Best cheap web hosting of 2023
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Miglė Šeikytė
Content Lead
Web hosting is crucial for even small businesses' success, and it shouldn’t be overpriced. Fortunately, many top hosting providers offer budget-friendly shared hosting plans, offering high-end services even for start-ups.
Even though it may seem that web hosting is an expensive necessity at first glance, finding a provider that would offer affordable but premium hosting features is possible. For instance, one of the market leaders – Hostinger – has plans costing as low as $2.69/month, with free extras, like domain registration, included.
In this article, you will learn that you don’t have to sacrifice performance over affordability. To help you out, we have tested and selected the best 7 cheap web hosting of 2023. Each of them works with multiple types of hosting, offers core as well as additional features, and comes at a fair price-to-quality ratio.
Top 7 cheapest web hosting services
- Hostinger – overall cheapest web hosting
- DreamHost – best cheap WordPress hosting for business
- Bluehost – affordable hosting for WordPress
- A2 Hosting – affordable performance-focused hosting
- HostGator – cheap domain hosting
- HostPapa – cheapest web hosting per year
- InterServer – budget month-to-month hosting
📢 LIMITED OFFER: Get 78% OFF Hostinger!
Best cheap hosting providers compared
| Hostinger | DreamHost | Bluehost | A2 Hosting | HostGator | HostPapa | InterServer | |
| Brand |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Cheapest monthly plan | From $2.69/mo | From $2.59/mo | From $2.75/mo | From $2.99/mo | From $2.52/mo | From $2.36/mo | From $2.50/mo |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 97 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
| Storage space | 100GB | 50GB | 10GB | 100GB | 10GB | 100GB | 2GB |
| Free domain | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Uptime | 100% | >99.99% | 99.99% | 99.99% | >99.99% | 100% | 99.99% |
| Average response time | 511ms | 231ms | 361ms | 597ms | 525ms | 1.19s | 662ms |
| Data centers | The US, South America, Europe, and Asia | The US | The US | The US, Europe, and Asia | The US | The US, Canada, and Europe | The US |
Are you feeling confused regarding all web hosting concepts? Find their explanations below to know what to pay attention to quicker:
- Storage space – the total amount of space on a given server where you store the files that you use to create a website.
- Free domain – a free website address that allows a visitor to detect your website.
- Uptime – the time that a website or web service is available for users to access during a certain period.
- Average response time – the term refers to the duration it takes for a server or application to react to and fulfill all of its data inputs and requests.
- Data centers – a place where computing machines and their associated hardware equipment are stored physically.
The best cheap web hosting in 2023
We reviewed dozens of web hosts to help you make an informed decision about which provider offers cheap web hosting. Aside from that, we also looked at the features, resources, and customer support options they offer, as well as tested their performance.
1. Hostinger – the overall best affordable hosting solution
| Rating: | |
| Lowest monthly price: | $2.69/month |
| Uptime: | 100% |
| Avg. response time: | 511ms |
| Best for: | Small business websites |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get Hostinger with 78% OFF 🔥 |
Hostinger tops the list of the best cheap web hosts not only because of its budget prices but also because of the free features it includes in its plans. For just $2.69/mo, the provider offers speedy performance with all the latest technology, as well as an easy-to-use interface. Hostinger is ideal for those building small to medium-sized websites.
Price:
- Premium Hosting – 100 websites, 100 GB SSD storage, free email, free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, free domain, and more starting from $2.69/month.
- Business – 100 websites, 200 GB NVMe storage, free email, free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, free domain, free CDN, and more starting from $3.99/month.
- Cloud Startup – 300 websites, 200 GB NVMe storage, free email, free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, free domain, free CDN, dedicated IP, and more starting from $9.99/month.
Features: The cheapest Hostinger shared plan comes with a free custom domain, the ability to host up to 100 websites, 100GB, unlimited bandwidth, and up to 100 business email accounts. Plus, free SSL and weekly backups are also included.
Performance: We tested Hostinger by building a site and monitoring the performance for 2 months. This host offers top-class tech like a fast LiteSpeed Web Server with caching and the latest PHP versions for that speedy performance. Throughout our testing, the uptime was at a perfect 100% and the server responsiveness averaged at 511ms. Here are all Hostinger’s performance results:
| Uptime: | 100% |
| Average response time: | 511ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 0.9s |
| On-site traffic: | 50 |
In terms of data centers, you can choose options in the US, South America, Europe, or Asia.
Customer support: Hostinger offers customer support 24/7 via live chat, a ticketing system, and email. Based on our experience, the agents are well-trained and quick to help. However, the initial connecting time might take a few minutes.
