Top 10 Web Hosting Companies in 2011 – *STICKY – HOT DISCUSSION*
Whether you are not a web designer, a freelance web designer or a big web design company, you will need web hosting for your websites before you can get your clients. And if you don’t sell your own hosting to your clients, there are web hosting companies which you should recommend to your clients. Your web host is more important than you think. One of my high traffic websites was receiving around 20,000 visitors per day consistently a few years ago, but my server was running very slow. I didn’t really want to bother switching to a new web hosting company and my old host was cheaper, but after I found out that the new host would migrate my website free of charge (see the #1 host on my list), I made the switch. Once I switched to a much faster web hosting, the traffic doubled within 2 days. It turned out I had some sort of penalty from Google because my old hosting was so slow. If you are serious about your online business, I recommend you evaluate your current host and consider the top hosts on this list.
Below is a list of top 10 web hosting companies for 2011.
#1. HostGator – 9.95 out of 10. 
Reliable, trustworthy host that has been around for many years. They do free migrations from your old host, have cPanel and make it a pleasure to host with them. Their hosting support is rated #1. I believe they may be running a 20% off special at this time.
#2. JustHost – 9.91 out of 10. 
This is a top rated web host with cPanel, unlimited space, free domain and free installation. We’ve heard many good things about JustHost from our web designer audience. Be sure to check them out when comparing web hosting companies.
#3. iPage – 9.89 out of 10.
Although it doesn’t have cPanel, iPage is nonetheless a terrific host. With the price of only $4.50/month, eco-friendly wind energy power, free domain, free migration, $75 Google Adwords credit, $50 Facebook credit, free SiteLock security suite ($100 value) and much more, iPage is a very solid web hosting company in 2011.
#4. FatCow – 9.84 out of 10.
Lack of cPanel is a disavantage, but the price is extremely attractive with the current hosting special for only $56 per year. Another huge plus is they transfer your website from your old hosting for free and even give you a free domain name when you sign up. If you are environmentally friendly, you should also know that they use green hosting 100% powered by wind energy.
#5. BlueHost – 9.2 out of 10.
Barely making our top 5, BlueHost has an attractive price and feature list. Their control panel is a modified version of cPanel which I found very easy to work with.
#6. UK2 – 9.12 out of 10.
This is a very solid, reliable and old host that could make an excellent choice as your web hosting company.
#7. IX Web Hosting – 8.9 out of 10.
Although this isn’t a host that made it to our top 5, IX Web Hosting has many plans to choose from and really allows you to scale up your hosting as your website grows.
#8. MyHosting – 8.3 out of 10.
Similarly to IX Web Hosting, MyHosting really allows you to scale up your hosting if your website grows. The price and feature list are also very competitive.
#9. HostMonster – 6.5 out of 10.
This isn’t the fastest host, but the fact that they’ve been around for a while and likely aren’t going anywhere is something that plays in their favor. Their price isn’t the most competitive, but they do offer cPanel which is a big plus.
#10. GoDaddy. 2 out of 10.
Stay away from getting hosting from these guys. Their hosting is the worst possible hosting you can have. Support is terrible, hosting is slow and hosting control panel is as bad as it can be. On the plus side, they are a terrific domain registrar.
If you have any hosts to add to the list (this is not to be used for self promotion as a hosting company, those comments will not be approved), please post a comment. If you’ve used any of the hosts on the list and have anything to say, please post a comment too!
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Malc Dow (10 months ago)
UKHosts! ukhosts.com I have been with these hosts for 10 years, running countless websites on their servers. Downtime/outrage = 3 hours in that 10 years, and that was because I hadn’t read an important mail from them informing me that between 2:00am and 5:00am the servers were being physically moved! When I have had a problem pertaining to my own mistakes, there is actually a person on the end of the help line! A friendly one! Who gets the problem sorted out usually in a matter of minutes. Always very fast access from a log cabin in North Vancouver to a beach hut in South Africa. Great hosts. Should be at the top of the list!
