Writer: Laura Bernheim
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Christina Lewis
Finding the most secure web hosting services can seem intimidating to many website owners, given that even many global corporations and Fortune 500 companies can’t seem to get it right.
Yahoo, Facebook, Marriott, and Equifax are just some of the businesses that have experienced among the largest data breaches in the 21st century, exposing the private data of millions of customers.
Following web hosting security best practices, such as regimented backups, monitoring, installing SSL certificates, and regularly scanning for malware, will get you started in the right direction, but there’s no substitute for a web hosting provider’s tech expertise and attention to cutting-edge innovations that protect your website and user data.
Best Shared Web Hosting Security
The good news, especially for first-time site owners, is that secure web hosting doesn’t have to be expensive. Nor is it reserved for high-traffic websites and elite companies with vast technical resources at their disposal.
In fact, many standard security tools are included for free with even the cheapest shared hosting plans.
Website security costs can be extremely small at the introductory levels of shared web hosting, with beginners able to take responsibility for creating strong passwords and updating their content management systems and plugins.
The best hosts, like the ones listed below, will provide security tools like free SSL certificates, automated backups, antivirus or malware scanning, and DDoS protection. Because hundreds of customers host their website on these shared servers, the providers take serious care when protecting your information.
Read our reviews for more information:
1. InMotionHosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.99
- High-quality hosting, no matter the format
- FREE SSD storage packs 20x the performance
- FREE SSL certificate and 24/7 support
- 1-click installs for WordPress and popular CMSes
- Get started with FREE website transfer service
- Get started on InMotion Hosting now.
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 |
2. A2Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.75
- 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 A2 Hosting now.
There are plenty of excellent cPanel shared hosting providers out there, so what sets A2 Hosting apart from the rest. Not only does the company offer a ton of features, but it has custom-built its packages for enhanced performance, speed, and security — putting your priorities above pricing. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 100 GB SSD – Unlimited SSD | New or Transfer | 4 minutes |
3. HostGator.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.29
- Get 77% off monthly pricing
- A perfect blend of price and performance
- Intuitive control panel with 1-click CMS installs
- Unlimited everything — from domains to databases
- Around-the-clock expert support
- Get started on HostGator now.
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 |
Most Secure Cloud Hosting
As one of the fastest-growing segments of the global web hosting market, cloud infrastructure represents a tantalizing target for attackers.
Even the likes of Amazon Web Services can fall to unexpected outages — so how can you expect to protect yourself?
Nearly one-third of businesses fail to adequately protect themselves online, according to security experts at CyberTalk.
Look to hosts (like the ones below) that encrypt user data and deploy two-factor authentication, anti-malware scans, frequent software updates, and around-the-clock monitoring.
We’ve highlighted a few of the top cloud hosting options in our review below:
4. Kamatera.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.00
- 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.
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 |
5. IONOS.com
Monthly Starting Price $7.00
- Start with $100 in credit for your first month
- Auto scaling with premium Intel processors
- Customized operating systems (Linux or Windows)
- Deploy Linux instances in less than 1 minute
- Transparent costs and by-the-minute billing
- Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
Boasting 99. 998% platform availability, the popular cloud hosting services from 1&1 IONOS deploy more than 2,500 virtual machines each week. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 10 GB NVMe – 640 GB NVMe | 1 – 24 cores | 512 MB.- 48 GB |
6. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $6.83
- User-friendly hosting powered by Google Cloud
- Isolated resources and integrated CloudFlare
- Built on CloudLinux with LVE containers
- Automated, daily backups and integrated caching
- Instant setup with intuitive custom control panel
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Hostinger offers something for everyone. From two cloud hosting plans that leverage the company’s global datacenter presence to a premium service powered by Google Cloud Platform, you’re sure to find what you need. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 50 GB NVMe – 400 GB NVMe | 2 – 6 cores | 3 – 12 GB |
Best Web Hosting Service With Secure Email
More than 90% of all cyberattacks begin with a spear-phishing email, according to research from the security experts at Trend Micro, signaling that email-based attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and effective.
The dangerous messages aim to get recipients to open an attached file or click on an infected link, often by impersonating an employer or online service like Microsoft Office 365.
Given the key role that email marketing plays in the growth of a website, featuring a 43:1 return on investment, you’ll certainly want to protect your website and organization from malicious incoming messages. Plus, once an email address is compromised, it can then be used to impact other inboxes across your domain.
While the best defense against email-based attacks is an informed, skeptical, and cautious approach to attachments and links from suspicious senders, site owners will be well served by hosting their email with a provider that includes strong spam filters and malware scanners.
The best webmail hosting services, like the ones we’ll highlight shortly, provide the encryption and other tools needed to protect your inboxes.
7. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.99
- Easily import contacts, messages, and calendars
- Antivirus checks and anti-spam
- 1-click integrations with 50+ productivity tools
- Collaborate with polls, shared to-do lists
- Less than $2 per mailbox per month!
