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Compare Small-Business Web Hosting Companies

Hosting serviceBest forStarting priceBest features
Hostinger

Hostinger Logo

Best web hosting for small business

Why it’s best: Plans begin at $1.99 per month for single-site shared hosting

$2.99 per month +
3months freeSee pricing
  • Free lifetime SSL certificate
  • Free website builder
  • Fast and reliable solid-state drives (SSDs)
Bluehost

Bluehost Logo

Best web hosting for add-ons

Why it’s best: Plans include useful free add-ons; affordable prices

$2.75 per month

See pricing

  • Free CDN
  • Free SSL
  • Free one-year domain registration
SiteGround

SiteGround Logo

Best web hosting support for small businesses

Why it’s best: The startup plan gives you unmetered traffic for up to 10,000 monthly visits; the growbig plan raises that to 25,000 monthly visits

$2.99 per month

See pricing

  • Free automated website transfer
  • SSD persistent storage
  • Auto-scaling handles traffic spikes
DreamHost

DreamHost Logo

Best shared web hosting for small businesses

Why it’s best: Shared hosting plan comes with a drag-and-drop WordPress builder, over 200 starter site templates, and real-time SEO recommendations

$2.59 per month

See pricing

  • Guaranteed 100% uptime
  • 24/7/year-round customer service
  • One-year free domain
A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting Logo

Fastest web hosting for small businesses

Why it’s fastest: Proprietary, lightning-fast “turbo server” that’s 20 times faster than average; unmetered bandwidth, and unlimited disk space

$2.99 per month

See pricing

  • Unmetered bandwidth
  • Unlimited disk space
  • Free site migration
Cloudways

Cloudways Logo

Best cloud web hosting for small businesses

Why it’s best: Cloud hosting is optimized to increase speed and drive conversions

$12 per month

See pricing

  • 24/7 support
  • Money-back Guarantee
  • Website builder

 

How Did Chose the Best Small-Business Web Hosting Services?

All our top choices for small-business web hosting services offer robust hosting options at reasonable price points. Read our reviews to see which one might best fit your small business.

  • Multiple server types: Server needs can change over time, so we picked the best web hosting services offering more than one type of web hosting server. If your business grows and you want to switch from a shared server WordPress site to a private virtual private server (VPS), you should be able to do so without any stress.
  • Uptime and load speed: We checked upload and load speeds with a third-party website to ensure the advertised rates of each web hosting service were valid. Significant downtime is one sign that your host company is dropping the ball on service — all of our best web hosting services clock in with at least 99.9% uptime.
  • Customer support: If your website is down or you have issues, resolving problems quickly is crucial. We chose web hosting services that offer 24/7 customer support in various ways, including phone and live chat.

 

What Is Small-Business Web Hosting?

Web hosting refers to where your website lives — i.e., the physical location of the coded files that make up your website’s pages. Those pages live on a server owned by your hosting company.

A reliable hosting company can mean the difference between failure and success for small businesses. The best small-business web hosting services allow your website to run with nearly instantaneous page loading and no downtime and feature security tools that keep it safe from hackers.

All our chosen web hosts include 24/7/year-round customer service support as part of their plans, which we think is pretty significant considering your website is — or should be — up and running all the time.

How To Choose a Web Hosting Service for Your Small Business

Your small business is unique, and what you are looking for in a web host may differ from your competitors. Here are a few things to consider when searching for the best small-business web hosting service.

  • Excellent uptime and load speed history: Your site only serves customers when it’s up; if your web hosting service goes down regularly, consider a switch to an uptime record of at least 99.90%. Lost revenue and brand damage can happen if your site goes down during a traffic spike.
  • Multiple server types available: Businesses change and grow. You may start with a small site on a shared server with minimal bandwidth and storage space. But if you grow, you want to know your site can be scaled up to a dedicated server or VPS when needed.
  • Top-notch customer support, preferably available 24/7/year-round: When you’re checking inventory at 5 a.m. before your big holiday sale, and your site goes down, you want someone who can get you back up and running before the doors open.
  • Advanced security features: Hackers are becoming more sophisticated daily. Peace of mind comes from knowing your site is as safe as possible behind a firewall or other monitoring and security software. For starters, see if your host offers a free SSL certificate with its plans.

