13+ Cheapest Website Hosting Plans (April 2024)

Everyone wants hosting at rock-bottom prices. In the past, I’ve tried out some of the cheapest website hosting plans to see just how little I can spend on hosting without hurting site performance and security.

I’ve even dabbled in the “free hosting” sites that often end up selling your data or serving up ads. Luckily, however, my adventures in the lowest parts of the web hosting world have revealed some absolute gems. I’m talking about legitimate web hosting that starts at $1 per month and web hosting that allows you to cut even more costs with bonuses, including free domain names, free SSL certificates, and free email addresses.

When you’re ready to get serious about using a reliable web host, look at my compilation of the cheapest website hosting plans below. I’ve tested them all and found that although some hosts have a long list of expensive plans, they also market one or two “value” plans for new customers to save big for the first few years. You can find the best cheap web hosting service that’s reputable, reliable, and secure listed below.

I’ll start with the cheapest website hosting plan available on the market — at least from a tried-and-true hosting company. It’s IONOS, and the hosting plan starts at just $1.00 per month. You only pay that much for that first year of hosting, and that gets you everything from the popular IONOS Plus plan.

That means unlimited websites, storage, and databases, along with a professional email address to go with your domain name. On top of that, the $1.00 per month plan saves you more money with a free Wildcard SSL certificate, daily backup and recovery, and a free domain for one year.

IONOS, known for its enhanced CPU and MEM resources, delivers what I would consider a wonderful opportunity for all website owners; you gain access to a powerful shared hosting plan for an incredibly low cost. After the promotional period ends, pricing goes up to $12 per month, but you’re able to downgrade to a cheaper plan if needed.

What’s great about the $1.00 per month plan is that IONOS offers this for several types of hosting. You can choose the standard shared hosting package or sign up for a WordPress hosting plan at the same price. With all that, it’s hard to argue against why I consider IONOS to be the cheapest website hosting option around.

Not far behind IONOS is Web.com. The hosting provider not only provides a $1.95 per month plan, but it also includes an AI-powered website builder, a free SSL certificate for one month, and professional email for three free months. I’m impressed that domain privacy also comes with Web.com plans for free, and that’s for an entire year.

Web.com functions as more of a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) website builder, where you receive an all-in-one package of hosting, a website builder, a domain, and everything you need to construct an operational website.

As for the renewal price, the $1.95 per month plan only stays that way for a month. It renews at $19.99 per month. That’s much higher than what I’d consider a budget-friendly hosting option, but again, you’re getting a lot more than a standard web host.

Not to mention, Web.com sells cheaper plans once the renewal period comes around. You could, for example, opt for a one-year billing period that only costs $4.95 per month. Regardless of your choice, I know Web.com has something for everyone. You can run an online store, sell on marketplaces, or create a simple blog with a streamlined site builder that beginners can handle.

The shared hosting plans from InMotion sell for as low as $2.29 per month. That makes it a cost-effective solution for small businesses to launch websites with ease. During my testing, I’ve discovered more, though: InMotion provides unmatched speeds and performance with these cheap plans.

Take the Core plan, for example. InMotion gives you that low monthly price for up to three years (depending on your billing), and that plan supports two websites — eliminating the cost of running another website — and a free SSL certificate.

InMotion Hosting also provides unlimited bandwidth, SSD storage, and at least 10 email addresses, depending on your plan. I also enjoy the security suite, which includes protection essentials like automated backups, DDoS security, and malware protection.

For such a low price, I initially assumed InMotion would mainly cater to beginners, but that’s not the case. It has a developer-friendly experience, too, boasting support for GIT version control, Python, Node.js, and Ruby.

I recommend Hostinger as one of the cheapest website hosting options for those interested in a dashboard that supports 100 websites. That may sound impossible, considering the fact that few competitors offer the same deal, but it’s true. Hostinger has plans for as low as $2.49 per month, and they let you create and run up to 100 websites.

