15 Best SSH Hosting Providers (2024)

Best Ssh Hosting

If you want secure remote access to your server, you’ll need the best SSH hosting provider. These web hosts enable remote access to your server so you can execute changes safely and securely.

Take a peek at our top recommended providers for shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting with secure shell access.

Best Cheap SSH Hosting

Shared hosting (as in, cheap hosting) typically doesn’t come with SSH access enabled because most shared hosting plan customers don’t require shell access to manage their websites. But we found a few hosts that allow shared customers to establish an SSH connection with their server.

To get started, your web host may require you to unlock SSH authentication from your web hosting control panel. If so, you can contact your provider’s customer service department to help you enable the SSH protocol.

These hosts offer a huge advantage for users who need shell access on a budget. But just because the prices are low doesn’t mean you’re sacrificing quality. The best shared hosting plans include a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and 24/7 live chat support.

Take a look at these providers to see if you can find a hosting service right for you:

1. HostGator.com

HostGator Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.29

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  • Host up to unlimited websites on a single plan
  • FREE SSL certificate included on all plans
  • Unlimited bandwidth & email addresses
  • 1-click WordPress installs & FREE blog tools
  • Get 77% OFF by buying 36 months upfront
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel, CTO and Contributing Expert

Ryan began developing websites in the late ’90s and has personally tested just about every web host and cloud platform worth trying on the market today. With a masters degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida, he leverages his extensive knowledge of hardware, software, and their engineering relationship to inform HostingAdvice readers of the technical implications of their hosting choices. Ryan’s subject matter expertise includes, but is not limited to, WordPress, cloud infrastructure management, product UI/UX design, and popular web development languages such as JavaScript and PHP.

(HostingAdvice.com): HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price. The company offers unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth, plus one-click installs of popular open-source projects, in addition to a 99. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
30 days 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD FREE (1 year) 4 minutes

2. InMotionHosting.com

InMotion Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.24

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  • FREE BoldGrid site builder and templates
  • FREE website, domain, and cPanel migrations
  • SSD storage makes your site load up to 20x faster
  • Security suite includes SSL and hack protection
  • Unlimited bandwidth and email accounts
  • Get started on InMotion now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher, Contributing Expert

PJ is a professional web developer with more than 20 years of experience. His background began with writing small web applications using Perl, PHP, and MySQL in 1998. He has well-rounded experience with all aspects of web development, from server and database configuration to scripting, styling, design, and SEO.

(HostingAdvice.com): InMotion Hosting offers an excellent business-class shared hosting plan — with a price tag lower than several other budget hosts. For the IT crowd in the audience, you’ll appreciate SSH access, as well as support for PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python, WP-CLI, and other popular languages. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
90 days 100 GB SSD – Unlimited SSD FREE (1 year) 5 minutes

3. Hosting.com

Hosting.com Review

Monthly Starting Price $1.99

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  • Free Cloudflare CDN and SSD speed boost
  • Optimized caching and 1-click installs
  • Unlimited email, domains, and databases
  • Advanced security and free HackScan
  • 24/7 support via phone, chat & tickets
  • Get started on hosting.com now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson, Contributing Expert

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who’s contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master’s degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

(HostingAdvice.com): There are plenty of excellent cPanel shared hosting providers out there, so what sets hosting. com apart from the rest. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
30 days 10 GB SSD – Unlimited SSD New or Transfer 4 minutes

4. InterServer.net

InterServer Review

Monthly Starting Price $2.50

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  • $0.01 first month (coupon code HOSTINGADV)
  • $2.50/month after. No contracts or increases
  • Unlimited storage space, data transfers, and email
  • Register or transfer domains for less than $10
  • 99.9% uptime and price-lock guarantee
  • Get started on InterServer now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations’ products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world’s top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): It’s hard to argue with a shared hosting plan that includes unlimited storage, bandwidth, websites, and email — but shared hosting is a crowded industry that turns on name recognition, reputation, and bargain-basement prices. InterServer outperforms some of our higher-rated hosts, but we understand that many first-time site owners are laser-focused on finding the lowest costs. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
30 days Unlimited SSD New or Transfer 4 minutes

Best SSH VPS Hosting

In contrast to a shared hosting plan, VPS hosting has root capabilities automatically, meaning you don’t need to configure any settings in cPanel to unlock an SSH session.

