The Best Cheap Web Hosting Services of 2023 [Tested & Analyzed]

The best cheap web hosting services can be a useful tool for anyone who wants to host their own website in today’s digital age. 

Web hosting is an essential part of launching your online presence. 

Without a host, you cannot share your website’s pages and files with the intended community.

The term “cheap web hosting” often refers to shared hosting solutions that offer basic access to bandwidth and specific features to help you get online.

In this article, we’ll review some of the most popular (and cheapest) hosting providers on the market to help you choose the best solution for you.

Understanding Cheap Web Hosting

In the past, creating and managing a website was an extremely complex, expensive, and complicated affair, which required not only a high budget but also technological knowledge. 

These days, the rise of more flexible hosting plans, along with the introduction of simpler solutions for building websites, has made the space on the Internet more accessible.

In particular, these hosting services are not suitable for everyone. 

To offer an extremely low price, providers must compromise on other features and functions. 

This means that cheap web hosting is very simple.

You may only be able to use cheap web hosting services if you are building a simple one-page or portfolio website for your business. 

Anyone wanting to launch a full website or eCommerce store is likely to need more comprehensive hosting.

Cheap Hosting Providers: Head-to-Head Comparison

Here’s a quick rundown of the cheap hosting providers we’ll be looking at today, including their uptime, storage space, and monthly prices.

	Price	storage space	Uptime
Hostinger	$1.39 /month	Unspecified	99.90%
InMotion	$2.49 /month	10GB	99.97%
Dreamhost	$2.95 /month	50GB	99.95%
HostGator	$2.75 /month	unlimited	99.99%
Bluehost	$2.95 /month	50GB	99.98%
GreenGeeks	$2.95 /month	unlimited	99.98%
A2 Hosting	$2.99 ​​/month	unlimited	99.95%

Before we dive into our full evaluation of each potential cheap hosting provider and the functionality they can offer, let’s take a closer look at some of the feature terms you’ll need to be familiar with:

• Uptime: One of the most important features of any hosting provider, uptime refers to how regularly your website is up and running. Uptime is usually represented as a percentage, such as 99.99%. The higher the percentage, the less you have to worry about downtime.
• SSL: Many hosting providers offer SSL security certificates as part of the service. This certificate protects the information of your visitors when they visit your website. If your site has an SSL certificate, it will show a lock next to its URL.
• Backups: Backups refer to the opportunity to recover previous versions of your website or your website URL if something goes wrong with the current version. You may need to revert a website using a backup.
• Domains: Some hosting providers offer free domain names with hosting. You can also access multiple domains within the same hosting service.
• Storage: A hosting provider’s storage space refers to the amount of file space you have for media and content on your website.
• Included Sites: This refers to the number of websites you will be able to create with your hosting provider for the listed monthly price.
• Visitor Limit: Your visitor limit is the number of times someone can access and navigate your website per month.

The Best Cheap Web Hosting

For the purposes of this list-based article, we will explore the pros and cons of different cheap hosting providers, starting with the cheapest hosting first.

1. Hostinger 

Pricing:

Hostinger, The cheapest plan is their shared hosting plan, which starts at $1.39 per month, depending on your time frame (how long you have the plan for) and how much storage you need. 

You can upgrade at $2.59 for a slightly higher amount of SSD storage and bandwidth.

The cheapest plan at $1.39 comes with 30 GB of SSD storage and 100 GB of bandwidth, as well as 2 MySQL databases and a free SSL certificate. 

There are no daily backups or domain registration with this plan.

The upgraded shared hosting plan has free domain registration and unlimited MySQL databases and bandwidth. 

You can host up to 100 websites and access 100 GB of SSD storage. 

For the slightly increased plan of $2.59 per month, it’s a much better deal.

In particular, though, the mid-tier “Premium” shared hosting plan used to be much more expensive at $10.19 per month. 

The cheapest price may not last forever.

Like many hosting providers, Hostinger offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and there’s a student discount that can save you up to 15%.

Features:

All Hostinger “shared” hosting plans come with at least one email account and 100GB of bandwidth. 

However, you’ll only get 30GB of SSD storage. 

If you want unlimited email accounts and bandwidth, you should upgrade to the shared “Premium” plan.

