Category: Technology

Brand trust and loyalty are crucial for success. If consumers don’t trust you, they’ll never buy your products.

Stats paint a bleak picture for website owners—85% of shoppers avoid websites without SSL.

The answer is as simple as they come—get an SSL certificate and become much more trustworthy.

Unfortunately, 58% of phishing websites already use a free SSL like Let’s Encrypt. Free certificates provide little protection from scammers.

There’s little sense in sugarcoating it—mistrust is at an all-time high, and you need to go the extra mile to look legit.

Purchasing a certificate from one of the best SSL certificate providers is the best recourse here.

Practice shows paid SSL works, especially if you get a stronger validation level. 100% of security-aware consumers would rather do business with an EV-validated website, and 67% avoid doing business with sites without extended validation.

It’s obvious – getting proper validation from a proper certificate authority practically equals better user retention. The only question is which SSL provider and certificate to go with.

To help you secure your website and improve your profit margin, we reviewed the best places to get an SSL certificate. Read on to find out which one gives you the best bang for your buck.

1. Sectigo

Sectigo, previously known as Comodo CA, is one of the world’s leading SSL providers. It is also something of an SSL celebrity, as it was the one to invent EV certificates.

Let’s see how it matches up against other SSL certificate providers. 

Types of SSL

Sectigo offers all relevant types of SSL.

You can get a single domain, wildcard, or multi-domain certificates with domain or organization validation. EV certificates are available in single or multi-domain variants.

Other Encryption Types

Although not strictly SSL-related, Sectigo also offers encryption for emails or documents, which are useful for hiding business correspondence. Code signing certificates are there to ensure the integrity of digital applications. These are offered by most authorities that sell SSL certificates and can be pretty useful.

Sectigo also offers a free 30-day trial for its single domain DV SSL certificate. After that, you can easily upgrade it to a paid certificate.

Handy and Easy to Use

Sectigo throws in an intuitive certificate manager. This tool makes it easy to renew, replace, and generally manage all certificates.

Sectigo also throws in a tool that checks if your entire website is encrypted properly. You also get a PCI-compliance checker with unlimited uses.

All in all, Sectigo has a comprehensive offer.

Validation Process

Domain validation is pretty simple, as with every SSL provider. Everything goes through email and takes all of a few minutes.

Getting an OV certificate requires documents about the registration of your company. Sectigo will also need to phone either you or someone from your organization.

The whole process should take about 24 hours once Sectigo receives your documents. Everything goes much faster if details about your business are available online.

OV SSL for Private Users

Sectigo also lets you apply for OV as an individual. You’d go through the same steps, but you’d need to provide a personal document and a recent major utility bill or bank statement.

It’s as simple as that.

Easy Extended Validation

EV certificates require everything OV certificates do, plus a few extra documents and verification against several databases. This ensures your business is active and isn’t known for any scammy activities. 

The Sectigo team will look up most of the information, so you might not even have to deliver additional documents. The whole process should take under five workdays.

All certificates come with unlimited server licenses, so you can easily reissue the certificate if you need to.

A few users did complain the process can drag out longer than specified. Verifying a business can be tricky, so this is always a possibility, even with the very best SSL certificate providers.

Support

Sectigo support is available 24/7 through email ticketing, phone, and live chat.

The support team is efficient and gets predominantly positive reviews. The company employs some of the best experts in the business, so you can get proper assistance when you need it.

Sectigo also maintains an extensive knowledge base. It makes a fantastic reference point if you’re new to SSL.

EV certificate owners get priority support. The support agents usually get back to you instantly anyway, though.

All in all, Sectigo is one of the top SSL certificate providers when it comes to customer support. 

Price

All plans include a Sectigo trust seal you can embed into your website. Since Sectigo is one of the most popular CAs, this is one of the most recognizable and trusted seals. Only the Norton seal may carry the same prestige. 

Starting at $79/year for a single domain DV SSL, Sectigo offers cheap SSL certificates. All certificate prices are on the low end, but you must prepay for five years to get the best deals.

Note that while multi-domain certificates are affordable, they only allow you to encrypt up to three domains for the default price. If you need to secure more domains, you must pay extra.

This is standard practice, and Sectigo makes securing additional domains more affordable than most providers.

The warranty depends on the certificate you get. It’s $500,000 for DV, $1,000,000 for OV, and $1,500,000 for EV certificates. The warranty is respectable—many certificate issuers limit the DV warranty to $10,000, so Sectigo is generous.

Bottom line—you get stellar service at an affordable price.

Verdict

Affordable and comprehensive, Sectigo is a provider to be reckoned with. It offers a choice of trusted certificates for websites of all shapes and sizes.

Overall, Sectigo is one of the top SSL certificate providers of 2019.

2. DigiCert

DigiCert is a high-end certificate provider. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies like Amazon and Facebook, which is about as good a recommendation as you can get.

Let’s look at what services it has on offer.

Types of SSL

DigiCert styles itself a high-end SSL certificate issuer for businesses and organizations. That’s why the lowest validation level is OV.

You can get single and multi-domain OV and EV certificates. The OV level also supports wildcard and SAN wildcard variants.

DigiCert has a strange naming pattern for its certificates. All certificate types are available in three variants—Standard, Secure Site, and Secure Site Pro.

Standard SSL

Standard SSL certificates are, as the name suggests, just ordinary OV and EV certificates. This is the cheapest type of SSL certificate in DigiCert’s offer.

There’s little unusual about them, except that they support 3072 and 4096-bit public key encryption. 2048-bit keys are nigh-impossible to crack, but these levels of encryption are more future-proof than standard certificates.

All certificates also support RSA keys and ECC ones. ECC keys are much shorter, which mitigates any delay SSL might cause. It may take more effort to implement them properly, though.

Secure Site SSL with a Few Advanced Features

Secure Site SSL certificates cost more, but they add priority support and a couple of goodies. 

You’ll get features like Norton Secured seal (which customers love), a malware checker, and a $1.750,000 warranty. This is also the first level that lets you use the DigiCert certificate management platform.

Secure Site Pro SSL with a Bunch of Advanced Features

The last level raises the warranty to $2 million and adds functions like 24/7 certificate monitoring.

One unusual feature on this level is post-quantum cryptography. If you’re worried about quantum computers becoming unstoppable security busters, DigiCert has your back.

DigiCert offers a variety of options—from pretty standard to cutting-edge. There’s enough in its offer to satisfy the requirements of any business.

It is the best place to get an SSL certificate if you want a range of solutions for your organization.

Validation Process

The first step is verifying you own the domain name you want to get a certificate for. This is as simple as receiving an email from DigiCert.

From there, you’ll need to provide a few documents. 

You’ll need to provide a document showing your company is registered. If the document you send doesn’t list the address of your organization, you should also include a proof of address like a utility bill.

DigiCert can then check with the registration authority and see that your company really exists. It’ll also attempt to confirm your company isn’t involved in any fraudulent activities.

Fast Validation through DigiCert’s Online Portal

You can upload everything to your DigiCert account, though, which speeds things up.

And that’s about it. DigiCert may ask you to verify your identity in more ways than one, but the process is straightforward in most cases.

The company website states most certificates are validated in an hour. Realistically, you can expect to get your certificate in a day or two.

DigiCert is one of the most trusted digital certificate authorities, so the validation is well worth it. 

Support

You can get support through all the standard channels—phone, email, and live chat.

DigiCert’s support quality is impressive. The agents are adept at resolving SSL-related issues.

That said, the live chat can be pretty buggy, especially if the support is getting swamped with requests. It can be an annoyance at times.

The support is excellent, but it could be more accessible.

Price

DigiCert offers twelve different SSL combinations with various discounts based on subscription length. Understandably, it has one of the most complicated pricing tables among certificate authorities.

The starting prices are at $207/year for standard SSL, $347/year for Secure Site, and $995/year for Secure Site Pro.

You have an array of choices. Considering the validation level starts at OV, the pricing is fair.

Secure Site Pro plans provide good value for enterprise-level organizations, but they are overkill for small businesses.

All things considered, DigiCert has a lucrative offer for all business owners.

Verdict

DigiCert is one of the best SSL certificate authorities for businesses of all sizes. It justifies all the attention it gets from its high-end clientele.

3. GeoTrust

GeoTrust is one of the oldest and most trusted certificate authorities. It is currently owned by DigiCert but operates independently.

Here’s what it offers.

Types of SSL

Although GeoTrust gives colorful names to its certificates, it has an offer similar to most SSL certificate vendors. It has DV, OV, and EV certificates with the possibility of adding wildcard and SAN functionality.

The certificates are comparable to those of its parent company. GeoTrust does throw DV into the mix. Also, unlike DigiCert, which adds a bunch of bells and whistles, GeoTrust keeps it pretty vanilla.

Enterprise-Grade Offer

One unique feature of GeoTrust is the SSL for the Enterprise program.

This lets you get discounts for purchasing SSL certificates in bulk. You can also pre-vet your account, so you can get certificates without going through the validation process.

GeoTrust’s control panel makes this process easy. You can purchase credits and use them to renew certificates, which simplifies renewing multiple certificates at different times.

SSL for Enterprise makes GeoTrust one of the better digital certificate companies for larger businesses.

Validation Process

The first thing you will notice about GeoTrust is that the website looks kind of dated. Luckily, the appearance is deceiving in this case—you can easily navigate the interface and get the certificate you need.

The vetting for an OV certificate is straightforward. You need to prove you own the domain name and that your organization exists. If your business’s phone number or address are not specified in official records, you can send a utility bill or some other document. GeoTrust will also confirm your order via phone.

It’s standard procedure for getting OV SSL and usually takes about a day.

Thorough EV Vetting

EV procedure depends on a variety of factors. GeoTrust typically asks for specific documentation on an individual basis. This can be standard registration documents or something like an opinion letter from a lawyer familiar with your organization.

GeoTrust has a strict validation process, so you might need to wait a few days longer than average. As a tradeoff, you do get validation from one of the most trusted SSL certificate providers out there, so it’s worth the wait.

Support

Support is available via phone, email, and live chat.

The support agents are pretty knowledgeable and can quickly solve problems. Most users claim everything is so well-designed they never need to contact support, though.

That said, chat support isn’t available 24/7. It’s just a small issue, but having round the clock support would give some peace of mind.

Price

GeoTrust’s pricing is the same as DigiCert’s—it’s not the most affordable SSL certificate provider, but not the most expensive one either.

DV certificates start at $130.50/year, OV starts at $212/year and EV at $327/year.

The pricing is what you’d expect, but it’s worth it if you want a well-known CA to back you up.

If you need a bunch of SSL certificates for business, GeoTrust offers excellent discounts through “SSL for the Enterprise” program. It’s one of the top providers of SSL certificates in bulk.

Verdict

GeoTrust is a reliable choice. Its choice of certificates comes with one of the most recognizable trust seals out there.

Where it really shines, though, is letting large organizations bulk purchase certificates. It’s one of the best SSL certificate providers of 2019 if you need to get a bunch of certificates imat once.

4. RapidSSL

RapidSSL is owned by GeoTrust, which makes it a part of DigiCert. As you might have noticed, the structure of some companies out there is a real mess. What’s important is they offer different services, and each can be treated as a separate certificate authority.

Essentially, DigiCert is something like the GoDaddy of SSL, sans the bad reputation. RapidSSL works under it, and so do a bunch of other providers.

Unlike its parent companies, RapidSSL focuses on the average consumer. Let’s see how its offer reflects this. 

Types of SSL

RapidSSL uses GeoTrust’s infrastructure to provide SSL certificates. While the parent company focuses on OV and EV, RapidSSL offers DV SSL exclusively.

Straightforward SSL Solution

You can only get a single domain or wildcard DV certificate, which is fine for basic encryption. There’s no SAN option, so RapidSSL is not the best SSL provider for securing several domains.

The certificates have a $10,000 warranty, which is fine for DV.

You can get a trust seal, but it’s just a GIF file. It can’t dynamically display info about your certificate, and it’s hardly recognizable. Dynamic seals aren’t a huge concern with DV, so this doesn’t bring down the value of the certificate.

All in all, RapidSSL offers basic DV SSL with few extras. It focuses on being the best certificate authority for small, simple websites.

Validation Process

Since you can only get DV certificates, you only need to prove you own the domain you want to secure. You can do this through email or by uploading a specific file to your website.

And that’s it. Domain validation is automatic, so you can get a certificate almost instantly.

Support

RapidSSL has email, phone, and chat support. The support team is only available during business hours, though, so you’re mostly on your own.

The support quality is just okay. Agents do their job well, but rarely go out of their way to help.

Still, Rapid SSL is hardly the best SSL certificate issuer in terms of tech support. 

The knowledge base fares little better. There are a total of three guides you can get actual value from.

RapidSSL redirects you to DigiCert for instructions on installing the certificate, which can be helpful. It would still inspire more trust if it had its own knowledge base.

The support is pretty bare bones. One redeeming feature is that you can subscribe to RapidSSL’s newsletter. This keeps you updated about security news and any newly discovered threats.

It’s not much, but the newsletter actually provides good value, and RapidSSL doesn’t use it to push upsells.

Price

RapidSSL focuses on letting everyone buy a low-cost SSL certificate.

A single domain certificate is $59/year, but you can lower the price to $49.50/year by prepaying for two years. Likewise, a wildcard SSL is $249/year paid annually or $224.50/year paid biennially.

Unusual Renewal

RapidSSL has a weird renewal policy. You can renew your certificate before it expires and add the remaining time to your renewed certificate.

The system rounds up the time added to 30-day increments. You can get a few extra days on each renewal. If you’re so inclined, you can even strategically time renewals to maximize the value. Just keep in mind that RapidSSL might fix this in the future.

The pricing is excellent if you need to secure just one site. If you’re looking for something more advanced, GeoTrust, its parent company, might just be the best place to buy an SSL certificate for business owners.

Verdict

RapidSSL looks to cater to users with simple needs. Its affordable DV certificates are fantastic for securing blogs, forums, or other simple sites.

The low price does incur some drawbacks, like lack of 24/7 support.

All in all, RapidSSL does the job if you want to secure a single budding website. If you have something more complex on your hands, look into SSL providers with more high-end offers.

5. SecureTrust

SecureTrust is a subsidiary, as well as one of the intermediate certificate authorities, of TrustWave Holdings. TrustWave is one of the top security companies, but it only sells certificates through SecureTrust.

Here’s what its offer includes.

Types of SSL

SecureTrust specializes in OV and EV certificates, making it more suitable for businesses.

The provider takes a unique approach here and offers only multi-domain certificates. The only single domain certificate is in wildcard OV variant.

One-of-a-kind SAN Certificates

Its OV and EV certificates each have 5 pricing tiers that let you secure up to 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100 domains.

This model might seem strange. However, you can get sweet deals if you need to secure multiple domains.

Plus, the 5-domain certificate is fantastic for complex websites like online stores.  It lets you secure a domain and four subdomains without paying for the three times more expensive WildCard option.

The liability warranty is $250,000 across the board, which is okay for most businesses.

SecureTrust might just have the best SSL certificate for ecommerce and other complex projects. 

Validation Process

SecureTrust makes validation straightforward. You first need to prove domain ownership through email. From there, the company will try to look up all the info about your organization.

You’ll only have to provide an official document about company registration if nothing is available online. 

OV For Private Users

One thing most CAs refuse, but SecureTrust allows, is getting an OV certificate without owning a company. With the latter, you just need to provide some form of ID, and the certificate can be made out in your personal name. You can use this to build a brand around yourself.

SecureTrust makes purchasing SSL certificates quick and easy.

Support

Support is available 24/7 via all the standard channels—live chat, email, and phone.

SecureTrust prides itself on excellent service, and customer support reflects this. You get near-instant responses, and the agents are courteous and helpful. It has one of the top support teams in the industry.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a knowledge base to speak of. It might come as a disappointment to DIY users, but you can rely on the support to help you with mostly all issues.

Price

The OV SSL certificate price is $157.49/year if you want to secure up to five domains. If you want to secure up to ten, it goes up to $494.10/year. The price per domain falls as you go to higher price tiers.

You’re essentially getting the best deal if you go for the five-domain certificate. It’s odd, but that’s the price tag.

It’s a similar deal with EV certificates. Price is $233.10/year for up to five domains, which is excellent. The price goes up to $899.10/year for ten domains and is $1799.10/year for twenty, which is virtually the same value.

Lowest Price Around

If you apply the certificates to maximum domains, you’re getting amazing prices. Securing five domains with the smallest certificate gets you organization validation for around $30 per domain. Such deal is pretty much impossible to find anywhere else.

The deals are fantastic if you have several domains or subdomains and want to put them under one certificate. SecureTrust definitely qualifies as the best cheap SSL certificate provider.

Verdict

SecureTrust offers no single domain SSL, but its multi-domain certificates more than make up for it. If you have several domains on your hands, you can take advantage of some of the best deals in the industry. 

6. SSL.com

With a name like SSL.com, how could you not love it? The company focuses on making SSL easily accessible to anyone, and you’ll find no shortage of SSL.com reviews praising it for it.

Here’s how it delivers on its promises.

Types of SSL

SSL.com offers the three standard validation levels.

While DV and OV single domain certificates apply to both the www and non-www variants of your domain, EV certificates secure only one. EV is also limited to a two-year registration, while DV and OV allow up to five years. It’s something to keep in mind if you’re going for an extended validation SSL.

Unique Premium SSL variant

Apart from the wildcard and SAN certificate variants, SSL.com offers something called Premium SSL. 

This certificate has standard domain validation, but it can secure the main domain and three subdomains. You can completely secure a small-ish site with a few subdomains without splurging on a wildcard certificate.

One thing to note is the warranty on single domain and Premium SSL is relatively small—just $10,000. Insurance is rarely a decisive factor when choosing a certificate, though, and $10,000 is sufficient for a DV certificate.

SSL.com covers the basics well and also has the best SSL certificates for securing a website with up to three subdomains

Validation Process

Validation is straightforward on your end. You just need to sign a few agreements and deliver your Dun & Bradstreet number. The SSL.com team will attempt to look up all the required info. 

You might need to deliver a few more documents and answer a phone call or two. That’s about it, though.

Instant SSL Encryption

SSL.com also does customers a solid and issues a DV certificate as soon as you apply for extended validation. That way, you get a placeholder till validation is complete. 

The whole EV procedure needs to be repeated every two years. This is standard practice, but SSL.com is more open about it than most providers.

Completely Transparent

Even trusted root certificate authorities tend to surprise users here, so kudos to SSL.com for the transparency. 

If you want faster validation, you can get domains pre-vetted so you can get an SSL issued instantly.

Extended validations can take up to a week. Many customers praise SSL.com for delivering their certificates within a day, though.

Support

Support is available 24/7 via email, phone, and live chat.

Support is run by real SSL experts. They can install certificates for you and help you with most issues.

The knowledge base is slim, but it explains the core concepts well. You can benefit from flipping through a few articles, even though it’s a poor long-term reference point.

All in all, SSL.com’s support is helpful, even though some of the top SSL certificate providers of 2019 have more extensive knowledge bases.

Price

The certificates feature standard encryption, browser compatibility, and mobile support. SSL.com leaves out the bells and whistles.

Instead, SSL.com focuses on making certificates accessible and affordable to most website owners with simpler requirements.

The standard SSL costs $49/year, which is affordable in and of itself. You can get it discounted by up to 25% by prepaying for five years, which pegs the price at $36.25/year.

Premium SSL starts at $99.99, and you can get it discounted down to $74.25/year. It’s the most affordable SSL out there if you need to encrypt up to three subdomains.

The prices are low across the board. 

While SSL.com’s pricing is fair, even though it requires a five-year commitment for the best deal. It’s one of the best cheap SSL certificate providers for first-time website owners.

Verdict

SSL.com keeps it short and simple. You get classic features, fast validation, and effective support while maintaining an affordable price. If you’re just starting out on the World Wide Web and don’t have a massive organization, SSL.com is a fantastic choice.

7. Entrust Datacard

Entrust Datacard has been around longer than the internet. It used to be two separate companies, and the merger only made the new entity stronger.

Today, it is one of the most trusted names in data security and one of the best-regarded digital certificate authorities.

Here’s what you can expect from its offer.

Types of SSL

Entrust Datacard targets businesses, so it only offers OV and EV certificates. 

The OV certificates are available in single domain, multi-domain, and wildcard SSL variants.

Advantage OV SSL

There’s also an Advantage OV certificate. This lets you secure two domains at once without paying for the more expensive multi-domain certificate.

Entrust offers a multi-domain EV certificate, but no single domain one. This is odd, but the multi-domain certificate starts at two domains and is fairly inexpensive. You can go with it right away if you need the highest level of validation.

Cool Freebies

OV certificates come with a security bundle that includes reputation monitoring and malware scanning for up to 250 web pages. An EV certificate expands this to 500 pages. Both types are handy for adding a dash of extra security to your website.

RSA/ECC Encryption

All but single domain OV SSLs support RSA and ECC hybrid cryptography. This makes the TLS handshake faster on devices that have little processing power. It essentially makes your website load faster on mobile devices.

Easy Certificate Management

You can also go for an enterprise account. This helps you manage multiple certificates from one place.

Bottom line—Entrust is an SSL service provider with a respectable offer for business.

Validation Process

Entrust assumes most users are from a larger organization. Beyond the standard documentation, you’ll need to provide three contacts in your company.

Authorization Contact

The authorization contact is someone senior in the organization who can authorize you to buy an SSL certificate. This is the person Entrust will contact whenever it needs information.

Technical Contact

The technical contact is whoever manages your server. This person will receive the certificate once it is issued, and they’ll receive notifications about upcoming updates or renewals. If your provider’s support handles the SSL installation and management, provide their contact info.

Billing Contact

A billing contact receives, you guessed it, the billing information. This person only handles the financial side of things.

You shouldn’t worry if you run a smaller organization, though. If you have 25 employees or fewer, you can be both the technical and authorization contact for your company.

Apart from the three contacts, Entrust has a similar vetting process to most digital certificate providers.

Support

The support is available through chat, email, and phone. Entrust has phone lines for various countries, so, chances are, you can phone them for free.

Entrust doesn’t mess around with the choice of staff. It has some serious security experts on its team, and it shows—the support is quick and effective.

The support team has Saturdays off, which is sort of weird since it’s available 24h a day otherwise. It’s the only thing marring the quality of Entrust’s support.

Entrust’s knowledge base is extensive, but it only covers a few SSL topics. You can use it to learn the fundamental concepts, but that’s it.

Awesome Company Blog

What saves the day is its blog. It features monthly posts recapping all the latest SSL news. 

Few providers offer this kind of value, and it’s an excellent sign the digital certificate provider cares about its customers. Any security-aware user can benefit from visiting it from time to time, even if they’re not Entrust’s customers.

Entrust has an excellent support team, and the blog is an awesome resource.

Price

Entrust’s pricing is about average.

Single domain OV certificates start at $174/year, and the multi-domain one is $278/year, which is about what you’d expect with an OV certificate. The wildcard one is 608/year—also average.

The Advantage certificates provide great value, though, as they let you validate two domains for only $208/year. It’s also an affordable way to get RSA/ECC hybrid encryption.

The multi-domain EV certificates are affordable by default, starting at $373/year and letting you secure two domains. Adding additional domains costs $139/year, which is higher than average. It’s still fair, but you’re not really getting an inexpensive SSL certificate, especially if you want to secure 10+ domains.

Entrust’s features fully justify the price, though.

Verdict

Entrust puts amazing effort into providing an excellent service. A few things could be improved, but it’s still one of the top providers for business.

8. GlobalSign

GlobalSign is a Belgium-based certificate authority. It is often regarded as one of the top 5 certificate authorities for large enterprises.

Still, its certificates can be appealing to private users as well. Here’s what it offers.

Types of SSL

GlobalSign offers the standard validation levels in wildcard and SAN variants.

SSL for Mailing

Single domain certificates let you encrypt the www, mail, owa, and autodiscover subdomains of your website. This is extremely useful if you use one of these as your mailing subdomain.

Handy Freebies

You also get unlimited server licenses and unlimited reissues across the board. GlobalSign also throws in an SSL checker, phishing detection, daily malware scanning, and a trust seal.

GlobalSign is a solid SSL certificate provider overall, and it spices up the offer with a couple of handy freebies.

Validation Process

OV certificate buyers go through the standard vetting process. You just need to prove you own the domain name, your business exists, and that your organization is properly registered. The whole process should take about two days.

Getting an EV certificate is straightforward too. You’ll just have to add documents proving you’re authorized to request the EV certificate.

EV vetting should take up to five days, according to GlobalSign. Many user-generated SSL certificate reviews praise GlobalSign for its speed, so you might get your certificate even sooner. 

Support

The support is available through phone, email, and fax. There is no live chat feature, which can annoy if you only have a few quick questions.

The support does its job splendidly. The agents can quickly install your certificate, as well as resolve any issues down the road.

The knowledge base is respectable. It explains the key concepts well, although a few companies on this list of certificate authorities have more comprehensive help centers.

Price

GlobalSign is pricey if you just need a single SSL certificate.

To give you an idea, single domain DV certificates start at $249/year, while EV ones are $599/year. Moreover, you only have seven days to request a refund, while most providers offer thirty.

This is because GlobalSign is geared towards larger companies. If you need over five certificates, you can use the SSL Certificate Management service, which gives you various perks.

Wholesale Discounts and More

For one, certificates get issued much faster, and you can get an up to 80% volume discount. This makes GlobalSign an extremely affordable SSL certificate provider for larger organizations.

GlobalSign also offers discount codes if you transfer from another SSL provider or if you upgrade an existing certificate to EV level.

Certificate Management also lets you monitor and manage all certificates, regardless of the issuer.

All in all, GlobalSign offers terrific benefits if you run a large organization that needs an array of certificates. If you need just a single certificate, you can get a better deal from one of the other providers.

