Over the past few weeks I’ve been searching the web to find the best hosting providers available. After encountering so many, I thought it would be helpful for others if I reviewed each hosting company and provided a comprehensive comparison chart. I have evaluated each company according to features such as the type of hosting offered (Windows, Linux, or both), base price for least expensive shared hosting plan, if they offer free hosting, the allotted amount of monthly storage and bandwidth, whether a free domain is included or not, and if there are any extra (setup) fees incurred. I also recorded the various ways in which each web hosting company provided help and support to their customers. Such assistance included support via phone, email, forums, video tutorials, frequently asked questions (FAQ), a knowledge base, and live chat.
Currently, the review contains evaluations of 80 different hosting providers and the comparison chart contains over 1,200 data entries. While it was a ton of work to get it where it is now, I am already working to expand it and I will continuously revisit and update it. So please let me know if I have left any important hosting solutions out or if there are any other features you would like to see added to the comparison chart.
Best Web Hosting Comparison Chart
The comparison chart above was created to help you find the hosting plan that best fits your needs. It can be sorted according to price and features that are of importance to you. For example, if you are looking for an inexpensive Linux hosting plan with unlimited storage and bandwidth that comes with a free domain, no setup fees, and customer support via phone, you would simply to the following:
- Filter according to type of hosting (Windows/Linux) and select Linux
- Sort via price (1-Yr Plan) and select A to Z
- Filter by Storage amount and select Unlimited
- Filter for Bandwidth and select Unlimited
- Filter according to Free Domain and select Yes
- Filter via Setup Fee and select No
- Filter for Phone Support and choose Yes
1and1 – A long standing provider of domains and web hosting. They provide both Linux and Windows based shared hosting accounts. For their basic 1-year shared Linux based hosting plan, they offer 10 GB of storage and 300 GB of bandwidth for only $3.99. It also includes a free domain, no setup fee, and great support via FAQs, email, and phone.
ANHosting – Provides a basic shared hosting account that includes 500 GB of storage space and 5000 GB of monthly bandwidth usage for a regular price of $6.95. There are no free domains or setup fees included in this Linux based hosting package but phone support is provided.
Aplus – Offers Windows-only hosting with technical support delivered via FAQs, knowledge base, email, live chat, and phone. Their basic shared hosting plan comes with 5 GB of storage, 100 GB of bandwidth, a free domain, and no setup fee for $6.95 per month.
ApolloHosting – Has both Windows and Linux based hosting that’s supported via FAQs, live chat, and phone. For $6.96 per month you can get 50 GB of storage and 500 GB of bandwidth that doesn’t included free domains for setup fees.
Avahost – Linux hosting is supported via FAQs, tutorials, email, and live chat. You can pick up a shared hosting account that includes 150 GB of storage space, 1500 GB of bandwidth, a free domain, with no setup fees for a monthly cost of only $4.95.
BlueHost – Provides a basic shared Linux based hosting account for $8.95 per month that includes an unlimited amount of storage and bandwidth, a free domain, and no setup fees. Customer support is provided via FAQs, knowledge base, support tickets, email, and phone.
BounceWeb – Offers support to its customers via a knowledge base, tutorials, support tickets, live chat, and phone support. Their basic plan includes 18 GB of storage space and 180 GB of bandwidth for $5.95 per month (no setup fee or free domain).
CIHost – Services include Windows and Linux based hosting plans that are supported via FAQs, live chat, and phone. The basic Linux shared hosting plan with 80 GB of storage and 250 GB of bandwidth doesn’t come with a free domain and will cost you $11.91 per month plus a $25 setup fee.
Doreo Hosting – A Linux hosting provider with a starter shared hosting plan that includes 2GB of storage space and 60GB of bandwidth with no setup fee or free domain for $6.99 per month. Their technical support team may be contacted via phone, email, and support tickets. Help is also available through their knowledge base and video tutorials.
Dot5Hosting – Offers Linux hosting only and provides customer support through FAQs, knowledge base, video tutorials, email, live chat, and phone. Their least expensive shared hosting account comes with a free domain, will run you $5.95 a month, and includes unlimited storage and bandwidth.
