7 Best Web Hosting UK Services in 2023 (GDPR Compliant and FAST!)
The best web hosting providers for the UK offer fast speeds both locally and globally. This guide rounds up the best web hosts that offer GDPR compliance, features, and excellent support at a fair price.
Trying to choose the best web host for a UK website? We’re glad you’re here. An excellent host is the foundation of any good website, so it’s important to choose well.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the world of web hosting. There are hundreds of brands out there vying for your attention. To spare you time and heartache, our team’s written up this handy guide especially for UK websites – whether you’re targeting an audience that’s within the UK, Europe, or worldwide.
Since 2014, we have been recording performance data from over 45 web hosting brands we’ve bought and tested first-hand. We believe the 7 brands shortlisted here are fantastic for UK websites: GDPR compliant, features aplenty, and all of them with response times of less than 191 ms in London – fast!
Hostinger stood out to us as the best host for UK websites. But by the end of this guide, you should have a strong understanding of what to look for, and how to pick the host that best fits your use case.
Best Web Hosting UK Services
5.0
/5
5.0
/5
5.0
/5
4.0
/5
4.0
/5
4.0
/5
4.0
/5
Note
- All prices shown are based on a 12-month plan introductory rate unless stated otherwise.
- We use an exchange rate of 1 GBP to 1.25 USD.
1. Hostinger UK
https://www.hostinger.co.uk/
World Speed Score
A+
Speed In London
9 ms
Price (GBP)
£2.59/mo
Key Features
- 100GB SSD
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free domain & SSL
- hPanel
- Localised support
“At extremely low prices, Hostinger manages to provide excellent features & uptime plus multiple data centers in Europe.”
Hostinger is a Lithuanian web hosting company, spread across 7 regions, that include the UK and the Netherlands. So again, you’ve got the option between the two.
There’s one thing about Hostinger that secures it a spot in most of our top-hosts lists…
It’s so dang affordable!
Their Single web hosting plan starts from an unbelievable £1.49/mo. Fancy going large? Even their Premium plan starts from only £2.59 (at 48-months rate).
Does a low price mean a dodgy deal? Not at all! With their impressive features, global presence and wallet-friendly pricing, we think Hostinger’s place as the #1 best web host is well earned.
Pros and cons of Hostinger
Pros
- ✓ Outstanding speed and uptime performance
- ✓ Data centers in London
- ✓ Premium hosting features for a low price
- ✓ Speedy servers with great global coverage
- ✓ Great support team serving in 20 languages
Cons
- • No daily backups on some plans
- • No phone support
Hostinger performance
We ran it through Bitcatcha’s server speed checker and the numbers spoke for themselves.
| US (W) | US (E) | London | Singapore | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 143 ms | 83 ms | 9 ms | 239 ms | 194 ms |
| Bangalore | Sydney | Japan | Canada | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 118 ms | 267 ms | 262 ms | 88 ms | 10 ms |
Our test site is actually already hosted from their Netherlands server, however the numbers still blew us away!
The London response time was 9 ms.
Bear in mind this would likely be even quicker if you chose to host from the UK. However, we’re pretty happy knowing that this host offers the option to switch between Amsterdam and the UK, should Brexit cause any issue later down the road.
It scored another A+ rating with an average speed of 141.3 ms.
Hostinger features and pricing
In fact – all of Hostinger’s plans come packed with plenty of premium features, and start at a very low introductory price if you opt for their longer plans. For our tests, we went with their Premium Shared plan that starts at £2.59/mo for a 48 month plan.
Great speed and low prices aren’t the only things that qualify Hostinger as a true value-for-money web host.
They’re a very experienced company that knows the industry well. They’ve helped serve over 29 million clients to date!
What’s more? Hostinger users are protected by a 99.9% uptime guarantee, a Bitninja security suite, and you’ll manage everything from their custom, user-friendly hPanel interface. You’ll also get a free SSL cert on their business hosting plan.