Hostinger’s shared plans also come with access to a free SSL certificate, but you won’t get free domain registration on the cheapest plan. 

However, you will get access to a phenomenal 99.99% uptime guarantee and a powerful control panel where you can control your websites. 

2 subdomains per account, 2 parked domains, and full DNS management are offered with each plan as well. 

Also, one-click installations for sites like WordPress are available.

While Hostinger’s existing customer support services have achieved rave reviews in the past, thanks to things like live chat and multi-language support, there’s no phone support available. 

Hostinger’s shared hosting plans may not be the most advanced on the market, but they definitely give you a decent amount of functionality for the price you pay.

Pros

• Free domain and lifetime SSL
• DDoS protection
• Excellent onboarding experience
• Uses a Multicraft panel to help set up servers.
• Comes with an extensive selection of preinstalled mods.
• Protects servers from DDoS attacks through its advanced automated hardware protection.
• Offers enterprise-level data backup to quickly restore lost or damaged data
• Global server network ensures low latency for players regardless of location
• Flexible selection of pricing options
• Great affordability for multiple years up-front
• Great for dedicated IP addresses
• Competitive Pricing
• Offers multiple server locations

Cons

• Limited uptime percentage
• No phone support
• Daily backups, SSH, and SSH access are only available on higher plans.
• No dedicated hosting
• Doesn’t provide phone support
• Can be expensive if one does not opt for a long-term plan
• Performance can be quite inconsistent
• Limited disk space
• Limited customer service

2. InMotion

Pricing:

InMotion advertises its cheapest web hosting plan at a cost of $2.99 ​​per month. 

However, you can actually bring the cost down to $2.49 per month if you’re willing to sign up for a three-year plan. 

The 3-year “Core” plan is currently available at a reduced cost (starting at $8.99 per month).

InMotion’s cheapest plan comes with free SSL, 2 websites, 100GB of SSD storage, and unlimited bandwidth.

There is another slightly more expensive shared plan available for $4.99 per month when you pay for three years. 

“Launch,” as it’s called, comes with unlimited SSD storage, unlimited websites, and unlimited email addresses.

Features:

InMotion’s shared hosting solution is one of the most comprehensive packages on the market today. 

The cheapest package is one of the only ones that allows companies to host more than one website on the same solution.

It also includes a free SSL certificate, 100 GB SSD storage, and unlimited bandwidth. 

All of InMotion’s shared hosting plans include access to at least 2 websites, 10 email addresses, a comprehensive security suite, and a variety of marketing tools. 

You can also access a Google Workspace.

If you want unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, and unlimited email addresses, you’ll need at least the second least expensive plan. 

It’s worth noting that InMotion’s cheapest plan promises 2x faster speed and performance on the lowest plan level, but this increases to 6x “Ultra stack” performance if you upgrade.

Sometimes the “Power” package, which is InMotion’s third-cheapest plan, is available for the same price as “Launch”, at just $4.99. 

When this offer becomes available, you’ll get access to all of Launch’s features, plus 12x Ultrastack speed and advanced caching.

Pros

• Wide range of comprehensive features
• Host up to 2 websites on the cheapest plan
• Unlimited bandwidth on the cheapest plan
• Business class hardware
• WordPress, Joomla, and PrestaShop comes preinstalled
• 90 days money back guarantee
• Customer service is accessible via Skype
• Excellent, transparent pricing plans
• Lots of useful “extra” features, like unlocked CPU cores
• Advanced customer support

Cons

• Only support for up to 25 subdomains
• No support for online stores
• Fixed allowable hosting plans
• Expensive compared to other hosting options

3. DreamHost

Pricing:

DreamHost is currently one of the cheapest hosting providers, as well as the most popular. 

The “Shared” hosting plan is available at $1.99 per month if you pay for the monthly plan, which comes with no commitments or contracts, but you will have to purchase your own domain. 

If you use the annual plan, which costs $2.95 per month, you’ll get a domain name included.

While it used to be possible to access hosting for a bit cheaper on a 3-year plan, this offer doesn’t seem to be available anymore. 

The Shared “Starter” plan is the cheapest option, giving you access to a single domain and your domain name for free if you choose the annual plan.

