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What is the best web hosting service for you?
Every business needs a website today. Your website can replace your brochures, your catalogue, your Yellow Pages display ad, your price sheet and more. Perhaps your website will be for fun and personal use. Either way, creating a website is easy and affordable. This selector features some of the best starter packages available offered by top web hosting companies.
Disclosure: We receive compensation from the hosting companies to whom we link from the results page if you sign-up for their hosting services. This selector's scoring algorithm objectively compares the hosts' bandwidth, storage capacity, applications, email features, prices and their other specifications. We don't attempt to rate which hosting service is "the best". That's an individual decision based on your personal preferences reflected in your responses to the following questions.



1. BASIC STARTER PLAN PRICES Your web hosting plan will likely be a long term investment and partnership. Be sure to check if their advertised price is a temporary discount on the first month(s) or the price you'll normally pay. Many hosts will extend a discount if you pay for an entire year up front. Select the most expensive rate within your budget to increase the chances of finding a host with features and capacities sufficient for your current and future needs. Also, consider their promotions and offers for new websites.
Free ( "Free" web hosting includes the hosting company's ads on your site)
About $2.50 or less per month
About $3.00 or less per month
About $4.00 or less per month
About $5.00 or less per month
About $6.00 or less per month
About $7.00 or less per month
About $9.00 or less per month
About $10.00 or less per month
No preference
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

2. BANDWIDTH Bandwidth is one of the most important factors in determining how fast your webpages will load on visitors’ browsers.
At least 10gb
At least 50gb
At least 75gb
At least 100gb
At least 300gb
At least 1000gb
Unlimited gigabytes. "Unlimited" may come with some constraints. Read the hosting company's stipulations before deciding on any plan.
No preference
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

3. DISK SPACE The amount of disk space needed depends greatly on the type of website. One with hundreds of large audio and video files will consume more space than a simple site with five or six pages. E-commerce websites also usually have large numbers of individual product pages with high-quality pictures to describe products, taking up considerably more space than a blog with lots of words but limited graphics. Most sites, however, will never be large enough to require the “unlimited” packages that many hosting companies offer.
At least 5gb
At least 10gb
At least 15gb
At least 100gb
Unlimited gigabytes. "Unlimited" may come with some constraints. Some hosting companies won't allow you to store large audio files for personal use, for example.
No preference
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

4. UNIQUE DOMAIN NAME Is having a website with your own unique URL (web address) important to you? Some hosts will only provide you with a subdomain of their URL. Some permit additional unique URLs. Of course, additional websites may divide the bandwidth and other capacities to unacceptably low levels.
At least 1 unique domain name
At least 2 unique domain names
At least 6 unique domain names
Unlimited unique domain names
No preference
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

5. WINDOWS OR LINUX Linux and Windows are two different types of operating systems. Linux is the most popular operating system for web servers. Since Linux-based hosting is more popular, it has more of the features web designers expect. So unless you have websites which need specific Windows applications, Linux is the preferred choice
Windows
Linux
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

6. CONTROL PANEL INCLUDED A control panel is a tool to simplify server administrator and website management. Some of the commonly available modules in most control panels: Access to server logs. Details of available and used web space and bandwidth.
Yes, I'd like a control panel included for the price.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

7. FREE SITE BUILDER Some hosts provide a free site builder application so you can design your website. Others require that you to pay for the builder as a separate add-on.
Yes, I'd like a site builder included.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

8. FREE SHOPPING CART Will your website being selling a product online? If so, consider selecting this feature. Note: free shopping carts are often simplified tools and may not be appropriate for more complex sales needs.
Yes, I'd like a shopping cart included
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

9. SITE STATISTICS Do you need to know the number and source of your site's visitors? If so, consider selecting this feature.
Yes, I'd like to have free site statistics reports.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

10. FILE MANAGER A file manager is a simplified web application through your control panel for managing and editing your web pages. You can use it to upload, delete, copy or move content.
Yes, I'd like a free file manager included.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

11. MAILBOXES How many people do you anticipate will need an email address that includes your website's URL after the @ sign?
At least 1 mailbox
At least 100 mailboxes
At least 250 mailboxes
At least 500 mailboxes
Unlimited mailboxes
No preference
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

12. SPAM FILTER Spam filter software is designed to reduce the amount of junk mail delivered to email inboxes.
Yes, I'd like a free spam filter included.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

13. FTP MANAGER An FTP manager is a convenient tool for building and managing your site. It is especially good for uploading and downloading multiple files.
At keast 1 account
unlimited accounts
No preference/Not necessary
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

14. FREE SCRIPT LIBRARY These are web applications that can be installed onto your site to enhance the visitor's experience.
Yes, I'd like a free script library included.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

15. WEB CHAT In the event you need to communicate with your hosting company for technical or others reasons, web chat is a convenient system that allows you to talk via typed real-time messages with an appropriate employee of the hosting company. It eliminates the problems of bad phone connections and unfamiliar accents. Plus you can request an emailed copy of your conversation for later reference. Web chat is generally available 24/7 although you may have to wait to "speak" to somebody.
Yes, I'd like to be able to communicate through web chat.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

16. USER FORUM Some hosting companies feature a user forum for and of their customers. Members of these communities share thoughts, ideas and tips with each other on website construction, development, promotion and marketing.
Yes, I'd like a hosting service with a user forum.
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

17. MySQL DATABASES Is the world's most widely used open source, relational database management system. MySQL's popularity stems from its simplicity and ease of use in creating dynamic and interactive web programming.
At least 10 MySQL databases
At least 15 MySQL databases
Unlimited MySQL databases
No preference/Not necessary
Prioritize your choice above:
Low Priority High Priority

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