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To make your decision easier, we selected our top 10 best web hosting services based on key features that matter most. We selected these services based on price, performance, security, and extras such as a free domain name and free business email.
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business.
We reviewed 16 web hosts using a detailed methodology to help you find the 10 web hosting platforms for Australian businesses. Our ratings consider factors that included pricing, general features, additional features and a review by our panel of experts. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team, and all prices are current as of December 12, 2023.
IONOS is a top-rated web host that offers a wide variety of hosting plans to start, grow and manage your business website. All plans include a free domain name for one year, a free SSL certificate and 24/7 support. Enjoy 99.99% uptime, DDoS protection, scalable plans, geo-redundant infrastructure, unlimited storage and websites.
Who Should Use It:
Bluehost is an ideal option for website owners who need a reliable and affordable hosting service that offers a wide range of features and tools to help them manage their site.
Who Should Use It:
DreamHost is overall a solid choice for web hosting that will suit the needs of most Australian businesses. However, where it really shines is its helpful support, making it ideal for WordPress beginners who might need expert assistance at their fingertips.
InMotion Hosting is a leading web host that stands out for its ultra-low pricing, reliability and security. It offers a long, 90-day money-back guarantee, automatic backups, DDoS protection and malware protection to help further safeguard your site and protect the sensitive information it processes, such as payment information and user data.
Who Should Use It:
InMotion Hosting is ideal for businesses that prioritise reliability and peace of mind as well as value for price, given its lengthy money-back guarantee and famously high uptimes.
MochaHost is an all-around great pick for nearly any Australian business given its highly competitive price for its feature-rich plans. For as little as $US3.14 ($4.75 AUD) per month, you get great unlimited storage and bandwidth, making it ideal for businesses building content-heavy sites and high-traffic sites alike, a money-back guarantee, a website builder and a number of extras, such as a free domain name, a free SSL certificate and unlimited business email with WebMail.
It also offers several high-value features for an industry-low price. To give you peace of mind, plans come with highly rated, unlimited SSL certificates for life, 24/7 tech support, and to make your life a bit easier, it offers free website transfer service for those changing web hosts. Additionally, it has the Mocha Lightning Fast Guarantee, which promises that it loads sites faster than any other cloud hosting service, complete with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Who should use it:
GoDaddy is ideal for small businesses that want to easily set up WordPress websites with one-click installation, and want to lock in low pricing that does not increase upon renewal.
Hostwinds is one of the few web hosting providers that includes unlimited storage and bandwidth with every plan, making it the best web hosting service for content-heavy sites. It also offers unlimited business email, a free SSL certificate, a free dedicated IP address, free site migration, WordPress auto-install for easy installation and 24/7 support. It also uniquely offers three server locations to choose from (Dallas, Seattle or Amsterdam) to give you more control.
For a low price, InterServer provides a lot of tools with a number of useful features that help keep a website secure and protected. For example, plans include InterShield Security to help protect your site from web attacks, and it also has an in-house malware database, a machine learning firewall and an automatic virus scanner so the health of your site is always upheld. This makes it great for Australian businesses that handle sensitive information, such as customer contact info.
Who should use it:
InterServer is the best web hosting service for businesses on a budget that need to ensure website security, such as those that handle sensitive information and process online payments. For example, an online store, a medical practice or a financial services provider.
TMDHosting offers a wide variety of plan options to grow with your business, such as web, cloud, WordPress, VPS and reseller hosting. Some plans even offer dedicated servers. Smaller companies typically start with web or cloud hosting before upgrading to VPS, which is a virtual private server, or dedicated servers.
In short, a server is a computer that connects users to your website. In other words, the server is like a large condo building or office building and web hosting is the process of renting office space or buying a condo in that building.
Before you can find a home for your website via web hosting, you first need a domain name. While related, web hosting and domain hosting are very different services. Web hosting is the process of connecting your website to a server, whereas domain hosting is the process of securing a domain name or web address for your website.
Following our earlier analogy, if web hosting is akin to renting space in a building then domain hosting is like putting a nameplate outside your door with your name and address. The domain is what people use to navigate to your address on the internet.
Many service providers provide both domain hosting and web hosting, which can provide one-stop-shop convenience. Depending on your needs, you may want to consider separating the services. Regardless, before you can even consider web hosting, you first need a domain name via a domain registrar.
Conversely, using unmanaged VPS hosting will mean you are responsible for configuring and maintaining the server yourself, monitoring security threats, installing software upgrades and backing up your data. Unmanaged VPS hosting is a good option for website developers, businesses with a dedicated IT department and individuals with a technology background.
Because WordPress is such a popular content management system, many web hosting providers offer WordPress-specific hosting. In addition to web hosting, these providers also offer services such as technical support and software updates specific to WordPress.
Cloud hosting houses your website on multiple servers for maximum performance and connection speeds. It is more expensive than shared hosting, but it will minimise any connection or speed issues because it can handle traffic surges with ease. Cloud hosting also offers scalability, backups and disaster recovery. These additional services come with a price, however, and the pricing models of cloud hosting providers can be confusing, depending on customisation of the plan.
The costs may be justified, however, in a few situations. For instance, if you expect your website traffic to increase significantly, service disruptions and slow connection speeds could be detrimental to your business. In this case, the cost of a dedicated server would be worth it because it will provide uninterrupted service and quick connection speeds. A dedicated server will also provide additional security, which will be helpful if you are dealing with personal information like credit card information.
Pricing varies significantly between various types of web hosting services. Even within each type, there can be price differences between service providers depending on the level of customer service and the length of service plan chosen. In general, prices range as follows:
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