The best web hosting for small businesses combines affordability, high performance, scalability, and essential features for future growth. Web hosting for small businesses is crucial for establishing a competitive online presence and running eCommerce operations.
This article highlights the top web hosting services ideal for small enterprises and startups. We’ll focus on each host’s cost-effectiveness and capability to support business development and profit. Hostinger is our #1 web host for small businesses.
Top 11 Small Business Web Hosting
1. Hostinger
https://www.hostinger.com/Hostinger provides competitively priced hosting solutions tailored for small businesses. Their Cloud Startup plan costs $8.99 per month. It offers generous features including 200 GB NVMe SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and 1 dedicated IP. This plan includes 100 free email accounts. Hostinger offers a strategic spread of 9 data center locations across the US (North Carolina and Arizona), United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Lithuania, Brazil, India, and Singapore. Check our Hostinger review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of Hostinger’s hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 6 pros of Hostinger’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free daily backups
- Free domain included
- Unlimited free SSL
- hPanel control panel
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 30-day money back guarantee
There is 1 con of Hostinger’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- 4 year subscription to get cheapest price
2. TMDHosting
https://www.tmdhosting.com/TMDHosting excels in providing high-performance and budget friendly hosting for small businesses. Their Business shared hosting plan is priced at $4.95 per month. It includes 100 GB SSD storage alongside unlimited websites, bandwidth, and email accounts. A free domain is also included. TMDHosting operates six data centers across four continents for fast website loading times globally. Users also benefit from TMDHosting’s CloudLinux powered servers and a complimentary CloudFlare CDN. Check our full thoughts on TMDHosting in our review.
What are the pros and cons of TMDHosting’s plans for small businesses?
There are 5 pros of TMDHosting’s plans for small businesses:
- Free domain included
- Free SSL included
- cPanel control panel
- Unlimited email accounts
- 30-day money back guarantee
There are 2 cons of TMDHosting’s plans for small businesses:
- Expensive renewal prices
- Cheapest price requires annual payment
3. GreenGeeks
https://www.greengeeks.com/GreenGeeks is a green host that matches 300% of their energy consumption with renewable energy credits. Their Pro plan for shared hosting is available for $4.95 per month. It provides unlimited SSD storage and unlimited bandwidth which makes it ideal for businesses requiring more resources. The plan also offers unlimited free email accounts and comes with a complimentary CDN. GreenGeeks operates 4 data centers located in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Singapore. Check our GreenGeeks review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of GreenGeeks’ hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 7 pros of GreenGeeks’ hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free nightly backups
- Free domain included
- Free SSL included
- cPanel control panel
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 30-day money back guarantee
- Green web host
There are 2 cons of GreenGeeks’ hosting plans for small businesses:
- No free dedicated IP (paid feature)
- Expensive renewal
4. SiteGround
https://www.siteground.com/SiteGround offers reliable and secure hosting solutions that cater to businesses who need more features. Their Jump Start plan is a premium shared hosting option priced at $90 per month. It includes 40 GB SSD storage and a generous 5TB bandwidth to ensure smooth website performance even during peak times or sales seasons. The plan features 1 dedicated IP, unlimited email accounts, and a free CDN. SiteGround operates 11 data center locations in the United States (Texas, California, Iowa, Virginia), United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, and Australia. Check our SiteGround review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of SiteGround’s hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 6 pros of SiteGround’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free daily backups
- Free wildcard SSL
- Site Tools control panel
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 14-day money back guarantee
- Built on Google Cloud Platform
There is 1 con of SiteGround’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- No free domain included
5. ScalaHosting
https://www.scalahosting.com/ScalaHosting provides scalable and high-performance hosting solutions for small businesses. Their Build #1 plan is a cloud VPS option priced at $29.95 per month. It features 50 GB NVMe SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and 1 dedicated IP. This plan also offers unlimited free email accounts and a Cloudflare CDN. ScalaHosting offers 3 data centers located in the US, EU, and Asia. Check our ScalaHosting review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of ScalaHosting’s hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 5 pros of ScalaHosting’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free daily backups (offsite)
- Free SSL included
- SPanel control panel
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Anytime money back guarantee
There are 2 cons of ScalaHosting’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- 3 year subscription for cheapest price
- No free domain included
6. A2 Hosting
https://www.a2hosting.com/A2 Hosting offers high-speed server performance and excellent customer service. Their DRIVE plan for shared hosting costs $5.99 per month. This plan features unlimited SSD storage. It also offers unlimited bandwidth to accommodate high or fluctuating website traffic. It also includes unlimited email accounts and a Cloudflare CDN. A2 Hosting’s infrastructure is supported by 4 data center locations in the United States (Michigan and Arizona), the Netherlands, and Singapore. Check our A2 Hosting review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of A2 Hosting’s plans for small businesses?
