The cost of website hosting for small businesses With many hosting types, multiple pricing tiers, and countless add-ons and extras, website hosting costs can be pretty complex – but we can help. Written by Stephanie Lennox Updated on 18 January 2024 Our experts Startups was founded over 20 years ago by a serial entrepreneur. Today, our expert team of writers, researchers, and editors work to provide our 4 million readers with useful tips and information, as well as running award-winning campaigns. Our site is governed by the Startups editorial manifesto. Written and reviewed by: Stephanie Lennox Writer Robyn Summers-Emler Digital Growth Editor Startups.co.uk is reader supported – we may earn a commission from our recommendations, at no extra cost to you and without impacting our editorial impartiality. How much does website hosting cost, exactly?Sometimes that can be a difficult question to answer, especially given the numerous hosts (we currently consider Bluehost to be the #1 hosting provider) and the multi-tiered pricing plans available. Generally speaking, the larger and more complex your website, the more bandwidth and storage space you need – and the more you’ll need to spend to get the best hosting provider for your business.With the current recession and record inflation rates burning through everyone’s pockets, the last thing you want to do is end up committing to hosting you’re not completely happy with and wasting time and money.Shared hosting (the most inexpensive type where the physical server and maintenance costs are shared), ranges from about £2 to £12 a month, while dedicated hosting plans (where you lease an entire server privately and it isn’t shared with anyone else) can be anything from £60 to upwards of £400 monthly.Within each category, there are usually three to five pricing tiers based on various factors such as bandwidth, storage space, and extra services.Then comes subscription length and renewals, but don’t worry, in this article, we’re going to compare costs here and show you the value you can get for your money – that’s all to follow if you read on. The starting prices for our top three recommended hosting providers are: Bluehost – from £2.44 per monthInMotion – from £2.40 per monthHostGator – from £3.17 per month This article will cover: Web hosting costs: influencing factors How much do different types of hosting cost? Additional and optional web hosting costs Web hosting costs: influencing factors Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward BEST ALL ROUND Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.6 Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.5 Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.5 Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.0 Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.0 Best Overall hosting provider Best For shared and VPS hosting Best For Up Time Performance Best Value for money Best For customer service Cost Starting from £2.33 per month Cost $9.49 $2.99/mo* Cost $11.95 per month Cost £2.59 Cost $1.59 – 2.59 per month Visit Try Bluehost Visit Try InMotion Visit Try HostGator Visit Hostinger Visit Try A2 Hosting *Pricing is correct as of January 2024 and based on the 12-month shared hosting plan of each provider. Still unsure on what website hosting actually is? Check out our guide to the best hosting providers for small businesses here.The two main factors that affect the overall cost of your hosting plan are the hosting renewal costs, and the length of your subscription.Hosting renewal costsIt’s important to remember that all the prices listed on this page are for the ‘initial term’ – the introductory rate offered to new customers for a set period which is typically 12 months before your plan renews at the regular rate.This is standard practice in the hosting market, but it pays to check how much that introductory price increases by before signing on the dotted line. Don’t be put out by extremely tempting initial terms, only to be hit with a massive increase on renewal.To illustrate this, check out the screenshot of Bluehost’s shared hosting plans below. You can see the renewal cost for each plan under the advertised price as ‘Normally’, with the cost struck through.So, for example, you’ll pay a total of £2.44/month (excluding VAT) for the first year on Bluehost’s Pro shared hosting plan, and that increases to £8.26/month upon renewal.This is no great secret, and most hosting providers are fairly transparent about their renewal costs. But it’s something to bear in mind when comparing the eventual cost of plans from different providers.Subscription lengthSubscription length also has a significant impact on the monthly cost of your hosting plan.Most providers will advertise prices on initial terms of 12 months, which you’ll pay in one lump sum – not month by month. For example, while the advertised price of HostGator’s ‘Hatchling’ plan is $3.49/month, you’ll actually be paying $107.40 up front, before any tax or add-ons are factored in. Still, this represents more than a 60% saving compared to if you were on a monthly billing cycle.The benefit of longer payment terms for hosting providers is getting more money up front, and less customer churn. The benefit for you, of course, is the much lower cost. HostGator for example offers 1, 6, 12 and 36 month billing cycles, and they increase in cost the shorter the length of your contract – so it is more beneficial to commit for the longer-term.But whatever length you choose initially – it’s important to note that you also won’t be able to change or amend your contract length until it’s run its course. How much do different types of hosting cost?In this section, we’re going to give you an overview of the average costs of different types of website hosting – and to do this, we’ve sourced price ranges from five top level hosting providers, representative of the innovators at the