All things considered, Hostinger is too cheap for its own good. It’s surprising to see generously equipped plans and very reliable performance for such a low rate.
Visit our Hostinger review to learn more about the service.
2. DreamHost – affordable WordPress-oriented hosting provider
| Rating: | |
| Lowest monthly price: | $2.59/month |
| Uptime: | >99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 231ms |
| Best for: | Secure WordPress hosting |
| Current deal: | 🔥Get DreamHost with 79% OFF🔥 |
A WordPress-centered host, DreamHost is also one of the cheaper web hosting providers, with prices starting at $2.59/month. The provider is well known for its generous WordPress features and a very special 100% uptime guarantee. This makes DreamHost perfect for those looking for reliable hosting for WordPress.
Price:
- Starter – 1 website limit, 50 GB of SSD storage, unlimited traffic, free SSL, free domain, and more starting from $2.59/month.
- Unlimited – unlimited websites, unlimited traffic, free domain, free email, free SSL, and more starting from $3.95/month.
Features: DreamHost’s shared hosting entry plan allows hosting 1 website and comes with a free custom domain, an SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, 50GB storage, automated daily backups, domain privacy, and a WP Website Builder. A business email comes at an extra cost.
Performance: We monitored a fully-built DreamHost site for 2 months. And our testing proved that the host is truly reliable and fast. With just a minute of downtime, the uptime came up to >99.99%, the avg. response time was at a very speedy 231ms. Take a look at all of our DreamHost performance results below:
| Uptime: | >99.99% |
| Average response time: | 231ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.6s |
| On-site traffic: | 50 |
However, be mindful that all DreamHost’s servers are located in Ashburn, Virginia and Hillsboro Oregon – US alone.
Customer support: DreamHost offers customer support via live chat (5:30 AM - 9:30 PM PT), phone, and 24/7 email tickets. Based on our experience, the agents were very skilled and speedy, even when contacting via a ticketing system.
Overall, DreamHost is not just cheap, but it also offers resource and feature-rich plans. It’s great for both beginner users and businesses that wish to get high-quality and speedy performance.
Check out our DreamHost review to learn more about the provider.
3. Bluehost – budget and beginner-friendly hosting for WordPress
| Rating: | |
| Lowest monthly price: | $2.75/month |
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 361ms |
| Best for: | Small WordPress business sites |
| Current deal: | 🔥Get Bluehost with 77% OFF🔥 |
Making its way into this list of the cheapest web hosts is one of the most popular providers around, Bluehost. It offers low-cost web hosting with shared plans’ prices starting at $2.75/month. The host has one of the most impressive dashboards with tools like staging and two-click Cloudflare CDN integration. Plus, cPanel is there if needed.
Price:
- Basic – 1 website, 10GB SSD storage, custom WordPress themes starting from $2.75/month.
- Choice plus – 3 websites, 40GB SSD storage, free CDN, free domain, free SSL, malware scanning, and more starting from $4.95/month.
- Online store – 3 websites, 40GB SSD storage, free CDN, free domain, free SSL, malware scanning, store analytics, and more starting from $9.95/month.
- Pro – 5 websites, 100GB SSD storage, free CDN, free domain, free SSL, malware scanning, and more starting from $13.95/month.
Features: Bluehost’s cheapest shared plan comes with the ability to host 1 website and includes a free domain name, an SSL certificate, a CDN, 10GB storage, unmetered bandwidth, 5 email accounts, and a staging environment.
Performance: Throughout our 2-month long testing, the host kept a 99.99% uptime, even while lacking an official uptime guarantee. The avg. response time was just as impressive at just 361ms and the fully loaded time was good too – 1.8s. Here are all of our performance test results of Bluehost:
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Average response time: | 361ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.8s |
| On-site traffic: | 15VUs |
Bluehost’s ability to handle intense traffic was a bit low, at just 15VUs. Lastly, the host offers servers in the US alone, yet a free CDN is available.
Customer support: Bluehost’s support can be reached via live chat and phone 24/7. Based on our experience, the communication was fast and very helpful. Yet, if you want a more attentive approach, you can purchase Bluehost’s premium support package – Blue Sky.
All things considered, Bluehost is quite a unique provider on this list. Only one plan can be considered cheap, but the functionalities included make it very attractive. Especially for beginners and small business owners.
Visit our Bluehost review to learn more about the host.