There are 5 pros of A2 Hosting’s plans for small businesses:
- Free automated daily backups
- Free SSL included
- cPanel control panel
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 30-day money back guarantee
There are 2 cons of A2 Hosting’s plans for small businesses:
- No free dedicated IP (paid feature)
- No free domain included
7. DreamHost
https://www.dreamhost.com/DreamHost offers scalable hosting solutions for businesses of all sizes. Their Shared Unlimited plan is priced at $3.95 per month. It includes unlimited SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and unlimited email accounts to cater to growing business and communication needs. Check our DreamHost review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of DreamHost’s hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 4 pros of DreamHost’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free automated daily backups
- Free SSL included
- 100% uptime guarantee
- 97-day money back guarantee
There are 4 cons of DreamHost’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Dedicated IP available in higher tier plans only
- No free CDN included
- 2 data centers only (US based)
- No free domain included
8. HostPapa
https://www.hostpapa.com/HostPapa puts strong emphasis on reliability and customer support. Their Plus plan for shared hosting is competitively priced at $4.76 per month. It includes 100 GB SSD storage for efficient data handling and unmetered bandwidth to support growing website traffic. You also get 100 free email accounts for effective business communication. The inclusion of Cloudflare CDN enhances website performance. HostPapa’s service is backed by 3 data center locations in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. Check our HostPapa review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of HostPapa’s hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 5 pros of HostPapa’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free domain included
- Free SSL included
- cPanel control panel
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 30-day money back guarantee
There are 3 cons of HostPapa’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- 3 year subscription to get cheapest price
- No free dedicated IP (paid feature)
- No free backups (paid feature)
9. Cloudways
https://www.cloudways.com/Cloudways offers flexible and user-friendly cloud hosting solutions perfect for modern businesses. Their DO1GB plan is priced at $11 per month. This cloud hosting package includes 25 GB SSD storage and 1TB bandwidth. Its intuitive interface allows business owners without technical expertise to take advantage of cloud hosting’s scalability. It includes 1 dedicated IP. Users also get access to Cloudways’ extensive network with over 65 data center locations across the US, EU, Asia, and Australia. Check our Cloudways review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of Cloudways’ hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 5 pros of Cloudways’ hosting plans for small businesses:
- Hourly and monthly plans available
- Free automated backups
- Free SSL included
- 3-day free trial (credit card not required)
- Options from Digital Ocean, Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services
There are 4 cons of Cloudways’ hosting plans for small businesses:
- No free email accounts included
- No free CDN included
- No free domain included
- No money back guarantee
10. HostGator
https://www.hostgator.com/HostGator’s offers affordable and beginner-friendly hosting for small businesses who want to protect their margins. Their Hatchling plan is a shared hosting option competitively priced at $4.95 per month. It comes with unmetered storage, unmetered bandwidth, and a free email account. Check our HostGator review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of HostGator’s hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 6 pros of HostGator’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free backups
- Free domain included
- Free SSL included
- cPanel control panel
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 30-day money back guarantee
There are 4 cons of HostGator’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- 3 year subscription for cheapest price
- No free dedicated IP (paid feature)
- No free CDN included
- 2 data centers only (US based)
11. Bluehost
https://www.bluehost.com/Bluehost offers comprehensive hosting solutions designed for a wide range of online business needs. Their Choice Plus plan is a shared hosting package priced at $5.45 per month. It includes 40 GB SSD storage and unmetered bandwidth to support extensive website operations. This plan also comes with a free CDN to enhance speed and accessibility for users worldwide. Check our Bluehost review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of Bluehost’s hosting plans for small businesses?
There are 5 pros of Bluehost’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- Free daily backups
- Free domain included
- Free SSL included
- cPanel control panel
- 30-day money back guarantee
There are 5 cons of Bluehost’s hosting plans for small businesses:
- 3 year subscription to get cheapest prices
- No free dedicated IP (paid feature)
- No free email accounts included
- 1 data center only (US based)
- No uptime guarantee
What Is The Best Web Hosting For Small Businesses?
