In this article we’re going to break down four of the best hosting providers and hosting plans for a personal website so you can decide which one of them is best for you.
Different web host providers have different features and benefits which will greatly influence which one you decide to go with, but here are the general rules for getting the cheapest, most efficient hosting plans when it comes to personal websites…
- Personal websites don’t need a lot of fancy add ons, so the cheapest or second cheapest hosting package offered by a hosting provider is all you need.
- Don’t get tricked into paying higher prices just for unlimited bandwidth. Personal websites usually use under 7GB of bandwidth per month.
- Always sign up for the longest term plan available. The longer you stay, the less you’ll pay: hosting companies give you discounts if you sign up for three or four years in advance. Some even go all the way up to ten years.
- Go with the shared hosting options offered by the hosting provider you choose. They’re the least expensive and they require the least technical knowledge if you’re looking for something beginner friendly.
We’ll be looking at…
- Bluehost
- SquareSpace
- HostGator
- Hostinger
We’ll still list all the packages offered by each provider so you can accurately compare them, but our main focus will be on the least expensive packages, since they’re usually the best option for a personal website.
1. Bluehost
Blue host is considered to be the number one option for hosting across all categories. It’s best suited for WordPress users, especially if you’re wanting to create a WordPress blog. They offer six different types of hosting:
- Shared hosting
- VPS hosting
- Dedicated hosting
- Shared WordPress hosting
- Managed WordPress hosting
- WooCommerce hosting
Bluehost has some of the cheapest prices and good service, but there are a few things to consider before purchasing…
- While the Basic Plan starts out at a low $2.99/month fee, that’s just the discount rate and it jumps back up to $8.99/month when you renew your services, so be prepared for that.
- Your email, domain name, and WordPress subscription cost more money on top of the $8.99/month you’re already paying.
- It’s cheapest to sign up for a three year term. That way your discount price lasts longer and your renewal price is cheaper too.
Here are the four Bluehost plans you can choose from…
Basic Plan: This plan includes one website, unmetered bandwidth, 50 GB of storage, and 5 email accounts. Renews at $8.99/month.
Plus Plan: This plan includes unlimited websites and email accounts, unmetered storage and
bandwidth, and Spam Expert. Renews at $11.99/month.
Choice Plus Plan: This plan includes unlimited websites and email accounts, unmetered
storage and bandwidth, and the Spam Expert, Domain Privacy and Protection, and Codeguard Basic. Renews at $16.99/month.
Pro Plan: This plan includes unlimited websites and email accounts, unmetered storage and bandwidth, and Spam Expert, Domain Privacy and Protection, Codeguard Basic, and a Dedicated IP. Renews at $26.99/month.
Since you’re setting up a personal website we’d recommend either the Basic Plan or the Plus Plan.
If you are okay with paying a little extra on your wordpress site and need a fast, beginner friendly hosting service we’d highly recommend Blue host because of its dependability and plethora of features and add-ons.
When you buy the Basic Plan, plan on paying the following…
- $2.99/month for hosting when you sign up for three years, then $8.99 upon renewal.
- $7.99/month for a professional email.
- Free SSL, but no other security unless you go with the Choice Plus Plan, or buy add-ons.
- A free domain name for the first year, which renews at $17.99. The price will vary depending on what domain extension you choose.
- $2.99/month – $5.49/month, which renews at $8.99/month – $16.99/month depending on which WordPress package you choose.
» MORE: Best Web Hosting For Web Developers
2. SquareSpace
SquareSpace is fairly easy to use, but isn’t entirely beginner friendly, so we recommend it to people who either have time to play around with it or already have a little knowledge of how to use a website builder.
SquareSpace’s cheapest plan is especially geared towards personal website’s and has a large selection of free, modern-looking website templates you can customize.
Before you buy SquareSpaces “Personal” plan There are a few things to consider…
- SquareSpace templates can only be customized to a certain extent, so carefully review a template and make sure it has all the functions you need before choosing it.
- SquareSpace offers monthly and annual renewal options, but annual is the cheapest.
- The Personal plan is exactly that, it’s not suitable for online selling.
- You don’t have different hosting options like you do with WordPress, because SquareSpace is an all in one provider. That means they provide the website, hosting, domain name, SSL and security, and professional email service.
- You have to pay extra to send out email campaigns
If you like to keep things simple and all your eggs in the same hosting basket SquareSpace should be a good fit for you. Remember, the Personal plan is exactly that and therefore isn’t compatible with online selling of any kind.
Personal Plan: This plan includes one website, SSL security, unlimited bandwidth and storage, free website templates, domain name, two contributors, and a professional gmail account.
Business Plan: This plan includes one website, SSL security, unlimited bandwidth and storage, free website templates, domain name, unlimited contributors, a professional gmail account, and complete customization.
Basic Commerce: This plan includes one website, SSL security, unlimited bandwidth and storage, free website templates, domain name, unlimited contributors, a professional gmail account, complete customization, and some e-commerce features.
Advanced Commerce: This plan includes one website, SSL security, unlimited bandwidth and storage, free website templates, domain name, unlimited contributors, a professional gmail account, complete customization, and all e-commerce features.