4. A2 Hosting – performance-focused hosting for affordable pricing
| Rating: | |
| Lowest monthly price: | $2.99/month |
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 597ms |
| Best for: | Speed-focused hosting |
| Current deal: | 🔥Get A2 Hosting with 75% OFF🔥 |
A2 Hosting is mainly known for its performance-driven features like its A2 Optimized software. This makes it the ideal provider for those looking for affordable plans that offer plenty of speed-boosting features. Its shared hosting starts from $2.99/month.
Once again, long billing terms are unavoidable, and renewals are higher.
Price:
- StartUp – 1 website, 100GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and 5 databases starting from $2.99/month.
- Drive – unlimited storage and websites, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited databases, and free automated backup starting from $5.99/month.
- Turbo Boost – unlimited websites and NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited databases, free automated backup, and NVMe AMD EPYC Server with LiteSpeed Web Server starting from $6.99/month.
- Turbo Max – same as Turbo Boost but with fewer users on servers, starting from $14.99/month.
Features: The cheapest provider's plan enables you to host a single site and includes 100GB storage, unlimited email accounts, bandwidth, DNS, and subdomains. Plus free SSL, DDoS protection, automated backups, server-level firewall, and many more.
Performance: After testing A2 Hosting for 2 months, we found that even the cheaper options with less managed to show good results. The host kept a reliable 99.99% uptime, a very speedy site loading time of 1.4s, and even managed to handle the simultaneous 50VUs on the site. You can see the full performance results below:
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Average response time: | 597ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.4s |
| On-site traffic: | 50VUs |
Lastly, the host allows you to choose a server either in the US (Michigan and Arizona), Europe (Netherlands), and Asia (Singapore).
Customer support: A2 Hosting offers support via 24/7 ticketing system, phone, and live chat. Since we contacted the support via live chat, our experience was very smooth and speedy with the issue being resolved in a few minutes.
All in all, A2 Hosting is a great option for small business websites. Generous storage, performance-focused features, and strong security make it a good work-horse for some of the least expensive web hosting prices.
Check out our A2 Hosting review to learn more about the provider.
5. HostGator – inexpensive domain hosting
| Rating: | |
| Lowest monthly price: | $2.52/month |
| Uptime: | >99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 525ms |
| Best for: | Beginners and small websites |
| Current deal: | 🔥Get HostGator with 76% OFF🔥 |
HostGator is another very popular provider that focuses on both personal and small business users. With its cheapest plan costing just $2.52/month, the host is the perfect entry into the hosting world for newbies. Plus, the provider also makes itself an attractive option with its easy-to-use interface and other beginner-friendly features.
Price:
- Hatchling – 1 website, 10GB SSD storage, free email, free domain, and more starting from $2.52/month.
- Baby – 5 websites, 40GB SSD storage, free email, free domain, and more starting from $3.05/month.
- Pro – unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, free email, free domain, Cloudflare CDN, dedicated IP, and more starting from $4.67/month.
Features: HostGator’s cheapest entry plan comes with very generous server resources. While you’re only allowed to host a single site, storage, bandwidth, and email accounts are unlimited. Plus, necessities like a free domain, an SSL, and free website builder for up to 6 pages, and a server-level firewall are also included.
Performance: To review HostGator’s performance, we ran a few tests for 2 months and the results were pretty impressive. The host kept the site up >99.99% of the time, its avg. response time rounded up to 525ms, and the site loaded in just 1.2s. Additionally, HostGator handled the full 50VUs on the website too. Here are the full results:
| Uptime: | >99.99% |
| Average response time: | 525ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.2s |
| On-site traffic: | 50VUs |
You should also be aware that the provider’s data centers are based solely in the US.
Customer support: You can reach HostGator’s support agents via 24/7 live chat and phone. To test the agent’s competence we contacted them via live chat and received the help we needed instantaneously.
As a whole, HostGator is among the best cheap website hosting providers. For a very low price, it manages to deliver in terms of ease of use, performance, and even features offered. It’s an all-inclusive option for beginners.
Visit our HostGator review to learn more about the host.
6. HostPapa – affordable yearly web hosting
| Rating: | |
| Lowest monthly price: | $2.36/month |
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 1.19s |
| Best for: | Resource-generous hosting |
| Current deal: | 🔥Get HostPapa with 80% OFF🔥 |
HostPapa is not the cheapest entry on the list but it sure has a lot to offer. It makes it here by including very generous server resources even with its cheapest plan. Plus, the rest is covered – you get a domain, SSL, email accounts, and cPanel control panel. All these features for 2.36.
Price:
- Start – 1 website, 100GB SSD storage, 10 email accounts, free domain, free SSL starting from $2.36/month.
- Plus – 10 websites, 100GB SSD storage, 100 email accounts, free domain, free SSL, website staging, and more starting from $4.76/month.