Verdict

GlobalSign is a powerful high-end SSL provider. It’s a great choice if you run a large organization with high demands, although a bit overkill for most private users.

9. Network Solutions

Network Solutions is a huge digital services provider and one of the more popular companies on the recognized root certificate authorities list.

Here’s what you can find in its SSL offer.

Types of SSL

Network Solutions offers OV SSL in single domain and wildcard variants. You can also get single domain DV and EV certificates.

You can get a SAN certificate and secure multiple domains. Network Solutions does not list the SAN certificate price on the website, so you’d have to contact sales and request a quote. 

Faster Validation OV

You can also get an “Advanced” OV certificate. These are standard OV certificates with faster validation and a higher warranty. The annual price is $75 higher than that of standard OV, though, which is too much.

The certificates all include a trust seal and a liability warranty between $10,000 and $1,000.000.

Network Solutions is an SSL certificate issuer geared towards private users or small website owners, and its offer reflects that. 

Validation Process

Network Solutions’ extended validation requires you to sign a subscriber agreement and produce your company’s registration documents. You’ll also have to agree on a method of communication during the validation process and provide contact info of a company official authorized to request the EV certificate.

Network Solutions provides little information beforehand about the actual documentation it requires for EV.The whole process takes under a week for both EV and OV certificates.

The company makes your OV certificate more expensive if you want it issued in one day.

This is downright ridiculous. Trusted certificate authorities should take their time to be thorough, not to squeeze out a few more bucks.

Support

Support for SSL services is available 24/7 through phone and email. Network Solutions keeps a separate line for each service, so make sure to phone the right one.

The actual support is sort of lackluster.

The phone agents follow a script and often seem more interested in selling you other services than actually helping. You can always submit an email ticket, but you may wait up to 48h for a response. It’s a frustrating experience.

Network Solutions refers you to Web.com’s knowledge base. There, you can find some handy info on installing SSL certificates, but little beyond that.

Lack of live chat, subpar assistance, and a slim knowledge base all amount to an underwhelming service. Network Solutions is far from the best SSL certificate provider in terms of support.

Price

Network Solutions prices its certificates as follows:

• Single domain DV—$59.99/year
• Single domain OV—$124.50/year
• WildCard OV—$579.00/year
• Single domain EV—$399.50/year

This pricing applies if you pay biennially.

You can get cheap SSL security with both domain and organization validation. EV certificates are relatively costly, though.

Network Solutions also offers Advanced OV with faster validation and a higher warranty for $199.50/year. There’s not much to say about this, except that it’s completely overpriced.

Free SSL with Hosting

Certain hosting plans include a free DV SSL certificate. The hosting service is poor, though, and it’s rarely it just to get a couple of freebies.

Private users and small businesses can get affordable certificates from Network Solutions. Advanced OV’s higher price tag is unjustified, though.

Verdict

Network Solutions’ service leaves a lot to be desired. It is one of the better SSL providers, but it’s far from the best. You can get cheap SSL here, but even the low prices don’t fully justify the mediocre experience.

10. Our Methodology

Picking the right certificate provider is one of the most important things you can do as a website owner. A quality SSL service keeps you in good standing with your visitors, while a poor one does just the opposite.

Here’s how we ensured the providers in our reviews were top-notch.

1. Check out the providers’ offer—Not all SSL authorities offer the same service. Some specialize in a certain level of validation, while others add unique certificates and features. The best one depends on what you have on your hands.
2. Check out the validation procedure—Let’s face it, getting your domains vetted can be a massive pain. Still, longer validation is your friend, as an extensive procedure helps prevent scamming. We looked for trusted certificate authorities whose validation process was thorough, yet reasonably fast.
3. Go through documentation—Public documents like a provider’s CPS can tell you a lot about its offer and what sort of validation it itself went through. It’s also the fastest way to see if a provider raises any red flags.
4. Test the support—Technical support is one of the prime reasons for getting a paid certificate over a free one. We queried the support at all times of day to ensure they provided a consistent service.
5. Check reputation—Reputation is a massive factor in SSL. Customers are way more likely to trust certificates from a reputable source, especially if there’s a trust seal included. Plus, if a provider is known for shady practices, it could spell trouble down the road.
6. Match it all with the price—Even the best SSL certificate service isn’t much good if it’s completely overpriced. We matched the pricing to the overall service to ensure you would get a fair deal.

All that info went into determining who the top providers in the business are. You can check them out just above.  

11. Why SSL Matters

SSL has become a big deal over the last few years.

Part of the reason is that buying SSL certificates adds a layer of security. It ensures nobody can spy on data transferred between a server and a visitor’s browser. It essentially protects both the website owner and the visitor from having their data stolen.

Today, not having an SSL certificate carries various drawbacks. For one, you get a penalty in Google rankings if your website isn’t secure. Even worse, a number of web browsers send warnings when visiting sites without SSL, practically driving away your visitors.

Getting SSL is a no-brainer. With the advent of Let’s Encrypt, you can easily install a free SSL certificate—you get a ton of benefits and essentially no drawbacks.

So, what’s the deal with paid certificates? All certificates provide the same level of encryption, so it might seem like there’s no reason to pay for one.

The problem with domain validated certificates like Let’s Encrypt is that they only ensure the data transfer is encrypted. They can’t tell users anything about the website or who owns it.

It’s easy to create a scam website and add an SSL certificate to it. In fact, most phishing websites are domain-validated.

So, even though you might have your website secured with cheap SSL, you’re not necessarily letting visitors know you’re legitimate. This is not much of a problem if you’re running a blog. It will raise a few eyebrows if users need to enter their personal info or credit card number, though.

How Organization and Extended Validation Fix This

Enter OV and EV certificates.

Organization validation and extended validation SSL certificates verify your online business exists in the real world. Potential customers can check the certificate and see your organization is registered, which inspires a lot of confidence.

Plus, most paid certificates come with a secure site seal. Users can inspect these to quickly find out more about your company and how it was validated. This puts them at ease when they need to transfer you money.

EV certificates are the most impactful here. They show visitors an instant visual cue that you run a trusted organization. This is in the form of the famed “green address bar.” In fact, most browsers have a different indicator for EV, but let’s not get into that.

The important part is users won’t have to dig around to find out if you’re legitimate. This automatically means better customer retention and higher profits.

In essence, all companies that issue digital certificates secure communication between your server and your visitors with the same level of encryption. They ensure nobody can spy on you and steal valuable information.

OV and EV certificates are pricier and tougher to obtain than DV ones. However, they not only ensure your website is secure but also prove your brand’s identity online. They are essential in appearing as a trusted business, which translates into better conversion rates.

All things considered, an SSL certificate is a must-have. Finding the best SSL certificate for you, however, depends on your website.

12. How SSL Works

The security aspect of SSL is all about helping a client’s browser establish a secure connection to the server. Here’s how this happens.

The system relies on asymmetric cryptography. It uses a pair of keys to encrypt data.

The keys are two mathematically related numbers. Everything encrypted using the first key can only be decrypted with the second one, and vice versa.

Here’s where stuff gets interesting. One key, called the private key, is only available to the server. Its pair, the public key, is accessible by anyone.

It’s practically impossible to use the public key to find its private counterpart. Even though they are mathematically related, the numbers are huge. Even modern supercomputers would take a few billion years to crack a single private key.

So, anyone can encrypt whatever they want with the public key and send it to the server. Only the server can decrypt and read the data, though. Neat, huh?

Here’s how this works in practice.

Let’s say you want to visit WebsiteHostingReview.org. The website uses a certificate from a digital certificate provider to encrypt data transfers.

Your browser would contact our server and request the public key. Once it has it, you could send us anything, ensuring nobody but us would see it.

However, you can’t really be sure a website is legitimate just because it provides you with a public key. Anyone could impersonate another site and provide you with a public key of their own. So even though the connection is secure, you can’t really know you’re sending your data to HostingTribunal.

This is why certificate authorities exist. If a website runs, let’s say, Sectigo SSL, the browser would reach out to Sectigo and check the public key against its records.

Which is all fine and dandy, but doesn’t solve the problem. If somebody poses as another organization, they could also pose as a trusted certificate authority.

Which is why all relevant CAs’ public keys are hard-coded into web browsers like Google Chrome. This ensures nobody can intercept the communication between you and a certificate authority.

Once the website’s public key is validated, the browser knows it can securely send data.

That’s how browsers securely contact a website’s server using asymmetric encryption.

Another problem here is that asymmetric cryptography is slow and requires a lot of processing power. Which is why browsers only use public key encryption to send a random symmetric key to the target server.

From there, the session is encrypted with that symmetric key. In other words, one key is used for both encryption and decryption. This provides the same level of security as asymmetric cryptography while being much faster.

After the session is over, the symmetric key is discarded.

TL; DR: The browser gets the public key from the server, validates it with the relevant SSL service provider, and uses it to agree on a symmetric key with the server. From there, the browser can quickly and safely exchange data until the session is over.

A lot more goes into SSL, but that’s the gist of it. It’s a practically foolproof way of securely transferring data on the Web.

13. Types of SSL

Many users are surprised to hear cheap SSL certificates provide the same level of security as $2,000 ones.

Indeed, practically every certificate has the same encryption strength. Some providers offer stronger encryption, but a standard 2048-bit private key is essentially impossible to crack, so there’s little reason for this.

This can cause a bit of confusion. Although all certificates do a similar job of protecting data transfers, they do have their differences.

Primarily, SSL certificates differ in the level of validation and in how many domains and subdomains they cover.

Let’s get right to it and see what the options are.

Domain Validated (DV) Certificates

This is the lowest level of validation. The only prerequisite to DV SSL is proving you own the associated domain name. This is usually as simple as receiving an email or uploading a specific file to your website.

The verification process is fully automated. Since computers do everything, this is usually the cheapest SSL certificate. Let’s Encrypt even offers DV SSL for free.

As anyone can get domain validation, though, you’re not really proving your identity. DV certificates are accessible to anyone, even scammers. 

Even when you run a legitimate business, a DV certificate will not show the customers any info about it. This type of certificate is intended for websites at low risk of fraud like blogs.

Organization Validated (OV) Certificates

OV was the original SSL validation level. Its purpose is to provide validation that an organization or a business is legitimate.

Someone will manually verify the existence of your business and phone you to confirm the issuing of the certificate. The work that goes into it makes OV pricier than DV certificates.

The certificate authorities here look to prove your organization really exists. They’ll check if it is registered with the proper regulatory bodies and whether it really owns the domain name in question.

This type of validation inspires a lot more trust than DV. After all, customers can see there’s a real company behind the website.

These certificates usually come with a dynamic seal that lets users quickly check who you are and how your organization was validated. You can place this in key places, like the checkout page, to reassure users their private data is in safe hands.

Extended Validation (EV) Certificates

EV certificates are for those who want to go the extra mile in reassuring their customers. This is the highest level of validation.

The validation process requires an expert to go through a lot of legal documentation. This can take a week or more and pegs the price much higher than that of other certificates.

The whole process is much more extensive. The requirements differ from provider to provider, but they’ll typically need some of your legal documents. They also may check if your company is associated with some shady online activity or ask for a professional’s opinion about your business.

This type of certificate is meant to provide reasonable assurance that you are transparent online.  

Web browsers usually signify EV websites with some visual cue, like a green address bar or company name next to the URL. This is the best SSL certificate for reassuring users with little knowledge of online security that the website is for real.

While more expensive, this validation level can bring a massive user retention boost. Larger businesses can greatly profit from the validation procedure.

Single Domain

Unless specified otherwise, a standard SSL certificate applies to one domain only. This usually means it can encrypt the www and non-www variation of your domain name, but that’s it.

A single domain certificate doesn’t extend to all subdomains. If you want to cover all subdomains, you need a wildcard certificate.Still, the benefits of wildcard over single domain certificates could be debated.

Single domain is the most affordable SSL type, but it only works on one level and don’t secure all underlying subdomains.

WildCard SSL

As opposed to single domain certificates, wildcard certificates secure a domain and all its subdomains.

The benefit is obvious—you can easily secure an entire website even though it has multiple subdomains. If you add more subdomains after the fact, the certificate can quickly be reissued to cover them too.

Wildcards do tend to be a lot pricier than single-domain certificates.

One thing to note is that there are no EV wildcard certificates. The whole point of extended validation is to confirm the existence of a company as well as its transparency. Digital certificate providers need to audit each subdomain you put under an EV certificate, or it would compromise the credibility of validation.

If you want an EV SSL for multiple subdomains, you’ll need to get a multi-domain certificate. Then you can apply it to several subdomains as if they were separate domains.

Subject Alternative Name (SAN)/Multi-domain Certificates

As the name suggests, you can use these on multiple domains. You can also apply them to several subdomains if needed.

Unlike wildcards, these certificates are limited. The cap can be anywhere from two domains to a few hundred.

The domain names don’t have to be related to the same website. You can use SAN to secure several domains without having to buy an SSL certificate for each one.

These certificates are obviously pretty useful and a real money-saver if you have multiple domain names. They are also the only way to secure multiple subdomains with an EV certificate.

They can be very pricey if have many domains on your hands, though.

WildCard Multi-domain Certificates

If you know what wildcard and SAN certificates are, this one is self-explanatory.

It’s a wildcard SSL certificate that can work across multiple domains. It’s fairly cost-effective if you have a bunch of complex sites.

One thing to note about both SAN and wildcard certificates is that the same key pair is used to secure all your domains and subdomains. So, if somebody gets to the private key of one subdomain, your whole operation can be compromised.

These things happen extremely rarely. Still, it’s something to be aware of.

Bottom Line

That covers the common SSL certificate types. Choosing the right one for you is pretty easy once you know what’s out there.

If you’re still unsure what you need, don’t worry. Coming up next, I’ll also cover what to watch out for when looking for the best SSL certificates.

14. What SSL Do I Need?

If this were written a few years ago, this section would probably be dramatically different. I might’ve told you that sure, you can get SSL, but it’s only necessary if you’re receiving money online.

Well, things have changed.

Lacking SSL now harms SEO, and the leading browsers outright spook visitors away from your site. Plus, unencrypted data transfers are a glaring security gap.

Since Let’s Encrypt makes SSL freely available, there’s no excuse for skipping it when setting up a website. And if you want a paid certificate, most authorities have a cheap SSL certificate option for private users. SSL will get you a ton of benefits, and practically no drawbacks.

Now that’s out of the way, here’s how to pick the right certificate for your website.

Choosing between a single domain SSL or a multi-use certificate is easy.

Get a single domain SSL if you run just one domain with no subdomains. Go for a wildcard certificate if you run multiple subdomains.

If you run multiple second-level domains, go for a multi-domain certificate. If you have multiple domains, each with subdomains of its own, a wildcard SAN is probably the best SSL certificate for you.

Now, let’s get into validation levels.

Which Level of Validation do I need?

If you don’t collect credit card info or don’t use your website for business, a domain validated certificate is enough. It can fix all the issues with not having a certificate. 

Users don’t really have a reason to check your validation level if they’re not doing business with you. A higher level of validation is a waste of money if you just want to set up a blog or a personal website.

Let’s Encrypt vs. Paid DV Certificates

If you want to compare SSL certificates by price, it doesn’t get much better than Let’s Encrypt’s free DV SSL. The organization is probably one of the fastest-growing certificate providers, and for good reason. The certificates are completely free, easy to install, and are democratizing SSL security.

It is a perfectly valid choice if you’re on a tight budget and just don’t want to overcommit.

One thing few hosting experts tell you about free SSL is that… well, stuff can break.

In such cases, Let’s Encrypt offers absolutely no customer support. You’re essentially betting nothing will go wrong, or that your hosting provider will fix any potential problems.

Now, you don’t have to pay for a certificate if you’re just starting out. That said, it would be wise to get at least cheap SSL when you can, just for the support value. There are other benefits like a warranty, but getting assistance when you need it is key.

Higher Validation Levels

An OV certificate is essential if you’re in any way receiving money through your website. This applies to ecommerce websites and cryptocurrency exchanges, for example.

This validation connects your website to your real-life, registered business. Users can look it up, and your brand becomes real (and trustworthy) to them. This gives customers peace of mind when they’re about to hand over their credit card details.

All business owners should definitely look into SSL certificate vendors that offer organizational validation.

Now, the right time to go for extended validation is a controversial topic.

The main benefit of EV is the browser shows your website as safe. The whole address bar may turn green, or display your company name next to the URL. This alone has proven to increase conversions by as much as 13%.

Going for EV is not urgent if you’re just starting out. It’s best to see how your business develops and get EV once you deem it profitable.

Which SSL Provider to Pick

Once you know what you want out of a certificate, you can pick a suitable provider. Here are a few things to look out for.

Does it have the certificate you need?—This one’s a no-brainer. There are different types of certificate authorities, and you have to find the one that has what you’re looking for.

Does it meet the industry standards?—It’s unforgivable if a security company runs outdated technology. The most important feature is a 2048-bit public key with 256-bit two-way encryption. Never go with an SSL authority that offers less.

Is the SSL provider trusted by browsers?—Major browsers like Firefox and Chrome publish lists of trusted authorities and sellers online. If you can’t find a company on the trusted SSL certificate providers list, hold off on buying its certificates.

Is the provider reputable?—It’s usually a good idea to check what other users say about a digital service. If a provider does sloppy work, somebody will point it out.

What’s in its certificate practice statement? (CPS)—The CPS is a document outlining all of a provider’s security policies. This can tell you a lot about a provider’s validation procedure, security measures, and third-party audits. In other words, it tells you most of what you need to know. CPSs are legal documents, but even laypeople can use them to discover useful info.

What’s the price?—Some providers set low default prices to cater to private users, while others attract corporations with great bulk discounts. You should consider which provider offers the best deals for you.

Bonus tip—Never trust an SSL provider with an unsecure website. There’s no reason why a CA wouldn’t encrypt its own site. A lack of a recognized certificate can point to numerous problems, so these are best avoided.

15. Wrap Up

That concludes the reviews of the best SSL certificate providers. If you’ve come this far, you understand the SSL basics, know who the top names are, and what to look in a CA. Enjoy the extra SSL security!

 

16. FAQ

Q: How much does an SSL certificate cost?

A: That’s a broad question. The price can range anywhere from absolutely nothing to several thousand dollars a year. It all depends on the certificate you need.

Well-known authorities usually charge somewhere between 40 and 80 bucks per year for DV certificates. OV is more expensive—generally in the $100-$200 range for a single domain. DV can cost upwards of $200/year.

There are also resellers to consider. They bulk purchase SSL from root certificate authorities, so they get massive discounts. They can then resell you a trusted certificate at a much lower price.

One thing to note about resellers is you might not get the same support quality as if you were getting a certificate directly. Do a thorough background check before buying a certificate.

Q: Is a free SSL certificate safe?

A: As long as you can find a provider on the list of certificate authorities trusted by major browsers, you should be safe.

Let’s Encrypt is currently the only CA with truly free certificates. You can get a free certificate from some hosting providers, but this is always a part of a larger promotion.

To answer your question—yes, free Let’s Encrypt certificates are completely safe. Since pretty much all certificates offer the same encryption strength, regardless of price, your website won’t be any more vulnerable if you go with a free certificate.

Q: What is the difference between free SSL and paid SSL?

A: Most certificates provide standard 2048-bit private key encryption and 256-bit symmetric encryption. That means your data transfer is safe, even if you go with a free or cheap SSL certificate provider.

However, free certificates lack a few things, and the big one is customer support. If something goes wrong with a free certificate, you’re on your own.

Plus, Let’s Encrypt is only available as DV certificate. If you need OV or EV, you need a paid provider. If you’re unsure, you can check out the explanation of different validation levels above.

Getting a free certificate is fine if you’re starting a simple website and don’t want to invest loads of money right away. Once you can afford it, though, a paid certificate can be a great benefit.

Q: How do I get SSL for my website?

A: One way is to go for a hosting provider that offers SSL with their plans. The only other way to get valid SSL is from a trusted provider.

If you’re not sure which one to pick, you can check out the top SSL certificate providers comparison just above. You can also learn how to pick the right provider and certificate for you.

Q: Who is the best SSL certificate provider?

A: This mostly depends on your specific needs.

Sectigo (previously called Comodo CA) is the most widely used provider. It offers an excellent and reliable service at a fair price.

DigiCert and GeoTrust both have fantastic offers for larger organizations, as well as some of the most recognizable trust seals.

RapidSSL is their subsidiary that offers affordable domain validation for users who need little in terms of support. It is ideal for blogs and other simpler websites.

Entrust Datacard has insanely low prices if you need to secure multiple domains at once. It offers the best deals you can get without buying certificates wholesale.

The best SSL certificate authority depends on what your needs are. You can check out the best of the best just above. All providers offer a trial period, so don’t be afraid to try one or two on for size.

The post The 9 Best SSL Certificate Providers to Secure Your Website in 2019 appeared first on Website Hosting Review.

Time to check out the Asia-Pacific hosting market.

After all, 49% of online users come from the largest and most populous continent.

In case you’ve missed it, we already covered the best hosts in the UK, Australia, Canada, and India.

But all eyes are on Singapore now. The tiny Asian island nation is actually a key technology and communications hub. This is why web hosting in Singapore is such a hot topic right now.

Before we dive into it, let’s have a fun history lesson.

Do you know where the name Singapore comes from?

The literal translation of the word from Sanskrit/Malay means Lion City. Legend has it that a Sumatran prince saw a lion on the shores of the island and wanted to celebrate its majesty.

But wait a minute.

There are no lions in Singapore!

On the other hand, there are plenty of tigers, which was probably what the prince saw.

Can you imagine if he called it Tiger City? It would be something like Harimaupore or तिगेर चित्य in Sanskrit.

Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?

But enough about history — you are here to find out all about the best Singapore hosting providers. And that mission starts with understanding the local market.

Singapore Hosting Market

The hosting industry in Singapore is booming. There is more than enough customer demand, and the technological environment is suitable for continuous growth.

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In fact, the Singapore hosting market processes over 2.5 billion GB of data daily.
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The country is a preferred choice of many major companies like Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to best serve their Asian audiences.

Global commercial real estate corporation Cushman&Wakefield recently voted Singapore as the “Most robust Asian market for data centers.”

Everything sounds dandy and peachy.

There is one problem, though.

Singapore is running out of land.

Despite historical territorial expansions, the island country is still one of the smallest in Asia, spanning a mere 725 square km (about 280 square miles). Singapore is even behind Palestine and Brunei in that aspect.

The land shortage and rising operational costs are the two pressing issues the industry needs to tackle. If hosting providers find a way to overcome them — it’s smooth sailing from there on out.

So which are the best local and global web hosting companies in Singapore?

Let’s find out.

Best Local Hosting in Singapore

Our first stop is the regional market. Singapore hosts seem in tune with the technology trends, but do they have what it takes to fend off the big international corporations?

1. Exabytes

+ Feature-rich plans

+ Free SSL

+ Daily backups

+ Free domain whois protection

Score: A

Price: from S$3.99/mo

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Exabytes is one of the two largest hosting conglomerates in Singapore. The company was established in 2001 and now powers over 100,000 websites.
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The Exabytes services follow three distinct principles — Simplify, Innovate, and Grow.

In its 18 years of existence, the host has won numerous awards for innovation and business excellence.

Exabytes utilizes some of the best SG servers in two strategically located data centers — in Paya Lebar and Tai Seng Drive, Singapore.

Exabytes Features

Being a part of a large conglomerate with strong financial backing means you can afford to be a bit more generous with your offers.

Exabytes takes full advantage of that freedom.

The provider flaunts three luscious-looking shared hosting deals:

The entry-level plan gives you 10GB disk space, 20GB monthly bandwidth, and ten email accounts. That’s not too shabby, especially considering you also have an SSL certificate, daily backups, and domain protection included for free.

Going up the ladder, you get significantly more server resources and the ability to host a large number of websites on a single account.

You can upgrade each package to a Premium one, аnd from what I can gather, that switches your disk space to SSD, turns bandwidth to unlimited, and adds a free domain name.

The price tags look quite affordable for shared hosting in Singapore as well. Even the tier-3 package stands at S$7.99, which can beat many well-known global providers.

Exabytes Support

Exabytes advertises across-the-board support services. You have access to a 9-to-5 GMT+8 phone line, plus chat, email, and ticketing services.

So far, so good.

The first time I tried the messenger, it seemed to connect me immediately. I started things off with a playful “hello.”

Silence.

After a couple of minutes, I wasn’t sure if my response got through, so I tried the much more аnxious-sounding “hello, anyone there?”

Deafening silence again.

I sat around for ten more minutes, but since there was nothing to do, I just left.

I later got an email explaining the live chat was only available during business hours, GMT+8 time.

Nothing on the window indicated the support was offline, but ok, let’s give it another go.

This time I did get through to an operator who, in all fairness, was able to answer my questions.

But boy was he slow.

Each reply took at least a couple of minutes, even though my queries were pretty straightforward.

For what it’s worth, Exabyte’s knowledge base is full of useful tutorials and guides, so if you are into self-learning — you can go from there.

Verdict

Exabytes provides some of the best SG website hosting services for a number of reasons. The company keeps a fine balance between features and price in order to serve businesses of various sizes. The lack of adequate live support is an alarming fact, but the host tries to compensate with extensive tutorials and self-helpers.

2. Vodien

+ Fast servers

+ Unlimited data transfer

+ Advanced security and monitoring

Score B+

Price: from S$10.00/mo

Vodien Internet Solutions is the other significant name on the Singapore hosting stage.

The host started operating as a graphic and web design business back in 2002 as Vodien Studios. Three years later, it changed course and rebranded to what later became a top web hosting company in Singapore.

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In 2017, DreamScape Networks acquired Vodien Internet Solutions for a reported fee of nearly $30 million.
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Today, the provider is responsible for the hosting services of 210,000+ websites.

Vodien Features

Even though Vodien’s primary focus is Singapore, the company also employs data centers in Australia, the US, and the UK.