Sure, there are some functions missing, like CDN and daily backups. But Hostinger definitely gives you great value for what you’re getting, and is a great option for anyone on a budget getting started.
Hostinger customer support
Hostinger’s customer service is another big reason we enjoy using their hosting services. They offer support 24/7 over live chat, and from our experience, provide almost instantaneous responses to our queries on there.
What’s even better, they currently run 4 support centers that serve over 20 countries in their native languages – much more than what most hosts offer. We just really wish they offered phone support – since it’s likely that some people may prefer talking to a real human on the phone to solve issues.
What we didn’t like about Hostinger
Hostinger’s introductory prices are really affordable BUT there’s a catch to it; you’ll be tied down to a contract of 48 months. A lot can happen in 4 years, and we’re not sure if we’re willing to be tied down for so long.
Learn more about Hostinger
- Read our complete Hostinger review to find out more.
- Visit our Hostinger test site.
2. DreamHost
https://www.dreamhost.com/
World Speed Score
A+
Speed In London
77 ms
Price (GBP)
£2.36/mo
Key Features
- Unlimited SSD
- Unlimited traffic
- Free domain & SSL
- 100% Uptime Guar.
- 97-day money back
“World-famous hosting service endorsed by WordPress and with an 100% uptime guarantee.”
DreamHost is a world-famous hosting brand that’s been around since 1997. They offer a huge range of hosting options, from shared and VPS, to managed WordPress hosting.
Pros and cons of DreamHost
Pros
- ✓ Officially WordPress endorsed
- ✓ Outstanding speed performance
- ✓ Excellent security suite
- ✓ 97-day money back guarantee
Cons
- • No data centers outside the US (slower speeds for Asia or Oceania)
- • Limited time for Live Chat support
- • No free telephone support
DreamHost performance
After reading around, we decided to try out their Unlimited Shared plan with its promises of lots of ‘unlimited’ features. We ran the test site through our speed checker and the results blew us away!
| US (W) | US (E) | London | Singapore | São Paulo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 ms | 2 ms | 77 ms | 242 ms | 117 ms |
| Bangalore | Sydney | Japan | Canada | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 194 ms | 210 ms | 169 ms | 16 ms | 87 ms |
They scored a top-notch A+ ranking with an average worldwide response time of 118.4 ms. And even though DreamHost only has data centers in the US, our London node still pinged in at a very speedy 77 ms. Impressive indeed! That means that, even if most of your website audience is based in Europe, they should enjoy zippy speeds.
DreamHost features and pricing
Dreamhost offers two tiers of plans – we’d recommend the Shared Unlimited if you want more unlimited resources to play with.
What’s also definitely worth mentioning is their money back guarantee. Whilst most hosts offer a standard 30-day money back guarantee, DreamHost takes it to the next level by extending it up to 97 days!
DreamHost is an active participant of the open-source community, so we weren’t surprised to see that they’re fully GDPR compliant. They have a solid privacy policy, and all users are able to control their personal information from a handy ‘Privacy Center’ interface. Plus, all DreamHost plans come with a free SSL integration – which is a win for your own GDPR compliance.
However, where DreamHost REALLY shine is in their compatibility with WordPress. They’re 1 of only 3 web hosts that are officially WordPress endorsed! Considering WordPress powers 43.1% of the Internet according to W3techs.com, we think that’s a pretty solid vote of confidence.
WordPress runs perfectly on DreamHost’s plans and integrates nicely into their interface. They’ve even got their own drag-and-drop WP Website Builder. As the cherry on top – much of their support staff are WordPress experts, which will make solving any technical issues a breeze.
In short – DreamHost is a fast and fantastic web host, particularly if you’re running WordPress.
DreamHost customer support
DreamHost offers in-house customer support via Live Chat and ticketing, and from our own trials, they responded within minutes and proved extremely knowledgeable in WordPress.
