What for Look For in a Blogger Hosting Package
Tips for Choosing the Right VPS Hosting Package
Decide Server Type
There are multiple server types available, and each one is suited to specific website needs. Therefore, we broke down our recommendations by server type — once you determine what type you need, it’s easier to narrow down the right service. Many companies offer multiple server types. We included the following five types of servers on our list.
- Shared servers are ideal for newer websites that don’t get heavy traffic. A shared server means you are sharing server space with other websites. While this means significantly lower costs, a popular site on the same server can adversely affect your site’s speed.
- Dedicated hosting is the opposite of shared hosting, in that the company rents the server specifically to you, and your website is the only one stored on it. You have more control, and your site can handle large amounts of traffic. This exclusivity comes at a price, so dedicated servers are ideal for more established websites that can justify the cost.
- VPS or virtual private servers, are a middle ground between shared and dedicated servers. While your website shares physical space on a server, it is hosted virtually on a private server. This is ideal for users that need more control over their host, but don’t necessarily need a full dedicated server.
- WordPress hosting is ideal for users who are building their websites through WordPress. While these services are typically shared servers, they are specifically tailored for WordPress websites, making for a smoother support and solutions experience.
- Cloud-based web hosting is a newer type of hosting technology that lets individual servers work together to create one large server. This is ideal for sites that are expected to grow rapidly, because it is easier to quickly add more resources.
Uptime & Load Speed
Load speed measures how fast your website loads, and uptime refers to the amount of time that a hosting system is operational. If you’ve ever been on a site that loads slowly, or not at all, you know how critical this is. We verified uptime and load speeds for the recommended web hosts via a third-party website, to confirm that we were only including hosts with fast load speeds and reliable uptimes.
Customer Support
You never know when you may need assistance with your website, so we only recommended web hosts that offer 24/7 support. We also sought web hosts that offer support in a variety of ways, including phone and live chat, so you are always guaranteed to get the assistance you need to resolve your issues quickly.
Best Shared Web Hosting Providers
- Hostpapa
- MochaHost
- HostGator
- Hostpapa
Price
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Server Types
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Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
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---|---|---|---|
Starting at $3.95 per month
| Shared VPS Reseller WordPress Online Store |
Unmetered
|
2. MochaHost
Price
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Server Types
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Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
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---|---|---|---|
Starting between $1.95-$3.48 per month
| Shared VPS WordPress Reseller Dedicated CMS |
Unlimited
|
Price
|
Server Types
|
Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|
Starting between $2.75-$5.95 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS WordPress |
Unmetered
|
|
Best WordPress Web Hosting Providers
iPage
Interserver
Bluehost
1) iPage
Price
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Server Types
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Bandwidth/Disk Space
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Features
|
---|---|---|---|
Starting at $4 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS Cloud |
Unlimited
|
2) Interserver
Price
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Server Types
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Bandwidth/Disk Space
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Features
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---|---|---|---|
Starting at $1.99 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS Reseller WordPress |
Unlimited
|
3) Bluehost
Price
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Server Types
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Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
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---|---|---|---|
Starting between $3.95-$5.95 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS Reseller WordPress |
Unmetered
|
Best VPS Web Hosting Providers
GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks’ three VPS hosting plans offer all customers 10 TB data transfer, free SSL certificates, 24/7/365 live support, a searchable knowledge base, and a 30-day money back guarantee. Businesses looking to boost their environmental responsibility will appreciate GreenGeeks 300% matching of renewable energy credits and its green certification badges, which can be added to hosted websites. HRANK lists an uptime of 99.975% and 866 ms response time for the company.
Price
|
Server Types
|
Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|
Starting between $2.95-$5.95 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS Reseller |
Unlimited
|
Pros & Cons of GreenGeeks
Highlight your green commitment by placing a certification tag on your website. GreenGeeks’ VPS hosting is also a good option if you’re looking to move your site, as their migration team will handle your move free of charge. However, this may not off-set their relatively high price point, which starts at $39.95 per month.
Pros
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Cons
| ||
---|---|---|---|
>Environmentally responsible >Free migration services |
>High price point
|
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting customers can choose between three managed VPS plans, all of which come with SSL certificates, automatic back-ups, and free site migrations. The amount of storage available ranges from 75 GB to 260 GB. The InMotion support center includes 24/7/365 live support, tutorials, FAQs, helpful articles, and a community forum. Upgrades can be done without downtime via the account management panel. Uptime for InMotion is 99.836%, and the response time is 1,168 ms.
Price
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Server Types
|
Bandwidth
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|
Starting between $2.49-$8.49 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS WordPress |
Unlimited
| >1 Free Domain >Website Builder >SSL Certificate >Database Backups >More features at InMotion Hosting |
Pros & Cons of InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting’s VPS plans are optimized for ecommerce with one-click installation. Their 90-day money-back guarantee is available with multiple plans, giving you ample time to decide if the platform is right for you. Some InMotion Hosting users have reported issues with check-out and set-up, indicating this process can be improved.
Pros
|
Cons
| ||
---|---|---|---|
>E-commerce optimization >90-day money-back guarantee |
>Check-out and set-up processes can be improved
|
Dreamhost
Dreamhost offers four different options for VPS hosting. While the amount of RAM and SSD storage increases with each tier, all plans include unlimited websites, traffic and email addresses, free SSL certificates, and a 100 percent uptime guarantee. DreamHost boasts the top response time in this review of 396 ms, and it has an HRANK uptime of 99.902%. They also offer customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and 24/7 technical support.
