With charges for hosting, domain names, secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates and storage, website hosting costs can quickly rack up.
Fortunately, for businesses on a budget, there are many cheap web hosting services that provide reliable hosting solutions without breaking the bank. Here, we take a look at eight of the best cheap web hosting services to power your website.
Methodology
To help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) choose the cheapest website host that meets their needs, we evaluated 21 top tools. We compared each website host’s pricing while assessing each tool’s core functionality to ensure these affordable tools are worthwhile, functional options for small businesses. Read our full methodology here.
Namecheap
Starts at $4.48 per month
Why we picked it
Topping our list of the best cheap web hosting providers is Namecheap, with shared hosting plans starting from $4.48 per month when you choose a monthly pricing plan. Namecheap’s monthly pricing plans also scale reasonably with the services offered: the Stellar Plus plan is $6.48 per month and the Stellar Business plan is $9.48 per month.
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While the base tier only offers 20GB of storage and twice-weekly backups, you do get access to unmetered bandwidth, a free website builder, free and automatic SSL certificate installation and free website migration within 24 hours. Plus, if the migration isn’t completed on time, you receive the first year of hosting free.
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If you need unlimited websites, SSD storage and mailboxes, it’s worth upgrading to the Stellar Plus plan for an extra $2 per month. No matter which plan you opt for, Namecheap guarantees 24/7 live chat and help desk support, DDoS protection and free domains.
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As of the time of reporting, Namecheap offers even lower prices on shared hosting plans if you opt for an annual or two-year subscription. The Stellar plan is available for $1.58 or $1.98 per month, the Stellar Plus plan for $2.28 or $2.98 per month and the Stellar Business plan for $4.48 or $4.98 per month.
Pros
- Unmetered bandwidth across all plans
- Free automatic SSL certificate installation
- Lowest monthly rates on this list
Cons
- No phone support
- Low storage (20GB) with the cheapest plan
- Limited domain name choices with the cheapest plan
Who should use it
Namecheap is a great option for small businesses, freelancers and solopreneurs on a very tight budget who want to host a website for as little as possible. Although the cheapest plan lacks advanced features, the offer of free website migration within 24 hours, free domains and free SSL certificate installation is hard to ignore.
IONOS
Why we picked it
Taking second place on our list of cheap web hosting providers is IONOS. The provider offers four shared hosting pricing tiers, starting at $6 per month and climbing to $8, $12 and $16 per month as features become more advanced. At the time of reporting, the same plans are available with a significant discount (priced between $4 and $9 per month) when you sign up for a three-year subscription to IONOS.
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The cheapest plan, Essential, includes support for one website and 10GB of storage, daily backup and recovery, and free 24/7 support. Taking a step up to the Starter plan is suitable for up to 10 websites with 100GB of storage.
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All plans include DDoS protection, unlimited traffic, a free domain for one year (which includes .us, .ca, .com, .net, .org, .info, .me, .biz, and .online extensions) support for 10,000 subdomains and one email account with 2GB of storage. So, when evaluating IONOS plans, keep in mind that what sets them apart is mainly the increased storage capacity and the number of mailing lists (10-100) you can use.
Pros
- 24/7 live chat, phone and email support
- Daily backup and recovery across all plans
- Free Wildcard SSL certificate across all plans
Cons
- Only one email account with a 2GB inbox across all plans
- Website builder only available as a separate product
- Email marketing feature comes at an additional cost
Who should use it
Because IONOS offers a free Wildcard SSL certificate (which protects an unlimited number of subdomains) across all plans, we recommend IONOS for businesses with multiple subdomains, including e-commerce platforms and content-driven websites like media publishing, news sites and blogs.
InterServer
Why we picked it
InterServer offers a single shared web hosting plan priced at $7 per month. However, as of the time of reporting, the provider offers a 65% discount, allowing you to get the plan for just $2.50 per month.
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With InterServer’s cheap web hosting deal, you get unlimited storage space, data transfer and email accounts, as well as weekly backups, a free website migration service, Inter-Insurance (which cleans up compromised, hacked or exploited accounts) and 24/7 managed support.
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The downside of InterServer’s single pricing tier is that domains aren’t free; they generally cost anywhere from about $10 to $100 (depending on whether you choose a new domain or are renewing or transferring the domain). You also don’t get access to DDoS protection (this is only included with VPS hosting and dedicated hosting plans).
Pros
- Unlimited storage space
- Weekly backups included with all plans
- 24/7 live chat, phone, email and tickets
Cons
- No free domains
- DDoS protection only included with VPS and dedicated hosting plans
- Only one shared web hosting plan to choose from
Who should use it
InterServer is best suited for those who have previous experience with web hosting since its list of highly technical features might be overwhelming for starters. However, despite InterServer’s long list of features, after trying out a demo of InterServer’s dashboard-style control panel, we found it fairly easy to navigate — if not a little dated and flat.