However, their Live Chat only operates within 5:30AM – 9.30PM Pacific Time, which is 1:30pm – 5:30am in London. Outside that, you’ll need to rely on their ticketing system, forum or knowledgebase. There’s also no free telephone support, but you can request a call-back for a fee.
What we didn’t like about DreamHost
As mentioned – DreamHost’s data centers are all in the US. It can serve the UK and the European region just fine, but if most of your website audience lives in a region far away from the US, they may experience slower speeds. That – and the customer support limitations we’ve mentioned.
Learn more about DreamHost
- Read our DreamHost review for more information.
- Visit our DreamHost test site.
3. Kinsta
https://kinsta.com/
World Speed Score
A+
Speed In London
10 ms
Price (GBP)
£28/mo
Key Features
- Google Cloud
- 25,000 visits /mo
- Daily backups
- WP expert as support
- Hack fix guarantee
“Built on Google Cloud architecture, Kinsta is lightning-fast & GDPR-conscious, but pricier.”
Fact: Kinsta is a managed WordPress host.
What’s more important to know? Kinsta’s services are powered by Google Cloud’s premium network.
That means users have access to the highest levels of performance, speed and security of Google – who is already one of the leaders in the cloud networking industry.
We’ll get into how this directly benefits you in a sec.
Pros and cons of Kinsta
Pros
- ✓ Cloud-based infrastructure
- ✓ Server speeds powered by Google Cloud’s Premium tier
- ✓ Support from high-level WordPress experts
- ✓ Kinsta CDN powered by Cloudflare
Cons
- • No phone support
- • No free email hosting
- • Expensive monthly prices
Kinsta performance
We whipped up a test site using their Starter shared hosting plan. The results?
| US (W) | US (E) | London | Singapore | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130 ms | 95 ms | 10 ms | 287 ms | 203 ms |
| Bangalore | Sydney | Japan | Canada | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 487 ms | 266 ms | 221 ms | 83 ms | 13 ms |
Yes, another solid A+! With an average speed of 179.5 ms.
Best of all – they have a London data center that pinged an amazing 10 ms. That means UK audiences should definitely enjoy top speeds.
Since it leverages off 30+ Google Cloud server locations, Kinsta has a nearby server in London. You’ve got another 9 options in Europe, including Zurich, Madrid, Frankfurt, the Netherlands, and Milan. Shifting between them is just a matter of opening up a support ticket. It’s definitely the most flexible host in this aspect.
Kinsta features and pricing
Kinsta easily provides one of the best Managed WordPress Hosting solutions in the scene. Sign up, build your site, and let the Kinsta team take over from there as they manage your updates and monitor for security flaws.
Features are plentiful, you get daily backups, your uptime is guaranteed, and you get software like Kinsta CDN to turbo-charge your site. That said – Kinsta is a premium WordPress host. And that comes with premium pricing.
What about GDPR? Well. Encryption isn’t mandatory to GDPR, however comes strongly recommended. Thanks to Google Cloud Platform, all data is encrypted at rest. Kinsta has even built their own WordPress cookie consent plugin that lets users choose which types of cookies to opt in on, which helps websites guarantee legal compliance.
So out of all the hosts on this list, Kinsta seems to be the one that goes above and beyond for GDPR compliance.
Kinsta users will also enjoy other benefits from its cloud architecture that many typical shared or VPS hosts can’t offer.
For example, you’ll get great protection against traffic surges. In the event of a spike, your website’s container simply scales to as many CPUs as you need.
Similarly, if your site starts to outgrow your current bandwidth allowances, there’s no need to migrate to another server type or host. Just pay the next tier up!
Kinsta customer support
Kinsta offers 24/7 support via the Intercom widget. But more importantly – their support team is amazing. It’s composed entirely of veteran WordPress developers and Linux hosting engineers, so the level of tech support is pretty hard to match. You won’t be bouncing between level 1 or level 2 support reps – you’ll always be talking to real experts. From direct experience, every query we sent was replied to in under 3 minutes.
