Web Hosting

Contents

1. 01WelcomeWhat these tools do, how many we grade and what to know before choosing
2. 02Our top threeThe three we'd look at first, and who each one suits
3. 03What they costWhat paid plans start at, the best buy at each budget and the free plans
4. 04The gradesThe highest graded, and how the whole category does on each subject
5. 05Keep or make?Which are worth paying for, and which you could make yourself
6. 06Every toolAll of them, best graded first, with what each costs
7. 07Quick answersThe questions people ask when choosing, each answered in a line or two
8. 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from each tool’s own pages, their app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on the Web Hosting page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 17, 2026.

Space on a server for your website, from a small WordPress blog to a busy shop.

Before you choose, here are 6 things to know about web hosts, worked out from every one we grade.

1. 1

   We grade 22 web hosts

   0 of them are free or have a free plan, and 3 more let you try before paying. Everything in this guide comes from their own pages and our grades.

2. 2

   Paid plans start at $10.99 a month in the middle

   From $1.95 (ChemiCloud) to $35 (WP Engine), going by what each one's paid plans start at.

3. 3

   Best value: Liquid Web and ChemiCloud

   Nothing on our chart scores higher than these without costing more.

4. 4

   0 of 22 have iPhone and Android apps

   22 run in a web browser and 0 have a Windows app. Check the one you need before you fall for anything.

5. 5

   The middle GPA is 2.0

   0 score 3.0 or higher. The highest is ChemiCloud, at 2.2.

6. 6

   22 worth keeping, 0 you could make

   By our keep-or-make rules, 22 do something you couldn't reasonably build yourself, 0 are simple enough to make with an AI app builder, and 0 are a close call.

Part 02 · Top three

Our top three

The three we'd look at first, and who each one suits

The three web hosts we'd look at first. First place suits the most people; second and third are the best picks for the people it leaves out. Each has an Insider's Guide of its own.

1. 1st

   

   2.2GPA

   DreamHost

   From $7.99/mo

   For: Most people hosting a small site or blog

   DreamHost's Launch plan hosts up to 25 websites with daily backups, free SSL, unmetered bandwidth and a one-click WordPress installer, and its team builds one starter site for you. Two years cost $2.49 a month paid upfront, then $8.99 a month, or you can pay monthly: $4.99 for the first 3 months, then $11.99. Yearly and longer plans include a domain free for the first year. Know the limits: professional email is free for 3 months only and is then billed separately, and every low price covers the first term only.

   The DreamHost Insider’s Guide

2. 2nd

   

   2.2GPA

   ChemiCloud

   From $11.95/mo

   For: One site with email included, if you will prepay three years

   ChemiCloud's Starter plan runs one site on LiteSpeed servers with NVMe storage, a Cloudflare CDN, daily offsite backups and unlimited email accounts at your domain, and its staff migrate sites and email for free. Three years cost $1.95 a month, paid upfront, with a free domain for the first year. It is second because the deal depends on that term: Starter then renews at $11.95 a month, a 1-year term goes from $3.49 to $14.95, monthly billing is $14.95 with no discount, and more than one site needs Pro.

   The ChemiCloud Insider’s Guide

3. 3rd

   

   2.2GPA

   Kinsta

   Free trial · from $30/mo

   For: A busy WordPress site or shop that has outgrown shared hosting

   Kinsta is managed WordPress hosting: sites sit behind a Cloudflare firewall and CDN, with daily backups, one-click staging, free malware removal, free migrations and 24/7 chat support. Launch is $30 a month for one site and 75,000 visits, billed annually ($35 monthly), and the first month is free for new customers. It is third because it costs several times what shared hosting does: plans cap visits, bandwidth and storage with overage fees beyond them, each extra site is $30 a month, and hourly backups and Redis caching cost extra.

   The Kinsta Insider’s Guide

Going by our grades, Liquid Web and ChemiCloud give the most for the money among web hosts: no tool on this chart scores higher without costing more.

Paid plans start at a middle price of $10.99 a month across the 17 that charge, from $1.95 (ChemiCloud) to $35 (WP Engine).

0 of the 17 score above the category's average while starting at or below its middle price. 3 cost more than the middle price and score below the average.

Every tool gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. Here are the 12 highest graded web hosts, then how the whole category does on each subject.

Tool	Value	Free	Features	Ease	Platforms	GPA
ChemiCloud	A	F	B	C	C	2.2
DreamHost	A	F	C	C	B	2.2
FastComet	A	F	B	C	C	2.2
Kinsta	C	D	B	C	B	2.2
Namecheap	A	D	C	C	C	2.2
Pressable	B	F	B	C	B	2.2
ScalaHosting	A	F	B	C	C	2.2
Cloudways	C	D	C	C	B	2.0
Flywheel	C	F	B	C	B	2.0
GreenGeeks	B	F	B	C	C	2.0
hosting.com	C	F	B	C	B	2.0
Hostinger	B	F	C	C	B	2.0

Some software does something you couldn’t reasonably build yourself. Some is simple enough that an AI app builder could make the core of it in an afternoon. Here’s where web hosts land, by the same rules for every tool.

• 22

  Keep it

  It does something you could not reasonably make for yourself, or it costs nothing.

• 0

  Your call

  You could make the core of it, and you would give something up.

• 0

  You could make this

  What it does is the kind of thing an AI app builder makes well, and it charges every month.

Every web host we grade, with its GPA and what it costs. Each one has a page of its own on toolgpa.com, with its Insider’s Guide.

1. 1ChemiCloudFrom $11.95/mo2.2
2. 2DreamHostFrom $7.99/mo2.2
3. 3FastCometFrom $9.95/mo2.2
4. 4KinstaFree trial · from $30/mo2.2
5. 5NamecheapFree trial · from $5.88/mo2.2
6. 6PressableFrom $20.83/mo2.2
7. 7ScalaHostingFrom $11.95/mo2.2
8. 8CloudwaysFree trial2.0
9. 9FlywheelFrom $25/mo2.0
10. 10GreenGeeksFrom $13.95/mo2.0
11. 11hosting.comPaid2.0
12. 12HostingerFrom $10.99/mo2.0
13. 13InterServerFrom $3/mo2.0
14. 14Liquid WebFrom $17/mo2.0
15. 15Rocket.netFrom $25/mo2.0
16. 16IONOSFrom $8/mo1.8
17. 17SiteGroundFrom $14.99/mo1.8
18. 18WPXFrom $11.99/mo1.8
19. 19BluehostPaid1.6
20. 20HostGatorPaid1.6
21. 21NexcessPaid1.6
22. 22WP EngineFrom $35/mo1.6

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

• 1,880

  tools graded

• 47

  categories

• 426

  price changes on record

• 579

  apps priced in 12 countries