8 Best Cheap Web Hosting South Africa

Best Cheap Web Hosting South Africa

The world has gone digital, and to maintain relevance, an online presence is not just important, it is essential. For webmasters, developers, or bloggers in South Africa, this journey begins with finding a reliable, yet affordable web hosting provider.

While cost is a significant deciding factor here, it is crucial not to compromise on quality. Remember, a cheap web host should not equate to subpar service. You must consider factors like uptime guarantees, server speed, customer support, and the overall reputation of the provider. A poor-quality host can negatively impact the performance and reputation of your website.

This in-depth review highlights affordable hosting providers – Namecheap, HostAfrica & others – that offer value-packed plans, tailored to meet the needs of those who wish to have balance between quality and cost.

Best Cheap Web Hosting in South Africa

• Namecheap – Best Cheapest Web Hosting South Africa
• HostAfrica – Local Web Hosting in South Africa with Cheap Servers
• Hostinger – Budget and User-Friendly Hosting Provider
• Cloudways – Easy Cloud Hosting with Various Providers
• Ionos – Reliable Hosting Services for South Africa
• KnownHost – Powerful Hosting Solutions with Litespeed Server
• Digital Ocean – Cheap Unmanaged Hosting for Professionals
• 1-Grid – Local Web Hosting in South Africa

1. Namecheap – Best Cheap Web Hosting South Africa

Namecheap, a well-established web hosting and domain registration provider operating for over a decade, is known for its user-friendly control panel and affordable shared hosting plans with responsive customer support.

They offer a wide range of hosting plans, including Shared, WordPress, Reseller, VPS and Dedicated server hosting. Namecheap’s basic shared hosting plan (Stellar) offers solid features for web developers at an affordable price.

For just about R37/month (annual billing), you receive:

• Key features like a 100% uptime guarantee, 20GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and support for various CMS, such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento.

• Access to run 30 email accounts and the cPanel interface simplifies tasks like installing WordPress, creating email accounts, and uploading files.

• It supports developer tools such as python and PHP. The shared hosting plan is currently on version 8.1.

• Namecheap offers a reliable 30-day money-back guarantee and diverse payment methods, including credit cards, PayPal, and cryptocurrencies.

• No hidden charges, free website backups, domain privacy, free website builders, hosting for up to 3 websites, 50 MySQL databases, and 50 free SSL certificates for security.

What is good about Namecheap

Namecheap guarantees that they offer 100% uptime each month for their web hosting. This means that your website is always up and running, encountering little or no impediments in its productivity.

Namecheap Cons

However, Namecheap lacks server locations in South Africa, potentially causing traffic latency for local web developers and bloggers.

Also, while Namecheap offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, email, and ticket support, it does not provide a local South African phone number, which may be inconvenient.

The renewals are more expensive than registrations/new plans at Namecheap. Their initial offer pricing is for 1 year.

Visit Namecheap to know about their Hosting plans & features

2. HostAfrica – Local Web Hosting in South Africa with Cheap Servers

HostAfrica, a web hosting provider with headquarters in South Africa, is another excellent choice for local web developers and bloggers. They are popularly known for their budget-friendly prices, uptime, and responsive support.

They provide Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated server hosting, and domain name registration services tailored to South African customers. VPS hosting  supports CentOS, Ubuntu, and Debian with fast SSDs, unlimited traffic, and 24/7 monitoring.

Their plans are competitively priced, with the basic shared hosting package starting at approximately R139 per month, offering:

• Access to 40GB SSD storage, a free SSL certificate, and 100 email accounts.

• 9% uptime guarantee, a reliable cPanel interface, hosting for up to 5 domains, and 100 subdomains.

• HostAfrica also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for those looking to switch plans or discontinue services.

• They accept various payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, PayFast, and SnapScan.

• You can expect a prompt response when contacting support via live chat, phone, email, or support tickets.

• Namecheap provides free backup service for all its hosting plans, including shared and dedicated server hosting.

• They support managed CMS, such as WordPress, providing an easy and efficient way for you to manage your website content. They also support PHP 4.4, 5, 7,and 8.

