Whether you're launching a side project or setting up shop for a growing business, if you're looking to create a new site, the thought of building one yourself can be daunting. However, by using one of the best website builders, you can save weeks of frustration. Using the wrong one, however, will just waste your time and money.

I've tested the top website builders hands-on, so you don't have to. Following all this testing, I've come to the conclusion that Wix is the best website builder overall. Its editor gives you creative freedom, its AI tools speed up the build process, and its e-commerce capabilities are strong enough for serious sellers.

However, every builder included in this guide has a niche worth knowing about, so read on to find the best fit for your project. Check out all of the options below to find the best website builder to suit your particular needs.

The quick list

Here's a snapshot of my top picks, with direct links to more comprehensive reviews so you can dig deeper into the builders that interest you.

The best website builders of 2026

The best website builder overall

I keep coming back to Wix because it delivers on creative control. There's a reason why it tops not only this list, but our lists of the best e-commerce website builders and best small business website builders, too.

With over 900 templates and an editor that lets you place elements wherever you want, it's the closest thing to freeform design you'll get without writing code. The drag-and-drop interface enables pixel-perfect placement, and I've built everything from restaurant menus to membership sites without hitting a wall.

If you'd rather skip the blank-canvas approach, Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) asks a few questions and generates a custom starting point you can publish in hours. I've found it impressively good at matching business type to design. It won't replace a designer, but it gets you 80% of the way there fast.

For those who want to push further, Wix Studio opens up custom forms, dynamic pages, and database-driven content, features that usually require a developer. E-commerce tools cover inventory management, multi-channel selling, subscriptions, and digital products, making Wix a serious contender for online stores, too.

The free plan gives you the full builder to experiment with, and paid plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Support includes 24/7 ticketing and callbacks, plus an in-app help center with guides and video walkthroughs. The SEO Wiz walks you through meta tags and sitemaps step by step.

Wix's Ascend platform ties it all together with lead capture, workflow automation, and email marketing, positioning it as a full business toolkit, not just a page builder.

The catch is cost. Pricing starts with Light at $17 a month (annual billing), which includes a free domain for the first year and 2GB of storage. Core jumps to $29 per month, Business to $39 per month, and Business Elite to $159 per month for priority support and significantly more resources.

• Check out our full Wix review

The best value website builder

Squarespace's templates are, hands down, the most visually polished I've tested. The library is smaller than Wix's, but every design feels professionally crafted and targeted, whether you're building a portfolio, a restaurant site, or a fashion brand. The Blueprint AI system can generate a personalized site from a prompt, which I found usable as a starting point.

I really like the blogging tools here. You get multiple authors, post scheduling, and mobile content creation, with many templates designed specifically for blog-first sites. Monetization options include videos, podcasts, paid newsletters, and Member Areas for premium subscriber content, making Squarespace much more than just a page builder for creators.

The Mobile View feature lets you preview and adjust layouts specifically for phones and tablets, which is a thoughtful addition I appreciate when building for real-world audiences.

My main gripe is the editor. It can be confusing to navigate, especially for beginners, and I still trip over it occasionally despite having used it dozens of times. There's also no free-forever plan; you get a 14-day trial, and that's it.

All four paid plans include a free domain for the first year, unmetered bandwidth and storage, and built-in SSL. Prices range from $16 per month for an annual Personal subscription to $99 per month for the Advanced plan. Make sure you check our Squarespace promo codes page for discounts.

• Read our full Squarespace review.

The best budget website builder

Bluehost has been officially recommended by WordPress.org since 2005, and WonderSuite is the company's answer to the "WordPress is too complicated" criticism. It layers a guided, AI-enhanced experience on top of real WordPress, and I was surprised by how well it smooths out the rough edges.

WonderStart kicks things off by asking about your site's purpose and style, then generates a foundation with relevant images and copy suggestions. WonderHelp provides in-builder step-by-step support without making you leave the page, which I found useful when navigating WordPress for the first time.

The building experience uses WonderTheme (a flexible block-based theme) and WonderBlocks (pre-designed patterns and full-page templates). These blocks auto-populate with your setup info and are fully customizable via drag-and-drop. For e-commerce, WonderCart integrates with WooCommerce and adds promotion tools like "Buy One, Get One Free" offers.

The biggest caveat is pricing transparency. Introductory rates are very attractive (Starter begins at $3.99 per month, with Business at $6.99 and eCommerce Essentials at $14.99), but renewal rates are more than double. Make sure you factor in the long-term cost before committing to a term.

The real strength here is that you're building on actual WordPress. That means full data ownership, the ability to migrate to any host, and access to the entire WordPress plugin ecosystem as your site grows. Unlike proprietary builders, you're never locked in.

• Read our full Bluehost review

The best in-house website builder

GoDaddy's builder is the one I recommend when someone just wants a site live with the least possible friction. There's no third-party app market or add-ons to navigate. Everything is built in-house, which keeps things clean and ensures compatibility.

The drag-and-drop interface is the most approachable I've tested. Novices can configure a site to their liking using pre-built templates without ever feeling lost. The analytics and support tools are solid, too. GoDaddy offers 24/7 live chat and phone support, extensive tutorials, and an active community forum.

Built-in e-commerce functionality allows you to sell physical and digital goods through GoDaddy Payments, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo. Marketing tools include email campaigns (100 to 25,000 sends per month, depending on plan), social media integration, and an SEO wizard, though for deep optimization, you'll want a more advanced platform.

The template library is small, the designs are functional rather than inspiring, and the online store tools are basic compared to Shopify or even Wix. GoDaddy is the easiest builder on this list, but it's not the most powerful.

Three plans range from $9.99 to $20.99 per month with annual billing. All plans include a free SSL certificate, custom domain connection, a free business email for the first year, and analytics. Advanced plans add marketing, e-commerce, and expanded business features. Prices are significantly higher for shorter subscriptions.

• Read our full GoDaddy website builder review.

The best website builder for e-commerce

If your primary goal is to build a website for e-commerce, Shopify is the best choice for you, hands down. Millions of merchants across 175 countries use it, and having compared the e-commerce tooling across every builder on this list, Shopify's is in a different league.

You can get an online store running in minutes, and Shopify's library of over 8,000 apps allows you to add exactly the functionality you need, from multi-platform selling on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and eBay to advanced inventory management and subscription handling. Plus, it supports more than 100 payment options out of the box.

The backend is built for growth. Shopify's inventory system and order management are robust enough for serious scaling, and hundreds of mobile-responsive premium themes ensure your storefront looks professional on any device. Security is strong, too, so you can be assured that any personal information your customers input will be kept safe and secure. Shopify is Level 1 PCI DSS-compliant, which is the highest standard for e-commerce safety.

The current plan lineup is Starter ($5 per month), Basic ($39 per month), Grow ($105 per month), Advanced ($399 per month), and Plus ($2,300 per month). Annual billing is available on the core plans at lower monthly rates. The Starter plan is limited to social selling and link-in-bio setups, so for a full online store, Basic is the real entry point, making Shopify pricier than it first looks.

If you're looking to build a traditional website or blog, Shopify isn't the right tool. Additionally, you should keep in mind that a transaction fee applies to each sale unless you use Shopify Payments, which is worth factoring into your margins.

• Read our full Shopify review.

The best low-cost e-commerce builder

Weebly has been around for a long time, and its partnership with Square Online means e-commerce is baked into the experience. What I like about it is the low barrier to entry. A large chunk of the available templates include a store by default, so getting started is as simple as adding your products and publishing.

The interface is what I'd call simple in the best sense. Templates are well-designed enough that it's hard to build something that looks bad. The editor uses drag-and-drop, but elements snap into pre-coded positions rather than floating freely. If pixel-perfect control matters to you, this will likely feel limiting. However, if you just want a clean site without design mistakes, it'll probably suit your needs.

Weebly's e-commerce tools include a shopping cart, product pages, and integrations with PayPal and Stripe. SEO features and Weebly Promote (an email marketing tool) round things out, though abandoned cart emails require the highest-tier plan, unlike with Shopify.

There's a free-forever plan that lets you create a site and store, though you can't connect a custom domain. Personal ($10 per month) adds domain support, Professional ($12 per month), and Performance ($26 per month) open up more advanced features. All prices reflect annual billing.

• Read our full Weebly review.

The best website builder for EU websites

IONOS is one of Europe's largest web hosts, and its website builder packs an impressive template library organized neatly by industry and genre. What caught my attention is the built-in targeted content system, which lets you display specific messages to different visitor demographics, a feature I don't see on many competing builders.

The drag-and-drop editor requires no coding knowledge, and there's an AI text generator for creating website copy, which is helpful if you struggle with writing compelling content for your pages. Email hosting is included on every plan, too, with options from 2GB to 50GB of storage.

In testing, I found that its performance was solid. IONOS guarantees 99.99% uptime and includes a free Wildcard SSL certificate on all plans. However, some themes may not be fully responsive to screen size, which is something to watch for.

Pricing requires careful attention. The standard Starter plan is $6 per month, and Pro is $17 per month. You'll see the Plus plan promoted at $1 per month, but that's a first-year promotional rate, so expect higher renewal pricing afterward. E-commerce options range from $6 to $44 per month, depending on the tier. There's no free plan, although a paid one-month trial is available.

• Read our full IONOS MyWebsite website builder review.

The best website builder for scaling businesses

Zoho Sites makes the most sense if you're already using Zoho's productivity suite, where the integrations are seamless, and the whole ecosystem works together in ways third-party tools can't match. Even if you're not in that ecosystem, I'd say it's worth a look. It's a solid, affordable builder with 190+ templates and a surprisingly clean interface.

The code editor is a nice touch for those with technical chops who want to tweak things behind the scenes. Add-ons for marketing and customer management are all in-house, which means fewer compatibility headaches but also limited support for external tools, for example, non-Zoho analytics or email platforms.

Communication tools (comment boxes, contact forms), SEO tools, and sitemaps are included, along with password protection and SSL. Zoho Sites also integrates with Google Analytics and Mailchimp for those who need outside connections.

Pricing is straightforward. Starter is $5 per site per month (billed annually) with limits on storage (500MB), bandwidth (10GB), and page count, which is sufficient for a simple site. Pro is $17 per site per month with higher limits and extras like newsletter subscriptions and blog scheduling. Monthly billing is available at $8 per month (Starter) and $23 per month (Pro). Paid add-ons let you scale pages, contributors, and member portals as you grow.

• Read our full Zoho Sites review.

The best website builder for blogging

WordPress.com started as a blogging platform and it still excels at content-heavy sites like blogs, news sites, portfolios, and anything where publishing is the core activity. If your site is primarily about putting out content, this is where I'd start looking. The ecosystem of over 50,000 plugins is unmatched.

The Gutenberg block editor gives you structured drag-and-drop customization, and Premium plans unlock CSS editing for finer control. During testing, I found the interface had a steeper learning curve than Wix or GoDaddy, especially for absolute beginners, but the payoff in flexibility is real once you're comfortable.

When I used it during testing, I was pleased with the way its built-in SEO tools, social media integration, and monetization options (ads on Premium+, payment blocks on all plans) functioned. Its e-commerce functionality is handled via WooCommerce on Business and Commerce plans, with automatic tax calculation and multiple payment gateways.

Support varies by tier: all users get the knowledge base and community forums, while paid plans add email and live chat (24/7 on Premium+).

Pricing starts with Personal at $3.25 per month (billed every two years) with 6GB storage. Premium is $6.50 per month with 13GB and advanced design tools. Business at $20 per month unlocks the plugin ecosystem with 50GB storage. Commerce at $36 per month adds dedicated e-commerce tools. The lower tiers are limited, but the scalability makes WordPress a strong contender for sites planning serious growth.

• Read our full WordPress review.

The best website builders, compared

Website builders FAQs

What is a website builder? 

A website builder offers end-to-end site creation, via templates, a visual editor, and extra advanced tools. They are extremely beginner-friendly and often provide a drag-and-drop editing interface.

No prior coding or technical experience is required, and they're a great option for creating a simple site quickly. Some offer significantly more design flexibility, and can even provide coding access for advanced editing.

How to choose the best website builder for you

With so many different factors to consider, choosing from the best website builders can be difficult. The learning curve is key, and most users opt for builders because CMSs are too complex or time-intensive.

We recommend considering your level of experience: some builders require a high level of technical knowledge to use properly, while others are extremely intuitive and designed specifically for beginners. Experienced users have options including WordPress, for which you'll need plugins and WordPress hosting from the best web hosting services.

Develop a clear plan of your site's look, purpose, and budget before you start. Most builders offer free trials or free plans, which makes them easy to test. Pay careful attention to tools: look for strong ecommerce support for online stores. Similarly, look for templates when building a portfolio site.

Don't compromise on quality for ease of use: the best builders have strong template collections and powerful drag-and-drop editors. After-sales support is key, as you might find it difficult to diagnose and fix issues. Most come with extensive knowledge bases and resource libraries, but live support options vary extensively. Pay careful attention before you buy: look out for good live chat and phone support, to ensure you’ll bounce back quickly.

Ultimately, consider the specific nature of your business: a small business website builder might be what you're looking for, or you may need to build an enterprise website. You can then decide which providers are best for the site you want.