Users that require a VPS plan get all the benefits of a scalable virtual private server without the high costs of a dedicated server. A VPS plan from a reputable web host includes lightning-fast SSD storage, several operating system options, and a dedicated IP address.

Check out some of these top providers to find a suitable virtual private server:

5. Hostinger.com

Hostinger Review

Monthly Starting Price $4.49

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  • NVMe SSD storage and 1GB network speed
  • Automatic weekly backups and Kodee AI assistant 
  • FREE dedicated IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
  • Custom control panel for reboots and OS installs
  • 1-click operating system template and API access
  • HostingAdvice readers enjoy more than 50% off
  • Get started on Hostinger now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations’ products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world’s top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): Hostinger’s laser focus on providing affordable hosting solutions shines brightest with the company’s VPS packages. The company provides four different virtual server plans, including one that costs less than $5. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
6 minutes 50 GB NVMe – 400 GB NVMe 1 – 8 cores 4 GB – 32 GB

6. Hosting.com

Hosting.com Review

Monthly Starting Price $4.99

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  • Turbo server & cache options for faster page loads
  • Well-built plans starting with 25GB SSD
  • FREE CDN plus auto-installs with Softaculous
  • Multilingual support and up to unlimited databases
  • Enhanced security with and daily kernel updates
  • Get started on hosting.com now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson, Contributing Expert

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who’s contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master’s degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

(HostingAdvice.com): While hosting. com’s turbocharged shared hosting platform gives site owners ample room to grow, the company’s tech prowess is on full display with its portfolio of VPS options. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
7 minutes 20 GB SSD – 450 GB SSD 1 – 10 cores 1 GB – 32 GB

7. ScalaHosting.com

ScalaHosting Review

Monthly Starting Price $12.71

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  • Fully managed VPS with cloud performance
  • FREE site migration executed by experts
  • NVMe SSD storage and unmetered bandwidth
  • Anytime unconditional money-back guarantee
  • HostingAdvice readers get 73% off the first term
  • Get started on ScalaHosting now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations’ products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world’s top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): ScalaHosting particularly stands out for its portfolio of cloud VPS solutions. Site owners will naturally find the best deals with hosting providers that cater to an audience of “cheap hosting” shoppers. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
6 minutes 50 GB SSD – 200 GB SSD 2 – 12 cores 4 GB – 24 GB

8. AccuWebHosting.com

AccuWebHosting Review

Monthly Starting Price $7.99

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  • Same price for Windows or Linux OS
  • FREE daily backups
  • SSD or cloud storage upgrades
  • Full root access
  • Pre-configured software firewall
  • Get started on AccuWebHosting.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations’ products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world’s top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): The signature service of AccuWebHosting, the company’s VPS plans come in all shapes, sizes, and operating systems. Blending quality and affordability, AccuWebHosting plans start at less than $10 per month — roughly half of what you’ll find elsewhere. Go to full review »

Money Back Guarantee Disk Space Domain Name Setup Time
7 days 40 GB – 125 GB New or Transfer 6 minutes

9. Bluehost.com

Bluehost Review

Monthly Starting Price $46.99

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  • Seamless migration from any Bluehost shared hosting plan
  • Root access and easy multi-server management
  • Ample RAID-1 storage and tons of bandwidth
  • Each plan gets at least 3 dedicated IP addresses
  • cPanel and WHM with root access
  • Get started on Bluehost now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel, CTO and Contributing Expert

Ryan began developing websites in the late ’90s and has personally tested just about every web host and cloud platform worth trying on the market today. With a masters degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida, he leverages his extensive knowledge of hardware, software, and their engineering relationship to inform HostingAdvice readers of the technical implications of their hosting choices. Ryan’s subject matter expertise includes, but is not limited to, WordPress, cloud infrastructure management, product UI/UX design, and popular web development languages such as JavaScript and PHP.