Mikelangelo (10 months ago)
Network solutions. Nice options, good customer support. I felt the hosting was slow. Their interface was a little confusing.
I’m currently using http://www.eleven2.com. I find them very fast, competitively priced with decent customer support and cPanel.
Dan (9 months ago)
I’m also with eleven2. So far so good. I’ve had to contact them a few times regarding issues (all which turned out to be user error … =P). Their prices, what you get and support have been and are great as far as I am concerned =D
Deepak yadav (10 months ago)
nice post but still hostgator is first and will always be at the top……………..!!!
Aimee Maude Sims (10 months ago)
anyone like 1and1.com ? They’ve been good to me – I run a small publishing company: NuWine Press: The All-inclusive and LGBT-Affirming Voice of independent Christian Publishing they have ecommerce too dunno about cpanel ….
Web Design (10 months ago)
I personally don’t like 1and1. Their hosting support is very uncooperative, their control panel is confusing and the pricing is higher than it should be.
Kat Nagel (7 months ago)
I had a very bad experience with 1and1. I was using it for my testbed site, a couple of client sites, and a pro bono project for a nonprofit I support. The sites were all on different servers. All of the sites went down suddenly, and were down for over a week. There was no explanation from 1and1, either by email or on their own website. Tech support did not answer emails, online trouble tickets, or repeated phone calls. After 6 days, three of the sites were online again, but the others never reappeared. Still no explanation. My first action after the sites came up was to upload the necessary code to transfer them to Bluehost, and then cancel those 1and1 accounts. 1and1 continued billing me for months afterward.
Edward Sager (6 months ago)
I have had 1and1 for 6 years and have very few problems. I have not used support within the last 6-8 months, but they were quite responsive when I have used them.
David (10 months ago)
I needed this, it’s time to change hosting and I had no idea where I wanted to go. Thanks for sharing.
Mijailtov (10 months ago)
Hosting Ipower: I’ve used it for several years and have never had a problem, economic and pro unlimited economic plan, good cPanel.
Jon (10 months ago)
I switched between several hosts and have been with BlueHost for well over a year now. I’m glad to see they made the list. It’s a hassle to switch, so this is a useful resource.
Paul (10 months ago)
JustHost is the best hosting site ever. Highly qualified tech people answer any email within 15-30 min any time of day or night and solve your issue before they even reply to my inquiry – their reply was that it is fixed! Take that to the bank!
Melissa (10 months ago)
So glad to finally see GoDaddy on the bottom of a list somewhere. Their hosting is AWFUL. So confusing! The control panel is a mess and if i remember correctly from the last time i searched for it, no 800 number or live chat. unfortunately it’s one of those places where ppl register their domain and then figure, oh, may as well host here too.
Emma (10 months ago)
I’m based in Australia, but the value of MediaTemple in the USA has been terrific and one for consideration too. Customer service is super efficient, and they communication clearly about server maintenance and always with minimal disruption. If you know you are going to have a peak time you can temporarily up your server speed to a higher ‘grid’ package to ensure there are no lags – perfect for live streaming events, or heavy sale periods. There are also many visual help guides to the various services they offer, and an active forum with both the clients, developers and MT tech staff, no one is ever left in the dark.
Jatin (10 months ago)
Thanks for awesome list. BTW, I prefer GoDaddy.
Web Design (10 months ago)
You are welcome. I can’t see why you prefer GoDaddy – there are much, much better hosts on this list.
Gerard (10 months ago)
godaddy = problems
John Howard (10 months ago)
I have never, ever had a problem with GoDaddy at all. After 10 years of excellent service hosting 10 different domains on their economy plans, I consolidated the domains into a virtual server account. They are running parallels plesk panel, which is super easy to use.
So yes, I prefer GoDaddy also. Their customer service is top knotch- they have always been very helpful over the phone (24/7) and things are fixed immediately.
The only thing about GoDaddy I don’t like is the name, and those stupid commercials.