How we review the best website builders

When we review website builders, we test the site editor to judge its difficulty level, so that we can notify potential users whether it's suitable for beginners or if it's designed for those with more website creation experience.

Via trial access to leading platforms, we test out each builder comprehensively and study each given service's tools and features, such as any AI tools or unique elements that might set it apart from the competition. We then trial the provider's customer service knowledge and support response times, as these factors are key to a site's successful operation and a service's suitability for customers.

A significant element of any website builder's offerings is price: we establish how a service's pricing and payment plans work because very often, initial monthly costs can increase after your first term. Finally, we compare builders against one another so as to give you the best possible chance of finding the best website builder for you in a crowded market.

See our testing methodology page for further information.

Next steps with website builders and web hosting

At the end of the day, every builder is different. It's important to understand that they can be powerful and easy-to-use, and are often suited to different needs. It's important to remember that powerful and easy-to-use aren’t mutually exclusive when building a website.

We recommend that you take some time to discover the differences between web hosting, WordPress, and website builders. Learn more about what web hosting is, and how to choose a web hosting service.

Choosing the right web hosting service can make or break your website's success. I've been building websites for over 25 years, and I can tell you the difference between a great host and a mediocre one goes way beyond the advertised features. It's about real-world performance when your site gets slammed with traffic, responsive support when things break at 2 AM, and pricing that doesn't hide nasty surprises.

To help you find the right fit, I've tested all the major providers in 2026, focusing on the criteria that truly matter. My top recommendation overall is Hostinger, which consistently delivers exceptional value with innovative features, solid performance, and fair pricing that won't shock you upon renewal. But there are many other top options that might suit you better.

I'll walk you through the nine best web hosting services available in 2026, sharing what I've learned from professional experience to help you avoid the mistakes I see people make all the time.

The best web hosting service overall

When I'm asked which host might suit a small business website, Hostinger is my first recommendation. I've found Hostinger actively improving over the years, with useful features being added to the already packed plans. Its new AI assistant, Kodee, for example, can help you with lots of tasks from site migration to backup creation. It makes hosting more accessible for beginners.

The hPanel control panel is strong, too. After you've used dated web hosting interfaces that feel stuck in 2005, Hostinger's modern take is refreshing. Everything is logically organized. The AI-powered tools actually help simplify website management. For WordPress users especially, I think the AI website builder, content generator, and troubleshooting assistant provide real value.

If I had a gripe, it'd be that the domain pricing structure needs careful attention. Hostinger advertises competitive rates, but you need to read the fine print. Some discounts only apply to multi-year commitments. The hosting plans themselves are excellent value. I just wish the company were more transparent about domain costs.

Customer support is available 24/7 via live chat. You'll initially interact with an AI chatbot, which can feel like a barrier. But once you connect with a human agent, though, they're knowledgeable and helpful.

I can confidently say Hostinger offers one of the best experiences in 2026. It's fast, affordable, packed with innovative features, and works for everyone from complete beginners to experienced developers.

• Read our full Hostinger review.

The best value web hosting service

As one of the last privately owned large hosting companies, ScalaHosting isn't answering to shareholders. The company can focus on what's actually good for customers.

An interesting feature is SShield, its in-house AI-powered security tool. I've seen too many websites get hacked because basic security wasn't in place. SShield provides real-time threat detection and blocking that most hosts charge extra for. The WP Lock tool is another nice security feature. It prevents unauthorized modifications to WordPress sites, which is invaluable if you're working with clients or external collaborators.

ScalaHosting's SPanel control panel is well-designed. Yes, there's a learning curve if you're used to cPanel. But it's cleaner and more thoughtfully organized. I also like that users can request and vote on new features, and ScalaHosting implements the popular ones. That level of customer input is rare.

I recommend ScalaHosting for growing businesses and eCommerce sites that need reliable, secure hosting with responsive support. The AI-enhanced security and managed VPS options provide excellent value. Just remember to budget for renewal price increases after the first term.

*We’ve listed the introductory prices here. Check the ScalaHosting website for the prices you'll pay after the first term.

The best budget web hosting service

While Bluehost is heavily focused on WordPress hosting, offering specialized plans and a solid ecosystem around it, it also provides other services like general web hosting, VPS, and dedicated servers. It's one of only three hosts officially recommended by WordPress.org. That endorsement comes from years of contributing to WordPress and supporting the community.

I think the WordPress Academy is genuinely valuable. The free courses cover everything from basic setup to advanced SEO and site optimization. If you're just getting into the wonderful world of WordPress, this resource adds real value beyond the hosting.

Bluehost's WonderSuite AI builder and one-click installations make getting started straightforward, too. Bluehost guides you through the setup with clear explanations at each step.

Automatic core updates, static content caching, and integration with WooCommerce make Bluehost a strong choice if you're all-in on WordPress. 24/7 support is available via live chat on all plans; however, phone support requires upgrading to a higher-tier plan. I often find the knowledge base more than enough for common issues.

While the basic plan includes free weekly backups, daily backups require upgrading or purchasing an add-on.

I recommend Bluehost for WordPress users who value learning resources and the credibility of that official WordPress endorsement. The performance is reliable, and the features are comprehensive for WordPress. Just factor in those renewal rates and that features like daily backups and phone support aren't included in the basic plan.

• Read our full Bluehost review.

*Monthly payments aren’t available, so prices shown are derived from the price of a 36-month subscription term: prices will increase significantly after this initial subscription

The best web hosting for high-end configurations

On the whole, you'll pay more with InMotion than you will with budget hosts. But you're getting enterprise-grade infrastructure that justifies the cost when your website matters to your business.

The 90-day money-back guarantee InMotion offers is the most generous in the industry and to me, it shows confidence. It also gives you real time to evaluate whether InMotion works for you.

My favorite thing about InMotion is its U.S.-based support team. The company requires agents to complete rigorous training before handling customer inquiries. When you contact support with complex questions, you typically reach someone who can actually solve problems rather than just read from a script. That level of expertise is worth paying for, in my opinion.

The NVMe SSD storage (about 5x faster than traditional hard drives) across all plans delivers noticeably faster performance, especially for database-heavy WordPress sites with multiple plugins.

The interface design does feel dated compared to newer hosts like Hostinger, though. It works fine, but it could use a refresh. Also, some features like automatic backups cost extra, which can be frustrating when competitors include them as standard.

I recommend InMotion for growing businesses that have outgrown budget shared hosting. You'll pay premium prices once the introductory pricing is over, but you're getting superior hardware and exceptional support. The 90-day guarantee virtually eliminates risk, so you can try it thoroughly before committing.

• Read our full InMotion Hosting review.

The most eco-friendly web hosting service

Companies that take environmental responsibility seriously deserve recognition. GreenGeeks purchases wind power credits to offset 300% of energy usage and plants a tree for every hosting account. As someone who believes businesses should minimize their environmental impact, this is refreshing.

But environmental credentials don't mean much if the hosting doesn't perform. I'm happy to say GreenGeeks delivers solid results. The unmetered bandwidth, generous 25GB storage on the base plan, and WordPress-optimized infrastructure handle small to medium websites comfortably.

GreenGeeks doesn't offer 24/7 phone support. But its round-the-clock live chat connects you with knowledgeable agents. In my experience, email response times are fast, too, often beating the 1-4 hour waits common with other hosts.

Security features are strong. All plans include daily backups, not just higher tiers like many competitors. The free malware cleanup service is valuable too, since most hosts charge $50-100 for removing malicious code when your site gets hacked. For WordPressers, the proprietary WordPress dashboard gives you control over automated updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes. This is useful for managing updates safely without breaking your site.

If environmental responsibility matters to you, GreenGeeks is an excellent choice. You're not sacrificing hosting quality. Just factor in those higher renewal rates when budgeting.

• Read our full GreenGeeks review.

*GreenGeeks offers monthly, annual, biannual, and triannual billing with its shared hosting: monthly prices decrease with longer subscription terms

The best web hosting for small sites

My colleagues often swear by SiteGround, and that's for one reason — SiteGround's support. The reputation is well-earned. Its support team delivers fast, knowledgeable solutions across live chat, phone, and support tickets. Many industry professionals consider them the gold standard.

I also really like SiteGround's proprietary WordPress plugins. The Speed Optimizer automatically handles image compression, caching, and other performance optimizations that typically require multiple third-party plugins. The Security Optimizer adds two-factor authentication and hardens WordPress installations more effectively than most manual security measures.

The Site Tools control panel is beautifully designed and intuitive. The Tool Finder search helps you locate features quickly, and the site-centric design lets you adjust settings per website rather than account-wide. This is perfect when you're managing multiple client sites where each needs different configurations. Daily automated backups come standard on all plans.

Nothing is perfect, and SiteGround's Achilles' heel is its renewal pricing. Jumping from $2.99 to $17.99 per month after the first year is a significant increase. The features may justify premium pricing for many users, but that's a substantial jump to budget for.

In my experience, SiteGround works best with WordPress and common PHP frameworks. If you're using less mainstream platforms or need custom server environments, you might run into limitations.

I recommend SiteGround for small businesses and WordPress users who value top-tier support and comprehensive management. The proprietary optimization plugins work well. But that dramatic renewal price increase means this is better for those willing to pay premium prices for premium support.

• Read our full SiteGround review.

The best web hosting for WordPress

DreamHost is a veteran host that's been around since 1997. It's evolved while staying beginner-friendly. I've always found it delivers excellent uptime and performance.

The new Liftoff AI website builder does a decent job creating functional sites quickly. Competitors like Bluehost and Hostinger offer more advanced builder options, but I think DreamHost's version works well enough for straightforward sites.

DreamHost has recently upgraded infrastructure with expanded data centers and revamped servers. The improvements show in the performance metrics. The custom control panel is modern-looking and generally easy to navigate, though it can feel sluggish at times.

WordPress comes pre-installed. The free automatic migration plugin handles site transfers without requiring technical knowledge. Migration can be stressful because moving databases and files between servers often breaks things if not done carefully, so automated tools like this are valuable.

The 97-day money-back guarantee is exceptional. Three full months gives you real time to test whether DreamHost works for you.

I recommend DreamHost for beginners who want reliable WordPress hosting without diving deep into technical details, and the excellent money-back guarantee eliminates risk.

• Read our full DreamHost review.

* Discounted monthly rates

The best shared web hosting

Namecheap lives up to its name. At $1.98 per month for the first year, the Stellar plan includes 20GB storage, 30 email accounts, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, and 24/7 support. Nothing else on our list comes close for budget-conscious users.

The trade-off is a more basic experience. You might find the account control panel overwhelming at first with all the lists, sidebars, menus, and icons. Once you learn the layout though, it provides solid access to essential tools. You get cPanel (the industry-standard control panel most hosts use) and Softaculous for easy app installations.

Performance reports show Namecheap achieving excellent uptime, though load speeds are slightly below average. For budget hosting running a personal blog or portfolio, I think the performance is perfectly acceptable. You're not going to win speed contests. But your site will stay online and load reasonably quickly.

A bit of a frustration comes from the domain pricing structure. The way Namecheap discounts first-year pricing makes it confusing to figure out what you'll pay on renewal. Read the fine print before purchasing domains. Too many people get surprised by renewal costs.

Namecheap delivers cheap hosting with reliable uptime and acceptable performance. If budget is your primary concern and you're willing to accept slightly slower speeds and a learning curve, I think Namecheap offers excellent value.

• Read our full Namecheap review.

*This price only applies to the first year of your subscription, and renewal prices will be significantly higher

Web hosting service with domain registration

GoDaddy might be better known for its cheap domain names, but its hosting is no slouch either and is deserving of the last spot on our list. There's definitely convenience in managing everything in one place. From a pure hosting perspective, though, I think better values exist at similar or lower prices.

Where GoDaddy has improved, in my experience, is in customer support. It now offers support via phone, live chat, and even text message. The support team handles basic questions competently, and response times are reasonable. For complex technical issues, though, I've found other hosts provide more knowledgeable help.

The Economy plan at $5.99 per month (then $11.99 per month after three years) includes 25GB NVMe storage and unmetered bandwidth. Automatic daily backups come standard. This is pretty good, but at this price point, hosts like Hostinger deliver noticeably better performance and more features.

The security features require careful attention. Free SSL certificates (which encrypt data between your site and visitors, required by Google for search rankings) are included, but only for one year on the Economy plan. Since SSL is essentially mandatory for any modern website, this recurring annual cost is frustrating when competitors include it indefinitely.

The one-click WordPress installation works smoothly, and I think the interface is reasonably user-friendly.

GoDaddy's strength is really in domain registration rather than hosting. If you want everything in one place with a recognizable brand name, it's adequate. But Hostinger, ScalaHosting, or Bluehost arguably offer better hosting value at similar or lower prices.

• Read our GoDaddy hosting review and our GoDaddy website builder review.

Best web hosting services, compared

What to look for in a web hosting service

Choosing the best web hosting service for you can help your site achieve the best performance it can. This is because the best web hosting service can improve loading times, help catch and keep visitor attention, and help convert visitors to customers. Additionally, search engine rankings are also boosted for sites with faster loading speeds.

By increasing your site's performance, you'll improve its reliability and uptime. If your chosen host has a generous uptime pledge, then you can work safe in the knowledge that your site will remain online, and that your provider is reliable enough to keep it responsive and live.