(HostingAdvice.com): We love recommending Bluehost for its lifetime customer growth potential, meaning you can start with shared hosting and seamlessly scale to VPS hosting plans and beyond. The price versus performance is pretty unbeatable in the virtual hosting space, and Bluehost’s engineering team will kick off the customer relationship by instantly provisioning your server. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
6 minutes 120 GB SSD – 240 GB SSD 2 – 4 cores 2 GB – 8 GB

Best SSH Dedicated Server Hosting

A dedicated server is another type of hosting plan that comes with root SSH connection by default. As with VPS hosting, you don’t need to configure any special settings to unlock SSH session capabilities.

Dedicated servers give you enhanced performance and security compared to shared and VPS hosting. And since you have the machine all to yourself, you can customize your environment to your liking. Whether you have Windows or Linux web hosting, SSH is a valuable tool in a systems administrator’s toolkit.

Dedicated servers come in many sizes and flavors. A quality web host may offer a range of configurations, such as a choice of the operating system, a dedicated IP address, and ample SSD storage.

Check out some of our favorite dedicated hosting plans below:

10. LiquidWeb.com

Liquid Web Review

Monthly Starting Price $44.00

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  • Linux or Windows with choice of 3 control panels
  • 100% network and power uptime guarantees
  • Custom configurations and instant provisioning
  • Auto-migrations, backups, and real-time monitoring
  • Block/object storage and load balancer add-ons
  • Get started on Liquid Web now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson, Contributing Expert

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who’s contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master’s degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

(HostingAdvice.com): Liquid Web’s strong suit is managed dedicated server hosting. The company owns and operates five state-of-the-art datacenters in the US and Europe works tirelessly to build and maintain custom solutions for added performance and security. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
8 minutes 480 GB SSD – 960 GB SSD (+ 2 TB SATA) 4 – 16 cores 16 GB – 64 GB

11. InMotionHosting.com

InMotion Review

Monthly Starting Price $35.00

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  • Bare-metal or managed servers available
  • 1-on-1 time with a server administrator
  • 99.99% uptime via Smart Routing™ technology
  • Tier 1 network with redundant bandwidth
  • SSH root access and DDoS protection on all servers
  • Upgrade for cPanel, migration, and auto backups
  • Get started on InMotion now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher

PJ Fancher, Contributing Expert

PJ is a professional web developer with more than 20 years of experience. His background began with writing small web applications using Perl, PHP, and MySQL in 1998. He has well-rounded experience with all aspects of web development, from server and database configuration to scripting, styling, design, and SEO.

(HostingAdvice.com): InMotion Hosting offers amazingly fast and reliable dedicated hosting on market-leading hardware — making it an easy choice for anyone seeking a premium dedicated server host. From free SSDs to a fanatical support team, InMotion has all the bases covered for both small-scale and large-scale operations. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
7 minutes 1 TB SSD – 3.2 TB SSD 12 – 32 cores 192 GB DDR4 – 512 GB DDR4

12. HostGator.com

HostGator Review

Monthly Starting Price $141.19

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  • Linux or Windows servers available
  • HDD or SSD storage plus unmetered bandwidth
  • Fully redundant network and datacenter
  • SSH access and support for multiple languages
  • Managed or semi-managed solutions
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel

Ryan Frankel, CTO and Contributing Expert

Ryan began developing websites in the late ’90s and has personally tested just about every web host and cloud platform worth trying on the market today. With a masters degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida, he leverages his extensive knowledge of hardware, software, and their engineering relationship to inform HostingAdvice readers of the technical implications of their hosting choices. Ryan’s subject matter expertise includes, but is not limited to, WordPress, cloud infrastructure management, product UI/UX design, and popular web development languages such as JavaScript and PHP.

(HostingAdvice.com): Founded in 2002, HostGator is one of the largest web hosts with a long lineage of dedicated server hosting. With updated hardware, including Intel Xeon Quad-core processors and a boatload of RAM, HostGator balances performance, quality web hosting service, and competitive pricing. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
6 minutes 512 GB SSD – 2 TB HDD 4 – 8 cores 8 GB – 30 GB

Best SSH Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting offers many advantages to users who need ultimate scalability and redundancy. The hosting services give customers the best cloud-based performance and customer service your money can buy.