The key here is freedom of choice.

That’s why Vodien ensures you have enough shared hosting deals to pick from:

As you can see, there are five plans at your disposal:

• webValue
• webPlus
• webExpert
• webElite
• webUltimate

Three aspects separate the packages — amount of space, number of websites, and email accounts.

Apart from that, it’s a pretty straightforward deal. You get a cPanel with unlimited subdomains, parked domains, and FTP accounts. You can activate a free SSL and add a secure HTTPS connection, so all your visitors feel safe. The backups happen on a weekly basis.

Standard stuff, but enough to get your project on the road.

Vodien Support

Unlike Exabytes, Vodien advertises 24/7 support across multiple channels. You have a phone line, chat, email, a rich tutorial archive.

Everything seems perfect…a little too perfect.

I already found a few discrepancies on the Vodien website, so I was eager to clear things out with an actual person.

There was a chat popup, and this is where I first headed.

You know how these support messenger apps always ask you for your name, email address, and a short question as a topic of conversation?

Imagine my disbelief when I went through those only to get a “your EMAIL has been sent” message.

A few hours later, I got word from Vodien, stating my “question” is not clear enough.

Of course, it’s not clear. I just wrote “ecommerce shop Singapore” imagining I was heading to a live chat with a real person.

I replied with a few queries, but this lack of live chat continued to bug me.

Was I wrong?

Did I not see support was available only during business hours?

Did the chat have an offline message?

Once again, I checked the website, and there it was — 24/7 support, live chat, currently online.

Second try — same thing — thanks for your email.

This suspiciously seems like false advertising for me.

Update: I received a reply the next day, offering an apology and explaining that when the live messenger gets too busy, new entries jump straight to email. Some indication on the popup would be great, but I’ll take that reasoning.

Verdict

Vodien holds the #4 place (and first among local hosts) in terms of market share in Singapore for a reason. The company provides a stable and reliable service with plenty of options for different types of clients. Customer support is the only apparent problematic area that Vodien might want to improve.

3. APC Hosting

+ SSD storage

+ Advanced security with Imunify360 and Cloudflare

+ 30-day money back guarantee

Score B+

Price: from S$5.00/mo

APC Hosting was founded in 2003 and has been going strong ever since.

The provider offers a full range of web services — Linux and Windows packages, Cloud VPS and Dedicated servers, even co-location deals.

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APC Hosting powers 10,000+ clients and their 20,000+ websites in its Tier-III+ facility in Jurong, Singapore.
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The company supports a range of extra services, such as server management, email spam filtering, and DNS hosting.

Even though it serves clients from all over the world, APC gives its fair share to the local community, organizing and sponsoring many cultural projects and events.

APC Hosting Features

APC Hosting offers three shared hosting plans, called Basic, Standard, and Professional.

Whichever you choose, you can upgrade at any point. Any leftover time will be added to your new package and billed at the new rate.

First thing you might notice is the storage space — much less than what most providers in our web hosting comparison have to offer. The key is it’s SSD. It works like a rocket booster for your website and makes up for a much more secure and reliable solution.

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All APC accounts pack a free SSL certificate, Cloudflare CDN, and an automatic script installer.
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If you need to host unlimited websites — you will struggle to find a better partner than APC Hosting. Unlike most hosts, there is no cap on the number of projects, even on the smallest package.

Pricing looks affordable, and as the APC support confirmed, the renewal rates are the same as the introductory ones.

The three packages come at S$5.00/mo, S$10.00/mo, and S$15.00/mo accordingly. Prepaying a year in advance saves you two months’ fees on the Standard and Pro packages.

APC Hosting Support

I was already getting used to providers of web hosting in Singapore not following up on their support promises.

So when I got connected to a live person in less than a minute, I was ecstatic.

APC quickly managed to turn my smile to a frown when the operator started taking 3-4 minutes for each reply, sometimes even without checking my entire questions.

All I wanted was to clear out a couple of billing and WordPress concerns but to no avail.

At one point, the operator told me this was not a sales chat (even though I chose this department specifically), and he was, in fact, part of the technical team.

Even better, I have some tech questions for you…

I don’t think he saw that coming.

After another few minutes of waiting, I just left the chat.

I later got an email with an answer to my question, but that was far too long of a wait for a simple query.

APC hosting adds access to a phone line and messaging system, which is available Mon-Fri between 9 am and 6 pm GMT+8.

Internal ticketing is open 24/7 for technical support.

Verdict

When it comes to reliable website hosting in Singapore, APC Hosting is up there with the big boys. The company has a strong focus on performance and security, as its hardware infrastructure makes apparent. Support is not APC’s strong suit, but at least they are present. A smart choice for startups and SMBs.

4. Usonyx

+ No traffic caps

+ 7-day backup restore

+ Tuned for performance

Score B

Price: from S$9.00/mo

Usonyx is one of the oldest web hosting providers in Singapore.

Founded way back in 1997, the company mainly targets Cloud VPS and Dedicated Server users. The extensive server knowledge and strive for innovation allowed Usonyx to quickly expand and add extra services for domain names, WP websites, and more.

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In 2014, Usonyx was acquired by leading Asian web server and hosting provider Exabytes.
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To this day, Uso continues to develop and implement new security and optimization solutions utilizing cloud tech.

Usonyx Features

Four shared packages currently fill up the Usonyx portfolio:

• BeCloud10
• BeCloud20
• BeCloud30
• BeCloud50

Those numbers apparently relate to the number of mailboxes or databases on each plan.

Apart from the features above, there is not much separating the deals. They all carry the option of unlimited-everything in the cPanel — subdomains, parked domains, FTP accounts.

But that’s pretty much it.

No intricate security optimizations or fancy add-ons. Not even as paid extras, as far as I can tell.

Looks good enough for startups, but growing businesses might find the feature set insufficient at some point.

Usonyx Support

When I first learned Usonyx was under the Exabytes command, I only had one thought in mind.

Please let it have its own support team.

Please let it have its own support team.

Please let it have its own support team.

…it did not have its own support team.

My live chat experience was identical to the one at Exabytes — either unresponsive or slow operators with limited knowledge.

Usonyx mostly operates through phone (9-17 GMT+8) and emails for sales and technical queries.

I found no knowledge base, but there is a helpful blog, which seems to be regularly updated with articles about the hosting basics.

Verdict

Usonyx is a prominent Singapore server provider with long experience in the hosting business. The company knows heaps about hardware and how to make it run faster. Its shared packages pack more than enough storage space while putting no cap on data transfer. As with other local hosts, support assistance is quite basic, so it’s not the best choice for beginners.

Best Global Hosts

Time to expand our horizons. Which are the top global names worth mentioning when we look for Singapore hosting?

1. SiteGround

+ WordPress-optimized plans

+ Remarkable support

+ SSD storage space

+ Free SSL and CDN

Score A+

Price: from S$5.99

SiteGround is a company that needs little introduction.

In fact, I’ll let the numbers do the talking.

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Since 2004, SiteGround has grown to 500 employees in 4 international offices, servicing over 1.8 million domain names.
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The company offers probably the best Singapore WordPress hosting, hands down. The active participation in the evolution of the CMS has earned the host an official partnership recognition from the WP developers.

If that’s not enough to convince you, don’t worry, we’ve got a lot more coming your way.

SiteGround Features

SiteGround ensures even its lowest-cost offering is good enough for most new clients. Growing bigger, you have enough options to scale without any service interruptions.

Feature-wise, SiteGround has a lot to offer to anyone looking for web hosting in Singapore, especially compared to local providers.

Each package comes with a free SSL, Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, even SSH access for the technically-versed.

Moving up, you can benefit from advanced WordPress features, a proprietary caching plugin, and prioritized support.

There are so many features I am sure to miss some good ones.

Despite this abundance, the introductory prices are not off the roof. In fact, with the StartUp plan coming at just S$5.99/mo, you are looking at quite the cost-effective deal.

If you like SiteGround, it’s best to go for a longer-term plan so you can secure the promo rate for the whole length of the deal. After that, renewal prices tend to be much steeper, so you have to rearrange your budget.

SiteGround Support

When hosting companies focus on technology and features, customer support often takes a back seat.

That’s not the case with SiteGround.

Not only do they offer 24/7 support services via live chat, phone, email, and ticketing, but they are actually doing it right.

Connection to the chat? Immediate.

Have sales questions? Nothing you cannot ask.

Need WordPress-specific help? That’s the place.

You have no idea where to start? Your operator will patiently walk you through the steps.

There’s little they can’t do, really. Even in such rare cases, they’ll escalate your issue to a superior and still have it resolved in no time.

This is exactly how efficient support should operate.

Verdict

Siteground is a great all-round company with substantial experience behind its back. The host balances a wide range of services with competent support assistance. The fact that SiteGround utilizes web servers in Singapore makes it all the more lucrative for businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.

2. Hostinger

+ Very affordable

+ Fast servers

+ Easy website builder

Score A

Price: from S$1.09/mo

Hostinger is a Lithuania-based hosting provider with over 29 million users worldwide.

How does it do that?

The company employs a business strategy which targets local markets and absorbs popular hosting providers from the region. By pairing up speed-optimized hardware with amazingly low prices, the host is able to dominate the market for low-budget solutions.

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Hostinger ensures optimal global coverage with servers in key locations in the US, the UK, Netherlands, Lithuania, Singapore, Indonesia, and Brazil.
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By a rough estimate, the employee-owned provider gets 1,500 new signups daily, which is a new client every five seconds.

Yep, by the time you read that last sentence, Hostinger already had at least one new user.

Hostinger Features

Hostinger offers three packages for shared clients — Single, Premium, and Business. The first one lets you host a single website, while the latter two give you the option of 100 different projects.

What are the perks you can get, regardless of the chosen plan?

Newbies will surely appreciate the easy drag-and-drop site builder, which will make their first experience with websites quite enjoyable.

Resource-wise, you are definitely getting more than you bargained for. All plans come with a lightning-fast SSD storage, and you don’t have to worry about reaching bandwidth limits either.

Watch out, though!

If you are looking for email hosting in Singapore, Hostinger might not be the best pick. All shared plans only include a single mailbox, and should you need more — you have to add an email hosting package as well.

Of course, all minor inconveniences fade out when you take a look at the price tag.

Starting at just S$1.09/mo, Hostinger is by far the cheapest provider I found in my Singapore hosting review.

Hostinger Support

Offering your services so cheap means you have to “compensate” with something else, and customer support is often the first victim.

This is why my expectations from Hostinger were not particularly high.

Boy, was I wrong.

Each time I contacted the support operators through chat, I got immediate replies. Sure, they were not always super in-depth, but enough to help even the ones with no experience in the field.

One thing I found particularly enjoyable.

Whenever I asked for something that was not possible with Hostinger, the operator always gave me suitable alternative offers from one of its sister companies.

A vast network of partners works miracles in that aspect.

Verdict

Hostinger is all about serving clients on a budget. Among other locations, the company utilizes a Singapore data center, which makes it a perfect choice for startups in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite some minor hiccups, Hostinger’s price-quality ratio is simply unbeatable.

3. GoDaddy

+ Perfect uptime

+ Free domain

+ DDoS protection

Score B

Price: from S$8.16/mo

GoDaddy is one of the biggest web hosting companies in the world (if not the biggest).

But how did that come to be?

GD was one of the first hosting providers in existence, and it put its head start into good use. Despite walking up a rocky road paved with scandals and controversies, the Arizona-based provider has expanded with gargantuan steps.

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Today, GoDaddy services 19+ million clients and 78+ million domain names from 14 offices around the world.
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The host has acquired a number of web service companies in the last decade, most notably Media Temple, ManageWP, and Sucuri.

GoDaddy Features

You can choose between four robust plans with GoDaddy. On the Economy deal, you can host one website, but all limitations are off with the Deluxe, Ultimate, and Maximum packages.

Linux and Windows projects are both welcome.

All plans come with a free domain, control panel with a one-click installer, and 24/7 security monitoring. The downside here is the HDD storage, which is much slower than SSD.

You can find other helpful extras in the more expensive deals, like free SSL and private DNS, but all in all, there isn’t a lot to work with.

The lack of cool add-on features wouldn’t be so alarming if it weren’t for the price.

Hosting a single small website will cost you at least S$8.16/mo, and that’s including the introductory promo. After the initial billing period, your monthly fee can reach S$12.25.

Not suitable for those with shallow pockets.

GoDaddy might not be a worthy competitor for fastest web hosting in Singapore, but its 100% uptime test scores certainly make it one of the most reliable.

GoDaddy Support

GoDaddy and I have a long history when it comes to support conversations. Time and time again, I’ve tested the customer care operators as part of my GD reviews.

If there is one thing that remained constant all this time, it is their mediocrity.

GoDaddy seems to outsource its support services in search of cheaper labor, which inevitably reflects on quality. The operators often service multiple brands, offer limited help, or sound like robots.

Not the kind of assistance you would hope for.

In an effort to compensate, GoDaddy opens its phone lines for clients from over 40 countries.

Self-learners can check out the archive of tutorials and how-tos.

Verdict

GoDaddy might be a company of formidable size, but there are far better contenders for best web hosting in Singapore. The GD packages are quite limited, and client support is below par. The host might stack well against local providers, but not so when it comes to international competitors.

Our Methodology

The hosting market is heavily saturated.

I mean, how can it not be?

A few hundred dollars for server rental, a little technical know-how, and you can start doing business in a day.

In fact, that’s what the plethora of startup hosts are trying to do on the current market.

The problem is their glory is often short-lived, and you can wake up one morning without a website and no warnings or explanations whatsoever.

To avoid this risk and many more, we have selected the web hosts on this list after careful analysis of the following:

• Speed — Whichever site-building tool you choose for your website, one of your primary goals is to make it run as fast as possible. After all, every second of load delay can result in an 11% decline in page views and up to 40% traffic drop.
  As is customary, all Website Hosting Review speed tests cover several metrics from three different performance tools — GTMetrix, Pingdom, and WebPageTest. We have analyzed TTFB (time-to-first-byte), FCP (first content paint), full load speed, and more.

• Uptime — Any reliable Singapore host knows how to keep its client accounts online, no matter what. This includes reliable data centers, constant monitoring, and effective redundancy policies.
  We created accounts with all reviewed hosts and set up the StatusCake scanning tool to perform checks every 15 minutes. For more reliable results, we have been monitoring the uptime statistics for a minimum of one month.

• Features — Starting a new venture or growing an existing business can be quite burdensome. You have to think about speed, security, user navigation, optimizing processes — plenty of problems to make your head spin. All the best Singapore sites have one thing in common — a reliable hosting provider behind them.
  We have reviewed each host’s in-built and add-on features to see how sufficient their offers are long-term. The more freedom and options you have — the better.
  Especially if it fits your budget.

• Support — Building your online business does not have to be a solo adventure, so your host must be able to back you with professional support. We are not just talking about reading from a script and answering limited sales questions — we searched for the fastest, kindest, and most knowledgeable only.
• Price — Finding the cheapest hosting in Singapore does not necessarily mean you are getting the best deal. Quite the contrary — hidden fees, steep renewal rates, and low service quality are often associated with suspiciously low pricing.
  Our price analysis included both introductory and renewal rates, converted to Singapore dollars. We compared that with the range of features to determine the cost-effectiveness of each host.

We hope our checks will be useful when it comes to making a final decision but, just in case, here are a few things you can test for yourself.

Five Things to Check Before Buying from a Singapore Hosting Provider

Picking your hosting provider in Singapore is quite similar to the process in other emerging markets. Once you determine if a local or global host would be your best bet, you can shortlist some candidates and check the following:

1. Connectivity Speed

The connectivity speed measures how fast data travels between your device and the web server. As you can imagine, that directly affects your page load times. Connectivity comprises of two separate metrics — download and upload speed.

Download speed outline how fast information travels from the server to the user device. It affects things like viewing a website, receiving an email, or downloading an app.

Upload speed relates to the data rate from the user device to the server machine. It can influence anything from uploading site changes to sending an email or sharing a file.

The good news is you don’t have to be a client to get an idea of those. You can ask your host for a speed test file to do a quick check. Any reputable provider of email and web hosting in Singapore should keep one on every server location for this particular reason.

2. Sales Assistance

The first line of support can often be the make-or-break factor in a hosting deal. Regardless of the user’s level of knowledge or experience, the provider needs to ensure they get as much extra help as they need. To what extent depends solely on the host:

• account questions
• first-level technical assistance
• billing and refund queries
• account ownership arguments

Usually, hosting companies refrain from giving too much (if any) technical assistance over live chat, but you can still get an idea of their overall support level.

Simply contact them on whichever channel you find most convenient (chat, phone, email) and test the waters with some sales questions. While you probably won’t get much in terms of their know-how, you can easily determine if the operators are fast, polite, constantly pushing links, etc.

3. Pricing Structure

Who doesn’t love a good deal?

There are plenty of those in the hosting industry.

70% off.

Get two months free.

No-cost add-ons.

You can have it all.

Dazzled by the sweet price tags, we often forget to look at the big picture.

In reality, you can find many extremely cheap Singapore hosting providers, but how many of them are budget-friendly in the long run?

When you search for a new host, make sure to check the fine print in its promotional deals.

Are there any conditions to secure the promo rate?

How long is it good for?

What prices should you expect come renewal?

What are the cancellation and refund policies?

Budgeting is not a day-to-day task, so you should have a clear idea of what you’re getting into.

4. Data Center Locations

Server location is one of those factors that can further reduce your page load times.

How?

The logic is simple.

The closest your server is to the user trying to open your page — the quicker your data transfer connection. After all, there is less distance to travel, right?

That’s why, if most of your visitors come from the Asia-Pacific region, it makes a lot of sense to look for web hosting in Singapore or Indonesia or somewhere in the area.

Reliable global providers utilize multiple data center locations for worldwide coverage, so local companies are not your only choice here.

5. Online Reviews

What better way to learn more about a company than reading what its clients have to say?

Customer testimonials online have proven countless times that a business is only as good as its clients say it is.

Beware of underwater mines, though.

It’s not the host’s fault every time a customer is unhappy. But some people are determined to vent out their frustration regardless of the facts.

The solution? Again — look at the bigger picture.

Check out different sources and read enough reviews to get a general feel of the strong and weak points of your potential candidate.

If you like what you see — you are a go from there.

All of the above factors are essential for any hosting provider, but are there any specific benefits that make us choose local over global?

Importance of a Good Web Hosting in Singapore

The mere fact that you probably searched for “SG web hosting” (not to be mistaken with the SG abbreviation in SiteGround) can mean one of two things:

a/ You reside in Singapore

b/ Your main audience resides in Singapore

Whichever of the two, a local company can be beneficial in many aspects. Think of:

• perfect server location
  
• local support operators
• optimized speed performance
• tailored solutions

In many ways, a local provider will be able to meet your hosting needs. It can work great if you have a project centered around the Asia-Pacific region or a growing business in Singapore.

It all depends on what you prioritize when searching for a host.

Conclusion

So? How do you like dem apples…well…reviews?

I know it’s a lot to take in, but I am sure everyone can find a bit of useful info they haven’t considered before.

The hosting market in Singapore is quite exciting, and local providers do their best to withstand the pressure of international giants. There are plenty of clients for everyone, but hosts will have to figure out a way to find more space to accommodate them first.

Maybe the time has come for underwater data centers?

Anyone…anyone?!

FAQ

Q: How much does it cost to make a website in Singapore?

A: Even though operational costs like electricity and data center rentals are pretty high in Singapore, local hosting providers manage to maintain very affordable price rates.

Startups can find deals that go as low as S$3.99/mo or host a more resource-demanding project for about S$20-30.

Still, hosts in Singapore are not so generous when it comes to account features and add-ons, which is definitely where more expensive international providers come in.

It all boils down to the extent of your needs (and budget).

Q: Is Bluehost good for Singapore?

A: Bluehost is one of the oldest and most prominent global hosts, housing millions of websites from all over the world. You can rely on the company’s long-time experience and robust servers to launch and keep a project online.

But Bluehost is not such a great choice in Singapore for a number of reasons. For starters, being owned by EIG, the host’s only data center is in the US. Apart from the inconvenient location, the many subsidiaries of the international consortium also share the same support.

In short, Bluehost didn’t have enough to make it to our Top Hosts list.

Q: What is the best web hosting in Singapore?

A: Pinpointing a single best provider of web hosting in Singapore is rather useless. With an industry so saturated, providers tend to cater to different client groups and experiment with their offers. For example:

Host A has a package with basic features for beginners at an amazingly low monthly rate.

Host B bets on high-end technology for maximized website performance…at a price.

Host C heavily focuses on WordPress and how to get the best out of the most popular CMS.

So which one is the best?

Depends if you ask the newbie, the business owner, or the WP user.

 

The post Best Web Hosting in Singapore — Go Global or Stay Local? appeared first on Website Hosting Review.

I am here today with a very important mission — to help you make your websites harder, better, faster, stronger (you know, just like Daft Punk wanted).

How do you suppose I will do that?

Well, with the help of a CDN, of course!

A CD-what? No, not some revolutionary data storage format. CDN, as in content delivery network. You know, the distribution of globally interconnected servers that helps users load data from a nearby location .

Today, we are going behind the curtains of the best CDN providers to see what they can do to help us accomplish our mission — the perfectly optimized website.

I’ll even give you one better — at the end of the review, I will let you in on some handy tips on how to choose your CDN partner.

So stay with me, it’s gonna be well worth it.

Evaluation Methodology

For the sake of my mission today, I have selected the best CDN companies based on a few essential concerns every new customer might have:

1. Who is the provider, and what is its history and experience in the CDN field?
2. How extensive is the network of servers and how many POP locations does it cover?
3. What are the main CDN features and packages to choose from?
4. What am I getting from the provider security-wise?
5. What costs should I expect?
6. How easy is it to reach support? Are they effective?
7. Which businesses can best benefit from this CDN?

As you can see, a lot of questions need answering.

Let’s dive right in!

1. Cloudflare

Here is a name that should probably ring a bell.

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Cloudflare holds the largest piece of the pie on the CDN market — nearly 29% of Alexa’s Top 1 Million Websites make use of its services.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cdn-providers/&text=Cloudflare%20holds%20the%20largest%20piece%20of%20the%20pie%20on%20the%20CDN%20market%20%E2%80%94%20nearly%2029%25%20of%20Alexa%27s%20Top%201%20Million%20Websites%20make%20use%20of%20its%20services.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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That solid number is no surprise — Cloudflare is by far one of the most popular free CDN solutions, coming as an added extra with many reputable web hosts reviewed here on Website Hosting Review/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Website Hosting Review. It is trusted by names like Reuters, Discord, and ZenDesk (and about 16 million more).

In 2014 the company received international acclaim after its services mitigated the most persistent DDoS attack at that time, blasting 400GB/s incoming traffic.

Cloudflare Locations

Datacenters in 180+ cities on six continents.

Cloudflare Features

Unlike other providers on this list, Cloudflare has a very clear and comprehensive pricing policy. You have four service plans:

• Free
• Pro — starting from $20/mo
• Business — starting from $200/mo
• Enterprise — quote by request

The Free plan is (understandably) housing most clients and actually doing a pretty good job. You have access to the whole network of servers and can utilize free SSL and DDoS mitigation options.

A plethora of hosting companies are already partnering with Cloudflare, so activating the Free Plan rarely takes more than a few clicks from your control panel.

Moving to the premium packages, things are getting increasingly sweet.

Cloudflare is throwing a web application firewall (WAF), HTTP2 prioritization, and advanced optimization features in the mix.

Once your business starts booming, you can easily jump to the Business plan. The goodies there are shaped to match your stature — custom SSL certificates, image resizing requests, 24/7 dedicated support.

It looks like Cloudflare competitors have a mountain to climb…

Cloudflare Support

Cloudflare seems so confident in the ease of use and reliability of its services that its support took the back seat. So much so that you can only find them over the phone for sales queries.

Need chat or email assistance? Sure…on the Pro plan, starting from $200/mo.

Help over the phone? You are now in Enterprise plan territory, buddy, so you better have the dough.

Sure, you have a well-written knowledge base and a large community ready to lend a helping hand, but for me, nothing can beat the hands-on approach of a dedicated operator.

I get it, up to a point.

With such a huge customer base, you cannot afford to waste a lot of time with basic questions, which make up the majority of support requests. But there should be room for compromise, a middle ground, so to speak.

Email or a ticketing channel with a 24-hour response rate should be absolutely enough for most queries.

Or at least the option to unlock more support options on the cheaper plans.

Now I’m just daydreaming…

Verdict

You can’t argue with the numbers — Cloudflare is the most famous company of the lot for a reason. Their cheap CDN plans are solid, reliable, and secure enough to handle both startup and mid-level projects.

Enterprise clients are always welcome as well, but I believe there are companies with better-tailored services for this particular group.

2. Akamai

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Akamai is one of the largest (if not THE largest) CDN providers out there in terms of coverage. Based in Cambridge, MA, the company has more than two decades of experience behind its back.

But wait a minute — isn’t CDN a relatively new technology?

The answer might surprise you…

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The father of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee, was the architect who sparked the research for what we know today as CDN technology. He foresaw how easily the Web could become congested and challenged fellow MIT colleagues to find a suitable solution.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cdn-providers/&text=The%20father%20of%20the%20internet%2C%20Tim%20Berners-Lee%2C%20was%20the%20architect%20who%20sparked%20the%20research%20for%20what%20we%20know%20today%20as%20CDN%20technology.%20He%20foresaw%20how%20easily%20the%20Web%20could%20become%20congested%20and%20challenged%20fellow%20MIT%20colleagues%20to%20find%20a%20suitable%20solution.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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That was way back in 1995.

Three years later, Akamai Technologies came to the stage. The CDN provider today caters to some of the largest enterprises, with Fox, Audi, Adobe, Nintendo, and IBM just a few of the big names under its belt.