Another thing the best web hosts on the market provide is top-tier technical support. This means that if you run into any issues, you'll have a team of experts on hand to help solve any problems if/when they arise.

Hosts often provide domain-associated email addresses (such as tom@yourdomain.com as opposed to a Gmail or iCloud address) and also provide site backups. This means that you can quickly resume site operations without losing anything significant should the worst happen.

You can also improve the security of your site by using one of the best web hosting services. This is due to the fact that hosts’ data centers are highly secure, while the top providers offer excellent extra precautions and measures, including firewalls, automatic installations of anti-malware, virus, and spam software, and security plugins.

Web hosting services FAQs

If you’re looking to find out more about web hosting, take a look at our frequently asked questions below. We’ve tackled common queries and misconceptions, to try and help you understand what to expect from hosting for your website.

How to choose the best web hosting service for you

• Identify your budget. Don't look at high-end hosting if you can only spend a few dollars a month. Some hosts advertise low introductory prices, which means you pay for two or three years in advance; check if you'll face significantly higher renewal prices.
• Look at features and web hosting security. Often, you'll have access to one of the best website builders, making it extremely easy to create a site. Look for automatic backups, proactive malware scanning, and a free domain name.
• Check out storage and bandwidth. A good hosting provider offers ample amounts of both of these, with room for expansion. These are important parameters: storage refers to the space your site needs to exist online, and bandwidth is the resources used, based on file size and traffic.
• Consider your own technical knowledge. Website managers can opt for unmanaged hosting and take care of day-to-day maintenance, whereas novices would need managed hosting for content management systems like WordPress.
• Keep in mind that the best web hosting is fast and secure, offers sufficient scalability to allow your site to grow as your business expands, and provides decent support to help you navigate potentially difficult situations as and when they arise.

How we review the best web hosting services

When reviewing web hosts, we build a test site with the provider, or with a separate platform if they don't offer a built-in builder. We then trial response times and uptimes over a two-week period: these indicators are key to site performance. An unresponsive or offline site can cost you both customers and revenue fast.

We analyze and test user interfaces, features, and tools, to make sure where they land on a scale from easy to use to complex. With security and site safety integral, we test how easy it is to set up or import an SSL certificate, as well as explore any other security features a host might offer.

You'll want to know how well supported you'll be in the event of a problem: as such, we test customer service and support responsiveness, establishing not only how quickly a host responds to help requests, but how knowledgeable and reliable they are as well.

As so many hosting packages can be confusingly priced, we study and research pricing plans in detail, outlining for you whether monthly costs might increase for you after your first, cheaper initial contract period elapses.

For more information, check out our testing methodology.

Next steps with web hosting services

You might be wondering about the differences, if any, between web hosting and WordPress hosting; it's also worth looking at five myths that have been busted about WordPress if you're considering its different approach.

All hosts offer control panels, and most use cPanel: find out more about this leading interface software. If you're considering cloud hosting, it's wise to learn why regional cloud hosting matters when it comes to the location of your provider's servers, and how that might affect your business or customers.

Windows hosting remains a important option in web hosting for businesses leveraging Microsoft technologies. While Linux-based hosting dominates the market, Windows hosting provides unparalleled support for ASP.NET, .NET Core, and MS SQL databases.

Our comprehensive analysis of Windows hosting providers involved rigorous testing of server performance, compatibility with Microsoft stack products, and the implementation of common applications and content management systems.

Liquid Web is our top recommendation, impressing with its cloud VPS capabilities and extensive feature set. But the ideal choice depends on your specific requirements, budget constraints, and scalability needs. This guide offers an in-depth look at the leading Windows hosting services, so let's get started.

The quick list

These are our top choices for Windows hosting in 2026. Have a look at the full reviews for more details.

The best Windows hosting of 2026 in full

Best overall

A popular web hosting provider for businesses, Liquid Web is one of the most powerful options for companies looking for Windows hosting. Its cloud VPS tools enable users to host across devices for optimal scalability and performance. In fact, Liquid Web describes itself as the “fastest managed VPS hosting on the planet”.

Furthermore, plans include features that are often considered add-ons by competing services. For example, all subscriptions come with Gigabit transfer, unlimited sites, protection from DDoS attacks, Cloudflare CDN, and hosting in either the EU or the US.

Liquid Web has three plans for Windows Server 2022, starting at $107.80 a month for 4 vCPUs, 100GB of storage, and 10TB of bandwidth. Two other plans build on the amount of RAM and processing power you get.

Liquid Web also provides private cloud servers for organizations interested in dedicated servers.

Private cloud server plans enable subscribers to create, use, and manage multiple virtual servers, including both Linux and Windows VPS instances. You may be charged a Windows licensing fee on top of the cost of your subscription, but these are only charged a single time for each cloud server. You can also avoid this fee by removing Windows instances.

The platform also comes with excellent support options including live chat, phone, and email help. The knowledge base and blog provide detailed responses to common questions and technical issues, so make sure to check these resources before contacting the support team.

Liquid Web backs up its pricing with a service level agreement guaranteeing 100% uptime for its users. This kind of guarantee is unusual among hosting services, and providers that do offer guarantees typically don’t commit to 100% uptime. While Liquid Web targets larger businesses than some of the competitors on this list, it’s the top Windows hosting provider for many use cases.

Read our Liquid Web web hosting review.

Best value

HostGator offers Windows hosting solutions on its dedicated server plans. While more expensive than shared or VPS plans, these come with impressive hardware specifications, including AMD EPYC processors and DDR5 RAM, which ensure high performance for resource-intensive Windows applications.

HostGator has scaled back the number of dedicated server plans it offers to one - The Value plan with 1000GB of NVMe storage, which offers significantly faster data transfer speeds compared to traditional SSDs. You get an eight-core CPU and 32GB of RAM.

HostGator emphasizes server control and customization, allowing users full management capabilities over their Windows environment. This is particularly beneficial for those requiring specific Windows configurations or running custom applications.

Security is a key focus, too, with DDoS protection and SSL certificates included. The RAID 6 storage configuration adds an extra layer of data protection and redundancy.

The company offers 24/7/365 support. It also provides a 99.9% uptime guarantee, backed by a Tier 3 data center infrastructure.

Overall, HostGator's Windows hosting on dedicated servers is a solid combination of performance, customization, and support, making it a viable option for larger businesses requiring a Windows-based hosting environment.

Read our HostGator web hosting review.

Best budget

Pricing is obviously one of the most important factors to consider when looking for a hosting provider. That said, many people who are looking for the best Windows hosting solution require functionality and speed beyond what most budget options can provide.

With 10 managed and 10 unmanaged Windows hosting plans available, Hostwinds has a subscription for virtually every use case.

While each plan is different in notable ways, every subscription provides free migration, SSD storage, and network connectivity at 1Gbps. The platform is compatible with Windows Server 2012, 2016, and 2019.

Additionally, Hostwinds provides excellent customer support, with response times of roughly 30 seconds for live chat and phone inquiries, and just five minutes for support tickets. The platform guarantees an incredible 99.999% uptime, which works out to around five minutes of downtime per year.

The Hostwinds Tier 1 managed subscription includes 1GB RAM, a single CPU core, 1TB bandwidth a month, and up to 30GB storage. It costs $17.24 for the first month, followed by $22.99 a month upon renewal. Unlike some other providers, Hostwinds bills monthly without any annual contracts.

Of course, upgrading to a more expensive plan significantly increases those limits. Tier 5, for example, comes with a total of four CPU cores plus 8GB RAM, 3TB bandwidth, and up to 150GB storage. For the first month, the Tier 5 subscription costs $77.99, going up to $103.99 a month following renewal.

If you prefer an unmanaged Windows server solution, Hostwinds has those too, starting at $16.99 a month.

Along with its range of subscription tiers, Hostwinds also provides some optional add-ons at an additional charge. Cloud backups are available for $1 a month, while you can get basic server monitoring services for just $5 a month.

With incredible flexibility and strong hosting plans for a variety of use cases, Hostwinds is worth considering for any user with robust Windows hosting needs. The service also offers a 60-day money-back guarantee to all new subscribers, so you can test it out risk-free for roughly two months before committing to a subscription.

Read our full Hostwinds web hosting review.

Best for SMBs

High prices are one of the most common downsides of Windows hosting compared to Linux. IONOS provides excellent hosting services at affordable rates.

The base IONOS subscription starts at $6 a month for the first six months, followed by an increase to $12 a month. It comes with one site (including a free domain and SSL certificate), unlimited bandwidth, 100GB storage, daily backups, 24/7 help via email or phone, and up to 25 email addresses, each of which includes 2GB of additional SSD storage.

A second plan, Pro, costs $7 a month for the first six months and $14 a month ongoing. It supports up to 5 sites and 250GB of storage.

You can also upgrade to the IONOS Expert Windows plan for 2GB of RAM and 500GB of storage. This subscription costs $11 a month for the first six months followed by a permanent increase to $22 a month.

IONOS Windows hosting supports Windows Server 2022, ASP.NET 4.8, and .NET 8.0.

Along with shared subscriptions, IONOS also provides dedicated plans and Windows VPS at surprisingly affordable prices. The cheapest Windows VPS plan costs $15 a month. Considering its features, pricing, and one-month free trial for new users, IONOS is a great place to start for anyone interested in Windows hosting.

Read our full IONOS MyWebsite website builder review.

Best VPS

GoDaddy offers Windows hosting on its highly scalable VPS plans, making it a strong choice for businesses anticipating growth. If you're using Windows, you can choose from seven self-managed or managed plans, each offering different levels of vCPU cores, RAM, and SSD storage. All plans include NVMe SSDs for fast performance, DDoS protection, a free SSL certificate for the first year, and unlimited traffic.

GoDaddy's self-managed Windows plans, starting at a reasonable $17.99 a month, provide full root access, giving experienced users complete control over their server environment. For those who prefer a hands-off approach, GoDaddy's managed VPS plans offer 24/7 support, monitoring, backups, and updates, though these start at $107.99 a month.

While GoDaddy no longer offers shared Windows hosting, its VPS plans cater well to businesses and individuals needing more resources and scalability. However, cPanel and Plesk, popular control panel options, come at an additional cost.

Read our GoDaddy web hosting review.

Best cloud

Unlike some providers with fixed configurations, ScalaHosting lets you tailor your server by selecting your preferred CPU cores, RAM, SSD storage, and data center location. This granular control makes it an excellent choice for tech-savvy users who want to fine-tune their hosting environment to their specific requirements.

ScalaHosting's Windows VPS plans provide full root access, granting experienced users complete control over their server. This level of access allows for advanced configurations, software installations, and server optimizations. ScalaHosting offers a selection of Windows Server versions to choose from, ensuring compatibility with your preferred applications and frameworks.

While ScalaHosting excels in customization and control, it's worth noting that it primarily focuses on unmanaged VPS solutions. This means users should have the technical expertise to manage their server environment effectively. Beginners or those seeking a more hands-off approach might require more support than ScalaHosting currently offers.

The best Windows hosting services, compared

Windows hosting FAQs

What is Windows hosting?

Web hosting is the process where servers and infrastructure owned by web hosts store site files, delivering them to visitors. Any website comprises a wide range of files including text, code, images, and more, which when linked together create a functional site.

However, files must be stored somewhere for visitors to access when loading the page. Web hosts provide the storage for and access to website files, with the data stored on a web-connected server. As a visitor loads your homepage, all of the files are delivered to their device of choice.

When it comes to the best Windows hosting, providers will often offer managed web hosting. This is available across all hosting types, but specifically for both Linux and Windows-specific hosting requirements, meaning that you can hand over the administration of your site, and any complex or day-to-day tasks, to the web host. Many compare managed vs unmanaged hosting, but the latter is only ideal for those with the requisite knowledge and technical experience.

How to choose the best Windows hosting service for you

Selecting the best Windows hosting for you involves considering several critical factors. First, identify whether the host supports the most recent versions of Windows Server. The server version will impact your website’s functionality and compatibility with specific applications.

Pay close attention to the .NET framework and MS SQL database support, as these are essential for many Windows-based applications. The host should offer robust support for ASP.NET, MVC, AJAX, and other Windows-related technologies to facilitate smooth operation of your site.

The user interface matters too; Plesk, an intuitive and widely used control panel, is favored for managing Windows hosting environments. Make sure your host provides it or a similarly user-friendly alternative.

Windows hosting can be more susceptible to security threats than other operating systems, making robust security measures vital. Look for hosts offering regular server backups, updated firewalls, and intrusion detection systems.

Lastly, customer support skilled in Windows-specific issues can be a lifesaver, and clear, fair pricing is important. Some Windows hosting services may charge more due to licensing fees, so ensure you're aware of potential cost hikes down the line.

How we review the best Windows hosting services

In reviewing any web hosting service, we assess response times and uptimes over a two-week period, because both figures are integral to site performance. To do this, we build a test site with the host, or with a separate platform if a built-in builder isn't included.

With this site, we test, analyze, and evaluate user interfaces, features, and tools, in order to ensure these are easy to use and not too complex. Security elements and customer service and support response are also focused on because we want to make sure that your chosen host keeps your site safe, and fixes any issues encountered as soon as possible.

