The Best Web Hosting Companies and What Makes Them That Way
We do not artificially “rank” web hosting companies like other web hosting directory sites do. Most of the top web hosts basically offer the same unlimited features like web space, bandwidth, email, and blogs. So the question is, how can these directory sites give one company 5 stars and another only 3 when they’re practically looking in the mirror?
Our approach is different. We dug beneath all the obvious “unlimited” stuff and discovered some really cool things that make these companies shine. Instead of assigning bogus star ratings, we’ve listed some of their strengths and unique features so you can decide which one is right for your website projects. Click on the Hosting Review links to read more about them.
| Web Hosting Companies | Best Features | Price | C/P | Hosting Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 WebHostingHub | • Fastest WordPress Hosting • Best WordPress Tech Support • A+ Better Business Bureau Rating • Green Web Hosting | $4.95 | cPanel | WebHostingHub Review |
 WebHostingPad  | • Cheapest cPanel Hosting • Price Lock Guarantee • Softaculous 250+ Scripts • Coupon Code | $1.99 | cPanel | WebHostingPad Review |
 iPage | • Easy To vDeck Control Panel • No Inode Metering • EcoFriendly Green Hosting • Anytime Money Back Guarantee | $2.95 | vDeck | iPage Review |
 BlueHost | • cPanel Developer Features • Best Open Source e-Commerce • SimpleScripts, Concrete5 • Anytime Money Back Guarantee | $5.95 | cPanel | BlueHost Review |
 JaguarPC | • Free Shared SSL • Migration Experts • Best Script Installer • Best Selection of Servers for VPS, Dedicated and Hybrid Plans | $4.95 | cPanel | JaguarPC Review |
 Cirtex Hosting | • Best Basic Hosting Deal • Cheapest Adult Hosting • Streaming Video Hosting | $2.95 | cPanel | Cirtex Review |
 DotEasy | • Best Free Hosting • FTP, No Ads • Up To 10 Email Accounts • cPanel Control Panel | $0 | cPanel | DotEasy Review |
 HostGator | • 4500 Free Website Templates • Free cPanel Transfer • Online Tutorials & Articles • Green Web Hosting • Coupon Codes | $3.96 | cPanel | HostGator Review |
 Site5 | • Pick Your Hosting Location • Control Panel for Each Domain • RVSiteBuilder 600+ Templates • Coupon Codes | $4.95 | cPanel | Site5 Review |
 Arvixe | • Low Cost Monthly Plans • Free Website Transfer • Social Networking Hosting • No Inode Limits | $4.00 | cPanel | Arvixe Review |
WebHostingHub Review
We have a Web Hosting Hub account.
Fastest WordPress Hosting – Do you need faster WordPress hosting? Here’s how to tell. If you’ve been using WordPress for any length of time, you may have been frustrated by some loooong delays in the Dashboard and/or in the browser. You click on something and then wait, wait, wait… After you’ve eliminated any issues with and the theme, plugins, advertising banners loading from other sites, installed a caching plugin and you still have delay issues, maybe it’s time to find a better WordPress host. That’s especially true if you notice the slowness on a brand new blog installation before you’ve even had a chance to put anything on it. Google places value on website speed as part of its warm and fuzzy “user experience”. If your bounce rate is high because visitors are leaving your blog when it doesn’t load fast enough, that’s not good. Out of all the hosts I’ve used over the years, WordPress has never performed better than on my Hub account.
Best WordPress Tech Support – Most hosts have script installers in their control panels, but just because WordPress is available for installation on your account, doesn’t mean they have anyone in house who actually knows anything about it. The tech support guys at the Hub know and “do” WordPress because have their own personal blogs. You’ll get friendly, knowledgeable help.
A+ Better Business Bureau Rating – I read a blog post one time written by the owner of a web hosting company. Don’t remember which company. A customer complained about some issue on their account and instead of dealing with the help desk (which is what a help desk is for) to get it resolved, they went straight to the Better Business Bureau to complain. The owner didn’t think too much of the BBB because they’re not a government agency and can’t enforce any laws. He basically said that they are self-appointed vigilantes attempting to resolve complaints. It should be known that many issues wouldn’t even be an issue if people would only read the Terms of Service before they buy. Instead, they stomp their feet when they don’t get their way and tattle to the BBB. Some customers can never be satisfied. There will always be “pot stirrers” and revenge seekers. How much value one places on BBB ratings can be subjective, but if a company has an A+ rating like the Hub does, they’re doing something right.
