When you’re about to create a website for the first time, one of the questions you may want to ask is how much it costs to host a website.
Web hosting cost is not one-size-fits-all. There are lots of contributing factors that determine website hosting costs.
I will break down the cost of hosting a website, the Hosting you should consider for your website, hosting prices and plans, and our top web host picks.
Whether it is a simple website, agency, portfolio, or eCommerce shop, web hosting cost varies depending on the website project.
The cost of hosting a site boils down to:
- Website needs, features, and size.
- Web Hosting Type.
- Estimated Monthly Traffic level
- Additional features
You’ll need to consider your website’s needs to determine whether you need additional features such as premium backup services, a Whois guard service, a private email account, etc.
The more additional web Hosting features you require, the more the website hosting costs.
Are you ready? Let’s begin…
Website Needs, Features, and Size
Your website’s needs, features, and size will determine your hosting.
If you’re starting a simple blog for the first time, your blog size isn’t that big. Your blog traffic will be below, and your website needs might not be much.
So, generally speaking, Shared Hosting is the ideal web hosting type you should consider. If you don’t understand shared hosting, continue reading. I will break it down later in this post.
But if you’re migrating an existing blog with decent traffic to another host, Shared Hosting might not be the right option.
It depends on your existing blog’s size, features, and traffic level.
As I said earlier in this article, websites are never the same.
Your website needs primarily determine your web hosting type. Therefore, discussing the different kinds of web hosting available today became essential.
In total, there are about five different types of web hosting available. They are the most commonly used by online marketers.
Your website will probably need one of these five website Hosting types.
To help you narrow your selection, I will explain each hosting type and its functions.
Also, I explain the ideal scenario in which a Hosting type should be considered and which web host is the best candidate for that type.
Let’s dive in…
Note:
Most hosting prices quoted on this page are promotional offers. This means you’ll receive a discount on your first Hosting invoice, but the subsequent renewal fee might be higher.
1. Shared Hosting
For most people creating a website for the first time, shared hosting is ideal. At this stage, your website probably has little to do.
If my guess is correct, you’re starting with a brand new blog online.
The traffic level is minimal, except you’re already a seasonal marketer with extensive marketing experience. Your website won’t attract much internet traffic at this stage of your online career.
Long story short, Shared Hosting is ideal for low-level traffic websites, beginners, and those starting blogs online.
What is Shared Hosting?
As the name implies, shared Hosting is a type of website hosting where multiple websites share server resources. Your website shares server resources like RAM, Disk space, CPU, etc., with other websites on the same server.
Each client on the Shared hosting server has access to features like databases, FTP accounts, email accounts, monthly traffic, disk space, and other add-ons provided by the web host.
Each website on a Shared server has on-demand access to system resources and other hosting elements, such as the Apache server, MYSQL server, and mail server.
Shared Hosting is the beginner entry-level web hosting plan.
It is also the cheapest website hosting plan for all web hosts. Shared hosting prices start at $2 to $15 per month.
As I said, it depends on your plan’s additional hosting features.
How Does Shared Hosting Work?
Let’s explain how Shared hosting works with a metaphor.
For most people who don’t have a private vehicle, public transportation means every destination.
While public transportation is convenient, low-cost, and affordable, you often get to your destination with packed passengers.
So, the vehicle will undoubtedly have to make several stops on the way.
Given this scenario, you might not arrive at your destination on time and have no control over what other passengers do or do not do on the bus.
This is how shared hosting works in online marketing.
The number of websites on a shared hosting server can range from hundreds to several thousands of websites. It depends on the hard drive space, RAM, and processing power.
If a website on a shared hosting server suddenly receives a huge traffic jump, the performance of other websites on the same server might be affected.
This is one of the disadvantages of Shared Hosting.
Our Top Shared Hosting service providers
In my search, I found NameCheap among the cheapest top Shared Hosting service providers.
When you subscribe to an annual hosting plan, prices start at just $1.58/month. This means you only pay $18.44 for a whole 12-month Hosting plan. It even gets better when you subscribe to 24 24-monthly shared hosting plans.
You’ll pay $1.44/month. You’ll pay $33.44 for a 24-month shared Hosting plan.
Note:
All the prices quoted above are accurate as in writing and are for promotional offers only. Renewal fees could be higher than the figure quoted here.
Here is a list of our top four shared Hosting service providers, the hosting plans, and prices.
All the Shared Hosting packages in the plans below include a FREE SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, FREE Domain name registration, and WordPress blog migration services.
Also, cPanel features allow for a one-click WordPress install. Some web hosts below offer free CDN (Content delivery network) services.
2. VPS Hosting
A virtual private server, or VPS, is an upgraded version of a Shared Hosting server. If your website attracts decent traffic and demands better performance, it may be time to consider a VPS Hosting plan.
VPS hosting is ideal for websites that have outgrown shared hosting servers.
While it may appear you’re running your server in VPS hosting, your website is still a part of multiple website-sharing server resources.
The big difference with shared Hosting is that fewer websites on a VPS server share server resources. So, your website performance should be better than that of a shared hosting server.
For more information on VPS hosting and how it works, check out our beginner’s guide to web hosting.
Top VPS Hosting Providers
3. Dedicated Server Hosting
This is for websites with lots of website traffic coming in.
High-traffic websites need a dedicated hosting environment to fully control their server resources, performance, processing power, RAM, CPU, etc.
