When you are choosing a place to host your website, you will come across hundreds of options. Apart from deciding which company to host with, you also need to know the hosting package which will cater to your needs.
Moreover, when you launch your first website, choosing the right host is the most important yet confusing decision. You need to understand the difference between the various hosting types, crucial for your website’s success and budget.
One such hosting type is shared hosting. Shared hosting is the most popular hosting option for people building their websites for the first time. But what is shared hosting, and why do you need it for your website?
Here in this post, we have mentioned what shared hosting is and the advantages and disadvantages of shared hosting. We have also listed some of the best-shared hostings in 2021. So let us get started.
What is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting hosts multiple websites on a single server. Usually, you will have no idea about who or which website you are sharing the server with. However, each customer will have a limit on the total amount of server resources they use, but it will be mentioned in the hosting package.
Shared hosting is the cheapest and the most economical option for every website. However, this price comes with its limitations. Since many hosting companies offer the same storage and space, it is important to choose the right one.
Advantages of Shared Hosting
- It is the cheapest hosting option available on the Internet.
- Many shared hosting companies offer different levels of hosting. They are highly scalable. So you can upgrade your hosting package at any point in time.
- Shared hosting plans offer a built-in cPanel feature making it easy to manage your website.
- There is no technical maintenance required from your end to the server. Almost all the hosting plans come with 24/7 customer support.
In simple words, shared hosting is best for website owners who are beginners or have a small budget. Since shared hosting is highly scalable, you can always upgrade to another hosting plan based on your budget, so you are not stuck with the same level of hosting for years.
Disadvantages of Shared Hosting
- The load time is slower when compared to dedicated servers.
- The servers are sometimes overburdened by other websites that share the same server.
- With time when the traffic on your website increases, your website performance will become worse.
- You do not know who you are sharing your server with. Although very rare, other websites on the server can risk your website.
- It offers very little or no customization options, which might get in the way of higher-level performance from your website.
Restrictions for Shared Hosting
Your hosting provider may have some usage restrictions to prevent your website on the shared server from using more than what they are allowed to access. While they are primarily in place to help users, in some cases, they might be a problem if you do not know what your site needs.
To be precise, a website hosted on a shared server will be subjected to:
1. Memory Limits
Many web hosts constrict the bandwidth and other resources such as server memory which one website on the server can use. If your site grows to a point where it takes up more than its share of memory, then you might have to upgrade your hosting plan.
2. File Restrictions
Shared servers sometimes come with security issues. If there is a malware infection on one website, it is possible to spread to all the sites hosted on that server. Some hosting providers place restrictions on the type of file you upload to your website to prevent such things.
3. Spam and Hacking Activities
Many web hosting services monitor activities on the shared servers for security and performance reasons. If any spammy or hacking activity occurs on your website, then your host will decide to temporarily or permanently disable it.
Best Shared Hosting Providers in 2021
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is the most popular and reliable choice for shared hosting designed for both beginners and experts. It offers good speed and uptime. Bluehost is also one of those companies recommended by WordPress.org.
Bluehost’s basic plan starts at $5.95/month when billed annually for a single website.
Bluehost basic plan offers the following:
- One website
- 50 GB SSD Storage
- Custom themes
- WordPress integration
- Drag and drop functionality
- AI-driven templates
- Free domain (1 year)
- Free CDN
- Free SSL certificate
Bluehost also offers expensive shared hosting plans such as Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro. More expensive plans such as the Choice Plus allow you to host unlimited websites, storage, and domains at $8.95/month when billed annually. It allows you to host unlimited websites, storage, domains, unlimited bandwidth, spam protection, site backups, and more.
Moreover, Bluehost is highly scalable. You can always start with a basic plan and upgrade in the future.
2. Hostinger
Hostinger is the most price-competitive shared hosting provider on the list. Although there are some performance issues on this platform, it is still another reliable choice for websites with low traffic.
The basic plan Single Shared Hosting starts at $1.39/month and offers:
- One website
- 30 GB SSD Storage
- 10000 monthly visitors
- Free SSL
- 100 GB Bandwidth
- Managed WordPress
- WordPress Acceleration
- 30 Days Money back guarantee
- Two databases
- GIT Access
- Weekly backups
- Cloudflare protected nameservers
- 24/7/365 customer support
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- DNS management
- Access manager
- Two subdomains
- 1 FTP account
- Two cronjobs
Moreover, if you need a free domain, you need to upgrade to a Premium Shared Hosting plan. It is affordable and starts at $2.89/month. It allows you to host 100 subdomains, unlimited websites, emails, and bandwidth.
3. A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is another reliable provider that offers one of the fastest shared hosting services in the hosting services. The A2 hosting’s shared hosting plan starts at $10.99 per month.