Akamai Locations

Over 100,000 servers in 130+ countries.

Akamai Features

Akamai is best-known for serving high-end clients, so its services wouldn’t be very cost-effective for startups and SMBs.

The performance solutions might start from $2,000/mo, but the company carries much more benefits than your run-of-the-mill CDN. Akamai often has to deal with media-heavy projects, so it employs predictive content delivery to stream high-quality videos without stalling and buffering.

The Akamai CDN optimizes content delivery speeds via a Cisco IWAN boosted by Akamai Connect.

There is a heavy accent on security measures as well.

The company provides a wide range of products that tackle malware, phishing, DDoS attacks, SQL injections, or XSS attacks. In short — hackers’ favorite weapons of choice.

Akamai Support

Akamai guarantees 24/7 assistance via phone and live chat. Not only that, but there is a dedicated hotline you can call when your website is under a DDoS attack.

Certainly a step ahead of the competition here, but remember — these are high roller clients we are talking about, so you can’t risk disappointing them with below-par assistance.

I had a quick run-in with Akamai’s chat operators and was generally satisfied with their level of knowledge. The representative was on point with the information I was seeking and cleared all my security concerns.

The only thing that baffled me was when I asked for clarification on how easy it would be to connect their service with my web host.

Just some positive reassurance, you know.

Instead, the operator started explaining this query was for their Technical Support team and asked a lot of additional questions to determine which of their tech teams would best handle this.

A bit of unnecessary hassle, if you ask me.

Verdict

Akamai is for all the big boys out there. The ones with large-scale web projects that need a lot of resources and sturdy defense. If you are just in it for a cheap ecommerce or WordPress CDN solution, then you can definitely cross Akamai off and find much better candidates down this list.

3. MaxCDN (now StackPath)

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MaxCDN was founded in 2015 but made an immediate impact in the CDN market. The company grew so rapidly it quickly attracted the attention of US cloud service provider StackPath, which acquired it in 2016.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cdn-providers/&text=MaxCDN%20was%20founded%20in%202015%20but%20made%20an%20immediate%20impact%20in%20the%20CDN%20market.%20The%20company%20grew%20so%20rapidly%20it%20quickly%20attracted%20the%20attention%20of%20US%20cloud%20service%20provider%20StackPath%2C%20which%20acquired%20it%20in%202016.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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StackPath had massive plans for MaxCDN, though.

They paired it with their other services like Highwinds, Staminus, Fireblade, and Encrypt.me, to form an all-round solution that takes both speed and security to a whole new level.

To ensure their CDN is up-to-par with the competition, StackPath partners with some of the industry leaders in the tech business — AT&T, Verizon, Samsung, Google Cloud, and more.

StackPath Locations

45 POP locations in 32 cities across 5 continents.

StackPath Features

There aren’t any defined plans on the StackPath website, which is why I needed the support for further clarification.

It turns out that, as an entry-level client, I can create a free account for 30 days. During this trial, I can take advantage of 1TB bandwidth, network layer DDoS protection, and free private SSL per site to protect your user data.

This plan is $10/mo after the promo period, and there is another package at $20/mo, which adds WAF, DNS services, and server monitoring.

What about businesses with more significant needs?

Surely they’d need something more powerful than that.

Well, you can’t be one of the best CDN providers and miss out on such an opportunity, right?

The Edge Delivery 200 and Edge Delivery 2000 packages open a world of opportunities for digital stores, SMBs, cloud platforms. Basically, anyone looking to distribute large amounts of content without losing out on speed and availability.

EdgeRules was a feature that really stood out for me.

With it, you can feel like the God of Content Customization — 301 redirects, headers, cache management, URL signing — everything from a clean and user-friendly interface.

StackPath Support

It’s great to feel appreciated, and every MaxCDN client can feel that.

Actually, even non-clients can take advantage, as did I.

Looking around, I noticed there are 24/7 phone and live chat options to reach support, apart from the extensive knowledge base and case studies. You don’t have to sign up to try them out, and you can go beyond the simple sales questions.

I confirmed the last statement, first-hand.

I was dealing with my sales operator over the chat when the conversation started getting a bit more technical. She suggested a colleague from the support team can better assist and, to my amazement, she immediately added him to the chat.

Wow!

First time I was getting prompt assistance in a three-way chat, and I absolutely loved it.

I told the technician I would need a WordPress CDN for my new project and I wasn’t sure how to go about the integration. He got back with a well-written tutorial and reassured me the MaxCDN team could also assist in the process.

A thoroughly impressive job, kudos.

Verdict

Perhaps the best testament to StackPath’s quality services is the growing trust of gaming and media companies (Valve, XITE, Hi-Rez Studios, etc.). After all, those businesses carry out some of the most resource-demanding projects. If they find this CDN platform suitable — you should seriously consider it, too.

4. Incapsula

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Our next contender is all about protection.

Imperva is a California-based cybersecurity company which evolved into a full-blown cloud-based platform for application delivery. Part of that evolution was the acquisition of 85% of the Incapsula CDN service in 2009.

By 2013, Incapsula was already growing by 50% per quarter, but Imperva’s balance was still in the red.

That’s when the security firm completely assimilated the CDN and made it part of their fully-featured app delivery service.

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Who works with Incapsula? PayPal’s service Xoom, real estate marketplace Zillow, and tech giant Siemens are just some of the most notable followers.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cdn-providers/&text=Who%20works%20with%20Incapsula%3F%20PayPal%27s%20service%20Xoom%2C%20real%20estate%20marketplace%20Zillow%2C%20and%20tech%20giant%20Siemens%20are%20just%20some%20of%20the%20most%20notable%20followers.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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Incapsula Locations

44 POP locations over six continents.

Incapsula Features

Incapsula is not your run-of-the-mill content distribution network. It’s a multipurpose solution that mixes CDN, WAF, load balancers, and application delivery control in one monster of a product.

We are talking about a CDN that makes your website environment look like a maximum-security prison.

From the smart caching options, which lower bandwidth costs, to the Cache Shield on your origin server — it seems Incapsula has it all figured out.

That is if you’re not a newbie.

Novice users might have trouble navigating the website and understanding what is where. I know I did, even with my previous experience.

This is why I thought the support team could shed a little light on the services and pricing…

Incapsula Support

At first glance, everything looks fine — you have a 24/7 phone line, a live chat, emergency DDoS protection. The last service promises 3-second mitigation, possibly the best on the market.

So how good are they? Here’s my experience:

I entered the chat very optimistic that the operator would just outline the types of plans they have and check my budget to confirm it would be enough.

Boy, was I wrong.

First of all, it turned out this was not a sales chat, but a support one — I could only leave my details so a sales representative could contact me. Usually, it works the other way around, but alright, I’ll play along. What would you need?

Here is when the interrogation started:

– A few questions to understand your project? Sure, go ahead.

– What is your business about, how big is it? This and that.

– What kind of content will you protect, and what does it do? Ok, here you go.

– Names, name of company, size, job position? Hmmmm…ok, I guess.

– A sales operator will contact you shortly, but first — phone, mail, would you like us to contact you via social networks? Pass on the social networks, here is my email.

– We need a business email, sir! Well, that is my email for business, we don’t have a hosted domain and mail service yet.

– We need a business email! But this IS my business email!

– I am sorry, sir, but we need a business email! 

So let’s recap:

Fifteen minutes. Zero information. More questions than a census survey. Complete waste of time.

Verdict

Incapsula carries undeniable benefits in terms of performance and security, but I expected nothing less. We are talking about a complete solution ready to power not just your content, but your whole website infrastructure.

Still, Imperva Incapsula might not be the best solution for an entry-level customer, and the level of support can be frustrating.

5. CacheFly

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The Windy City has its own representative on this list.

Chicago-based provider CacheFly started as DownloadHosting.com in 1999, a file distribution solution for software developers. After a few years of testing, in 2005, the new CDN project was ready to hit the stage.

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CacheFly foresaw the rise of media-rich content and pioneered the Anycast technology for optimized data routing and delivery.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cdn-providers/&text=CacheFly%20foresaw%20the%20rise%20of%20media-rich%20content%20and%20pioneered%20the%20Anycast%20technology%20for%20optimized%20data%20routing%20and%20delivery.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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The long years of experience and positive online reputation helped the company convert over 3500 clients in 80 countries.

You can find a lot of interesting names in CacheFly’s list of clients — ArsTechnica, Bank of America, and Rakuten. The company is also famed as the #1 CDN partner for podcasts, partnering with platforms like Twit and Diggnation.

CacheFly Locations

43 POP locations on six continents.

CacheFly Features

I found a lot of intriguing items in CacheFly’s feature set.

Take Multi-CDN, for example.

What can be better than the CDN coverage of a single provider? Why, the networks of multiple carriers, of course. Utilizing the POPs of many companies means you can further increase your content delivery speed and coverage.

Pioneering the development and establishment of the Anycast technology (more on that here) was particularly praiseworthy. The routing method proved much faster than the ordinary DNS lookups, and some of the best CDN providers were quick to adopt it.

This means your video or IPTV stream would never have to endure interruptions because of latency anymore.

Even on the lowest plan, you still get a sweet deal with real-time monitoring tools, traffic reports, and token-based authentication.

SMBs might find CacheFly’s services a bit costly for a new project. Prices start at $295/mo, which can go down to $245/mo if prepaid yearly.

CacheFly Support

CacheFly provides support services via email and phone. No option for live chat, which is always a pity.

Still, I went ahead and sent an email with a few sales questions about the packages and what they include.

The reply arrived within the hour, which is a plausible response time for email correspondence (though sales matters aren’t really urgent, are they?). I feel I could’ve gotten more from the response, as the staff member just gave me basic info and skipped over most details I expected.

As most providers at least maintain some kind of a knowledge base, I went to check how useful CacheFly’s was.

Have you played “Where’s Waldo” before?

Well, that’s the same, except Waldo isn’t there.

Sadly, neither the company website nor Google was able to help me solve the Case of the Missing Knowledge Base.

Verdict

CacheFly doesn’t offer any set plans or billing models, so you can’t really tell if it’s a cheap CDN or not. Still, some of the features, like MultiCDN and infinite scalability, are well worth considering.

The company prefers to maintain a personal relationship with clients, and I am perfectly fine with that. Sure, more means of assistance are always welcome, but hopefully, the CDN service will be so reliable that you won’t need any.

6. KeyCDN

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It’s always refreshing to find a successful contender in another country among the pool of US-based CDN companies. In this case, we have one from Switzerland.

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KeyCDN is the baby project of developers Jonas Krummenacher and Sven Baumgartner.
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The company puts a strong focus on customer experience and data redundancy. At the same time, it is keeping everything affordable, with a comprehensive billing based on traffic usage.

KeyCDN provides one of the best CDN for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, and other popular web building apps.

Over 40,000 companies make use of its services, among them names like Sennheiser, Discourse, and Meteor.

KeyCDN Locations

34 data centers in 25 countries across six continents.

KeyCDN Features

I just love it when I get to a website, and I can immediately understand the essential information — what’s that, what does it do, how much does it cost, and what does it include?

Doesn’t sound like much, but you’d be surprised how many companies fail to do that.

KeyCDN is not one of them.

You have a single plan with clearly outlined features. Things such as:

• Instant purge
• Origin shield
• DDoS protection
• TLS certificate
• Gzip compression
• HTTP live streaming
• Log forwarding

…and this is just scratching the surface.

This content delivery network packs advanced security features like OCSP stapling, blocking bad bots, and setting customized access rules.

You don’t have to select a plan, choose extras, or contact support to calculate expected costs. Your total monthly bill will be based solely on the traffic your content generates (as long as it’s a minimum of $4).

That’s peanuts, considering what others are charging, even for their entry-level plans.

KeyCDN Support

KeyCDN is one of those companies that don’t rely on chat support. In fact, you don’t even have the option of phone contact.

Ok, what DO you have?

Apart from the 24/7 support via ticketing, you have a tutorial knowledge base, community assistance, and FAQs at your disposal. I took a look at a few guides, and I have to say — they are pretty good — plenty of details, screenshots, and step-by-step explanations.

Given the fact KeyCDN offers a unified plan with a comprehensive billing model, you shouldn’t need much help to get you started.

I saved the best for last, though.

KeyCDN flaunts a wonderful set of tools that let you test everything — website speed, performance, DNS lookups, SSL certificate validation.

I lost a good couple of hours trying them out, and I have to say, I am beyond satisfied.

Verdict

First-time users can find a trusted partner in KeyCDN. As a client of a new company, I always like to know what I’m getting into, and this provider makes everything crystal clear.

One plan, packed with features, billing based on the traffic I consume.

What you see is what you get.

7. Limelight

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Founded in 2001, Limelight not only managed to sustain the pressure of surviving in such a competitive industry but gradually grew into one of the largest companies for CDN services.

We are talking about a company with hundreds of servers under the watchful eye of 500+ employees.

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Just look at the Limelight clients — Marvel, DailyMotion, Napster — I mean they can’t all be wrong, right?

Limelight Locations

100+ POPS on six continents.

Limelight Features

The Limelight website is not exactly clear when it comes to outlining essential information, like product features, but luckily I got a hold of a data sheet which was much better structured.

So what do we have here?

Content caching for improved delivery speed and performance.

SmartPurge for global content invalidation and deletion.

Last Mile Acceleration for boosting the user/server connection.

HTTP video streaming with reduced load on the origin server.

Rate limitation and data transfer caps, so you don’t go overboard with the expenses.

Thе list goes on…

It looks like a hefty deal, really, especially if the cost matches up.

You’ll find more about that in the next section.

Limelight Support

Here we have all possible support channels — phone, mail, and chat. The LimeLight team is international, so you can even request to speak to someone in your native language.

But let’s keep things in English for now.

As their website didn’t say much about the plan features and pricing, I went ahead and investigated them with a chat operator. She was very straightforward with her answers, something not so common with other CDN server providers.

I posed as a startup client with minimal needs, just to get a feel of what monthly invoice I should expect.

The lowest deal included up to 5TB of traffic and came at a whopping $1,500/mo.

Ouch!

Not exactly your cost-fits-all provider.

Still, support-wise, I appreciated the honesty and the followup I got via email.

Verdict

Limelight is one of those content delivery network providers that focus primarily on their advanced business and enterprise offerings. Their plans are bursting with features and ready to accommodate any website, video platform, application…for the right price.

What is a content delivery network?

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A CDN is a system of globally interconnected servers that optimizes and speeds up the delivery of content over the Web. This includes HTML pages, javascript files, stylesheets, images, videos, and more.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cdn-providers/&text=A%20CDN%20is%20a%20system%20of%20globally%20interconnected%20servers%20that%20optimizes%20and%20speeds%20up%20the%20delivery%20of%20content%20over%20the%20Web.%20This%20includes%20HTML%20pages%2C%20javascript%20files%2C%20stylesheets%2C%20images%2C%20videos%2C%20and%20more.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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This CDN definition doesn’t tell you the whole story, though. Let’s outline the major benefits of using a content distribution network partner:

– Boosting speeds — delivering the content from a server nearby means the distance between user and data is minimal. This results in faster load times and reduced bounce rates.

– Improving uptime and redundancy — if your website resides on a single server, you are very much dependent on the hardware and software of that machine. Should a single component fail — so will your website. Distributing your content on a network of servers eliminates the risk of a single-server failure costing you your project availability.

– Lowering traffic costs — a CDN caches and optimizes your content for better delivery. The smaller your files get — the less bandwidth they “consume,” which is always welcome, especially if your provider charges based on traffic.

– Hardening security — most reputable content delivery network companies also put a strong emphasis on security. Be it advanced means for DDoS mitigation, private SSL certificates, or personalized support — the best CDN provider is a secure provider.

How to choose a CDN?

As with other tech industries, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, you have to consider choosing a partner that understands your project and your particular needs. Focus on the things that really matter to you, regardless of what we are talking about:

• price — even the best CDN package is worthless if you cannot afford it.
• technical knowledge — are you a total tech newbie or know precisely what you’re looking for?
• level of support — when unsure, it’s good to have a reliable backup.
• POP locations — the more server locations your provider supports, the quicker it will take them to deliver your content.
• primary goal — some clients are after lightning-fast speeds, while others only need maximum security for their project.

Conclusion

There you have it!

All providers of content delivery services on this list offer something unique or high-quality, which makes them stand out from the crowd. Whether you are looking for a basic WordPress CDN or an enterprise solution for a large-scale project — at least one of the companies here can make your dreams come true.

And should you find your new CDN partner from this review, I can only say one thing:

Mission accomplished!

FAQ

Q: What is the best free CDN?

A: Most companies include a free trial of their services, but significantly fewer can offer a no-cost package for life. Cloudflare is undoubtedly the biggest and most feature-packed free CDN you can find. Partnering with a plethora of web hosts, you can easily activate CF from your control panel with a few mouse clicks.

Q: What is a CDN website?

A: This is a website that makes use of CDN services to serve its content. Instead of residing on a single server, such web pages are stored on a network of machines. Whenever a user “requests” the content, they see the copy that is closest to their location, thus reducing load times and bandwidth consumption.

Q: Is AWS a CDN?

A: Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a solution called Amazon CloudFront. CF is part of the AWS packages and does not exist as a standalone service, which is the reason it did not make the above list of best CDN providers. Still, you can easily pair up CloudFront with other tools like AWS Shield, Amazon S3, or Elastic Load Balancing and put together a robust hosting platform.

 

The post Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cdn-providers/”>Best CDN Providers appeared first on Website Hosting Review/”>Website Hosting Review.

Oi! G’day me ol’ cobbers!

Grab a cold stubby and buckle up, as I got a ripper article for ya, s’arvo.

This one’s for all the Bruces and Sheilas out there…

OK, let me stop with the Aussie slang right here, as this can quickly spiral out of control.

If you haven’t guessed already, today we are going to check out web hosting in Australia. By the end of this text, you should have a clear idea of the following:

What’s the Australian hosting market like and who dominates it?

Who are the best Australian local and global hosts?

How to choose the right host in Australia?

What are the benefits of a good local provider?

The hosting industry in Australia is very distinct, especially compared to the US or many European countries. It is a very client-limited and volatile market, even when you take into account that almost 50% of SMBs are yet to have a web presence.

So how can you survive in an environment where you can’t grow indefinitely?

Two ways — find a small, specific niche or start buying other companies.

Mid-sized hosting providers are practically non-existent in the land down under.

You either go big or go home!

So let’s see who deserves to compete for the best web hosting in Australia.

Best Local Hosts

1. VentraIP

+ SSD storage

+ Hourly backups

+ Host unlimited websites

Score A+

Price: from AU$8.95/mo

VentraIP represents one of the three tech conglomerates in Australia that rule over the hosting market. Founded in 2010, the company quickly adopted the acquisition method of expansion. Ventra soon added the likes of Servers Australia, 9web, IntaServe Domains, JGK Solutions, and Fresh Networks to their vast portfolio.

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VentraIP has two sister companies — Zuver Hosting (for end clients) and Synergy Wholesale (for resellers). Synergy holds the #2 spot on the Australian hosting market, preceded only by NetRegistry.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-australia/&text=VentraIP%20has%20two%20sister%20companies%20%E2%80%94%20Zuver%20Hosting%20%28for%20end%20clients%29%20and%20Synergy%20Wholesale%20%28for%20resellers%29.%20Synergy%20holds%20the%20%232%20spot%20on%20the%20Australian%20hosting%20market%2C%20preceded%20only%20by%20NetRegistry.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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Over 150,000 customers utilize the company servers in Sydney and Melbourne.

VetraIP Features

VentraIP has divided its shared services into three plans:

• Starter — for startups and personal blogs
• Freedom — for SMBs and online shops
• Premier — for enterprise and high-traffic projects

The packages seem pretty robust — SSD storage, 100% CPU allowance, free SSL certificate.

But that’s not even half of it.

Forget about the lousy limitations on hosted websites.. VentraIP offers unlimited email accounts, monthly traffic, and number of databases.

If you think it can’t get better than this — think again!

This Australian website host puts a strong focus on your data. Some providers back up accounts daily or every couple of days. VentraIP does that hourly.

Yes, that’s right — your data is saved and stored in a separate location thanks to the Acronis Cloud Backup software.

Talk about safety precautions!

VetraIP Support

One thing I quickly learned about the Australian hosting market is that providers are not very fond of the live chat option in their support communications.

And by not very fond of I mean almost no one offers it.

To this day, I still don’t get what the reason is. It’s the quickest way to connect to a company rep for some minor questions or pre-sales concerns. There are cases that are just too urgent or too simple to await an email reply for hours.

But facts are facts, and I had to deal with them.

To be fair, I was thoroughly satisfied with the level of email support here. VentraIP were fastest to respond among all reviewed providers, and their replies were detailed enough to cover any further questions.

Verdict

All in all, VentraIP fully deserves a top spot when it comes to the best web hosting in Australia. It’s a large-scale organization which has the capacity and workforce to provide stellar services to businesses of every size. Clear terms, next-gen technology — what more can you ask for?

2. Crucial

+ Immense resources

+ 200% CPU allocation

+ Free Cloudflare CDN

Score A

Price: from AU$22.90/mo

Crucial web hosting is one of the biggest and perhaps the best-rated providers according to Australian reviews. It was founded in a university dorm room in 2003 with the idea to give small businesses a better chance to get online.

That idea grew to amass over 6000 followers and their 50,000+ websites.

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Just look at Crucial’s numbers. Over 7,000 servers deployed for VPS hosting in Australia. 8.8 terabytes of information served daily. More than 10 industry awards. Thoroughly impressive.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-australia/&text=Just%20look%20at%20Crucial%27s%20numbers.%20Over%207%2C000%20servers%20deployed%20for%20VPS%20hosting%20in%20Australia.%208.8%20terabytes%20of%20information%20served%20daily.%20More%20than%2010%20industry%20awards.%20Thoroughly%20impressive.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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The shared servers utilize one of the most modern facilities of the Australian Pacific Data Centers (APDC) in Sydney.

Crucial Features

One thing I noticed all over the website, the Crucial team boasts how its services aim to be of use to the small and startup user.

Its shared packages, however, don’t quite match that notion.

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Don’t get me wrong — the accounts are packed. Like, really packed. So much so that it’s overkill.

Just look at the basic plan — you can host only two domains (one primary and one addon), but you have 50GB of storage space. Keep in mind the average website rarely exceeds 1GB. You have 50!

And the free extras just keep on rolling — Cloudflare CDN, SSL certificate, daily backups, DDoS protection.

This all sounds great, so where’s the catch?

To paraphrase the immortal words of Spiderman — with great hosting power comes great price responsibility.

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What I mean is Crucial’s prices are far from affordable for the average client. Standing tall at AU$22.90/mo, even the cheapest account costs far more than with other shared providers.

Crucial Support

Like the plethora of Australian hosts, Crucial also provides 24/7 support via phone and ticketing. While browsing the company website, however, I noticed a popup for a live chat.

Alright, here goes nothing.

А little background here: I’d just finished my Pacific Digital review before testing Crucial. PD also had a live chat option which I’d just tried (but more on that later).

Entering the chat came with a shock.

Hey, I know that name and photo — I was just talking to the same girl in the Pacific Digital support chat. So I asked directly and got the logical response — Crucial and PD are sister companies.

From there on, there wasn’t much point in having the same conversation twice, so I sent some emails instead.

Verdict

Crucial is one of the top web service providers in Australia due to its excellent infrastructure and feature-packed accounts. But those solutions are not really suited for startups and the smallest businesses. Crucial’s web hosting prices are pretty steep and can easily push your budget overboard.

3. Panthur

+ Affordable prices

+ Free backup restore service

+ SSD drives

Score A

Price: from AU$5.00/mo

Panthur is one of the lesser-known Australian hosting providers, but that doesn’t mean it’s far behind the competition. On the contrary, the company started operations over a decade ago and still going strong.

US web service provider Deluxe Corporation acquired Panthur in 2017 through its subsidiary Hostopia Australia. The same consortium holds some of the biggest local brands, like Digital Pacific and Crucial.

Panthur’s servers still remain on home ground today — in the APDC data centers in Sydney.

Panthur Features

Panthur offers a wide variety of deals, targeting businesses of different sizes. However,the Economy Hosting packages seem most appropriate for our purposes today. So what do we have there?

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What I like about the plans is that all choices pack the same features; their only difference is resource allocation.

Think of the extra perks — free content delivery network, SSL certificate, a premium website builder — you have them all, even on the cheapest plan.

There is a limitation on the number of websites you can host on each plan, though:

• 1 on the Mini plan
• 4 on the Advanced plan
• 6 on the Professional plan

But Panthur’s ace in the sleeve is undoubtedly the affordable pricing.

The Mini package starts at just AU$5.00/mo, and that’s on a month-to-month billing. Prepaying for the yearly deals can drop the price further to the whopping AU$4.00/mo.

Now, this is what I call cheap web hosting in Australia!

Panthur Support

All prospective customers can contact Panthur 24/7 via phone and email. Existing clients have the added option of ticketing support. A server status tab will also show you if there are any service interruptions and what the company is doing about them.

So far, so good.

My email to the Panthur support contained three simple sales questions, so I expected a prompt reply.

How silly of me.

In reality, it took over 48 hours to get a response, and the answers were as short as they come.

Hopefully, the support team treats tickets from existing customers with more care and efficiency.

Verdict

Panthur looks to target the small businessman, and it certainly shows. You’ve got all the essentials to establish your professional project and let it flourish. All that while keeping a tight budget and investing in other important aspects of your online business.

4. Digital Pacific

+ Green-friendly

+ Daily backups

+ Qantas reward points

Score B+

Price: from AU$7.42/mo

Pacific Digital came to be in 2000 and since then has grown to hold nearly 5% of the Australian market. Protecting the environment is one of the company’s core values, and PD is proud to keep its services 100% carbon neutral.

Two (green) thumbs up for that choice.