Dedicated Hosting is a type of website hosting in which a physical server (or servers) is leased to a single customer. The customer has complete control over and benefits from all server resources, such as storage space, bandwidth, computing power, etc.
Your website does not share server resources with any website.
Dedicated Hosting may be better for small business owners with fast-growing websites needing high performance, security, and scalability.
There is managed dedicated server hosting and unmanaged dedicated Hosting.
On a managed dedicated hosting plan, the web host provider fully controls the infrastructure and supports security, core server software, network, patches, etc. This lets you focus more on running your online business without spending time on the technical side of server management.
While an unmanaged dedicated hosting plan offers you full administrative privileges, it’s ideal for advanced webmasters who need complete server management control, customize it to their specific needs, and choose their operating system.
How Much is Dedicated Server Hosting Cost?
The price of dedicated hosting ranges from $80/month to $300/month, and it will vary depending on your hosting requirements.
The higher the price, the more features, bandwidth, storage space, and contract length.
Also, the price difference will depend on whether you’re going for a managed or unmanaged hosting plan.
Our Top Dedicated Server Hosting Providers
4. Managed WordPress Hosting
If you’re starting a blog on WordPress, this could be the right hosting type.
Managed WordPress hosting is a hassle-free WordPress hosting that lets you focus on the business side of your website.
It’s a WordPress-specific Hosting type that makes it easier to manage, maintain, secure, and optimize your blog.
Most managed WordPress hosting has an inbuilt caching system that helps boost page speed and performance, so you don’t need an additional WordPress cache plugin.
The web host takes good care of server-side management, WordPress core updates, automatic plugin updates, cache functions, backups, security, etc.
You’re better off focusing on creating content, marketing, and improving your business.
The good thing about managed WordPress hosting is that while it’s a bit more expensive than a shared hosting plan, it’s also beginner’s affordable.
Managed WordPress hosting prices range from $3.88/month to $300/month. It depends on many factors, such as the web host, features, website needs, and contract length.
Among many of the managed WordPress hosting providers out there, WPEngine seems to be the most costly.
WPEngine’s entry-level plan starts at $30/month, but you can get it at $25/month when you use the link on this page.
However, it is good to know that WPEngine is a VIP, hassle-free hosting type.
Their world-class WordPress expert support makes you feel like a true VIP in the house. WPEngine is the ideal managed WordPress host for business websites that can afford the price.
As a bonus for hosting with WPEngine, you get access to over 30+ Premium StudioPress themes. Your WP Engine Hosting subscription gives you direct access to StudioPress themes for your blog design.
This is why you should consider WP Engine as your ideal managed WordPress Hosting provider.
Our Top-managed WordPress Hosting Providers
5. Cloud Hosting
This web or application Hosting type uses multiple cluster servers to balance the load, maximize uptime, and significantly boost performance.
Unlike other web hosting types where your website is hosted on a single server, cloud hosting means your website uses resources from multiple cloud servers.
So, if a server fails, another server automatically comes in to keep your website running without any downtime notice in between.
This guarantees 99.99% uptime website availability online.
Your website gets a certain amount of disk space, bandwidth, and storage in traditional web Hosting solutions.
Cloud hosting allows your website to spread its data and files across interconnected cloud servers. These cloud server machines are located across many geographical areas.
This helps to boost website page speed and deliver your content faster to the end-users.
Cloud hosting is today’s most scalable type. It’s also the most affordable because it offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model.
Some cloud hosting providers like Cloudways offer pay-as-you-go models for the resources used by the hour or month.
This is one of the best advantages of cloud hosting over any other Hosting solution today.
Plus, many cloud hosting providers nowadays offer free trials of their services. My friend Nikola Roza has a list of them here.
Who is Cloud Hosting Good for?
If you’re an app developer, website owners with massive traffic volume, large eCommerce sites, social media sites, and anyone who needs maximum website performance can benefit from Cloud hosting.
Cloud hosting is also suitable for agencies managing hundreds of clients’ websites.
Cloud hosting is ideal if you need flexibility in your hosting plan and prices or are preparing for a busy one-off marketing campaign.
You don’t have to pay a flat-rate hosting price; you only pay for the resources used.
There are many big players in the cloud Hosting industry, making it difficult to know which providers are worth it.
Based on experience and research, our top picks for cloud Hosting providers are below.
Best Cloud Hosting Service Providers
Note:
Among our top three Cloud Hosting Providers, only Hostinger offers three specific Cloud Hosting plans. You can view these plans in the image below. Linode and Cloudways offer several cloud hosting plans (both hourly and monthly plans).
Conclusion…
If you’ve read this far, you should understand that the cost of website hosting is not a straightforward answer.
In most web hosts, the entry-level price is usually lower than the renewal fee. This is one of the catches in the Web Hosting industry.
It’s called the introductory or promo price.
So, when purchasing hosting from any web host, look for the actual renewal fee based on your contract length.
And what other Hosting features are included in your plan?
Compare hosting plans from different web hosts to see which is the most affordable based on your website’s needs.
Hello CyberNaira,
The information you provide through this blog is helpful for me. As I am a website designer, so it helps me a lot. The words you use to describe WordPress, that is amazing. Thank You.
Riya
Hi, Riya,
I’m glad this helps you as a designer. Thanks.