Click to Visit: WebHostingHub
WebHostingPad Review
Cheapest cPanel Hosting – Why pay anymore than you have to for cPanel hosting? Let’s compare unlimited hosting plans. If Company “A” has yearly plans for $6.95/yr, that would be $83.40 upfront. But you can get a 4-year plan at WHP for only $1.99/yr for a total of $95.52 upfront. That’s an extra 3 years of web hosting for only $12.12 more than Company “A”. Even 1-year plans are only $3.99/yr with no setup, installation or hidden fees. This is the cheapest cPanel hosting with unlimited space, bandwidth and the ability to host multiple domains on a single account.
Price Lock Guarantee – Here’s something you may not know about web hosting. The discount price you pay upfront is typically an introductory offer. That means when your account comes up for renewal, it will renew at the normal price which is usually several dollars more per month. Talk about a shock and awe. Not at WHP. The super low price you pay when you sign up will be locked in for the life of your account. No jaw dropping bills at renewal time. I have never seen a web hosting company do that.
Softaculous 250+ Scripts – Many cPanel web hosts include the Fantastico script installer which has around 50ish scripts. WHP uses the Softaculous script installer which boasts over 250 scripts. It has some of the best free software available and many preview applications from new vendors you may not have heard of. Install what you want and decide which meets your needs the best. You’ll find the usual blogging and forum scripts like WordPress and phpBB, but it’s also got some other really exciting apps like Sharetronix, an open source Twitter-like 160-character micro blogging program and that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. Click here to see an up-to-date list of all the Softaculous programs you’ll get with a WHP account.
Coupon Code – Use WebHostingPad coupon code FREEDOMAIN to get a free domain for life with web hosting purchase.
Click to Visit: WebHostingPad
iPage Review
Easy To Use Control Panel - If all you want to do is “run a website” or “have a blog” and don’t want a bunch of geeky applications you’ll never use cluttering up the control panel, then you’ll love the vDeck control panel. There are plenty of tools to manage your sites and over 70 applications in the SimpleScripts script installer. Manage both your websites and billing from one easy interface.
No Inode Metering - Here’s something you may not be aware of. Even though many hosting plans come with unlimited hosting space, did you know that some hosts sneak around that feature by limiting the number of files you can have on your account? They’re called inodes or index nodes. Simply put, inodes include all web pages, all emails, all images, all database files, all files in all application installations, etc. So even though your plan may have unlimited web space, typical inode limits are in the 50,000 to 200,000 range and they add up fast. You’ll be glad to know that iPage has NO inode limits. You’re free to host as many files as you like.
EcoFriendly Green Hosting - The amount of energy it takes to run a web hosting data center is staggering. All those web servers and other equipment sucking up electricity day in and day out generate massive amounts of heat and heat is no friend to electronic hardware. Therefore, it takes air conditioning units weighing tons to cool a data center. The servers, offices and data centers supporting your hosting account are completely powered by wind energy. For every KWH of energy used, twice that amount in renewable energy carbon offsets is purchased. Do something good for the Earth with eco-friendly green web hosting.
Anytime Money Back Guarantee - Ever have buyer’s remorse and couldn’t get a refund on something you’ve purchased? We know you’ll love your new hosting account, but for whatever reason, sometimes your project plans change and you need to close your account. Not a problem. You’ll receive a pro-rated refund of your unused web hosting fees no matter how many months you are into your term.
Click to Visit: iPage
BlueHost Review
We have a Blue Host account.
cPanel With Developer Features – This version of cPanel is has everything cPanel users are already familiar with, but it goes a step further with the inclusion of programs for developers and serious webmasters like PostgreSQL and supporting applications, Google Apps integration wizard, File Count lets you know how many files are on your account, free SEO tools and more.