 

Best Small-Business Web Hosting Services

Hostinger Logo

Hostinger

Best web hosting for small businesses

  • Free lifetime SSL certificate
  • Free website builder
  • Fast and reliable SSDs
Visit Hostinger

What customers are saying about Hostinger

Hostinger is one of the best hosting companies for people who are starting out with a website and seeking low prices. The customer service and mail server could use some improvements, though.

Summary

  • Why it’s best
    Plans begin at $1.99 per month for single-site shared hosting
  • Starting price
    • $2.99 per month
If you’re on a budget, consider Hostinger, which has plans that begin at less than $2 a month for single-site shared hosting. It doesn’t get much cheaper than that. But there’s more to running a web host company than price, and Hostinger delivers in other ways.

All plans come with a free SSL certificate and most come with the ability to host unlimited websites, email accounts, and provide limitless bandwidth (the $1.99 plan features a bandwidth of 100 GB).

Although your introductory prices increase after your first year, unlike many web hosts, it tells you how much it will increase right on the plan page. And the prices are reasonable.

WordPress sites come with Jetpack and disk space of 50, 100, and 200GB, depending on your plan. All plans also feature backups — weekly for the low-end plans and daily for premium. Its uptime is 99.90%, and the tech support team is available 24/7/year-round via live chat.

As with all web hosting companies, read the fine print to see what is and isn’t covered in your contract. But Hostinger is more transparent than most in letting you know what you’ll be paying for and how long the price is good for.

WordPress site owners will appreciate Hostinger’s resources for their sites, though if you’re used to cPanel, it may take a little while to become accustomed to the dashboard.

Pros and cons of Hostinger

Pros

  • Transparent pricing structure
  • Drag-and-drop website editor
  • Servers optimized for WordPress

Cons

  • No discounts if you pay month-by-month
  • Live chat only available when logged in
  • No cPanel access

What customers are saying about Hostinger

Hostinger is one of the best hosting companies for people who are starting out with a website and seeking low prices. The customer service and mail server could use some improvements, though.
Bluehost Logo

Bluehost

Best add-ons for small-business web hosting

  • Free CDN
  • Free SSL
  • Free one-year domain registration
Visit Bluehost

What customers are saying about Bluehost

Bluehost is a reputable provider offering shared and VPS hosting. The company is easy to use, affordable, and has great uptime. It is geared toward entrepreneurs and small online startups. Billing might be confusing, but they have solid customer service for any issues.

Summary

  • Why it’s best
    Plans include useful free add-ons; the prices are quite affordable.
  • Starting price
    • $2.75 per month
Bluehost offers a lot of value with its shared hosting plans — its basic plan costs just $2.75 per month and includes 10GB of SSD storage, free CDN, free SSL, and one year of free domain registration for one website.

If your small business has more demanding hosting needs, Bluehost offers VPS and dedicated server options at competitive rates.

Bluehost's plans include many useful free add-ons, and its prices are quite affordable. The only downside is that its money-back guarantee could last longer than 30 days.

Pros and cons of Bluehost

Pros

  • Feature-rich hosting plans
  • Affordable prices

Cons

  • Money-back guarantee only lasts 30 days

What customers are saying about Bluehost

Bluehost is a reputable provider offering shared and VPS hosting. The company is easy to use, affordable, and has great uptime. It is geared toward entrepreneurs and small online startups. Billing might be confusing, but they have solid customer service for any issues.
SiteGround Logo

SiteGround

Best web hosting support for small businesses

  • Free automated website transfer
  • SSD persistent storage
  • Auto-scaling handles traffic spikes
Visit SiteGround

What customers are saying about SiteGround

Customers praise the tech support personnel, as well as the features the company offers to make your site stand out in a crowd.