What we didn’t like about Kinsta
Among all the featured brands on this list, Kinsta is the most expensive. You’ll have to ask yourself if YOU yourself are looking for this degree of support, and resources. It’s a great fit to owners serious about growing traffic, and wanting a fully-managed solution that’s fully GDPR compliant.
Also – they don’t offer phone support. At that price point, you’d think that Kinsta would be able to at least provide weekday phone support for their clients.
Learn more about Kinsta
- Learn more at our full Kinsta review.
- Visit our Kinsta test site.
4. SiteGround UK
https://www.siteground.co.uk/
World Speed Score
A+
Speed In London
4 ms
Price (GBP)
£3.99/mo
Key Features
- Google Cloud
- 20GB SSD
- 100,000 visits /mo
- SuperCacher
- 24/7 techn. support
“Premium web host with data centers across Europe on the celebrated Google Cloud Platform!”
SiteGround specialise in high-quality offerings, speeds, and service that we think is ideal for larger businesses around the world. Today, they have data centers in 6 locations across 4 regions, including one right here in London!
Pros and cons of SiteGround
Pros
- ✓ WordPress-endorsed Managed WordPress hosting
- ✓ Quick server response time all over the world
- ✓ SuperCacher tech. to load your site 4x faster!
- ✓ User-friendly custom dashboard
Cons
- • Not cheap (rates go up significantly on renewal)
- • Free domain not included
- • No VPS or dedicated hosting plans
SiteGround performance
But how fast are they really? We hosted a test site on their GrowBig plan to get some official numbers and the result was a VERY solid A+ ranking.
| US (W) | US (E) | London | Singapore | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 138 ms | 86 ms | 4 ms | 179 ms | 212 ms |
| Bangalore | Sydney | Japan | Canada | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 292 ms | 250 ms | 223 ms | 87 ms | 16 ms |
With an average response time of 148.7 ms, SiteGround is impressively fast. It pinged a blistering 4 ms from London, which means very zippy speeds if your audience is based in the UK.
These numbers make sense when you consider that SiteGround runs on speed-enhancing SSD drives. They also recently made the move to the Google Cloud platform, providing users with Google’s state-of-the-art security, reliability, and speeds. Not to mention they also throw in free Cloudflare CDN and premium SuperCacher into their plans!
SiteGround features and pricing
SiteGround offers a range of plans for a range of users.
The GrowBig plan is fairly priced at only £3.99 a month, and comes packed with goodies, which boost your server speed and overall efficiency. Their SuperCacher boosts site load speed up to 4x quicker, you get to enjoy free daily backups, free priority support and free restores!
Aside from that, SiteGround is very reliable. Their 99.9% uptime guarantee is bolstered by a great security suite to protect you from malware and those dreaded data breaches that are a GDPR nightmare. In fact – when they became fully GDPR compliant in 2018, they adapted their Privacy Policy and listed out their Data Processing Agreement (DPA), which regulates their responsibilities as a host and helps clients run their own GDPR compliant sites.
The downside? Obviously, price. SiteGround’s renewal prices are quite expensive. Be mentally prepared to pay more than double the introductory prices to renew the contract. Is it worth it? We think so. Overall, SiteGround delivers high quality on all fronts and excellent speeds whether your audience is based in the UK, or beyond.
SiteGround customer support
SiteGround offers support via 24/7 Live Chat, ticketing, and also the phone. We’ve consistently found SiteGround’s team to be extremely capable, and used their Live Chat extensively. The wait is never long, and our problems were usually resolved very quickly. Users on their GrowBig plan or above get access to their 30-day priority support.
What we didn’t like about SiteGround
Whilst their ‘recommended’ GrowBig plan starts at £3.99/mo, it jumps up significantly to £19.99/mo upon renewal. That’s pretty expensive compared to the others on this list, and not everyone may have that kind of budget. Be sure to maximize your subscription period to take advantage of their 53% – 63% introductory discount!