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The US consortium Deluxe Corp. acquired Digital Pacific in 2017 in a deal worth US$52 million.
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While there was an influx of client complaints during the initial transition period, things have since appeared to cool off and gone back to normal.

The company servers reside in the APDC data centers in Sydney. Still, it won’t be a big surprise if parent Deluxe Corp. decides to move operations to a more cost-efficient location.

Digital Pacific Features

You can tell a lot about a hosting provider from its business website. I’ve noticed a trend where long-time big players tend to neglect their site design. Why bother — new clients will still flock just because of the brand name.

Digital Pacific looks a bit like such a veteran.

Whether you need personal, business, or cloud hosting in Australia — you can find all kinds of deals here. But let’s focus on the Personal offerings.

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So you only have a choice of two plans — Basic and Standard — and I have to say neither looks very impressive. The first plan only gives you 1GB space, 10GB monthly bandwidth, and two email addresses.

Might be good enough for starters, but you will probably outgrow it pretty soon.

The price for this deal starts from AU$6.90/mo, and that’s only available if you prepay for three years.

Still, I can’t imagine staying in a closet-sized account for such a long time.

There is a supposed third plan here, but it’s an entirely custom deal, and you have to contact support for that.

And so I did…

Digital Pacific Support

While Pacific Digital advertise round-the-clock phone and email support. I was delighted to find a popup for a live chat as well.

The conversation that followed was a little awkward, though.

I only had one question in mind:

The company website stated the Basic plan came with 2GB web space, while the page with more details reveals only 1GB.

So which one is it?

Should’ve been a simple question, but I spent the next ten or so minutes going back and forth with the operator who was clearly working off a template.

At some point it dawned on me — many Australian web hosts are owned by the same corporation, so the operators are probably assisting clients on multiple brands.

Well, “assisting” might be a bit too much — they are mostly reading what I can also read on the company website.

At the end of the day, she couldn’t explain this peculiar difference but promised to pass the case to the site developers.

Verdict

Digital Pacific is undoubtedly a trusted and experienced host. Having strong financial backing, this company won’t disappear overnight, that’s for sure. Its services, however, seem to lag behind the competition, and the package plans can use some overhauling to improve their cost-efficiency.

But having your business in Australia doesn’t necessarily mean your hosting should also be there.

Here are some of the top choices you can pick with international server locations.

Best Global Hosts

1. SiteGround

+ Ultimate server performance

+ Stellar support

+ Great for WordPress hosting in Australia

Score A+

Price: from AU$6.33/mo

SiteGround is topping many reviews for web hosting in Australia for a reason.

The company has been operating for more than 15 years and currently hosts over 1.8 million domain names. Founded in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, SiteGround occupies four offices in Bulgaria, Spain, and the UK.

Remarkable performance stats and excellent customer care are the provider’s two strongest selling points.

To serve clients from all over the world, SiteGround has strategically chosen its data center locations for best coverage. You can choose between:

• Iowa, US
• Chicago, US
• Amsterdam, NL
• London, UK
• Singapore, SG (best for Australia)

SiteGround Features

One benefit of choosing a global provider is it can often present a more affordable and feature-rich solution than its local counterparts.

It’s no surprise, really — Australia is not the cheapest country when it comes to technology services.

And yet, SiteGround manages to impress when it comes to how much more it has to offer:

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Speed is of the essence, so SG turbocharges your account with the proprietary SuperCacher plugin. You can start with a 10GB account and grow from there.

I really like how SiteGround explains the bandwidth limits. Novice clients rarely have an idea what 100GB or 1TB traffic means — they need something more specific.

Like monthly user visits.

You get approximately 10,000 on the StartUp plan, 25,000 on the GrowBig package, and 100,000 with the GoGeek deal.

See? Clear as day.

A free site builder, CDN, and SSL certificate are available with every account. As you grow, you can upgrade and get more advanced control and management features.

It’s worth mentioning SiteGround is one of the closest partners and active contributors to the WordPress project. So if you want to host a WP website, you can safely start your search here.

SiteGround Support

When it comes to proper customer care, few can compete with SiteGround.

24/7 assistance via phone, chat, email, and tickets.

First ticket response within 15 minutes.

Always friendly and ready to help.

It sounds so simple, and yet so few hosts choose to focus on that.

My live chat was (as always) very fruitful and confirmed my good impressions of the SG support. The operator asked all the right questions and delivered the information in a comprehensive manner.

I also sent a support ticket with a WordPress installation issue. Sure enough, the reply came in 10 minutes with my fresh install ready to turn into a stylish website.

Excellent customer care goes a long way, and so will SiteGround.

Verdict

Hands down, SiteGround offers one of the best web hosting in Australia, even without a server location in the land down under. Robust infrastructure and feature-rich accounts pair up with the most amazing support to create the perfect solution for online businesses. Not the cheapest out there, but certainly worth every cent.

2. FastComet

+ SSD-powered accounts

+ Variety of server locations

+ Knowledgeable support

Score A

Price: from AU$4.30/mo

While FastComet is a relatively new provider, it doesn’t lack the necessary expertise. It might have operated for just over five years, but the core team has at least 20+ years of combined experience.

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Fastcomet hosts more than 50,000 websites and flaunts a 9.7 reliability score from 33,980 authentic user reviews.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-australia/&text=Fastcomet%20hosts%20more%20than%2050%2C000%20websites%20and%20flaunts%20a%209.7%20reliability%20score%20from%2033%2C980%20authentic%20user%20reviews.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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Australian customers have several nearby data center choices — Singapore, Japan, even India. Apart from those, you can also take your pick between Dallas, Chicago, Newark, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.

Very few hosts come even remotely close to such coverage.

FastComet Features

FastComet offers cPanel web hosting in Australia through three shared packages:

[FastComet plans screenshot]

The FastCloud option is optimized to host a single website, whereas on the Plus and Extra plans you can have as many as you wish.

The provider is pretty generous when it comes to server resources — even the lowest plan will give you 15GB SSD space, 2GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, and around 25,000 monthly visits.

Along with this sweet deal, you get a free Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, and no-cost data migration.

The prices for this bundle look good as well — starting from about AU$4.30/mo, the basic plan is more affordable than what many local Australian hosts can offer. Just keep in mind this is an introductory price, so the renewals would be steeper.

FastComet Support

FastComet is definitely one of the very few hosts that come close to matching SiteGround’s level of customer care .

You can find live help 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email. Existing customers can also utilize a ticketing system for technical questions.

All that and a bag of tutorials and KB articles.

The live chat operator connected within seconds and showed immense knowledge from the get-go. I didn’t let him get off easy and bombarded him with all kinds of pesky sales questions, but he was clearly well-prepared.

You are certainly in good hands with FastComet.

Verdict

The best Australian hosting provider isn’t necessarily IN Australia, and FastComet is living proof. Packing a significant amount of server power and a ton of useful features, the FC accounts come at a reasonable price. The impeccable Support Team is just the cherry on top.

3. Hostinger

+ Unmatchable prices

+ Lightning-fast speeds

+ WordPress optimized

Score A

Price: from AU$1.45/mo

Hostinger offers some of the best value web hosting solutions out there. The company was initially named Hosting Media but rebranded after it reached one million users in 2011.

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Today, Hostinger houses over 29 million websites in 278 countries. An average of 15k new users joins every day, which equals to a new client every five seconds.
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Hostinger utilizes seven interconnected Tier-3 data centers around the world — in the US, the UK, Netherlands, Lithuania, Brazil, Singapore, and Indonesia.

The latter two provide the best connection and speeds for Australian customers.

Hostinger Features

Entering the hosting world with Hostinger couldn’t be easier. Startup clients have three plans at their disposal:

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As with other similar providers, the cheapest plan is optimized for a single website, while the next tiers give much more creative freedom.

All accounts give you access to Hostinger’s proprietary control panel, which is quite user-friendly and easy-to-navigate.

Hostinger spares no resources when it comes to speed optimization. The entire hardware is supercharged with a custom server-side caching, SSD drives, and automatic server deployment.

But the price is the real kicker.

Starting from a mere AU$1.45/mo, you can get a reliable hosting service for less than a Starbucks coffee.

Renewal prices are also lower than what most can offer to new clients.

It’s amazing they still manage to make a profit at the end of the day.

Hostinger Support

Email and ticketing are the primary means to get support assistance. Both are available 24/7 and easy-to-be-found on the company website.

Phone and live chat are not an option, even though there is a “let’s chat” button on the Contact Us page.

For what it’s worth, their email reply was prompt and on point, much better than what I got from most of the local Australian providers.

I am sure serving millions of customers, each with their own questions and concerns, is no walk in the park. That’s why I’m letting off Hostinger a little easy here. But if they could find a way to add more support options to the mix, that’d be great.

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Verdict

Hostinger might very well be one of the best choices for web hosting in Australia. Its shared services provide SMBs an excellent opportunity to start their online presence with minimum investments. The low prices have little effect on the account features, and users still enjoy the full hosting experience on all service levels.

That completes our list of the best Australian hosts (for now).

Here is how I came up with the contenders and how you can check for yourself.

Our Methodology

Every provider on this list is here for a reason. We have tested over 20 hosts to separate the wheat from the chaff and bring you only the finest grain the Australian market has to offer.

The rigorous process included service analysis and several groups of tests which encompass the most crucial factors to watch out for when choosing a new host.

• Speed — one of the essential metrics for your website. Website Hosting Review/blog/how-speed-affects-website/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Speed affects everything — from the initial user experience all the way to your sales numbers. Three out of four people will abandon a website if it fails to load within five seconds. A good host will ensure a blazing-fast connection to your server and assist with site optimization tips.
  I created accounts with every reviewed host and launched a basic WordPress site. Then I cross-tested and analyzed results from three platforms — GTMetrix, Pingdom, and WebPageTest.
• Uptime — the other make-or-break factor when it comes to web hosting in Australia (or anywhere else for that matter).
  In an ideal world, your website should be out there 100% of the time, and your provider should have clear procedures to minimize downtimes, even in extreme cases.
  In an ideal world…
  I attached my accounts to the StatusCake monitoring system and reviewed the results after a minimum of 30 days. I will update the uptime statistics of each host regularly to keep this content up to date.

• Features — a great company has to offer the full package. Hosting providers have a lot of options to ease the experience of their clients — SSLs, CDNs, SSD storage, daily backups. Whether hosts offer them and how much they charge can make all the difference for a startup or growing business.
  I reviewed the shared offers of all competitors, as this is where most entrepreneurs start when launching an online project. Learn what’s under the hood and if it’s enough to get your business going.
• Support — every client deserves proper assistance, regardless of how much they pay. A lot of providers boldly offer 24/7 support across multiple communication channels, but how many are actually doing it right?
  My job was to contact a live person and determine their level of hosting expertise. I performed a couple of tests for each company to get an overall impression and avoid the occasional rookie rep messing things up because of sheer inexperience.
• Price — the final thing before getting the best business web hosting is a price tag that matches your budget. Some hosts can pack a ton of features, but those lush offers come at a price. At the other end of the spectrum, you have the extremely cheap providers which rarely give you anything apart from the essentials. 

Which one is more suitable?
It’s up to you to decide!
My job is to show what numbers to expect as a new customer and, more importantly, how much they’ll grow come renewal. All the hidden bits and pieces often pop up at the most unexpected moments, so you better be wary.

Those are the factors that I checked and tested for you.

But there are a few more you can easily discover for yourself.

Five Things to Check Before Buying from an Australian Provider

1. Connectivity Speed

Your connectivity speed determines how fast your server will receive and respond to web requests. Needless to say, you want the process to be as seamless as possible.

You can contact your potential candidates through the support channels and ask the rep for access to a test file to check the connectivity speed. Any good host will keep such test files on every server location.

2. Sales Assistance

You can best recognize a great provider when in need of technical assistance. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get an overall picture even before becoming a client.

All the top hosting sites in Australia extensively train their support representatives so you can easily spot when you are dealing with a professional. Even a simple sales conversation speaks heaps about the quality of assistance.

Watch out for:

• templated responses
• 1-2 word replies
• irrelevant links for tutorials
• a constant push for a sale

If you notice any of the above — run! That host is clearly not a great choice support-wise.

3. Pricing Structure

Offering lower introductory and higher renewal prices has slowly become the industry standard, but many clients are still unaware of that fact. Tempted by big promises and amazingly low prices, many jump headfirst into a venture that might later cost them their business.

Take your time to fully understand what costs are involved in joining your potential host and what future fees you should expect. A good practice is to check if there is a money-back guarantee in place and how easy it is to take advantage.

The devil is in the details.

4. Data Center Locations

Our topic today is Australian website hosts, so the server locations are of the utmost importance. When your content lies close to your visitors, its loading time is minimal, and everyone can enjoy a speedy website.

The land down under is pretty far from most major connection hubs, so it’s best to choose a provider with data centers in Australia, or at the very least — Singapore or Japan.

5. Online Reviews

Many have walked the road you are about to take. So a little extra insight from behind the curtains can only solidify your impressions or make you reconsider your choice.

You can find a lot of online reviews about best or fastest web hosting in Australia, but you should always take the information with a pinch of salt. Many of them might come from paid affiliates or disgruntled customers, so their objectiveness is questionable.

Instead, try and determine if there are often-repeating pros or cons.

Are many clients suffering downtimes?

Are pages loading slowly?

Maybe a lot of people seem to fancy the support they get?

You get the idea.

Importance of a Good Local Host in Australia

The Australian online market might be limited but far from exhausted. Succeeding in such a specific business environment requires the right tools and the right partners.

A good hosting provider can be both.

Choosing an Australian web host carries a ton of geolocation benefits:

• optimal server speed
• local support
• tailored services
• convenient data center location

Still, global providers will always have a strong presence on the market just because of their scale and the competitive prices they can afford to throw.

Conclusion

Hosting providers in Australia have a mountain to climb once they enter the market. One solution is to rock a unique service and secure a small niche for your company.

The other is to have a long-term growth plan which includes a lot of mergers and acquisitions.

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As of 2018, three major consortiums control nearly 76% of all hosting services in Australia.
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As Servers Australia managing director Jared Hirst puts it “everyone is going to get bought, or they are going to go broke.”

Choosing a new hosting partner has never been so crucial.

 

FAQ

Q: Is there free web hosting in Australia?

A: Many free web hosts operate on international markets, including Australia. The problem with them is they are never a suitable solution in the long run. More often than not, you suffer from:

• severe limitations
• intrusive ads
• non-existent support
• unexpected downtimes
• lack of basic functionalities

Free providers are mainly useful as a testing environment for low-demanding web projects but never for a serious business website.

Q: Is Bluehost good for Australia?

A: Bluehost is a global hosting provider which also offers services to Australian customers. The company is part of the EIG consortium and employs a data center in Provo, Utah.

While it doesn’t have a local data center location, Bluehost is a leading choice for a lot of Australian entrepreneurs because of the long experience and affordable packages.

Q: What is the best web hosting in Australia?

A: Web hosting in Australia can generally be divided into two groups — offers from local and global providers. Before you choose your host, you need to outline your needs, your resource consumption, and technology requirements.

It’s only then that you are safe to go out there and shortlist some potential winners.

Want to try another market? Check out our reviews of the hosting services in Website Hosting Review/blog/best-website-hosting-uk/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>the UK and Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-india/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>India.

 

The post Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-australia/”>Best Web Hosting in Australia — Go Global or Stay Local? appeared first on Website Hosting Review/”>Website Hosting Review.

You’ve likely heard the advice to stay away from hosting offers that look too perfect. Then again, going for one that looks bad makes even less sense.

Sifting through and comparing hosting plans all day is enough to give anyone a headache.

So, if you’re looking for quality hosting and you’re on a budget, we did the legwork for you. Keep reading to see our list of best cheap hosting providers.

How We Picked the Best Cheap Hosts

All of the hosting companies went through a lengthy review process:

• Starting Price – First, we wanted our cheap providers to be, well, cheap. We limited the starting price to $3/month. We also considered providers that were a few cents more expensive, but only if they had impressive features to justify the price tag. This is a very budget-friendly approach, focused solely on the cheap end of shared hosting. All the same, it leaves plenty of quality providers to choose from.
• Renewal Fees – The renewal costs are just as important. It’s industry standard to draw in customers with outrageous discounts. However, unscrupulous providers often try to conceal the actual costs until they lock you in. The hosts featured here don’t ask for a renewal fee higher than $10/mo.
• Features – Even cheap hosting is a serious waste if it doesn’t do its job. It’s key to hit the sweet spot between affordable web hosting packages and robust features.
• Performance – We conducted an in-depth case study of each provider. We tested the servers’ uptime and speed and made sure websites remain responsive even under heavy traffic.
• Transparency – We inspected the plans and terms of service of each company. Whenever we found a fine print or misleading language, we got to the bottom of it.
• Reputation – Finally, no one knows a provider better than its long-term customers. Luckily, the internet is abundant with hosting reviews, and many users were more than happy to be interviewed.

We put all of it together to make the most objective cheap web hosting reviews possible. Read on to find out which providers make the grade.

1. Hostinger

Best overall

 

In November 2004, a company called Hosting Media was born. Its mission was to offer unlimited free hosting with no advertising.

The name has since changed to Hostinger, the company expanded to paid hosting and gained some 29 million users. Nevertheless, its vision of quality affordable web hosting remains.

Performance

Performance is a primary factor when choosing hosting, regardless of its price. Many providers didn’t make the cut because of problems with speed or uptime. Hostinger impresses on both fronts.

Hostinger’s uptime is nearly flawless, but a brief outage brought it down to 99.91%. Even so, it’s fully within the industry standard.

Hostinger reimburses 5% of your monthly fee if uptime falls below 99.9%. It’s a good incentive for the company to keep the servers in tip-top shape.

Hostinger’s speed is even better. The server’s response time averages at 190ms, and it takes 0.68s to fully load a basic WordPress installation. It’s the fastest shared hosting provider out there even when pitted against significantly more expensive hosts.

Admittedly, getting 300+ simultaneous requests affects the load times, but not by much. You could accommodate thousands of users without noticeable issues.

Overall, Hostinger makes your site available quickly and at all times.

Support

With low-cost web hosting, you can often judge the quality of the service by the support team because quality support is expensive.

Hostinger manages to provide strong support for 27 million users, though it’s no menial task.

Each agent is trained to answer all types of queries. This ensures you don’t get bounced around from one support agent to another all the time.

Overall, the agents are helpful. They do their best to help users resolve issues themselves. If that’s not possible, the support takes over. In other words, they create a nurturing learning environment for beginners.

Though support is available 24/7, you can only reach them by chat or email. The lack of phone support is the only complaint I can make.

Pricing

Many providers don’t have a plan that meets our $3/month requirement. Hostinger has two.

Hostinger’s Single Shared Hosting costs $0.99/month, and Premium Shared Hosting costs $2.59/month. Hostinger is all about giving you a good deal.

One caveat is you have to make a four-year commitment. Still, $47.52 for four years is quite a sweet web hosting deal.

Renewal costs $9.59/month for the Basic plan and $14.49/month for the Premium one. This is a standard price across the board, not particularly cheap but not that expensive either.

The single plan lets you create one website with one email account and gives you 10GB of storage and 100GB of bandwidth. The Premium one removes the limit on all of the above.

“Unlimited” isn’t really unlimited. Hostinger reserves the right to restrict you if you take too much server resources. As long as you don’t purposefully go overboard, though, you should be fine.

Bottom line—if you’re looking for a bargain, this is it. Hostinger offers the cheapest web hosting without sacrificing quality.

Features

Hostinger offers features like SSD storage across the board, a custom-built caching solution, 100+ one-click installations, and more.

Currently, Hostinger provides a free SSL certificate as a limited offer. It throws it in as a sign-up bonus.

Daily backups are $0.95/month extra. This is a bit of a letdown. Weekly backups are more of an industry minimum than industry standard.

The Single plan gets you one simultaneous cronjob, but the Premium one lifts the limit on that too. It’s pretty sweet, especially if you want to schedule additional backups.

Hostinger also has a custom control panel. It’s way more user-friendly than cPanel, but it does sacrifice certain functionality and advanced features. Beginners enjoy it more, even though a cPanel would be a tad more useful in the long run.

Hostinger also offers a drag-and-drop website builder. It’s easy to use and creates responsive sites, even though there are better alternatives out there. Which is why Hostinger has a new website builder in the making.

Finally, Hostinger offers Git with all plans. Git helps programmers collaborate on projects.

You probably won’t use it much with a shared plan. However, if you hire a web development company, they’ll love it.

Hostinger covers the basics splendidly and offers decent extra features. Cheap shared hosting or not—the offer is outstanding.

Around the Web

Once you have millions of users, you’re bound to get a maelstrom of reviews. Having read as many as a regular person can handle, I’ve confirmed most users enjoy Hostinger’s services.

Unsurprisingly, most users come for the cheap plans. They stay for the quality of the hosting, the ease of use, and the helpful support team.

The complaints are few and far between. They either dislike that not all services are refundable or that the unlimited plans are, in fact, limited.

This info is available on the site. That said, Hostinger doesn’t make it as obvious as the next host in these reviews.

Hostinger remains one of the best cheap hosting providers, though it could be a bit more transparent. 

Pros:

• Strong features
• Lightning speed
• Cheapest starting prices
• Helpful support team
• Beginner-friendly

Cons:

• No phone support
• No free daily backups

Verdict: Hostinger is one of the best hosting providers around – excellent speed and strong backend deliver quick sites with strong uptime. Its price is unmatched too.

2. DreamHost 

Best for economic WordPress hosting

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An independent provider, DreamHost is an ardent supporter of open-source projects and green energy programs. Being one of the oldest companies in the business, its positive reputation is even more impressive.

Let’s see how well it fares against the top value offerings of today. 

Performance

DreamHost has a 100% uptime guarantee.

Now, the guarantee works a bit differently. For each hour of total downtime, you get one free day of hosting when you renew your plan.

It might not be the most generous offer, but it’s how DreamHost holds itself accountable. The perfect uptime over the past months attests to that.

DreamHost’s load times consistently put it in the top three fastest shared hosting providers. Furthermore, when you load the server with requests, the load time barely budges.

If you don’t feel like you’re reading cheap web hosting reviews, I’m right there with you. Both DreamHost and Hostinger give leave many considerably more expensive hosts in the dust.

Support

DreamHost is dedicated to helping beginners.

Which is why it offers one of the most comprehensive knowledge bases out there. Plus, you can search the articles directly from the control panel. It’s fantastic for getting the hang of everything.

The support team is available through phone, chat, and email.

It does an excellent job of answering all questions and resolving any issues that might come up. The agents are proper experts and are in the same league with SiteGround’s support.

DreamHost is also an official WordPress host. Which is why the support team is fantastic at solving WordPress-related issues. Moreover, the knowledge base is packed with WordPress tutorials.

If you’re looking to start a WordPress site, DreamHost is the ideal cheap host for you.

Still, to get the most out of a WP site with DreamHost, you might want to reconsider your budget restrictions. While the shared plans are very good for starting out, DreamPress, the Website Hosting Review/blog/best-wordpress-hosting/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>managed WordPress hosting platform of the company is the next logical step.

Pricing

If you commit for three years, DreamHost’s starter plan costs $2.59/month. Monthly, it comes at $4.95.

The renewal price? It’s the same, provided you renew for another three years. If you want web hosting prices that stay low, DreamHost is your best bet.

You can create one site with unlimited bandwidth and storage. Unlike other providers, though, DreamHost is transparent about what “unlimited” means.

In fact, DreamHost does everything out in the open. It’s refreshing to find a provider that doesn’t rely on the standard industry gimmicks.

DreamHost also offers a 97-day full refund—perfect if you aren’t sure website ownership is for you. It’s three times longer than most other hosts—a generous offer.

There’s just one complaint here. Getting a personalized email address is $1.67/month, while most providers offer it for free.

Even so, this is among the cheapest WordPress hosting providers around.

Features

DreamHost starter plan comes with free SSL, SSD storage, daily backups, domain privacy, one-click installs, a custom website builder, and a free domain name registration with an annual plan.

Not bad, eh?

DreamHost lets you manage your site from a custom control panel. As with Hostinger, the control panel is fantastic for beginners, but it lacks some of cPanel’s functionality.

The shared plans are WordPress-optimized and come with a custom caching solution. It leads to some lightning-fast loading speeds. If you’re a WordPress user, DreamHost makes your site work better than ever.

Plus, if your site outgrows what shared hosting can offer, you can affordably scale into managed WordPress hosting. These solutions can take you up to 1 million monthly visitors. Pretty good, huh?

One issue is website migration. DreamHost only offers WordPress transfers, and for a price. As for non-WordPress sites, you have to migrate them yourself.

DreamHost does have a guide on how to do it. Still, migration is a major pain, especially to a custom control panel. That’s why DreamHost is better for new website owners.

Still, this is one fantastic offer. DreamHost is the best cheap WordPress hosting provider.

Around the Web

DreamHost mostly gets positive reviews, especially from WordPress users.

Customers praise helpful support and cheap plans. DreamHost had apparently gone the extra mile in helping quite a few resolve various issues.

The few negative reviews complain that support is not always available, contrary to what DreamHost claims.

Everything seems in order with the support at the time of writing. Our experience with them, however, is a sample of one – so feel free to take those few negative reviews into account. Keep in mind nobody can know if they’re legitimate.

Pros:

• Top-notch performance
• Fair and transparent pricing
• 97-day refund policy
• Great features
• Fantastic for WordPress

Cons:

• Migrations only for WordPress sites
• No free email

Verdict: DreamHost is ideally suited for newly-fledges WordPress sites thanks to an impeccable backend, plethora of features, top-notch support, and very affordable fees that don’t change upon renewal.

3. GreenGeeks

Best ecommerce cheap hosting

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GreenGeeks is the leading green hosting company. Its mission is implementing technologies that reduce its carbon footprint as much as possible.

