Best web hosting for beginners 2023: top 5 services
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Kristina Jarusevičiūtė
Writer
If you’re a beginner looking for the easiest way to start hosting a website, simplicity is key.
You want web hosting with an easy-to-navigate control panel. Plans that come with hosting essentials like a domain and SSL certificate straight out of the box will also make your life easier.
That said, when you’re setting up a website for the first time, it can be overwhelming to find the right hosting provider for you. So to help you out, we’ve tested dozens of providers to identify which ones deliver the most fuss-free experience. After careful analysis, we’ve narrowed it down to the 5 best web hosting providers for beginners.
Best web hosting for beginners 2023: ranked
- Hostinger – best and most reliable hosting for beginners
- SiteGround – hosting for beginners with excellent performance
- HostGator – beginner-friendly and wallet-friendly hosting
- Bluehost – hosting for beginners with an intuitive interface
- Dreamhost – inexpensive and easy WordPress hosting
📢 LIMITED OFFER: Use our link to get Hostinger, now 75% OFF!
How to choose beginner-friendly web hosting?
Choosing the best beginner-friendly web hosting can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never tried one before. To help you out, we made a list of factors to consider when choosing the best web hosting provider for beginners:
- Easy-to-use interface. Novice users should look for providers with an intuitive interface. cPanel-based management or a native panel – you have to make sure it’s a great option for those with no hosting experience.
- Features. It’s important to check that a hosting provider includes all the essential features required for beginners. This includes at least a custom domain, an SSL certificate, decent amount of storage (at least 10GB) and bandwidth. Even better if it has automated backups.
- Customer support. Beginner users usually have many more questions or issues that arise at the start of their hosting experience. For this reason, it’s crucial to only choose hosting providers that offer plenty of support options. The agents should be well-trained, and the host should provide you with 24/7 service options.
- Performance. The hosting provider that you choose should ensure great performance. You don’t want to scare away your first visitors just because the service can’t handle your site. For this reason, there should be at least 99% uptime guarantee. It’s also beneficial to have some performance enhancing features, such as LiteSpeed technology or caching and CDN.
Best web hosting for beginners – our detailed list:
We tested various web hosting providers to select services that guarantee ease of use for novices, great prices, performance, and more. Without further ado, let's take a look at the best beginner-friendly web hosting providers:
1. Hostinger – best beginner-friendly web hosting overall
| Features: | Free SSL, weekly backups, SSD storage, LiteSpeed web server |
| Uptime: | 100% |
| Avg. response time: | 511ms |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get 75% OFF Hostinger! 🔥 |
Hostinger is the best web hosting service for beginners for various reasons. For starters, it’s cheap, starting from just $X/mo. Moreover, it’s extremely easy to use and is great for hosting various types of websites.
Interface: Hostinger uses a very intuitive custom panel option called hPanel. It allows you to effortlessly set up apps using one-click installers and easily navigate through security and performance settings.
Features: Whichever plan you choose, Hostinger will allow you to host at least 100 websites. Not to mention that you’ll get up to 100 professional email accounts. Plus, unlimited bandwidth, Cloudflare CDN, weekly backups, free SSL certificates, and even a custom domain name are also included.
Performance: Hostinger is an ideal candidate if excellent site performance is a crucial deciding factor for you. It includes SSD storage which is speedier than the old HDD drives. You also get the latest PHP versions and the LiteSpeed Web Server tech and caching, which helps boost website speed.
| Uptime: | 100% |
| Average response time: | 511ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 0.9s |
Customer support: The provider’s customer support ensures fast reply time. Hostinger’s support team is working 24/7, but for less urgent issues, you can also reach them by email or the ticketing system.
Pricing: Hostinger lets you choose between 2 shared and 1 cloud hosting plan. Its prices are relatively cheap, starting from $2.99/mo for a 4-year subscription. And, of course, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Overall, Hostinger ticks all important boxes for beginners: price, ease of use, customer service, and performance.
Visit our Hostinger review to learn more about the service.