top of the market.Below is a breakdown of the different types of hosting offered, from shared hosting (as mentioned above) to dedicated – the most elite of all hosting plans.1. Shared hosting (£2 – £12/month)Shared hosting is so cheap because your website shares the server it’s stored on with multiple other websites. This means it’s only suitable for small, low-traffic websites.At its cheapest, you’ll likely spend just over £2/month for the first three years. According to our researchers, Hostinger is the best provider for value for money. Indeed, Hostinger’s shared plans are the cheapest overall for this type of hosting.Here’s a breakdown of what our top hosting providers charge for shared hosting plans: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Bluehost InMotion Hostgator Hostinger A2 Hosting Basic Plan £8.26 £2.44/mo* Basic Plan $9.49 $2.99/mo* Basic Plan $8.95 $3.95/mo* Basic Plan £9.99 £2.49/mo* Basic Plan $10.99 $2.99/mo* Intermediate Plan £12.39 £4.51/mo* Intermediate Plan $12.99 $5.99/mo* Intermediate Plan $11.95 $5.00/mo* Intermediate Plan £11.99 £2.59/mo* Intermediate Plan $12.99 $5.99 Advanced Plan £15.70 £4.51/mo* Advanced Plan $16.99 $5.99/mo* Advanced Plan $16.95 $7.25/mo* Advanced Plan £15.99 £3.99/mo* Advanced Plan £20.99 £6.99 Subscription Length 12 months Subscription Length 12 months Subscription Length 12 months Subscription Length 12 months Subscription Length 12 months For full breakdown, check out our review of the best shared hosting providers.2. WordPress hosting (£1.49 – £37.25/month)WordPress plans offer specialised tools and services for websites built on WordPress.The following are all managed WordPress plans, meaning the provider manages the server and deals with all the maintenance and security.Hostinger’s WordPress offering is the cheapest yet again for basic and intermediate plans (from £1.49/month), though it has a range of significantly more expensive advanced plans. It offers the cheapest advanced WordPress plan at £3.99/month.Here’s a breakdown of what our top hosting providers charge for WordPress hosting: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Provider Bluehost Provider InMotion Provider HostGator Provider Hostinger Provider A2 Hosting Basic plan £8.26 £2.44/mo* Basic plan $15/mo* Basic plan $12.95 $7.95/mo* Basic plan £9.99 £1.49/mo* Basic plan $23.99 $17.99/mo* Intermediate plan £12.39 £4.51/mo* Intermediate plan $20/mo* Intermediate plan $17.95 $9.95/mo* Intermediate plan £11.99 £2.59/mo* Intermediate plan $33.99 $22.99/mo* Advanced plan £15.70 £4.51/mo* Advanced plan $30/mo* Advanced plan $24.95 $11.95/mo* Advanced plan £15.99 £3.99/mo* Advanced plan $48.99 $34.99 Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months 3. Cloud hosting (£4 – £45/month)Instead of being hosted on one physical server, cloud hosting spreads all your website data across a number of different servers that are all connected. All this data is then accessed through a virtual server. The advantage of this is that multiple servers are more reliable than just one server.There’s a real range of prices for cloud hosting. HostGator’s cloud plans are the cheapest, which start from just $7.99.Hostinger, which is usually the cheapest provider, offers plans starting from £8.99 and going all the way up to a considerable £49.99.You can get a better idea of what cloud hosting plans cost below (excluding Bluehost who no longer offers Cloud Hosting plans): Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Provider InMotion Provider HostGator Provider Hostinger Provider A2 Hosting Basic plan $59.99 $19.99/mo* Basic plan $10.99 $7.99/mo* Basic plan £15.99 £8.99/mo* Basic plan $76.99 $49.99/mo* Intermediate plan $86.99 $39.99/mo* Intermediate plan $13.95 $9.95/mo* Intermediate plan £26.99 £14.99/mo* Intermediate plan £104.00 $69.99/mo* Advanced plan $106.99 $49.99/mo* Advanced plan $19.95 $11.95/mo* Advanced plan £99.99 £49.99/mo* Advanced plan $131.99 $86.99/mo* Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months 4. VPS hosting (£3.49 – £49/month)VPS hosting stores your website on a virtual server. This acts as a dedicated server, but you are in fact sharing the server with several different websites. It’s suitable for larger, higher traffic sites, as more resources are available for your website.Despite its slightly costlier shared plans, Bluehost’s VPS plans are among the most affordable over three years, ranging from £16.53 to £49.59/month.Below you’ll get an idea of what the market-leaders are charging for VPS hosting: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Provider Bluehost Provider InMotion Provider HostGator Provider Hostinger Provider A2 Hosting Basic plan £33.06 £16.53/mo* Basic plan $59.99 $24.99/mo* Basic plan $79.95 $23.95/mo* Basic plan £8.99 £3.49/mo* Basic plan $76.99 $49.99 Intermediate plan £49.59 £24.79/mo* Intermediate plan $86.99 $39.99/mo* Intermediate plan $119.95 $34.95/mo* Intermediate plan £12.99 £4.99/mo* Intermediate plan $104.99 $69.99 Advanced plan £99.20 £49.59/mo* Advanced plan $106.99 $49.99/mo* Advanced plan $149.95 $59.95/mo* Advanced plan £19.99 £7.99/mo* Advanced plan $131.99 $86.99 Subscription length 36 months (minimum) Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months 5. Dedicated hosting (£60 – £400/month)Dedicated hosting dedicates an entire server to your website. That means you get 100% of the server’s resources. This makes dedicated hosting the most suitable choice for large, complex websites, with lots of media and lots of traffic.It’s not hard to see which provider offers the best value dedicated plans – Bluehost’s are cheapest across the board, and by quite some margin. Its plans start at just £59.66/month, and go up to a very affordable £89.49/month.In contrast, InMotion’s plans go from £108.66 all the way up to £410.49/month – and that’s just for a one year subscription. It doesn’t offer longer terms, either.The