Best Web Hosting in the UK: The Full Review! (2020)

Best of 2020 web hosting UK review, from a blogger’s point of view.

Author: Greg Narayan
Last Update: April 3rd, 2020

ABOUT US: Built gov’t web servers until 2014. Now teach people how to make every kind of blog (so I’ve seen the bees knees of hosting) and know what criteria defines a good web host. These are my top 10 web hosting providers for the UK, bloody hard-working local brands that won’t leave your wallet in shambles.

Why Take Our Advice?

Because we’ve been satisfying readers for over 6 years!

Some of the finer sites where we’ve been featured on:

Best Web Hosting UK: Comprehensive Review

Web Hosting ProviderTotal RatingPrice per MonthFeaturesDisk SpaceReviewsVisit Website
best web hosting india siteground5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)£0.33 (COVID-19 discount down from £11.95 to help you get online today)Best all around web host in the UK. UK based servers & global servers, affordable (charges in GBP), blazing fast speed, quick support team responses, 30 day money back, and recommended by WordPress themselves = Our #1 Pick!

10 GBSiteGround Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)USD $3.95Best Green web host in the UK. Servers in the UK. Affordable, advanced security + serves 150 countries = close #2 pick!UnlimitedGreen Geeks Review
india web hosting bluehost4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)USD $3.95Best WordPress recommend web host in the UK. Great performance, 25 subdomains allowed. Amazing support for over 6 years.50 GBBlueHost Review
web hosting india a24.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)£$3.92Best managed WordPress web host in the UK. Unlimited storage, free SSL and SSD, anytime money back guarantee, great support.UnlimitedA2 Review
4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)USD $70Best premium web hostin UK. Includes Genesis Framework, 35+ free themes, Global CDN and Free SSL certificates = Baller! (but pricey)50GBWP Engine Review
Web Hosting ProviderTotal RatingPrice per MonthVisit Website
best web hosting india siteground5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)£2.95 (temporary 67% discount down from £8.95)
4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)USD $3.95
india web hosting bluehost4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)USD $3.95
web hosting india a24.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)£$3.92
4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)USD $70

self hosted wordpress blog

“As I write with my late night cup of Joe, I can’t find a better analogy of trying to pick the best UK web hosting than trying to find a needle in a haystack. Lots of hay in the way of your goal!

So to clear the path for you, I made this list of the best web hosting UK providers I use (or have used on past projects) so you can make your choice with a tad more confidence. 

Digging Deeper into These Top UK Web Hosts

1) SiteGround

We tell everyone SiteGround is a great bet for a first web host, their cheap, have servers in London, and most importantly, their backend is just built with us in mind (as they say on their website, it’s all about “easy website management’ and that’s so true!)

SiteGround also gives you the confidence of being one of 3 recommend WordPress hosts! Of course, you can install WordPress.org as well as about 300 other scripts with the wave of 1-click.

Other features include an average live chat support response time of 7 minutes (we tested it!) and 30 day money back guarantee (which takes the risk out of this decision!)

The cherry on the top? All of SiteGround’s plans come with free SSL (essential for Google rankings and especially eCommerce websites), daily automated backups managed for you by their awesome team, and a custom caching plugin they built themeselves called SuperCharger to keep your pages loading faster than the competition’s!

Their Reliable Web Hosting – Grow Big plan is our favorite package at SiteGround. All this and more makes SiteGround our #1 all-around web host in the UK.

Cheapest plans start at only £2.95

Affordability 95%
Easy Setup 93%
Speed, Performance & Power 95%
Security & Infrastructure 99%

2) GreenGeeks

Putting GreenGeeks as #2 on our list really feels like choosing chocolate ice cream over strawberry, it’s a tough call! 

For almost 10 years, GreekGeeks has been providing down-to-earth support for over 1 Million customers, meaning they will actually explain how things work on layman’s terms. That alone is why we put them in our top 5 best web hosts in the UK.

Go with GreekGeeks and you also get 99.99% uptime guarantee, servers in Europe & globally, and a 30 day money back. So you get 30 days to try hosting, WordPress, etc, and on the 29th day you can back out and just have it all be free.

As the industry’s leading eco-friendly provider, GreekGeeks takes the energy they put into hosting for us and 3x it, then send it back into donations to renewable energy. So they truly own up to their cool name!

Cheapest plan we like is the EcoSite Starts coming at you at only $2.95 with a free domain included.

Affordability 95%
Easy Setup 93%
Speed, Performance & Power 91%
Security & Infrastructure 95%

3) BlueHost

Also an official recommended host, BlueHost offers a clean and minimalist approach to web hosting over 3 million customers love.

Recommended by ProBloggers like Pat Flyyn, Darren Rowse, and Aussie SEO legend Glen Allsop. 

High powered tools to help your blog grow to over 100,000 visitors each month. Great support, high quality tutorials for beginners, obviously supported by many pro bloggers.

It’s hard to say no to BlueHost, they are just super clean and modern and everyone, including us, just loves them!

