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If your site has video and audio components, be sure your host supports it. Learn what to look for in the best streaming hosts.
Best Streaming Hosting: Our Shortlist
If you’re a video streamer looking for a hosting provider, there are a few features to prioritize which will make all the difference. While some of the options on this list have lower-priced plans, it’s good to have at least a virtual private server (VPS) plan to handle the amount of data streaming requires.
Hosting providers that use solid-state drives (SSDs) will give you the best speeds, while providers with reliable uptime can ensure that your website is up and running when you plan to stream your content. Look for a top-tier content delivery network (CDN) for professional live streaming quality.
With these things in mind, we’ve picked some of the top hosting providers for video streaming. Use the chart below to compare our top picks for the best streaming hosts of 2023:
Our Top Picks
Best Overall Streaming Hosting
Best Streaming Hosting For Scalability
Best Support For a Streaming Host
Best Streaming Host Plan Variety
Best Streaming Hosting Bundle
Digital.com dives deep into every topic it covers to offer trusted and reliable recommendations for the best business tools. See how we review streaming hosting.
The Top Streaming Hosting Options of 2023
Features
- 99.9% uptime
- 24/7 customer support
- Database backup
#1 Top Pick for 2023
Why it’s best: Bluehost goes out of its way to make it easy to scale as needed
Price
$39.99 per month
Free Website Builder
Yes
24-7 Support
Yes
Free Domain
Yes
Read More
Reasons to choose Bluehost
- Dynamic resources
- Instant provisioning
Reasons to avoid
- Slow server response speeds
Bluehost uses world-class technology to provide the resources to stream audio and video. These include SSD hardware, dual quad processor performance servers and customized Apache web servers and support for multiple databases.
Its three VPS plans let you quickly and easily scale up resources as necessary. Its base Standard plan starts with 120GB SSD storage, 2GB RAM, and unmetered bandwidth, with higher tiers adding 240GB SSD storage and 8GB RAM.
Regardless of your hosting type, Bluehost includes several key free perks, including a domain name for the first year, an SSL certificate, a worldwide CDN, and three different webmail solutions. If unsatisfied, you have 30 days to get a full refund.
One of Bluehost’s primary perks is how easy it is for customers to scale up resources as needed. You can add more VPS, shared, or dedicated hosting services quickly and continue to manage all their servers from one location. Customers should note that an independent audit of web host speeds found that Bluehost came in at 1,176ms.
Bluehost is a reputable provider offering shared and VPS hosting. Its services are easy to use, affordable, and have decent uptime. Bluehost gears its services toward entrepreneurs and small online startups. Billing might be confusing, but they have solid customer service for any issues.
Features
- Lots of hosting options
- Simple upgrades
- Free anti-spam solution
Price
$4 per month
Free Website Builder
No
24-7 Support
Yes
Free Domain
Yes
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Reasons to choose Kamatera
- Global data centers
- Top-notch customer service
- Free site migrations
Reasons to avoid
- No Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates
- No free backups
Kamatera’s web hosting solutions start at just $4 a month, a rock-bottom price for a VPS plan. Granted, this is for the lowest spec options. However, you can choose every option to customize your VPS to your needs, choosing the amount of RAM, storage, bandwidth, and even server location. This is great for making small, incremental increases as your audience (and hosting needs) grow.
Like all top web hosting providers, Kamatera offers comprehensive customer service via various mediums such as a blog, FAQs, live chat, support tickets, phone, and email. There are three departments: sales/account management, technical support, and billing/accounting. The technical support team is accessible around the clock, while the other two are open during business hours, depending on their base location.
Customers say that Kamatera is easy to use, offers quick setup, has great uptime, and offers standout technical support. However, some users have had problems with minor issues, such as creating invoices through their website.
Features
- 99.8% uptime
- Website builder
Price
$39.99 per month
Free Website Builder
Yes
24-7 Support
Yes
Free Domain
No
Read More
Reasons to choose A2 Hosting
- Managed and unmanaged hosting
- TurboBoost servers
- Anytime money-back guarantee
Reasons to avoid
- The best prices require multi-year contracts
A2 Hosting offers a variety of options ideal for streaming, including managed and unmanaged VPS hosting, as well as dedicated hosting.
Certain plans are built on the Wowza streaming engine, a media server specifically designed for streaming services with ultra-low latency. Wowza has a lightweight HTML5 and Flash video player but supports others. But these plans require a bit more technical aptitude.