- Pro – unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, unlimited email accounts, free domain, free Wildcard SSL, website staging, and more starting from $4.76/month.
- Ultra – unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, unlimited email accounts, free domain, free Wildcard SSL, website staging, 4x more server resources, and more starting from $10.36/month.
Features: The cheapest HostPapa plan allows hosting 1 website and includes 100GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, Cloudflare CDN, server firewall and monitoring, DDoS attack prevention, an SSL certificate, free domain registration, and 10 email accounts.
Performance: Our 2-month monitoring showed that HostPapa is highly reliable, yet the speed department could use a bit of help. The provider demonstrated a perfect 100% uptime, while its avg. response time took 1.19s. More so, the handled traffic was on the lower end. You can see our full performance test results below:
| Uptime: | 100% |
| Average response time: | 1.19ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.5s |
| On-site traffic: | 15VUs |
Keep in mind that HostPapa allows you to pick a server either in the US, Canada, and Europe.
Customer support: HostPapa has many support channels available: live chat, phone, ticketing system, and fax. Despite which one you opt for, you can expect polite and knowledgeable agents at your service. Best of all, support is available in English, Spanish, and French.
Altogether, HostPapa is an excellent affordable web hosting provider for users that need some guidance in the beginning. That's covered with one-on-one training. HostPapa also includes a bunch of generous features that can cover quite big websites.
Visit our HostPapa review to learn more about the host.
7. InterServer – budget-friendly month-to-month hosting
| Rating: | |
| Lowest monthly price: | $2.50/month |
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 662ms |
| Best for: | Cheap month-to-month hosting |
| Current deal: | 🔥Get InterServer with 65% OFF🔥 |
InterServer has made a name for itself by offering affordable high-quality hosting. The provider has only one shared hosting plan, which costs anywhere from $2.50/month. Both businesses and personal projects would work well with the provider.
Price:
- Standard – 1 CPU core and 2GB SSD storage starting from $2.50/month.
- Boost 2 – 2 CPU cores and 4GB SSD storage starting from $9.95/month.
- Boost 4 – 4 CPU cores and 8GB SSD storage starting from $19.95/month.
Features: All InterServer plans come with unlimited websites, storage, bandwidth, and email accounts. Plus, a free SSL, weekly backups, and a Cloudflare CDN are included too. However, a custom domain comes for an additional price.
Performance: InterServer’s performance is a little unpredictable as our 2-month tests displayed. While the host is very reliable in terms of uptime, its server responsiveness and site loading time could be much better. Despite that, InterServer is capable of handling quite intense traffic on the website. You can see all of our results of our testing here:
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Average response time: | 662ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 2.3s |
| On-site traffic: | 35VUs |
However, you should note that all provider’s servers are based in the US solely.
Customer support: InterServer’s customer support can be reached around the clock via live chat, phone, email, and even Messenger. Based on our experience, the waiting times were very short and the agents proved to be knowledgeable and friendly.
All in all, InterServer is a very universal host. The fact that you’re not limited by the number of sites you can create is brilliant, and month-to-month hosting can become a life-saver for tight budgets.
Visit our InterServer review to learn more about the host.
Our methodology for picking top cheap web hosts
We researched dozens of hosting services and performed various tests to find out which cheapest solutions are worth your money. Here are the criteria we used to pick our top cheap web hosts:
- Price. We started our research by ranking our tested hosting services according to their monthly price options. But price wasn’t our only criteria – we took into consideration other aspects to make sure to provide you with the best recommendations.
- Payment conditions. We also took into account the billing terms of the cheapest monthly prices as well as whether you can pay the full price at once. Most importantly, we included services that don’t have very high renewal prices.
- Money-back guarantee. All of our offered services come with a money-back guarantee so you could test them out yourself and see if it’s worth committing to long term.
- Resources. We researched what each service offers in terms of resources, looking for solutions with free domains, SSL certificates, backups, unlimited bandwidth, or lots of storage.
- Performance. Another important aspect we tested was performance. We created test sites and monitored performance for 2 months, including uptime, average response time, fully built site loading time, and traffic management.
How to choose the best cheap web host?
If you’re unfamiliar with the hosting world, it’s very easy to be tricked into opting for an unnecessarily expensive plan with features you might never even use. To avoid that, we have identified the top factors to bear in mind when shopping for cheap website hosting:
- Price and conditions. Many web hosts will come across as cheap at first glance. However, before taking your pick consider a few things: How long is the billing term to get the lowest price? Can you pay the full sum upfront? Are there any features/tools automatically added to your cart that you don’t really need? How high are the renewal rates?