DreamHost
Starts at $7.99 per month
Why we picked it
DreamHost pricing starts at $7.99 (on a monthly basis) for its Shared Starter plan which includes unlimited traffic, a free SSL certificate, a custom-built control panel, 50GB of storage and unmetered bandwidth. At the time of reporting, you can access this plan for an introductory price of $4.95 for three months, after which you’ll pay the full $7.99.
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If you’re a WordPress user, you can upgrade to DreamHost’s Shared Unlimited plan, which supports an unlimited number of WordPress websites, plus unlimited storage and subdomains and email accounts for your custom domain. This plan costs $13.99 per month (on a monthly basis), but again, at the time of writing, you can pay an introductory price of $8.95 per month for three months.
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DreamHost surely deserves its place on this list of cheap web hosting providers; with a three-year subscription, you’ll pay just over $30 dollars per year for the Shared Starter plan and just over $47 for the Shared Unlimited plan.
Pros
- 100% uptime guarantee
- Free SSL certificate
- Unmetered bandwidth
Cons
- Only 50GB of storage offered with cheapest plan
- No DDoS protection
- No direct phone support, only callbacks
Who should use it
Both shared plans come with a WordPress site builder that’s armed with a drag-and-drop editor and professional website templates. Plus, DreamHost offers instant WordPress setup and has built an optimized hosting environment and software specific to the platform. For these reasons, we recommend the provider as best for small businesses that rely on WordPress to power their websites.
AccuWeb Hosting
Starts at $8.99 per month
Why we picked it
AccuWeb Hosting offers three shared Linux hosting plans. The cheapest plan ($8.99 per month) is fit for one website and offers 50GB of storage, free website migration, free website builder templates, daily backups and support for 150 email accounts. At the time of writing (May 2024), the provider is offering a discount on this plan when you choose a three-year subscription, which means you’ll only pay $3.99 per month.
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If you need more storage and support for an unlimited number of websites and email accounts, AccuWeb Hosting’s Premium and Enterprise Pro plans could prove better options. These cost $14.99 and $18.99 per month, respectively, and also come with significant introductory discounts.
Pros
- Daily backup included with all plans
- Wide variety of security features
- Supports a good number of email addresses
Cons
- Storage limits
- Capped monthly visits
- Free domain only included with Enterprise Pro plan
Who should use it
With a storage cap of 100GB and limits on monthly visitors, we think that AccuWeb Hosting is ideal for websites averaging fewer than 500,000 monthly visitors that still need robust features like daily backups and a range of security features.
Web.com
Starts at $10.99 per month
Why we picked it
Web.com has three pricing tiers on offer, all of which can only be purchased on a monthly, annual or three-year plan.
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The Basic plan costs $10.99 per month but you can save up to 70% with introductory and multiyear offers. This plan supports one website and provides 10GB of storage, a free domain, unmetered bandwidth and a drag-and-drop website builder. The Plus plan (which costs $15.99 per month before introductory and multiyear discounts) is suitable for up to five websites, offers 20GB of storage and a free SSL certificate for the first year. Finally, the Premium plan (which costs $19.99 per month before discounts) supports up to 10 websites and 40 GB of storage.
Pros
- Unmetered bandwidth included with all plans
- Free domains
- Free trial
Cons
- Limited storage across all plans
- SSL certificate only available at an additional cost with the cheapest plan
- Advanced security features and backup available at an additional cost
Who should use it
With smaller storage limits, Web.com is best suited for solo business owners, entrepreneurs or small businesses that don’t require extensive website storage or bandwidth. In particular, we think startups and small local businesses that want to establish an online presence without the need for large-scale storage capabilities could also do well with Web.com’s simple drag-and-drop website builder.
TMDHosting
Starts at $10.99 per month
Why we picked it
TMDHosting has three Linux shared hosting pricing plans. The Starter plan costs $10.99 per month and includes a free domain, free domain transfer, support for one website, 50GB of storage and unlimited email accounts. The second plan (Business) costs $14.99 per month and offers support for unlimited websites, 100GB of storage and 30 backup copies. Enterprise, TMDHosting’s most expensive plan, costs $22.99 per month; it offers unlimited storage and what it describes as “performance x4.”
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As with other providers, you can access savings when you choose one of TMDHosting’s longer-term subscriptions. Choosing to pay for the Starter plan on an annual basis ($2.99 per month) is initially more economical than the two- or three-year plan ($4.99 per month), but you will save long-term by going with the multiyear plans.
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What we like about TMDHosting is that across all pricing plans, you get access to a free SSL certificate, 24/7/365 premium support and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
Pros
- Free domains
- Unlimited email accounts with all shared plans
- Free Weebly sitebuilder
Cons
- No backups with Starter plan
- No phone support
- Only 30 backup copies included with Business and Enterprise plans
Who should use it
Businesses familiar with website builder Weebly will be happy with TMDHosting’s free Weebly site builder option. With 24/7/365 premium customer support across all Linux shared hosting plans, TMDHosting is also a good option for businesses that need to rely on round-the-clock support.
