8 Best Web Hosting Providers for Beginners in 2024

When choosing the best web hosting as a beginner, you want to be sure you’re truly getting the top ranked options. Otherwise, you can experience all sorts of problems, such as website downtime and slow loading speeds. Web hosting is the lifeforce of your website, so you want to be sure you have a reliable service. 

So, how do you choose the best web hosting as a beginner? With over 330,000 web hosting services out there, it can be overwhelming to decide. However, the best way to choose a hosting provider is to keep it simple — especially as you first start.

To help you save time in your search, here is a quick overview of exactly what web hosting is — and a list of the best web hosting for beginners in 2024.

What Is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is a service that continuously hosts your website on the internet, allowing visitors to gain access to your content. A hosting web service works through a server, a physical computer that can power your website.

Once users search your website in the browser, the provider’s server will transfer the necessary files that load your site.

Best Web Hosting Services for Beginners

1. SiteGround

SiteGround might be the best and fastest web hosting for beginners as it excels in the most important aspects — including performance, uptime, security and customer support. Additionally, the company’s hosting plan offers other features not provided by other web hosts, like a free SSL certificate.

Here are SiteGround’s highlights:

• SiteGround is a host you can grow with as the company’s hosting offers numerous options. You can start with its cost-effective StartUp plan and expand to anything from the Super Power Cloud plan. Or you could choose Enterprise hosting, where they build a server for your exact needs.

• It has an easy-to-use interface, incorporating all the information within one web page.

• SiteGround has security measures in place and ensures your plugins and themes are safe, as well as providing an encrypted connection to your website.

• The hosting plans come with premium customer support, advanced caching technology, regular software updates and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

SiteGround’s hosting plans start at 2.99 per month with 10GB of storage space and unlimited data transfer — plus, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Pros:

• Fast server

• Excellent customer support

• Great uptime

• Free site backup automation

• Free SSL

• 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons:

• SiteGround doesn’t include domain options with its plans

2. Hostinger

Hostinger is one of the cheaper hosting providers, but they offer excellent plans that check off the most important features. The hosting service is easy-to-use, with quality performance and customer service.

Here are Hostinger’s best features:

• Hostinger comes with a custom control panel, known as hPanel. It’s perfect for beginners as it’s functional and offers one-click installations.

• The hosting provider offers 24/7 live support and friendly, knowledgeable customer service agents.

• The host utilizes LiteSpeed webserver technology, caching and the latest PHP version. Its speedy performance sustains a full-built website loading in under a second.

You’ll find Hostinger to be a reliable service provider. Hostinger has plans that start at $1.99 per month, including features such as one website, 30 GB storage and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Pros:

• User-friendly hPanel

• Free SSL certificate

• Friendly customer service with 24/7 live support

• Fast performance and unlimited extras

Cons:

• Although Hostinger guarantees 99.9% uptime, some reviewers complain about this being an issue

3. Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the most beginner-friendly hosting providers around. It comes with a functional control panel, and many users love its easy setup process. Plus, it has affordable hosting plans you’ll enjoy.

Here is why Bluehost is one of the best web hosting providers for beginners:

• You get instant access to Bluehost’s robust site monitoring and SEO tools 

• The hosting service offers a free SSL activation and a user-friendly interface for easy website management

• Bluehost offers an artificial intelligence (AI) website builder and further customization whenever necessary

Bluehost guarantees a 99.99% uptime and offers a fast hosting service. However, the service itself has a downfall of handling traffic surges, but it’s great for small websites. Bluehost’s plans start at $2.95 per month with one website and 10 GB storage.

Pros:

• Free SSL and domain

• Unlimited bandwidth

• Built-in AI-based website builder

Cons:

• Mediocre loading speeds

• Upgrades and add-ons can get costly. Plus, the renewal costs will increase annually

• Costs additional money to migrate your website to their servers

Bluehost is a good hosting service all-around, but you might find other hosting providers like SiteGround to be the better choice. The more visitors you have, the more data you need — so pricing will increase. However, Bluehost makes a good choice for beginners.

4. DreamHost

DreamHost is a reliable hosting provider that’s cheap and easy to manage. The control panel is beginner-friendly and offers a built-in website builder for WordPress. 

Here’s why you’ll like DreamHost:

• DreamHost is one of the top hosting companies for Linux users. If Linus powers your website, you could consider DreamHost one of your top choices.

• The company offers a free SSL certification, and you get automatic security features like malware remover and firewall protection.

• DreamHost offers easy installation on WordPress and automatic backups daily.

You’ll find that DreamHost’s performance is excellent as it provides a 99.99% uptime and is extremely fast. The pricing plans start at $2.59 per month—when paid for three years—and a 97-day money-back guarantee in addition to excellent customer support.

Pros:

• Easy-to-manage control panel

• Free domain, SSL and domain privacy

• WordPress website builder

• Fast and reliable service performance

Cons:

• Phone support costs extra

• No Windows-based servers

5. HostGator

HostGator makes it the best web hosting for beginners because of its user-friendly interface. Overall, the hosting experience is hassle-free and comes with competitive pricing.

Here’s what makes HostGator an excellent choice for beginners:

• HostGator features great uptime with a 99.95% guarantee and fast hosting speeds.

• The service offers an SSL certificate and a free domain.

• The company offers a first-time user-walkthrough, various customer support options and effortless hosting management.