You’ll also get one of DreamHost’s world’s only 100% uptime guarantees with all plans, which is unique in providing excellent peace of mind.

Features:

All Dreamhost Shared plans come with a custom control panel, which gives you administrator access to all DreamHost products, but this is not the same as the industry standard cPanel, so some might take some getting used to… 

There’s also a one-click installer for websites like WordPress, and award-winning support from a human team.

The cheapest package comes with SSD storage, though you don’t get any information on exactly how much storage you get. 

There is also a free WordPress website builder and SSL certificate included. 

Even though DreamHost provides support for unlimited traffic and unmetered bandwidth, it is still lacking in some areas.

For example, if you want to add email to your hosting solution, you’ll need to pay an additional $1.67 per month. 

Also, while the support is great, you don’t get it 24/7, which means you could be left without guidance when you need it most.

Pros

• Plenty of storage space
• Great for WordPress websites (With free migrations)
• Unlimited visitors
• One-click software installation
• Recommended by WordPress.org
• Offers a great money-back guarantee
• Unlimited data storage and bandwidth
• Month-to-month flexible hosting is available
• Lots of features to help improve your hosting experience
• Extra-long refund policy

Cons

• No personal support
• No industry-standard cPanel support
• Live chat support can be unreliable
• The control panel isn’t very intuitive
• Limited SSD storage

4. HostGator

Pricing:

Keen to stay one step ahead of the competition, HostGator strives to offer one of the cheapest pricing packages for those with limited hosting needs. 

HostGator’s “shared hosting” packages are typically offered at a bargain price, with an additional discount being offered on a regular basis.

Currently, the shared hosting service is available for as little as $2.75 per month. 

This package comes with support for a single domain, while the less expensive second package ($3.50 per month) can give you unlimited websites.

Hatchling’s cheapest package for $2.75 a month is one of three cheap shared hosting plans, which come with 1 year of free domain registration at all prices. 

The most expensive “shared” plan for $5.25 per month has a free dedicated IP and positive SSL upgrade.

Features:

All HostGator shared hosting packages, including the cheapest product available (Hatchling), come with a free year of domain registration. 

After that, you will need to pay for your domain yourself. 

They also come with one-click WordPress installations and free access to HostGator website builder, with a free website and domain transfers.

Every HostGator shared hosting package also includes a 45-day money-back guarantee, unmetered disk space, and bandwidth, and a free SSL certificate. 

You can also unlock $150 Google Ads spending credit and $100 Microsoft Advertising credit

HostGator is one of the few providers that offer free email and free MySQL transfer and script transfer with all packages as well. 

While you can only host one site at Hatchling’s price, you can get great uptime and fantastic customer service as part of the package.

Pros

• 99.99% uptime guarantee
• One-click WordPress install with cPanel transfer
• Unmetered bandwidth
• Exceptionally fast site loading speed
• Really user-friendly UI
• Responsive and reliable customer service
• Unmetered resources
• Heavy discounts for first-time users
• Excellent storage limits

Cons

• No free backups
• Just one website available on the cheapest plan
• Constant upselling on the system
• Has only two data centers
• Not the most affordable for renewals
• No free domain name

5. Bluehost

Pricing:

Like many of the cheaper website hosting providers, Bluehost regularly offers discounts on their shared hosting packages. 

The cheapest option currently available is the “Basic” shared hosting plan, for $2.95 per month. 

This package comes with 50 GB of website space and only one domain.

If you want to upgrade to a more flexible package, there are currently two additional shared hosting plans available for the same price. 

Plus and Choice Plus packages are $5.45 per month. 

The Choice Plus package, usually $18.99, has a number of added “extras” compared to the “Plus” package, which normally costs $13.99 per month.

With Choice Plus, you get Spam Experts, Privacy & Domain Protection, and Basic CodeGuard. 

With both “Plus” packages, you’ll get unlimited domains, an SSL certificate, and unmetered space/bandwidth.

Features:

All Bluehost shared hosting packages come with additional features to make them more attractive. 

For example, you will have a minimum of 100 MB of email storage per account. 

You can also access a free SSL certificate on each account. 

However, the cheapest package is pretty basic in many ways.

In addition to free domains and great uptime, this provider offers premium quality. 