Learn more about SiteGround
- Read our in-depth SiteGround review to learn more.
- Visit our SiteGround test site.
5. HostPapa
http://www.hostpapa.com/
World Speed Score
A+
Speed In London
8 ms
Price (GBP)
£4.76/mo
Key Features
- 100GB SSD
- 1 Website
- Free Domain
- Multilingual support
- Unmetered Bandwidth
“A value-packed hosting solution with very solid support and a server in Europe!”
Coming up next is HostPapa, a Canadian hosting company with plenty of tempting plans on offer.
Pros and cons of HostPapa
Pros
- ✓ Great server speeds in Europe & North America
- ✓ Eco-conscious
- ✓ Great support team
- ✓ Free knowledgebase of videos and tutorials
- ✓ Free 30-minute consultation 1-on-1
Cons
- • Automatic backups cost extra
- • Slightly more pricey than others on the market
- • No data centers in Asia or Australia
HostPapa performance
We’re happy to report that they have data centers in the US, Canada and Europe, so we weren’t too surprised to see extremely fast speeds reported from our 3 HostPapa-hosted test sites. Here’s what came back from the site hosted from their Amsterdam server:
| US (W) | US (E) | London | Singapore | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 159 ms | 119 ms | 8 ms | 160 ms | 213 ms |
| Bangalore | Sydney | Japan | Canada | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 ms | 275 ms | 238 ms | 129 ms | 14 ms |
Just look at that 8ms response time for London! On top of that, HostPapa’s worldwide average response time was 143 ms, earning them a solid A+ rank. To sum it up, HostPapa’s servers should respond quickly for ALL your site visitors, wherever they’re based – but especially so for anyone in Europe or the Americas.
HostPapa features and pricing
HostPapa’s cheapest plan works well for small single sites, but their Business Plan is where things really ramp up. For £3.16 a month, you’ll unlock unlimited websites, a free domain, unlimited SSD storage, unlimited emails, free SSL and free Cloudflare.
In all, we think HostPapa offers great value for money. Its plans are really cheap, but you’re still getting a solid product.
HostPapa customer support
Beyond speed and features, we love HostPapa for the effort they pour into their customer support. From our experience, their ‘PapaSquad’ are extremely responsive and helpful. Interestingly, you can even request a free 30-minute 1-on-1 consultation with them on anything hosting-related – which is quite an unusual feature!
They also have an extensive user base full of helpful videos and tutorials that cover everything from how to make your site GDPR compliant, to how to improve your WordPress security. In all – very beginner friendly!
What we didn’t like about HostPapa
We can’t help but wish HostPapa had a few more data centers around the world, (especially in the Asia / Australia region) to cater for website owners with audiences further away.
You’ll also need to fork out an extra £38 for automated backups, which isn’t exactly cheap – especially since some hosts throw it in for free!
Learn more about HostPapa
- Read our complete HostPapa review.
- Visit our HostPapa test site.
6. Bluehost
https://www.bluehost.com/
World Speed Score
A+
Speed In London
183 ms
Price (GBP)
£2.65/mo
Key Features
- Linux & cPanel
- 10GB SSD
- Automatic backup
- Resource protection
- Free SSL Certificate
“WordPress-endorsed hosting that offers great speed, and an even better support team of WP experts.”
Whilst it’s not super fast in the UK, we figured Bluehost still deserved a mention.
Why? Because Bluehost is the official recommendation of WordPress. They claim that ‘No one powers WordPress better or understands it more than we do.’
With a full-time WordPress CORE development engineers in their team, it’s not a stretch to believe.