To do this, we test out how easy it is to import or set up an SSL certificate, alongside interrogating and testing other relevant security tools offered. We test customer support by seeing how quickly they respond to issues, and how reliable and knowledgeable the staff is when responding.

Finally, we undertake an in-depth interrogation of pricing plans, in order to make you aware if there are any increasing monthly costs after an initial period. Many hosting packages can be confusingly priced, so we outline for you how costs might change down the line.

See our testing methodology page for more information.

Next steps with web hosting and website builders

Before you learn how to host a website, it's worth looking into how to choose a web hosting service, and the most common mistakes to avoid when choosing a web hosting provider.

Make sure to read our other buying guides ranking the best VPS hosting, the best WordPress hosting, and the best unlimited web hosting.

When you've chosen a provider, learn top tips when it comes to buying a web hosting service, and find out more about web hosting security, as well as anonymous website hosting, to keep yourself safe.

Need to build your first website? Take a look at the best website builders available, and learn how to go about building a website.

Finally, ensure that you've chosen a domain name and registered your domain. It's also worth looking into how hosting can affect SEO, especially if you're looking to create a site that competes with rivals for business on search engines.

I've been working with free web hosting services for decades, and I'll be honest: most of them are terrible. They promise the world and deliver a slow, ad-riddled nightmare that makes your website look unprofessional.

But there are a handful of providers that actually deliver something useful if you know where to look.

The trick is understanding which limitations you can live with and which ones will kill your site before it even gets off the ground. Some hosts cap your bandwidth so aggressively that you'll hit the limit with a few hundred visitors. Others disable critical PHP functions that break half your WordPress plugins.

At Tom's Guide, we've evaluated these services based on their technical specifications, real-world performance reports, and user feedback from across the web. What follows is my assessment of the best free hosting options in 2026, along with the catches you need to know about before signing up.

The quick list

If you're in a hurry, here's my shortlist of the best free hosting services and what makes each one worth considering:

The top 3 best web hosting services right now

While this guide focuses on free hosting, I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't mention that sometimes paying a few dollars a month is worth it. These three paid options offer significantly better performance and support:

If you're set on going ahead with a free host—which we don’t particularly recommend—make sure you check our list of the best free web hosting services below. We comprehensively tested over 20 free services, and the six we've listed are the only providers offering reliable, functional hosting for free.

The best free web hosting of 2026 in full

Best overall

x10Hosting has been around for over a decade, and its transition to a 100% SSD cloud infrastructure delivers solid performance. You can fast load times, which is impressive for a free service.

The DirectAdmin control panel is more powerful than the proprietary panels used by most free hosts, and it gives you access to advanced features like detailed error logs and better file management.

The 500MB initial storage limit seems stingy, but x10Hosting will increase it if you're actively building your site.

I'd say the 30-day login requirement is the biggest drawback. If you forget to log into the account portal once a month, your account gets suspended for 21 days, then permanently deleted. This policy makes x10Hosting unsuitable for "set it and forget it" projects where you might not touch the site for months.

Support is limited to community forums and Discord for free users. The Discord server tends to be more responsive, with moderators typically available during business hours.

Best unlimited

InfinityFree's 5GB storage and unlimited bandwidth combination is really enough for most small sites. I find the VistaPanel control panel takes some getting used to if you're coming from cPanel, but it's functional and includes Softaculous for one-click WordPress installation.

The real limitation isn't the 5GB storage - it's the 30,000 inode limit. Every file and folder counts as one inode, and a standard WordPress installation with a few plugins can easily consume 3,000 to 5,000 inodes. If you're planning to upload hundreds of images or install dozens of plugins, you'll hit this ceiling long before you run out of storage space.

The service also enforces a 50,000 daily hits limit. Sites that exceed this threshold get automatically suspended for 24 hours, which makes InfinityFree unsuitable for viral content or high-traffic landing pages. For a personal blog or small business site, though, it's more than adequate.

You'll need to use a third-party service like Gmail or Zoho Mail if you want a professional email address. Support is entirely forum-based, which means you're relying on community members rather than official staff. I've seen response times vary, but the community is generally active and helpful.

Best for advanced users

GoogieHost's NVMe SSD storage is fast. The performance difference is noticeable for database-heavy WordPress operations and image-heavy portfolios. For sites with lots of dynamic content, this is a real advantage.

The manual approval process is frustrating. User reports on Reddit and hosting forums mention frequent rejections without explanation, and approved accounts can take 48 hours or more to process. Some people never get approved despite having legitimate projects. It's worth having a clear project description ready when you apply.

Once you're in, the service performs well, but there's a risk of sudden suspension. Multiple reports mention accounts being flagged for "high resource usage" or vague TOS violations with little recourse. Some users have also reported receiving suspicious emails after signing up, which raises questions about data security.

The SitePad website builder is a nice touch for beginners. It includes over 100 responsive templates and a drag-and-drop editor that's more intuitive than WordPress for simple sites. I find the control panel can be cluttered with ads and promotional links, though, which makes navigation less straightforward.

GoogieHost's servers are based in India, which means users in North America and Europe may experience slower load times compared to locally-hosted alternatives.

Best for entrepreneurs and startups

AwardSpace has been around for two decades, and its focus on simplicity is evident in the Zacky ecosystem. The Zacky App Installer can deploy WordPress quickly with minimal technical knowledge required.

The 5GB monthly bandwidth limit is the dealbreaker. A standard WordPress page weighs around 2MB, and with daily admin activity, theme previews, and plugin updates, you can exhaust the 5GB limit with as few as 2,000 to 2,500 page views per month. That's not much traffic at all.

AwardSpace also disables critical PHP functions like cURL (curl_init) and exec for free users. This breaks popular WordPress plugins like Jetpack and Akismet that require external API connections. I've seen many plugins simply fail to work properly due to these restrictions.

The 24/7 support is responsive, and the documentation is well-written. But the severe limitations make AwardSpace suitable only for absolute beginners who want to experiment with WordPress for a week or two before upgrading to a paid plan.

Best ad-free

FreeHosting.com is a popular choice for those seeking a no-cost hosting solution. Its free plan boasts a generous set of features, including a website builder, cPanel access, and a one-click app installer. Notably, FreeHosting.com doesn't force ads on your website, unlike many other free hosting providers.

FreeHosting also includes an impressive 10GB of storage space, 1 email address, and 1 MySQL database on free plans. But the free plan comes with limitations. Uptime isn't guaranteed, and performance can be inconsistent, making it unsuitable for business or high-traffic websites. While FreeHosting.com offers paid plans with additional resources and features, these lack the value proposition of similarly priced plans from other providers.

Ultimately, FreeHosting.com's free plan is best suited for testing purposes, hobby projects, or those needing a temporary hosting solution. For anything more demanding, a paid plan from a more reliable provider is recommended.

Best for support

Around since 2005, Freehostia has a free hosting option called the "Chocolate" plan. You can actually host up to five different websites, set up three email addresses, and get one MySQL database (though it's capped at 10MB), all for free.

Plus, there's a one-click installer for apps like WordPress, and they won't stick any ads on your site, a big plus for a free plan. Freehostia also promises 99.9% uptime, which is pretty standard for paid accounts.

It's a decent starting point if you have a small personal blog or maybe a tiny business site. It's especially handy if you want to test out WordPress, as they can set it up for you right away. The control panel is custom-built and pretty straightforward to use.

Another interesting standout is the 24/7 support – you can reach the company through tickets, check the knowledgebase, or use the forums and FAQs. There's no live chat for instant help.

Of course, Freehostia is looking for you to upgrade to a paid plan, and they mostly manage this by keeping the free hosting limited. Those limits are tight. 250MB of storage and 6GB of traffic won't get you very far if your site grows.

The best free web hosting services, compared

How to choose the best free web hosting for you

When trying to choose a free web hosting service, there are a few important things that you need to keep at the front of your mind. First, remember that free hosts won’t ever be anywhere near as good as premium options.

In general, you will have to deal with security vulnerabilities, poor performance, and limited features. You may also be faced with strict resource constraints, and you’ll likely be left to fix things yourself if anything goes wrong.

That said, there are a few decent options out there. Platforms like InfinityFree and Byethost are worth using, especially if you’re looking for advanced features and generous server resources. GoogieHost is another option worth considering.

How we review the best free web hosting

To test free web hosting, we begin by creating a new account with the hosts we want to test. Following this, a simple website is created with each host, and its performance is monitored over a period of time using Uptime.com.

Uptime and server response times are the two main metrics that we focus on during long-term monitoring. However, we also complete short-term testing with Dotcom-tools and Bitcatcha to analyze page load speeds.

On top of this, we perform a complete analysis of every aspect of a host, from its control panel and user interface to the resources and security measures included.

Take a look at our review testing methodology for more information.

Next steps with web hosting

If you're looking for specific hosting services for a given setup, make sure to read our guides to the best VPS hosting, the best Linux web hosting, and the best WordPress hosting.

Learning how to host a website can look incredibly daunting. In reality, it's fairly simple to do once you know how. The best web hosting services help here, but it's also vital to consider the best website builders too, as most will sort this through for you: considering what you need will help you find the right route. 

As a growing business, you may want to consider whether making an ecommerce website is the best option, or whether a simple online presence is what you want and need. Fortunately, whatever you plan on, it's actually quite straightforward once you follow some key steps. 

Here, we discuss what's required to host a website, and what you need to think about before you take the plunge. We also outline what you need to know when choosing a web hosting provider, so that you can't go wrong. 

There's no need to have technical knowledge either, with many website builders and hosting services simplifying the process substantially. 

How to host a website: Preparation 

Before you dive straight into hosting a website, it's important to consider a few things. 

Crucially, you need to consider what you want from a web host. While it's possible to host your own site via your own company server, it's much easier to pick one of the best web hosting services instead. However, you still need to consider whether you solely want a service that hosts your site, or whether you would prefer to use a website builder such as Wix, Square Online or Shopify. 

Each of these builders offer similarly intuitive experiences that mean you don't need to build a website in the traditional sense. However, you may wish to learn how to build a website from scratch instead. It's important to read up on the different options. Different services require different budgets, and it's vital that you know what type of website is best for you. 

Most paid website builders and web hosts also include a domain name as part of the package. It's important to pick a domain name that reflects your business, and is reasonably simple to remember. Preferably, you want the domain name to match your business name, or at least as closely as possible so that customers know who you are. Once you've chosen, ensure you register your domain name.

Step 1: Choose your hosting company 

Choosing a hosting company can be as simple as clicking on an advert but, generally, reading up on the best web hosting services is a wise move. 

It will help you figure out the best value proposition for your business, and also give you some insight into reliability and uptime. After all, a website that is slow or suffers from downtime is a website that few customers will return to. 

If you're looking for a web hosting service that also provides you with a website builder, it's also important to read about how these work, so you know they have methods that work well for you. Different website builders offer different facilities, with some being much simpler to use than others.

Step 2: Choose a hosting plan 

Once you've picked a web hosting provider, you need to consider what type of hosting plan you require. 

Most hosting providers offer a number of different options. The cheapest form is typically shared hosting. This is where multiple sites are stored on one server. It's far more cost-effective, so it's ideally suited to small websites and businesses, but it can be a bit slower than other plans.

Cloud hosting is where your site is hosted across multiple virtual machines called cloud servers. It's relatively inexpensive, and is able to cope better with traffic spikes due to how the site is hosted. However, it's not as powerful or as feature rich as dedicated hosting, so it's more ably suited for a growing business on a budget.

VPS hosting and dedicated hosting are the more expensive options available to a business. VPS hosting means you share server space with other sites, but one part is dedicated to your hosting. Dedicated hosting is as the name suggests - a server entirely dedicated to your website, and best suited to the largest businesses. 

Step 3: Create and upload the website 

Once you've bought your web hosting, you need to build a website. There are many tips for making your first website if you want to start from scratch.

Alternatively, it's possible to use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress to develop a website in a more user-friendly way. Many web hosting providers offer such options once you log into the control panel for your website. 

If you choose to build a website by yourself, you can instead upload the files and site to your new hosting whenever you want. 

Step 4: Take the website online 

However you've created your site, there comes a time when you need to take it online. If you're uploading files to your web host, they'll automatically be available to view for potential customers. 

Other methods, such as using a website builder or a CMS like WordPress, tend to allow you to preview your site first, before hitting a button to take the website online. Check that everything is working and how you want it to look before you do so. 

How to host a website: Summary 

However you decide to host your website, the process is fairly simple to follow. It's important to find the right method for you, whether that's using a website builder or opting to purchase web hosting from a dedicated provider. 

It's worth doing some research into fully understanding just what web hosting is. It's also a good idea to consider the benefits of the best unlimited web hosting, and whether that might work for your business or even be necessary. 

Remember: whatever you decide to do for your business, it's a good idea to set aside a few hours to undertake the process. While it's simple to set up hosting for your firm and get your website online, it makes sense to devote a full afternoon or so on the process. As with all sites, expect to need to update it regularly too.

Next steps when looking for web hosting

Once you've decided to set up hosting for your website, find out how web hosting security impacts your website, and why it's so important. Take a look at the differences between web hosting vs WordPress hosting, as both prove useful for different types of business.

Learn what common hosting mistakes to avoid when you set up web hosting, and also take a look at how hosting can affect SEO, because this will be key to your site's performance and your content.