You’ll be capped at 50GB of storage on the basic plan, so you won’t be able to upload a large amount of media. 

It’s also worth noting that you’ll only have access to one website and up to 25 subdomains.

Although Bluehost’s second least expensive package is nearly double the price of the basic plan, it comes with $200 worth of marketing deals and spam-savvy support. 

There are also unlimited domains and websites available, unmetered bandwidth, and website space.

Pros

• Unmetered bandwidth
• Free SSL certificate and domains
• Excellent uptime
• Affordable first-term contract
• Reliable uptime
• Shared hosting plans offer generous storage
• Great initial pricing packages
• Consistently reliable performance
• Excellent customer support
• Generous storage options
• The first term is very affordable
• Offers unmetered bandwidth

Cons

• Limited storage on the cheapest plan
• Limitations on monthly site visitors
• Their system constantly bombards users with upsells
• Entry-level plans have limited backup options
• Uses only US-based servers
• Expensive added features
• Renewal rates are expensive
• Poor backup options

6. GreenGeeks

Pricing:

Initially, the cheapest available package from GreenGeeks is available for a discounted price of just $2.95 per month, but this will quickly increase to $10.95 per month after their offer is older. 

There are also two other accommodation options available.

The “Pro” package is available for $5.95 initially, then $15.95 per month. 

The “Premium” package costs $10.95 initially, followed by $25.95 per month.

With the $2.95 “Lite” package, you will be able to host a website and access standard website performance. 

Only 50 GB of website space and 50 email accounts are offered here. 

Upgrading to either of the two more expensive products will get you unlimited websites, better performance, unlimited web space, and unlimited email accounts.

Features:

GreenGeeks’ biggest selling point is its eco-friendly approach to hosting. 

The company offsets its carbon footprint by approximately 300% by investing in green energy sources, making it the most sustainable hosting provider.

There is free site migration for all GreenGeeks customers, which can also help you save a bit of money. 

All shared packages come with at least 50GB of website space, unmetered transfer, a free SSL certificate, and a free domain name for the first year. 

You also get a free backup for your website and a free CDN.

Users get built-in caching, an unlimited database, and a 30-day money-back guarantee with every package. 

However, you’ll need to upgrade to a more expensive service if you want multi-user access, better speed, and unlimited bandwidth.

Pros

• Greenest, most environmentally friendly hosting provider
• Free site migration
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Consciously makes an effort to minimize their carbon footprint
• Reliable 99.9% uptime
• Offers extensive resources and features
• Independently owned
• Excellent for reducing your carbon footprint
• Generous 10TB of bandwidth on all plans
• Free site migration for VPS hosting

Cons

• Only one free backup per month
• Cam gets a bit expensive after initial discounts
• No round-the-clock phone support
• No long-term discounts
• No free domain or backups

7. A2 Hosting

Pricing:

The cheapest package available from A2 Hosting is the “Startup” offer for a total of $2.99 ​​per month when you pay for 36 months right away. 

This plan is the most basic solution available from A2 Hosting, with support for a single website and up to 100 GB of SSD storage.

There’s also the “Drive” hosting package for $5.99 a month if you’re willing to upgrade a bit and still pay for 3 years of hosting. 

This more expensive package provides unlimited website access, unlimited SSD storage, free site migration, and free automatic backups. 

There is a money-back guarantee with both packages.

As with many shared hosting providers, you’ll be able to save more the more time you’re willing to commit to your hosting package. 

There is an additional shared hosting package called “Turbo Boost”, which is available for $6.99 per month for people who want up to 20x faster performance.

Features:

All A2 hosting shared hosting solutions come with access to at least 100GB of SSD storage. 

However, you will need to upgrade beyond the first starter plan if you want unlimited storage. 

Also included is a free and easy site migration with all websites and a comprehensive money-back guarantee for your peace of mind.

Unfortunately, A2 hosting’s cheapest plan is also one of the most minimalist on the market, as it only offers support for a single website and there are no backups or free domains. 

Uptime isn’t ideal either. Also, you only get a total of 25 email accounts. 

A bonus is access to SSL certificates on all pricing plans.

While the customer service available from A2 Hosting is excellent, along with the peace of mind that you can get your money back, the value isn’t as good as it could be.

