Today, there are hundreds of web hosts, ranging from mammoth corporations to tiny niche-market players. How do you choose? Learn more about the top 10 blog hosts here so you can make a savvy decision you won’t regret.
#1 – Bluehost
BlueHost is one of the oldest and biggest hosting providers in the market, with more than 2 million websites as of 2014. It is the hosting provider recommended by WordPress for newbie bloggers. If you’ve got a simple blog to run with a small traffic load, Bluehost is a sound choice most days of the year. It’s affordable, user-friendly, mostly reliable, and the best all-around value for basic shared blog hosting.
#2 – GreenGeeks
Born in response to the massive-and-growing carbon footprint of the hosting industry, GreenGeeks is an eco-friendly host fully powered by wind energy. In addition to green cred, GreenGeeks has affordability, exceptional customer service, decent security, and daily backups going for it. It’s not the cheapest host, but it is certainly one of the highest-value ones, and gentle on the planet to boot.
#3 – Media Temple
California-based Media Temple, founded in 1998, is a 100k-strong, shared ‘grid’ host that emphasizes performance. The ‘mt’ grid, not unlike a public cloud, provides faster and more reliable power over many competitors – although it’s not perfect. Media Temple has positioned itself as premium and its prices, starting at $20 a month, reflect it. All-in-all, mt is a quality choice that lets you pay a bit more for higher performance.
#4 – Dreamhost
Dreamhost is another huge company that’s been around since the ’90s. Like other big fish, the company offers rock-bottom pricing and an attractive range of unlimited capacity and features. Dreamhost is a tad more expensive than Bluehost; both have occasional reliability issues. We can say that Dreamhost is a good big box, feature-rich, semi-reliable option, second only to Bluehost in its class.
#5 – IX Web Hosting
IX is a sizable web host with nearly 500k sites worldwide. The main IX draw is its ramped-up security. The company offer continuous monitoring and auto-filtering of malicious code. Also popular are the free dedicated IP addresses; other hosts charge. On the whole, IX is a more secure option with excellent bang-for-your-buck.
#6 – Laughing Squid
If you are wary of underpriced Walmart-style hosting and anonymous, allegedly ‘unlimited’ servers, Laughing Squid might be the blog host for you. Independently owned and operated, Laughing Squid is a boutique, San Francisco-based host with modest but, for many, sufficient capabilities. The small but dedicated team of ‘tentacles’ has provided secure and reliable hosting since 1998. The main drawbacks are the disk space and bandwidth limitations.
#7 – Arvixe
Founded in 2003 by a high school entrepreneur, Arvixe has grown rapidly since its inception. The basic Arvixe hosting plan provides a feel-good balance between okay reliability, above-par quality, and mainstream affordability. It’s a cost-effective choice for the upwardly mobile blogger.
#8 – Squarespace
Squarespace, a relative newcomer on our list, is useful for those who want an out-of-the-box solution. For a reasonable fee, you get hosting, a WYSIWYG website builder and a professional CMS, all-in-one. Squarespace is a fully managed alternative to the DIY approach of WordPress that many small businesses with little time for trial-and-error find attractive.
#9 – WPEngine
Like Squarespace, the freshman WPEngine specializes in managed blog hosting, but it is geared for the popular WordPress CMS. At WPEngine, you pay at least $30 monthly for premium-level speed, above-average security, and responsive service. Automatic daily backups and malware scanning are provided on-the-house. If Squarespace sounds nice, but you can’t imagine blogging without WordPress, WPEngine might be for you.
#10 – Hostgator
Hostgator, now owned by the same hosting conglomerate that owns Bluehost, is a smaller and younger version of Bluehost with better uptime and higher prices. Hostgator lacks spam filters, but they offer generous discounts and promotions to keep you loyal. Most bloggers will find Hostgator gets the job done with little disruptions. Think of it as Bluehost+.