A cheap host like this — one that allows you to create so many websites — works wonders for those with website networks or developers creating sites for multiple clients. I can also see the potential for an entrepreneur who may need to launch multiple online stores and discontinue some to make way for the successful ones.

Besides offering some of the cheapest website hosting on the market, Hostinger sweetens the pot with unlimited bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and weekly backups to protect your site. The lower plans don’t get a free CDN or dedicated IP address, but users can always upgrade to a slightly higher plan for those.

I’d also like to point out Hostinger’s user-friendliness for building quick, beautiful websites. Not only does Hostinger have a managed WordPress element — one-click WordPress installation, WordPress Multisite, and automated updates — but it also comes with a powerful website builder.

HostArmada continues to impress me with its affordable hosting plans, most notably the one that starts at $2.49 per month. It’s for a shared hosting experience, but you also have the option to sign up for a WordPress hosting option.

Keep in mind that the cheaper plans (between $2.49 and $2.99 per month) require you to sign up for annual or biannual billing. The good news is that those low monthly prices continue for as long as you’re a customer.

I like this cheap hosting plan from HostArmada for small businesses with one website since the plan only supports one site. However, you can always upgrade to the next pricing package for $4.11 per month, which offers unlimited websites.

As for other bonuses that come with the $2.49 per month plan, HostArmada gives you free daily backups, a free SSL certificate, and security tools like malware removal and scanning. You even receive a free drag-and-drop website builder for a no-code experience.

My experience with DreamHost shows me it’s a reputable host made for small businesses with the need for intuitive website-building tools. Let’s start with its WordPress website builder. Very few hosts have such a sleek drag-and-drop builder, and it’s all done without coding.

That website builder also comes with templates for building sites quickly. Pair that with the WordPress installer to get WordPress up and running in minutes, or turn to the free WordPress migration if you already run a site elsewhere.

I consider DreamHost one of the best and cheapest WordPress hosting services today. To sweeten the deal, DreamHost throws in freebies, including an SSL certificate and domain name. I’d prefer DreamHost to include an email address, too, but you have to pay an extra fee for that.

Perhaps my favorite part about DreamHost is its affordable scaling process. The next shared hosting plan costs a few dollars more, but you can keep it virtually the same price if you sign up for a yearly plan. You might even consider DreamHost’s more advanced plans, such as VPS hosting or dedicated servers.

HostGator sells dedicated server plans, WordPress hosting, and VPS hosting, but the true value lies in its shared hosting. With monthly plans for less than $3, users receive hosting for one website, unmetered bandwidth, and pre-installed WordPress.

The malware scanning protects your website, while the free SSL ensures data security. I also like HostGator for users who want a free domain for the first year.

All HostGator plans come with SSD storage. That speeds up your website and works well with the 99% uptime guarantee from HostGator (to ensure your site remains reliable). With its built-in eCommerce tools, I can safely recommend HostGator for selling goods and services through an online store.

HostGator also comes in handy for just about any type of small business website or blog. The cPanel access gives you stronger control of the server environment, while the 24/7 customer service lets you speak with someone when issues arise.

ScalaHosting sets its starting prices at less than $3 per month, which ensures website owners keep the budget under control. Those lower prices mainly come with shared hosting. You can also upgrade to WordPress or managed cloud VPS hosting if needed.

Your experience with ScalaHosting begins by using its free website migration. After that, you receive a one-website shared hosting plan with unmetered bandwidth and unlimited emails. The databases for your website remain uncapped as well.

One reason I really enjoy ScalaHosting is its daily offsite backups. These store your website files in a location away from the server, enabling you to focus on your business while the backups run in the background.

Overall, it’s hard to argue against ScalaHosting for smaller business websites. It has a low price, NVMe SSD storage, and solid security practices to keep your site safe. ScalaHosting even offers an intuitive hosting management portal called SPanel for everything from file management to email creation.

I consider Bluehost one of the more consistently cheap website hosts for small businesses, bloggers, and any small to mid-sized website on a budget. Its shared hosting delivers the best savings with sub-$3 monthly rates.