HostAfrica offers a virtual IT department for customers, providing access to the latest technology, processes, and Data Centre infrastructure. They also provide beginner-friendly SiteBuilders and Logos to help businesses establish their brand.

What is good about HostAfrica

HostAfrica has local servers in South Africa. If your traffic is mostly South African, then your website would load faster in this geo.

Also, there are local customer support Agents.

HostAfrica Cons

HostAfrica lacks 24/7 customer support. Their chat support is not available during the night hours.

Moreover, there is no option to choose server location outside South Africa, with Shared Hosting plans.

Visit HostAfrica to know about their Hosting plans & features

3. Hostinger – Budget and User-Friendly Hosting Provider

Hostinger is a globally recognized web hosting provider known for its affordability and user-friendly solutions, making it an appealing choice for South African web developers, bloggers, and businesses seeking cost-effective hosting services.

Alongside domain registration, Hostinger offers VPS hosting, Cloud hosting, CyberPanel hosting, and Shared hosting, featuring SSD storage, free SSL certificates, and the user-friendly hPanel (Hostinger Panel) for managing websites and hosting settings, distinguishing it from Namecheap and HostAfrica.

Now let’s take a look at the Shared web hosting plan:

• The single plan, priced at R37/month, is suitable for beginners and startups, allowing hosting for one website. Premium plans, available at R56/month, permit hosting for up to 100 websites.

• The plan offers 50 gigabytes of SSD storage for enhanced website performance. Weekly backups, unlimited bandwidth, and a free SSL certificate secure your website.

• One email account is included, and you can set up one MySQL database for your website.

• Hostinger guarantees 99.9% uptime to ensure continuous website availability.

• Offers around-the-clock customer support via live chat and ticket-based assistance is also available.

• Hostinger provides the latest PHP versions (7.3 – 8.1) for compatibility with popular web applications and content management systems like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

• They accept various payment methods, including credit/debit cards, cryptocurrencies, PayPal, and GPay.

• They also maintain a 30-day money-back guarantee if you do not wish to continue with their services anymore.

What is good about Hostinger

Hostinger’s affordability is a significant advantage for South African users, especially startups and small businesses.

Their user-friendly features and responsive customer support make it accessible for users of all skill levels.

Hostinger Cons

Hostinger employs its custom hPanel, which might be different from what some users are accustomed to if they’ve used cPanel before. Also, while checking out, Hostinger may promote additional services or features which some users may find a bit intrusive.

Visit Hostinger to know about their Hosting plans & features

4. Cloudways – Easy Cloud Hosting with Various Providers

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform known for its simplicity and diverse cloud provider support (AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean), specializing in user-friendly cloud infrastructure for websites and applications. They utilize a custom control panel, not cPanel, tailored for cloud server management.

While some core features are consistent with these cloud providers like:

~99.99% uptime guarantee

~PHP 5.6, 7 and 8 support

~24/7 customer support

~Free Object Cache Pro and SSL

~Unlimited app installation

~Dedicated firewalls

~Automated backups

~Advanced caches

~Security patching and HTTP/2 support

~Purchases can be made using Credit/Debit card or PayPal.

There are still differences across these providers.

Cloudways for AWS( Amazon Web Service):

Cloudways offers a plan starting from R726/month with 2GB RAM, 2GB bandwidth, and 20GB storage. While AWS provides extensive scalability options that allow you to scale your resources up or down as needed, cloudways makes it easy to harness.

AWS has a vast global network of data centers, giving you the ability to host your website closer to your target audience for improved performance. It offers serverless computing options like AWS Lambda, which can be integrated into your hosting environment for specific use cases.

Cloudways for Google Cloud:

For R705/month, you get to enjoy features such as 20GB storage, 2GB bandwidth, and 1.75GB RAM. Google Cloud offers high-performance infrastructure for excellent website loading times and responsiveness.

Cloudways uses Google Cloud’s CDN (Content Delivery System) for fast content delivery worldwide. Also integration with Google Cloud’s machine learning tools enhances website capabilities and user experience.