DotEasy – Provides free and paid solutions for your Linux-based hosting needs. Their basic plan costs $7.95 per month and includes only 1 GB of storage space and 20 GB of bandwidth (no free domain or setup fee).
Dotster – Basic Linux hosting service account includes 10 GB of storage and 300 GB of bandwidth for a monthly charge of $8.75. It does not include a free domain or setup fee. Their customer support is served by way of FAQs, email, live chat, and phone.
DreamHost – One of the top hosting companies available. Customer support is accessed through their knowledge base, forums, and email. Their most modestly priced shared Linux hosting accounts comes with unlimited storage and bandwidth for just $10.95 per month and a free domain.
EasyCGI – Provides Windows based hosting only with customer support that is covered via FAQs, a knowledge base, tutorials, email, live chat, and live phone support. For a monthly charge of $7.96 you can get 350 GB of storage and 3500 GB of bandwidth with no setup fee or free domain.
EmaginHosting – Offers Linux and Windows hosting services and free domains with most of their accounts. Ten gigabytes of storage space and three hundred gigs of bandwidth is included in their most basic shared hosting account which also includes a free domain and no setup fees for merely $5.95 per month. Customer support is served via FAQs, knowledge base, tuturials, email, and telephony.
ePowHost – Customer support is delivered through a variety of channels such as FAQs, a knowledge base, tutorials, and email. Unfortunately they do not offer support via phone or Windows based hosting either. However, you can get an unlimited amount of storage space and bandwidth, plus a free domain for only $5.95 a month.
Erupt – Linux only hosting provider that supports its customers via live phone calls, email, FAQs, a knowledge base, and support tickets. No setup fees or free domains are include in the purchase of their basic hosting plan which runs $8.88 per month (300 gigs storage, 2000 gigs bandwidth).
EZ-Web-Hosting – A Windows and Linux hosting provider. Their cheapest Linux hosting account comes with one hundred gigabytes of storage and fifteen hundred gigabytes of monthly bandwidth at a price of $7.95 per month (setup fees and free domains not included). Support for their customers is provided through their knowledge base, support tickets, email, and live chat sessions.
FastDomain – Has Linux hosting with unlimited storage and bandwidth currently priced at $5.95 per month which also includes a free domain and no setup fees. Customer support is somewhat lacking however, as it is provided only through a knowledge base and support tickets.
FastNext – Offers both Linux and Windows hosting services. Their customer support is impressive as it includes contact points such as live chat, support via phone, customer forums, tutorials, FAQs, a knowledge base, and email. Their basic Linux hosting will cost you only $3.75 for 300 GB of storage and 3000 GB of bandwidth with no extra fees (free domain not included).
FatCow – Another leading provider of hosting services. They only provide Linux based hosting solutions that are supported through online FAQs, a knowledge base, tutorials, email, live chat and live phone support. Their cheapest hosting plan costs $5.50 per month which comes with unlimited storage and bandwidth as well as a free domain.
FuseBlast – Charges $6.95 per month for their least expensive shared hosting plan which includes 5.5 GB of storage and 25 GB of bandwidth. While no setup fee is required, it doesn’t come with a free domain either. FuseBlast’s customer support is provided only through support tickets.
Gate – Offers both Windows and Linux based hosting services and supports its customers via their knowledge base, email, and live operators. Their basic plan (100 GBs storage, unlimited bandwidth) will run you $9.95 per month which does not include a setup fee or a free domain.
GlobAt – Only provides Linux based hosting but gives away free domains with each hosting account and does not charge setup fees. You can signup for a hosting account for as little as $4.44 per month with an unlimted amount of storage space and unlimited bandwidth. GlobAt ’s customer support is provided via its knowledge base, FAQs, email, phone, and live chat.