Web Design (10 months ago)
Thank you for your comment, John. I think many people here, including myself, have had very different experiences with GoDaddy’s web hosting.
Kirill (10 months ago)
What a pity that had not seen this post! Day ago, I decided to move my blog to godaddy. Until now, my blog is not working. Support does not respond.
Web Design (9 months ago)
Hi Kirill,
I believe they have a 30 or 60 day refund policy in place. You can still cancel.
Lori (9 months ago)
I’m not so sure about fatcow and the wind energy. I remember looking into it and it was more like they were purchasing offsets They weren’t actually using wind energy to power anything.
Mark (9 months ago)
I have been using Hosting.com for years. They are fast, always up, and have very responsive tech support.
dMullins (9 months ago)
I’ve been using http://www.ASmallOrange.com for years and have yet to have a single problem. Excellent customer service and very affordable rates.
Laura (9 months ago)
Not sure if I would give iPage a 9.8, I hosted with them for a while, and while yes they are cheap and have a lot of features, its not the best host for advanced features, because of the lack of cPanel, and you have to use their .htaccess editor.
Plus while I was with them, i had loads of downtime, and a few were for days. I’d always get a vague answer. As a freelancer, my portfolio being online is key. I can’t get new clients without it. So by having my site offline, I was not happy and switched hosts. So I’d caution anyone that goes to iPage.
thats just my opinion and based off my experience.
Douglas (9 months ago)
I am a very happy costumer of Dreamhost, since 2005. They have a great exclusive control panel, very fast support and decent prices.
Nicole (9 months ago)
I prefer GoDaddy. I’ve worked with iPage, Lunarpages, BizLand, and I recently purchased Fat Cow but then cancelled within 24 hours. All those hosting companies I just mentioned besides GoDaddy have the same control panel. GoDaddy’s is different and for the better. Plus when I’ve had to do some custom programming, GoDaddy didn’t provide me with restrictions. I once had to call iPage to provide me access to the htaccess file. I shouldn’t have to. Therefore, I’m sticking with GoDaddy. Always have since 2006.
Mandi (9 months ago)
Crikey Hosting in Australia is the best solution for ALL web hosting and domain registration requirements. Lyndon James will personally look after any queries within minutes, and can customise hosting for you. I have been using his services for over 8 years, and I will never go anywhere else:
http://www.crikey.net.au/
Competitive pricing and second to NONE service. Do not bother going elsewhere only to be disappointed. Just email Lyndon today.
Kapunahele (9 months ago)
I use webhostinghub. They are super fast and I’ve been very pleased. They’re US-based and have 24/27 CS. When I’ve emailed with questions I’ve gotten a response in minutes.
And yes, GoDaddy is not user friendly nor is it reliable. I had to cancel the service after I couldn’t get to my site for days at a time.
flash websites (8 months ago)
JustHost is great! Judging by my own experience, and also heard only good about it.
Gervet (8 months ago)
Thank you very much for the list. I totally agree, however control panel 1and1 to much improved with no advertising and good prices, though I never liked the limitation of the database to 1Gb. I’ve used the hosting and now a dedicated and no problem. I also use Mediatemple, prices are not the best and indeed is the most I’ve had problems despite being expensive. You who believe Mediatemple?
Ricardo Torres (8 months ago)
I’m quite happy with Web Hosting Buzz
Limetree (8 months ago)
Godaddy continues to earn money from those who don’t want to spend time to learn code for a good website, but yet have the idea of running a website. Anyone who uses their service knows that there administration system is crap, and the signup process for a domain name is ridiculous.
WeCode (8 months ago)
Take my word i’m using https://www.namecheap.com/ for my hosting so far it did a supper job. for me pass two years zero down time
Steven Dale (8 months ago)
Hi
Thanks for the list. However, its more US than UK orientated so may I suggest a UK host I use – http://www.ukfast.co.uk. They are the fourth or fifth I tried. The others I had issues and I can recommend UKFast as being not reliable and fast but excellent service. They are not the cheapest but you get what you pay for. BTQ always negotiate with them if you are buying a dedicated or virtual server – I managed to save quite a lot by doing so on my dedicated server package.