When designing or building an online presence for your business, it's important to know how to make a website accessible. Many of the best website builders simplify the process, and even the best web hosting services often provide some advice nowadays, but it's important to plan ahead. 

Making a website more accessible will increase your customer reach, ensuring that anyone with an accessibility issue can still view your website in the way that you want it to look. It also improves your search engine optimisation, with Google likely to rank your site higher in search results because of accessibility features. 

An accessible site is generally far easier to use for everyone too, not just those users with disabilities that may affect how they browse a website. Simply put, there's no downside to making a website accessible. That's why we've taken a look at how to make a website accessible, and anything you need to consider along the way.

As with a lot of web hosting and website maintenance these days, many of these steps are very simple to implement, but it's worth setting aside some time to doing so.

How to make a website accessible: Preparation 

Preparing for making a website accessible differs depending on if you already have a website or you're still building one. If you're currently learning how to build a website from scratch, the process to make a website more accessible is generally simpler, but the same rules and tips below apply. 

That's also the case if you're setting up a site with one of the best website builders such as Wix or Square Online. Both services offer numerous accessibility features as standard, so it's much easier to follow advice intended for making sites more accessible. Some of them may have even been automatically implemented by the service. 

Because of that, not every one of these tips below will apply to your business's website. It's still useful to read up on them, especially if you're considering a redesign in future, but work your way through the ones that are relevant and stick with it. 

Be prepared to set aside a number of hours, such as half a day, to ensuring the website is up to current accessibility standards. 

Step 1: Check your website's colors 

One of the biggest issues for many users is when it comes to colors and contrast.

Some visual impairments can lead to low color contrast sensitivity, which makes it tricky to see foreground and background colors when they've been designed poorly. For instance, yellow letters on a black background or white on a black background. 

Make sure your site is designed in a way that is visually clear at all times. That includes avoiding using thin fonts or awkward color combinations. It's also good to consider users with color blindness, and adjust your site accordingly. 

Step 2: Use headings correctly throughout your writing 

If your business's site is quite text-heavy, it's important to use headings correctly to organise how the site is arranged. Screen readers for visually-impaired users use heading structures to navigate the content. 

Make sure that you only use

tags for the primary title of the page, and avoid skipping heading levels as you work your way through a document. 

By working through the headings from

to

and

, screen readers won't be confused by the possibility of content being missing.

Step 3: Use proper alt text for images 

When uploading an image, it might feel inconvenient to have to describe it via an alt text tag, but it's vital for screen readers. 

An alt tag should only ever be used to describe what an image is displaying. It should never be used to add information to an existing article or in a vague sense. A clear description ensures that visually-impaired users can still appreciate what the image is displaying.

Step 4: Use descriptive names for links 

Previously, many websites used terms like "Click here" to entice visitors to click on a link. Screen reader users typically navigate a list of links separately from the article, so it's a better idea to use descriptive and unique names for these so that the user knows exactly what the link leads to.

In conjunction with that, create links that are logical. Avoid using "about" when you could instead use "about the company" instead. 

Step 5: Make your site keyboard-accessible  

It's important to make your website accessible for someone solely using a keyboard. Many users with mobility disabilities may not be able to use a mouse or trackpad. Instead, they may prefer to access content by pressing the tab or arrow keys. Other users may need to use single-switch inputs or a mouth stick. 

Make sure that your website's tab order matches the visual order on the site, so that it can be logically navigated. For any long articles, break content up with anchor links so that a user can skip to the relevant portion of the page they require. 

Step 6: Offer different text sizes 

Make it possible to enlarge the font size used on your website. That way, visitors with limited vision can enlarge the font, so they can read it more easily. It's also useful for anyone viewing content on a small monitor or a mobile screen.

Many website builders and popular CMSs such as WordPress offer this option.  

Step 7: Make video accessible 

If your website utilises videos, make sure that each video includes an audio description, to describe any visual-only parts of the video for blind and visually-impaired users.

For deaf users or those with hearing issues, make sure that there are subtitles for any audio-only parts of a video. 

Step 8: Avoid using tables 

Tables should only be used on websites to arrange data and figures. They shouldn't be used to create a layout of a site. This is fairly easy to avoid when using a website builder, but it's important to consider this when building a site from scratch.

Fail to do so, and screen readers will treat a table layout like a table of data, reading out information incorrectly and making it difficult to navigate. 

How to make a website accessible: Summary 

Planning is core when exploring how to make a website accessible. It's important to set aside significant time to either creating a website that is accessible, or adapting an existing one to fit such needs. 

Besides looking through this list of tips, it's also important to look at your site and consider how it would be approached by users with other needs. 

Using one of the best website builders or WordPress is a good way to ensure that you can't make any accessibility mistakes, but with a bit of planning, it's still just as achievable making your first website too.  

Further reading on making a website accessible  

It's important to think about accessibility right from the start when setting up a website. Check out how to choose a web hosting service as well as look at the core differences between web hosting vs WordPress hosting so you can figure out what works best for you and your business.

After first choosing and then registering a domain name, signing up for one of the best web hosting services, designing your site, and using one of the best website builders to create it, you still need to find and publish website content. 

Crafting your business's online presence can be both expensive and time-consuming, and website content is integral to site performance. Consequently, high-quality, engaging content will ultimately keep visitors coming back to your site, and potentially become loyal customers. 

However, sometimes the expensive cost of licensing or creating images, videos, articles, and more can be beyond a lot of small businesses. Thankfully though, the internet is full of reputable and reliable resources that you can utilize to fill pages with top-quality free website content, to keep your site updated and fresh. 

Remember that you get what you pay for when it comes to online content, and this is an important caveat: images, videos, and features will be better if paid for than what you get for free. 

Another critical point, which is key to keeping your free website content legal, is to ensure that what you use is legally allowed to be reused on your site. If you use content without permission, you can get into legal trouble very quickly. We've outlined below six ways to get free website content legally and easily, to bolster your website's presence and improve your traffic.

1. Free articles

Want to add a blog post to your website to boost your SEO (search engine optimization)? The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to create all your own content from scratch. There are plenty of free articles online that you can repurpose at no cost, written by people who simply want to get their work out into the world. 

There are a number of sites where anyone who wants to see their work published can go. EzineArticles is one of the largest databases of freely available articles, with more than half a million authors contributing work to the site. The topics covered vary widely—anyone can write about whatever niche subject interests them most—so you should have no problem finding content that fits your website’s theme.

If you need more content, check out these five sites where writers are frequently adding fresh, free-to-use content: 

•  Amazines, which sports articles on a wide selection of topics
•  Article Sphere, which you can use to create an RSS feed on your website
•  ArticleCity, which offers particularly high-quality articles
•  Articles Factory, which focuses on technical writing 

2. Free graphics

Images and graphics are key to making your site visually appealing to visitors. While you might not be able to get the photo you want to put on your homepage for free, you can turn to free images to cheaply add media to the rest of your website.

There are a handful of sites you can turn to for free photos, including Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash, and Negative Space. Many of the images on these sites are impressively professional and can be downloaded in full resolution if needed. 

You can also find free vector graphics online at sites like Vector Portal, Stockio, Vector4Free, and Vexels. Since these are vector images, they can easily be modified and customized using software like Adobe Illustrator. This is a good option for tailoring free content for your website without spending a ton of time and money on graphics. 

3. Copyright-free music 

Just as you need to ensure your website has properly licensed text and images, you also need to make sure you’re using copyright-free music. More and more services are operating on the web to detect the unlicensed use of copyrighted music and audio files, so it’s easy to get caught if you’re lax about this. This is especially important if you’re creating your own video to add to your website. 

Thankfully, there are plenty of resources you can turn to for free or low-cost tracks. Some of our favorite databases are:

•  YouTube Audio Library
•  Amazon 
•  Free Stock Music 
•  Machinima Sound 
•  TeknoAxe 

Make sure to check the fine print that comes with any audio files you decide to use. Some are not allowed to be modified with editing software, and others require that you credit the artist on your site. 

4. Free videos

Adding a video to your website is a great way to give it a more professional experience and capture your visitors’ attention. While you aren’t likely to find a free video that perfectly captures your website branding or messaging, you will find plenty of free video clips that you can use to build your own video.

These stock clips can be extremely helpful if you’re working on a tight budget. Gather enough of them, and you may not need to shoot any new footage at all. Then it’s just a matter of splicing together frames on your computer and voila! You’ve got a new video for your website.

So, where can you go to find copyright-free video clips? Pixabay and Pexels Video are two of the most reliable sources for high-quality videos. If you don’t find what you need there, you can try out Stock Footage 4 Free, Videezy, Videvo, and Clipstill. 

5.  Just ask

One of the best ways to get free content for your website is to ask. Many writers and website owners are more than happy to have their articles, photos, and videos repurposed for another site. You get content to help build your site, and they get to have their work displayed to a wider audience than it would otherwise reach.

To go this route, find a blog post or a photo on another website, and then email the author to ask about repurposing it. You should always credit the original creator on your site, and make it clear in your email that you plan to do so. You can also give some background about your website and why you think their work is a good fit for your audience.

Of course, you do need to do some vetting when choosing who to email. A competitor in your industry probably isn’t going to allow you to reuse content, for example. It also helps to look for websites that don’t see a ton of traffic, since the owner stands to benefit more from having their content reappear on your site.

Remember, the worst thing that can happen is that the site owner you email denies your request. It only takes a few minutes to find content and send off an email—and one positive response can save you several hours of work.

6. Idea generators

If you’re a capable writer but just aren’t sure what to write about, an idea generator can help. These online tools, like SEOPressor, simply require you to input some keywords that relate to your website or business. From that, they will spit out some potential blog post titles that you can flesh out into complete articles. 

This is a little more time-consuming than other methods of generating free content since you still have to write the article itself. But, having a title can help you get started as well as keep you on track for hitting keywords that can boost your website SEO.

Further reading on web hosting and website builders

Learn how to build a website for free to save your business more money, and how simple web design can help boost site performance. On SEO, learn about the web hosting factors that can affect it, and six essential web SEO tools to utilize. Finally, on a legal basis, find out how to make your website GDPR compliant.

Choosing the best web hosting service for your website can be difficult if you're new to the market, and don't know much about it. With hosting providers happy to utilize technical hosting jargon to make their services sound better than they actually might be, you can easily be distracted from the important features that are lacking.

As such, you might be struggling to find the top web hosting service for your site: so what should you really be looking for? In this article, we've listed nine hosting features that you need to look for and bear in mind before you commit to a web hosting platform.

1.  Website builder 

More and more hosting providers are offering built-in tools to help you create a beautiful website that compete with or rank alongside the best website builders. If you’re creating a site for the first time, or want to get your content in front of visitors as quickly as possible, this can be a huge advantage.

That said, the quality of these website builders can vary a lot. Some hosts’ website builders come with hundreds of themes and drag-and-drop functionality, while others limit you to essentially customizing a pre-built template.

Also, keep in mind that dedicated website builders like Wix and Weebly include hosting, but they’re not traditional web hosts. You won’t be able to transfer a Wix site to another host in the future, for example.

2. Solid state drives 

Hosts that provide solid state drives (SSDs) as opposed to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) tend to be more expensive. But in our view, the added cost is well worth it.

SSDs have fewer moving parts, so they’re less likely to break and leave your site offline for hours at a time. The data transfer rate can also be significantly faster compared to HDDs, which means faster page loading for your visitors. Faster page loading in turn can help boost your site in search engine rankings and increase your customer conversions if you’re running an online store.

3. Bandwidth

Your bandwidth for web hosting is the amount of visitor traffic and data allowed to flow to and from your site. If you only have a few thousand visitors to your website per month, you probably don’t need to worry much about bandwidth—most hosts provide more than you’ll need with their cheapest options.

But, if you have a lot of videos or a lot of data to load, like videos or high-res images, bandwidth can become very important. Make sure your hosting company enables you to scale your bandwidth allowance if needed. Hosts that don’t offer much bandwidth, even with their top-tier plans, probably don’t have a great network.

4. Storage

Unless you have a large website with a lot of photos and videos, storage is unlikely to be an issue. Most hosting plans come with either hundreds of gigabytes of storage, or place no limits on your storage at all.

But, keep in mind that unlimited storage doesn’t mean you can use your host as a storage service for data that has nothing to do with your website. Most hosting plans have limitations on what you can store and how you can store it. If you need somewhere to put your business’s files, consider a cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

5. Scalability

Scalability is one of the most important things you need to consider when choosing a web hosting service.

To start, your host needs to be able to help you quickly pivot if your website sees a spike in traffic. After all, what’s the benefit of a successful marketing campaign or a viral video if your website crashes from all the new attention? Ideally, your web hosting service will have the ability to move you from shared hosting to virtual private server (VPS) hosting without taking your website offline.

Over the long term, you also need the ability to scale your web hosting service with your business. Most companies aim to grow their web traffic over time, so that plan you choose today might not be suitable for the amount of traffic your website is receiving in two years’ time. 

Make sure that your web hosting service makes it easy to upgrade your plan on demand, including to VPS hosting, without any downtime.

6. Access

Most web hosting services include a control panel that enables you to manage your files and account settings. While many use the cPanel software for this purpose, some hosts have their own proprietary control panels. Ensure it’s easy to use and includes tools for customizing your website’s security and file structure.