Unlike most other hosting providers, SquareSpace has a flat fee that doesn’t change upon renewal and no hidden fees, so you can plan for the following expenses…
- $144/year for hosting, your website, and your SSL security.
- $20/year for your domain name depending on what name extension you choose.
- $75/year for a professional email account with Google Workspace.
- $43.20/year for the cheapest Email Campaigns option.
» MORE: Best Web Hosting For Web Developers
3. HostGator
HostGator is known for diversity and flexibility. If you’re looking for an affordable option that’s compatible with WordPress this might be the host you’re looking for.
HostGator also has eight hosting options.
- Shared web hosting
- Gator website builder hosting
- Optimized WordPress hosting
- VPS hosting
- Dedicated hosting
- Windows shared hosting
- Reseller hosting
- HostGator cloud web hosting
Shared hosting is the cheapest on this, and most other hosting providers, which is good because that’s all you’ll need for a we’ll running personal website.
Before you decide to go with HostGator though, there are a few things you should consider…
- If the hatchling plan doesn’t have what you need and you’re on a tight budget, you may want to go with a different provider since HostGator’s add-ons can be expensive.
- The cheapest priced package begins at $2.64 but renews at $6.95/month when you sign up for which is slightly cheaper than Bluehost.
- HostGator offers free email and a free domain name.
- You need to pay extra for HostGator’s website builder.
HostGator has some of the most diverse add ons and packages in the business, but since we’re focusing on personal websites, we’ll just be looking at their main three options…
Hatchling Plan: This plan includes one website, unmetered bandwidth and storage, and unlimited email accounts. Renews at $6.95/month.
Baby Plan: This plan includes unlimited websites and email accounts, unmetered bandwidth and storage, and unlimited add-on domains. Renews at $9.95/month
Business Plan: This plan includes unlimited websites and email accounts, unmetered bandwidth and storage, dedicated IP, free positive SSL, and free SEO tools. Renews at $15.19/month
If you decide to go with HostGator, here are the expenses you’ll want to plan on…
- $2.64/month for first term of hosting, then $6.65/month upon renewal.
- $7.68/month for the Express Start website builder.
» MORE: Best Web Hosting For Mac Users
4. Hostinger
If your first and foremost concern about setting up your personal website is your budget, then we would highly recommend Hostinger.
If you sign up for their cheapest plan for four years you’ll only have to pay $0.99/month, with the renewal rate being $2.99/month.
Not only is Hostinger cheap, but they also have some of the fastest page load times in the business.
All of their packages start with “Shared” which could lead you to believe they only offer shared hosting, but that isn’t the case. Hostinger has four hosting options…
- Shared hosting
- WordPress hosting
- VPS hosting
- Cloud hosting
That being said, they mainly operate on shared hosting, so if you want something like VPS or Cloud we would suggest going with a hosting provider better suited for that.
Before you decide to host with Hostinger, there are a few things that you should consider…
- The Shared Single Hosting plan doesn’t come with daily backups. If you want daily backups you’ll need to either buy one of Hosinger’s more expensive packages that include it, or host with someone else.
- You’ll need to account for additional fees for a website builder. Hostinger offers plans with Zyro that start at $1.99/month before they renew, but they’re also compatible with WordPress and
Here are the three plans that Hostingere offers, but the Shared Single Hosting Package will be enough for your personal website, unless you need a lot of storage for some reason.
Shared Single Hosting: This package includes one website, 30GB of storage, 100GB bandwidth, free SSL, and one email account. Renews at $2.99/month if you sign up for four years
Shared premium Hosting: This package includes 100 websites, 100GB of storage, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL, free domain name, and unlimited email accounts. Renews at $4.99/month if you sign up for four years.
Shared Business Hosting: this package includes: This package includes 100 websites, 100GB of storage, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL, free domain name, and unlimited email accounts. Renews at $8.99/month.
Remember you can only get those low renewal rates if you sign up for four years, if you don’t it will be two or three times more expensive.
Here are the expenses you’ll need to prepare for when signing up with Hostinger.
- $8.99/yr before renewal for a .com domain. The price varies depending on what extension you choose.
- $0.99/month before renewal and then $2.99/month for hosting.
- $1.99/month before renewal for Zyro website builder. If you want to go with a WordPress site Hostinger’s lowest WordPress plan is the same initial price as Zyro, so it just a choice of which site builder you prefer.
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By now I’m sure you’re wondering which of these four hosting options we think you should choose.
Unfortunately, because we don’t know exactly what your budget is or what you’re going to be doing with your website, we can’t give a definitive answer on that.
We can however end by giving you an overall summary:
Best in show for WordPress: BlueHost
BlueHost has a good hand in every hosting area which is why it’s generally considered the best hosting option across the board. It’s especially ideal for sites built with WordPress.
Best in Show for Transparency: SquareSpace
When it comes to being up front and honest about pricing SquareSpace outshines everybody else.
Best in Show for Variability: HostGator
HostGator has almost every single perk that BlueHost offers, only a little cheaper with some higher priced add-ons.
Best in Show for Cheap Pricing: Hostinger
Hostinger has everything you need at the cheapest price, even their renewal rates are lower than other hosting companies.