InMotion
Starts at $12.99 per month
Why we picked it
InMotion’s pricing is among the highest on this list, especially considering that the provider doesn’t offer huge discounts when you choose an annual or three-year subscription plan. For example, its cheapest shared plan, Core, costs $12.99 for month-to-month payments, $10.99 per month when you pay for the year upfront and $9.99 per month for a three-year plan. (Introductory discounts, however, bring costs down substantially.)
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The Core plan does offer a great jumping-off point for those new to the web hosting game, with unlimited bandwidth, support for two websites, 100GB of storage and unlimited subdomains. InMotion’s plans are also very scalable in terms of features, which makes it easy for you to upgrade as your hosting needs grow.
Pros
- Unlimited bandwidth included with all plans
- Storage is generous, even with cheaper plans
- Free SSL certificate
Cons
- Only two websites available with cheapest plan
- Backups only available as an add-on
- Phone support only available with higher pricing tiers
Who should use it
We think small businesses would benefit most from choosing InMotion’s Power plan with an annual subscription. Not only do you get support for unlimited websites and unlimited email addresses, you’ll pay a lower price of $4.79 per month — a huge 73% saving.
What is web hosting?
Web hosting is a service that enables individuals and businesses to make their websites accessible online by renting “space” on the Internet. It involves storing website files, images and code on servers connected to the Internet.
In general, web hosting platforms provide features such as website design or website builders, storage space, bandwidth, backup options and connectivity to help you showcase your website to the public.
Benefits of web hosting
A reliable online presence — even if you’re running a brick-and-mortar store — is invaluable. Here’s how web hosting services help your business thrive:
- You can reach a wider audience, and, of course, more potential customers.
- Web hosting providers make it easy to create, manage and maintain all aspects of your website from one platform.
- Cheap web hosting plans offer a low-cost way to maintain your online presence.
- Web hosting platforms perform regular backups and put security measures in place to ensure and maintain the integrity of your website.
- Rather than troubleshooting yourself, you can access the expertise and support you need when your website encounters technical issues.
Ease of use
Above Average
Rates & Fees / Terms Apply
On Wix’s Website
Rates & Fees / Terms Apply
On Squarespace’s Website
AI powered tools
Easy to use drag-and-drop builder
Rates & Fees / Terms Apply
On Web.com’s Website
Essential web hosting features
As well as bandwidth and storage space, when you’re looking for a web hosting service, make sure it also has these features:
- Guaranteed uptime: Look for providers that guarantee 99.9% uptime or more. Anything less increases the risk of downtime and potentially losing business.
- Control panel: Also known as the cPanel, this helps you manage your domains and business email addresses.
- Domain names: Many cheap web hosting providers also offer free or affordable domain name registration services.
- Website builder: Providers should offer built-in website-building features, tools or templates.
- Backups: Make sure your web hosting provider has the ability to back up your website as much as you need — whether it’s daily, weekly or biweekly is up to you.
- Security features: Look for extensive security tools, including SSL certificates, DDoS protection, firewalls and hack and malware protection.
How much does web hosting cost?
This guide focuses on the best cheap web hosting providers, but, in general, website hosting costs vary widely. First, you need to factor in the type of web hosting you want. If you’re looking for cheap web hosting, shared hosting is your best bet. This type of hosting means you’ll be sharing servers with other websites. Other options, like dedicated, WordPress and VPS hosting plans are often more expensive and will differ widely depending on which host and plan you choose.
Website hosting pricing plans are usually structured on a monthly, annual and sometimes biennial or triennial basis, and you can more often than not access discounts for choosing a longer-term plan.
Read our in-depth guide to website hosting costs for a deeper look into different hosting options and other factors influencing web hosting pricing.
Methodology: How we evaluated the cheapest web hosts
To help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) choose the cheapest website host that meets their needs, we started with the top providers evaluated for our best web hosting service guide. To build that guide, we evaluated ~2,200 data points and 35 metrics. While we used that same data set for this list, to identify the top cheap website hosts we adjusted our weighting to emphasize monthly and annual pricing. We also evaluated specific plan offerings from each host to ensure that the provided pricing information represents worthwhile plans for small businesses.
While cost was our primary metric, we evaluated each website host on our list for the same core features assessed for our best web hosting service guide (bandwidth and storage limits, control panel availability, firewalls and DDoS protection and the inclusion of a website builder, among other features). Service and support options and third-party user reviews were also considered.
Read our original, comprehensive methodology.
Ease of use
Above Average
Rates & Fees / Terms Apply
On Wix’s Website
Rates & Fees / Terms Apply
On Squarespace’s Website
AI powered tools
Easy to use drag-and-drop builder
Rates & Fees / Terms Apply
On Web.com’s Website
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
There are several types of web hosting available, including shared hosting (you share a server and resources with other websites), VPS hosting (acts as a dedicated server environment within a shared server), dedicated hosting (you have your own dedicated server) and WordPress hosting (servers are optimized for websites powered by WordPress).
Many web hosting services have similar features, so we recommend checking each provider’s uptime guarantee, site security features, customer support options, scalability and ease of use to make the right decision.
https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/money/best-cheap-web-hosting