You’ll also want to be sure you have FTP (file transfer protocol) access to your website. This is a simple method for moving files to and from your web hosting service. Ideally, the maximum file size for transfers will be far larger than any of your media files. Also, look for a web-based file manager that you can use to upload content on the go from your mobile devices.

 7. Support 

While you might hope to never need to call your host for help, it’s critical that there’s a knowledgeable technician on the other end of the line when you do. If your website goes offline, for example, you don’t want to be left on hold or given the run-around while you’re losing traffic and sales. Most top hosting services provide 24/7 phone and live chat support for exactly this reason. 

It’s also important to check whether your host guarantees your website’s uptime. Be careful to read the fine print here. Some hosts claim a 99% uptime, which means your website could still be down for more than three days per year. A 99.99% uptime, though, means you’ll experience less than one hour of lost traffic. 

In addition, some web hosting services will pay you for every hour your website is down, while others won’t lift a finger to make the situation right.

8. Location

Another thing to consider when choosing a web host is where that host’s data centers are located. Ideally, your host’s servers should be as close geographically as possible—within the same country or city—to your website’s audience. The less distance the data has to travel, the faster your pages will load.

Many web hosting services will also include a CDN (content delivery network) like Cloudflare as part of your hosting package. This is helpful if you have a global audience, since a CDN creates cached copies of your website and stores them on servers around the world. That speeds up your visitors’ experience, no matter where they are relative to your host.

9. Backup

Backups are an often overlooked feature that only a handful of hosts provide. With automatic backups, your hosting provider will create a copy of your website and content database at regular intervals, and store it on another server. 

If anything happens to your website, such as a failed server, a hack, or a fire at the data center, you can easily restore your site from the backup. If you don’t have backups included in your hosting plan, you should make your own copies of your website. 

Download the HTML behind your pages as well as your site’s database through the host’s control panel. Then store these files on an external hard drive or in a cloud storage space. Make sure you create updated backups at least once per month to be prepared for unexpected data loss. 

Further reading on web hosting and website builders

Read our guide outlining how to choose a web hosting service for more information; and five common mistakes to avoid when choosing a web hosting provider. We also compared web hosting vs WordPress vs website builders, so you can establish what similarities and differences these elements share.

If you’re planning to build a website with one of the best website builders, you’ve likely seen many options regarding servers and the best web hosting. For those who aren’t sure what to go for between dedicated servers vs VPS, two of the more high-performance web hosting options, we've put together this article to explain their differences. 

We look at what dedicated servers and VPS are, their pros and cons, and which would be best for your business. Once you’ve made your choice, you can choose the best web hosting provider for yourself.

What is a dedicated server? 

A dedicated server is a form of web hosting where a customer has an entire physical server to store their website. Since the customer doesn’t have to share the server’s resources with anyone, they enjoy high performance and robust security. They also have greater flexibility in configuring the hardware and software to their needs. 

Dedicated hosting is ideal if you need to handle large amounts of web traffic daily, require advanced security, or operate a highly technical website with your own operating system.

Pros and cons of a dedicated server

Pros:

• Resources and performance: When it comes to raw performance, like CPU/GPU power, RAM, storage, or other hardware and software aspects, dedicated servers come out on top. You won’t find any VPS or shared servers that can outperform a dedicated server, because with the latter you won’t have to share your resources. You enjoy higher speeds and lower latency. If your website is brimming with data-heavy content, like videos, images, and other large files, you need a high-performance server that can minimize the content load time. 
• Security: If a customer faces a web hosting security threat on a shared server, it can be problematic for the other users too. Since a dedicated server hosts a single customer, it’s safer than a VPS or shared server. It also has access to more resources, making it easier to ward off security breaches. The enhanced security is especially useful if your website has a payment gateway and needs to be payment card industry compliant.
• Customization: A dedicated server gives you maximum flexibility when it comes to configuring your server and adjusting the resource allocation. If your business is growing rapidly, or has periods when there are dramatic spikes in web traffic, a dedicated server will adapt to these changes and keep up in performance to prevent slowdowns.
• Management: If you opt for a managed web hosting plan with your dedicated server, you can rest easy knowing that there are dedicated engineers and technicians to set up and maintain your server. Customizing or fixing issues also becomes convenient because these experts don’t have to deal with other streams of data on the server, or be restricted by other clients. With more freedom, they’ll have room for more options and solutions when facing issues.

Cons:

• Cost: From high performance to advanced security, a dedicated server will give you the best in hosting. That’s why it’s one of the most expensive of all web hosting options.
• Complexity: Dedicated servers are complex, and require a fair bit of technical knowledge to handle. Most people deal with this by opting for a managed solution, but it adds to the expenses.

What is a VPS?

A VPS is a virtual private server, and is like a mix of dedicated and shared servers. While a dedicated server hosts one customer on an entire server, a shared server sees multiple customers sharing all their resources on one single server. 

Unlike either of them, a VPS hosts multiple customers on the same machine, and uses virtualization technology to split the physical server into several virtual servers. Although the users share the same physical server, it’s like they each have their own dedicated server. Each user on a VPS receives a segment of the parent server’s hardware resources, and doesn’t have to share that with others. 

An essential feature in the best VPS hosting services is the use of a hypervisor. This is a type of software that enables the host to support multiple users by sharing its resources. 

On a shared server, all the users are forced to share the same limited resources. But with a hypervisor, each user is allocated a specified portion of resources. If a user needs access to more resources, they can borrow from another user who isn’t using theirs to the fullest.

Pros and cons of a VPS

Pros:

• Setup: Since a dedicated server is custom-built based on the customer’s needs, the process of communicating with the engineers and creating the machine takes time. But the nature of a VPS is such that it can be set up rapidly. Virtual servers are already set up on built machines, so they only need activation. You can get your project off the ground sooner with a VPS.
• Affordability: On a VPS, several users share the same hardware. So, the operational cost is split across all of them, making VPS more cost-effective than dedicated servers.
• Control: You can install an application on your server and restart it at any time. Although you’re sharing a physical server with other customers, your own VPS can be restarted without affecting the others, so you can run things according to your own schedule.

Cons:

• Configuration: In a VPS environment, there is great flexibility in configuration, but limits in terms of storage and memory allocation. You won’t be able to install large software packages, or anything that could potentially threaten the security of other customers on the server.
• Security: Since there are multiple users on a physical server, a security breach in a different section could prove to be dangerous for you as well.

Dedicated servers vs VPS: Which is best for your business?

Dedicated servers are better suited for enterprise-level clients. These are businesses that receive high web traffic, deal with plenty of financial transactions, have large media files, or need in-depth control to customize their servers. 

You also need technical expertise to utilize the full potential of a dedicated server and maintain it. Dedicated hosting plans generally start around the $100 a month range, and can cost more than $600 a month. 

A VPS is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses. If you’re starting out and your web audience is growing consistently, a VPS can help handle the traffic and possible surges. VPS hosting is also more affordable, and starts around the $20 a month range, though it can go up to more than $150 for a month.

Finding the right server to set up a website is an intricate and elaborate process. The vast options available in the market can often make it overwhelming to decide what service to go with. When deciding between dedicated servers vs VPS, it’s best to keep in mind your current business situation, and how much it’s likely to scale in the near future.

Further reading on web hosting

If you need to know more about web hosting, read our guide answering the question what is web hosting?, and our list article outlining nine tips to take into account when buying a web hosting service. It's also worth taking a look at our comparison pitting bare metal vs dedicated servers.

As a first-time website owner who's likely just taken the time to choose from the best website builders to create your site, you might be daunted by then needing to select the best web hosting provider. Reviewing options and deciding on the right one can be overwhelming, with so many packages and providers out there.

In turn, there are no shortage of online advisers and experts keen to share their advice with you on which host to go with. At the early stages of creating a website and launching it, this can feel like an all-out barrage, and so making errors at this stage is really easy to do.

We aim to inform you about the most common mistakes when it comes to choosing a web hosting provider, and this article outlines not only what these are, but how to avoid making them in the first place.

1. Choosing a free web hosting provider 

As appealing as a free web hosting service might sound, don't forget there's always a danger your site could end up covered in pop-ups and banner ads. Also, sites hosted on free services aren't always Google-friendly. 

Still, if you just want a website to promote a particular interest, blog, or community group, and you don't mind losing SEO (search engine optimization) points, it could still be an option.

There are a number of services available that we'd consider the best free web hosting providers, but you'll need to do some digging first to find the best of what can be described as a bad bunch. These services tend to be very unpredictable with inconsistent speeds, little to no guaranteed uptime, and limited support. 

The trouble is because you haven't paid anything for the service, the service provider is under no obligation to provide you with any assurances. Don't expect any advanced features, and be aware that hosting with a free provider can result in your business losing a certain degree of legitimacy. 

This point is particularly valid if you choose to go with a free service that trades under the name of freehosting4u.com—or something equally unprofessional sounding. As with any service, you often get what you pay for. And if you're getting something for free, you don't really have any grounds to complain about the quality of the service or the features that do or don’t come with it.

If budget is a major concern, there are plenty of cheap web hosting providers offering a superior service at a minimal cost.

2. Avoid web hosting packages that don't offer a refund guarantee 

Not choosing a web hosting package with a refund guarantee is an easy mistake to make/ and is particularly important to avoid as a new website owner. As you have little experience in the field, you may well have selected an unsuitable package the first time around, so it’s essential your provider offers a money-back guarantee. 

Any reputable web hosting company should be happy to give you a refund, or even transfer you onto a more suitable package, if you find the service you've signed up to doesn't suit your requirements. In the end, a happy customer could well be a repeat customer. 

Although numerous companies do offer guarantees of this kind, the length of time they are valid for is inconsistent. Usually, an offer like this would remain valid for 30 to 60 days, but one of the service providers we identified had a money-back guarantee lasting 90 days.

3. Deciding between a shared web hosting package or VPS, and making the wrong choice

There are two principal kinds of web hosting packages: shared or virtual private server (VPS). If you only have a basic, barebones site then it's best to opt for shared hosting. You only need to go with a VPS if your site is generating a lot of traffic. 

Keep an eye on the volume of traffic coming to your website, and if needs be shift over to VPS, or even dedicated, hosting. But remember, you'll save a great deal of money by sticking with a shared hosting package right up until the point where switching is a necessity. 

When deciding between shared or VPS, take a detailed look at what's being offered in the package. Ideally, you want to find a provider and plan that can scale up at the same rate as your company. For example, you might find bandwidth and email limits a headache as your business grows in size and popularity.  

4. Don't just go for the best-priced option

You can approach this issue in two ways. The first choice is to simply presume that all web hosting providers are the same, and go with the cheapest option. The second is to presume that the more you pay, the better the quality of service, so you pay for a premium option.

It's at this point that you have to ask yourself, "What do I want my website to become?" Once you decide how you'd like the future of your site to pan out, you can make a decision on a package that will suit your growing needs—whatever they might be. But price shouldn't be your only consideration

In such a competitive industry, many companies will introduce special offers and slash prices to draw in customers, so stay alert for any discounts. It's also important to remember that a cheap package could well do the job required to host a small site or blog, so you don't always need to pay more for quality.

And remember, that tempting offer is usually only representing a month of hosting. When it comes to paying, you'll probably find this figure multiplied by 12 with the addition of VAT on top. It's not always a bad thing, though, and many companies will offer discounted rates for longer contracts. 

5. Being unaware of limitations

During your pursuit of the best web hosting provider for your site, you'll no doubt encounter limitations. In some cases, these limitations could be detrimental to your business: for example, if a provider puts a limit on the number of different products you can sell in your online store. 

This is why it's so important to find a web hosting provider that can adapt your hosting plan as your business grows. You want a service that can scale easily and at the same pace as your business. If restrictions are too tight, you might find yourself in a situation where resolving an issue harms your site. 

Be sure to scrutinize terms and conditions. Look out for personal file storage constraints and restrictions on streaming and other media in particular. Limitations are there for a reason. They ensure the service they provide is consistently reliable for all users and can save web hosting providers a great deal on running costs. 

Go through this checklist before signing up and ask any potential providers the following questions: 

•  Is it possible to maintain multiple POP accounts?
•  Is there a way to add statistics to my account?
•  Am I able to install any WordPress plugin I want?
•  Can I add a shopping cart to my website?
•  How many items is it possible for me to list on my ecommerce website?
•  Is there a scheduled backup of my data?
•  How comprehensive is your customer support program?

The final question in the above checklist is particularly important, as you never know when you'll need help—day or night. 

This is an excerpt from an eBook called "The ultimate guide to web hosting", published by TechRadar Pro in association with Planet Hippo. 

Further reading on web hosting

Your first port of call should be our feature outlining how to choose a web hosting service, for more pointers on how to make this decision. After that, you should definitely decide what type of hosting is for you, and then look at our guide to the best web hosting to see who we recommend.

Once you've got the best web hosting for your new site, and used one of the best website builders to build it, search engine optimization (SEO) is key to keeping your site on top and ranking highly. In the modern world, you need to always be on your SEO game in order to keep visitor traffic flowing to your site. 