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Showing major value, Hostinger email plans come complete with all the collaboration and productivity tools you’d expect from higher-priced hosts. We especially love the easy integrations with platforms like Twitter, Google Drive, and others. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 50 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
8. IONOS.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.00
- Business email with a personal consultant
- Choice of IONOS mail, Microsoft 365, or Google Workspace mailboxes
- FREE domain or transfer included
- Create up to 500 email accounts
- Premium tools for email marketing available
- Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
If the budget factor is on your mind when searching for a web host, rest easy. 1&1 IONOS has a wide range of packages, including reduced rates for the first few months (or year) and starter plans for all of their web hosting and website building services. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
9. SiteGround.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.99
- Unlimited email hosting at your domain
- Built in webmail interface compatible with multiple webmail and email clients
- Secure email protocols and anti-spam solutions
- Easy management with Site Tools
- Ideal for business email hosting with 99.9% uptime
- Get started on SiteGround now.
SiteGround offers excellent email hosting services — compatible with all major webmail and email clients, including RoundCube and Outlook. Email hosting customers get unlimited email accounts at their domain, secure email protocols, and SPAM filters. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 Year) | 6 minutes |
Best Managed Secure Web Hosting
Already feeling overwhelmed by all this web hosting security talk? Worried you don’t have the expertise needed to adequately protect your data? Don’t worry, it’s completely understandable.
Cybersecurity education and training is in extreme demand, with 69% of organizations saying their security teams are understaffed.
That being said, your website’s security doesn’t have to be your day-to-day responsibility. Managed hosting offloads the stress of protecting your site against vulnerabilities and emerging threats and gives it to the hosting experts working each day with the infrastructure powering your site.
Instead of spending time with tedious — but critically important — tasks, like updating WordPress, themes, and plugins, managed hosting customers can instead concentrate on concocting content, perfecting products, and otherwise building their business.
Given the luxurious nature of managed hosting, however, the services can get a little pricey. You can find high-value managed hosting at all levels of service, especially with more affordable VPS hosting plans, but managed dedicated hosting represents the cream of the crop.
Take a look at our reviews of the top-tier managed hosting providers ready to cater to your every need.
10. LiquidWeb.com
Monthly Starting Price $5.00
- Choice of self-, semi-, or fully managed
- Enterprise-grade Intel hardware
- Linux or Windows operating system
- RAID SSD storage for added speed
- 100% network uptime
- Get started on Liquid Web now.
It’s no secret by now that Liquid Web is known for best-in-class technology and reliability that exceeds expectations. The company’s cloud VPS environments embody that reputation to its fullest — including managed WordPress and WooCommerce products. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 30 GB SSD – 150 GB SSD | 1 – 8 cores | 1 GB – 8 GB |
11. A2Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $26.95
- Affordable and fast managed VPS hosting
- Minimum 2 dedicated IP addresses per plan
- Daily, automatic, and rebootless kernel updates
- 24/7/365 live chat, phone, email, or ticket support
- FREE Cloudflare CDN and New Relic monitoring
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
A2’s managed VPS hosting plans are loaded with premium features. Powerful Turbo Servers yield 20 times faster performance and are combined with the expertly managed services of the engineers and Guru Crew support personnel. 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 |
12. InterServer.net
Monthly Starting Price $3.00
- $0.01 for the first month using code HOSTINGADV
- Then $6 monthly with no contracts, no changes
- Latest of PHP, MySQL, Perl, Python, and Ruby
- 7 operating system options for Linux or Windows
- Full root access and choice of datacenter
- Get started on InterServer now.
InterServer’s on-site datacenter and hands-on involvement with configuring and provisioning virtual private servers give customers a level of flexibility not seen with many other hosting providers. InterServer rations VPS and cloud resources through slices. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 30 GB SSD – 480 GB SSD | 1 – 16 CPUs | 2 – 32 GB |
Most Secure Dedicated Server Hosting
At the base level, dedicated servers represent the most secure type of hosting. With only one tenant occupying the server, there are no concerns about how the poor security of other hosting customers may affect the machine supporting your website or application.
However, dedicated hosting customers will have the ultimate responsibility for securing their environment.
Using an entire server implies you have a large organization or see lots of web traffic — increasing the target on your back and making you a more valuable opportunity to criminals.
Malware scans, strong passwords, network monitoring, and firewalls are vitally important to your server’s security.
Unsurprisingly, the best dedicated hosting providers ramp up their security measures to match the increasingly high stakes.
Because our favorite companies offer custom configurations of secure servers, they maintain an on-site presence and hands-on support to instantly respond to a perceived threat. Here are our reviews of the best hosts for secure servers:
13. A2Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $79.99
- Root access and 3 levels of server management
- Expertly managed servers deployed instantly
- Choose from 4 datacenters across 3 continents
- FREE redundant SSD storage in RAID-1 arrays
- Choice of 13 Linux operating systems
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
Whether you’re looking for managed or self-managed hosting, A2 Hosting offers three extremely reliable dedicated server plans to meet your needs, depending on your levels of comfort and experience. With A2 Hosting’s Unmanaged Flex Dedicated Server plan, users get administrator-level control with root access and their choice of Linux operating system. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 1 TB SSD (RAID-1) | 4 – 16 cores | 16 GB – 256 GB |
14. LiquidWeb.com
Monthly Starting Price $75.00
- 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.