In my experience, Bluehost makes things easy for the non-technical site owner. You pay a small fee per month and receive managed WordPress hosting, a one-click WordPress installation, and enough server resources to support a small site.

Bluehost shared hosting comes with a free CDN and SSD storage, both of which improve performance. And the Bluehost customer support includes a chat box for the cheapest plan, while higher plans have phone support.

Upgrading as your business grows only takes a click of a button with Bluehost. After that, you still get some of the cheapest website hosting around, but that upgrade unveils access to things like domain privacy, malware scanning, and daily website backups.

I see HostPapa as one of the best web hosting services for a small business, mainly because it has cheap pricing and reliable shared and WordPress hosting. I’ve found HostPapa to be an excellent alternative to mainstream hosts like Bluehost and Hostinger, and it all comes down to simplicity.

HostPapa sells domains, website hosting, and email hosting, so it all gets merged into one dashboard for easy management. Its hosting, starting at $2.95 per month, includes email hosting, and you can integrate with more than 400 business apps.

The HostPapa website builder works wonders for non-coding site owners, while the WordPress integration comes in handy for those used to the WordPress interface. The cheapest plan from HostPapa provides an SSL certificate, a free domain, and support for one website.

Although the cheapest HostPapa plan lacks website staging, you can always upgrade your shared hosting for access to that. Some other core features to get excited about include a cPanel dashboard, Cloudflare support, and 24/7 customer support.

I suggest all those who want an eco-friendly hosting solution check out GreenGeeks. It’s cheap, easy to understand the dashboard, and built using renewable energy sources to send power back to the grid.

With the low-cost plan, users can rest easy knowing a portion of their money goes toward planting trees and running a website with energy-matching programs. The hosting is solid, too, with enough web storage, performance, and transfer rates to support startup websites and blogs.

Scaling comes easy as GreenGeeks offers several improved shared hosting plans along with its VPS and WordPress hosting. You also save money with features like a free CDN, nightly backups, and a free domain name for the first year.

It’s hard for me to wrap my head around this, but the cheap plan from GreenGeeks actually includes managed WordPress elements. Many hosts charge extra for the automated updates and housekeeping, but GreenGeeks keeps it cheap while still offering those services.

Although SiteGround sells WordPress hosting and cloud hosting, its most affordable pricing plan is shared hosting. With a starting price of $2.99 per month, SiteGround’s shared hosting grants support for one website and a managed WordPress experience.

The free features include an SSL certificate, email address, email migrator, domain name, and content delivery network (CDN). You can upgrade for a few bucks to run unlimited websites from one dashboard (and for features like staging and on-demand backup copies).

For those familiar with WordPress or Weebly, SiteGround should make sense for you. It’s affordable and allows you to pick between the two website builders. Both Weebly and WordPress have many templates to choose from, and you can launch a website within seconds using both platforms.

I’d also recommend SiteGround for smaller eCommerce stores, considering you can install a copy of just about any type of shopping cart, including Magento, WooCommerce, and Easy Digital Downloads.

With everything from VPS hosting to dedicated server options, you can’t go wrong with A2 Hosting. But you’ll find the cheapest hosting in the shared hosting category. With plans as low as $2.99 per month and Turbocharged server speeds, you should always consider A2 Hosting when looking for a deal.

Perfect for small businesses, blogs, and simple web development projects, the shared plans from A2 Hosting include a free site migration along with a significant amount of SSD storage. The cheapest plan supports one website, but a small upgrade increases that to unlimited sites.

My experience with A2 Hosting began when I wanted an affordable domain name, but I quickly realized its potential as a high-speed, affordable web host. And that’s thanks to its unlimited transfer speeds, multiple data center options, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

On top of that, users receive a website staging portal to test a site before publication. Other free elements include an SSL certificate, website builder, and cPanel control panel. The hosting is inexpensive already, but the free add-ons make it even more valuable.

