The Best Website Hosting Companies for Small Business (Honest 2024 Review)

All hosting providers reviewed in this guide are excellent choices for hosting websites built with WordPress and most e-commerce solutions.

What is the difference between domain and website hosting?

A domain, such as www.yourdomain.com, serves as your internet address and can be registered and owned.

Website hosting encompasses technologies like hardware, servers, databases, and programming language environments that enable your website's design and content delivery. When you sign up for website hosting, you are essentially renting space on a computer in a data center. Website hosting services may include features like auto installers and automated management of content management systems, such as WordPress. Alternatively, you can rent server space and install a website manually.

Most providers featured in this article offer domain, website, and email hosting services in one package.

How to Find The Ideal Web Hoster

This review rates website hosting companies based on reliability, speed, and the quality of support according to community feedback. I don't emphasize the cheapest hosting providers because I believe you shouldn't compromise on website hosting for your business. This doesn't necessarily mean you need expensive hosting for a small business website. The cheapest plans in this guide are still quite affordable.Cheap and professional don't go together!

Consider the geographical proximity of servers to your customers, as it significantly impacts website loading speeds. Some hosting companies maintain multiple servers in the US, while others have stronger connections in the UK and Europe. Make this factor a priority when selecting a provider.

Why I Based My Review on Community Feedback

This review is inspired by an article that highlights the prevalence of scams and misleading information in the world of website hosting reviews. You won't find the usual top-rated website hosts in this review.

Website hosting comparisons can be challenging, as switching hosts is often cumbersome, and most people tend to stick with one company once they're satisfied. Despite being in the website building business for over 20 years, I've only dealt with around 5 to 6 hosting companies. Currently, I host my personal and active websites and domains with Host Europe and Cloudflare, with particularly positive experiences using Hetzner. While these hosts work well for my self-programmed static websites, they may not be the best fit for your specific needs or location. However, running WordPress on basic Host Europe and Hetzner plans is quite feasible.

Why I Don't Recommend BlueHost, Hostinger, or GoDaddy

While researching this review, I sifted through dozens of "Best Website Hosting" articles from prominent websites. These articles typically follow a format like "X is the best for Y," often featuring the largest hosting companies. Some include benchmarks for website loading speeds or testimonials about the hosting provider's support, providing detailed insights. After extensive research, I almost concluded that Hostinger and Bluehost were the best choices for small business websites. However, I decided to pay closer attention to feedback from web hosting communities.

Surprisingly, the same hosting providers that received favorable scores in reviews seem rather disliked in certain web hosting communities, most notably Reddit's Webhosting forum. According to Review Signal ^source, a website that sources community feedback:Hostinger was banned from the WordPress hosting group on Facebook for their repeated and calculated deception of an entire communityAdditionally, GoDaddy did not seem to have a strong reputation in some sources. I am very careful about anectodal feedback but after going trough Reddit for many days, there seems to be a trend there.

Hence, I opted to create an honest review of website hosts based on community feedback. To achieve this, I delved deep into Facebook groups and Reddit forums. Many thanks to ReviewSignal for providing essential metrics and data.

Please note that this review does not cover dedicated hosting plans (a server exclusively for your use). I do not recommend dedicated hosting unless your company possesses the necessary server administration skills and maintenance budget.

In the following sections, I will guide you through various types of web hosting and provide a list of the best website hosts for each specific use case.

The Best Shared and VPS Website Hosting Plans

What is Shared Web Hosting?

Shared web hosting is the most budget-friendly way to operate a website. In this setup, you rent space on a computer within a data center, sharing it with other accounts. The hosting provider ensures proper separation between accounts, although you won't be aware of the other accounts on the shared machine. You also share resources like bandwidth, CPU usage, and disk space, typically subject to set quotas. The hosting provider handles the computer's operation, its operating system, and ensures all software remains up-to-date. However, software that you install, such as content management systems, requires manual updates. Most shared accounts support the installation of multiple websites.

