5 Cheap (But Reliable) WordPress Hosting 2016
If you are planning to start a self-hosted WordPress.org blog/site, the first thing you have to do is to find a WordPress web hosting.
There are thousands of WordPress web hosts out there, yet it’s difficult to find the right one. When you are on a budget, it’s more difficult. There is a chance that you end up choosing a bad web host which will cost you more later.
I’ve heard a lot of horrible stories about bad web hosts. A web host can make or break your blog/business. So you need to be careful while choosing a business.
If you are looking for a cheap but reliable WordPress web hosting, you are in the right place. In this post, I’ll be sharing a list of 5 cheap WordPress web hosting that you can trust. I’ll also share how to save money on each web host. Let’s see the list first.
Cheap WordPress Hosting 2016
Now let's see the features, plans, and pricing of these web hosts.
Bluehost Features
- Unlimited Websites Hosting.
- Unmetered Space.
- Unmetered Bandwidth.
- Unlimited Email Accounts.
Bluehost Plans & Pricing
The pricing of Bluehost varies from plan to plan. Bluehost has 3 plans on its shared hosting – basic, plus, and prime. The main difference between basic and plus plan is that basic plan lets you host only one site whereas you can host unlimited sites on plus plan. And the prime plan is designed for business/service sites.
So if you are in budget and going to create only one site, choose the basic plan. Choose plus plan if you are going to create multiple sites. Here are the prices of basic and plus plans for different durations.
| Duration | Basic Plan | Plus Plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Year | $71.40 | $83.40 |
| 2 Years | $118.80 | $142.80 |
| 3 Years | $124.20 | $178.20 |
The sign-up price and renewal price may not be the same. So choose plan duration wisely.
Tips to Save Money On Bluehost
- Bluehost offers a free domain. So don't buy the domain from other domain providers.
- If you are not sure which plan you need, start with the basic plan. You can upgrade your plan later whenever you want. But if you are sure that you are going to create multiples sites, choose the plus plan.
- Try to buy the hosting plan for 24 or 36 months. This way you will get some discounts.
- Bluehost offers some other services like Domain Privacy Protection, Site Backup Pro, Search Engine Jumpstart, SiteLock Security, etc. All of these services cost extra money. Drop these services if you don't need these.
2. HostGator – Best Web Hosting for Beginners
HostGator is one of the best global providers of web hosting. It was founded in 2002 by Brent Oxley and acquired by EIG in 2012. I started my blogging journey with HostGator. It has a fantastic support team that makes it the best web hosting for beginners.
HostGator Features
HostGator Plans & Pricing
HostGator offers 3 plans - Hatchling Plan, Baby Plan, and Business Plan. The basic difference between Hatchling and Baby Plan is that you can host only one domain on Hatchling plan whereas you can host unlimited domains on Baby plan. And the business plan is designed for business/service oriented sites.
The Hatchling or Baby plan is the best choice for bloggers. Let's see the price of these plans for different billing cycles.
| Duration | Hatchling Plan | Baby Plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Year | $71.40 | $107.41 |
| 2 Years | $118.79 | $127.40 |
| 3 Years | $142.19 | $214.20 |
These prices don't represent renewal prices.
Tips to Save Money On HostGator
- HostGator doesn't offer a free domain. And it usually costs $12 per domain which is higher than other domain providers. I'd recommend you to buy the domain name from Namecheap and host it to HostGator. Namecheap offers cheap domain with free domain privacy protection.
- If you are confused between two plans, choose the Hatchling plan and upgrade the plan when needed.
- The longer period you buy, the larger discount you will get. Go for 24 or 36 months hosting.
- HostGator offers some additional services - HackAlert Monitoring, Professional Email, Site Backup, and SSL Certificate. All of these are premium. Drop the services if you don't need those. And save some money.
- Use the coupon code "RTBGATOR30" to get up to 40% discount. If you are going to buy hosting on a monthly basis, use the coupon "RTBPENNYHOSTING" to get your first month hosting for only $0.01.
DreamHost Features
- Free Domain Name.
- One Click WordPress Installation.
- 97-day Money Back Guarantee.
- Free Domain Privacy Protection.
- Free Setup.
- Free SSL/TLS Certificates.
- Unlimited Everything.
- 100% Uptime Guarantee.