- User-friendly hPanel
- Fast and reliable performance
- 24/7 customer support with skilled agents
- Needs full payment upfront to secure the best prices
2. SiteGround – beginner hosting services with great performance
| Features: | Free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, LiteSpeed web server |
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Avg. response time: | 217ms |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get SiteGround, now 86% OFF + FREE TRANSFER! 🔥 |
SiteGround is an excellent pick for those who are just beginning their website hosting journey. Thanks to its intuitive hosting panel and…, you’ll get a hang of everything in no time.
Interface: With this host, you get to try out their in-house developed control panel. SiteGround has ditched the standard cPanel for a more modern and instinctive option. It helps you install WordPress, create a professional email account, and activate the SSL certificate in a few steps.
Features: All of SiteGround’s shared hosting plans come with email accounts, free SSL certificates, and unlimited bandwidth. There’s also Cloudflare CDN and built-in caching included.
Performance: SiteGround is one of the most reliable providers when it comes to performance. You’re guaranteed an average of 99.9% uptime and exceptional speeds. One of the reasons for it is its strong technology, such as LiteSpeed web servers and Google Cloud infrastructure.
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Average response time: | 217ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.1s |
Customer support: With SiteGround, you get multiple customer support channels. This includes multiple 24/7 options, including live chat, phone support, and helpdesk tickets. What’s even better is that the agents are very helpful and quick to respond.
Pricing: SiteGround offers 3 shared hosting plans suitable for beginner projects. You can get the entry hosting plan starting from $1.99/mo with a one-year billing cycle. If it doesn’t meet your expectations, there’s always the 30-day money-back guarantee.
SiteGround offers great value for your money, with great performance and loads of features that beginners will appreciate.
Visit our SiteGround review to learn more about the service.
- Intuitive in-house control panel
- Free daily backups
- Multiple 24/7 support options
- Free domain not included
- Complex pricing structure
3. HostGator – beginner-friendly hosting with competitive pricing
| Features: | cPanel hosting, free website builder |
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 525ms |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get up to 65% OFF HostGator! 🔥 |
HostGator is one of the most beginner-friendly shared website hosting providers. It offers a hassle-free hosting experience with an intuitive cPanel and a great customer support team. And all of this comes at competitive prices.
Interface: HostGator uses the traditional and popular cPanel together with a native user interface. Such a combo helps make the learning process very simple. It lets you effortlessly set up everything needed for your site: WordPress, SSL, domain – you name it.
Features: Each of HostGator’s shared hosting plans will load you with essentials. This includes such features as an SSL certificate, a custom domain, unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email accounts. The best part is that you also receive a free website builder, allowing you to create a site with up to 6 pages.
Performance: With this host, you get a regular 99.9% uptime guarantee. And once you fully build your site, you can expect above-average loading times. The only thing worth noting is that its data centers are only in the US.
| Uptime: | >99.99% |
| Average response time: | 525ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.2s |
Customer support: HostGator has multiple support channels, including the most popular option – a 24/7 live chat. There’s also round-the-clock phone support. Whichever option you pick, the agents are very professional and try their best to handle issues quickly.
Pricing: The hosting provider is not very different from other hosts when it comes to pricing structure. There are 3 pricing options available with prices starting from $2.75/mo (if you get it for 3 years). As usual, there’s also a standard 30-day refund policy.
HostGator is an impressive host suitable for beginners who want everything in one purchase – ease of use, a website builder, and essential features.
Visit our HostGator review to learn more about the service.
- No-fuss dashboard and cPanel-based management
- All-inclusive even with the cheapest plan
- Good customer support
- Servers located in the US only
- Automatic add-ons on the checkout page
4. Bluehost – WordPress-focused cPanel hosting for beginners
| Features: | Functional interface, cPanel, WordPress staging |
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 361ms |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get up to 75% OFF Bluehost! 🔥 |
Bluehost is one of the biggest names when it comes to beginner web hosting, and for a good reason. It ensures a smooth introduction into the hosting world thanks to its intuitive interface and plans filled with essentials.
Interface: Hosting novices will appreciate Bluehost’s user-friendly and functional cPanel combination with its own automatic management tools. Whether you need to set up your domain or SSL certificate, or access more advanced features, you’ll get a hang of everything quickly.
