Web hosting -- the service that stores websites on specialized computers called web servers so they're available online -- can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. I've researched dozens of web hosts (and tested several of them) to compile this list of the best cheap web hosting companies, so that you can find the best option for your budget.
Our Picks
What is the best cheap web hosting right now?
AccuWeb is the best cheap web hosting service because you’ll get a lot of features even on the lowest-cost plan, which costs just $2.75 a month. Some of the plan's most notable features include LiteSpeed-enhanced servers, daily backups, a custom firewall, antivirus protection and malware scanning. Moreover, this plan doesn’t just start at $2.75 a month -- it stays at that price on renewal rather than increasing by $2 to $10 a month like other web hosting plans.
The best cheap web hosting
- Lowest-cost hosting plan doesn’t have increased renewal pricing
- You can access the lowest pricing for WordPress even on a month-to-month plan
- WordPress servers are LiteSpeed-enhanced, and the LiteSpeed plugin comes pre-installed
- Custom firewall and antivirus protection
- Malware scanning and DDoS protection available on all plans
- Email hosting for at least five email addresses on all plans
- Lowest-cost plans don’t include a free domain
- Phone service not available on Sundays
- Best discounts are only available on a three-year plan
AccuWeb offers deeply affordable WordPress hosting and shared hosting with many of the same features you'll get from more expensive hosting companies.
Who it's best for
AccuWeb is your best choice if you want to build a site with WordPress and you want to keep your hosting costs permanently low. However, the relatively low storage offered on the basic plan means you might need to switch to a more expensive plan as your site grows.
Why we like it
AccuWeb offers cheap web hosting without sacrificing functionality. All AccuWeb hosting plans come with top-notch security, including free secure socket layer -- SSL -- certification, a custom firewall and antivirus protection. You’ll also get DDoS -- distributed denial of service -- protection, malware scanning and daily backups.
The other amazing thing about AccuWeb is that its most affordable plan, WordPress Basic, doesn't become more expensive on renewal. This price stability is unheard of in the web hosting industry, where companies often increase prices by $5 or more per month when a contract renews.
The cheapest plans
The cheapest AccuWeb hosting plan is WordPress Basic, which offers enough storage for at least 100 pages and enough bandwidth for 10,000 monthly visitors, plus email hosting for up to five email addresses (like yourname@yourdomain.com). This plan also includes LiteSpeed-enhanced servers that offer caching for faster speeds and one virtual central processing unit -- vCPU -- for more efficient data processing. Best of all, it’s only $2.75 a month -- and that pricing is permanent, so your hosting costs won’t increase on renewal. However, you won't get a free domain for your first year, so you'll need to factor that into your annual budget.
AccuWeb also offers cheap shared hosting: the most affordable plan starts at $4 a month and only rises to $7 a month on renewal, based on a three-year plan. Its entry-level Basic plan features enough storage for at least 500 pages and enough bandwidth for 75,000 users, plus email hosting for 150 accounts. Shared hosting users can also access AccuWeb's website builder, which has over 400 templates.
- Free domain for one year included on all plans
- LiteSpeed-enhanced servers and NVMe storage for WordPress servers
- Automated backups
- Email hosting for up to 100 email addresses on all plans
- No customer support via phone or email
- You must sign up for a three-year plan to access the best discount
Hostinger has become one of the fastest-growing companies in Europe thanks to its variety of affordable web hosting plans.
Who it's best for
Hostinger is the best cheap web host for users who are completely new to web hosting. Hostinger's also a great choice if you want to create multiple websites, as most plans let you create at least 100 websites.
Why we like it
Hostinger earned top marks during our hands-on Hostinger tests, with incredibly simple tools for site building and server management, plus great uptime and site speed. Hostinger also offers great security, with permanent SSL certification for all domains, an advanced firewall with DDoS protection and malware scanning/vulnerability scanning tools available on all plans.
The cheapest plans
Hostinger’s basic shared hosting plan starts at $3 a month and renews at $8 a month, based on a three-year term. This plan includes one-click WordPress installation, LiteSpeed-enhanced servers, basic WooCommerce support, WordPress auto-updates, weekly backups and NVMe -- nonvolatile memory express -- storage for faster performance than standard SSD storage. The storage space provided is enough for at least 1,000 web pages. There’s also a site builder with both designer-made templates and AI site generation tools.
WordPress hosting from Hostinger starts at the same price and includes many of the same features. However, you won’t get access to the website builder.
