How to Find the Cheapest Web Hosting

In this article, I’ll share my expertise on which core hosting features are essential and how to assess your hosting needs so you can confidently choose one of the cheapest hosting providers I recommend below.

Why would you choose Budget Hosting?

The budget side of web hosting is the perfect ecosystem for new websites to thrive. If you’re just starting a business or you’ve bought a cool domain name and just want to test the waters, it’s smart to go cheap on web hosting. You don’t want to use server resources you don’t need right away. Both websites and businesses take time to grow. Once you start attracting your website and receiving a lot of visitors, you can easily expand your hosting.

cheap web hosting I think

When I describe a web hosting package as “cheap” or “budget,” I mean hosting prices between $0.80 and $5 per month. When researching cheap hosting providers for this guide, I looked at over 100 different hosts in that price range. I then evaluated the quality, value for money, and customer service of their cheapest hosting packages.

From this group of hosting providers, I narrowed them down to the top 10 hosting providers that offer budget or cheap hosting plans, but still offer great value and high-quality hosting for your website.

Here are the results of our extensive research…

Pricing for the cheapest web hosts

virtual host	1 month	1 year	2 years	3 years	free domain name	free SSL	email account
bluehost	–	$35.40	–	$106.20	Yes	Yes	5
Custodian	$9.99	$35.88	$54.96	–	No	Yes	1
host crocodile	$11.95	$47.40	–	$99.00	Yes	Yes	unlimited
Domain.com_ _	–	$45.00	$90.00	$135.00	Yes	Yes	1
Page	–	$35.88	$59.76	$71.64	Yes	Yes	unlimited
A2 Hosting	$11.99	$35.88	–	$179.64	No	Yes	unlimited
green geek	$10.95	$59.40	$94.80	$106.20	Yes	Yes	unlimited
go dad	$11.99	$35.88	$143.76	$215.64	Yes	Yes	2
cheap name	$4.48	$17.28	$37.88	–	Yes	Yes	30
against the wind	$8.24	$80.88	$143.76	$188.64	Yes	Yes	unlimited
Dynamic	–	$39.48	$66.96	$82.44	Yes	Yes	10
dream host	$4.95	$35.40	–	$93.24	Yes	Yes	No

Key insights from this pricing summary

Month-to-month pricing is always expensive, and renewal costs after a one-year contract can be even worse. Choose long-term hosting plans, such as two-, three-, or even five-year contracts. This way, you’ll avoid significantly increasing your hosting renewal costs in the short term.
Beware of very cheap introductory deals. They often result in doubling or even tripling the original cost at the end of the contract.
In general, the four cheapest providers are InMotion, Namecheap, iPage, and Bluehost.

Remember, the cheapest hosting isn’t always the best. Hosting package features vary widely between all the hosting providers listed in this guide. For example, GoDaddy’s cheapest 1-year plan is $35.88 for a full year, which is ridiculously cheap.
But here’s the thing…

if you want to get an SSL certificate for your website, they charge you $99.99 per year after the first year, plus tons of other email and domain upsells! If you buy hosting with Bluehost for $2.95 per month, you will get SSL for free for the first year as well as higher-quality web hosting.

Cheapest Monthly Plans – Top 5 Web Hosts

#1 – Namecheap – $4.48 p/m
#2 – Dreamhost – $4.95 p/m
#3 – Hostwinds – $8.24 p/m
#4 – Hostinger – $9.99 p/m
#5 – GreenGeeks – $10.95 p/m

Cheapest 1-Year Plan – Top 5 Web Hosts

#1 – Namecheap – $17.28 per year
#2 – Dreamhost – $35.40 per year
#3 – Bluehost – $35.40 per year
#4 – iPage – $35.88 per year
#5 – A2 Hosting – $35.88 per year

Cheapest 2-Year Plan – Top 5 Web Hosts

#1 – Namecheap – $37.88 (2-year total cost)
#2 – Hostinger – $54.96 (2-year total cost)
#3 – iPage – $59.76 (2-year total cost)
#4 – InMotion – $66.96 (2-year total cost) cost years)
#5 – Domain.com – $90.00 (total cost for 2 years)

Cheapest 3-Year Plan – Top 5 Web Hosts

#1 – iPage – $71.64 (3-year total cost)

#2 – InMotion – $82.44 (3-year total cost)

#3 – Dreamhost – $93.24 (3-year total cost)

#4 – Hostgator – $99.00 (3-year total cost) cost years)

#5 – Bluehost – $106.20 (total cost for 3 years)

All prices above were last updated on February 28, 2023

Cheap
web hosting with the best overall performance

Bluehost

From $2.95 in the afternoon (0.09 cents per day!!!) + Free Domain Registration

When it comes to providing high-quality hosting at the cheapest price, Bluehost definitely wins.

I have been using Bluehost myself for 15 years. They offer high-quality hosting and support at very cheap prices.

Many other hosts that offer this cheap or less end up performing poorly, being unreliable, offering poor support, or having other unforeseen issues. Bluehost is exactly the opposite. For the price, they are one of the best web hosting providers in the world. Great value for money, especially when it comes to WordPress hosting.

What to look for in cheap web hosting

Finding quality web hosting doesn’t have to break the bank. Competition in today’s hosting market helps drive down hosting plan prices across the board.

However, not all cheap hosting is created equal. Some will offer better features, performance, and overall security.

When choosing a cheap hosting provider, you need to consider a lot of different factors. Still, there are a few considerations you need to consider, including the level of server resources you need, and the level of control you want to have over your server.

Most of the time, if you’re looking for cheap web hosting, your hosting needs will be minimal. You probably aren’t looking for a dedicated server or VPS. This will be your first website and you are looking for as little investment as possible to get your website running.

Regardless of your hosting needs, here are some of the features you’d expect from a cheap host:

They allow you to install WordPress and other blogging platforms with a one-click installation
Starter plans include a free or very cheap domain name
Include the website email account
The plan comes with basic security features to keep your site and server safe
It comes with enough bandwidth and storage to support small websites and get you through the initial stages of website development

Is Cheap Hosting Right For You? Internal observation

Cheap and basic web hosting plans can be a good option when you are just starting a new blog, have very basic website needs, or have low website traffic. These plans usually only cost a few dollars per month and have everything you need to support your website.

Cheap web hosting can come in many different flavors. However, probably the most common is shared hosting. With shared hosting, you can split the cost of a physical server with hundreds of other users. That’s why the cost is so low. The total number of accounts on the server will depend on the hosting provider you use.

Shared hosting can be great for a variety of different reasons:

Costs can be very low, so you can get started with little down payment
Your hosting plan will come with everything you need to start and grow your website
It’s built for beginners, so setting up your site and server is easy
Server resources are sufficient to support your site in a medium-growth stage

Cheap web hosting is usually best for the following types of websites:

blogger. Bloggers typically have lower traffic and simpler website needs, at least at first. Plus, the simple WordPress installation makes this a breeze.
small business owner. Most small businesses just need a very simple website that will rank for local terms and give them a local online presence.
Simple website builder. Sites with low traffic or only a few pages will require fewer hosting resources.
Comes with items. Not sure if your new project will be a success? Start with cheap hosting plans.