The sign-up promotions from AccuWebHosting bring its shared hosting costs down to as low as $3.52 per month. This delivers a feature-rich Linux hosting plan with support for one website and one cPanel account. If, however, you want to upgrade, the slightly higher-priced plans support unlimited websites.

While researching and testing out AccuWebHosting, I discovered a myriad of free features in its cheapest hosting plans. You get free daily backups, a caching plugin, free website migrations, and control over your hosting through the cPanel.

The freebies don’t end there. AccuWebHosting is packed with security features for malware scanning, antivirus, and DDoS protection. There’s also a free SSL certificate and a redundant server configuration to support the main server.

I’ve found AccuWebHosting to be one of the cheapest website hosting options around, and I like it most for those who want one-click installation buttons — whether that’s for adding WordPress, Drupal, or a databasing software.

Whenever I host a site with GoDaddy, I know I’m getting a streamlined domain acquisition process, a simple dashboard for building a website (with WordPress or the GoDaddy website builder), and speedy servers in one of GoDaddy’s global data centers. It’s simply a bonus that GoDaddy is such a cheap hosting provider.

Starting at $8.99 per month, GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans provide several features that make it seem like a semi-managed hosting experience. For example, you get free automated site backups. GoDaddy’s shared hosting also comes with DDoS protection and network security.

Perhaps my favorite part of GoDaddy is its simple scalability for small businesses and content marketers, seeing as how you can upgrade to a managed WordPress hosting plan or even opt for a virtual private server. A VPS gets you daily backups, full root access, and optional control panels.

Going back to the cheaper plans, though, I’m confident in recommending the GoDaddy shared packages because they all have NVMe SSD storage. That type of storage allows for an all-around faster website. Is GoDaddy the cheapest website hosting? No, but it’s got quite the value.

Website hosting makes websites accessible to users on the internet.

Operated by web hosting companies (also called web hosts), website hosting is a service sold to businesses, individuals, developers, or anyone who wants to build and publish a website online. That service provides web server space to put your website files.

Each website hosting plan receives a literal, physical server (or a portion of a server) in a data center somewhere.

When someone wants to visit your website, they type in your domain name, which sends a request to your web host’s server.

As a reply, the server delivers the website and its content to the user’s browser. A wide variety of web hosting plans are available, including shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting.

The larger the website (or the more traffic it receives), the more server resources you need. You may also want additional control over the server or features to improve your day-to-day business workings.

I’ve put together a short breakdown of each website hosting category available and recommended the best host for each:

Best Shared Hosting: InMotion Hosting

Shared hosting is your first stop when looking for a website hosting plan. It’s cheap, simple, and appropriate for most small- to mid-sized websites. InMotion is my top shared hosting choice for a few reasons:

• You receive 20x the performance from its SSD storage packs
• There’s a free SSL certificate
• Customer support is available 24/7
• The pricing floats around $2 per month
• You get a free domain name for one year

Get started on InMotion Hosting >>

Best VPS Hosting: Kamatera

I consider VPS (virtual private server) hosting the natural next step for websites that require more server resources. A VPS hosting plan delivers a virtualized hosting experience for remote access.

You also receive a shared server segment that is never affected by other websites.

My choice for the best VPS hosting service is Kamatera. Here’s why:

• Flexible billing (monthly or hourly)
• Premium Intel CPUs for enhanced performance
• A cloud VPS for improved redundancy
• Managed hosting options
• Security and performance features like a firewall and load balancer

Get started on Kamatera >>

Best Dedicated Hosting: IONOS

Dedicated hosting delivers superior performance, control, and security for enterprise organizations or projects where security and performance are paramount (and the budget allows for it). Usually the most expensive type of hosting, it provides a dedicated server to the user, which they can control however they want.