What is VPS Hosting?

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server, which is a virtual machine offering virtualized server resources on a physical server shared with other users. When you opt for VPS hosting, you rent a portion of a server's resources, including guaranteed bandwidth. Accounts are better isolated compared to shared hosting, and the resources you pay for are exclusive to your use. VPS hosting is scalable, allowing you to upgrade to a more powerful package if your website outgrows its resources. It offers greater control than shared hosting without the expenses associated with dedicated servers.

The following hosting providers offer excellent value for the money and are known for their outstanding customer support ^source.

Best Web Host in the US with data centers in Europe: Knownhost

*Knownhost offers an ideal starter package, providing a domain, website hosting with a database, email addresses, SSL certificates, and a user-friendly cPanel administration dashboard. Knownhost operates data centers in Atlanta, Seattle, and Amsterdam.

*Sign up with Knownhost

Best US Web Host with Additional Services: Dreamhost

*Dreamhosts plans start at $2.59 per month, including a pre-installed WordPress site. While not limited to WordPress, please note that email services come at an additional cost, making Dreamhost's basic plan slightly more expensive than Knownhost or Siteground. Dreamhost's servers are situated in Virginia, Oregon, and California ^source.

*Dreamhost offers a range of additional services, including website branding, site management, SEO and marketing, and web development.

*Sign up with Dreamhost

Best Overall Web Host: Siteground

*Siteground offers features comparable to Knownhost and Dreamhost, with the added benefit of a free Central Delivery Network (CDN) feature. The CDN automatically selects the closest server to the user, reducing website loading times. Siteground maintains multiple data centers in the US, Europe, Singapore, and Sydney.

*Sign up with Siteground

Best Website Hosting Company in Germany: Hetzner

Hetzner boasts over two decades of hosting experience. Their basic Hetzner hosting plan starts at 2.09€ per month, with servers located in Germany. Hetzner has been praised for its uptime and support from server administrators. I worked many jobs where we used Hetzner web hosting and never heard any complaints from admins.

*Sign up with Hetzner

The Best Managed WordPress Hosting Plans

What is Managed WordPress Hosting?

Managed WordPress hosting plans exclusively accommodate the WordPress content management system. You cannot install other systems on managed WordPress hosting plans, but it's worth noting that WordPress websites can run effectively on all other hosting options mentioned in this review.

Managed WordPress hosting automates numerous WordPress tasks, including installation, setup, updates, and staging sites for previewing changes. It also includes WordPress-specific optimizations for faster website loading and simplified management of WordPress plugins.

Managed WordPress plans generally provide dedicated WordPress support, which extends beyond the operating system and pre-installed software offered by other hosting types. However, this convenience comes at a higher cost compared to shared hosting.

Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers

1. *Flywheel: Part of the renowned WP Engine hosting company ^source, Flywheel is recommended for its WordPress hosting plans, including WooCommerce hosting. Flywheel allows you to choose among data centers in North America, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union to host your site. Managed WordPress hosting with Flywheel starts at $13 per month.

*Sign up with Flywheel

2. Pantheon: Pantheon offers an advanced global delivery network ^source and is an excellent choice for international businesses. Please note that heir basic plan is free, but their first paid plan starts at a steep $500 per month.

*Sign up with Pantheon

3. WP Engine's WordPress hosting plans start at $20 per month. The basic plan includes staging and development environments and 24/7/365 technical support via phone and chat.

*Sign up with WP Engine

4. *Knownhost, already on top of the list for shared hosting also offers one of the more affordable managed WordPress plans starting at $5.98 per month.

*Sign up with Knownhost

Summary

All hosting providers in this guide are suitable for WordPress and e-commerce websites. I suggest not compromising on hosting quality for business websites and to consider server proximity for faster loading times. *Knownhost, *Dreamhost , *Siteground, and Hetzner are all good choices for most hosting requirements. For managed WordPress hosting, I recommend providers like *Flywheel, Pantheon, and WP Engine.