Price
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Server Types
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Bandwidth
|
Features
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---|---|---|---|
Starting between $2.59-$3.95 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS Cloud WordPress |
Unmetered
|
Pros & Cons of Dreamhost
New customers can enjoy significant savings by signing up for three years’ worth of service. Automatic software updates mean you have one less thing on your to-do list, although their custom-built control panel means that there is a bit of a learning curve, especially if you’re accustomed to working with cPanel.
Pros
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Cons
| ||
---|---|---|---|
>Three-year plans for additional savings >Automatic software updates |
>Custom control panel
|
VPS Web Hosting Comparison Table
Company
|
Price
|
Server Types
|
Bandwidth
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|---|
Starting at $39.95/month
| Shared Dedicated VPS Reseller |
Unlimited
| >30-day money-back guarantee >1 free domain >Website builder >Database back-ups >More features at GreenGeeks | |
Starting at $22.99/month
| Shared Dedicated VPS WordPress |
Unlimited
| >90-day money-back guarantee >2 free domains >Website builder >SSL certificate >Database back-ups >More features at InMotion Hosting | |
Starting at $10/month (3-year plan)
| Shared Dedicated VPS Cloud WordPress |
Unmetered
|
Best Cloud Web Web Hosting Providers
ScalaHosting
ScalaHosting offers accessible VPS cloud hosting via managed and unmanaged plans starting at around $10 per month. Customers get unlimited accounts, free unlimited website migration, security features, and more. All plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee. Scala Hosting has an uptime of 99.798%, and its response time recorded by HRANK is 1,264 ms. The company’s tech support is available by phone, live chat, and support tickets.
Price
|
Server Types
|
Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|
Starting between $3.95-$5.95 per month
| Shared Dedicated WordPress Cloud |
Unlimited
|
Pros & Cons of ScalaHosting
ScalaHosting offers an enhanced security feature called SShield, which monitors sites in real time for malicious attacks. They also include automatic daily back-ups. The price difference between managed and unmanaged plans is nominal, however, and customer support for billing and sales inquiries is only available during regular business hours.
Pros
|
Cons
| ||
---|---|---|---|
>Automatic backup of last 7 days >Enhanced security >Minimal price difference to upgrade to managed plans | >Billing and sales inquiries limited to business hours |
Hostwinds
Hostwinds allows customers to create and customize their own cloud server. Customers can choose between managed or unmanaged Linux or Windows VPS servers, with multiple options for RAM, storage and bandwidth. All plans include free website transfer, SSD storage, snapshots, and more. Customer support is provided by experts who are available via chat, email, support tickets, and telephone. Hostwinds records an HRANK uptime of 99.722% and a response time of 547 ms.
Price
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Server Types
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Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|
Starting at $3.29 per month
| Shared Dedicated VPS Cloud Reseller Business |
Unlimited
|
Pros & Cons of Hostwinds
Businesses planning a switch will appreciate the complimentary website migration service that includes database transfers, and if an upgrade is in your future, Hostwinds offers a variety of VPS hosting solutions. Keeping your information secure can get costly with fees for nightly backups, including 0.3 cents per GB storage.
Pros
|
Cons
| ||
---|---|---|---|
>Complimentary website transfers >Multiple VPS options | >Nightly backups are an add-on $3 month with additional fees for data storage >Additional fees for data storage |
SiteGround
SiteGround offers four managed cloud hosting plans, all of which come with 5TB data transfer, a unique auto-scale tool, and easy management of sub-accounts. Customers also have the option to manage their own cloud hosting. SiteGround has automatic security checks, and their support team aims for a 90% problem resolution at first contact. SiteGround earned the second-highest uptime among our reviews of 99.986%, and its response speed was the third-fastest at 534 ms.
Price
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Server Types
|
Bandwidth/Disk Space
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|
Starting between $0.33-$5.95 per month
| Shared WordPress WooCommerce Cloud |
Unmetered
|
Pros & Cons of SiteGround
SiteGround’s variety of web hosting services can handle any size business, and its auto-scale tool allows you to automatically add more resources during traffic spikes. There is an extra fee for domains, and they do not offer a money-back guarantee like many competitors.
Pros
|
Cons
| ||
---|---|---|---|
>Website in English and Spanish >Variety of plans to match the needs of a growing business | >Prices increase after renewals >No money-back guarantee |
Cloud Web Hosting Comparison Table
Company
|
Price
|
Server Types
|
Bandwidth
|
Features
|
---|---|---|---|---|
ScalaHosting
| >Managed plans start at $9.95/month >Unmanaged plans start at $10/month | Shared Dedicated WordPress Cloud |
Unlimited
| >30-day money-back guarantee >24/7 support >1 free domain >Website builder >SSL certificate >Database back-ups >More features at Scala Hosting |
>Managed plans start at $5.49-$7.99/month >Unmanaged plans start at $4.49-$9.89/month | Shared Dedicated VPS Cloud Business Reseller |
Unlimited
| >24/7 support >1 free domain >Website builder >SSL certificate >Database back-ups >More features at Hostwinds | |
Managed and unmanaged plans start at $80/month
| Shared WordPress WooCommerce Cloud |
Unmetered
| >30-day money-back guarantee >24/7 support >1 free domain >Website builder >SSL certificate >Database back-ups >More features at SiteGround |