Hostinger also offers a website builder plan for the same price, with all of the website builder features and none of the WordPress features. Sites built with the website builder will be automatically backed up every time an update is made. However, the website builder doesn’t use NVMe storage and the basic plan doesn’t include e-commerce features.
All three of these plans include a free domain for the first year.
- Great security features, including daily backups
- Email hosting available with all plans
- WordPress plans include setup assistant
- WordPress hosting sites use isolated vCPUs for improved performance
- WordPress plans have above-average uptime guarantee
- You must sign up for three years to receive the largest discount
Ionos offers several types of web hosting, including cheap shared and WordPress hosting.
Who it's best for
Ionos is a great choice if you're as concerned with customer service as you are with cost.
Why we like it
Our hands-on Ionos review found that Ionos offers good WordPress tools, an impressively simple server management system and some of the best customer service in the industry. You'll also get great security including SSL certification, firewall protection, DDoS protection and daily backups, plus a free domain for your first year of hosting.
Most recently, Ionos implemented an above-average 99.99% uptime guarantee for all of its shared web hosting and WordPress hosting plans, ensuring that your site won't experience more than two minutes of downtime per week due to server issues.
The cheapest plans
Technically, Ionos hosting starts at $1 a month, but that's an introductory rate for a mid-tier plan that goes up to $12 a month on renewal. If we're talking long-term pricing, the cheapest shared hosting plan from Ionos starts at $4 a month when purchased for one year and rises to $6 a month on renewal. This plan includes enough storage for at least 100 pages, unlimited traffic and email hosting for one custom email address.
For WordPress hosting, Ionos offers a $1 a month discounted rate for a mid-tier plan, but that rises to $10 a month on renewal. If we're talking long-term pricing, the most affordable Ionos WordPress hosting plan starts at $5 a month and rises to $6 a month on renewal, based on a one-year term. This plan includes enough storage for at least 250 pages, unlimited traffic, a WordPress setup assistant and a vCPU to improve site creation and performance. You'll also get email hosting for one custom email address.
- Excellent security features
- Cloud-based servers for optimal performance
- Unlimited email hosting
- Fast customer support
- No free domain for first year
- Must choose a three-year term to get the best discount
- Renewal pricing is higher than most other options on this list
HostArmada is a relatively new web hosting company with a 4.9 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot.
Why we like it
HostArmada offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, email and support ticket -- and it claims to respond to most queries in under ten minutes. HostArmada even claims a response time of 1 hour for email inquiries, much faster than the response times of 2 or more hours I’ve experienced with other web hosts.
HostArmada also provides a variety of benefits for even its lowest-tier users, including cloud-based servers for optimal performance and security features like SSL certification, firewall protection, malware scanning and protection, brute force protection, live server monitoring and multiple daily backups.
Who it's best for
HostArmada is your best choice if you want to receive the best security and support available. However, you'll want to pay close attention to the renewal cost, as it's higher than the renewal costs of other hosts on this list.
The cheapest plan
HostArmada’s shared hosting starts at $2.49 a month and rises to $10 a month on renewal if you choose a three-year term. You’ll get enough storage for at least 150 pages, unlimited email addresses and unmetered bandwidth capable of handling an estimated 30,000 visitors per month. However, you won’t get a domain for free, even in your first year of hosting.
HostArmada also offers WordPress hosting for $2.49 a month to start and $10 a month on renewal. The base WordPress plan provides the same features as the lowest-tier shared hosting plan, with the addition of expert support to install, set up and update WordPress from HostArmada’s customer service team.
- Unlimited data storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- SSL certification
- DDoS protection
- WordPress installer
- Automated WordPress updates
- Choice between cPanel and DirectAdmin
- Lowest prices available on month-to-month and annual plans
- Signup/payment process is complicated for users new to web hosting
InterServer has operated since 1999 and holds a 4.1 out of 5 star ranking on Trustpilot.
Who it's best for
InterServer is a great option if you're a developer and you're looking for an affordable way to host a personal website, especially if you want to do it without using cPanel. You can also use InterServer's affordable month-to-month pricing to create a temporary website for something like an event.
Why we like it
InterServer's unlimited storage, data transfer (bandwidth) and email hosting mean that your site can grow exponentially without forcing you to purchase a more expensive plan. The affordable month-to-month hosting also makes it easy to experiment with InterServer without the significant commitment of time and resources required by other web hosts. Unfortunately, the purchase process and hosting management areas are complex to navigate if you're not technically inclined.