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 |
15. IONOS.com
Monthly Starting Price $32.00
- Explore server deals to find the best rates
- High powered modern AMD and Intel processors
- Unlimited traffic and 1 Gbit/s network connectivity
- 8-minute deployment with full API control
- Auto backups, DDoS protection, and RAID-1 storage
- Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
If you need blazing-fast speed, optimum uptime, top-notch flexibility, and full control over the fate of your website the dedicated servers from 1&1 IONOS have you covered. The company offers an assortment of entry-level, performance-focused, and business-class server options. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 480 GB SSD – 2 TB HDD | 2 – 32 cores | 12 GB – 256 GB |
What is Secure Hosting?
Web hosting security is vitally important to a site’s reputation and longevity. The damaging effects of a data breach, which can be costly and hard to control, can manifest in different ways: restitution to customers, fines from regulators, closer scrutiny, and fewer sales. Your brand’s reputation and trustworthiness can vanish in an instant.
Roughly half of all data breaches stem from malicious or criminal attacks, giving site owners ample opportunities to safeguard their online presence from vulnerabilities.
Secure hosting solutions exist across all server configurations to safeguard against attacks and protect your online success. There is no singular component or feature that makes a web hosting plan secure, rather it’s a collection of tools and technologies that contribute to your website’s overall protection.
These features signal that a hosting provider or plan takes web security seriously:
- SSL certificate
- Malware and virus scanner
- Automatic backups and restores
- Server and/or application firewalls
- Network monitoring
- DDoS protection
- Spam filters for email
- Domain name privacy
In addition to the services listed above, other signals of a reliable and safe hosting provider include the option to protect accounts with two-factor authentication and the ability to set user permissions or password-protected folders, along with secure payment processing services and a content delivery network.
How Do I Host a Secure Website?
Finding a reliable, security-minded hosting provider is just one piece of the puzzle. Just like the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” the most protected hosting company can be easily infiltrated if a site owner doesn’t take the proper actions.
A host can provide all the latest safety measures, but they won’t do any good if you never use them.
Website security is a responsibility shared between site owners and hosting providers. Once you’ve identified and purchased a hosting plan, make sure you’re creating strong passwords.
Next, actually set up the various security features that drew you in. Hosts that include a free SSL certificate will likely direct you to the AutoSSL feature in cPanel for an extremely simple setup process; if you don’t have a free SSL certificate at your disposal, check out the free and automated options from LetsEncrypt.
Your hosting control panel is also where you’ll likely turn to configure your automatic backups and install the most recent version of WordPress or other popular software.
Be extremely judicious in which platforms you choose and even more leery in the themes, plugins, and other add-ons you install. Most importantly, stay on top of all those updates!
Is Shared Hosting Secure?
Generally speaking, no web hosting service is always 100% secure. The best companies safeguard against all known vulnerabilities, but attackers are always on the hunt for new ways to expose network weaknesses. Plus, hosts can’t fully vaccinate against human behavior, such as reactions to suspicious or infected email messages.
Shared hosting typically carries the worst reputation when it comes to security, but that scarlet letter may not be entirely deserved. Site owners have very low levels of access to the inner workings of their server, minimizing the trouble they can find and placing more responsibility on the host’s IT and network administrators.
That being said, one impacted shared hosting website can take down hundreds or thousands of users on the same server. Problems arise when site owners are using outdated or vulnerable software, along with easily guessable passwords.
With virtual and dedicated server hosting, the onus is placed squarely on site owners’ shoulders to secure their data. VPS and dedicated hosting gets the best hype when it comes to secure environments, but that’s usually for highly technical, experienced users. If you need to use a website builder to design and launch your site, chances are you aren’t going to effectively protect a VPS or dedicated server.
However, that doesn’t mean shared hosting customers are not vulnerable. With hundreds or thousands of other websites residing on the same server, you’re counting on everyone adhering to stringent coding standards and security best practices. It’s rare, but one compromised site can expose the entire server to an attack.
Learn How to Combat Common Web Hosting Security Issues
Whether the perceived threat is based on human error or malicious third-party attackers, many of the hosting providers and included security features we’ve covered will protect your site and your customers’ data from common website security vulnerabilities. As fellow enforcers of web security, here is our police lineup of the usual suspects and weaknesses:
- SQL injections
- Cross-site scripting
- Cross-site request forgery
- Brute-force attacks
- Broken authentication
- Insecure direct object references
- Sensitive data exposure
- Using code with known vulnerabilities
As you can see, data breaches occur for a number of reasons, ranging from weak coding standards to subpar encryption that exposes the data and files in transit between your computer and your server or between visitors and their web browser. Once that connection is breached, attackers have a much easier time gaining access and wreaking havoc.
When in doubt, be sure to reach out to your hosting provider and ask for help. Websites are a tricky and technical business, so it’s perfectly fine to admit when you’re in over your head. Given the dire consequences associated with getting website security wrong, you’ll certainly want to err on the side of caution.
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