A2 Hosting provides you with a lot of flexibility, including choosing between managed and unmanaged hosting. Its TurboBoost add-on feature lets you access speed-enhanced servers for even faster load times.
A2 is a reliable, affordable hosting company that has fast speeds. The customer service is generally responsive but could use more updated tutorials and documentation.
Features
- 99.9% uptime
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Website builder
Price
$13.75 per month
Free Website Builder
Yes
24-7 Support
Yes
Free Domain
Yes
Read More
Reasons to choose DreamHost
- Fast server response speeds
- Cloud hosting available
- Long trial period
Reasons to avoid
- Custom control panel
DreamHost offers all three types of hosting most useful for streaming — VPS, dedicated, and cloud. All Dreamhost plans support HTTP media streaming, and its website includes easy instructions for how to set up streaming on your website.
If you want a scalable, managed hosting solution, you can choose from four VPS hosting plans, which give up to 8GB RAM and 240GB SSD storage. Dreamhost’s dedicated servers are also fully managed and let you select the amount of RAM and SSD storage needed. Those who prefer root access can opt for one of Dreamhost’s three cloud hosting plans.
As long as you comply with Dreamhost’s unlimited policy, there are no caps on the amount of traffic your website can receive. Dreamhost also promises security features like 24/7 server monitoring and DDoS protection.
A reliable and affordable hosting provider, Dreamhost offers great customer service and a variety of plans. It is easy to use, though there are some complaints that the speed and webmail could be improved.
Features
- 99.9% uptime
- Website builder
Price
$25 per month
Free Website Builder
Yes
24-7 Support
Yes
Free Domain
Yes
Read More
Reasons to choose Liquid Web
- 30 free domains
- Windows hosting available
- Multiple control panel options
Reasons to avoid
- Uptime concerns
- Limited hosting options
Liquid Web has several hosting choices, allowing your resources to expand as your business grows. Customers can choose from various VPS, dedicated, or cloud hosting plans.
Liquid Web’s VPS hosting bundles are a good value, combining 10TB of bandwidth, SSD disk space, and RAM with site remediation and protection, premium business email, and free daily back-ups.
For those who need more resources or want more control over their servers, Liquid Web also offers dedicated and cloud hosting services. With these types of hosting, you can choose a Linux or Windows operating system.
Liquid Web’s servers are high-quality and designed for speed with built-in SSD disks and CDNs. Support is available 24/7/year-round via phone, chat, and email.
One of Liquid Web’s key selling points is that customers can register up to 30 domains for free. It also lets you choose between Windows and Linux operating systems and several control panel options. However, this comes with a higher price tag.
Liquid Web is a reputable provider offering dedicated and VPS hosting. The company — geared toward entrepreneurs and small online startups — is easy to use, affordable, and has a great uptime. Billing might be confusing, but it has solid customer service for any issues.
Compare Streaming Hosting Services
Streaming Host
Best Features
Pricing
Best Overall Streaming Host
- 99.9% uptime
- 24/7 customer support
- Database backup
$39.99 per month
Best Streaming Host Plan Variety
- 99.9% uptime
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Website builder
$13.75 per month
What You Need to Know
What is streaming hosting?
If you produce audio and video content, you may need a web host that supports streaming media — not all do.
In addition, you’ll need a host that can cope with potential traffic spikes without downtime, and it must support the type of content you intend to publish or distribute.
Is your website the next YouTube? Pandora? Spotify? You need streaming hosting if you aim to provide video or audio-on-demand to your site’s users. If you plan to stream movies, music, or video or audio files of any kind, streaming hosting will keep that media running smoothly with fewer snags and interruptions.
Why does media streaming require special hosting?
Not all hosting plans can accommodate the resources it takes to stream audio or video files. Streaming hosting is specialized for media sharing and considers that intensive need for data.
What factors should I look for in a streaming host?
Some key elements to look for when choosing a streaming host are SSDs, CDNs, scalable architecture, and reliable uptime.
What are the advantages of streaming content?
Streaming your content gives you more control over how your content is distributed. You can also potentially earn money by hosting content for others once you’ve created your niche audience.
What are the disadvantages of streaming your media?
The major disadvantage of becoming a streaming host is the cost and responsibility involved. Moreover, not all hosts can scale with increasing traffic, so picking a host that can grow as you do is important.
How We Review Streaming Hosts
Publishing audio and video content online requires significant resources. If you publish streaming media on your website, you need to select a web host that supports this content and does it well.
Selecting the right streaming host is vitally important. The five critical features are reliability, bandwidth, storage, speed, and server power.
Learn more about our review methodology.