GlowHost – Offers a variety of access points through which employees can deliver support which includes a knowledge base, tutorials, forums, email, phone, and support tickets. They currently only provide Linux based hosting solutions but they come with a free domain and no setup fees. Their most basic hosting plan includes storage of 2.5 gigabytes and an alloted bandwidth of 50 gigs.
GoDaddy – A leading provider of domains and hosting services. They even offer free hosting (with ads) and every hosting plan purchased comes with a free domain. The have both Windows and Linux hosting plans available and provide support for their customers via tutorials, FAQs, a knowledge base, email, and phone operators. You can pick up an annual hosting account for a little as $4.99 per month (storage = 10 GBs, bandwidth = 300 GBs) with not setup fees incurred.
GoodAvocado – Delivers unlimited bandwidth and storage for only $4.99 per month for their basic Linux hosting plan (no free domain and no setup fees). Customer support is lacking and only provided via support tickets.
GreenGeeks – Gives you unlimited storage and bandwidth for their $7.95 Linux hosting plan but you get a free domain with it as well. Customers receive support through the provided knowledge base, support tickets, and live calls.
Host595 – A free domain with the hosting plan priced at $5.95 per month that includes unlimited amounts of storage and bandwidth usage. A knowledge base, support tickets, live chat, phone support and email support is provided for Host595 customers.
HostCats – Has Linux and Windows hosting plans available starting at $14.54 per month (Linux, 0.5 GB storage, 5 GB bandwidth, no free domain). No setup fees are included and customer support is available through tutorials, FAQs, forums, knowledge base, phone, live chat, and email.
HostDime – Offers Linux hosting plans only starting at $9 per month (storage space = 200 GB, bandwidth = 2000 GB, domain not included). Support for their customers can be access by way of email, phone, tutorials, and their knowledge base.
HostExpress – Their customer support is somewhat lacking given their support team can only be reached via email. Although they do have a set of tutorials and FAQs that should be able to answer most support issues. Host Express’s 1-yr basic shared Linux hosting account comes with 1 GB of storage and 10 GB of bandwidth for $9.99 per month (free domain and setup fees not included).
HostGator – A leading Linux and Windows hosting provider that delivers a vast number of contact points through which customers can access support including live chat, phone, support tickets, forums, email, knowledge base, FAQs, and tutorials. Their $4.95 (per month) Linux hosting account does not include a free domain but you do get unlimited storage and bandwidth.
HostICan – Gives away a free domain with their Linux shared hosting account which comes with unlimited bandwidth and storage for $6.95 per month. They offer several access points for contacting support and troubleshooting by way of tutorials, knowledge base, forums, email, support tickets, and live phone support.
Hosting4Less – A Linux only hosting provider with customer support offered through its knowledge base, email, and phone. Five gigabytes of storage and 100 gigs of bandwidth is included in their most basic hosting plan ($9.95) which does come with a free domain.
HostMonster – Another very popular Linux hosting provider that offers up a good number of access points for which to seek help via their live phone support, live chat, support tickets, email, forums, knowledge base, and FAQs. Unlimited bandwidth and storage will only cost you $5.95 per month and it comes with a free domain and no setup fee.
HostNed – For only $2.08 per month you can get yourself some Linux hosting. However, the plan only includes 300 MB of storage and 20 GB of bandwidth and it does not include a free domain. HostNed also Windows hosting as well. Their customer support is powered only by FAQs and support tickets.
HostPapa – Serves up unlimited bandwidth usage and storage or $6.95 per month with a free domain and no setup fee. Customer support is provided via a knowledge base, FAQs, email, phone, live online chat and support tickets.
HostRocket – Support to customers is offered via live phone operators, email, community forums, support tickets, and FAQs. A basic Linux hosting plan for $8.99 per month includes 1079 GBs of storage and unlimited bandwidth but it does not come with a free domain.
Hostway – For $13.95/month you can obtain shared Linux hosting with unlimited bandwidth and 100 GBs of storage. Hostway serves Windows hosting too and provides it customers with support via tutorial, email, phone, FAQs, and a knowledge base.