- Resources and features. Make sure that your chosen plan includes the resources that you truly need and will use. If you’re planning a single smaller website, your project won’t need more than 10GB storage and 50GB bandwidth. As for the features, this will entirely depend on your personal needs. However, make sure that at least basics like a custom domain, an SSL certificate, and business email accounts are included. Inclusive security packages and automated backups are a nice bonus too.
- Good server performance. A speedy website has a better chance of ranking higher on the search engine result page. Additionally, bounce-off rates also tend to be lower. If you want reliable performance, there are 4 factors to consider: response time (should remain under 600ms for best results), uptime (should be as close to 100% as possible), site loading time (keep this under 3s for best results), and ability to handle increased traffic on the site (should be as close to 50VUs as possible).
What to expect from cheap web hosting
Cheap web hosting providers may offer you advanced hosting services or even better ones than pricy providers would. That said, affordability doesn’t impact reliability if a reputable web hosting provider is chosen.
You can find services that offer very low subscription options, yet give you even more freebies and resources than some premium-priced hosts.
But price isn’t the only factor that matters. You have to take into consideration various factors to make sure you're getting your money’s worth.
Here’s how you should distinguish whether a cheap hosting provider is worth getting:
- Look for a high uptime guarantee
- Research whether there are enough server resources
- Ensure that the service comes with all the essentials, including an SSL certificate or a free domain
- Look for advanced security features
- Make sure the customer support agents are professional
How to reduce web hosting costs?
Powerful web hosting doesn’t have to be expensive. Especially if you follow some tips and tricks on how to get premium web hosting for a lower price.
This is how you can reduce web hosting costs:
- Look for web hosting providers that offer cheaper prices for longer commitment.
- Freshen up your content and delete outdated blogs, landing pages, discounts, and other types of content to loosen up the storage.
- Keep your website simple and get rid of irrelevant resources.
- Start selling on your website to cover web hosting expanses.
- Subscribe to a website builder with web hosting included.
Reducing costs of web hosting included not only outside factors but also inside ones. It’s important to maintain your website optimized for better performance, which means less use of resources.
Alternative to paid web hosting - Web builders
Now, every second website building provider offers web hosting services as a default extra. This makes website creation a fast and comfortable process for both beginner and advanced users.
The most reputable website builders provide you with top-notch web hosting services for free next to the website building suite of features. This means that getting a website builder can be the best economical alternative to subscribing to a web hosting service.
For example, Hostinger Website Builder’s prices start from $2.99/month, and even with the most basic plan you receive a web hosting service included.
Cheap web hosting: final recommendations
Cheap web hosting is a great solution for a strong kick-start in launching your website. However, you should choose carefully, as some providers that claim to be cheap may compromise security or performance.
So, when choosing the best cheap web host, it’s crucial to evaluate its uptime, resources, and security measures. Even if it’s low-cost, it should still include essentials like an SSL, unlimited bandwidth, and at least 99.99% uptime.
We found that the best price-to-value ratio is offered by Hostinger. Its plans start from $2.69/mo, letting you create a small to medium website with a free domain, SSL, 100GB storage, backups, and more.
Best web hosting deals this week:
Other specific cheap hosting solutions
Cheap web hosting FAQs
What is the best cheap web hosting?
The cheapest hosting that offers the best price-to-value ratio is Hostinger. Its prices start from $2.69/mo, and you get a free domain, SSL, backups, 100GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, and more. Plus, it guarantees high performance, ensuring your website is running smoothly at all times.
Can I buy hosting for 1 month?
Yes, you can buy hosting for one month. Many providers offer month-to-month subscriptions that also come with month-long money-back guarantees, letting you test the service out for one month before committing long-term.
Can I host my website for free?
Yes, you can host your website for free with certain providers. But, bear in mind that most free providers restrict their features and resources to a bare minimum. Besides that, you likely will also see a less-than-optimum performance. So it's best to stick to low-cost web hosting options.
What is a good price for hosting?
A good price for web hosting is from $2 to $10/month. For example, our top pick – Hostinger – costs from as low as $2.69/month, allowing you to host up to 100 websites and giving you up to 100GB SSD storage, among other features.
Who offers the cheapest shared web hosting?
Considering the price-to-quality ratio, Hostinger offers the cheapest shared web hosting. With its basic plan, you can host up to 100 websites, while most hosting services allow only 1 website at this stage.
Why is web hosting so expensive?
Web hosting is one of the most extensive services markets having a big competition as a consequence. To outrival other web hosting providers, some tend to include more additional features, resulting in pricier subscriptions.
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