The Startup plan includes:
- One website
- 100 GB SSD storage
- Free and easy site migration
- Money-back guarantee
If you are looking for ultra-fast technology, then the Turbo Boost plan is highly recommended. Its features allow you to host unlimited websites, unlimited storage, databases, and more at just $9.99/month.
4. HostGator
HostGator is highly competitive in terms of pricing and offers 24/7/365 customer support. It also offers great speed.
The basic shared hosting plan known as the Hatchling plan starts at $2.75/month, and offers the following:
- Hosts single website
- One-click WordPress install
- Free WordPress/cPanel website transfer
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain name
The advanced plan or the Business plan offers excellent add-ons such as hosting of unlimited websites, free dedicated IP addresses, and extra SEO tools. The plan starts at just $5.25/month.
5. GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is a unique platform that offers eco-friendly hosting services. Although its performance is inconsistent, it is still the most reliable shared hosting with excellent speed and security.
The basic shared hosting plans start at $2.49/month. This plan offers:
- One website
- Standard performance
- 50 GB Webspace
- Unmetered transfer
- 50 e-mail accounts
- Free WordPress install and migration
- Auto WordPress updates
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain name for the 1st year
- Free backup
- Free CDN
- WP-CLI & SSH access
- Built-in caching
- Unlimited databases
- 300% green energy match
- 30 days money-back guarantee.
You can buy the Pro plan that starts at $4.95/month to increase your website performance.
5. InMotion Hosting
InMotion can be the best option if you are looking for high-quality customer support and performance. Although the plans are a little pricey, it is worth the investment.
The basic shared hosting plan Lite starts at $2.49/month. This plan includes:
- One website
- 10 GB SSD storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 2x performance
- Free email address
- Free SSL
- Marketing tools
- Security tools
The advanced Pro plan includes access to 100 databases, 200 GB storage, and unlimited email accounts. It starts at $12.99/month. Moreover, this hosting provider offers a 90 days money-back guarantee.
6. DreamHost
DreamHost is another best WordPress-recommended shared hosting service that offers budget-friendly hosting plans without compromising on performance. It provides only two shared hosting plans, making things very easy. Moreover, it has a 97 days money-back guarantee.
The shared Starter plan starts at $2.59/month, and offers the following:
- One website
- Free domain name
- Unlimited traffic
- Free automated WordPress migration
- WP website builder
- Fast SSD storage
- Free SSL certificate
The other plan, known as the Shared unlimited plan, offers unlimited storage, unlimited websites, domains, and email. It starts at $4.95/month and is an excellent value for money.
Another popular feature of DreamHost is that it offers month-to-month billing on all plans compared to other hosting providers with only annual payment options.
7. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is another most popular shared hosting provider that offers a fast loading time at very affordable prices. Although the basic plan does not provide a free SSL certificate, it provides a free Office 365 email for one year and a one-click GoDaddy domain set up.
The basic plan starts at $2.99 for one website and includes:
- 100 GB storage
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 10 MySQL databases of 1 GB each
- 1 MySQL database
- 50 FTP users
- One year free domain registration
To scale your website, you can upgrade to the unlimited plan at just $12.99 per month. It offers unmetered storage, unlimited websites and databases, an SSL certificate, and premium DNS.
8. FastComet
FastComet is for small businesses and start-ups as their target audience. FastComet is SEO-friendly because of its fast servers, CDN, and 99.9% uptime guarantee.
The basic FastCloud plan starts at $3.48/month and includes:
- Free website and domain transfer
- 15 GB storage
- Free CDN
- Free SSL certificate
- Daily backups
- Unlimited databases
- Unlimited sub-domains
If you want to scale your website, you can upgrade to the FastCloud Extra plan with the Rocket Booster feature for extra robust performance. It starts at $6.98 per month.
9. SiteGround
Another popular and reliable shared hosting on this list is SiteGround that offers higher scalability. This hosting ranks higher in terms of features, performance, and support. It is another site recommended by WordPress.org.
The basic or the StartUp plan starts at $3.99/month and offers the following:
- One website
- 10 GB web space
- 10000 monthly visitors
- Unmetered traffic
- Free SSL
- Daily backup
- Free CDN
- Free email
- Managed WordPress
- Out-of-the-box caching
- Unlimited databases
- 100% renewable energy match
- 30 days money-back guarantee
- Allows you to add collaborators
If you want to upgrade your plan, you can opt for the GrowBig plan that accommodates 25,000 visitors. The pricing starts at $6.69 per month and offers unlimited websites, 20 GB storage, speed-boosting caching, and on-demand backups.
Conclusion
Shared hosting is the best solution for anyone who wants to go light on their pocket or only looking for a basic website. However, choosing the right one from hundreds of hosting companies might be a bit confusing for beginners.
Here in this article, we have mentioned the ten best shared hosting providers. If you are still confused about which hosting provider to choose, we recommend you to get started with Bluehost as it is the most popular and budget-friendly option for first-time website owners.