Pros

• Excellent money-back guarantee
• Dedicated 24/7 support
• 100GB of SSD storage
• Voice commands powered by Siri
• No restrictions on video length
• SSO and AES-256-bit encryption
• Users can dial into meetings from their phones
• Excellent value for money, with a money-back guarantee
• Unmanaged and managed VPS plans
• Free expert migration included

Cons

• Not the best uptime
• No free backups or domain
• You must download software to join
• Remote keyboard and mouse control are not available in all plans
• No free domain name
• Low maximum storage caps

What Cheap Web Hosting Offers You

In particular, while cheap website hosting can be a great way to initially get started online, it’s far from the best solution for most people. 

Cheap web hosting will usually give you access to one of two types of hosting: WordPress or shared hosting.

With shared hosting, you will be able to run multiple websites on one server along with your website at the same time. 

You won’t be able to access anyone else’s files and they won’t be able to see yours, so your site stays secure. 

However, sharing the space means that everyone gets a slightly cheaper price.

Unfortunately, while neighboring sites can’t steal your information, they can consume a lot of resources, which means you’ll end up running your website with less than maximum performance. 

Alternatively, WordPress hosting services allow you to set up and operate a relatively impressive WordPress hosting blog without much fuss.

If you’re trying to build a blog or portfolio website via WordPress, this may be the cheapest way to start. 

You will also be able to get easy migration for your website content from the most dedicated WordPress hosting providers.

It’s important to remember that cheap hosting solutions are extremely limited in what they can realistically offer. 

You won’t be able to get anything close to the kind of functionality, speed, and security that you get from more expensive packages. 

Many web hosts have various levels of service available, and the introductory and starter plans are generally meant to give you an idea of ​​what to expect, rather than offering a long-term solution for hosting.

When looking for your cheap hosting provider, be sure to always check the fine print on the various products available. 

Some hosting solutions only offer a very low price for a short period of time, which means that you will automatically downgrade to a more expensive price after the introductory period is over.

There are also cheap hosting plans that require you to pay for other essentials separately, like the cost of your email accounts or the price of your website domain.

Choosing a Cheap Web Hosting Provider

A cheap web hosting solution is usually just a temporary fix for any hosting problem. 

You may be limited to very low bandwidth and storage options if you stick with a cheap hosting provider, and generally won’t be able to access the same range of features.

However, if you want a quick way to get a simple website online, there are several cheap web hosting options available.

Thanks for Reading.

Frequently Asked Questions about Cheap Web Hosting

Q: What is the cheapest web hosting?

Currently, the cheapest web hosting is available from Hostinger, where you can start hosting your website for as little as $0.99 per month. 

Notably, this plan is very limited and not designed for long-term use, so you’ll need to consider upgrading at some point.

Q: Can I host my website for free?

Hosting a website costs money in terms of computer power and electricity used. 

This means that you will not find a hosting provider that can host your website for free. 

If you see someone offering a free service, it’s probably best to avoid this option, as it’s usually free on the surface with additional hidden charges. 

There is also free hosting available in exchange for ads being placed on your website, but that’s a sub-optimal solution for any business or anyone wanting to maintain a professional-looking online presence.

Q: Can you pay monthly for cheap hosting?

Most cheap web hosting providers will offer a variety of ways to pay for your hosting, starting with the monthly costs. 

The monthly option gives you more freedom to walk away and switch to another hosting provider, but you won’t get the same discount as paying for a year or multiple years all at once. 

The cheapest packages are reserved for long-term plans. 

In some cases, you can get a cheap hosting package on a monthly basis, but you may miss out on features like a free domain.

Q: How much does web hosting cost monthly?

The amount you spend on your web hosting largely depends on your needs. 

The cheapest hosting providers can give you access to hosting features for a very low price. 

However, if you want to host a large amount of media on your website or sell products, you may need to invest in a more expensive hosting provider. 

Dedicated hosting can cost more as it gives you access to your own server.

Q: Is cheap web hosting safe?

Shared web hosting and WordPress hosting are the most common forms of cheap web hosting. 

This type of hosting is still safe, as long as it comes with the right protection and encryption tools. 

However, it may not be as impressive as other accommodation options.