Check out our full reviews to see why a hosting plan from these favorites is perfect for secure shell access:

13. Kamatera.com

Kamatera review

Monthly Starting Price $4.00

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  • Ultimate scalability with limitless customizations
  • Create and deploy servers in 60 seconds
  • Easily add load balancers and firewalls
  • Stellar 99.95% uptime guarantee
  • Sign up today for a 30-day FREE trial
  • Get started on Kamatera now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim, Contributing Expert

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations’ products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world’s top hosting providers.

(HostingAdvice.com): Starting with more than 60 operating system images to choose from, Kamatera is a strong option for developers who know exactly what environment works best for their project. Customize your cloud server as needed and deploy in less than a minute. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
5 minutes 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD 1 – 32 cores 1 GB – 128 GB

14. Cloudways.com

Cloudways review

Monthly Starting Price $6.60

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  • Managed cloud hosting with 24/7/365 monitoring
  • Choose from 5 popular cloud providers
  • Auto-healing cloud servers with FREE backups
  • 3-day free trial with no credit card required
  • Host unlimited apps with no contract lock-in
  • Get started on Cloudways now.
Our Expert’s Review ★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson, Contributing Expert

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who’s contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master’s degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

(HostingAdvice.com): If you can’t beat the cloud provider behemoths, offer their infrastructure as a service. Cloudways gives customers their choice of cloud platform: AWS, Google, Linode, Digital Ocean, or Vultr. Go to full review »

Setup Time Disk Space CPU RAM
8 minutes 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD 1 – 96 cores 1 GB – 384 GB

15. Google Cloud Platform

The Google Cloud Platform comes with SSH authentication pre-enabled with Linux web hosting. But Windows server customers need to configure the settings, which is done with the Compute Engine.

What Is SSH?

Secure shell access, or SSH for short, enables systems administrators to get safe, remote server access to make changes. The SSH protocol encrypts communication between you and your remote server through a terminal or an SSH client, such as PuTTY.

SSH uses several types of encryption to secure your communication with the server: asymmetrical encryption, symmetrical encryption, and hashing.

secure shell access with computers and cloud servers
SSH lets you access your server remotely through one of three encryption methods.

Symmetrical encryption occurs when both the host (your server) and the client (you) use one secret key to establish an SSH connection. The secret key is never transmitted between the client and the host. Instead, it’s derived from a key exchange algorithm.

Asymmetrical encryption uses two keys instead of one. An individual can use a public key to encrypt a message, which is then decrypted by the recipient using a private key. This process happens automatically, and you don’t need to take any action to verify the key.

Hashing is the final type of SSH encryption. This encryption method uses a hashing algorithm to generate a string, which must be validated by the receiving machine.

Whether you use an SSH key or hashing to secure your access, you can be confident your connection is safe.

An SSH connection benefits site owners in several ways. Users get secure administrative access to their remote server without the need for usernames and passwords. Plus, its underlying encryption technology mitigates the security risks associated with password-related authentication.

Secure shell also covers a range of operating systems, meaning it works if you have a MacOS, Linux, or Windows server.

What Is an SSH Client?

You can establish secure remote access to your server with SSH keys or hashing. But how do you initiate SSH authentication? The first way is to use your operating system’s terminal. In this method, you type text-based commands into the terminal screen to connect and execute changes on your server.

Secure file transfer protocol with icons
PuTTY and FileZilla are two commonly used SSH/SFTP clients.

But the second method, using an SSH client, is more user-friendly. An SSH client, also called an SFTP client (secure file transfer protocol), is a software program that lets you establish a connection using a graphical user interface.

PuTTY is a popular SSH/SFTP client that helps users conduct secure file transfers to and from the SFTP server.

Choosing the Best SSH Hosting for You

Once you confirm your hosting provider offers SSH, your choice boils down to the resources and level of control you need. Small businesses and individuals will be happy with a shared hosting plan.

But if you need bandwidth for more than 10,000 monthly visitors, a virtual private server is a safer bet to handle your website’s traffic.

Still, enterprises and larger businesses get the most out of dedicated hosting plans. These environments are best for customers who want full root access to configure their SSH server as they see fit.

Once you decide which server type is right for you, you’re well on your way to establishing a remote computer connection.

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