If you are looking for a professional host providing a professional service then I can recommend IKFast if you are in the UK.
Steven
Robin Cannon (8 months ago)
Generally a good list. I’m with BlueHost myself, but I actually wouldn’t have ranked them very highly this year – they’ve had several occasions of lengthy downtimes without warning, impacting both web and email hosting.
Kat Nagel (7 months ago)
Interesting. I have five sites there, and none of them have had any downtime except for a brief (2hr) server move for one site. Had plenty of warning for that one, and—after a phone call—they changed the time to a time that was more convenient for my client. Their tech support has been knowledgeable and prompt, and they are very patient with one of my clients who is a relative newcomer to the web but wants to manage his own account.
Laura (7 months ago)
I’ve had godaddy for a few years – I didn’t have problems until just recently, and sadly their “support” had never seen the error, blames it on WP (though the error clearly stated server issues) and told me to figure it out on my own. I moved all my sites and customers along with me to hostgator – could not be any happier! Thanks for the recommendation!
Md. Sajjadul Farooque Robin (7 months ago)
Hi, what about http://dreamhost.com, They have free svn for shared hosting too. Easy management.
Jeff (7 months ago)
1. Glad to see BlueHost make the top 5.
2. Glad MediaTemple didn’t make number 1 (though for as much as designers use it, probably should’ve been in top ten)
3. GoDaddy by no means should’ve been included. Their whole goal is to tease you into buying more stuff. Even their commercials are teases!
Zach S (5 months ago)
Agreed, MediaTemple should have been in the top ten. GoDaddy is the worst hosting experience I’ve ever dealt with.
Mark (6 months ago)
I have been with GraceHost, for almost 2 years, minor issues, but that was due to my impatience. They have been extremely helpful, and patient with me during the time i have been with them. Reasonable prices, and my site seems to be a little faster then most. I give them a 4 out of 5 rating, as it took them almost 24 hours to approve my account.
Jeremy (6 months ago)
I would like to know how they came to these results and why Liquid Web was not in the rankings.
Web Design (6 months ago)
LiquidWeb is extremely expensive for a shared hosing provider ($14.95 per month as their cheapest plan). While LiquidWeb may be a good choice for dedicated hosting, they would not be the best choice for shared hosting simply because there are many other hosts out there offering more for less.
Tom (6 months ago)
I’m not sure what learning code for a good website and good web hosting have to do with anything as Limetree seems to imply. I have 6 sites hosted on godaddy with my freelance account and my employer has about 25 and getting ready to go to unlimited hosting to increase the # of databases available to unlimited. We have 40 website we are moving from network solutions because their pricing model is so ridiculous for web companies that want to host more than twenty websites on an account. We also have two virtual dedicated servers that have had zero downtime. Godaddy is also switching to a new grid hosting where all their servers share the bandwidth and resources across the entire hosting (shared) environment. That means, your server goes down, it’s still up. For those of you think you know about godaddy because you tried it for a couple of days are mistaken. I know code and good websites and good hosting. They all compliment each other and godaddy is my choice, especially after using lunarpages, ixwebhosting and network solutions prior to godaddy. I’ve looked into hostgator but didn’t see anything special enough to make me want to switch.
Web Design (6 months ago)
How about cPanel, for one? How about a tech support team that will do absolutely anything, as opposed to referring you to a Q&A page? HostGator has that, much plus more. GoDaddy is far behind. Perhaps with the recent sale of the whole GoDaddy company things will turn around, but until they actually spend money for cPanel, I would never consider them.
Hazel (6 months ago)
Very timely post, I’m on a shared hosting account with Dreamhost and I get errors I can’t ever figure out – not so dreamy. So I’ve been thinking about getting either Hostgator or Bluehost. Now I know which one to go with, thanks! (And yes, Hostgator is running a special at the moment, I’m getting a discount from signing up with Elegant Themes, which is their affiliate.)