A dedicated server from IONOS works wonders thanks to the following features:

• Security essentials like DDoS protection, RAID-1 storage, and automated backups
• Full API control
• Industry-leading AMD and Intel processors
• Unlimited web traffic
• Options for entry-level, business-class, and performance-focused servers

Get started on IONOS >>

Best WordPress Hosting: Bluehost

More often than not, “WordPress hosting” refers to a shared hosting service with pre-installed WordPress, and you may receive a managed hosting experience with automated WordPress updates.

I always turn to Bluehost to host a WordPress website. Here’s why:

• WordPress comes installed
• You get WordPress updates automatically
• WordPress.org recommends Bluehost as its host of choice
• There are dozens of free WordPress themes in the Bluehost Marketplace
• Bluehost offers 24/7 customer support

Get started on Bluehost >>

Shared hosting starts at around $2 per month. Shared hosting is surprisingly scalable; hosts like Bluehost let you upgrade to packages that cost around $10 per month.

However, these lower prices usually only last for the first year. Shared hosting after the promotional period can range from $5 to $30 per month.

VPS hosting‌ sells for anywhere from $2 per month (during the promotional period) to several thousand per month if your demand for SSD storage, RAM, and processing power reaches higher levels.

Dedicated servers are the most expensive hosting option, yet they provide the most control over your server. My dedicated server provider of choice, IONOS, starts its discounted dedicated hosting plans at around $32 per month.

That goes up to several thousand dollars, depending on your hosting provider and server requirements.

There are several ways to get free website hosting, but in reality, a web host that gives you hosting for free probably either sells your information, forces you to use an odd domain name, or does not give you complete ownership of the site.

Few free website hosts exist, and for good reason, it takes money to manage all those servers. If it’s completely free, the hosting company is making its money elsewhere.

A better solution to free web hosting involves signing up for a promotional period from a legitimate web host. This usually comes with several bonuses that help you save money: free domain names, free hosting trials, cheap web hosting service for a full year, free SSL certificates, and free email accounts.

Check out our favorite free web hosting sites for options that actually give you control of your website without selling you (potentially predatory) “free” hosting packages.

No. GoDaddy hosting costs at least $8.99 per month. That’s for shared hosting. GoDaddy doesn’t have any plan that gets the pricing down to $1 per month. If you’re interested in a $1 per month hosting plan, the closest web host I’ve found is IONOS, which offers a $1 per month hosting plan for a period of 12 months.

The $1 plan from IONOS grants you access to a shared hosting plan with unlimited websites, bandwidth, and databases. I’m also impressed with the money-saving potential of IONOS because of its free email accounts, free domain names, and free SSL certificates.

When compared to GoDaddy, IONOS helps you keep costs low for that first year. Even after that, the IONOS pricing only goes up to $12 per month, which is cheaper than similar GoDaddy plans.

Choosing a website hosting plan is crucial when setting up a website.

1. Evaluate your server type: First, evaluate your specific needs. A shared hosting plan might be sufficient if you’re running a small blog or personal website. If you plan on running a larger website or an eCommerce site, you might need a VPS or dedicated hosting plan to handle higher traffic and provide better security.
2. Decide on a budget: Your budget is also a significant consideration. While you don’t want to break the bank, remember that with hosting, you often get what you pay for.
3. Evaluate uptime guarantees and performance: Reliability and uptime are critical when choosing a hosting provider. You want a host that guarantees at least a 99.9% uptime.
4. Get a feel for customer service: Customer support is also important. Find a host that provides 24/7 support.

Other things to look for include the availability of a website builder if you’re not code-savvy, email features, and the ability to upgrade your plan as your site grows.

From my research and testing, IONOS offers — without a doubt — the cheapest website hosting you can find. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try out the others.

Web.com offers an affordable all-in-one site-building platform, while InMotion and Hostinger offer affordable promotions for shared hosting for small businesses.

I encourage you to avoid any hosts that claim “completely free hosting.” This type of hosting doesn’t really exist, but you can save a substantial amount of money with cheap promotional periods, signing up for long billing periods, and cutting costs with things like free domain names and website builders.

Good luck with your search for the cheapest website hosting!