ImHosted – Provides unlimited storage and bandwidth for $6.95 per month for its basic Linux hosting plan (no free domain included) and does not charge a setup fee. Their customer support can be accessed via tutorials, forums, support tickets, live chat, knowledge base, FAQ, and phone support.
InMotionHosting – A free domain, 100 GB of storage, 1000 GBs of bandwidth, and no setup fees come with their $3.00 a month Linux hosting plan. Customers can reach technical support and troubleshooting issues via phone support, live chat, email, tutorials, FAQ, and knowledge base.
iPower – Technical issues with your hosting account can be troubleshooted by accessing their support team and other help sources via live chat, phone, email, tutorials, knowledge base, and FAQs. For $3.95 you get a Linux hosting plan that includes 5 gigs of storage, 250 gigs of bandwidth, a free domain, and no setup fees.
iPowerWeb – Their basic Linux hosting plan with 1500 GBs of storage, a free domain, and 1500 GBs of bandwidth will cost you $4.95/month and a $10 setup fee. Customers can seek help via support tickets, tutorials, knowledge base, FAQ, email, phone, and live chat.
IXWebHosting – Offers customer support through various avenues including phone, email, live chat, support tickets, FAQs, knowledge base, and tutorials. A free domain is included with their $4.95/month basic Linux hosting plan which comes with unlimited bandwidth and storage space.
JumpLaunch – Linux hosting plan with unlimited bandwidth and storage, no setup fees, and a free domain for $6.95 per month. You can obtain help with your hosting account by contacting customer support via live chat, submitting a support ticket, calling them, or accessing their knowledge base.
Jumpline – Support for customers is provided via phone, email, submitting a support ticket, community forums, video tutorials, FAQ, and knowledge base. You can get a shared Linux hosting plan for only $7.95 a month that comes with 5 gigabytes of storage and 50 gigabytes of bandwidth but no free domains or setup fees.
JustHost – A free domain and unlimited bandwidth and storage comes with their $4.95 Linux hosting account. Access to customer support and help sources is provided by way of their frequently asked questions, tutorials, knowledge base, support tickets, and phone operators.
KazzHosting – Support for customers can be accessed through email and FAQ only. Their entry level Linux hosting plan that includes 500 MB of storage and 1 GB of bandwidth does not come with a free domain or setup fees and costs $5.95 per month.
LiquidWeb – Sixty gigs of bandwidth, 1 gig of storage, and a free domain comes with their Linux hosting plan priced at $14.95 a month. Tutorials and phone calls are their only avenue through which to seek help or contact customer support.
Lunarpages – Serves customer support by way of phone, live chat, email, support tickets, discussion forums, video tutorials, FAQs, and a knowledge base. No setup fees are charged with their $4.95 per month Linux hosting account that comes with unlimited bandwidth and storage and a free domain.
MidPhase – Offers Linux hosting plan for $7.95 per month with a free domain, 3000 gigabytes of monthly bandwidth, 250 gigs of store, and no setup fee. Support is accessible via phone, support tickets, live chat, a knowledge base, and community forums.
Mister – Linux hosting for $5.83 with 1 GB of storage, 15 GB of bandwidth, no free domain, and no setup fees. Free hosting is available through Mister.net as well. They provide support for customers through email and FAQs only.
MochaHost – Does not offer free hosting and customers are supported by way of phone, a knowledge base, tutorials, live chat, and email. Their starter Linux plan costs only $3.10 a month, includes unlimited bandwidth and storage, and does not come with any setup fee. MochaHost provides both Windows and Linux hosting services.
MyDomain – For their $5.75 Linux hosting account you get 10 gigs of storage and 300 gigabytes of bandwidth. It does not include a free domain nor does it incur any set-up fees. Help with your hosting plan is accessible by email, phone, a knowledge base, and FAQ.
MyHosting – Linx and Windows hosting provider that supports its customers via live chat, live phone support, FAQ, discussion forums, and email. A beginner shared hosting account runs $5.45 per month and comes with 5 GBs of storage and 50 GBs of bandwidth (no free domain or setup fees).