Their cheapest packages start at only $3.95.

Affordability 92%
Easy Setup 90%
Speed, Performance & Power 95%
Security & Infrastructure 95%

4) A2 Hosting

Unlimited storage, free SSL (Google requires SSL for eCommerce) and a premium product has solidified A2 as one of the 5 best web hosts in the UK.

Not to mention some of the industry’s best speed (page load times, server responses, WordPress updates, those sorts of things) & infrastructure technology.

Our pick for the best Managed WordPress host as well as the best “premium” web host in UK. You cannot go wrong with their Swift Plan, as is formally recommended by pro blogger Kulwant Nagi of BloggingCage.

Their cheapest plans start at only $3.92.

Affordability 85%
Easy Setup 95%
Speed, Performance & Power 95%
Security & Infrastructure 99%

5) WPEngine

So now we reach the bottom of the barrel, or do we?! WPEngine is far from it! They are actually our best premium web hosting UK provider!

But as they are premium, the price is steep. However, if you actually want to pay for a really, really nice web host (like buying the Air Jordan Limited Editions vs the perfectly fine Nike’s at your local store) you can get some great features for your money.

WPEngine comes with free Genesis Framework (the theme that powers a ton of famous blogs like PinchofYum and TheBlondeAbroad) as well as over 35+ free themes, free SSL and a free CDN (we pay about $19/mo for a CDN).

With all this value, it’s no wonder the web’s most luxurious brands use WP Engine, it’s just that cushy. 

If you can find a few hundred pounds/yr in your budget for web hosting, then we certainly recommend getting the power and speed of WPEngine.

Their cheapest plans start at $35 and you can get 2 months free on the annual plan.

Affordability 85%
Easy Setup 95%
Speed, Performance & Power 95%
Security & Infrastructure 99%

Best Web Hosting UK: Reader FAQ

Which is the best web hosting is always a tough question. Much of the time, to be honest, it comes down to which host a friend recommends to you. A personal web hosting recommendation can go a long way. We hope to be your friend in web hosting! That said, some hard facts and criteria never hurt. Whether we are reviewing the best web hosts in Mexico, best web hosting in India, best web hosting US, top web hosting UK, best web hosting in Australia, web hosting providers in Singapore, or wherever, we always take a good long look at:
  • WordPress tools
  • Quality of support
  • Disk space
  • Uptime reviews
  • cPanel reviews
  • Pricing
  • Bonus features
  • Security
  • Backups
  • Ability to grow with a host (aka can the host offer you free migrations to a better plan when you cross 10k, 100k, 1M views and need that boost)
Of course, the facts have to hold up too. I hope this guide helps explain common questions like how much does it cost to host a website in India, the answer to which is just the cost of the hosting per month and the cost of a domain name per year.

A collection of the most frequently asked web hosting UK reader questions we get. We’ve use layman’s terms and everyday English and answered all your FAQ here on this page so you don’t have to run around searching for answers.

a. What is the best web hosting for small business?

If you were instead to ask which is the best web hosting for a small business, that may depend on where your current business connections and budgeting lies. Many web hosts have partnerships with other brands, for example HostGator has strong parternships with WordPress, Comodo, and Constant Contact, while Siteground has a strong relationship with WordPress and Aweber.

You should consider all possible marketing opportunities that may arise from your host of choice, and place your web hosting payments in the right hands to position yourself for the most future success.

b. What is the best hosting for WordPress?

Another good question is which hosting is best for WordPress? To answer this question you need to look at availability of 1-click “script” (WordPress, Joomla, Magento, and more are all scripts among which there are about 400-500 available today) which can be installed in 1-click at the host so you don’t need to do any coding to get your website setup. However, all the best web hosting UK have this feature! So, you should look at cPanel strength, and also reviews from WordPress bloggers who might be further ahead of you.

c. Does a website even need hosting?

Every WordPress website and every website has to be hosted somewhere, and literally everyone we talked to is happy when they choose a a web host from our list above, as opposed to trying to survive on a free host. You may research the costs to setup a basic WordPress.org hosting, and get another big list of providers! But this is it, right here. The costs to setup a WordPress site are low these days. Even the small nominal cost of web hosting puts you on the same playing field as big names like Mashable, TechCrunch, ProBlogger and more right away, so nearly everyone considers it worth it (even if they wait too long, haha).

All of these web hosts also let you buy a domain name in the US too, and some even offer domain name discounts in the US.

d. How can I pick the best domain name?

How to pick a domain name can be a tricky task too. That’s why in every WordPress tutorial we make we feature not only how to setup web hosting cheaply but how to select the right domain name to match your business goals.

e. What’s the difference between web hosts?

Marketing gimmicks aside, the main differences you will see in web hosting providers in the USA are price, features, storage space, customer satisfaction, and support. We hope this article has provided some clear differences between web hosts, however doing a little more homework never hurts or asking your blogging friend next doors.

f. Can Google host a website?

