The 6 Best Web Hosting Services for Small Businesses

From pickup options to opening hours, customers expect a company’s website to give them the information they’re looking for – quickly. There are many website hosting services to help businesses meet that need, and most include tools to help business owners create and run their own websites without information technology or programming expertise. 

I’ve compiled and analyzed the business web host rankings provided by 10 expert comparative review websites.

What Is Small-Business Hosting?

Every business will need tools to create and publish its own content, but not every website needs all the same features.

Here are some features each of the listed hosting services offer:

• Domain and email. A business’s domain is like a website’s nametag, typically “businessname.com.” The domain usually comes with related email accounts, like boss@businessname.com. Many services offer new domains to get businesses started or ways to migrate an existing domain name or upgrade their plan as needs change.
• Security certificates. A business should have a secure website – especially for online purchases – to keep customers’ data safe. If a website URL starts with "HTTPS" rather than "HTTP," it has a “Secure Socket Layer” (SSL) certificate that encrypts information such as credit cards and passwords.
• Backups. Businesses should back up their websites so they can restore any info that is lost or corrupted in the event of a security breach or crash. Whether it’s an online attack or a storm hitting the servers’ headquarters, having backups lets you avoid rebuilding from scratch – saving time, effort, and valuable customer information.
• Storage and speed. Depending on the type of business, you may need more than the average amount of storage space and/or faster load times for your web pages. The more bandwidth a website has, the quicker content will load and data will transfer. For example, a restaurant might be looking for a site to host its hours and menus with a few tasteful photos, whereas a wedding band’s website will likely need some high-quality audio and videos alongside their booking forms, requiring larger storage limits and higher bandwidth.

Small-business websites come in all shapes and sizes, but they share common needs – speed, security, and ease of use for both customers and businesses. 

• Servers. The server is the computer that houses website data and responds to site visitors’ requests. Picture choosing a server like renting one of those self-storage units. You can share it with another business, rent one alone, or claim a smaller section of a shared space. In server terms, that translates to shared, dedicated, or virtual private servers (VPS). A shared server hosts a business’s website alongside other businesses that all share the server’s resources and is the default option for all six of the hosting services on this list. A business with a more resource-heavy website may need a dedicated server – for a higher cost. A VPS combines both concepts by creating a shared server with “virtual walls,” giving a business more control over its partition than a shared server, but at a lower cost than a dedicated server.

The Top-Ranked Web Hosts for Small Businesses

Here are the top-ranked business website hosting services, based on the frequency with which each was mentioned by the 10 reviewers and their rankings. 

1. HostGator

At the top of the list is HostGator. HostGator offers tiered plans – Hatchling, Baby, and Business – and customizable add-ons to give businesses options to pay only for the services they need. If your small business is looking to make its first website or expand an existing site, HostGator offers plans that balance affordability and features differently.

• Features in every plan: Every plan comes with a year of a free domain or domain transfer, SSL certificate, email, weekly backups, and scalable e-commerce tools. HostGator plans also come with unmetered bandwidth and disk space – a great feature for websites that need high-quality video.
• Ease of use: HostGator plans come with a website builder and one-click WordPress installs. They also have a 30-day money-back guarantee, 24/7 chat support, and up to $600 in credits for digital advertisement spending, making HostGator a good fit if you’re looking to break into digital marketing.
• Price: Monthly prices start at the Hatchling’s introductory price of $2.75 for up to the first 36 months of a contracted plan. Plans renew at $6.95/month. The highest tier, the Business plan, starts at $5.25/month and renews at $14.95/month.
• Available upgrades: Higher-tier plans include VPS or dedicated servers, SEO tools, unlimited websites, and security upgrades. Add-ons include malware protection, email integration with Google Workspace, daily backups, ­and more.

2. Bluehost

Bluehost was a close second behind HostGator and is owned by the same company, Endurance International Group. Bluehost offers four plan options – Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro. Bluehost is also one of only three hosting services endorsed by WordPress – along with DreamHost (No. 4 on this list). If your business is looking for a simple but scalable web hosting service, BlueHost may be the right fit – but only if you’re OK with a long-term contract, as BlueHost requires 12- or 36-month commitments. 

• Features in every plan: A year of a free domain, unmetered bandwidth, SSL certificate, and at least 10 gigabytes of storage.
• Ease of use: For design, BlueHost focuses on its integration with WordPress through core updates, site templates, and easy-to-use design features. BlueHost also offers 24/7 chat support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Price: Monthly prices start at a $2.95 introductory basic rate for the first year, renewing at $9.99/month. The highest-tier plan starts at $12.95/month and renews at $39.95.
• Available upgrades: Businesses can add Google Workspace integration to create their own email accounts. Higher-tier plans include daily backups, VPS and dedicated servers, e-commerce functionality, online stores, search engine optimization capabilities, customer accounts, and more.