“SiteGround is a great hosting solution for all your WordPress projects. The service they provide is stable, secure, and super fast thanks to the special tools they’ve developed in-house.”

Summary

  • Why it’s best
    The startup plan gives you unmetered traffic for up to 10,000 monthly visits; the growbig plan raises that to 25,000 monthly visits
  • Starting price
    • $3.99 per month
SiteGround features Google cloud-based services, including basic hosting, managed WordPress, high-performance WooCommerce hosting, and scalable cloud hosting options. All plans include a CDN, free SSL certificates, email, unmetered traffic, and unlimited databases.

You will also get a 30-day money-back guarantee to ensure you are happy with the services you sign up for.

SiteGround’s startup plan, for an introductory price of $2.99 a month, gives you 10GB of web space, 10,000 monthly visits, free SSL, and unmetered traffic.

The plan includes a daily backup, as well as free CDN and email. An extra perk is a 100% renewable energy match you can feel good about.

Its best-selling plan is the growbig plan for $4.99 (discounted from $24.99), which has unlimited websites, 20GB of web space, and up to 25,000 monthly visits. Managed cloud hosting starts at $100 a month for three central processing unit (CPU) cores, 6GB of memory, 40GB of SSD space, and 5 terabyte (TB) data transfer.

Our customer reviews consistently rank SiteGround at the top of the list. The company is one of few recommended by the creators of WordPress.org, who undoubtedly like the high uptime rate, which can make or break a site.

For agencies and designers, numerous tools make it easy to collaborate with clients, develop sites, and share access.

Pros and cons of SiteGround

Pros

  • Extensive collaboration tools
  • Recommended by WordPress.org, WooCommerce, and Yoast
  • 99.9% uptime guarantee

Cons

  • Prices on the expensive side
  • Low introductory rate increases after the first year
  • No free domain name

What customers are saying about SiteGround

Customers praise the tech support personnel, as well as the features the company offers to make your site stand out in a crowd.

“SiteGround is a great hosting solution for all your WordPress projects. The service they provide is stable, secure, and super fast thanks to the special tools they’ve developed in-house.”
Dreamhost Logo

DreamHost

Best shared web hosting for small businesses

  • Guaranteed 100% uptime
  • 24/7/year-round customer service
  • One free domain
Visit DreamHost

What customers are saying about DreamHost

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.

Summary

  • Why it’s best
    Shared hosting plan comes with a drag-and-drop WordPress builder, over 200 starter site templates, and real-time SEO recommendations
  • Starting price
    • $2.95 per month (12-month term)
DreamHost is endorsed by WordPress. The shared hosting plan includes a drag-and-drop WordPress builder, over 200 starter site templates, and real-time SEO recommendations. Plans also included unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and unlimited email addresses.

If WordPress isn’t your thing, DreamHost has a website builder called Remixer, or you can use a wide range of site builders, including Joomla, Zen Cart, Drupal, Shopify, and more. Uptime is guaranteed 100%, and you’ll find unmetered bandwidth and unlimited disk space.

DreamHost is a green company with a carbon-neutral headquarters, so you can feel good about using its services. Prices start low and can go lower if you prepay for several years. Even more interesting is that your rate won’t automatically increase after a specific time, as is true of many web hosts.

Dreamhost’s guaranteed 100% uptime and generous refund policy go above and beyond the average web hosting company. But a lack of access to cPanel may bother some and the live chat option isn’t a slam-dunk. The refund policy is longer than any other company on our list.

Pros and cons of DreamHost

Pros

  • WordPress hosting starts at $2.59 per month
  • Employee-owned company
  • 97-day refund policy

Cons

  • No cPanel access
  • $99 site migration fee

What customers are saying about DreamHost

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.
A2 Hosting Logo

A2 Hosting

Fastest web hosting for small businesses

  • Unmetered bandwidth
  • Unlimited disk space
  • Free site migration
Visit A2 Hosting

What customers are saying about A2 Hosting

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.