DreamHost Plans & Pricing
DreamHost has only one plan on its shared hosting. It offers unlimited storage and bandwidth, unlimited domain hosting, and unlimited email accounts. This plan is a great choice for bloggers and small business owners. Here's the price of the plan for different duration.
| Duration | Shared Hosting Plan |
|---|---|
| 1 Month | $10.95 |
| 1 Year | $69.40 |
| 3 Years | $236.20 |
These are the signup prices. The regular price will not be the same.
Tips to Save Money On DreamHost
- Follow this Promo Link to save 40% on web hosting.
- DreamHost offers a free domain with free domain privacy protection. Take this advantage.
- Don't go with the monthly plan. Buy web hosting for 1 year or 3 years.
- DreamHost offers MySQL VPS. It costs extra money. Don't include this on your cart.
4. A2 Hosting -Best Budget WordPress Hosting
A2 Hosting provides blazing fast web hosting solution. It’s considered as the best budget WordPress hosting because of its price structure. It has been in business since 1999. Over these years, it has become popular for providing the faster hosting solution.
A2 Hosting Features
- WordPress Optimized.
- Turbo Servers (up to 20X faster).
- Easy to Use.
- Unlimited Databases.
- Unlimited Storage.
- Free SSD.
- Live Chat Support.
- Anytime Money Back Guarantee.
A2 Hosting Plans & Pricing
A2 Hosting offers 3 plans on its shared hosting - Lite, Swift, and Turbo. The basic difference between Lite and Swift plan is, Lite plan allows you to host single site whereas you can host unlimited sites on Swift. And Turbo plan offers 20X faster servers. Here are the prices of the plan for different duration.
| Duration | Lite Plan | Swift Plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Month | $9.99 | $12.99 |
| 1 Year | $52.86 | $64.62 |
| 2 Years | $93.96 | $117.48 |
The renewal price will be different. So go for a longer period.
Tips to Save Money On A2 Hosting
- A2 Hosting doesn't offer a free domain. It costs $14.95 per domain which is pretty high. It's better to buy a domain name from Namecheap and host it to A2 Hosting later.
- If you are going to create only one site, choose the Lite plan. For multiple sites, grab the Swift plan.
- A2 Hosting offers some additional features like Priority Support, Backups, Spam Firewall, etc. All of these features cost extra money. Don't buy these if you don't need these services.
5. SiteGround – WordPress Hosting Under $5/mo
SiteGround is very popular for its speed and security. Recently WordPress.org has started recommending SiteGround. It was founded in 2004. Now it is one of the best web hosts for shared hosting which is not owned by EIG.
SiteGround Features
- Free Domain Name.
- Free Site Transfer.
- Unlimited Traffic.
- Free Email Accounts.
- 99.9% Uptime.
- 24/7 Support.
- 30 Days Money Back.
- Free Daily Backup.
SiteGround Plans & Pricing
SiteGround has 3 shared hosting plans - StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek. The StartUp plan is for one website. The GrowBig plan is for multiple websites. And the GoGeek Plan is for business sites. Below is the price of different plans.
| Duration | StartUp Plan | GrowBig Plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Year | $47.40 | $95.40 |
| 2 Years | $94.80 | $190.80 |
| 3 Years | $142.20 | $286.20 |
The signup and renewal price are same.
Tips to Save Money On SiteGround
- SiteGround provides a free domain. So don't buy the domain from other places.
- If you are a beginner, choose StartUp plan. It's the most inexpensive plan.
- SiteGround offers some extra services like Domain Privacy, HackAlert Monitoring which cost extra money. Exclude the services if you don't need those.
Conclusion
All of the above hosts are reliable and affordable. All of them have been in the hosting business for more than 10 years. They are very popular for their low-cost web hosting plans. Here’s my final recommendation.
- Bluehost – If you are going to buy hosting for 3 years, go with Bluehost. It offers huge discounts on 36 months plan.
- HostGator – If you are a beginner and don’t know much about web hosting, go with HostGator. It has an amazing support team.
- DreamHost – If you are going to create a lot of sites, go with Dreamhost.
- A2 Hosting – If you are looking for a fast host with a low budget, A2 Hosting is for you.
- SiteGround – SiteGround is costlier than other hosts. But it’s a great choice for medium size blog/site.
Hope this post helped you to get a cheap and WordPress friendly web hosting. If you have any questions regarding these WordPress web hosts, let me know via comment. I’d love to give answers.