MyriadNetwork – $14.95 per month will get you a Linux hosting plan with 1 GB of storage space and 125 GBs of bandwidth but no free domain or setup fees. It is supported by phone, FAQs, community forums, and support tickets.
NetFirms – A Windows and Linux hosting provider that serves customer support via live chat sessions, email, live phone conversations, instructional tutorials, and a knowledge base. Ten GBs of alloted storage and 500 gigabytes of included bandwidth costs $4.95 per month (no setup fee or free domain).
NetworkSolutions – Gives out a free domain with its Windows hosting account that comes with 300 GBs of bandwidth and 10 GBs of storage space without any setup fees for $5.99/month. Their help center offers support through phone, email, tutorials, knowledge base, and FAQs.
Nexx – Provides customer support through phone and email only. They are a Linux and Windows hosting provider that offers a free domain, 3000 gigs of bandwidth, and 300 gigs of storage with their basic Linux hosting plan for $7.95 a month.
Omnis – A free domain, unlimited bandwidth and storage space with no setup fees for $8.95/month. Support to their customer base is enforced by tutorials, a knowledge base, frequently asked questions, telephone, and email.
OneWebHosting – Delivers support via live phone calls, email, FAQs, a knowledge base, and tutorials. A one year Linux hosting plan for $9.95 per month comes with a free domain, no setup fee, 10 GB of bandwidth, and 25 GBs of storage space.
PowWeb – Provides both Linux and Window hosting solutions and customer support is brought to you via email, live chat, forum, tutorials, phone, and FAQ. They have a basic Linux hosting account with unlimited bandwidth and storage for only $3.88 per month that includes a free domain without any incurred set-up fee.
PronetHosting – $4.95 per month gets you a Linux hosting account with 1000 GB of bandwidth and 100 GBs of storage, plus a free domain. Customers are supported via tutorials, knowledge base, support tickets, and email.
Register – Includes tutorials, FAQs, knowledge base, email, live chat, and direct help from their support team. Their least expensive Linux hosting account costs $8.95 per month for 5 gigabytes of storage, 250 gigs of bandwidth, and a free domain (no setup fees though).
ServerPro – For $5.99 per month you get a Linux hosting plan that includes 3500 gigs of bandwidth and 350 gigs of allocated storage without an setup fees or free domains. Support is only provided to customers by way of tutorials and email.
Site5 – Get help from their customer support via FAQs, forums, knowledge base, email, phone, and live chat. Unlimited bandwidth and storage without any setup fees or free domains will cost you $7.95/month for their most modestly priced Linux hosting package.
StartLogic – Another Linux-only hosting provider that offers 60 GBs of storage, 600 GBs of bandwidth for $4.95 per month (does not include a free domain). Customers can obtain help via their FAQs, tutorials, support ticket submission form, email, knowledge base, live chat, and phone.
TBHost – Extends support to customers only through support tickets and tutorials. They charge a $25 setup fee for their most modestly priced Linux hosting account which runs $14.95 per month and includes only 100 MB of monthly storage and 3 GB of monthly bandwidth (no free domain).
TechHosting – A 500 gigabyte storage amount, 1000 gigabytes of bandwidth, and a free domain with no setup fees is included with their basic Linux hosting plan for $4.95 per month. Customer service and support is covered by way of a knowledge base, live chat, phone, FAQs, tutorials, and email.
ThinkHost – Customer support is provided only through their knowledge base and support tickets. A basic Linux hosting plan with unlimited bandwidth and storage is priced at $7.95/month. It does not include a free domain or any set-up costs.
UltraWebsiteHosting – For $3.95 you can signup for their Linux hosting plan with 5000 gigs of monthly bandwidth usage and 100 gigs of storage space. This plan does not include a free domain or any setup fees either. They do, however, offer direct phone support, live chat, and other avenues through which to seek help such as tutorials, forums, and support tickets.
VividHosting – Access to hosting related help is provided through tutorials, support tickets, email, and live chat sessions with their support team. You can get a Linux hosting account starting at $3.95 per month which includes 250GBs of bandwidth, 5GBs of allocated storage space but no domain.