Of course, GreenGeeks offers more than just green hosting, and it is well-respected in the hosting world. Let’s see if it lives up to its reputation.

Performance

Like with most web hosting deals, you get a 99.9% uptime guarantee. There are no refunds if uptime falls below 99.9%, though.

Still, GreenGeeks’ uptime averages at 99.95%, so downtime is not an issue.

GreenGeeks’ load times average at 0.29 seconds response time and 0.86 seconds till fully loaded. The load times are consistently good, though they fluctuate a bit month-to-month.

All in all, GreenGeeks is in the top five fastest providers.

Support

Most providers only have guides on how to resolve common issues on their platform. Meanwhile, GreenGeeks offers in-depth tutorials on pretty much everything, starting with “How to Start a Site.” The knowledge base is perfect if you’re a first-time website owner.

The support team is available 24/7 through phone, live chat, and email ticket.

It’s is one of the quickest support teams in the industry. Not only that, but it has some of the most professional staff in hosting. They resolve issues quickly and are fantastic communicators. If you’re not an experienced user, you’ll likely pick up a thing or two from the support team.

GreenGeeks provides a positive experience, especially for beginners.

Pricing

The Lite shared hosting plan costs $2.95/month if you commit for three years.

You get unlimited storage and bandwidth for one site, though GreenGeeks can force you to upgrade if you overuse server resources. The terms of service don’t state when you have to upgrade.

The renewal price is $9.95/month. As far as cheap web hosting services go, this is a bit pricey but for a renewal fee is just about average.

You do get a few freebies like a domain name registration. This acts as a sort of counterbalance to the renewal cost.

You can get a refund in the first 30 days, like with most providers. There is one caveat. The domain name registration and a hidden setup fee are not refundable.

So, if you paid $116, you’d actually get $87 back.

In short, the freebies put GreenGeeks into cheap web hosting range, though many providers have lower prices.

Features

GreenGeeks includes features like cPanel, SSD storage, emails, a website builder, a CDN, security features, one-click installs, extra speed optimization, and developer tools.

You also get a free website migration and nightly backups.

One extremely useful feature is Wildcard SSL. Unlike with regular Let’s Encrypt, you can apply these SSL certificates to unlimited subdomains. This is perfect for ecommerce websites.

Unlike many providers, GreenGeeks offers all features out of the box—no extra charges.

All in all, GreenGeeks is an amazing hosting solution for beginners. It’s also the cheapest website host optimized for ecommerce.

Around the Web

GreenGeeks gets overwhelmingly positive reviews.

The users praise the features, uptime, and helpful support.

Most users who complain either didn’t know about the hidden costs or about paying for domain name renewal. To be fair, this information isn’t obvious on the website. It’s not really a con, but it is something to keep in mind.

Pros:

• Awesome performance
• Strong support and knowledge base
• Fantastic features
• Amazing for beginners and ecommerce

Cons:

• Relatively pricey renewal
• Hidden setup fee

Verdict: Green and powerful, this is a hosting solution with rich features and strong support that is particularly well-suited to handle ecommerce endeavors online.

4. A2 Hosting

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A2 Hosting is an independent provider and a relatively small company. Still, smaller providers can often outperform the giants of hosting.

And if A2 Hosting’s reputation is to be trusted, it can compete with the best of them.

Performance

A2 Hosting offers 5% of your monthly fee if it goes below 99.9% uptime. Our tet site is available 99.99% of the time. This is the best you can get with low-cost website hosting. Or any hosting, for that matter.

With 0.54 seconds to respond and 1.15 seconds to load a page, A2 Hosting’s speed is reasonable. However, it can’t outperform the top providers out of the box.

Still, this is how it fares with all optimization software turned off. A2 Hosting actually offers powerful tools to improve these load times.

All in all, it’s fairly impressive performance.

Support

A2 Hosting has one of the most complete knowledgebases around. You get access to various in-depth articles, tutorials, and blog posts.

If you do need extra help, its support is one of the fastest around. It’s available 24/7 via phone, chat, and ticket.

As A2 is a smaller host, it can focus on providing quality support, instead of servicing as many clients as possible. That’s why the support is helpful, efficient, and highly knowledgeable.

This is one of the best support teams in shared hosting.

Pricing

The Lite plan costs $3.92/month if you make a three-year commitment. Renewal is $7.99/month, which is already below average.

While $3.92 is fine as far as shared hosting goes, A2 has higher starting rates than other providers here. These are cheap web hosting reviews, after all.

Still, A2 Hosting offers a few things that balance things out.

For one, A2 Hosting has an anytime money-back guarantee. You can cancel the service for any reason and get the money for the remainder of the subscription. You’re not locked in in any way.

The plan comes with unlimited bandwidth and storage, and terms of service state clearly what qualifies as fair use. A2 Hosting is more transparent than most low-cost hosting providers.

Features

A2 Hosting offers SSD storage, a site builder, amazing security features, one-click installations, cPanel, and more.

You also get plenty of freebies that offset the higher starting price. These include an SSL certificate, backups, a site migration, Cloudflare CDN, and some excellent WordPress speed and security features.

If you purchase $25 of Yahoo/Bing Ad credits, you get an extra $100 worth—fantastic for getting that initial influx of traffic.

Once you need to scale up, you also get powerful features that help with larger websites. A noteworthy one is Turbo Boost that makes everything up to 20 times faster.

All in all, A2 Hosting offers fantastic features. It is a lucrative cheap website hosting opportunity, despite the slightly higher cost.

Around the Web

A2 Hosting is loved by its user base.

Users commend the strong support, reliability, and the feature-rich offer.

Most of the negative reviews are regarding Windows-based hosting, which experienced significant issues last April. As for Linux hosting, a few users complain about site restore not working properly or taking too long.

These are somewhat subjective assessments, but the claims are consistent with one another. You can take it into account when choosing a provider.

Pros:

• Great uptime
• Stellar support
• Fantastic features
• Lots of freebies

Cons:

• Out-of-the-box speed could be better
• Pricier than other cheap hosting companies

Verdict: A2 Hosting is a versatile hosting provider with great uptime, superb support, and feature-rich plans. Even though it is a little costlier at first, there are many freebies that offset the hosting fee.

5. HostGator

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With 10 million hosted domains, HostGator is one of the big boys. It has a vast client base and invests serious money into its services.

Coincidentally, cheap domain hosting is one of its main selling points.

Performance

HostGator did suffer a major outage in 2013. However, it has made some serious changes since.

The improvement is obvious. HostGator now has near-impeccable uptime each month.

It offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. If HostGator breaches the guarantee, you get a refund, equal to one month of hosting.

This is a fair offer, and it instills confidence in HostGator’s service.

HostGator’s servers take 0.7 seconds to respond. It takes 1.28 seconds to fully load a basic WordPress page. The response time is decent, but it does suffer when you get over 30 users at a time.

HostGator is fast but needs a bit more to be on the same level as the best cheap hosting companies. It’s more than enough to make a starter website run properly, though.

All things considered, HostGator offers reliable service.

Support

A part of HostGator’s mission is helping beginners.

Besides offering inexpensive web hosting services, it caters to users with its simple interface and an extensive knowledge base. You can find tutorials on both basic and more complex tasks.

The actual technical support is available 24/7 through phone, email, and live chat.

The support agents are polite and do their best to be helpful, though the support could be a tad faster. Tougher queries often get forwarded to email support, which adds waiting time.

The support is average. It resolves your issues, but you do have to wait longer than you might like.

Pricing

HostGator’s Hatchling plan starts at $2.75/month with a three-year commitment. The renewal is $6.95/month.

It’s among the better discount web hosting deals, but the price increase isn’t evident on the landing page. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only lack of transparency.

The plan covers one domain with unmetered storage, bandwidth, and subdomains. The resources aren’t actually unlimited, but breaching the terms of service with one site is difficult.

HostGator offers a 45-day refund—15 days longer than standard. It’s a nice gesture. Plus, you have more time to see if HostGator works for you.

Features

HostGator offers features like SSD storage, automated weekly backups, a free SSL certificate, one-click installs, and more.

Purchasing $25 of Google AdWords credits or Bing Ad credits gets you an extra $100. It’s invaluable for getting attention of those first few visitors.

Other than that, HostGator offers a few features that set it apart from other providers.

Unfortunately, HostGator also makes misleading claims like “SiteLock Security is available.” This means it’s available for purchase.

When you open the checkout page, a set of recommended paid features is already selected. Be careful and avoid purchasing something you don’t want.

Around the Web

All things considered, HostGator offers cheap reliable hosting and decent features. Which is why the overwhelmingly negative reviews are surprising.

The auto-renew checkbox seems to be responsible. This option is activated by default in their case. Unless you untick the checkbox in your profile, HostGator will keep renewing your subscription.

What’s even worse, some customers seem to have been charged even after canceling auto-renewal. HostGator apparently refunded them, but it took several complaints to get its attention.

The positive reviews tend to focus on quality servers and the user-friendly interface.

HostGator does provide a quality service if your target market is in the U.S. Still, the negative experiences of some customers indicate a few problems.

Pros:

• Good server infrastructure
• Highly reliable
• Caters to beginners

Cons

• Few unique features
• Not the most transparent provider

Verdict: HostGator is a massive hosting provider with a strong technical pedigree and impressive uptime. It can help beginners learn the basics but beware of the upsells.

6. Namecheap

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Namecheap is a domain registrar turn hosting provider. Unlike GoDaddy, though, its hosting plans get little attention.

Still, it has an array of inexpensive web hosting options. I checked out how it measures up against the competition.

Performance

Namecheap offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

According to our monitoring tools, though, its uptime averages at 99.83%. Namecheap disputed the results but offered no logs as proof—not the best start.

The average response time is 0.37 seconds, and the average load time is exactly 1 second. Namecheap is relatively fast, but not as fast as Hostinger or DreamHost. The servers handle receiving a lot of requests pretty averagely too.

On a side note, Namecheap’s central server is in the U.S. Therefore, your target audience should be in North America for the best results.

You can host data on U.K. servers for $1/month extra, but this defeats the purpose of getting cheap web hosting.

In a few words, the performance is unimpressive. Other cheap providers showcase better results. 

Support

Namecheap’s knowledge base is decent. You can use it to solve most issues.

The support is available via live chat and email tickets. There is no phone support, which can annoy at times.

As for support quality, it’s okay, but not exceptional. The agents often try linking to the knowledge base before reading the query carefully. Repeating your question every time can get frustrating.

It’s far from the worst support team I’ve seen, but Namecheap has some work to do nevertheless.

Pricing

Namecheap’s Stellar plan starts at $15.44/year. This is $1.44/month.

It costs $2.88/month to renew the plan. The renewal price makes this the cheapest web hosting per year. The only better long-term deal is DreamHost’s three-year contract.

The plan comes with unlimited bandwidth and 20Gb of storage. Mind that Namecheap calls this “SSD storage,” but it is actually HDD drives, enhanced with SSD caching.  Speed-wise, it’s somewhere between a pure HDD and pure SSD.

While most starter plans offer one domain, Namecheap gives you three. This makes Namecheap the most affordable option if you want to host two or three websites.

Even if you have just one site to host, though, Namecheap is among the cheapest hosting sites out there.

Features

Namecheap offers cPanel, a bunch of email features, free privacy protection, and much more.

Its SSL encryption costs $3.88/year. It’s affordable but still leaves a bad taste, considering most providers have it for free.

Namecheap also offers a free .website domain name. If you want a .com domain name instead, you can get it at a low price.

You get biweekly backups. It’s enough for most website owners, though daily backups would provide more peace of mind.

One useful service is website migration. If you need one, you just need to submit a ticket.

The features are robust, though they are not the best in the game.

Namecheap is among the best cheap web hosting companies for US and UK users who want to avoid expensive migrations. In other cases, you can find a better deal.

Around the Web

Namecheap’s reviews are somewhat mixed.

Users like that everything works well. Most satisfied customers seem to use both hosting and domain services.

As for the negatives, many users are disappointed Namecheap breaches the uptime guarantee. Plus, a few claim Namecheap covers up issues instead of resolving them.

The last complaint is pretty non-specific, making it hard to confirm. A reasonable explanation is these customers have picked up on Namecheap’s occasional transparency problems.

It’s a quality hosting provider, but its offer can’t match, for instance, that of DreamHost.

Pros:

• Prices in the low end of cheap hosting
• Three domains with the cheapest plan
• Free website migrations

Cons:

• Only suitable for targeting a US or UK audience
• Below-average performance
• Not the most transparent

Verdict: Namecheap is one of the cheapest hosting providers that deliver a decent performance and a reasonable amount of features.

7. iPage 

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iPage has been around since 1998 and has been a hosting provider since 2009. It offers an array of hosting options, with shared hosting being the most popular.

Let’s see what all the fuss is about.

Performance

iPage has a 99.9% uptime guarantee like most providers.

Uptime itself is fairly consistent month-to-month and averages out at 99.99%.

iPage does well with speed too. With 0.17 seconds to respond and 0.93 seconds to load, it has one of the fastest load times among shared hosting providers.

Where it really outperforms the rest, however, is speed under load. 250+ simulated connections barely slow down loading.

With such performance, it’s safe to say iPage offers cheap reliable hosting.

Support

One notorious practice of EIG-owned providers is taking their support overseas. Such moves save EIG money, but invariably reflect on quality.

iPage is no exception. The agents rarely have strong communication skills, and resolving even simple problems can drag out.

It’s nicer support staff is available through phone and live chat, but even then the agents need more training.

On the bright side, the knowledge base is rather comprehensive. You can find solutions to most issues there.

Pricing

iPage offers just one plan. Having a one-size-fits-all solution in hosting is unusual, even if a provider specializes in low-cost hosting. Strangely enough, though, it works.

There’s only one plan, so you get the full features, including unlimited bandwidth and storage.

If you make a one, two, or three-year commitment, the plan costs $2.99/month. Renewal is $8.35/month. This is about average, as far as affordable hosts go.

One potential problem is outgrowing shared hosting. Since there are no other shared plans, you would have to upgrade directly to VPS hosting. Of course, the issue here is – it is three times as expensive.

Features

iPage offers SSD storage, a free SSL certificate, a bunch of one-click installations, email features, a user-friendly website builder, and more.

You get a free domain name as well. It saves you up to $15 in the first year.

You also get fantastic ecommerce features and a bunch of shopping cart integrations. It’s affordable to start an online store with iPage.

iPage uses a custom control panel called vDeck. It’s a similar situation as with DreamHost and Hostinger – the control panel is more user-friendly, but it lacks cPanel’s functionality.

Unfortunately, iPage charges extra for features like website security, domain privacy, and WordPress optimization. Some of the cheapest hosting services offer these for free, so iPage could do better.

Site backups cost $1/month too.  This is not ideal, as backups are essential. What’s even worse, though, is that restoring your site has a surprise fee of $100.

This is nothing short of outrageous. iPage is charging you to use the backup you’ve already paid for.

It’s similar with site migrations. They cost $150. Since migrating a site from cPanel to vDeck is beyond difficult, it doesn’t pay off to migrate to iPage.

It’s a shame about the restoration fee. With its features and free SSL, iPage would have one of the best cheap website hosting offers for ecommerce. The extra costs on security and backups are too much, though.

Around the Web

iPage gets mixed reviews, to say the least.

Positive ones focus on fair pricing, quality service, and cool freebies.

One concerning issue that negative reviews point out is iPage can shut off your service without prior notice.

Indeed, the terms of service state iPage can make you upgrade to VPS this way. There’s no mention of fair use. In essence, iPage can shut off your hosting whenever it thinks you’re spending too many resources.

The lack of transparency doesn’t help the already questionable offer.

Pros:

• Top-notch performance
• Great ecommerce features
• Free domain name registration

Cons:

• Questionable support
• High charges for essential features
• Lacks transparency in certain areas

Verdict: iPage is the quintessential cheap hosting service – amazing performance and decent features but the support is questionable and the hidden fees not so few.

8. How to Choose the Best Cheap Hosting

That concludes the list of the best cheap hosting providers. But you’ll likely want to look at some plans yourself before you buy. Here’s what to look out for.

1. Consider Your Needs

Get clear on what kind of website you want to run. Now, you don’t have to make a complete checklist of features. Having a general idea is enough to begin with.

This helps you plan where you can or can’t compromise.

For instance, how often will you update your website? If you update your content several times a day, daily backups are essential. Otherwise, you could get away with weekly backups.

You can also take a different angle and think about the audience.

If you are targeting a global audience, a CDN is worth the few extra bucks. If your entire audience is in a 100-mile radius from the origin server, however, you can easily do without one.

These are just a few examples. If a feature catches your eye, think about whether it would add value to your site.

2. Go for the Best Value, not the Best Price

Value is more important than price.

Don’t rush things because even the cheapest hosting solution can cost a lot in terms of time, effort, and stress.

Your best bet is to find a provider that offers everything you need at the lowest price. In other words, this is about finding the best value web hosting.

You should never compromise with things like uptime, speed, support, and security. Each of those can affect your bottom line way more than the few dollars you save from using a cheaper hosting.

Quality hosts now all offer at least 99.9% uptime, 0.8-second response times, 24/7 tech support, and strong security. If a host skimps on these, they probably skimp on a whole lot more.

Then there are the features that your specific website needs. Many new website owners make the mistake of ignoring these.

Consequently, you see dozens of ecommerce website owners complaining they had to pay for an SSL certificate. Meanwhile, the provider they had chosen for one reason or another never offered a free certificate in the first place.

Avoiding this is just a matter of giving a closer look at the hosting plan’s description.

3. Think about the Future

Another common mistake is buying a starter plan without checking out the rest of the host’s offers. 

Yes, if you need a site for a short-term project, you don’t need to know what’s in the more expensive plans.

If it’s anything long-term, though, you might eventually need to scale up to a more expensive plan. That will go a lot easier if the host already has the infrastructure for that – and the hosting plans in question are good value.

For starters, the more expensive plans should entail a resource upgrade. You’ll need it to serve your growing user base. If you also get extra speed optimization – that’s definitely a plus.

Also, there’s a chance you might outgrow shared hosting altogether. In that case, you should know about your provider’s VPS plans. Website Hosting Review/blog/best-vps-hosting/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>VPS packages should be feature-rich and affordably priced. It should also be easy to transfer from shared hosting to VPS.

In summary, looking for the best cheap hosting is not just about finding a fantastic starter plan. It’s also about leaving yourself room to grow.

4. Consult With Support

It’s good practice to contact support if you need clarification. A provider’s website may have unclear language by accident or as a marketing gimmick. Either way, you can always ask for a straight answer.

Plus, it’s always beneficial to test the support team. If it isn’t really available 24/7 or, even worse, isn’t competent enough, it’s better to know in advance.  

5. Read Customer Reviews

There’s nothing like first-hand experience. User reviews often reveal issues you wouldn’t otherwise notice in time.

Luckily, many website owners take the time to review their hosting provider. The only problem is that users are too eager to leave one or five-star reviews without much substance. You’ll need to get through plenty of those to find legitimate ones.

If you find something you’d like to know more about, feel free to discuss it with the support team. Perhaps it has already resolved the issue. Even if it hasn’t, again – it’s better that you know before you buy.

9. Conclusion

Those were the cheap web hosting reviews. You now know who is the:

• Most affordable hosting provider
• Best affordable provider for WordPress
• Best affordable provider for ecommerce
• Affordable hosting provider with the best features

You also know what to look for in an affordable hosting. All providers in the reviews have a money-back policy, so feel free to check out their services yourself.

FAQ

Q: What is the best cheap web hosting?

A: Answering that is tricky. Different providers are better suited to different situations.

If you’re looking for the cheapest way to host a website, Hostinger is your go-to option. At $0.99/month, Hostinger costs you less than a cup of coffee per month of hosting. The catch is you must purchase four years of hosting.

If you’re on a really tight budget, an option is to buy a domain name and pay month-to-month for DreamHost hosting. DreamHost doesn’t increase the price when you renew, so you will be paying $4.95 each month. It’s more expensive in the long run, but the initial investment is low.

Finally, GreenGeeks offers the best functionality under $3/month, though it isn’t the cheapest provider. The features and the quality of support can easily give you a running start.

Q: Which is the cheapest WordPress hosting?

A: WordPress is so popular that all providers claim to be WordPress-optimized. Essentially, you could run a WordPress installation with any provider I’ve reviewed, and it would work fine.

If you want the best WordPress experience, though, DreamHost is the best cheap hosting provider. It is an official WordPress host, and the technical staff are WordPress hosting experts. Plus, it comes with custom WordPress solutions that work wonders for your load times. 

All in all, DreamHost offers both robust and cheap web hosting for WordPress.

Q: What is the best website hosting for small business?

A: Selling products through a website requires features many cheap providers don’t offer.

However, GreenGeeks offers all the key features here while staying affordable.

For one, you get rock-solid security. The Let’s Encrypt Wildcard SSL gives you SSL certificates for all subdomains, which is also essential. Finally, the daily backups are another must-have.

GreenGeeks gives you a solid foundation for your ecommerce site. Plus, its affordable web host deal makes it perfect for new business owners.

Q: How can I host my website for free?

A: There are plenty of free hosting solutions available. These usually work reasonably well, despite the bad rap they used to get.

If you’re interested, check out our Website Hosting Review/blog/best-free-web-hosting-providers/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>list of the best free hosting options. Just keep in mind these are free solutions. They are always more limited than their paid alternatives.

Hostinger, for instance, offers free hosting under the name of 000webhost. Yet, it admits free hosting is better for running tests and learning than running a legitimate site.

If you’re on a tight budget, though, there are plenty of affordable hosts that would provide you more functionality.

Q: Can I host my own website?

A: It’s entirely possible to host a website on your own computer. After all, that’s what hosting providers do.

Still, it takes system administration knowledge to make everything work. Plus, you’d likely need to invest some money for everything to run smoothly anyway.

All in all, hosting a website on your own is more expensive and time-consuming. Also, it’s nearly impossible to get the same quality as with shared hosting.

If you want to do it for the sake of fun, though, I heartily recommend it. For more serious endeavors, you’re better off starting with one of the best cheap hosting providers on this list.

 

The post Website Hosting Review/blog/best-cheap-hosting/”>The Best Cheap Hosting of 2019 appeared first on Website Hosting Review/”>Website Hosting Review.

Here’s a scenario—you’re looking to buy a domain name.

You need a reliable place to buy domains that offer good value. However, once you find a few, you see they all look alike— just a website with a search box.

So how do you know who has the best domain hosting and who’s an outright scammer?

This is why I put together a list of the best registrars in the business. If you’re looking into domain names registration and management, this is the place to start.

1. NameCheap

NameCheap is the second-largest domain name registrar out there. It is a strong supporter of net neutrality and has openly taken a stance against SOPA and GoDaddy.

Let’s see if this domain name giant beats the rest.

Ease of Use

You can buy a domain name relatively quickly. NameCheap keeps upsells to a minimum so you can get to checkout without obstructions.

Managing your account is fairly straightforward as well. All the options are laid out in one place, so you can quickly configure the DNS of each domain you own, renew it, transfer it, or even allow another person manage it without forfeiting ownership.

The only possible complaint is that some bulk purchase features are clunky. This is a really minor thing, though. The fact that this is all I can mention as a downside speaks volumes of NameCheap’s intuitive interface.

You’ll have an easy time managing everything, even if it’s your first time around domain names.

Features

NameCheap has an ever-expanding list of 458 TLDs. It includes all the generic ones like .com and .org and has even the newer ones like .travel.

NameCheap only lacks some of the popular country-code TLDs like .it and .pl. 

Unlike many other domain registration companies, NameCheap offers privacy protection for free. The freebie is useful, but note that the TLD has to support it.

Another freebie is two months of professional email hosting. You’ll have to pay $9.88 a year to continue using it afterward, though.

NameCheap offers its own VPN for $1.88/month, a logo design tool for free, and resells a bunch of services like G Suite. You can also get an Website Hosting Review/blog/what-is-ssl/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>SSL certificate at an affordable price—$3.88/year.

NameCheap also doubles as a hosting provider. If you prefer to get domain registration and hosting in one place, NameCheap offers a free .website domain name for as long as you use its hosting services.

Support

Support is available through email and live chat.

There is no phone line. Having phone support is be preferable, but it’s less of a priority with domain names than with hosting services. The support can work out your issues through the existing channels.

The support agents are knowledgeable and can solve domain name-related queries relatively easily. They have the annoying tendency to bounce you around from agent to agent, though.

If you’re just starting out, the knowledge base is respectable and easy to navigate. You’ll have an easy time learning the basics.

Pricing

The price to purchase domain names always depends on the TLD. With NameCheap, this ranges from $8.88 for a .de domain name to $2098 for .inc. Some newer TLDs can go for less than a dollar.

In general, NameCheap is more affordable than most registrars. For instance, .com domains cost $8.98—$5 less than with GoDaddy.

NameCheap also does you a solid and throws in free domain privacy—not only for the first term but forever.

NameCheap does not offer outrageous discounts on generic TLDs. If you’re looking to buy a .com or .net domain name and let it expire after the first term, some registrars might have better one-off offers.

Otherwise, NameCheap has among the best domain hosting in the long-term, especially if you want WHOIS privacy.

Verdict: NameCheap combines excellent prices, life-long WHOIS protection, and a wide variety of TLDs that can be managed through a functional and pretty interface.

2. Tucows/Hover

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Tucows is the third-largest domain registrar.

It has an interesting structure because it only sells domain names through resellers.

On the other hand, Hover is owned by Tucows and is its recommended reseller at the same time. Which is why they share the review.

It’s generally safer to stay away from resellers, but since Hover is a direct subsidiary of Tucows it adds credibility. You’re essentially buying directly from an accredited registrar.

Just keep in mind that the service may differ if you go with other Tucows resellers—like eNom, which is also a subsidiary.

I’ll refer to the service as Hover to make things simpler. Let’s jump right in.