The cheapest plan
InterServer offers one main shared hosting plan starting at at $2.50 a month. You can access this pricing at any contract length, including month-by-month contract (something that's usually much more expensive than annual or biannual pricing). Similarly, the renewal cost is $7 a month for both cPanel and DirectAdmin -- a cPanel alternative that claims to be even easier to use -- plans, regardless of the contract length you choose. This plan includes unlimited storage, unlimited data transfer, unlimited email hosting, SSL certification, an easy WordPress installer and automated WordPress updates.
Factors to consider when choosing a cheap web hosting service
Type of web hosting
The most affordable type of web hosting is shared hosting, a kind of web hosting that splits a server’s resources, such as bandwidth and data storage -- and the cost of maintaining them -- between hundreds of websites. This limits the amount of content, such as blog posts and landing pages, your site can store and the number of monthly visitors your website can accommodate, but also keeps hosting costs low.
You can also get cheap WordPress hosting from some web hosts. This is usually a type of shared hosting optimized for the content management system (or CMS) WordPress, a popular tool for creating, organizing and maintaining blog posts and other online content.
Some companies may also offer highly affordable options for cloud hosting or unmanaged virtual private server hosting. These options can provide more resources and better performance than shared hosting plans. However, they may require more technical expertise and maintenance time, especially in the case of unmanaged VPS hosting.
Security
Every website, even a hobby website hosted on a cheap plan, should have the following basic security measures in place:
- Secure socket layer certification: The SSL protocol encrypts data sent to and from your site. SSL certification also signals to Google, browsers and VPNs that your site is safe.
- Firewall: A firewall catches malicious software attempting to infest your site. Some firewalls also offer protection against brute force and DDoS attacks.
Some hosts also offer features like malware scanning, repair and automated backups, but these are rarely available on cheap web hosting plans.
Performance
The main performance factor dictated by your host is uptime, the amount of time your site spends online. The industry standard is 99.9% uptime, meaning your site won’t go down for more than 45 minutes a month due to server issues. Some web hosts offer as much as 99.99% uptime, meaning your site won’t go down for more than four minutes per month.
Some hosts also offer performance tools to improve site speed. These include caching mechanisms, which store key data in readers' browsers to improve loading times on repeat visits. There are also content delivery networks, which distribute data across numerous data centers so a reader's browser can pull from the data center closest to their location. However, these features are generally not included in the cheapest web hosting packages.
Customer service
You should be able to reach customer service at any time of night via live chat and email. The best web hosts also generally have phone support available, though some cheap web hosting companies keep their prices low by limiting phone support availability.
Customer support representatives should also respond quickly and know how to fix server and site issues. Some hosts may even provide teams specialized in content management systems like WordPress, though this tends to be limited to more expensive plans.
Price
Price is, of course, the main reason you want a cheap web host -- you don’t want to spend a lot of money. But web hosting prices are complicated. If you want to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible, you’ll need to pay attention to the following:
- Contract length: Many web hosts require you to sign up for a one-, two- or even three-year term to access their best prices. This means you’ll pay for all of those months up front, so you’ll need to multiply the monthly price by 12, 24 or 36 to know your initial fee.
- Renewal pricing: Web hosting packages often come with introductory pricing, meaning the low price you see is only for the first term. Fees may increase by several dollars per month on renewal -- though on this list, we’ve selected web hosts with low renewal pricing.
- Additional fees: You may need to pay a separate fee for your domain, adding $20 to $30 to your annual costs. Some plans offer a domain free for the first year, then require you to pay a fee in subsequent years. There may also be additional fees for features like improved security features, caching or CDNs.
For this article, we’ve defined cheap web hosting as web hosting with a renewal cost of $10 a month or less. All of the hosts on our main list offer plans with this renewal pricing.
What about free web hosting?
There are some free web hosting plans, but they tend to have serious drawbacks, such as:
- Extremely limited storage and bandwidth: For example, the Wix free plan only gives you 500MB of storage and 1GB of bandwidth. This limits your site’s ability to store data and handle incoming traffic.
- No domain: Sites like Wix, Weebly and WordPress.com require you to use a subdomain (like yoursite.hostname.com). This can look unprofessional to visitors. If you want to use your own domain, you’ll need a paid plan.
- Ads: Some free hosting providers place ads on your website to recover the cost of the storage space your site uses. You don’t have any control over what these ads are, and you’re not the one getting paid when they do well -- your hosting provider is. Your ability to control where ads go on your site may also be limited.
