unlimited |
| Knowledge Center | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Live Chat | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 24/7 Live Chat | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ |
| Phone | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 24/7 Phone | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Tickets | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ |
| Disk Space | Basic: 50GB Plus: Unlimited Choice Plus: Unlimited Go Pro: Unlimited | Economy: 100GB Deluxe: Unlimited Ultimate: Unlimited Maximum: Unlimited | Across all plans: Unlimited | StartUp: 10GB Growth: 20GB Scale: 30GB | Across all plans: Unlimited | Across all plans: Unlimited | Essential: 100GB Business: 250GB Expert: 500GB |
| Up Time Performance | 99.98 | 99.97 | 99.97 | 99.95 | 99.95 | 99.99 | 99.98 |
| Best Deal | Choice Plus: $5.45 (normally $14.99) | Maximum: $19.99 (normally $33.99) | Launch: $6.39 (normally $7.99) | n/a | Turbo: $9.31 (normally $18.99) | Business: $5.95 (normally $14.95) | Expert: $1 (normally $14) |
| All Discounts | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals |
Web Hosting for Small Businesses
Choosing hosting for a personal website is one thing. But, if you're looking to get your small business set up online, you're going to need something a little more heavy-duty to manage your traffic.
Small businesses are far more at risk if they're affected by website outages than personal sites. This makes it all the more necessary to have a rock solid web hosting plan in place, and is why we recommend a VPS hosting plan to keep your website online.
With VPS hosting, you're still sharing a server with other websites, but you're allotted your own specific area to function within. This means you won't be entirely affected by what those other sites do, and you'll have a bit more freedom when it comes to your website.
Plus, you'll be able to keep costs low when you want to increase storage or bandwidth, which makes VPS hosting great for small, growing businesses.
For a better idea of what VPS hosting entails as far as brands, features, and price are concerned, check out this comprehensive table to get a better understanding of what you're working with.
Scroll horizontally to view full table on mobile devices
| Bluehost | GoDaddy | InMotion | A2 Hosting | HostGator | 1&1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | |
| Number of Plans | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Starting Price | $29.99 | $40.99 | $39.99 | $49.99 | $89.95 | $2 |
| Highest Price | $119.99 | $100.99 | $144.99 | $99.99 | $159.95 | $30 |
| Money back guarantee | 30 Days | ✗ | 30 Days | Anytime | 45 Days | 60 Days |
| Available RAM | Standard: 2GB Enhanced: 4GB Ultimate: 8GB | Launch: 2GB Enhanced: 4GB Grow: 6GB Expand: 8GB | VPS-1000: 4GB VPS-2000: 6GB VPS-3000: 8GB | Power: 4GB Prestige: 6GB Pinnacle: 8GB | Snappy 2000: 2GB Snappy 4000: 4GB Snappy 8000: 8GB | VPS S: 1GB VPS M: 2GB VPS L: 4GB VPS XL: 8GB |
| Root Access | ✔ | ✔ | ✔(Optional) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Free Back Ups | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ ($0.20/mo) |
| Windows | ✗ | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ |
| Linux | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| CPU Cores | Standard: 2 Enhanced: 2 Ultimate: 4 | Launch: 1 Enhanced: 2 Grow: 3 Expand: 4 | Across all plans: Unlimited | Power: 4 Prestige: 6 Pinnacle: 8 | Snappy 2000: 2 Snappy 4000: 2 Snappy 8000: 4 | VPS S: 1 VPS M: 2 VPS L: 2 VPS XL: 4 |
| Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 250 |
| Dedicated IP Addresses | Standard: 1 Enhanced: 2 Ultimate: 2 | Across all plans: 1 | VPS-1000: 3 VPS-2000: 4 VPS-3000: 5 | Across all plans: 2 | Across all plans: 2 | Across all plans: 1 |
| Free Domain | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Allowed Domains / Websites | Across all plans: Unlimited | *Multiple | Across all plans: Unlimited | Across all plans: Unlimited | Across all plans: Unlimited | Across all plans: 100 |
| Bandwidth | Standard: 1TB Enhanced: 2TB Ultimate: 3 TB | Across all plans: Unlimited | VPS -1000: 4TB VPS -2000: 5TB VPS – 3000: 6TB | Power: 2TB Prestige: 3TB Pinnacle: 4TB | Snappy 2000: 1.5TB Snappy 4000: 2TB Snappy 8000: 3TB | Across all plans: Unlimited |
| Included SSL Certificates | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Knowledge Center | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Live Chat | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ |
| 24/7 Live Chat | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ |
| 24/7 Phone | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Tickets | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ |
| Storage | Standard: 30GB Enhanced: 60GB Ultimate: 120GB | Launch: 40GB Enhanced: 60GB Grow: 150GB Expand: 200GB | VPS-1000: 75GB VPS-2000: 150GB VPS-3000: 260GB | Power: 75GB Prestige: 100GB Pinnacle: 150GB | Snappy 2000: 120GB Snappy 4000: 165GB Snappy 8000: 240GB | VPS S: 50GB VPS M: 80GB VPS L: 120GB VPS XL: 160GB |
| Up Time Performance | 99.98 | 99.97 | 99.97 | 99.95 | 99.99 | 99.98 |
| Best Deal | Ultimate: $59.99 (normally $119.99) | Ultimate: $101.99 (normally $203.99) | VPS – 3000: $69.34 (normally $144.99) | Prestige: $46.19 (normally $69.99) | Snappy 8000: $49.95 (normally $159.95) | VPS XL: $1 (normally $30) |
| All Discounts | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals |
Web Hosting Costs When Using a Website Builder
While all this talk of servers may have already eased your uncertainties, another easy and affordable way to host your website is by doing so through a website builder. Not only will you be treated to unique features that make managing and designing your website easy, you’ll also enjoy some of the lowest website hosting prices you can find, without all the technical to-do.
The cost of this option is so low because the price of building a website typically includes hosting within the plan. Sometimes you’ll have to pay to lock down your specific domain name – which is certainly an important aspect of the process – but you’ll still be paying less than if you were using a dedicated server.
For a more comprehensive look at the cost of web hosting when using a website builder, take a look at this table explaining the price of Wix website builder across its many plans.
Scroll horizontally to view full table on mobile devices
| Wix Plan | Free | Connect Domain | Combo | Unlimited | VIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost (paid monthly) | $0 | $7 | $14.50 | $16 | $35 |
| Monthly Cost (paid annually) | $0 | $5 | $11 | $14 | $29 |
| Adverts removed | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Bandwidth | ✗ | 1GB | 2GB | 10GB | 20GB |
| Storage | ✗ | 500MB | 3GB | 10GB | 20GB |
| Free domain | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ (if paid annually) | ✔ (if paid annually) | ✔ (if paid annually) |
| Video upload (minutes) | 0 | 0 | 30 | 60 | 120 |
| Site Booster & Form Builder App | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Email Campaigns and Emails Sent per Month | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | 10 campaigns/50,000 emails |
| Sign Up | See Plan | See Plan | See Plan | See Plan | See Plan |
Pros
- Lots of pricing plans to choose from
- Get access to core website building tools from just $5 per month
- Unlimited plan gives you everything you need to build a world-class website
Cons
- Free plan should be avoided unless you're just starting out
- Could offer more storage
Create Your Website With Wix Today
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Conor Cawley
Conor is the Senior Writer for Tech.co. For the last four years, he’s written about everything from Kickstarter campaigns and budding startups to tech titans and innovative technologies. His extensive background in stand-up comedy made him the perfect person to host tech-centric events like Startup Night at SXSW and the Timmy Awards for Tech in Motion. You can email Conor at conor@tech.co.