The best web hosting for small businesses provides reliable performance and generous features at an economical price point. This is typically provided best by shared hosting and VPS hosting and cloud hosting. Choosing the best web hosting with affordable but high-value plans allows small businesses to minimize overheads and therefore protect their margins and profits.
What Is The Cost Of Small Business Web Hosting?
The cost of small business web hosting ranges from $20 – $4800 per year. At the lower end of this spectrum are shared hosting options. These are the most affordable hosting type and they’re ideal for businesses on low budgets. Shared hosting provides shared and limited resources (storage, bandwidth, RAM) but is a sufficient solution for brand new startups. Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting is more expensive but it offers higher customizability and resources. The higher cost of VPS hosting makes it best suited to businesses with higher traffic and growth potential.
Is Monthly or Yearly Small Business Hosting More Cost-Effective?
Yearly small business web hosting is more cost-effective compared to monthly plans. Most providers offer significant introductory discounts on annual or longer-term web hosting plans (2 – 4 years). These discounts often reduce costs to as low as $1.99 per month. This saves you up to 80% compared to monthly hosting plans. It’s important to thoroughly assess and be confident that the web host fits your small business’s needs before committing to a long-term plan.
Is There a Website Setup Fee with Small Business Web Hosting?
No, there is no website setup fee associated with small business web hosting. You can build or upload your small business website to your chosen web hosting provider without any extra charge. This feature makes it more accessible for small businesses to establish an online presence without incurring additional initial costs.
Is Cheap Web Hosting Viable For Small Businesses?
Yes, cheap web hosting is a viable option for small businesses. You can find hosting plans for $5 or lower per month that include essential business features like SSD storage, a limited number of email accounts, and free SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates. These cost-effective plans are ideal for small business websites in their initial stages. Website owners can upgrade to a plan with more resources and capabilities as the business expands and its demands increase.
Is Free Web Hosting Viable for Small Businesses?
No, free web hosting is not a viable option for small businesses. Free web hosting features ads on your site and doesn’t allow the use of custom domain names. This detracts from your business’ professionalism and your customers’ user experience. Free hosting also comes with limited server resources like bandwidth or outdated infrastructure. This leads to poor website performance and limits your ability to scale up as your business expands.
What Are My Options For Small Business Website Hosting?
You have 2 options for small business website hosting. The first is shared hosting. Shared hosting is an affordable type of hosting where your business website shares server resources with other websites. The second option is Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting. VPS hosting is a type of hosting where a physical server is divided into multiple virtual servers, each with its own resources and operating system. This setup provides greater control, performance, and security compared to shared hosting. VPS is suitable for businesses that have outgrown the resource allocations of shared hosting and require more robust and customizable hosting solutions.
What Small Business Sites Benefit from Shared Hosting?
Simple and small company websites benefit from shared hosting. A company website consists of static content and simple web pages. It’s primarily aimed at presenting information about the business, its services and products, as well as collecting leads and inquiries from potential customers. Shared hosting provides sufficient resources and capabilities to effectively host and manage these types of websites.
What Small Business Sites Benefit from VPS Hosting?
Small eCommerce websites that are not completely new benefit from VPS. An eCommerce website is an online platform where products or services are sold. These websites feature functionalities for product display, shopping carts, and secure transactions. VPS hosting provides the dedicated server resources, reliability and customizability necessary to power higher traffic websites.
Can I Use Cloud Hosting For My Small Business Sites?
Yes, you can use cloud hosting for your small business if you’re a more established eCommerce business experiencing highly variable traffic. Cloud hosting is a type of hosting that uses a network of virtual servers to distribute resources and handle traffic. This provides your website with more power, reliability and scalability. Many cloud hosts also offer a Pay As You Go (PAYG) model which means your costs are scaled up or down depending on actual usage. This prevents small business owners paying more than they actually use. This makes cloud hosting especially ideal for eCommerce sites that experience big fluctuations during peak sales periods or promotional events.
What Small Business Web Hosting Features Do I Look Out For?
There are 5 small business web hosting features you need to look out for:
- Uptime Seek hosts offering 99.9% uptime with a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for reliable website availability.
- Support Ensure 24/7 support, preferably with phone access and live chat for quick issue resolution.
- Data Center Location Select hosting with data centers near your target audience for optimal load times.
- CDN (Content Delivery Network) Choose a CDN to improve site speed and reliability for users worldwide. CDN distributes your site content across multiple server locations globally.