- Poor customer service: Free hosting sites like InfinityFree rely on a support forum, where you can get help primarily from other customers, rather than offering customer support via more typical methods like live chat or email. Host employees may respond to your posts, but you can’t expect a fast response.
For these reasons, I only recommend free web hosting if you’re creating a small hobby site or you want to use a free plan to test a website builder like Wix before you invest in a paid plan.
If you’re truly determined to use a free plan, you can use one of the following options:
InfinityFree
InfinityFree lets you create unlimited, ad-free websites on subdomains without ever paying a single dollar. These sites have unlimited bandwidth, but you’ll only get 5GB of disk space between them. You also won’t be able to access customer support through email, phone or live chat -- the only way to get help on a free plan is through the support forum.
Wix
Wix’s free plan lets you create a small website -- up to 500MB -- on a subdomain for free. Your site will have banner ads for Wix at the top of every page. However, you’ll get access to most of Wix’s design tools and templates, so this can be a good way to test Wix. You can also use it long-term for a very small hobby site.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com lets you create a free website on a subdomain. You’ll get unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, access to numerous website templates and WordPress-based design tools. You’ll also be able to set up paid subscriptions and payment buttons, but you’ll be charged 10% transaction fees by WordPress.com. WordPress.com will also place ads on your site. These ads will pay WordPress.com, not you.
How CNET tests web hosting
We’ve performed extensive research on every host included in this list. This research starts with examining the host’s website to evaluate its plans for pricing, features and overall quality. We then look at reviews from third-party sources such as Trustpilot and check the Better Business Bureau for complaints about the company.
We’ve also put some of these web hosts through our testing process for web hosting. This includes signing up for a hosting plan, setting up a website, conducting uptime monitoring and performing speed tests at various times of day. We also contact customer support through all channels to evaluate response times and helpfulness. Notes from these reviews are included in this list where relevant.
Other web hosting we've tested
These web hosts offer good services, but may require add-ons or have renewal rates of $11 to $13 a month on their most affordable plans.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is one of the biggest names in the web hosting business, powering 15.6% of all websites. GoDaddy also performed reasonably well in our testing, with relatively simple account setup and site management, great server performance and rapid customer service.
GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans include a free domain for the first year, unmetered bandwidth, automated daily backups and the opportunity to choose the data center your site is stored in to improve site performance for your primary audience based on their location. You’ll also get free cPanel-based email.
The most affordable plan from GoDaddy is the Web Hosting Economy plan, featuring enough storage for at least 100 pages and everything mentioned above. This plan starts at $7 a month and rises to $10 a month when you buy a one-year plan. However, you’ll be paying more than the sticker price to keep your site secure -- a firewall is only available through a $3 a month add-on, and SSL certification costs $100 a year after the first year.
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is a beginner-friendly web hosting service that performed well in our experience, with great site setup tools and solid server performance. The one downside was slow customer service via support ticket and phone.
All of A2 Hosting’s shared hosting plans include enough storage for at least 1,000 pages, unlimited data transfer and unlimited email addresses. A2 Hosting also offers advanced security on all shared hosting plans, including permanent SSL certification, an advanced firewall, DDoS protection, brute force protection and a virus scanner.
The cheapest shared hosting plan from A2 Hosting starts at just $3 a month when you pay for a three-year term, and you won’t need to pay for any add-ons. However, you’ll be paying $13 a month on renewal.
HostGator
HostGator is a popular web host that performed reasonably well in our testing, with good site management tools and server performance but inconsistent customer service.
All HostGator plans include a free domain for the first year, unmetered bandwidth, pre-installed WordPress complete with the HostGator site assistant, advanced firewall protection including DDoS protection and malware scanning. Email hosting for at least one email address is also included on all plans.
The cheapest HostGator plan is the Hatchling shared hosting plan, which starts at $3.75 a month and rises to $10 a month on renewal, based on a three-year term. This plan includes 10GB of storage (enough for at least 100 pages) and everything listed in the previous paragraph. However, customer support on the Hatchling plan is limited to email and live chat.
Namecheap
Namecheap is primarily known for its domain registration services, but the company also offers cheap web hosting. The lowest-tier plan starts at just $2 a month and the renewal rate is a low $3.49 a month if you choose a biannual plan -- and just $4.48 a month on a monthly plan. All plans include a free domain, basic firewall protection and email hosting for at least 30 email addresses.
However, there are a couple of drawbacks to Namecheap -- the big one being that you’ll pay an additional $13.20 a year for SSL certification after the first year. Customer support is also limited to live chat and email.