Pros and cons of Bluehost
Pros
- ✓ Officially WordPress-endorsed
- ✓ Free SSL, CDN and domain and access to cPanel
- ✓ 24/7 phone, live chat and email support
- ✓ 1-click WordPress install
Cons
- • No uptime guarantee
- • Less security features on cheaper plans
- • Cheaper plans don’t include much storage and security features
Bluehost performance
Based in North America, they scored a very decent A+ rating on our server speed checker.
| US (W) | US (E) | London | Singapore | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 ms | 78 ms | 183 ms | 193 ms | 164 ms |
| Bangalore | Sydney | Japan | Canada | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 330 ms | 168 ms | 125 ms | 92 ms | 174 ms |
It pinged from London at a slightly laggier 183 ms. Not the fastest of this list, but still within benchmark.
Bluehost features and pricing
Features offered by BlueHost are quite solid, with 10GB of SSD storage, free SSL, SEO services and a free domain included in their Basic plan. Not bad at all, considering the low entry price of only £2.65 a month (with 12-month plan).
That said, the amount of storage offered at each price point isn’t quite as much as you’d get from several of the other hosts on this list. On top of that, renewal prices do jump up quite significantly.
Key features include:
- Free SSL
- 10GB SSD storage
- Versatile pricing plans
- SEO services to help sites build a SEO plan
- A highly technical WordPress support team
- Where required, support can help fulfilling any GDPR-related data subject requests
Their Basic plan starts from £2.65 and includes 10 GB SSD Storage, unmetered bandwidth and free SSL.
Bluehost customer support
Bluehost outsources their support team to India and currently offers support via Live Chat and phone. We did run into some hiccups and unhelpful trainees when we first started using Bluehost, but things do seem much better now. They also have a pretty robust knowledge-base filled with useful tutorials and guides.
What we didn’t like about Bluehost
It’s too bad that Bluehost has only 1 data center (in the US). Although they’ve got fast servers, they could be so much faster if only they built more data centers worldwide, covering a wider range of locations.
Bluehost also decided that uptime guarantees aren’t a thing with their services. Some might be okay with this, but to us, that’s pretty sketchy.
Learn more about Bluehost
- Read our Bluehost review to find out more.
- Visit our Bluehost test site.
7. ScalaHosting
https://www.scalahosting.com/
World Speed Score
A+
Speed In London
43 ms
Price (GBP)
£9.56/mo
Key Features
- Unlimited websites
- 100GB SSD storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free domain & SSL
- SPanel
“Superior performance and feature-packed. SPanel is powerful, and is one of the best things about ScalaHosting.”
ScalaHosting is one of the more experienced web hosting companies on this list, and it shows. Having been around for more than a decade, they’ve been quietly innovating and improving, earning them loyal customers that see value in their services.
Pros and cons of ScalaHosting
Pros
- ✓ Great speed performance
- ✓ Uses cPanel – incl. Softaculous installer
- ✓ SShield security (99.998% success rate in blocking attackers)
- ✓ Unlimited Websites and migrations
Cons
- • Only VPS plans get all-in SSD performance
- • High fees upon plan renewal
- • No website builder
ScalaHosting performance
They’ve only got 2 data centers (one in Dallas, USA, while the other is in Bulgaria, Europe). Although the servers aren’t exactly located here in the UK, they still performed pretty well considering the distance.
| US (W) | US (E) | London | Singapore | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 178 ms | 119 ms | 43 ms | 183 ms | 228 ms |
| Bangalore | Sydney | Japan | Canada | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 147 ms | 286 ms | 250 ms | 116 ms | 37 ms |
With 43 ms response time pinged from London, the A+ ranked web hosting provider is not one to be trifled with.
ScalaHosting features and pricing
Feature-wise, ScalaHosting offers quite a lot of value for customers.
They’ve brought out the big guns in terms of features, which is great at making the customer feel like they’re getting more than they’ve paid for.
We could spend days talking about their features. Free migration, free domains, free SSL, 7-day automatic backup, free CDN… ScalaHosting offers all these and more, but we can get these features easily from other providers too.
What stood out for us while using ScalaHosting is their SPanel. It’s only available on their managed VPN plan, and quite honestly, we feel that this alone is worth the price.
Wholly owned and developed by Scala, SPanel is a solid alternative to cPanel, with all of the perks (plus a little extra) and none of the drawbacks.
