Welcome to our Best Web Hosting Awards page for 2018. This year we have 14 award categories. Because of the immense popularity of WordPress and the recent explosion in the number of managed WordPress hosting plans, we have expanded our recognition of managed WordPress hosts into four separate categories. Because of the wide selection of WordPress hosting plans, there really are different website situations that favor a certain type of WordPress hosting package over another.
Also this year, with the continued popularity of website builders to speed up the site creation process, we have separate awards for eCommerce and non-eCommerce site builders.
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is our choice for Best Business Hosting in 2018. A2’s hosting plans include some awesome features for business sites. And in fact, their features and support rival some managed hosting plans. We think so much of A2 Hosting that our own website is hosted there. The A2 Hosting Turbo Server plans are exceptional!
SiteGround
SiteGround continues to innovate and improve their already impressive shared hosting platform. Already in 2018, they have announced more improvements to their data backup and restore features. SiteGround also continues to impress us when it comes to their customer support performance. For those reasons, they again get our recognition for Shared Hosting.
InterServer
There are a number of worthy candidates for low cost budget web hosting. However, with InterServer’s price lock guarantee, your renewal prices remain the same as your initial term’s low price. And with InterServer, you get a cPanel hosting plan that is loaded with impressive features.
A2 Hosting
When we talk about Blogger Hosting, we’re of course also talking about WordPress—specifically in a non-managed hosting plan. And while there are many worthwhile shared hosting plans that include WordPress, A2 Hosting’s implementation of optimized speed and security for WordPress sites makes them our top pick for bloggers in 2018.
GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is still the champ when it comes to Green Web Hosting. And in 2018, GreenGeeks also has a revamped hosting platform that we’ve tested out. The new hosting platform provides improved speed and security—particularly for WordPress sites. If Green Hosting is important to you, remember that GreenGeeks is powered by 300% renewable energy.
InMotion Hosting
VPS Hosting is another category that includes some very impressive options. For us, InMotion Hosting’s High Availability VPS remains the top choice in 2018. InMotion’s VPS Hosting combines the power of VPS servers and their cloud-powered infrastructure resulting in better speed, uptime, and redundancy.
Liquid Web
Liquid Web specializes in web hosting for mission critical websites. Their lineup includes Cloud Services, Managed WordPress, Managed WooCommerce, and Dedicated Hosting. When it comes to Dedicated Servers, Liquid Web offers one of the most impressive collection of single and dual processor computers—all backed by their 100% Network and Power Uptime SLAs.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting is one of the newer entries into the Managed WordPress Hosting arena. I’ve been using their managed WordPress for a couple of my sites, and the results are highly impressive—even better than their Business Hosting plans. Not only do they provide better performance for WordPress sites, but with InMotion you also get the BoldGrid website builder, which is perfect for beginners looking for a managed hosting option.
SiteGround
If you have some experience with WordPress, and are looking for an affordable managed WordPress option, SiteGround gets our vote for the best deal. SiteGround provides features that are usually found in more expensive hosting plans—including automatic updates, backups, and staging. And, SiteGround just recently unveiled their new WP Auto Update features that give you more control over your automatic core updates–plus automatic plugin updates!
WP Engine
For businesses (and individuals) looking for the best premium managed WordPress hosting experience, WP Engine once again gets our vote in 2018. Their complete focus on WordPress is evident in their features, expert customer support, and website speed and performance. While their hosting plans are not cheap (in fact they recently raised their prices), if you need premium managed WordPress hosting services, they remain on top.
Liquid Web
Like WP Engine, Liquid Web provides high-end managed WordPress hosting solutions. Because they include features such as iThemes Sync for managing multiple sites, and because their multiple website hosting plans offer more value, we recommend Liquid Web for WordPress developers, agencies, and consultants in 2018.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy continues to roll out new website and web hosting products, including their new GoCentral website builder. However for us, GoDaddy’s strength remains being the largest domain registrar around. We really like their domain management tools. Not only do they provide an easy way for you to purchase domains, but they also feature services such as domain auctions and domain broker services. And, they continue to offer many discount sales on domain names as well.
BoldGrid
While there are a growing number of website builders out there, for general purpose websites, we like BoldGrid. BoldGrid gives you not only the awesome functionality of WordPress, but also added functionality such as automatic backups, automatic updates, and staging.
Shopify
A lot of today’s website builders allow you to create an eCommerce site. However, Shopify is specifically designed to provide an easier way for you to sell products online. Shopify provides professional looking store themes, as well as streamlining your inventory, shipping, and payment processing functions. And, you can try it out free for 14 days without a credit card.
| Award | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Business Hosting | A2 Hosting | |
| Best Shared Hosting | SiteGround | |
| Best Budget Hosting | InterServer | |
| Best Blogger Hosting | A2 Hosting | |
| Best Green Web Hosting | GreenGeeks | |
| Best VPS Hosting | InMotion Hosting | |
| Best Dedicated Hosting | Liquid Web | |
| Best Managed WordPress Hosting Beginner | InMotion Hosting | |
| Best Managed WordPress Hosting Budget | SiteGround | |
| Best Managed WordPress Hosting Business | WP Engine | |
| Best Managed WordPress Hosting Developers/Agencies | Liquid Web | |
| Best Domain Name Registrar | GoDaddy | |
| Best Website Builder | BoldGrid | |
| Best eCommerce Website Builder | Shopify |
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