Summary

  • Why it’s best
    Proprietary, lightning-fast “turbo server” that’s 20 times faster than average; unmetered bandwidth; unlimited disk space
  • Starting price
    • $2.99 per month (36-month term)
A2 Hosting offers unmetered bandwidth and unlimited disk space for reasonable prices. It is committed to 99.9% uptime and boasts an exclusive lightning-fast “turbo server” option that promises to be 20 times faster than average.

The company uses SSD in most packages. It has several SSL certificates, including Let’s Encrypt, Single Site, and Premium SSL — which is essential, especially if you accept payments on your site.

“A2 Optimized” offers the fastest load times for common platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, and OpenCart eCommerce software.

Shared WordPress hosting is available with cPanel and A2’s optimized WordPress package. If you prefer a managed option, it includes WordPress backups, site staging, a free Jetpack personal license, and Plesk Control Panel.

You’ll find 24/7/year-round English-speaking support staff available by phone, email, and live chat.

One of A2’s most significant pros is its speed. User-friendly resources help the newbie site owner, but it also provides all the tools developers need, including Secure Shell (SSH), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

The great introductory prices increase after a while, but A2 is still one of the best web hosting experiences.

Pros and cons of A2 Hosting

Pros

  • High-speed performance times
  • “Guru Crew” support team with 24/7/365 online/email/phone help
  • Developer-friendly server support for PHP, MySQL, Apache, Python, Ruby, and more

Cons

  • No free domain
  • Only two data centers (North America and Europe)
  • Renewal rates nearly double after the first purchase period

What customers are saying about A2 Hosting

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.
Cloudways Logo

Cloudways

Best cloud web hosting for small businesses

  • 24/7 support
  • Money-back guarantee
  • Website builder
Visit Cloudways

What customers are saying about Cloudways

Cloudways is a managed cloud services provider offering fast speeds as well as great customer service and pricing. The setup can be a bit hard, and there is no cPanel.

Summary

  • Why it’s best
    Cloud hosting is optimized to increase speed and drive conversions
  • Starting price
    • $10 per month
Cloudways’ WooCommerce hosting platform is optimized to increase speed and drive conversions. Site migration is free and backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee.

The e-commerce starter bundle is a complete plug-and-play solution for launching your online store. It includes all the pre-installed plug-ins you need to design, launch, and manage your e-commerce store.

Cloudways offers 24/7 live chat and ticketing support as part of its packages, along with alerts for operational aspects, such as performance and security.

Businesses needing quicker response times, dedicated support, or deeper technical skills can upgrade to an advanced or premium support plan.

Pros and cons of Cloudways

Pros

  • Hourly pay-as-you-go
  • Strategic server locations

Cons

  • CDN is not included

What customers are saying about Cloudways

Cloudways is a managed cloud services provider offering fast speeds as well as great customer service and pricing. The setup can be a bit hard, and there is no cPanel.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Web Hosting Services for Small Businesses

What is web hosting?

Every website needs a server to make it available online. Web hosts are the companies that supply and manage these servers.

What are the benefits of web hosting services for small businesses?

The best small business web hosting services allow your website to run with nearly instantaneous page loading and no downtime and feature security tools that keep it safe from hackers.

What is managed web hosting?

In managed hosting, the web hosting provider configures and manages the server to ensure it runs smoothly. It is the preferred option for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Why is website uptime important?

Uptime is the total time your website is accessible during a certain period, usually measured in percentage. Most web hosts advertise a guarantee of 99% uptime or better. The higher the uptime is, the more accessible your website is to your consumers.

Is shared hosting right for me?

Shared web hosting can be suitable for smaller businesses or those just starting out since it tends to be cheaper. However, if you plan to operate several websites or expect extremely high traffic, you may want to opt for a more comprehensive plan.

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