Aside from being able to do everything that cPanel can, SPanel comes with SShield (able to halt 99.998% of all cyber attacks) and SWordPress Manager (which allows you to control almost anything WordPress admin related directly from the SPanel control panel).
It’s also fully compatible with cPanel, so issues with site migrations are now…non-issues.
With prices starting from a measly £3.16 a month, ScalaHosting provides users with reliable web hosting, fast speeds, and perks aplenty.
ScalaHosting customer support
ScalaHosting offers award-winning 24/7 support via Live Chat and ticketing. They claim that that’s why their customers stay with them for 7 years on average.
What we didn’t like about ScalaHosting
SSD storage is pretty much a must in every web hosting provider these days, but ScalaHosting only provides it fully in their VPS plans. If you intend to use their shared hosting plan, your audience won’t get to enjoy the performance benefits usually associated with SSD.
They also don’t come with a website builder – if they did, they’ll probably be higher on this list!
Learn more about ScalaHosting
- Read our thorough ScalaHosting review for more information.
How We Choose the Top Web Hosting For UK
Here are some markers we look for in an outstanding web host for UK websites.
- Speed
Host is tuned for speed in both hardware and software without needing to pay extra. We put all hosts through the Bitcatcha website speed test tool to see how quickly their servers respond to requests from within the UK, and anywhere else in the world. We want a fast web host that can at least meet the requirements of Google’s Core Web Vitals!. - User-friendliness
Host offers a control panel and supporting tools that are easy to use, even for total tech beginners. - Value for money
Host offers a fair price for the features and resources offered. Some offer unlimited bandwidth and websites. - Uptime
Host offers an uptime guarantee of at least 99.9%. - Excellent customer service
Host offers 24/7 professional support in a range of options like live chat and ticketing, whether you’re in the UK time zone or elsewhere. - Security
Host helps you keep your site secure, be it via SSL certificates, firewalls, proactive monitoring, backups, etc – without charging extra for the basics.
Why You Should Trust Us
Our Bitcatcha team has been researching and testing out web hosts since 2014. To date, we’re managing 95+ test sites all hosted on a range of hosting plans from over 5 different web hosting brands.
Once we set up our test site, we employ our Bitcatcha Speed Test Tool (as seen on LifeHack and HuffPost) to check each hosts’ server speed, and install an uptime trackers to monitor uptime. These results allow us to write data-driven reviews and comparisons of each host.
More details on how we review web hosts here.
Why Is Using A Good Web Host Important In The UK?
With over 65.32 million internet users in the UK in 2021, according to “United Kingdom – Country Commercial Guide” by trade.gov, and the booming e-commerce industry in the region, it’s an exciting time to launch your own UK website. E-commerce accounted for a staggering 30% of all retail sales in 2021, generating over $120 billion in revenue, as mentioned in the same official source.
This remarkable growth presents significant opportunities, but how can you seize them? Depending on your goals, whether it’s an affiliate blog or an online store, your website will have specific needs that your hosting provider should address. This may include additional bandwidth for a growing inventory or compatibility with a preferred e-commerce platform like Shopify.
Remember, a good host is not just a tech platform but a tech partner. The right one will support your business’s long-term growth and help you tap into the promising future of UK e-commerce.
How might Brexit & GDPR affect web hosting?
London as a major hub for now
Consider the location for hosting your website. Choosing a data center closest to your audience ensures faster loading times.
London, currently Europe’s largest data center market and the third-largest globally, is an excellent choice if your audience is local. It is home to both local and international hosting providers. However, the uncertainties surrounding Brexit raise concerns about London’s future as a major global data center hub.
Potential challenges related to passporting and legal complications may lead to the migration of data and services out of London. Additionally, data residency is a crucial factor to consider, particularly in relation to the GDPR.
What on earth is GDPR?
