However, it’s important to remember that in regard to hosting, you don’t always get what you pay for – several of the web hosts included in this list have excellent ratings. This tells us it’s definitely possible to find a balance between reasonable prices and good performance.
During this article, we’ll take a look at each web host’s support capabilities, performance scores, user ratings, individual plans, and of course the price – then we’ll see which one comes out on top.
Let’s get cracking! But first, a note:
You might be surprised by one thing as you’re reading this article. While it does use affiliate links to point you toward specific hosts, those affiliate links are not actually ours. They’re other people’s.
We’re doing this just for one reason – to get the lowest possible prices for the web hosts that we list here. The thing with the hosting market is that some affiliates have negotiated individual deals that allow them to offer lower prices than the officially listed ones on the web host’s standard website. So we’ve done our research to find those affiliates with the lowest prices and give you their links here.
What does this mean for you? Essentially that you’re getting the best cheap WordPress hosting offers available on the market.
The best cheap WordPress hosting providers compared (in a nutshell)
In case you’re in a hurry, here are the highlights of our findings:
| Namecheap | InMotion | SiteGround | A Small Orange | iPage | HostGator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | $0.82 per month | $2.95 per month | $3.95 per month | $4.16 per month | $3.25 per month | $2.78 per month |
| WordPress-specific plans? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WordPress-specific features? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WordPress-proficient support? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Average loading speed | 1.77 seconds | 1.77 seconds | 1.66 seconds | 1.77 seconds | 1.25 seconds | 1.22 seconds |
| User rating | N/A | 4.3 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 | N/A | N/A | 3.7 / 5 |
| Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit |
The best cheap WordPress hosting providers compared (in full)
Since we’re covering a handful of different cheap WordPress hosting offers using multiple criteria, we’ll get right down to business. That way, you get all of the information you need without any fluff.
When it comes to speed testing, we’ll be using two tools – Pingdom and Load Impact. The former simply measures load speeds, while the latter load tests your site by simulating up to 25 simultaneous users accessing it over a five minute period. The site used for testing was just a basic, clean WordPress install.
Let’s take a look.
1.
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first. The simple fact is that if you want a really cheap WordPress hosting that’s still able to deliver a good quality platform, you’ll have a hard time finding anyone better than Namecheap. In simple terms, they charge per year what some other platforms charge per month.
They allow you to choose an US- or UK-based data center. You get up to 20GB of SSD disk space, unlimited bandwidth, and you can run up to three sites (all on the cheapest plan).
From our experience, there really isn’t anything to complain about when it comes to Namecheap support. They have a good knowledge base, a lot of tutorial articles, plus the live chat representatives do their job very well (at least the one person we spoke to), and the waiting time for live chat is very short.
Getting your website set up is pretty straightforward as well. As soon as you get the hosting plan paid for, Namecheap points you in the right direction in terms of new WordPress installation (which can be done via Softaculous).
Performance test using Pingdom
- Melbourne: 3.14 seconds.
- New York: 1.11 seconds.
- San Jose, CA: 0.61 seconds.
- Stockholm: 2.22 seconds.
Performance test using Load Impact
- Load generator: Palo Alto, US.
- Minimum response time: 0.48 seconds.
- Maximum response time: 0.70 seconds.
- Value ($0.82 per month): Gives you 20GB SSD-accelerated disk space + the possibility to run up to three websites.
- Professional ($1.66 per month): 50GB SSD-accelerated disk space and up to 10 websites.
- Ultimate ($2.49 per month): Not limited SSD-accelerated disk space and up to as many as 50 websites on a single account.
What’s worth pointing out is that Namecheap’s prices go up after your first year, but they still remain incredibly affordable. For instance, the cheapest plan goes from $9.88 / year to $3.24 / month. The most popular one – called “Professional” – from $19.88 / year to $6.57 / month.
When to consider using Namecheap
To say this simply, Namecheap is your top choice if budget is of the essence, and especially if you want to launch more than one site. You really can’t beat the $9.88 / year price tag. That being said, Namecheap lacks a tiny bit in the WordPress-specific features department.
Our interactions with InMotion’s support team have been consistently positive. They have a track record for replying to live chat requests quickly – in under three minutes, in our case – and also take phone and Skype calls.
Performance test using Pingdom
- Melbourne: 3.38 seconds.
- New York: 0.50 seconds.
- Stockholm: 1.43 seconds.
Performance test using Load Impact
- Load generator: Portland, US.
- Minimum response time: 0.87 seconds.
- Maximum response time: 0.98 seconds.
The Load Impact numbers are a bit slower than expected, although the Pingdom results are right up there with the others. More importantly, there are no wild spikes in times under stress, which is always a good sign.
- Launch ($2.95 per month): Supports up to two websites, and is perfect for modest setups.
- Power ($4.49 per month): Supports a maximum of six websites, and is an excellent choice for small website portfolios.
- Pro ($7.49 per month): Includes advanced support options, and can handle unlimited websites. It’s a great choice for power users.
What actual users say
* only small data sample available
Rated 4.4 / 5 for reliability.
Rated 4.2 / 5 for support.
When to consider using InMotion
InMotion’s loading speeds aren’t the best in the business, but they do have an excellent support team and plenty of advanced WordPress features. This makes it an excellent choice for those who consider performance to be less critical than on-hand support.