SEO means tailoring your site and content, so that the site can rank as highly as possible in Google, Bing, or Yahoo! search results. Your ideal scenario is that when someone searches for a keyword relevant to your business, your site is the first link to appear onscreen.

However, while much of a website's SEO score is derived from content, an integral role is played by web hosting. Here, we outline the five most important web hosting factors to take into account that can either make or break the organic traffic coming to your website.

1. Slow website speed 

No one likes to wait for a webpage to load. In fact, waiting is so loathed across the internet that major search engines like Google factor your site’s loading speed into your SEO score. Sites that take more than a few seconds to load are penalized, while sites that load instantly are given a boost in search results.

So, choosing a hosting provider that can provide visitors with a speedy experience is essential to your page ranking. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to the best VPS hosting or the best cloud hosting from slower shared hosting. That’s especially important if you have more than a few thousand visitors to your site each month.

Also, make sure that your host’s data center is located close to your audience. The further data has to be transmitted back and forth, the longer it takes for your website to load. You may also want to consider setting up page caching with your host or enlisting the help of a content delivery network (CDN).

All that said, be sure to take a look at your website content before you go blaming your web host for slow loading. Large images, poorly built plugins, and even sloppy HTML and Javascript code can all weigh down your site and hurt your SEO score. 

2. Website downtimes

The only thing worse than a slow site is one that won’t load at all. Downtime is almost always caused by problems at your host⁠—it may be due to hardware failure, an overloaded server, a security breach, or something else.

Unfortunately, your website’s SEO performance can drop even if your site is offline for just a few minutes at a time. Google and other search engines can flag your website as being unreliable. If the downtime lasts for days instead of minutes, Google may de-list your site from search results altogether.

When choosing a web hosting provider, check whether they offer an uptime guarantee and how good it is. A 99% uptime guarantee means your site could still be down for several days each year, but a 99.99% guarantee means your site will be down for just a few minutes each year.

3.  Database connection failure

If you and your visitors are seeing a warning message that says "Internal Server Error" or "Database Connection Failed", it’s because your server has been overloaded with traffic. This won’t hurt your SEO score as much as your website being fully offline, but it can push your site’s bounce rate way up.

In the short term, you can create a cached copy of your site or popular pages so that visitors don’t actually need to connect to the database stored with your host. On WordPress, the easiest way to accomplish this is with a free plugin called WP Super Cache.

In the long term, though, you’ll want to consider upgrading your hosting plan. Database errors result from the fact that you simply don’t have enough bandwidth to handle all your traffic. Ask your hosting provider about scaling up to a VPS or cloud hosting plan.

4. Using shared hosting services with spammers

Although not a common issue, sharing your server with spammy websites and email addresses can actually hurt your website’s search rankings. When search engines penalize spammy websites, they penalize every site using that IP address⁠—which could include your website if you’re using a shared hosting plan.

If you’re worried this might be a cause of poor SEO performance, it’s easy to check. Enter your URL in the Reverse IP Domain Check tool to see who else is using your IP address. 

5. Incorrect TLD

If at all possible, make sure your website URL uses a .com TLD (top-level domain). For better or worse, this is what people assume you’re using when they go to look for your website. If your website address ends in .net or .co (a Colombian TLD, not a clever alternative to .com!), visitors will have trouble finding your site.

The unfortunate reality is that most of the best .com website names have been taken, so there’s something of a trade-off here. Whatever you decide to do, make sure that your website name is short and memorable and that your TLD isn’t too obscure if you can’t acquire a .com address.

Web hosting factors: Conclusion

Managing your website’s SEO is a big job that never seems to end. While much of your site’s SEO score is derived from your content, it’s important to keep an eye on hosting factors that can have an outsized impact on your search rankings. By taking the time to choose the best hosting provider for your site, you can eliminate many of these potential SEO problems right from the start. 

Further reading on SEO and domain names

For more on SEO and websites, take a look at our articles listing nine SEO tips that can improve your Google ranking, and how web hosting affects SEO. To learn more about domain names, learn how to choose a domain name and what small businesses must consider when registering a domain name.

Building a website from scratch can be an overwhelming task, especially for those with close to zero knowledge of coding and web design. While engaging a web designer is an option, it’s not necessarily the most budget-friendly choice for creating a professional-looking website. 

Thankfully, the best website builders out there can help any novice build a site with just a few button clicks, and many of these are also included with the best web hosting services. One of these is HostGator, and if you’re ready to take advantage of the popular Gator Website Builder’s design flexibility and beginner-friendly interface, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make a website with the HostGator website builder, with tips to help you build and customize your ideal site.

Step 1: Visit HostGator’s website

When you’re on HostGator’s main page, hover your cursor over the "Hosting" option in the top panel. From the drop-down menu, select "Website Builder". You’ll then be redirected to HostGator’s pricing plan page, where you can browse through its various website builder subscription options. At a glance, you’ll easily be able to compare the cost and features of each plan on offer. 

Step 2: Select a pricing plan

HostGator offers three different plans—Start, Site, or Store. All three come with a free domain and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. At $3.94 a month, HostGator’s basic Start plan is great for beginners, with simple features such as access to the Unsplash image library, email marketing, marketing tools, and basic ecommerce capabilities. The Start plan also comes with a powerful AI-based website builder.

HostGator’s Site ($5.99 a month) and Store ($9.22 a month) plans come with all of the above and more. With the former, you get extra appointment-booking features. The latter is designed specifically for ecommerce store users, and includes enhanced features such as unlimited product listings and advanced shipping management. These two plans also offer priority support. 

Once you’ve decided which plan is right for you, click "Buy Now" to be directed to the next step.

Step 3: Choose a domain name or connect an existing domain

Your domain name is essentially your website’s address. If you don’t already have a domain, HostGator comes with a free one. Be sure to choose a domain address that is easy to remember and representative of your business.

After entering your chosen name, click "Get Domain". HostGator’s team will search the web to see if your preferred domain name is available. If it is, you’ll see a congratulatory message. Otherwise, type a different domain name and try again.

If you have an existing domain, you can quickly connect it to your HostGator website by clicking "Connect It Here".

Step 4: Account creation

You’ll be prompted to create a username and set a password for your new HostGator account. As with most paid platforms, you’ll have to enter your payment information. You can pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or PayPal. After selecting your preferred billing cycle, you’ll be shown an order summary. Enter any discount code that you may have before confirming your purchase.

Step 5: Enhance your site with apps

After your purchase goes through, you’ll be prompted to add recommended apps to your site. These apps aren’t included with your subscription and will incur additional monthly charges. You can skip this step if you aren’t interested in extra apps.

Step 6: Choose between the Express or Traditional site builders

With HostGator, you’ll get to choose between two site-building options: Express and Traditional. The Express Site Builder is an AI-powered tool. The automatic editor is easy to use and perfect for beginners looking to create a website quickly and without any hassle. 

The Traditional Site Builder features HostGator’s original drag-and-drop editor, and is great for those who prefer detailed editing functionality and more control over the site’s design. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be able to add and edit your site content later. 

Step 7a: Express Site Builder

If you selected Express Site Builder, you’ll be asked some questions about your intended website, so that HostGator’s AI can build your site based on your needs. You’ll need to provide information such as a site title, what your website’s about, and what features you’d like it to have. 

You’ll also be directed to upload a cover image and brand logo. Simple customizations can be made here, like selecting your preferred font, site colors, and navigation style. Finally, you’ll be asked to fill in your contact details as well as a Google Maps location. Click on "Finish" to go ahead.

Step 7b: Traditional Site Builder—template selection

If you selected the Traditional Site Builder, you’ll be redirected to HostGator’s template selection screen where you can choose the base template that best fits your business. With more than 200 professionally designed templates included for free, you’ll probably spend some time scrolling. 

You can get a full-screen preview to see all the features and secondary page layout options for your favorite themes. You can then quickly change the color scheme, fonts, or text style to match your business. After selecting a template, click on "Start Editing".

Step 8: Add content and start editing

A short step-by-step tour will teach you how to edit pages and add elements such as text blocks, images, buttons, and more to your site, using the eight icons (Elements, Pages, Sections, Design, Blog, Store, Stats, and Manage) you’ll find on the left of the main dashboard. 

Click on the option that you’d like to add to your site. For example, to add a button or contact form, just drag and drop it anywhere on the page. You can also easily add a new section by clicking the plus sign at the bottom. 

On the right, you’ll find the settings for each specific feature you can edit. A preview of your site can be found at the center of your screen. 

Step 9: Publish your site

When you’re satisfied, it’s time to put your site live. But before that, do a final review by clicking "Preview" at the top of your dashboard. If the design and content look good, click "Publish".

Users subscribed to HostGator’s Store plan will be asked to add products to their site. You can choose to do this later by selecting "Publish Without Store". 

Congratulations, your site is now live! 

How to make a website with HostGator: Summary

With its competitive introductory pricing, neat interface, and design flexibility, anyone can build a professional-looking website with a HostGator website builder. No matter what type of site you want to create, you’ll be able to get it up and running by following the above steps.

Further reading on website builders and web hosting

Make sure to read our comparison feature that pits three leading web hosts' website builders against one another: HostGator vs IONOS vs GoDaddy.

Bluehost is one of the world’s largest website hosting companies, serving over two million domains from its Utah servers. It started by offering cheap shared hosting for small websites, but over the past decade, it has expanded into providing VPS and dedicated servers.

In our Bluehost review, we evaluate whether it could be considered one of the best web hosting services that’s available today.

Bluehost: Plans and pricing

Bluehost has multiple plans, stretching from cheap shared hosting to dedicated servers. These are typically available on annual to triannual terms, with up to 40% off if you’re willing to pay for multiple years at a time. Bluehost also offers significant discounts on your initial term, often up to 75% off, but remember that you’ll revert to the regular rate when it’s time to renew.

Bluehost offers four shared hosting plans, where your website shares server resources, like CPU time and hard disks, with other people’s websites. The cheapest of these plans costs the equivalent of $2.95 a month for the initial term, rising to $11.99 a month on renewal and scaling up in price if you choose a 12-month term.

There are three VPS hosting plans. This is where you get your own slice of a server’s resources that isn’t shared with others. It starts at $34.99 a month (rising to $83.99 a month on renewal) if you choose a 12-month term. 

The three dedicated hosting plans start at $89.98 a month (normally $179.99 a month) if you choose a 12-month term. This is where you get an entire server to yourself.

Bluehost also offers four managed WordPress solutions, where the host takes over some of the day-to-day runnings of a WordPress site for you. The cheapest starts at $4.95 a month (for a three-year term), rising to $9.95 a month afterwards. 

Overall, Bluehost’s prices are reasonable and in line with the competition. With so many plans on offer, it may take you a while to narrow down the right Bluehost plan for you.

Bluehost: Features

Bluehost aims to be a one-stop shop for all types of web hosting. Whether you need a cheap web host for a school project, or want to run an online store serving millions of people a day, Bluehost has a plan for you.

Though it’s possible to use virtually any content management system with Bluehost, it offers the most support out of the box for WordPress and WooCommerce websites. It also offers its own WordPress website builder, which ranks among the best website builders independent of the service's web hosting.

WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system, and Bluehost is one of only three hosting companies the former has officially recommended. This instills a great deal of confidence in the service.

At Bluehost, you get automatic WordPress updates, custom themes, a free domain for the first year, a free SSL certificate, and a free content delivery network, so your site should load quickly for all users, no matter where they are in the world.

If you plan to sell goods through your Bluehost website, you’ll likely do it by using WooCommerce, the ecommerce plugin for WordPress. The Standard Bluehost WooCommerce plan includes a website and blog, email marketing, website traffic analytics, payment processing, and a store-front theme already installed.

The Premium plan adds support for online bookings and appointment scheduling, advanced product customization, and subscriptions.

Bluehost: Interface and ease of use

After logging into Bluehost, you’re presented with a simple administration panel that lists your sites, domains, and marketing tools. There’s a wizard that you can use to set up a basic WordPress website with a theme, an “About Me” page, and a contact page.

If this is too much hand-holding, you can click on the Advanced button. This brings you to cPanel, a popular website administration tool with more fine-grained control over files, databases, users, and installed software.

Bluehost now provides a free Bluehost Builder with a drag-and-drop interface for those who prefer not to use WordPress. The Bluehost Maestro tool has also been introduced, which helps in managing multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard

In our performance testing, Bluehost was fast. Bitcatcha's Server Speed Checker awarded our website an A+ rating, and Dotcom-Tools' Website Speed Test ranked the average page load times as highly as any host that we’ve tested recently.

Bluehost: Support

Bluehost has excellent support. There’s a useful system alert page and a packed knowledge base, and the search function makes it easy to find the help that you need.

If that’s not enough, there’s 24/7 support via telephone, email, and live chat. We tested the live chat several times, and each time, we received a prompt, knowledgeable reply to our query.

Alternatives to Bluehost

Bluehost is relatively new in the VPS and dedicated server market, and its focus is more on the lower end. If you’re looking for a VPS or dedicated server with extra heft, Hostwinds offers more powerful servers at a better price than Bluehost.

For a cheaper alternative to Bluehost, consider HostGator. Its plans are as feature-packed as Bluehost’s plans and are cheaper. That said, in our performance testing, HostGator was less consistent than Bluehost and marginally slower overall.

