Key Takeaways
HostingAdvice is back with its third round of the 2025 Web Developer Choice Awards.
The first two rounds focused on core reliability and scalability. This time, the focus is on customization and service measured across four categories: Best Reseller Hosting, Best Features and Options, Best for eCommerce, and Most Trusted Provider.
Winners were chosen from among 1,000 survey responses from verified developers who use these platforms themselves. The goal is simple: to continue highlighting the providers who deliver real value for developers. And yes, without affiliate bias or paid influence that typically clouds award programs.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
The Winners
Best for Reseller Hosting: InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting was chosen as the Best for Reseller Hosting by the masses. It’s one of the few mid-market providers that offers both managed reseller services with plenty of flexibility and freedom.
Its white-label cPanel, NVMe storage, and Web Host Manager setup makes it practically effortless to build a branded hosting business. And that, of course, is the core of reselling.
But it’s the dedicated IPs that are a major draw. Not every provider offers this: InMotion gives each client account its own internet address, a basic yet vital web stamp of approval.
Plans also include a free WHMCS license, domain reselling through eNomCentral, 20x faster NVMe SSD storage (compared to older SSDs/HDDs), and one-click installs through Softaculous.
Plus, novice resellers can rely on InMotion’s Launch Assist service for setup help (with a 90-day money-back guarantee if it doesn’t work out). Everything is also backed by 24/7 U.S.-based support.
InMotion Hosting did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Best Features and Options: Liquid Web
Liquid Web rises to the top as the chosen name for the host with the Best Features and Options. For such a broad and cutthroat category, it’s an impressive win. And of course, it’s one that’s rightfully earned.
Not many mid-level hosts offer what Liquid Web does. Its cloud platform offers everything from WordPress and WooCommerce to ASP.NET apps and HIPAA-compliant environments — a space typically reserved for the biggest names.
Developers get full root/SSH access, their choice of OS, staging environments, autoscaling resources, and Acronis disaster recovery. Its hosting stack also comes with APIs, Terraform for IaC, and a WHMCS plugin so deployment and infrastructure-as-a-code workflows are easy as pie.
“This recognition is especially meaningful because it comes directly from the developer community, the people who rely on our platforms every day to build, innovate, and grow,” said Liquid Web’s CTO, Ryan MacDonald.
Best for eCommerce: GoDaddy
Very few brands have grown up alongside the internet quite like GoDaddy. For 25 years, the company has been the backbone that has helped small businesses build and sell online. But even with SMBs at the forefront, developers are far from being left out.
Through its Developer Portal, GoDaddy offers APIs for everything from domain setup to anything you need to manage eCommerce. The Website Builder API even lets devs place its drag-and-drop builder directly into their own ecosystems.
Depending on the plan, GoDaddy can also handle plugin updates, backups, and security checks in bulk. That’s a major relief for agencies who manage several clients at once.
“The developer community sets high standards,” said GoDaddy Partners GTM Lead, Casey Rowland. “So being recognized for our eCommerce solutions really validates the focus we’ve put into building scalable tools that help businesses succeed online.”
Most Trusted Provider: hosting.com
Known as A2 Hosting before its World Host Group acquisition, hosting.com has become one of the most familiar names in developer circles.
And there’s a good reason why: hosting.com offers a healthy variety of server hosting options for Linux and Windows, from managed VPS to dedicated servers.
Building on its roots, hosting.com continues to deliver top-tier performance, with a guaranteed 99.9%+ uptime SLA. Its infrastructure runs on high-performance AMD EPYC CPUs, fast NVMe hosting on its in-house Turbo Servers (3x faster read/write speeds), and access to Anycast DNS.
Developers also get flexible tools, including WP Rocket for WordPress hosting, SSH access, staging environments, and multiple hosting types to fit different projects. cPanel is also available in most plans, even as the company rolled out its own native dashboard. It’s just one less thing for developers to worry about, and that’s always the goal.
“Speed and stability aren’t features — they’re foundations,” said hosting.com’s CEO, Seb de Lemos. “We’re honored to be recognized by developers who rely on hosting.com to keep their sites fast, secure, and always on.”
Only A Few More To Go
Congratulations are in order to InMotion Hosting, Liquid Web, GoDaddy, and hosting.com.
But there are still more winners to unveil: Over the next coming weeks, HostingAdvice will award 11 more providers developers handpicked across three more categories.
For those following along, you can explore the previous announcements (Reliability & Core Infrastructure winners and Developer-Friendly & Scalable Hosting winners) or visit the Web Developer Choice Awards homepage to see what’s coming next.
For those interested, the full methodology was published in August.