dedicated hosting plans offered by our top picks for hosting providers are outlined below: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Provider Bluehost Provider InMotion Provider HostGator Provider A2 Hosting Basic plan £99.20 £66.13/mo* Basic plan $149.99 $89.99/mo* Basic plan $199.99 $109.97/mo* Basic plan £109.53 (£131.96) Intermediate plan £132.26 £82.66/mo* Intermediate plan $169.99 $139.99/mo* Intermediate plan $269.99 $139.99/mo* Intermediate plan £161.07 (£194.06) Advanced plan £173.60 £99.20/mo* Advanced plan $229.99 $189.99/mo* Advanced plan $299.99 $159.98/mo* Advanced plan £225.50 (£271.69) Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 12 months Subscription length 1 year If you’re after a deep dive into the world of website hosting and everything it has to offer, check out our comprehensive guide to website hosting for small businesses. Additional and optional web hosting costsIf you haven’t already been overwhelmed by the seemingly unending complexity of hosting plans, stick with us, as there are just a few more additional web hosting costs to consider.Domain name registrationMany providers offer a free domain for the first year and beyond. Indeed, most have separate domain services you can use whether you use the provider for hosting or not, such as Bluehost domains. If a domain name isn’t included in your plan, you’re looking at an annual cost of around £7 – £12. It’s not a lot, but something worth factoring into your overall website costs.However, there are additional fees within domain name registration…Privacy + protection is something you’ll see added onto your domain name as an ‘opt out’ at checkout. Basically, paying for it stops your name and address being added to the public WHOIS listings. It’s usually around £10/month.Find out everything you need to know about how to buy and register a domain name here.SSL certificateThe Secure Socket Layer (SSL) establishes an encrypted connection between the server and the browser. This means all the data that needs to be sent from the server to the browser to make your website visible is safe and private.You can tell a website is encrypted with SSL if the URL is preceded by ‘https://’ rather than just ‘http://’.Google actually prefers websites with an SSL certificate.You’ll probably have a free SSL certificate included as part of an intermediate or advanced hosting plan. However, some providers will offer more advanced protection. HostGator’s , for example, offers positive SSL for £2.50/month – an upgraded SSL certificate from “a world leading provider”.SiteLock – around £20/yearSiteLock is an optional extra that detects and destroys malware which poses a harm to your website. It also alerts you to any suspicious activity so you can take the necessary action.The most obvious benefits of this should be clear, but it also helps prevent your site being blacklisted, while the visible SiteLock badge on your website is a good signal to customers.However, it’s not absolutely necessary, and you may be able to find more cost-effective security measures elsewhere – if you can be bothered looking.Automated site backup and restore services – around £1.50/monthAutomated site backup and restore services will back up all the files that make up your website to a secure location, independent of your server. This is another service that’s often included for free with higher tier plans, though some providers may charge you a restoration fee in the unlikely event that you do need to recover your website.If it’s not included free of charge, then you’re only looking at spending around £18 a year on average. Not a lot for something that could be the difference between your website disappearing forever in the event of server damage, or your website being easily recoverable.Alternatively, you could back up the website yourself. While this is the cheapest option, but it takes a bit of technical skill, and requires regular time and attention.Next stepsIt’s a complicated business, but hopefully, the above has given you a better idea of average website hosting costs for small businesses.All you need to do is choose the most suitable type of hosting for your website. If you have a very small, low traffic website, you could get away with paying for a cheap shared plan. If you have a much larger, high traffic website, you’ll need to pay quite a bit more for a dedicated plan.Overall, Bluehost is our top choice of hosting provider in terms of value for money (the number of features you get for the average plan price).Just remember to also factor the renewal price into your long-term business budget, and assess whether you actually need every paid add-on that’s slapped onto your plan at checkout. Startups.co.uk is reader-supported. If you make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn a commission from the retailers of the products we have reviewed. This helps Startups.co.uk to provide free reviews for our readers. It has no additional cost to you, and never affects the editorial independence of our reviews. Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Written by: Stephanie Lennox Writer Stephanie Lennox is the resident funding & finance expert at Startups: A successful startup founder in her own right, 2x bestselling author and business strategist, she covers everything from business grants and loans to venture capital and angel investing. With over 14 years of hands-on experience in the startup industry, Stephanie is passionate about how business owners can not only survive but thrive in the face of turbulent financial times and economic crises. With a background in media, publishing, finance and sales psychology, and an education at Oxford University, Stephanie has been featured on all things 'entrepreneur' in such prominent media outlets as The Bookseller, The Guardian, TimeOut, The Southbank Centre and ITV News, as well as several other national publications.