Google has their own cloud hosting for small business and WordPress websites. The hosting is done by Compute Engine. You can try it free which is nice, the not so nice part is it’ll cost about nearly $25/month after your trial has ended. That’s just too much for a basic website, but, as it’s Google, you can expect this service to have premium support (haha!). You can also host a blog for free on .blogspot, the Google free blog hosting platform which is truly amazing, let’s you try Adsense and more. 

g. What is a web hosting platform?

A web hosting platform is most-commonly a group of servers, powered by several advanced softwares for maintenance, security and usability. You can find a web hosting platform at one of our best web hosting providers on this page, or on our international web hosting pages. Web hosting companies are judged based on price, quality of support, speed, user-friendliness and performance among other things.

h. What is the cheapest way to host a website?

The cheapest way to host a website is technically to do it yourself. You can download a software packet called WAMP and turn any laptop or home computer into a server. This type of setup won’t allow for high levels of traffic, it’s more just for testing out software you may be designing and other personal uses. If you host a website yourself for lots of traffic, you’ll need to invest in thousands of dollars worth of equipment. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, but it’s still an option! After all, all these top US web hosting companies had to start somewhere!

i. Can I host my own website?

See above. You can from your own computer. However your long-term costs will be much lower and your traffic much happier if you choose a basic web hosting UK company, pay a few dollars per month, and you’ll still be able to say you “host it yourself” just with the help of a web host like the vast majority of us bloggers and web designers use.

j. What does it mean to host a website?

To host a website means to keep any type of website online for viewers on a daily basis while maintaining control of the hosting account.

k. How do I start a web hosting company?

You would first want to work for a web hosting company if you want to start a web hosting company. Common entry level jobs that would teach you the necessary skills are tech support, server security and server maintenance. From these positions, you will be able to network with the types of people who can guide you towards starting your own web hosting company.  Of course, you would also probably manage a few web hosting accounts (or a ton, like us) just to see what it feels like and build your own websites too!

Web Hosting UK Glossary: Important Web Hosting Terms as You Begin

  1. Web hosting: the business of providing storage space and access for websites
  2. Uptime: time during which a machine, like a computer, is in operation.
  3. Bandwidth: the range of frequencies within a given band, used for transmitting a signal.
  4. Downtime: time during which a machine, like a computer, is out of action or unavailable for usage.
  5. CPU: the abbreviation for central processing unit. The CPU is the brains of the computer where nearly all calculations take place.

Types of Web Hosting UK Packages – Full Summary

  1. Linux Shared Hosting: Commonly referred to as just “shared hosting”, Linux Sharing Hosting now powers most websites around the world. It’s open source meaning developers around the world can fix any bugs that come up quickly, and it is by far the most popular shared hosting ideal for WordPress, PHP, MySQL, and other scripts like ZenCart, Magento, Joomla, phpBB, and many more. 
  2. Windows Shared Hosting: Proprietary software using Windows as the server’s operating system and offering Window specific operations and technologies. More expensive than shared hosting because of licensing agreements from Windows. Not necessary to use if you run a Windows computer, the type of computer you own has nothing to do with the host you should get.
  3. Open Source Hosting: Describes a large archive or facility containing source code which may be used by expert developers for any given number of projects at any time to further the greater good of the Web.
  4. Cloud Hosting: Generally X amount faster and more scalable than shared hosting, with less websites on the server and you will get more Ram and and more Cores. However, not necessary to run a successful medium sized blog (10,000-100,000 visitors annually). 
  5. WordPress Hosting: WordPress hosting is a concierge hosting service where all the minor details of running a WordPress website, like daily backups, website uptime, deleting an installation, managing plans and a few more factors are managed by the web host. Not necessary to run a successful WordPress blog (we started on a shared Starter plan).
  6. Reseller Hosting: You run your own hosting environment and are encourage to “resell” space for others to use. You basically become a small web host on your own. Profitable for the driven markerter and web hosting expert.
  7. VPS Hosting: Virtual Private Server hosting. This server environment resembles a dedicated server in that it runs it’s own version of an operating system, and you get your own space and access to more advanced server tools like WHM, SSL, migration handling, unlimited website space, and so much more. Premium support who will listen to your relationship problems. 
  8. Dedicated Server: The big daddy of web hosting, a single computer network with the ultimate level of support. They will literally make you a drink and send it to your door. 

Please email me anything on your mind or drop a YouTube comment (see those fast) and I’ll help you pick the best India web host for your next project, whatever that might be!

Next Steps: Get Web Hosting Today

And there you have it. Overwhelmed? Yeah, me too. Like I said above, once you review the criteria of picking a best web host if you still can’t make up your mind, as a friend! As us! We are your friend! Check out my blog post from wayyy back on best places to start a blog (or website) and just browse the comments and engage someone. It helps to know others have traveled the path before you, and certainly helps if you can look up to someone in blogging and go as they’ve gone. Or you could make a massive spreadsheet of all the data. Either way, you’re not alone, we are here for you!

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