Ease of Use

Hover’s interface is straightforward. You can navigate around the dashboard without trouble. It even has links to basic tutorials at places you might find them the most useful.

It’s among the best domain hosting companies for beginners. You’ll get the hang of managing domains in a jiffy.

There are also no upsells, so you can focus on your work without distractions.

A few users complain domain transfers can be glitchy, which is worth keeping in mind.

Looking at the Hover’s status page, the number of service interruptions is concerning. These are partial interruptions, and Hover is refreshingly transparent about them—it even posts status updates on Twitter—but it’s troubling nonetheless.

Features

Hover supports 459 TLDs, which is sumptuous. You also get free domain privacy if the TLD supports it—useful for avoiding spam.

Hover focuses almost exclusively on domain names, but you can get a small email inbox for $20/year or email forwarding for $5/year.

That’s it as far as features go. Hover puts all resources towards becoming the best place to buy and manage a domain name.

Support

The support is professional, but only available 12h a day on weekdays and 5h a day on weekends. Not having 24/7 support is a significant disadvantage.

You can contact it through phone, live chat, or email.

The knowledge base is comprehensive, and the agents are knowledgeable, but it can’t really be hard-to-reach support.

Pricing

The domains’ prices are average for the industry.

It does depend on the TLD, though. Hover offers surprisingly cheap domain registration for some specialty TLDs.

You can also find a discount code for Hover relatively easily. It took a quick Google search to find a bunch for 10% off my purchase.

Hover is a solid domain host that desperately needs 24/7 support to be in the run for the best domain registrar.

Verdict: Hover is a likable domain registrar with good support, streamlined interface, a bunch of TLDs, and fair prices.

3. GoDaddy

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With 78 million domain names under its belt, GoDaddy is beyond massive. It is the domain hosting provider with the most power (and influence) on the Web.

Although GoDaddy’s appalling company culture deserves an article of its own, I prefer to let the facts speak for themselves. Here’s what the domain name giant has in its arsenal.

Ease of Use

The process of buying a domain name is smooth. You can search domain names individually or in bulk, add them to the cart, and you’re all set.

GoDaddy offers two flavors of UI you can freely switch between. One is designed to help beginners get the hang of the navigation. The other is similar to NameCheap’s and lays out all the functions in front of you. Both are fairly straightforward, though.

However, you get upsells and lots of them. GoDaddy constantly tries to make you buy domain names and even automatically adds products to your shopping cart. It even sets the default registration period to two years, even though one year is the shortest.

If you can stomach the constant upsells, GoDaddy makes it easy to get around.

Features

With 481 TLDs available and 267 upcoming ones, GoDaddy has one of the widest offers out there.

Yet, it is not keen on freebies. Domain privacy, domain protection, and email inboxes are all available but as paid addons.

If the domain name you like is already taken, you can pay GoDaddy $69.99 to contact the owner and see if it’s for sale.

Apart from domain name services, Website Hosting Review/reviews/godaddy-hosting/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>GoDaddy offers hosting, a website builder, a storefront, a mobile app, and more.

GoDaddy is way more than a simple domain name registrar. You’ll find a host of useful services, but they are usually paid.

Support

Support is available 24/7 through email, live chat, and phone. GoDaddy has phone lines in 51 different countries, so most users will be able to talk to support in their native tongue.

GoDaddy also has helpful articles in its knowledge base. They are a great help in getting around during your first weeks.

All these factors should make the quality of the support solid but, alas, it’s GoDaddy. Its immensity and business needs (read: profit) almost always trump quality of service.

Clients have complained about GoDaddy withholding domain names longer than allowed.

NameCheap has challenged GoDaddy publicly on this, but it’s tough to tell if GoDaddy was really doing something shady.

Still, its reputation is tarnished enough to think the worst.

Pricing

Although GoDaddy seems to be moving away from this practice, its sales strategy is to draw you in with outrageous discounts and then ramp up the price upon renewal.

To give you a rough idea, a .com domain name would cost you $11.99 in the first year and $17.99 each year after that. A .website domain name is an even better example—it costs $0.99 at first and $29.99 later.

In addition, GoDaddy sells domain name bundles. So, getting the same second-level domain with .com, .net, and .org extensions would cost you 51% less in the first year.

Keep in mind GoDaddy tacks tax surplus during checkout, so the actual cost is likely higher.

Domain privacy is also paid $9.99/year plus tax.

In essence, GoDaddy has a solid service, but it’s pricey compared to most domain hosting sites.

Verdict: GoDaddy is the biggest domain registrar largely thanks to skillful marketing and tempting initial offers.

4. HiChina/Alibaba Cloud

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HiChina is often dubbed the “Chinese GoDaddy.” It is a part of the Alibaba Group—which is something like the Chinese Amazon. Therefore, its domain hosting services are a part of Alibaba Cloud.

Its services are available worldwide, though. Which is why it’s surprising so few online resources address it.

Anyhow, I took it for a spin. Since you actually get domain names through Alibaba Cloud website, I’ll refer to the service as “Alibaba.”

Ease of Use

I must admit, it took me a minute to figure out how to switch the website from Chinese to English. 

From there, the navigation is alright, but some of the top domain hosting services handle it better.

Navigation is straightforward, but Alibaba adds a few unnecessary steps to the checkout process. The most annoying part is selecting which products in your shopping cart you want to purchase.

Everything else is simple, and Alibaba doesn’t annoy you with upsells like many other registrars.

Features

Alibaba has 53 available TLDs. It has the more popular TLDs, but it lacks a bunch of country-code TLDs and many of the newer ones.

Since ICANN no longer lists personal info in the WHOIS directory, you can’t find out who hosts a domain. Consequently, Alibaba has discontinued its domain privacy service, perhaps prematurely.

The problem is that your email address is visible in the WHOIS directory—anyone can find it and spam you. Alibaba states there are measures to protect you from this, but this claim is dubious.

Alibaba Cloud also doubles as a cloud hosting provider so you can get a multitude of hosting-related services. 

The offer is decent, but Alibaba could improve it with domain privacy and a few more popular TLDs.

Support

Alibaba has several support tiers. Unfortunately, the free tier is quite limited.

You get phone support for about 16h a day and email support, which is supposedly available 24/7, but can take up to 18h to answer. You can only submit up to 6 tickets in one quarter. 

Free support should be sufficient for users with few domain names. Those looking to buy dozens or hundreds of domain names can do with a support upgrade.

The knowledge base is extensive, but a few articles are somewhat outdated, and the search feature is clunky.

Support quality is alright, but many of the best domain hosting companies don’t impose such strict limits.

Pricing

Alibaba has some impressive discounts. You can get a .xyz domain name for $0.18 and a .site one for $0.01. If you’re looking around for the cheapest domain registration, this is hard to beat.

When you see discounts like those, you expect steep renewal prices. Surprisingly enough, Alibaba’s renewal costs are about average. A .site domain name costs $15.99 to renew—more affordable than at both NameCheap and GoDaddy.

All in all, Alibaba lets you take advantage of some fantastic deals, although the overall service does have a few kinks.

Verdict: Alibaba offers some amazing introductory deals and very fair renewal fees. The support structure is somewhat unorthodox but gets the jobs done.

5. Domain.com

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Domain.com is a relatively large domain host. Although it doesn’t advertise this, it’s a subsidiary of EIG.

Now, EIG-owned companies do have a reputation for declining quality. Let’s see if Domain.com breaks the mold.

Ease of Use

The interface is straightforward. Searching for domain names is easy. A sidebar widget even lets you manage items in the cart as you’re browsing the offers.

One kind of annoying feature is adding the first suggested domain name and domain privacy to the cart automatically. This is not such a problem, though, as you can remove them without opening the cart.

In one Domain.com review, a user complained the company keeps charging you for domain privacy after a domain name expires. It’s difficult to confirm whether you really need to cancel domain privacy manually. It’s worth keeping in mind, though.

Domain.com does have a few non-obtrusive upsells. It just suggests services like G Suite before checkout—many uses like these services, so this is actually useful.

Features

Domain.com has 409 TLDs in its offer, which is decent.

Domain privacy is available, but, unfortunately, it costs $8.99/year. 

You can also subscribe for hosting, email hosting, and a website builder.

Domain.com advertises free SSL when you register a domain name. This is misleading as the SSL only works if the company is also your hosting provider. Instead of benefiting you, it just locks you in.

Support

Support is available through live chat and phone, which is enough for domain hosting. 

The support agents are responsive but somewhat poor communicators. The issue is prevalent with EIG-owned brands. The agents resolve your problems, but it takes much longer than it should.

The knowledge base is respectable and easy to navigate, though. The search feature works fine. I did run into a few broken links, but apart from that, the knowledge base is useful.

The support is decent, but the support agents need more training if Domain.com is to become the best domain registrar. 

Pricing

The introductory prices are below average for most TLDs. For instance, a .com domain name costs $9.99/year while a .net one is $12.99/year.

Domain.com doesn’t display renewal rates before you purchase a domain name. You have to contact live chat support for this information. 

The renewal costs are mostly either the same or only marginally higher. .com domains, for instance, cost $13.99 to renew.

Domain.com also lets you register a domain name for up to five years. If you do this, the discount applies to the entire first term. It’s a sweet deal if you know you’ll stick with a domain name.

All in all, Domain.com is in the top ten domain hosts, although it has room for improvement.

Verdict: Domain.com is a solid domain name registrar, with decent discounts and easy-to-use control panel.

6. Gandi.net

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Gandi has been in the game for a long time—since 1999, to be exact. It boasts integrity and honesty and presents itself as the good guy in a shady industry.

The company summarizes its philosophy in an NSFW motto (you can see it at the bottom of its home page, if you’re interested). If you don’t mind a domain host partial to raunchy language, let’s dig in and see if Gandi is the best place to buy domain names.

Ease of Use

The domain search tool is fantastic. It displays a long array of domains, has advanced search options, and lists the initial and renewal prices clearly. It even displays helpful tips like special conditions for registering a domain name.

That said, the website is sometimes buggy—for instance, forever loading certain functions. A quick page reload usually fixes the problem, though.

Refreshingly enough, Gandi doesn’t bother you with upsells. It only suggests buying a discounted domain name bundle, which is actually helpful rather than annoying.

Features

If you thought GoDaddy’s 500+ TLDs were a lot, Gandi will blow you away with 700+.

Each domain purchase comes with domain privacy, two email inboxes with 3Gb of storage each, email forwarding, and an SSL certificate for free. It’s a generous offer.

You can purchase domain name bundles at discounted rates.

Gandi.net also has fairly cheap website hosting.

Support

Gandi doesn’t offer fast support channels. You can only use the ticket system to submit queries (or potentially contact Gandi through Twitter).

Clients are encouraged to find solutions in the knowledge base or community forums.

The articles there are comprehensive, but the lack of both live chat and phone support can be a hindrance. Most domain hosting services offer at least one option, putting Gandi at a disadvantage.

Pricing

The pricing is average. A .com domain name costs $15.50/year, which is about the industry standard.

Some domain names are discounted by up to 90%. You can also get a few extra bucks off by purchasing a domain name bundle.

As with Hover, it’s fairly easy to find a code for an extra 10% off. If you take advantage of the discounts, Gandi’s pricing is actually in the low end of domain name services. 

Gandi is close to being the best domain registrar, but the lack of phone or chat support takes its toll.

Verdict: Gandi.net offers the widest variety of TLDs, excellent domain-search tool, and eye-catching deals. Support could be better, though.

7. Network Solutions

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Network Solutions used to be one of the leading registrars in the early days of the internet. Unfortunately for the company, it has fallen behind its competition along the way.

For 8 years now, it has been a subsidiary of Web.com. Together, they boast one of the largest user bases out there.

Let’s see if Network Solutions has what it takes to catch back up with the best domain hosting of 2019.

Ease of Use

You don’t have to be an expert to notice Network Solutions’ website design is dated. Granted, the design doesn’t always correspond with the quality of the service.

Unfortunately, Network Solutions still uses some old school practices that ruin the user experience. For instance, a keyword search automatically adds the top suggestion to your cart.

You can also expect aggressive upsells. Network Solutions will ask if you want hosting package to go with your domain name. Whichever option you choose, you’ll find website hosting and domain privacy in your cart. These are listed as free, but the free trial lasts only a month.

Opening the shopping cart as a guest prompts the upsells every time. If you keep checking the  cart, it quickly gets cluttered with “free” hosting plans.

Network Solutions is far too ungainly for one of the biggest registrars out there.

Features

Network Solutions offers 10 generic, 70+ country code, and a host more specialty TLDs. It’s a solid choice.

Besides domain names, you can get domain privacy, hosting, email hosting, website monitoring, SSL certificates, and a lot more. You don’t get any freebies with the domain name, though.

The offer is decent. Network Solutions is a legitimate choice when considering where to buy domain names.

Support

Network Solutions reserves email support for some services, but not for domain names. You can only contact support by phone. Unfortunately, you might wait up to 48h for a callback.

The knowledge base redirects to Web.com. You can find articles on resolving Network Solutions’ problems there.

The navigation of Web.com’s knowledge base could be improved. Searching for “top-level domains” yields 900+ results, many having nothing to do with TLDs.

The support quality is fine, but the best domain name registrar should have near-instant response times.

Pricing

Network Solutions doesn’t list prices during domain search. The introductory fees are usually in the $2-3 range, but this is just the initial cost.

Renewal for .com, .net, and .org domain names is $35—twice as expensive as GoDaddy, which is one of the pricier registrars. A .io domain name is even more expensive—$79.99.

Domain privacy is $9.99/year on top of this.

Another thing that’s not obvious is Network Solutions charges about $20 for a domain transfer. You can’t take advantage of the low initial price and then switch to a more affordable provider.

All things considered, Network Solutions is far from a cheap domain registrar.

It’s a safe choice, considering its years in the industry and millions of domain names. Still, you can find far more lucrative offers among the best domain registrars.

Verdict: Network Solutions used to be a top dog in the domain registration business, but it’s fall from grace continues with outdated interface, dubitable marketing practices, and poor support.

8. How Domain Registration Works – The Infrastructure

Purchasing website domains might seem simple, but a lot goes on behind the scenes. Here are the key players in the domain name game.

ICANN manages the internet’s entire Website Hosting Review/blog/what-is-dns/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>domain name system. In essence, it sets the rules for everybody else. A register can only work if it is ICANN-accredited.

Now, you can’t buy a domain name directly from ICANN. Doing everything would be too much for the corporation, so it delegates management for the top-level domains to registries.

Each registry is in charge of managing one or more TLDs. VeriSign is probably the most notable example—it manages .com and .net TLDs, among others.

You can’t get a domain name directly from a registry either. Registries let various registrars sell domain names under their TLDs.

Registrars are sort of like domain name supermarkets. Instead of going to several registries to purchase domain names under different TLDs, a registrar can sell you domain names with hundreds of different TLDs.

There is a complicated system in place to ensure this all works and that no two people register the same domain name. This is a topic deserving its own article, though.

For now, suffice it to say these are the main channels domain name registration goes through.

9. The Importance of Picking the Right Domain Name Registrar

If you’re just starting out, it might not be obvious why finding the best domain hosting matters. If the domain name is the same, why should you care who sells it to you?

The problem is that domain names are a service rather than a product. Being able to renew the domain name and manage it properly depends by and large on your registrar.

Can you imagine what would happen if Facebook lost its domain name? The company might lose billions.

But you couldn’t possibly lose your domain name, right? 

Actually, just at the beginning of this year, ICANN shut down AlpNames—a registrar with 700,000 domain names—for dabbling in shady business. Hundreds of thousands of users suddenly had no access to their domain names for days on end. Undoubtedly, some domain names expired in the meantime… Who knows what happened to them?

Granted, this is an extreme case. But various website and domain hosts have been involved in all sorts of troublesome practices.

A bad registrar can make it difficult for you to switch hosting providers. It can even keep your domain name hostage if you miss the renewal, or ramp up the renewal prices. A few providers have increased the price of specific TLDs by 3000% in a single day.

The list of things that could go wrong goes on and on.

Which is why it’s advisable to review the registrars with a reputation for transparency and find the best domain host from those. Spending a little time to find proper service makes your life easier in the long run.

10. How to Choose the Right Domain Name Registrar

I’ve outlined the best registrars above. Of course, there are more quality registrars than these. Here are a few actionable tips on picking the best domain registrar when you do your own research.

Go for ICANN-accredited registrars—With a few exceptions, it’s generally safer to get domain names from a registrar than a reseller. ICANN offers a list of all accredited registrars so check if your registrar of choice is in it. 

The more TLDs, the better—Going for a registrar that has your preferred TLD is a no-brainer. Which is not to say you won’t experiment with other TLDs down the road. It’s best to get a domain registrar with TLD-rich offer from the get-go. 

Check the prices—The pricing difference between TLDs or registrars might seem negligible if you get a single domain name. However, if you buy more domain names from the same provider, the price difference can quickly snowball to a few hundred dollars a year. Better safe than sorry is the motto.

Easy navigation is king—This is more about convenience than anything else. You’d be surprised how many registrars make a mess of their websites. Check out the interface and make sure you can find all the essential functions before you purchase a domain name.

Can you transfer away—A registrar can’t legally stop you from transferring to a competitor. What it can do is make the process a massive pain. Check the terms of service. If the registrar can wait an outrageous amount of time before it relinquishes your domain name, find a different registrar.
On a side note, it’s illegal for a registrar to charge for releasing a domain name. If your current registrar tries to charge you for the transfer, you should contact the registry regulating the TLD. The registry will typically enable the transfer for you. 

Don’t compromise on support—The more domain names you have, the higher the chance you’ll need help fixing something. A provider should offer 24/7 support, preferably through multiple channels. 

What are the additional services—Registrars rarely restrict their offer to domain names alone. You can often get hosting, email hosting, SSL certificates, and a bunch of related services. These are a bonus, though they are not a necessity. Just make sure the domain name registrar doesn’t bug you with upsells.

Go for the reputable registrars—Reputation can be challenging to put your finger on. All registrars have favorable and less than favorable reviews. Still, if you see a variety of different sources commenting on shady activity, you might want to avoid that registrar.

11. Conclusion

You now know the world’s top registrars and the qualities that make a good domain host. Feel free to compare the prices of various registrars and TLDs and see which registrar has the best offer for you.

 

FAQ

Q: Is Google a good domain registrar?

A: Google Domains is decent and has lots of additional services for a young registrar. It offers decent support and lets you buy a domain name without annoying upsells or costly renewal.

The problem with Google Domains is it’s still in its beta phase of development. Google has been known to discontinue such services, so caution is advised. 

Google certainly has enough resources to become the best domain registrar. However, it’s not the safest choice until it’s out of beta.

Q: How do I buy a domain name forever?

A: You can’t own a domain name. You do not deal with ICANN directly, so you can only register a domain name through a registrar.

Website Hosting Review/blog/domain-facts/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>The longest period you can prepay for a domain name is ten years (though this depends on the TLD). When the domain name is close to expiry, you have to renew it.

This might seem risky—what if something goes wrong in the process and you cannot renew the domain name?

Well, registrars are legally obligated to notify you about upcoming expiry. Even if you don’t receive the emails for some reason, the registrars typically allow a grace period and a redemption period to renew a domain name. You should have enough time if you forget about the expiry date.

Still, the grace period depends on a number of factors like the TLD. Compare domain hosting registrars and their terms of service before getting a domain name. 

Some companies with extremely valuable domain names (like google.com) bypass this process by doubling as their own registrar. Becoming a registrar is expensive, though, so it’s not a viable option for the average registrant.

Q: Should I buy domain privacy?

A: Without domain privacy, your email address is listed in the WHOIS directory. The problem is that the info becomes public, meaning anyone can find it and spam you as much as they like.

Domain privacy stops this by entering your registrar’s info instead of yours. The problem here is that your registrar (or whoever provides the privacy) officially owns the domain name. An unscrupulous registrar could easily leverage this against you down the road.

Yes, by all means, get domain privacy. It’s invaluable in avoiding spam. Just thoroughly check the registrar’s reputation first.

Q: Can I buy a domain name without hosting?

A: Absolutely! While hosting and domain names often go hand in hand, and many companies offer both, these are two completely different services.

Many experts even advise against getting both domain and hosting services from the same company. The argument is that the company that hosts both your website and domain name could make it nigh-impossible to change providers.

This is unlikely to happen with reputable hosts, but a little extra caution never hurts.

Q: Which is the best place to buy a domain name?

A: Domain registrars are tough to evaluate. Being a good registrar is more about not getting anything wrong than doing anything spectacular.

You should look for a straightforward service that doesn’t overcharge you and isn’t involved in any shady stuff. All the registrars in the reviews above fulfill those conditions reasonably well.

The pricing among them differs and so do the extra services they provide. Feel free to check them out and see which has the best domain hosting for you.

 

The post Website Hosting Review/blog/best-domain-hosting/”>The 7 Best Domain Hosting Companies appeared first on Website Hosting Review/”>Website Hosting Review.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first blog, Links.net.

Boy, what a journey it has been so far!

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None of that would’ve been possible without WordPress.

WP is undoubtedly the market leader for self-hosted blog websites. But what if you are looking for the best blogging platform that also includes hosting? You know, having everything under one roof?

There is a surprising number of hosted platforms out there, ready to turn you into the next Harsh Agarwal or Pat Flynn.

I have handpicked only the best of the best and reviewed their services thoroughly. The process included:

1. Finding out what makes the best blogging sites tick.
2. Checking how the platform feels and how easy it is to work with it.
3. Reviewing the offers and their suitability for different groups of clients.
4. Testing the basic packages with a free trial.
5. Reading customer testimonials around the Web.

In short — every company on this list has been sifted through a thorough testing process and fully deserves its place.

So what are our options in 2019 if we are looking to combine a site builder and hosting in one?

The Best Blogging Platforms in 2019

1. WiX

WiX is one of the most popular fully-hosted platforms – and for a very good reason, too. The software is very intuitive and impresses with stunning design opportunities.

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Today, WiX hosts over 3.3 million websites, which is about 2% of the CMS market share.
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We are talking about a multifaceted solution that has far outgrown the compounds of a simple blog or ecommerce software.

Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Spectacular design choices	Extra features and addons not cheap
Easy drag-n-drop builder
Mobile-friendly
Content promotion options

Ease of Use

WiX understands simple is better, especially for the novice user. The account interface is very clean and lets you start building your blog immediately.

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Once you click on the “Create a website” button, you are redirected to a startup wizard. You get to answer a few questions so the platform can understand your goals and present the best possible solution.

Now that’s what I call intuitive!

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The whole process takes less than a minute, and you can then start editing your first website. Everything is self-explanatory, and there are tons of additional video and text guides to turn you into a master WiX-er.

But wait, there’s more!

If you want to launch a website really quickly, you can use the WiX ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), which will build the whole thing for you.

Customization

Few can compete with WiX in the Customization department.

The drag-n-drop site-builder not only looks great – it also works like a breeze. You can add and rearrange menus, utilize widgets, change the background, and pimp your content with multimedia files.

I particularly enjoyed the Add Apps option — one click and you are in the WiX store with hundreds of amazing apps at your disposal.

Plugins / Themes

When I say “hundreds of apps,” I am not exaggerating one bit. Last I checked there were 330+ add-ons in the WiX library, neatly sorted into categories such as Forms, Online Booking, Chat, or Marketing Tools.

The add-ons are both paid and freemium, and you can watch a demo and read reviews of each one.

What about templates?

This is where sweet gets sweeter.

You have a wide variety of absolutely stunning pre-built themes so you can impress visitors from the get go. You can choose between 600+ templates and customize them to perfection.

Monetization

WiX presents a ton of wonderful opportunities to earn money from your blog. Things such as:

• creating premium content
• utilizing online ads
• adding an ecommerce store
• writing sponsored posts
• becoming an affiliate marketer
• promoting in social media

The WiX platform has an answer for them all. Be it in the form of a plugin or an in-built feature — your blog can bring you more than just traffic and personal satisfaction.

Ka-ching!

Price

Free — WiX ads and domain, no ecommerce

Combo — from $9.35/mo

Unlimited — from $13.75/mo

VIP — from $26.95/mo

Best For

• Newbies
• SMBs
• Online stores
• Personal blogs

Verdict

WiX fully deserves the top spot in our best blogging sites list because of its modern feel and endless customization options. Even the free version lets you tweak around your designs and functionality so you can master the platform without paying a dime. The premium accounts remove all the WiX ads and add a pool of ecommerce and marketing features for easy monetization.

2. Squarespace

Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Squarespace-home-300×182.jpg 300w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Squarespace-home-768×465.jpg 768w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Squarespace-home-457×277.jpg 457w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Squarespace-home-529×320.jpg 529w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Squarespace-home-168×102.jpg 168w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Squarespace-home-180×109.jpg 180w” sizes=”(max-width: 907px) 100vw, 907px”>

You’ve probably heard this story before:

A dorm room.

An out-of-the-box student.

An ambitious project which is just crazy-enough-to-work.

Mix them all together and voila — you have Squarespace!

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The NY-based company now has over 1,000 employees in New York, Portland, and Dublin. In 2017, Squarespace signed a sponsorship deal with the Knicks.
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If only that could’ve helped them reach the NBA play-offs…

Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Professionally-designed templates	Limited features
In-built SEO features	Limited plugin library
Unlimited storage and bandwidth
24/7 support

Ease of Use

As with WiX, all Squarespace newbies get a very intuitive interface and helpful wizard to get their project going.

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Everything on the page can be dragged, dropped, flipped, switched, resized, it’s incredible, really.

I’ve heard a lot of compliments about Squarespace being the best blogging platform, but seeing it with my own eyes sold me on the spot.

You can add blocks, maps, calendars, newsletter signup — all about a couple of clicks away.

Customization

The Squarespace developers made sure the platform packs all kinds of modification options.

Adding different functionalities and changing how they look is an absolute breeze, even for beginners.