3. Hostinger

Hostinger is listed by many reviewers as the “best value” web hosting service due to its three low-cost shared-server options – Single, Premium, and Business. VPS and cloud hosting plans are also less expensive than many other hosting services.

• Features in every plan: Every shared hosting plan comes with at least one website, 50 gigabytes of storage, one email account, 100 gigabytes per second of bandwidth, an SSL certificate, and weekly backups.
• Ease of use: Hostinger’s site-builder has WordPress tutorials and wizards to help with website creation. Hostinger also offers 24/7 chat support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Price: Shared-server monthly plans start at an introductory price of $1.99 for the first four years and renew at $3.99/month. The Business tier starts at a monthly price of $3.99 for the first four years and renews at $8.99. VPS hosting prices start at a monthly cost of $3.49, renewing at $6.99 after four years.
• Available upgrades: Higher tiers include up to 100 websites and email accounts, up to 200 gigabytes of storage, unlimited bandwidth, VPS hosting, a free domain, daily backups, and more. For e-commerce options, additional plugins can be added.

4. DreamHost

DreamHost offers many options, with multiple tiers for shared, VPS, dedicated server, and WordPress-focused plans. DreamHost offers cheaper “unlimited” options for websites and email accounts than many of its competitors – a great feature for businesses with a large staff or whose online presence includes many different brands. The plans also include many tools for first-timers and a long return window, making it a less risky choice.

• Features in every plan: Both shared and unlimited plans come with unmetered bandwidth, an SSL certificate, daily backups, and a year of a free domain or domain transfer.
• Ease of use: WordPress comes preinstalled with features including the WordPress website builder, automated migration tools, professional templates, and a “drag-and-drop” editor. There is also a “1-click installer” to help first-time web designers get started. It offers 24/7 chat support and a 97-day money-back guarantee – the longest of the list.
• Price: DreamHost’s shared starter plan starts at a monthly cost of $2.59 for the first three years and renews at $5.99/month. The unlimited plan starts at a monthly cost of $3.95 and renews at $10.99/month after three years.
• Available upgrades: The unlimited plan offers unlimited websites and email, compared with the $1.67 per email account in the basic plan. VPS and dedicated server plans are also available and e-commerce functionality can be added to a website.

5. A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is popular for providing high speeds and reliable performance while offering diverse plan options and emphasizing clean energy and green initiatives through a partnership with Carbonfund.org. For shared servers, it offers four plans – Startup, Drive, Turbo Boost, and Turbo Max – and has VPS and dedicated server plans as well.

• Features in every plan: Every plan includes at least 100 gigabytes of storage, an SSL certificate, free domain migration, malware and hacker protection, and unlimited email. Every plan also comes with one website but without a free domain ­– so expect an additional yearly charge.
• Ease of use: Optimized for use with WordPress, A2 hosting comes with many preinstalled features for enhanced site-building and security with additional templates available as add-ons. A2 offers many 1-click setups for available e-commerce add-ons. It also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and 24/7 support with dedicated phone support for more than 50 countries.
• Price: Monthly plans start at the introductory “Startup” price of $2.99 for the first three years and renew at $10.99 per month. The “Turbo Max” plan starts at a monthly cost of $10.99 and renews at $25.99 after the first three years.
• Available upgrades: Higher-tier plans include unlimited storage, faster performance, backups, unlimited websites, dedicated servers, larger file limits, and more.

6. InMotion

InMotion is often recommended because it offers a lot of features in its basic plans. It has four main shared plans: Core, Launch, Power, and Pro. It’s a good choice for basic plans that stretch a business’s dollar when simple websites are all that's needed.

• Features in every plan: The basic plan comes with two websites, 100 gigabytes of storage, unlimited bandwidth, and 10 email addresses. All plans also include a free SSL certificate and hack and malware protection.
• Ease of use: Sites are optimized for WordPress and include a WordPress website builder to help new users create their first site. It also includes 24/7 customer support and a 90-day money-back guarantee.
• Price: The monthly rate for the Core plan starts at $2.49 for the first three years and renews at $8.99/month. The Pro plan starts at $12.99/month and renews at $22.99 after the first three years.
• Available upgrades: InMotion offers many add-ons, like Google Workspace and automatic backup management. Higher-tier plans also include e-commerce optimization, free domain names for the first year, unlimited email addresses and storage, and more. VPS and dedicated servers are also available.

The Takeaway

Small-business websites come in all shapes and sizes, but they share common needs – speed, security, and ease of use for both customers and businesses. But creating a website is only part of the process. Business sites also must be hosted and maintained. These six business web hosting services offer many options to help businesses create attractive websites that bring in more customers, and they don’t require programming expertise or a dedicated IT department.

Further Reading

This ranking of best business web hosting services aggregates and synthesizes information from the following 10 reviews and includes information from the six ranked companies’ websites.

U.S. News & World Report

PCMag

WebsiteBuilderExpert

Nerdwallet

Forbes

Cybernews

TechRadar

Diggity Marketing

Fit Small Business

Codeless

Photo: Getty Images