Hostinger’s introductory prices are insanely low, starting from just £2.59 per month. Their Premium web hosting plan offers enough resources to start a personal website or blog, offering the perfect solution for beginners.

Their servers are easy to set up and come with one of my favourite control panels (hPanel). If you’ve never used web hosting before or you’re a seasoned pro, I guarantee you’ll love this control panel because it’s incredibly intuitive and simple.

Hostinger is built with its customers in mind, offering great value for money at super-fast speeds. Whether you’re hosting a WordPress website, Joomla website, or eCommerce store, their scalable solutions make it easy to upgrade alongside your growing website.

Whilst Hostinger only offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, in my own tests, I’ve found them to be a reliable and solid web host, with 100% uptime results on my test website. Server response times are super fast, and daily backups are free for Business plan users.

Pros:

• Low prices
• 99.9% uptime guarantee
• Intuitive control panel
• Ideal for beginners

Cons:

• No phone support

SiteGround is a reliable Linux web host offering advanced security features and blazing-fast speeds. Regardless of the type of website you’re hosting, you’ll be safe in the knowledge that SiteGround offer a solid uptime guarantee and fast server response times.

Recently, SiteGround hiked their introductory prices, which has caused concern for some people. However, they are one of my favourite web hosts in many categories, because what they offer is incredible value for money.

Their StartUp plan may be limited on storage, but it does come with a free SSL certificate and access to their in-house developed software, alongside a free CloudFlare CDN.

If speed is a priority for your blog, small business website, or online store, SiteGround will not let you down. They make the most of the latest technologies to bring you ultra-fast websites and easy site management.

Pros:

• Plenty of free features
• Fast server response times
• Solid uptime (100% in my experience)
• Hot on security

Cons:

• Expensive in comparison to other hosts

BlueHost is an overall great hosting provider. However, it’s making really comes from WordPress hosting. BlueHost is one of WordPress’ recommended hosts, offering 1-click installs, automatic updates, and plenty of helpful features to make your Linux hosting journey a good one.

When it comes to reliability, BlueHost certainly hold their own, especially up against SiteGround. If you check out my BlueHost review, you’ll see how well they scored in terms of uptime and server response time.

Whilst BlueHost isn’t the cheapest hosting provider around, they certainly aren’t the most expensive. I’d put them pretty much bang in the middle, especially when you consider value for money.

I’ve personally found with BlueHost, if I encounter any issues, they are there to support me. You can contact BlueHost via live chat, email, or telephone, where someone is on hand 24/7.

Pros:

• Reliable web hosting
• Recommended by WordPress
• Easy to use and setup
• Free features like SSL certificate

Cons:

• Minimum 1-year sign up and expensive renewal

HostGator is a wise choice for Linux hosting if you want a reliable host who offers plenty of room to grow. They offer plenty of hosting options and plans so if your website or business expands, there are scalable choices so you won’t have to switch provider.

HostGator offer a 99.99% uptime guarantee, which is very generous and reassuring. In theory, if you want a solid host with a decent uptime, HostGator is one to consider. Whilst other hosts may perform just as well or better in this area, a high uptime guarantee is one to look out for.

If you sign up for an annual plan with HostGator, you’ll get a free domain. Included in all plans is a free SSL certificate, and plenty of storage and bandwidth to ensure your website gets the most out of its features and resources.

Moving to HostGator from another web host? No problem! HostGator offer free migrations in most cases, saving you time and money. Also, if you’re concerned about the environment, HostGator is one of the greenest web hosts on our list.

Pros:

• Solid uptime guarantee
• Cheap introductory prices
• Well-known and reliable web host
• 24/7 customer support

Cons:

• Renewals can be expensive and prices are a little less transparent than other providers

InMotion’s shared and VPS Linux hosting plans are pretty impressive. They offer a generous set of features along with expert staff to help you if you have any questions or queries.

Not many web hosts offer a 90-day money-back guarantee like InMotion, which says something about their confidence in their services. InMotion’s shared hosting plans include a free domain, plenty of fast SSD storage, and unlimited bandwidth.

If you’re considering hosting a small website or even a small business, InMotion’s plans are a great choice. Though they are a little pricier than other web hosts, I believe they offer great value for money.

Each plan includes a free SSL certificate, at least 10+ email addresses, security suite and marketing tools. You’ll also have access to free 1-click installs for your favourite software and apps, and a free drag and drop builder with custom layouts within WordPress.