Bluehost: Verdict

Bluehost deserves its reputation as one of the top web hosting companies available today. While certainly not the cheapest web host that you’ll find, its slightly elevated pricing is warranted if you value performance and stability.

Bluehost also deserves praise for its excellent 24/7 customer support available on all plans. It’s a splendid choice for individuals and SMEs alike, particularly if you plan to base your website on WordPress and WooCommerce.

More from Tom's Guide

If you're looking for specific hosting, and want to see where Bluehost ranks, read our guides to the best Linux web hosting, the best WordPress hosting, the best unlimited hosting, and the best cloud hosting services. For more about Bluehost, make sure to read our comparisons pitting Bluehost vs HostGator and Bluehost vs GoDaddy.

Why should you invest in a small business website builder? Building a strong digital presence is a must if you want your business to succeed in the modern world. With the invention of beginner-friendly website builder software, establishing your online business has become easier than ever thanks to the best website builders.

Creating a site from scratch may still prove too difficult or time-consuming for some business owners, in which case hiring a professional web designer might be a better option. But for those who have the time and inclination, using a small business website builder could be the best option. 

In this article, we take a close look at exactly what a small business website builder is, why you might decide to use one, and which of these are also some of the best website builders currently on the market. 

What is a small business website builder? 

A website builder is, in simple terms, any platform that can be used to create a new site. Typically, these come with a suite of tools to help you on your way, and you don’t usually need any coding or special tech skills to get started. 

But it’s not always that straightforward. There are hundreds of different website builders out there, and they are far from equal. Some are designed for experienced developers who need a more streamlined website creation platform. Others are built for absolute beginners, or might focus on particular aspects of the site creation process. 

As you may have guessed, a small business website builder is one that’s specifically designed to help small business owners develop an online presence. 

They sometimes come with business-specific tools, such as ecommerce integrations or online booking features. Or they might simply have a great selection of business-tailored templates, an intuitive editor, or other handy tools to help you get started. 

What are the benefits of using a small business website builder? 

There are numerous benefits associated with using a website builder designed for small businesses, and here, we take a closer look at a few of the most important.  

Since website builders generally come with a suite of pre-designed templates, streamlined editing tools, and great third-party integrations, you will often be able to get a new site online within just a few hours. 

Compare this to coding a website from scratch—which can take days, if not weeks—and the time-saving benefits are immediately obvious. 

Paying someone to create a new site is likely to cost you at least a few thousand dollars—and that’s if you don’t need custom tools or special integrations coded. So using a website builder will almost certainly help you save money. 

Most website builders start somewhere in the region of $20 a month or less. Furthermore, you’ll have few other ongoing costs, especially if you take care of website maintenance and design on your own. 

If you pay someone to design and build your website for you, it can be hard to get things looking the way you want them to. Details can get lost in communication, and you may end up paying a small fortune for a site that’s not even close to what you expected. 

With a small business website builder, you’ll be able to fine-tune your design to get it exactly the way you want it. You can select an attractive template, personalize global design parameters, and add your own custom content for a site that’s truly on-brand.

What should I look for in a small business website builder? 

It’s all well and good deciding to invest in a website builder, but choosing one that’s right for your company can become an overwhelming task. With this in mind, here are a few of the most important things you should look out for when selecting one. 

Most platforms come with at least some templates, which are designed to make it very easy to get your business website up and running. But it’s important to understand that some platforms offer significantly more (or better) templates than others. 

Some, such as Weebly and Squarespace, are known for their extremely attractive, professionally designed templates. Others, like Wix, come with a huge library of themes that you can choose from. And then there are some, such as GoDaddy or Site123, which only have basic designs. 

Choosing a builder can also be a little more complicated because it can be difficult to know how tricky a platform is to use until you’ve actually tried it. Again, not all website builders are created equal. Some are targeted directly at beginners, which means that they’re streamlined and easy to use. Others can be more confusing, especially once you start adding extra customization tools. 

When it comes to editing capabilities, choosing the right website builder for your business really comes down to the level of design personalization you’re looking for. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial consideration when building a small business website. Basically, you need to make sure that the website builder you select comes with some basic SEO tools, so that potential customers can find you online. 

This certainly won’t apply to everyone, but if you want to sell products or services through your website, you’ll need to make sure you choose a builder with at least some basic ecommerce integrations. Additionally, those who want to make online selling a priority should consider a leading ecommerce platform with more advanced online selling tools.

Our small business website builder recommendations

With literally hundreds of website builders on the market, finding the right one for your business can be a challenge. You may, for example, have heard of popular platforms like Wix and Squarespace - even if you didn’t know what they were at the time. 

For those planning to build a small business website, there are a few platforms that stand out from the crowd. If getting online fast is your priority, GoDaddy and Site123 are both great options. Both come with a free plan so you can test them out, along with beginner-friendly design features and basic templates. However, they are quite simple, so don’t expect advanced functionality. 

Those looking to add an online store will love Weebly. It comes with a great range of leading ecommerce features, along with extremely attractive templates and numerous integrations to add extra tools to your site.

Alternatively, Wix offers excellent design flexibility. You’ll find more than 500 templates to base your site on, along with arguably the most powerful editor on the market.

Whatever option you choose, it’s a good idea to spend some time testing a few different platforms before you settle on one. Most website builders offer some sort of free plan, or free trial, and we highly recommend taking advantage of these.

Conclusion

All things considered, it’s absolutely worth investing in a small business website builder. Even at the higher end of the spectrum, you shouldn’t have to pay any more than $50 a month, which is virtually nothing when compared to web developer fees. 

Also, if you use a website builder, you’ll also be able to take care of any ongoing management and maintenance yourself.

Further reading on website builders

Check out our guides to the best website builders for general use, and the best ecommerce website builders. Another option open to you is WordPress, via the best website builders for WordPress coupled with the best web hosting services; specifically, look to the best WordPress hosting providers.

We’ve been searching for the best web hosting services and the best website builders, and as part of our search, we completed a full 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite review. In the past, creating a website was a long and sometimes complicated process. 

However, the rise of modern website builders like 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite has made things easier than ever. In fact, even absolute beginners with no tech experience can create their own sites with tools like this. Below, we’ve analyzed every aspect of this business’s website builder, including its prices, main features, and useability. 

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite: Plans and pricing

There are a number of pricing options available, with various plans aimed at people with different needs. For starters, there are three plans allowing you to create your own custom site. The Now plan costs $5 a month, and is designed for those with limited tech experience. It includes a very beginner-friendly editing interface. 

Those with more tech and web development knowledge will love the Creator plan ($5 a month), which supports advanced design and coding. And finally, the Online Store plan costs $20 a month, and includes a selection of advanced ecommerce tools to help you create an online store. 

Both the Now and the Creator plans come with a one-month free trial, and you can try the online store plan for three months before you pay a cent. And, all three plans come with a free lifetime domain and a free SSL certificate. 

There are also options to get your initial site built for you from $30 a month (with a one-time setup fee of $199), as well as website and marketing packages from $15 a month.

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite: Features

The 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite builder is backed by numerous exciting features. It uses a block-based editor that’s designed for those with limited time and tech skills. You don’t need any coding knowledge whatsoever, and you will have access to a range of pre-designed templates. 

On top of this, all sites built with the MyWebsite builder are fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices. You will benefit from a range of ecommerce and SEO tools, and all new plans even come with a free domain and SSL certificate.

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite: Interface and in use

Getting started with 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite is very easy. To access your free trial, simply select the plan you want and follow the prompts. Note, though, that you will have to enter payment information, and your plan will automatically renew after the trial period unless you cancel it. 

Once the checkout process is complete, you will be able to get into your account within minutes. From your user dashboard, you can access the website builder, along with any other services you’ve signed up for.

The website builder itself is very beginner-friendly and intuitive. It uses a block-based editor, which allows you to create a new site with a minimal amount of fuss. However, basic customization options are limited, and you will only be able to place pre-coded elements in pre-coded positions. Unless, of course, you use the Creator plan. 

The bottom line: 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite is very easy to use, but it certainly isn’t the most powerful website builder on the market.

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite: Support

Phone support is available 24/7 for all existing customers. This is great, but the lack of live chat or email support options is a little concerning. 

Fortunately, there are numerous self-help resources. The IONOS Help Center comes with tutorials and how-to guides covering a range of website building and related topics. Although there aren’t a huge number of articles, the core concepts are covered very well.

Alternatives to 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite is a perfectly functional website builder with a very competitive price tag, but there are some obvious alternatives that are worth mentioning. 

For example, Wix, the most popular website builder in the world, comes with significantly more powerful editing tools, as well as over 500 attractive templates and code access. Paid plans start from $14 a month, but there is also a free-forever option—something that 1&1 IONOS notably doesn’t do.

Weebly is another widely used alternative. It comes with an impressive range of ecommerce tools, and its professionally designed templates are among the most attractive in the industry. It also comes with a free forever plan, with premium solutions starting from $6 a month.

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite: Final verdict

Overall, 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite is a perfectly functional website builder without anything to make it really stand out. It is very competitively priced compared to popular alternatives, but the lack of a free forever plan will be an issue for some. 

The site editor itself is overly basic, but it certainly has everything you need to create a simple site in a matter of hours. Ultimately, we’d recommend signing up for a free trial, testing the builder, and continuing with a paid plan if it meets your needs.

Further reading on website builders

You may want to take a look at our buying guides for the best easy website builders, the best ecommerce website builders, the best small business website builders, and the best website builder for WordPress.

WordPress is the most popular website builder framework on the planet, powering nearly a third of all websites in existence. Competing with the best website builders, and offered via the best web hosting providers or best WordPress hosting, services, WordPress is built on open-source code, meaning a vibrant ecosystem of specialists in a variety of different fields have sprung up around it. 

One of those is web hosting company Pressidium, and we've interviewed Andrew Georges, the company’s co-founder to ask about its plans and philosophy. Learn more about WordPress's CMS functions in our WordPress review and our comparison between web hosting vs. WordPress vs. website builder.

What does Pressidium do?

We offer a fully managed WordPress hosting service. From the outset, the system was designed to be scalable and highly available, with no single point of failure. Ours is a premium service that aims to be fast without sacrificing robustness, scalability, and security. This means that site owners and administrators can host their websites with us safe in the knowledge that we’ll take care of everything. They can focus on running their actual business and not on the technicalities of running their websites.

Why choose WordPress?

Simply put, WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) there is, powering nearly a third of the Internet. It’s open-source, which means it’s free for anyone to use and has a massive community of developers who have advanced the framework in so many different ways.

On top of that, content creators are familiar with the user interface, making it easy for them to work on different sites using WordPress and immediately get to grips with the publishing workflow. It’s this widespread familiarity with how WordPress works which has also attracted enterprise-level publishers because they don’t have to spend time and effort to train people on how to use custom or proprietary CMSs, many of which have sub-optimal user interfaces.

Can you tell us about your involvement with Automattic?

Automattic expressed interest in what we were doing right from the start and has been very active in testing our platform. We are always open to collaborations, especially with industry-leading companies like Automattic. These sorts of collaborations can only make WordPress better, fostering innovation and, at the same time, improving industry standards.

Why would a company decide to follow the WordPress way?

Open-source projects like WordPress can’t really be compared to similar commercial or proprietary systems, and amongst its competitors in the open-source space, like Drupal or Joomla, WordPress is more popular, stable, and mature. 

The sheer number of creative and marketing agencies that are exclusively WordPress shops is amazing. This wealth of expert knowledge is unmatched by any of the competing platforms. Combine that with the fact almost all online publishers are already familiar with WordPress’s user interface, and it makes it the best, most cost-effective choice for building a website.

What reasons would you give a business to choose Pressidium for hosting WordPress sites, rather than something like Wordpress VIP or other enterprise-level providers?

We believe that with the launch of our Pressidium Pinnacle Platform we have set a new standard and started a revolution in the managed WordPress hosting space. Now, every WordPress website owner or administrator, no matter where they are in the world, can take advantage of industry-leading speed, robustness, scalability, and security.

We have our own webscale technology, which means that any of the sites we host can scale from just a few thousand visits per month up to several million. To achieve this, we took technologies used by Facebook and Google, and together with our extensive experience in the area of enterprise systems engineering, we applied them to consumer-level systems. 

So in effect, we applied enterprise-level architecture and design to infrastructure that was more optimal, efficient, and tuned specifically for WordPress and websites. The end result was a dramatic reduction in costs.

With our Pressidium Pinnacle Platform, we can offer all of our customers the benefits of a webscale system that is both fault-tolerant (FT) and N-Tier (Scale-Out) designed at a cost which is a fraction of similar solutions. To give you an example, WordPress VIP’s entry-level plan starts at $5000/month (about £3970, AU$7200) which is several times more expensive compared to our corresponding entry-level enterprise architecture.

So to sum up, Pressidium's Pinnacle Platform has no single point of failure and offers extremely high levels of uptime and reliability compared to hosting industry standards. Our architecture is available on every layer, with automatic scalability. All of our plans also offer full server management and automated backups as standard.

In addition, we offer end-to-end managed security and auto-updates, malware monitoring and removal, web application firewalls, filtering of bad bots, expert-level WordPress support, and a full chroot environment. No one else is offering the same breadth of features at this price range.