Features: Bluehost’s shared hosting plans give you everything for a kick start – a free custom domain, an SSL, and at least 5 email accounts. Plus, you get to enjoy unlimited bandwidth, free CDN, and even an AI website builder.
Performance: Bluehost doesn’t have an official uptime guarantee, yet its performance proves its trustworthiness. It’s a generally fast hosting provider, with a fully built site loading in 1.8s. However, keep in mind that the host has data centers only in the US.
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Average response time: | 361ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.8s |
Customer support: No matter what time it is, Bluehost agents work 24/7 via both live chat and phone. The support team is always ready to help and is very well-trained. Moreover, for an additional cost, you can opt for premium support – Blue Sky. It gets you on-demand ticket support, account access and backup assistance, and more.
Pricing: With this host, you can choose from 4 shared hosting plans. The prices start from just $2.95/mo. And of course, there’s also a month-long money-back guarantee.
If you’re looking for the best host for personal website use, Bluehost’s easy management, WordPress tools, and website builder make it a formidable contender.
Visit our Bluehost review to learn more about the service.
- Free domain and SSL with all plans
- User-friendly native interface and cPanel
- Data centers in the US alone
- No uptime guarantee
5. DreamHost – affordable WordPress hosting for beginners
| Features: | Custom control panel, WordPress website builder, automated migration |
| Uptime: | 99.99% |
| Avg. response time: | 231ms |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get DreamHost, now 79% OFF 🔥 |
DreamHost is known for its cheap and easy-to-manage shared hosting for beginners. With a beginner-friendly control panel, affordable prices, and a built-in WordPress website builder, DreamHost is one of the best solutions that you can find.
Interface: DreamHost’s interface was simply made for novice users. For starters, it lets you set up a WordPress site in one click. Also, all tools have tutorials on how to use them to make the hosting process easier for you.
Features: Compared to some other hosting providers, DreamHost’s plans are feature-loaded. Both of them come with a premium WordPress website builder, a free custom domain, an SSL, and CDN. Plus, you get unlimited bandwidth, automatic backups, domain privacy, and a web application firewall.
Performance: Whether you’re a beginner or not, you can rely on DreamHost in terms of performance. It comes with a magnificent 100% uptime guarantee. Yet, its data centers are located in the US alone.
| Uptime: | >99.99% |
| Average response time: | 231ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.6s |
Customer support: In terms of 24/7 support, DreamHost offers email tickets. As for live chat, the agents can be reached during working hours (5:30 AM - 9:30 PM PT). The support agents are always keen to help and are friendly. However, keep in mind that the phone support option is paid.
Pricing: You can get DreamHost for as low as $2.59/mo when getting a 36-month plan. There are 2 shared hosting subscription options available and a generous money-back guarantee of 97 days.
Such strong factors make DreamHost look like an excellent WordPress hosting solution for beginners and smaller businesses.
Visit our DreamHost review to learn more about the service.
- Beginner-friendly WP website builder
- Free domain, SSL, and domain privacy with both plans
- Fast and reliable performance test results
- Servers are in the US only
- Phone support is not free
Best web hosting for beginners compared
| Hostinger | SiteGround | HostGator | Bluehost | DreamHost | |
| Brand |  |  |  |  |  |
| Rating | |||||
| Uptime | 100% | 99.9% | >99.99% | 99.99% | >99.99% |
| Speed | 511ms | 217ms | 525ms | 361ms | 231ms |
| Free domain | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free SSL | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Email accounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Customer support | 24/7 live chat, email, and ticketing system. | 24/7 live chat, phone line, and helpdesk tickets | 24/7 live chat, phone line | 24/7 live chat, phone line, and ticket support | 24/7 email ticket system, live chat, and phone support |
| Price | From $2.99/month | From $1.99/month | From $2.75/month | From $2.95/month | From $2.59/month |
| Review | Hostinger review | SiteGround review | HostGator review | Bluehost review | DreamHost review |
Choosing beginner-friendly web hosting: essentials
It’s easy to get lost in the hosting market when there are so many providers available. It’s even easier when you don’t know how to recognize a beginner-friendly host. That’s why in this section, you’ll find a summary of the key features you should consider when choosing a provider, including ease of use, customer support, performance, and more.