In short, GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It is a set of standards that apply to all EU members, including the UK. The GDPR gives individuals control over their personal data and holds businesses accountable. It is crucial for your website to be fully compliant with GDPR to avoid hefty fines.
However, Brexit complicates matters as the UK is now considered a “third country” outside the EU. EU organizations must take extra measures to ensure lawful data transfers to the UK. Fortunately, the concept of “adequacy” simplifies things. The European Commission granted adequacy to the UK, allowing freer data transfers in most cases until June 2025. The UK also implemented GDPR as the “UK GDPR” in its laws.
Some predict data movement shifting from London back to the EU to avoid cross-border complexities, while others expect British data to return home.
What else might Brexit affect?
- New hefty import duties and additional VAT means UK products may get more expensive for those outside the UK.
- Some ccTLD domain names, like .eu, are only available to businesses in the EU. What’ll happen to the 300k+ .eu domains already registered to UK businesses is unknown!
You may read up the specifics of GDPR compliance here, we don’t want to bore you.
To Host Inside, Or Outside The UK?
Is your audience mostly in UK?
- GDPR compliance necessary now, very likely still important in the future.
- Consider hosting from London (should also be faster)
- Note, since the UK has been granted ‘adequacy’, it shouldn’t matter where you’re hosting from.
Is your audience mostly in EU?
- GDPR compliance necessary.
- Consider hosting from the EU, outside London (should also be faster)
- Note: GDPR applies to anyone processing the personal data of individuals in the EU – regardless of where in the world they’re based.
For both cases, and if your audience is a mix of UK & EU citizens – you might want to consider a host that has datacenters in both London & elsewhere in Europe. This will give you the flexibility to migrate between them with minimal hassle.
The UK has already implemented GDPR into domestic law, so it does look like they’ll still be upholding GDPR in the long-term.
And so, wherever your audience is, your best bet is to make your site fully GDPR compliant (we’ll explain how in a bit).
How does one factor GDPR into choosing a web host?
Under GDPR you’re expected to keep data secure, and explain to users how you’re using their data. It’s enforced with hefty fines for any organisations who fail to comply, or suffer serious data breaches.
So, a good host will help provide a secure line of defense, they offer:
- Enhanced server security through firewalls and brute-force defense systems.
- SSL certificates to ensure any data submitted into a web form is encrypted. SSL isn’t required under GDPR, but comes highly recommended.
- Proactive monitoring software or system to track and detect any attempts to hack your website, with a system in place to react quickly in the event of a breach. According to GDPR, any serious data breach needs to be reported to the ICO within 72 hours.
Not only are you protecting customers, you’re also protecting yourself and making sure you’re ready to transact with your customers, wherever they’re based.
Still, at the end of the day – we can only guess at the far-reaching implications of Brexit (we aren’t lawyers, only host enthusiasts).For sure, it’s a climate of both potential and uncertainty.
Setting your website up with a reputable host that offers very strong security features, can only be a good place to start.
Verdict: Which Web Hosting Is Best For The UK?
Quite frankly, we don’t have the answer to that. Each one of these services serve a different purpose, and there really is no “best” web hosting service, only the one that works better for your business or website.
For those that are just starting out or are looking for an affordable option to host your website, you just can’t go wrong with a shared web hosting plan. Just make sure that the service comes with good features, knowledgeable support, and is able to handle the traffic you’re expecting for your site.
Here is a recap for the very best host for UK websites:
There will never be an absolute right answer, but you’ll want to be sure your chosen host meets the following criteria:
- Secure
Effectively helps defend your site from hackers and malware, and aids you in GDPR compliance. - Excellent speed
Earns at least an A+ or A rating on our Bitcatcha speed test. - Support
Provides 24/7, effective support. - Reliability
An uptime guarantee of 99%. - Value for money
Balances the features you need with a fair price.
Whether you’re searching for web hosting to stretch your penny, the best services to suit your needs, or maybe something that lies somewhere right in the middle, you can be sure to find something that caters to your business from these excellent brands.