Matthew Cunningham (6 months ago)
I guess I am confused…. if you hate GoDaddy so much, why did it make your top 10? I agree with you, their service is terrible. That’s why I never would have even considered putting them in a top 10.
Moreover, you left off the list two of my favorite hosting companies: Network Solutions and Interactive Online. Both have pretty good customer service and interface. Interactive Online would be a top contender for me because of their reliable, quick, and effective technical support. They have always responded promptly to even the craziest of technical issues and expressed a willingness and eagerness to help.
Web Design (6 months ago)
Hi Matthew,
As you can see by their score, GoDaddy are in the 10th spot to let people know just how bad they are. If I didn’t mention anything about GoDaddy, people would not be warned.
Paul (6 months ago)
JustHost is the best and friendliest and most customer oriented hosting site ever! No question about it!
Wallace Goh (6 months ago)
IXWebhosting suck.You try to google ixwebhosting suck and will find out everyone hate ixwebhosting…I have been with them for 2 years and hacked for two times.The worst thing is all my data was deleted and their dont have backup.You can run any script such as phpld and others.Because it will be always database overload and you will be suspend with delete all data.So you able to get back the data.
Ignitewebsites (6 months ago)
I agree with your top ten. I switched from GoDaddy to Host gator early this year and I am very happy with them.
Anon (6 months ago)
Just host – are just the worst.
Speaking from personal experience – they are the worst. They reel you in with the cheap prices and then they fail to refund you. After months of contacting various “departments” they still didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They can take money from a credit card but for some reason they cannot refund it. Everyone else manages it, why not them? Had to get the bank involved.
They simply haven’t got a clue, do yourself a favour and ignore at all costs.
Mohawk Kellye (6 months ago)
If you consider GoDaddy bad, why even put them in the TOP 10 at all? Is it there as a warning?
Web Design (6 months ago)
Exactly. They are there only to warn all my readers just how bad they are.
Ash (5 months ago)
Good point, but perhaps it would of been better to make a worst hosting list than just dropping it in there.
Other than that I’m still on the edge between JustHost and HostGator
Mohawk Kellye (4 months ago)
And rightly so. I can’t stand Go Daddy and I don’t know why my company pushes it so hard. I highly recommend Host Gator. Easiest cpanel I’ve ever seen and most responsive support.
FWP (5 months ago)
I disagree about Godaddy. I’ve used them for years with no trouble, as have many of my previous clients. I’m starting over with WordPress and find Godaddy’s support and service to be the best. They’ve never failed to take care of any question or concern I’ve had. I’m not sure why you really dislike them. I know many people who wouldn’t host with anyone else.
Jon Cuevas (5 months ago)
I’ve been with Webfaction and is one very satisfied customer. Still I wouldn’t recommend putting all your eggs in one basket. Get another host that resides in a different data center so you have a fallback in case something goes wrong
Shawn (4 months ago)
I can’t imagine anyone improving on Media Temple’s offering… anyone have something less than an amazing experience with them?
Web Marketing Austin (4 months ago)
HostGator is one of the good web hosting company I’ve known for packages and cheaper prices…
adam (4 months ago)
In Australia iiNet & Westnet are a good choice especially for low tech clients. Although not the cheapest their support is awesome…surprised mt didn’t make it in there.
DFoundry (4 months ago)
I’ve used HostGator, Hostmonster and DreamHost with my clients for years. HostGator gets top billing, but HostMonster and DreamHost really aren’t that far behind at all. I’ve heard good things about GreenGeeks but I’ve never used them. Stay away from Register.com, Name.com, LunarPages.com and GoDaddy.com. Registrars are almost never good hosting companies.
Adrian (4 months ago)
This is really a wonderful blog and very informative as well. I always wondered how these web hosing companies performed? This blog gives a fair bit of idea about this particular business. Thanks for that!
Davor (3 months ago)
Man, some of those could sure use a nice re-design. I mean, web hosting company with such a poor designed homepages. I guess it is not the top priority.