Cloudways for DigitalOcean:

DigitalOcean is often more budget-friendly compared to AWS and Google Cloud, making it an attractive option for startups and small businesses. Out of the three, Digital Ocean offers the cheapest basic plan at R207/month. This plan gets you a 1 Core processor, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage and 1TB bandwidth.

DigitalOcean is known for its simplicity, and Cloudways builds on this by providing a user-friendly control panel that simplifies server management tasks. Cloudways offers one-click installations of various applications and platforms on DigitalOcean, simplifying the setup of popular software like WordPress and Magento.

What is good about Cloudways

Cloudways offers a user-friendly platform with a simplified control panel. This makes it easily accessible even to those with limited technical expertise. Cloudways handles server management tasks, including security updates, server monitoring, and backups, freeing you from administrative burdens.

Furthermore, Cloudways includes features like a built-in Content Delivery Network (CDN), PHP 7-ready servers, and server-level caching to enhance website performance. Cloudways provides transparent and predictable pricing, with no hidden fees or complex billing structures.

Cloudways Cons

Cloudways aims to simplify hosting but newcomers might still face a learning curve, especially if they’re new to cloud hosting concepts. Also while the pricing is competitive, it may not be the absolute cheapest option for users with very tight budgets, particularly when compared to traditional shared hosting providers.

Cloudways does not offer email hosting or domain registration services, so you’ll need to register your domain separately with a domain registrar.

Visit Cloudways to know about their Hosting plans & features

5. Ionos – Reliable Hosting Services for South Africa

Ionos is known for reliable hosting services that suit South African web developers, businesses, and individuals. They offer competitive pricing based on hosting type and features.

Services include Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated servers, and Domain registration. The essential shared hosting plan begins at R75 for the first six months and then R112 afterward. Some features you can find in this plan includes:

• Hosting for 1 website, 10GB of storage (HDD), 10 databases, a domain name included for 1 year, 768 MB memory limit and PHP 8.2 support.

• Ionos also provides PHP Extended Support for older versions (4.0, 5.2, 5.4, 5.6, 7, 7.1, and 7.2).

• It ensures a reliable hosting environment with a 99.99% uptime guarantee for accessible websites.

• They support popular CMS like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

• Ionos employs a custom control panel, designed to be user-friendly, instead of the usual cPanel.

• Beginner-friendly tools, including SiteBuilders and Logos, aid in establishing your online presence.

• Accepts various payment methods such as PayPal and credit cards

• Robust security features, including firewall protection and regular updates, enhance website security.

• Customer support is accessible via live chat, phone, and cloud support.

What is good about Ionos

Ionos incorporates security features such as DDoS protection, firewalls, and regular security updates to keep your website safe from online threats. It supports popular content management systems like WordPress and aims to provide a user-friendly hosting experience that can be readily accessible to bloggers and small businesses, including those new to web hosting.

Ionos Cons

Since they do not have servers in South Africa, hosting your website on servers located far from your target audience can lead to slower website loading times and decreased overall performance.

While Ionos offers customer support, the quality and responsiveness of support may vary, and some users have reported mixed experiences with their support services.

Visit Ionos to know about their Hosting plans & features

6. KnownHost – Powerful Hosting Solutions with Litespeed Server

Another powerful hosting provider on this list is KnownHost which offers managed VPS hosting, dedicated servers, and shared hosting. They are known to provide robust customer support and high-performance servers, thus making them a suitable choice for web developers or businesses with specific hosting needs.

They offer cPanel with some of their hosting plans, particularly those related to shared hosting. However, for their managed VPS and dedicated server hosting, they often provide the option of using cPanel or DirectAdmin as the control panel, giving users flexibility in their choice.

KnownHost’s basic shared hosting plan can be found at R65/month. You can make payments using credit cards like Visa or MasterCard. You can also use an e-wallet such as PayPal for your purchases.

The server specifications for basic shared hosting is as follows:

• The plan offers an average network uptime of 99.99%, ensuring your website remains accessible to visitors.