HostGator plans start at $3.75 per month, a great starting point for those who need a personal blog or portfolio. However, the company has other plans for medium-sized blogs and small businesses.

Pros:

• Easy-to-use dashboard

• All-inclusive features with the cheapest plan
• 10 GB SSD site

Cons:

• Renewal prices are high and have many other additional fees

• Long wait times for customer support

• Slow loading pages

Although HostGator has some issues, the low price makes it an attractive choice. Overall, it’s a great start if you’re launching a small business and want to start with a low-cost service.

6. WordPress.com

Beginners will like the ease of choosing a template and creating a website on the fly. WordPress.com allows you to point your registered domain name to their servers and utilize their templates and website builder for a professional site in a fraction of the time.

While you’ll lose some of the customizations of other hosting options, you’ll gain simplicity. You’ll pay a bit more for the convenience. The basic plan starts at $25 per month, billed annually with 50GB storage. If you need an online store, you’ll pay $45 per month, billed annually. Upgrade to more storage space as needed and scale your business by purchasing add-ons as you grow.

Pros:

• Free domain registration with every paid plan
• Free staging site
• Automated updates
• High-frequency CPUs
• Automated burst scaling for traffic spikes
• DDOS and WAF protection to stop malicious attacks
• Free SSL certificate
• Malware scanning and one-click removal

Cons:

• Higher cost than other beginning hosts
• Limited to the templates and plugins included
• Slight learning curve to the management features
• Only offers some monetization and SEO features
• Lack of branding
• Past users complain of website suspension with no prior warning
• Limited storage space and bandwidth

Although there are numerous drawbacks to WordPress.com hosting, users familiar with a WordPress environment may find it a simple solution to get online quick and stay there.

7. Flywheel

If you’re looking for managed WordPress hosting, Flywheel offers an excellent solution. You don’t need a lot of technical knowledge or coding experience with this hosting company. They’ll install and update the content management system for you. You’ll tweak it, customize it and make it your own.

Plans start at $13 per month with a 60-day guarantee. If paying monthly rather than annually, rates are more. With the basic plan, you get 5GB storage, 20GB bandwidth and up to 5,000 monthly visits. The next plan gives you double the storage and five times the visits for $20 per month.

Pros:

• Free migration included
• Comes with a CDN
• Offers Simple SSL certificates
• Comes with StudioPress themes installed
• 24/7 Chat Support

Cons:

• Cost is a bit more and you have much less storage space than some of the other options
• Unless you upgrade several stages above the most basic package, you won’t get phone support
• If your traffic soars, you may owe overage fees or have to upgrade your plan for more money
• No custom database management
• Limited to WordPress platforms

One nice thing about Flywheel is that you can easily scale up as your company grows. Start with the tiny package and add space and bandwidth as needed.

8. WPX

The hosting provider offers WooCommerce and WordPress hosting with a 99.95% uptime guarantee. They also include a staging area so you can make changes and test them before taking them live. One of the reasons WPX is a great choice for beginners is their easy interface. The system doesn’t have much of a learning curve to get up and running.

WordPress hosting starts at $20.83 per month for a yearly plan. You can add up to five websites, get 15GB store and 200GB bandwidth.

Pros:

• One-click WordPress installation
• Unlimited site migrations
• Datacenters in USA, Australia and United Kingdom
• Staging area
• Daily malware scans
• Free SSL Certificates
• 24/7 support

Cons:

• Shared hosting so speeds can suffer if network traffic is high
• Limited PHP workers
• Limitations for scalability as your site traffic increases
• High prices

WPX is an excellent option if you’ve never worked with a hosting company before and need a basic WordPress or WooCommerce site.

How to Choose the Best Web Hosting

When choosing a new hosting provider, you want to make sure they offer various services — because as your site grows, you might need additional resources, including storage space, bandwidth and more. This factor is important to consider since you’ll want to be sure it’s easy to upgrade at any time. Furthermore, you’ll want to consider other factors when deciding which hosting provider to choose. 

These features include:

• Control Panel: The cPanel lets you manage your hosting account without logging into the webserver. You’ll want to look for a web host that makes it easy to handle the user interface.

• Web Host Uptime: An unstable web server can provide unexpected downtime. Unfortunately, downtime can negatively affect your business and customer trust. Consider choosing a web hosting provider that guarantees uptime.

• Technical Specifications: Disk space, processing power, bandwidth and other features ensure your website runs smoothly. Look for a hosting provider that operates effectively.

• Security: A hosting provider with advanced security can ensure they protect your website from malware and DDoS attacks.

• Customer Support: 24/7 customer support can be helpful, especially when your website encounters security breaches and unexpected downtime.

• Other Services: An excellent hosting plan will offer other valuable services such as free add-ons like an SSL certification and a content delivery network (CDN).

Choosing the Best Web Hosting for Beginners

Which is the best web hosting for beginners by far? That answer will depend on your needs. Start with Hostinger or DreamHost to get the best shared hosting service with the most affordable plans if you’re on a budget. However, these services do come with a few setbacks.

While Hostinger and DreamHost are cost-effective, SiteGround offers the best website hosting for beginners overall. SiteGround has excellent customer support, fast servers and outstanding security. With SiteGround, you’ll get the best value for your money and 30 days money-back if you’re unsatisfied.