Best Open Source e-Commerce – Whether you are a computer expert or a novice, the PrestaShop™ e-Commerce solution lets you take any business online. Installs in 15 minutes. Manage inventory, limitless categories, customers, payment methods, shipping, employees, stats and so much more… all for free.
SimpleScripts, Concrete5 - SimpleScripts provides easy one-click management of over 70 of the web’s top applications. Remember I said the control panel comes with applications for developers? One of the cool free scripts in SimpleScripts is called Concrete5. This is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. If you like building your own websites, you can design and build entire content management applications with Concrete5. Check this out… you can take a website written in HTML and convert it into a template in minutes. All your clients have to do is replace the sample text with their own.
Anytime Money Back Guarantee – If at any time you’d like to cancel your account, get a pro-rated refund on the unused web hosting fees.
Click to Visit: BlueHost
JaguarPC Review
Free SSL Access – This is something you don’t see very often, free shared SSL. If you’ll be needing secure connectivity for your e-commerce site or one that accepts personal information, this is an easy way to get initial SSL protection while you shop for the best price for your own SSL certificate.
Migration Experts – If you’re already hosted someplace else and want to transfer your account, Jaguar will take the pain out of the move. They know your websites are mission critical and their migration experts will move your sites, clients, the whole shabang without any downtime.
Best Script Installer – The Softaculous script installer used by Jaguar PC has over 5 times as many scripts as the old Fantastico installer that a lot of cPanel host use. There will be problem finding the best blogging, forum, social networking, e-commerce platform and so, SO much more.
Best Selection of Servers for VPS, Dedicated, Colocation and Hybrid Plans – Some web hosting companies only offer shared hosting. If your account gets suspended when you use more than the normal amount of server resources, where are you supposed to go? Moving to another host sucks. Jaguar won’t leave you homeless because there will always be a plan for your needs. The sky’s the limit with the enormous selection of upgraded plans and server configurations.
Click to Visit: JaguarPC
Cirtex Hosting Review
Best Basic Hosting Deal – Most hosting companies have unlimited “everything” plans, but why should you pay for all that luxury if you’re not going to use it? Cirtex has one of the best Basic hosting plans around. You still get plenty of space and bandwidth and the ability to host up to 7 domains, but at a greatly reduced price of only $2.49/month.
Cheapest Adult Hosting – Ok, we know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but Cirtex allows adult websites on their servers and yes, you can do it on those $2.49/month plans, too.
Streaming Video Hosting – Ever think of running your own YouTube-like streaming video site, but without the video length and quality limitations like YouTube? Get video hosting service that’s highly scalable as your needs grow, even for lengthy presentations and large files.
Click to Visit: Cirtex
DotEasy Review
Best Free Hosting – First, let me tell you a little story about some of the free web hosting scams out there. It goes like this… you sign up for free hosting so you can install a WordPress blog. You login to the control panel only to discover that WordPress installation is “temporarily unavailable” and that you have to request installation and wait your turn “because we’re really busy”. Or, if you’re brave, you upload it yourself and attempt to install it only to discover API errors when you go to install themes and plugins from the WordPress site. Yea, you can get around that by uploading themes and plugins using FTP, but you shouldn’t have to do that. Once you get WordPress installed, you start making posts and everything’s going fine until one day you can’t access your blog. It’s been deleted. Why? Because you didn’t upgrade to one of their paid plans. So you contact support to find out WTF, but you don’t get any reply because free accounts don’t come with support, not even to find out “Dude, where’s my blog?” It’s the old bait n switch routine and it pisses off a lot of people. It’s happened to me before.
I’ll be honest, the free Basic hosting plan doesn’t come with PHP or MySQL database support so you won’t be able to install WordPress. But if all you want is a regular HTML site without the blog, then sign up for free web hosting from DotEasy. You can always upgrade to the Ultra plan to get the extras.
Basic web hosting is free, but you do have to buy a domain name from them. In all honesty, the domain name is $25 and that’s about 2.5 times as much as what you should be paying, but if you compare it to paid hosting from another source, the DotEasy way is cheaper. And, they won’t delete your account because you’re actually paid for a domain name from them. You’ll get 100MB and hosting space and 1GB of data transfer to host 1 domain. (There are no add-on domains on the free Basic hosting plan.)