Web – A Windows and Linux hosting company that charges $19.95 per month for 80GBs of storage and 1000GBs of monthly bandwidth usage. Neither a free domain nor a setup fee is included in that hosting package. You can reach customer support by simply picking up a phone and calling them or by sending them email. Commonly asked hosting questions are covered with their list of frequently asked questions.
WebHost4Life – Telephone calls, a live chat interface, email, and support tickets can all be used to contact their support team. FAQs and their knowledge base is provided for more commonly asked questions regarding hosting issues. Priced at $2.99 per month, WebHost4Life may offer the most inexpensive shared hosting service that includes unlimited monthly storage and bandwidth. Moreover, that Linux hosting plan comes with a free domain and no setup fees.
WebHostGiant – A provider of both Linux and Windows hosting services that charges $2.79 for 25 gigs of storage and 1000 gigs of monthly bandwidth. No free domain or setup fees are included with that type of an account. Help can be sought out via their FAQs, forums, tutorials, knowledge base, email, and support tickets.
WebHostingPad – A knowledge base and support tickets are the only sources of help. A free domain is included in their modestly priced ($4.95/month) Linux hosting account for which there is unlimited storage and monthly bandwidth usage.
WebsiteSource – No free domain or setup fee is included in the $9.99/month Linux hosting plan that comes with 50GBs of bandwith and 25GBs of storage per month. Their customer support representatives can be reached via phone, live chat, and email. Other less serious concerns relating to your hosting account problems may be investigated using their FAQs, knowledge base, and tutorials.
WestHost – Provides support to its customers through phone, live chat sessions, email, forums, FAQs, and knowledge base. No setup fees or free domains are included with their $3.95 per month Linux hosting plan with 1GB of storage and 10GB of bandwidth.
WingSix – One hundred gigabytes of monthly bandwidth usage and 10 gigabytes of storage space is included with their Linux hosting plan for $6.95/month. That plan does not include a free domain and does not incur setup fees. Phone support is available for customers as well as support through tickets. A library of frequently asked questions and tutorials is maintained for troubleshooting and general help issues.
Yahoo – You can reach their support team via phone or email and seek out instructional help via their knowledge base and tutorials. For $8.96 per month you can get unlimited bandwidth and storage space and a free domain. No extra fees are incurred for this particular hosting plan.
Your-Site – No domains or setup fees are included with their $5/month Linux hosting plan which comes with 5 gigs of bandwidth and 50 MB of storage space. They do, however, provide customer support through live phone, chat, and emails. A knowledge base and forum of users ensures that other frequently asked questions and issues can be addressed.
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Kevin,
great list.
you should also add iweb.com
very competitive price, with support by phone, email, chat and unlimited bandwidth. You can also upgrade to a dedicated server when the time needs
(it’s based in Canada)
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Twitter/Share/BookmarkI don’t trust any host that claims unlimited traffic.. speaking from experience, the provider will suspend your account and a limit will be placed if your site gets too much traffic.
Also, I would add FreeHostia.com to the list. Like other providers, they have lots of plans available, but the low cost one I usually recommend to people is only $2.95/month.
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Twitter/Share/BookmarkSurely you have missed one of the most important aspects — what technologies does to company allow you to use? Are you limited to basic HTML/PHP, or can you run Django, Rails, cron, etc.
You have also missed potentially THE best hosting company out there — WebFaction. They allow UNLIMITED domains, databases, SSH/FTP users, huge bandwidth, and you can install any software you like. I have found them to be brilliant, and their support team are lightning fast and extremely knowledgeable.
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Twitter/Share/BookmarkAmazon EC2 and S3 are great products that I have personally used: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/ and http://aws.amazon.com/s3/ but you might consider them a different genre of web hosting than what you have listed here.
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Twitter/Share/BookmarkYeah, I haven't tested them myself but I would be interested to hear what you think about them. I'd especially like to know what you think they should be used for and who should/shouldn't use them.
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