Pros:

• Great value for money
• Lots of decent free features
• Free domain and SSL
• 90-day money-back guarantee

Cons:

• Plans are more expensive
• Uptime isn’t as great as other hosts

A2 Hosting is one of the few web hosts that offer both Linux and Windows hosting. There’s a range of products to choose from too, so if you want to upgrade from shared hosting at any point, there are plenty of options and room to grow.

Although here we are focussing on shared hosting, A2’s cloud hosting is really worth a mention. If for any reason you don’t get on with A2’s hosting, they offer an anytime money-back guarantee which is absolutely fab. In fact, I believe they are the only web host to offer this.

If you’re transferring your site over from another provider, A2 Hosting offers free migrations. They’ll transfer all of your website files for free without any disruption or downtime.

Whilst A2’s customer support is good, its shared hosting plans feel a little lacklustre. I’ve had a couple of issues with my test websites and didn’t get a free domain when I signed up, but I suppose it could be worse.

Pros:

• Average pricing
• Turbo Boost options offer higher speeds
• Cloud hosting is really brilliant

Cons:

• You’ll need to pay more to get Turbo Boost
• Whilst phone support was good, live chat wasn’t as great

iPage’s Linux hosting is dirt cheap, but this can sometimes come at a cost of reduced speeds. If you’re looking for cheap web hosting, iPage’s all-in-one plan can certainly help, though I wouldn’t recommend it for eCommerce sites or online stores.

Whilst iPage does offer a lot of freebies, I don’t feel that they can all be made use of. Unlimited resources are appealing, but if you want solid and powerful hosting, I’d recommend spending a little more and considering another host like SiteGround.

However, if you want to host a small website or personal blog, you can’t go too far wrong with iPage, if speed isn’t your deciding factor. iPage’s support is also strong, especially considering the price you pay.

iPage’s plans aren’t the most powerful on the market. My test website in the U.K. currently gets an average server response speed of 700ms which is quite poor, however, if you just want to host a simple site, they are a cheap alternative.

Pros:

• One plan at one price
• Unlimited storage and bandwidth
• Unlimited email accounts

Cons:

• Extras get added on at checkout and cost more
• Not recommended for larger websites

DreamHost’s Linux hosting plans include unlimited traffic, bandwidth, and fast SSD storage, so they are a great choice for new websites, personal blogs, and WordPress sites.

The plans are reasonably priced and quite generous in terms of features in some areas. However, you’ll need to pay extra for email accounts and storage, which I find pretty frustrating as many hosts include email hosting for free.

DreamHost is another recommended WordPress host, so this is really their talking point. WordPress comes pre-installed on their shared servers, along with WP website builder and free automated WordPress migrations.

However, if you need to contact DreamHost for support, you’re going to struggle. Their ticketing system is really the only way to get hold of them, which is annoying if you have an urgent query.

Pros:

• Unlimited bandwidth and traffic
• Fast SSD storage
• Great for WordPress hosting

Cons:

• Emails cost extra
• Support is underwhelming

GreenGeek’s Linux hosting is reliable and secure, whilst offering an eco-friendly alternative. Shared hosting plans are reasonably priced and included unlimited storage, bandwidth, and come with plenty of free extras.

All shared plans include a free SSL certificate, free domain name, free nightly backups, free CDN, unlimited email accounts, unlimited databases, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Whilst GreenGeek’s plans sound good on the surface, they don’t pack much power behind their servers. My test website often gets a server response time of over 800ms which isn’t fast at all. In fact, Google would probably penalise my SEO efforts because of how slow my website is.

However, if you plan to host a small website or personal blog and are conscious of the environment, GreenGeeks is an option to consider if you don’t mind too much about speed and performance.

Pros:

• Eco-friendly web host
• Unlimited storage and bandwidth
• Lots of freebies

Cons:

• Not ideal for larger websites
• Slow server response speeds

GoDaddy offers multiple services in the hosting realm, from domains to hosting, email hosting to website builders. Most people have probably heard of GoDaddy, but do they really live up to their name?

GoDaddy’s Linux shared hosting plans include the essential freebies like a free domain name if you sign up annually, Office 365 email, and unmetered bandwidth. However, you won’t get the luxury of a free SSL certificate or more processing power without signing up for a more expensive plan.

Whilst GoDaddy is reliable, they certainly aren’t anything to shout about in my opinion. Their server response times are a little underwhelming, scoring an average of 584ms in a 24-hour period.

However, if you want to host your small or personal website with a well-known name in the hosting industry and don’t really mind too much about the free extras other hosts offer, then they may be worth considering.

Pros:

• Free domain name on annual plan
• 99.9% uptime guarantee
• 24/7/365 customer support

Cons:

• Recommended for beginners
• Server response time is slower than average