Ease of management and extra features
It’s better to not waste time fumbling around with poorly designed control panels. For starters, cPanel-based management is always a good choice because of its simple and intuitive approach. Extra features, such as website builders also make the website creation process so much easier for those with little to no experience. If you’re looking for a site-building tool together with hosting services, check out Bluehost and DreamHost.
Hosting essentials
Choosing the most affordable option is always tempting, however, you need to be aware of what the plan includes. If there’s no free domain, SSL certificate, or other important freebies, you might end up paying more when buying them separately. For inclusive plans, check out HostGator which offers a free domain, SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth and storage resources.
Customer support
As a beginner who is only starting to get around a new service, you want your hosting provider to be there for you at all times. That’s why you should look for hosts that offer a few customer support options for you to choose from. Providers that go the extra mile could come in handy whenever you’re in a pickle. If you’re looking for just that, Bluehost offers premium support for an additional cost. This includes account access and backup assistance, as well as design guidance and on-demand ticket support.
Performance
Even if you’re only beginning your hosting journey, you want your site to handle whatever comes its way. Here are things you should look into when assessing a provider’s performance:
- Uptime – although 100% uptimes are rare, providers that offer a >99.9% guarantee are not that hard to find. The higher the result is, the less downtime you’ll have.
- Response time – fast response times lead to better experiences for your audience. For context, DreamHost’s 231ms is considered blazing fast. However, anything faster than 600ms is considered above average.
- Loading time – the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is the time it takes for the largest element of the web page to load. For example, the service provider should always be above the maximum recommended LCP of 2.5 seconds.
- Server locations – If your audience is going to be international, you should consider checking out Hostinger, which has more server locations. However, if your audience is US-based, then you don’t have to worry about your site’s performance for people outside the country. For audiences in North America, you can look at Bluehost, HostGator, and DreamHost.
In brief, you want a service provider that can bring you a positive experience, so make sure to keep these things in mind before purchasing a plan.
Bottom line
Finding the right web hosting provider as a beginner can be a difficult challenge. Many web hosting options claim to be beginner-friendly, but only a handful stay true to their word. And a simple dashboard isn’t enough to make it easy for newbies.
Hosts should also offer dependable customer support and plans that include hosting essentials, such as a free domain and SSL certificate. For this reason, we tested dozens of services to help you pick the friendliest option for novice users.
Our top recommendation is Hostinger. It guarantees a very intuitive control panel, excellent performance, and all of the essentials for a great price.
Beginner web hosting FAQs
Is GoDaddy good for beginners?
GoDaddy web hosting is good for beginners in terms of easy cPanel-based hosting management, but its prices are premium and the features make it a better fit for business websites and more seasoned users. For complete newbies, we recommend Hostinger as it includes an intuitive custom hPanel and lots of freebies, including a free domain and SSL certificate.
Can I do web hosting myself?
Yes, you can do web hosting yourself. However, it involves a lot of shenanigans and your computer has to stay on at all times or your website won’t be available when it’s off. So, to make things easier for you, I recommend leaving all the work to a hosting provider. This will afford you a great deal of convenience while offering unbeatable flexibility.
Which web hosting is best for beginners in 2023?
The best web hosting for beginners in 2023 is Hostinger. It has a custom intuitive panel that you won’t have trouble figuring out, is affordable, and offers excellent performance. Bluehost and HostGator are great beginner-friendly alternatives, as well.
How do you buy a host?
To buy a host, simply visit the provider’s website, choose your preferred hosting plan, and check out. If you want to save money, you can also check out our exclusive Hostinger, Bluehost, HostGator, DreamHost and HostPapa discount links.
What is the cost of hosting a website?
The cost of hosting a website depends on the provider, type of hosting, and the plan you choose. You can expect to pay anywhere from $2.99 up to $20 a month for most shared plans. If you’re looking for a provider that offers top-notch hosting services for the lowest prices, make sure you consider Hostinger.
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