- Room for Upgrade Choose a host that allows easy upgrade of hosting services. This accommodates your business’ growth without forcing you to migrate to a different web host.
Is a Domain Name Included with Small Business Web Hosting?
Yes, a domain name is included with small business web hosting. Many hosting providers offer the option to register a .com, .org or .shop domain name for free when you purchase an annual web hosting plan or opt for a longer plan duration.
Are Email Services Included with Small Business Web Hosting?
Yes, email services are included with small business web hosting. Most providers allow you to create anywhere from 10 to an unlimited number of email accounts using your custom domain name.
Is a Dedicated IP Address Necessary in Small Business Web Hosting?
Yes, a dedicated IP address is necessary for small businesses that engage in email marketing. A dedicated IP address is a unique internet address exclusively assigned to a single hosting account. This differentiates it from shared IPs used by multiple websites. Having a clean dedicated IP ensures emails are more likely to be delivered to your customers’ inboxes. It also avoids the common pitfall of being blocked by spam filters, which is a common occurrence with shared IP addresses.
Are Web Design Services Included with Small Business Web Hosting?
No, web design services are not included in small business web hosting packages. These services are offered separately and come at an additional cost. However, many web hosting providers include free drag-and-drop website builders in their plans. These builders come with a variety of templates to help you get your business website or shop up and running quickly without advanced web design skills or knowledge of coding.
What Makes The Best WordPress Hosting For Small Business?
The best WordPress hosting for small businesses includes 3 key features. Firstly, it offers one-click WordPress installation to simplify set-up. Second, it includes WordPress acceleration with optimized servers and WordPress-tuned caching features to improve site speed and performance. Lastly, it provides WordPress staging to allow safe testing of website changes before making them live. Check our best WordPress hosting shortlist for our brand recommendations.
Can I Use Small Business Web Hosting For Startups?
Yes, you can use small business web hosting for startups, particularly shared web hosting. Startups tend to have restricted budgets and smaller website traffic to begin with. The cost-effectiveness of shared hosting allows them to keep costs low whilst they focus on establishing themselves. Upgrading to VPS hosting is recommended once the startups’s website traffic increases and their needs become more complex.
Can I Use Managed Hosting For Small Business?
Yes, you can use managed hosting for your small business. Managed hosting is a service where the hosting provider takes care of server management and optimization. This includes regular maintenance, security updates, and high-level technical support. Managed hosting is particularly useful if you have limited employee manpower and don’t have a web developer on your team. This arrangement allows your staff to concentrate on daily business operations without worrying about the complexities of server management. Check our best managed hosting shortlist for our brand recommendations.
Which Is The Best Website Hosting For Small Businesses?
The best website hosting for small businesses excels in balancing cost-effectiveness, well-rounded features, and reliable support.
Here’s a recap of our top brands:
Specifications | Hostinger | TMDHosting | GreenGeeks | SiteGround | ScalaHosting | A2 Hosting | DreamHost | HostPapa | Cloudways | HostGator | Bluehost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plan name | Cloud Startup | Business | Pro | Jump Start | Build #1 | Drive | Shared Unlimited | Plus | DO1 | Hatchling | Choice Plus |
Storage | 200 GB NVMe SSD | 200 GB SSD | Unlimited SSD | 40 GB SSD | 50 GB NVMe SSD | Unlimited SSD | Unlimited SSD | 100 GB SSD | 25 GB SSD | Unmetered | 40 GB SSD |
Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unlimited | 5 TB | Unmetered | Unlimited | Unmetered | Unmetered | 1 TB | Unmetered | Unmetered |
Free email accounts | 100 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 100 | No | Yes | No |
Free backup | Daily | Daily | Nightly | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily | No | Automated | Yes | Daily |
Dedicated IP | 1 | No | No | 1 | 1 | No | No | No | 1 | No | No |
Free domain name | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Free SSL | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Wildcard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Uptime guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 100% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | No |
Money-back guarantee | 30-day | 30-day | 30-day | 14-day | Anytime | 30-day | 97-day | 30-day | No | 30-day | 30-day |
Starting price /mo | $8.99 | $4.99 | $4.95 | $90 | $29.95 | $5.99 | $3.95 | $4.76 | $11 | $4.95 | $5.45 |
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Hostinger is our #1 recommendation for website hosting for small businesses based on these qualities.