You have a neat Options menu with categorized features and a real-time view of how each one would look on your website.

In other good news, Squarespace is very keen on support, and the company reps are well-versed with its product. You can find them 24/7 via live chat, email, and Twitter to test for yourself.

Plugins / Themes

Squarespace focuses on perfecting the platform itself, so not a lot of effort has been put in extra plugins and themes.

The add-ons are a little over 100, with prices varying between $12 — $29. The most popular plugins include image sliders, header modifiers, tabs, and loading screens.

I checked out a couple of them, and I can safely say they’re worth the extra investment.

Premium themes are even more scarce — the Squarespace gallery currently offers 17 choices, coming at $129 each.

Monetization

The low-tier accounts have little to offer for online shop owners. The real trading starts with the two Commerce packages. It lets you start an online business, accept payments with no transaction fees, offer subscriptions and gift cards, and much more.

Post sponsored content? Sure, why not.

Become an affiliate? You got it.

Run online ads? I’d be worried if you don’t.

Just pick your service plan carefully, as the Squarespace offers are not exactly the cheapest.

Price

Free Trial — 14 days

Personal — $12/mo*

Business — $18/mo*

Basic Commerce — $26/mo*

Advanced Commerce — $40/mo*

Squarespace student discount — 50% off for the 1st year

*Rate applies for 1-year prepayment and carries a 30% discount.

Best For

• Newbies
• SMBs
• Ecommerce

Verdict

Squarespace websites look ravishing, and the platform proudly hosts celebrity clients like Idris Elba, Keanu Reeves, and John Malkovich. You can get the hang of the site builder quite easily, but if you don’t have the time or desire — there are professional Squarespace designers for hire.

An excellent all-around solution for blogging websites.

3. Weebly

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Weebly is a hosted platform with a strong focus on ecommerce services.

Weebly started in 2006 and quickly gained recognition. The platform was among Time’s “Best websites of 2007” and featured in the “Best apps for Google Chrome.”

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In 2018, business conglomerate Square Inc. acquired Weebly for a reported fee of $365 million.
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Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Great for newbies	Not suitable for large websites
Wide plugin variety
Free SSL on all plans

Ease of Use

Starting out with Weebly was a breeze for me.

Name, email, and password.

Do you want a regular website or an online shop?

Pick a theme.

Start editing.

A total of about a minute.

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Rearranging the text, buttons, and menus was a pretty straightforward task, and my website was up and running in just under two hours (including a revitalizing coffee break).

How cool is that?

Customization

Some Weebly themes may limit your design creativity, but apart from that, you can modify every aspect of your website’s look and feel.

Again, the platform takes great care of newbie users and makes their first website-building experience as effortless as possible.

The downside here is how the software behaves once your website starts growing a lot. I tried adding 10-20 extra pages, and, at some point, the editor got slower and clunkier.

Certainly not the best blogging platform in that aspect.

Plugins / Themes

Weebly mostly relies on its in-built functionalities, but you can also call for some outside help.

That comes in the form of third-party plugins which easily integrate with the publishing platform.

What about the visual elements?

The Weebly theme store gives you a choice of 60+ predesigned templates, categorized in six groups:

• Online store
• Business
• Portfolio
• Personal
• Event
• Blog

As with the plugins, you can also choose to add a third-party theme you find suitable.

Monetization

You might have started as a hobby blogger but at some point have had the creeping thought of making money off your pastime.

I get it. We’ve all been there.

Weebly gets it as well.

That’s why you have numerous ways to achieve that dream.

Take affiliate marketing, for example. You can easily start with the Amazon Associates program and include referral links in your blog posts. Each sale would then earn you 10% affiliate revenue.

Talk about effortless income.

There’s plenty more to do here – from running ads with AdSense to sponsoring blog posts and selling your own products.

Like I said – Weebly gets it.

Price

For blogs:

Free — Weebly ads and domain

Connect — $5.00/mo*

Pro — $12.00/mo*

Business — $25.00/mo*

For online shops:

Pro — $12.00/mo*

Business — $25.00/mo*

Business Plus — $38.00/mo*

*Promotional rates for annual account pre-pay.

Best For

• Newbies
• Professionals
• SMBs
• Ecommerce

Verdict

Weebly is a solid contender for the Best Blogging Platform award. While it’s not as feature-rich as WiX or as sophisticated as Squarespace, this software is as intuitive as they come. You have plenty of apps and themes to take care of your website design and feel, and newbie users might find Weebly a perfect match.

4. WordPress.com

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WP.com and WP.org might share the same founder, but they are entirely different entities.

WordPress.org gives you the open-source version of the software — free, fully modifiable, and all yours. The thing is, you still have to Website Hosting Review/blog/best-wordpress-hosting/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>find a reliable hosting provider for your new website.

WordPress.com, on the other hand, offers the commercial counterpart of the popular platform. You have much less freedom and control, but you benefit from WP’s own hosting services.

After all, who can better understand the ins-and-outs of the best blog platform than the people who actively helped develop it?

Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Leader in blogging	Limited plans
Custom domain	You do not own your files
No setup
Auto backups and updates

Ease of Use

The best thing about WordPress.com is there are no setups or installations needed on your side.

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You sign up, log in, and in five clicks (literally) your new website is ready to see the light of day. You can polish it, tweak it, and publish it in a matter of minutes.

In the Readers section of your account, you can search and subscribe to all kinds of fascinating WP blogs, follow topics, even meet new peeps.

Blogging for beginners made easy.

Customization

One of the things that made WordPress a firm market leader is the endless customization possibilities. You have the freedom to modify every nook and cranny to look and feel just the way you want them…

…that is sadly only valid on the self-hosted version.

WordPress.com accounts are much more limited, and advanced modifications will have you jump to the more expensive packages.

Heck, even taking full advantage of the WordPress plugin and theme repository is only possible from the Business plan upwards.

Plugins / Themes

That was one of the turn-offs for me — why flaunt one of the richest (if not the richest) plugin libraries out there and not let users take full advantage?

I get the idea, partly.

There are countless sources for add-ons and third-party products which are very hard to support. After all, it’s not the WP developers who created them.

But what about the WordPress repository? They have complete control over that. Why not offer it to all clients?

Same thing with your website visuals — you have some choice of pre-built designs, but they’re limited to a few ready-made templates. You can utilize all of WP’s themes on the Premium plan or higher.

Still, every WordPress.com account comes with the JetPack plugin for optimized performance and security.

The platform also provides all paying customers with live chat and email support.

Monetization

You can start making money off your WordPress blog with the Premium plan, but for full monetization capabilities, I recommend going for the Business or Ecommerce deals.

This way, you can not only accept payments and get ad revenue but also utilize SEO and analytics tools to serve your audience better in the future.

Still, we are talking about €25 per month or more, which is not that cheap compared to other popular blog sites.

Price

Free — with ads from WP

Personal — $5.50/mo*

Premium — $8.79/mo*

Business — $27.49/mo*

Ecommerce — $49.47/mo*

*Accounts billed yearly

Best For

• Newbies
• Professionals
• SMBs
• Personal blogs

Verdict

As a budding blogger, you’ve most probably considered WordPress.com already. I mean, how can you not — you have a team of trained professionals hosting your project and a safe environment that lets you grow. Still, the plans are quite limited, and if you want to enjoy the software’s full capabilities, you have to jump straight to the high-tier ones.

5. Blogger

Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Blogger-home-300×154.jpg 300w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Blogger-home-768×396.jpg 768w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Blogger-home-1024×527.jpg 1024w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Blogger-home-457×235.jpg 457w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Blogger-home-621×320.jpg 621w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Blogger-home-168×87.jpg 168w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Blogger-home-180×93.jpg 180w” sizes=”(max-width: 1068px) 100vw, 1068px”>

Blogger started out in 1999 as a multi-blog publishing service. In those early years of blogging, the service quickly gained a loyal following.

In 2003 Google stepped in and acquired Pyra Labs, the developers of Blogger.

Today, we have one of the most popular free blogging platforms, hosting millions of pages worldwide.

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Blogger also comes at #9 for Most Popular CMS with a 1.3% market share.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-blogging-platform/&text=Blogger%20also%20comes%20at%20%239%20for%20Most%20Popular%20CMS%20with%20a%201.3%25%20market%20share.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Completely free	Limited designs
Lightning-fast indexation	No extra functionalities
Google watches over you	Google watches over you

Ease of Use

If you already have a Google account (which, let’s be honest, most of us do), there are no additional installations needed to start with Blogger.

You just log in, come up with a blog name, choose a design, and start writing your first blog post.

Yes, it’s that easy!

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Google obviously focused on simplification and easy entry for first-time bloggers here.

But this comes at a price…

Customization

There aren’t many options or settings to confuse you — that’s the beauty of Blogger websites. The whole focus is on creating content and publishing it for everyone to see.

That’s easy with Blogger, no denying that.

After all, you have a Google-owned company helping you get noticed in…well…Google.

Can’t be that big of a deal.

But customization-wise, you can forget about any advanced changes — Google has got you on lockdown.

Plugins / Themes

I’d love to talk about Blogger’s plugins and themes…if only there were any.

Sure, there are a few in-built templates, but they look pretty basic and unimpressive.

Plugins or add-ons?

Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Diddly-squat.

Monetization

At least Google doesn’t leave you stranded when it comes to making money off your blog. You can set up your Blogger account with AdSense and display ads between posts, in the columns, even utilize third-party services.

Should you choose to use AdSense, you also benefit from detailed earnings and stats reports.

Sponsored posts, premium content, and selling your products are other useful tools to make some dough.

How to create a blog for free and later monetize it? Blogger might just well have the answer for you.

Price

Free service. No paid plans.

Best For

• Newbies
• Personal blogs

Verdict

Blogger is a nice and easy platform for beginners but quite limited if you want something more than a hobby blog. Google has full control of your account, but at least you own your content and are free to move it elsewhere. Great for a first-time experience in blogging.

6. Tumblr

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What is Tumblr?

Sort-of-like a microblogging platform, kind-of-a social network, with a pinch of blogging on top. You can post text, photos, videos, links, and interact with other users.

Tumblr was founded in 2007 and later acquired by Automattic.

Yes, the same company that owns WordPress.com.

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Even though recent years saw Tumblr’s population declining, the platform still hosts 475+ million blogs and accommodates 400+ million monthly visitors.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-blogging-platform/&text=Even%20though%20recent%20years%20saw%20Tumblr%27s%20population%20declining%2C%20the%20platform%20still%20hosts%20475%2B%20million%20blogs%20and%20accommodates%20400%2B%20million%20monthly%20visitors.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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Have we seen the best of Tumblr? Only time will tell…

Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
No costs involved	No monetization
Post content on-the-go	Limited features and add-ons
Use free subdomain or connect your own	Only short-form content

Ease of Use

Signing up for Tumblr includes an email registration which takes about a minute.

Once you’re in, the interface looks quite appealing. Everything is neat and tidy, and you can start blogging right away.

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Tumblr lets you upload photos, share links, or add chats in a matter of a few mouse clicks.

If you are already familiar with platforms like Twitter and Instagram, you’d have no problems getting the hang of this one.

Customization

Tumblr is a fully-developed microblogging platform, so there isn’t much left for the user to change.

You have bigger opportunities in terms of design.

Not only can you change the template of your Tumblr page,  you can edit its HTML and CSS and fine-tune it to perfection as well.

At the same time, the company is in line with the latest mobile trends.

Tumblr has its own Android and iOS apps, though the latter was temporarily removed in 2018 after inappropriate content scandals.

Plugins / Themes

Tumblr does not rely on a plugin architecture, so it’s certainly not the best blogging platform to enhance your blogging experience.

Things are looking better in terms of themes.

There is a wide selection of free and paid templates, categorized by design structure. You can choose between:

• Single column
• Two-column
• Grid
• Good for text
• Minimal
• Multiple layouts
• High Res

The themes are not as flashy as what you can get from WiX or Squarespace, but they’re not too shabby either.

Monetization

Tumblr is not about making money…well, not in the traditional way, at least.

You cannot run ads or sell goods, nor can you create premium content.

The keyword here is “exposure.”

Aspiring photographers and visual artists have found good use for Tumblr because of its quick re-share function. That way, if your art is good — you can get it out there in no time. And if you also have a website — the platform can help you bring some much-needed traffic you can later monetize.

Price

Free of charge. No paid plans.

Best For

• Newbies
• Personal blogs

Verdict

Tumblr can work for you if you are just looking for a place to share your thoughts and photos, maybe meet new people – but it’s far from the best blog sites. You are limited in content length, functionalities, and design opportunities. Still, Tumblr is accessible and easy-to-use, which makes it the preferred tool of many hobby bloggers.

7. Ghost

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Ghost is a state-of-the-art company, and you can tell that even from their backstory.

The company wasn’t born in a basement or a dorm room — it came to be after a very successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013.

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Ghost boasts 1,639,422 downloads to date, powering small blogs to large organizations alike.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-blogging-platform/&text=Ghost%20boasts%201%2C639%2C422%20downloads%20to%20date%2C%20powering%20small%20blogs%20to%20large%20organizations%20alike.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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The company is set up as a non-profit, public organization, so it strongly values transparency. You can find regularly updated financial and accounting stats on the Ghost website.

Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Intuitive interface	Not very cheap
Free SSL and CDN	Adequate support only on high-tier plans
Mobile-accelerated pages

Ease of Use

Ghost is a writers-oriented platform, so it comes with a bit of a learning curve. Unlike Blogger or Tumblr, where everything is clear and ready-to-go, you might have to spend a little time with this one.

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Now, don’t get me wrong — Ghost is by no means a complicated platform that will quickly overwhelm you. It’s just not your ordinary drag-n-drop experience either.

Ghost makes up for that with advanced automation.

You get weekly updates, account backups, threat management — all taken care of by the provider.

At the end of the day, you can safely say – I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!

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(Credits: Cinemablend.com)

Customization

Ghost provides a fully managed solution and an open-source, downloadable app.

As you can imagine, the self-hosted software gives you much more in terms of customization.

Again, you have to know your way around such platforms to get full advantage of their opportunities.

As for the name of your blog, you can choose between a ghost.io subdomain or one of your own.

The best thing?

Whichever deal you pick — you remain the sole owner of your data, and you can transfer it anytime.

Plugins / Themes

You are free to integrate plugins and widgets with Ghost but are somehow limited in their choice. I found about 70 official apps you can add to your blog site to make it more appealing and user-friendly.

There are many fan favorites here — Google Analytics, Youtube, Netflix, MailChimp, Slack, Twitter, Shopify.

Each plugin comes with a neat tutorial on how to easily integrate with Ghost.

However, the theme choices are pretty narrow. You have seven free templates and about 70 premium ones, with prices varying from $20 to $59.

Still, I enjoyed the designs, which look very slick and modern.

Good job, Ghost!

Monetization

One of the ways to make money off of Ghost is to use the plugin integration mentioned above. Set up your website with Google AdSense and start running ads on your blog in no time.

You can use affiliate links as well.

Create a button within your post, style it, and link it to your Amazon store.

It’s that easy!

Price

Free 14-day trial

Basic — $29/mo*

Standard — $79/mo*

Business — $199/mo*

Enterprise — from $1,000/mo*

* Rate applied for yearly pre-payments.

Best For

• Professionals
• SMBs
• Enterprise

Verdict

First-time bloggers might find it hard to start with Ghost, but it is one of the best blog platforms for companies with more needs and a bigger writer’s team. The solution packs a robust feature set and applies enterprise-grade security to all accounts. An overall great platform…if you can afford it.

8. TypePad

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TypePad is owned by the Endurance International Group (EIG).

Yes, the same EIG, notorious for buying out hosting companies and turning them into soulless clones.

Initially launched in 2003, the blog service utilizes the Movable Type platform for its publishing editor and template architecture.

TypePad hosts an impressive company of prominent news blogs — BBC, Sky News, ABC, and MSNBC all rely on its impeccable services.

Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Highly customizable	No free version
Google Analytics integration
Ad monetization

Ease of Use

First-time I tried TypePad I hit an immediate bump — my Facebook login didn’t work.

Seeing as that was one of two options to get in my account, it wasn’t the best first impression.

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Once in, though, you have a plethora of options. The interface isn’t super stylish, but it doesn’t confuse you either. What’s more, you can drag and drop the page elements as you like.

You can also enjoy seamless access to thousands of blogs which you can add to your RSS feed in a matter of a few mouse clicks.

Customization

The TypePad website is rather simple and does not indicate how versatile the platform really is.

If you have some experience in coding, you can customize your CSS, create your own banners, change fonts, or modify themes.

Absolute power at your fingertips, literally.

All the popular blogging websites Website Hosting Review/blog/how-to-promote-your-blog/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>promoteWebsite Hosting Review/blog/how-to-promote-your-blog/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”> through social media, and so should you.

TypePad lets you integrate the platform with Facebook and Twitter or add ecommerce options to sell your goods.

Plugins / Themes

TypePad blog sites don’t have the luxury of a proprietary plugin directory. Still, you can find some add-ons for Movable Type, the platform’s underlying technology.

Now, MT itself is not that flashy and remarkable, so you shouldn’t expect a great variety.

It’s an entirely different ball game when it comes to design.

The highlight here is the Theme Builder, which lets you design your own TypePad template from scratch.

Apart from that, you can access any template’s code and modify it as you wish.

Monetization

I love TypePad’s laid-back attitude when it comes to monetizing with the platform:

“Make money, or not. Sell your products or services or run ads on your blog (or not).”

Like, do what you wanna do, bro, we don’t care.

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(Credits: KnowYourMeme.com)

You can run ads and include affiliate links on your TypePad blog as well as integrate it with Google Analytics for detailed visitor statistics.

Define your target audience and target them the right way — with your A-grade content.

Price

Free 14-day trial

Plus — $8.95/mo

Unlimited — $14.95/mo

Premium — $29.95/mo

Enterprise — $49.95/mo

Best For

• Professionals
• SMBs

Verdict

TypePad is touted by many to be the best blogging platform for publishers and media outlets. Maybe not the best, but it’s certainly out there. The platform is well-balanced, and the navigation is smooth. The advanced customization options and enhanced security appeals to the pros, but newbies will need some time to get used to the software.

9. Medium

Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Medium-home-300×123.jpg 300w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Medium-home-768×315.jpg 768w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Medium-home-1024×420.jpg 1024w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Medium-home-457×187.jpg 457w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Medium-home-780×320.jpg 780w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Medium-home-168×69.jpg 168w, https://Website Hosting Review/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Medium-home-180×74.jpg 180w” sizes=”(max-width: 1246px) 100vw, 1246px”>

Evan Williams is the brain behind the Medium blogging solution.

Yes, the same Evan Williams who co-founded Twitter and Blogger.

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Medium first came out in mid-2012 as an online publishing platform that combines the work of both amateur writers and professional journalists.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-blogging-platform/&text=Medium%20first%20came%20out%20in%20mid-2012%20as%20an%20online%20publishing%20platform%20that%20combines%20the%20work%20of%20both%20amateur%20writers%20and%20professional%20journalists.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet

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This solution employs a Clap system where you can signify how much you liked an article by granting it multiple claps.

The more you get — the more people will see your content.

Pros / Cons

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
No setup required	Not customizable
In-built audience	No custom domain
	Lack of control

Ease of Use

For what it’s worth, running a Medium blog is quite straightforward. There is no setup needed; you just sign up for the account, and once logged in, you can start creating your first article right away.

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Medium’s account backend looks and feels suspiciously similar to LinkedIn’s.

You are starting on a completely blank canvas with only a couple of small buttons with extra options.

Simple yet not very attractive.

So can you do something about it?

Customization

Short answer to the above question? No.

From the WYSIWYG editor, you can add images or video, embed links, put line breakers…aaaaaaand that’s pretty much it.

Once you click the Publish button, the next screen will let you add a featured image and tags to your article.

Click Publish Now or Schedule Later.

Boom!

You’re ready!

Forget about the fancy-schmancy designs — people are here for your actual writing.

Plugins / Themes

It’s fair to say Medium gives every user a head start.

The thing is — they push to maintain the status quo as much as possible.

Even with the few available plugins in their repository, you can only make minor tweaks that have little impact on the final result.

So you want to impress people more? Better do it with your content.

Monetization

Medium is not very keen on monetization, as its members mostly benefit from traffic and exposure.

There is a way to make some money, though.

With Medium’s Partnership Program, you can monetize your writing efforts and climb the six-step ladder to success:

• write good content
• publish your compelling story
• get recommended to relevant readers
• earn from subscriptions and claps
• enjoy monthly income
• expand your audience

It’s certainly a lucrative deal to consider.

Price

Free plan

Membership — $5/mo (or $50/year)

Best For

• Newbies
• Personal blogs

Verdict

Medium has much less to offer compared to other free blog sites and surprisingly few options for customization. We are on the verge of 2020, so going with a rudimentary service just won’t cut it. Still, its in-built audience, and social journalism opportunities make it a fancied choice for aspiring writers who are looking for more exposure.

What Is the Difference Between a Hosted and Self-hosted Platform?

Choosing between a hosted or self-hosted website builder strongly depends on how much control and customization you wish to have.

Going with a hosted platforms like WordPress.com resembles renting an apartment. You can rearrange it as you wish, but at the end of the day, you are a guest in someone else’s home.

Self-hosted platforms, like the one you can download on WordPress.org, feel like having your own place. You have complete control of your site files, designs, and monetization options.

While the self-hosted option might sound better in terms of your freedom, hosted solutions often let you build a website quickly and without any previous experience.

Which one is better?

You decide!

How to Choose a Blogging Platform?

Here is my advice to you.

Never rush into the first blogging software that catches your eye, no matter how great it looks. The future of your blog very much depends on your objective judgment, so be sure to do your research.

What to look for?

Here are some essentials that can really make a difference.

– Interface — how a software feels and how easy it is to work with is a highly subjective matter. When it comes to user-friendliness, you have to trust your gut.

Our list of best blog sites contains both free and premium blogging solutions. But even the paid ones have an option for a free trial, so you can test the waters before making the jump.

– Features — you are looking for a one-stop-shop solution for your blog, so it’s imperative it has everything needed to look great and grow safely. Some platforms focus on simplicity, while others may look for optimized performance or strong defenses.

The tricky part here is to determine what each feature does and how suitable it might be for your needs.

I mean, why would you care about monetization options if you want to build a hobby website for your family? Or about ecommerce optimizations if you are planning to host your portfolio?

Focus on what’s essential for you and your website.

– Support — customer assistance with hosted solutions is a bit different than its self-hosted counterparts. Hosting providers offer a wider-scale service, so they often complement it with 24/7 prompt support via multiple channels.

When it comes to blog platforms, you have to be much more independent. Live chat or a phone line is a rarity with such companies, so better get acquainted with the software beforehand.

Check out the tutorial and knowledge base, the community forums.

Is there enough information online?

Is it comprehensive?

How about video lessons?

Look for anything that lets you get the feel of what you’re getting into.

– Pricing model — the providers on this list cover the needs of clients of different sizes and, respectively, different budgets. Personal or hobby projects can take a pick from a variety of free blog platforms. Enterprises, on the other hand, look for reliable, scalable services, and their monthly bill can reach the thousands.

What about you?

Shortlisting the candidates that fit your budget is pretty much the same as Website Hosting Review/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>choosing a web host. Check out the pricing, re-confirm the renewal fees, and only consider the services you can afford.

No point in window-shopping, there are plenty of choices to go around.

Conclusion

Whew, that was a lot to take, wasn’t it?

Looking back at it, the market for hosted site-builders is not so big after all. While there isn’t a single best blog platform, you can always find some choices ready to accommodate your project.

But when you look around some more, you will realize the same few companies pop up frequently.

It seems the self-hosted option on WordPress.org is so dominant that similar companies have a small market share.

So, will they figure a way out of this or remain content with the table scraps?

With the Website Hosting Review/blog/how-many-blogs/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>number of blogs out there, I am sure we’ll find out soon enough.

FAQ

Q: Which free blog platform is best?

A: There is no such thing as a “best free blogging platform” (or best premium solution for that matter). It doesn’t matter if the service comes for free or it costs hundreds per month — what’s important is that it works for you.

You can always check reviews around the Web or even ask a friend with practical experience. But at the end of the day, it all boils down to your personal needs. Create a free account or activate a trial period and test your potential choices before making a final decision.

Q: Which is better — Blogger or WordPress?

A: Whether we are referring to the self-hosted version on WP.org or the hosted one on WP.com, we have some distinct differences with the free blogging solution by Google.

Blogger relies on simplicity and practicality for new users. You don’t even have to sign up or create anything as long as you have a Google account.

The focus on newbies takes its toll on functionality and control, so you don’t really have much to do in Blogger.

WordPress is a much more versatile platform with almost-endless possibilities. There is a bit of a learning curve for starters, but once you get the hang of it, you can modify your blog to the tiniest bits and pieces.

Q: Is blogging worth it in 2019?

A: Why did you want to have a blog in the first place?

You wanted to have a lot of readers?

To get a point across?

Maybe make some money in the process?

Blogs are becoming increasingly popular, so there really aren’t many arguments against them. If you have the time and inspiration — go for it! But if you intend to monetize your blogging, you’ll have to put in much more effort than the average blogger.

Q: Is Squarespace free?

A: You can test the Squarespace platform with a free 14-day trial, which gives you full access to all essential features. After that, you can choose to switch to a paid plan or search for site-building services elsewhere.

Should you decide to upgrade, you can select one of four options — Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce. The latter two are suitable for online shops.

Q: How do I choose a platform for my blog?

A: The best blogging platform is the one that rises to meet all your challenges. Whether you are looking for advanced security or quick monetization — your solution should be in tune with your needs.

Keep a watchful eye out for the essentials — a rich set of features, excellent performance stats, enough extra assistance. Look for a solution you feel comfortable with and, of course, fitting your website budget.

 

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