FTP, No Ads – Free hosting usually comes without FTP access and is loaded with ads on your site. DotEasy gives you full FTP access and no ads. So if you’ll be using some off the shelf website designer on your computer, you’ll be able to upload it via FTP.
Up To 10 Email Accounts - You won’t be limited to having only one email account. You can have 10. That’s important if you’re running a small business website or a personal site where you need more an 1 email address for various points of contact.
cPanel Control Panel – I’ve seen some hosts stick their free users with some funky, stripped down in-house control panel. cPanel is the best web hosting control panel, period.
Click to Visit: DotEasy
HostGator Review
4500 Free Website Templates- One of the most annoying things about hosting companies that advertise what wonderful a website builder they have is that their selection of templates sucks. Not here. You can make a website in 5 easy point-and-click steps with a powerful WYSIWYG editor for non-technical users. There are over 4500 variations of ready-made templates, but advanced users can modify default templates designs, add new templates, and create new page sets.
Free cPanel Transfer – If your sites are currently hosted at another cPanel host, their hotshot technical support team will move your entire cPanel account to a new HostGator account. Just sign up and then submit a support ticket to have it all moved.
Online Tutorials and Articles- New web hosting users frequently sign up for a hosting account and then go “Now what?” It’s a lot like buying a piece of fitness equipment and not knowing what exercises to do. HostGator has on online portal with over 500 video tutorials and over 680 help articles showing you exactly how to use the control panel, email, WordPress and much, much more.
Coupon Codes – Use the following HostGator coupon codes to save.
- HGFOR25LESS – For 25% off your first term.
- HGRESELLER4LESS – $25.94 off reseller packages.
- SAVE994ONHG – Save $9.94 off any hosting plan.
Click to Visit: HostGator
Site5 Review
Pick Your Hosting Location – Don’t want your hosting’s data center located in hurricane country? At Site5 you can pick your hosting location from 11 North American locations and 4 overseas countries.
Control Panel for Each Domain – This is a super slick feature to have enabled on your hosting account. With the Multi-Admin feature, you can give each website you create its own control panel instead of all of them sharing one master control panel. It’s available from your Site5 Backstage control panel by clicking on the Multi-Admin tab. It’s very similar to Web Hosting Manager (WHM).
RVSiteBuilder With 650+ Templates – Use any one of the 650+ pre-designed website templates to build your site without knowing any HTML coding. After applying a theme to your site, you never have to be locked into one particular page style. Easily change a single page’s style by selecting from several page style layouts. You can also design your own templates just the way you like it.
Coupon Codes – Save with these Site5 coupon codes.
- FREETRIAL – Select a one (1) month contract term when ordering. If you select a contract term longer than one (1) month, you will simply receive one (1) month free off your order.
- ONEDOLLARVPS1 – Test drive the VPS1 plan for just $1 for the first month. If you select a contract term longer than one (1) month, you will simply receive the monetary equivalent of $1 for the first month of the term.
- FREEDOMAIN – Get a free complimentary 1-year domain name registration when you sign up for a shared or reseller hosting plan.
Click to Visit: Site5
Arvixe Review
Low Cost Monthly Plans – Need a good unlimited plan that doesn’t cut features, can host multiple domains, but you want it all with a shorter term? Month-to-month and 6-month plans are available.
Free Website Transfer – Free website transfer services are available for 60 days from your sign up date. If your current hosting account uses cPanel, those transfers are pretty much a breeze. But if you’re using a non-cPanel host, they’ll do their absolute best to make sure your transfer goes smoothly. Some hosts wouldn’t even bother.
Social Networking Hosting - Get fast, secure and reliable Social Network and Community Website Hosting. If there was code written for it, Arivxe will host it. SocialEngine, BoonEx, Dolphin, elgg, webNetwork, phpfox, E-Friends, PG Social Networking, PeoplePods, Facebook-like Script and many, many more.
No Inode Limits – Even though most web hosting plans come with unlimited hosting space, they still limit how many files you have on your account. Arivxe doesn’t do that. You can host as many files on your account as you like. I contacted their support department and straight up asked them. There are no inode limits.
Click to Visit: Arvixe