• The plan includes 1 CPU core, 512 megabytes of memory (RAM) allocated for your hosting needs, 5 GB Cloud Storage, 1 domain, and 5 email accounts associated with your domain.

• You can also set up and manage 2 MySQL databases for your website.

• Unlimited Premium Bandwidth, LiteSpeed web server software, known for its speed and performance benefits.

• Free SSL Certificates, optional Patchman security software is available, allowing you to enhance the security of your website.

• KnownHost is known for its responsive and knowledgeable customer support team, available 24/7 through various channels, including live chat, phone, and support tickets.

• PHP versions supported include 5.6, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2.

What is good about KnownHost

KnownHost has a reputation for excellent customer service, offering 24/7 technical support. Their response time is often praised as being quick and effective.They often use high-performance hardware and technologies, such as SSD storage and LiteSpeed web server, to ensure fast website loading times.

KnownHost Cons

While KnownHost provides a lot of options and features, it might be a bit overwhelming for beginners who are new to web hosting. Also as of now, KnownHost has data centers only in the USA and the Netherlands so this could potentially affect the loading speed of your website.

Visit KnownHost to know about their Hosting plans & features

Our Selection Criteria For Cheap Web Hosting in South Africa

The selection process involved looking at various web hosting providers and evaluating them based on their pricing, features, customer support, server uptime, and reputation.

a. Pricing in ZAR: To begin with, we took a look at the pricing and compared the basic plans for various web hosting providers (in Rand) to determine their affordability.

We also checked for any promotional discounts, plans with bulk discounts, or seasonal offers that could bring down the cost of hosting.

You can check this on the web host’s plans page on their website. For example, you can check Namecheap’s offer pricing as well as their renewals on the ‘Shared Hosting’ page (which is shown in small text with their plans).

b. Basic Hosting Specifications: We also evaluated the basic plans’ specifications, such as the amount of disk storage, the number of email accounts, bandwidth and supported CMS.

This helped in determining which service provider offers the best value for money and which one is reliable.

c. Customer Service (local): The next parameter we considered is each provider’s customer service, i.e., how easily accessible and helpful their support team is. Also, we checked if there is a local contact or not.

Additionally, we looked at the different ways that customer service can be contacted, such as email, phone, chat, or ticketing support.

d. Server Uptime (Guarantee & Actual): Server uptime is another critical aspect when selecting a web hosting provider, and we looked into the average uptime and downtime of each provider’s servers.

This helped in determining which provider can offer the most reliable uptime for the website.

e. Industry Reputation: Finally, we did some research into each provider’s reputation in the hosting industry. We paid attention to customer reviews, ratings, and feedback on different platforms and forums.

Based on these different parameters, we then identified the cheapest web hosting providers in South Africa that meet the required criteria, while also ensuring that the provider is reliable and well-rated by the customers.

Frequently Asked Questions – Web Hosting South Africa

What is the best cheap web hosting in South Africa?

There are several cheap web hosting options in South Africa, but the best option largely depends on your specific needs and budget. Some popular options include Namecheap and HostAfrica.

How much does it cost to host a website in South Africa?

The cost of hosting a website in South Africa varies depending on the hosting provider and the plan you choose. Some providers charge as little as R37 per month for basic shared hosting, while others may charge hundreds of Rands per month for dedicated server hosting or more advanced plans.

What is shared hosting and is it a good choice for South African businesses?

Shared hosting is a web hosting plan in which multiple websites share the resources of a single server.

It is typically the most affordable option for hosting a website. Shared hosting can be a good choice for South African businesses that are just starting out and don’t have a lot of traffic on their website.

What payment methods are available at web hosts in South Africa?

There are several payment methods available for web hosting in South Africa. Most providers accept credit or debit cards, PayPal, bank transfers, and EFT payments.

Some providers also accept other payment methods like Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

How do I choose the right web hosting plan for my business?

Choosing the right web hosting plan for your business requires consideration of several factors.

These include the amount of traffic you expect to receive on your website, the size of your website, the types of files you’ll be hosting, and whether you need specialized features like SSL certificates, email hosting, or support for specific CMS.