3.
SiteGround consistently ranks as one of the best WordPress hosts around, and it’s not hard to see why. Their WordPress plans offer free site transfers, they support Git on higher plans, and include their SuperCacher tool for improved speeds.
Performance test using Pingdom
- Melbourne: 3.44 seconds.
- New York: 0.90 seconds.
- Stockholm: 0.65 seconds.
Performance test using Load Impact
- Load generator: Portland, US.
- Minimum response time: 1.09 seconds.
- Maximum response time: 1.33 seconds.
While the speed experiments are not stunning, SiteGround remains very decent when accessing the site from the United States or Europe. Also, overall, actual real world users rate SiteGround very highly, so the company surely knows how to deliver a good hosting experience.
- Startup ($3.95 per month): Ideal for startups and modest business that need to host a single website.
- GrowBig ($7.95 per month): Perfect for businesses with multiple websites.
- GoGeek ($11.95 per month): Suitable for large companies that receive lots of traffic.
Rated 4.5 / 5 for WordPress-proficient support.
Rated 4.6 / 5 for reliability.
When to consider using SiteGround
SiteGround offers a great mix of advanced WordPress features, low prices, and decent speeds. This makes it a good all-around choice for any type of WordPress user, and especially if you value your websites working with no hiccups while still running on cheap WordPress hosting.
4.
A Small Orange is a web host known for its personal approach to web hosting. It’s growing in popularity, and provides an excellent service with a homegrown touch at reasonable prices. When it comes to WordPress, their plans offer various useful features such as free backups, site migrations, and DDoS protection.
Performance test using Pingdom
- Melbourne: 3.05 seconds.
- New York: 0.84 seconds.
- Stockholm: 1.54 seconds.
Performance test using Load Impact
- Load generator: Portland, US.
- Minimum response time: 0.5 seconds.
- Maximum response time: 0.77 seconds.
Overall, A Small Orange showed decent and consistent loading speeds. They’re not the fastest in the business, but these speeds offer a decent baseline – keep them in mind as we move forward!
- Small ($4.16 per month): Supports unlimited websites but offers small storage, which makes it a decent choice for small websites.
- Medium ($8.33 per month): Supports unlimited websites, and is a good choice for users who need a bit more storage and bandwidth. It’s more than enough to power a small roster of sites.
- Large ($16.67 per month): Supports unlimited websites, and is ideal for users with a comprehensive website portfolio and intensive bandwidth requirements.
When to consider using A Small Orange
A Small Orange is a good choice for users who prefer modest hosting solutions. It’s definitely a popular web host, just not as big as the others. That means you’ll get a more personalized experience, and faster performance.
5.
iPage doesn’t offer as many WordPress plans as its competitors, but they do include other helpful features such as popular pre-installed plugins, and a customized control panel. Overall, they remain attractive in the realm of cheap WordPress hosting.
Despite its low prices, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of iPage’s support for WordPress users. Waiting times for their live chat can get a bit long, but the staff are knowledgeable when it comes to the platform. Users can also receive support via phone and email.
Performance test using Pingdom
- Melbourne: 1.68 seconds.
- New York: 0.64 seconds.
- Stockholm: 1.43 seconds.
Performance test using Load Impact
- Load generator: Ashburn, US.
- Minimum response time: 0.50 seconds.
- Maximum response time: 3.74 seconds.
iPage showed swift loading times under little stress, but as soon as the user count rose, the numbers dropped like an anvil. If one of your pages is ever taking almost four seconds to load, you know you’re in trouble.
- WP Starter ($3.75 per month): Ideal for modest websites, offering unlimited space and bandwidth.
- WP Essential ($6.95 per month): Includes enhanced security and performance features, making it better suited for businesses.
When to consider using iPage
A lot of users don’t need too much flexibility when it comes to their WordPress plans, they just need something that works out of the box without too much fuss. iPage’s modest offerings make it ideal for these types of users – although heavy user loads are a concern.
6.
HostGator hasn’t had the best reputation among WordPress hosts, despite its low prices. However, they seem to have recently made a turnaround with their WordPress cloud hosting plans, which offer free auto-backups and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates.
HostGator’s support staff is available 24/7 via live chat, phone, email, and even regular old mail. With live chat, they usually take no more than a few minutes to get back to you (between five and ten in our experience) – pretty quick, in our opinion.
Performance test using Pingdom
- Melbourne: 1.61 seconds.
- New York: 0.76 seconds.
- Stockholm: 1.29 seconds.
Performance test using Load Impact
- Load generator: Ashburn, US.
- Minimum response time: 0.43 seconds.
- Maximum response time: 0.67 seconds.
HostGator is the only host in this list to beat A Small Orange’s speed scores. A few milliseconds might not seem like much, but these numbers show that they take speed seriously.
- Hatchling ($2.78 per month): Supports a single website with decent traffic, making it perfect for small blogs.
- Baby ($3.98 per month): Hosts unlimited websites with moderate traffic. It’s a good option for small online stores and service sites.
- Business ($5.98 per month): Supports unlimited sites, and is a good option for established businesses and enterprises with robust requirements.
Rated 3.9 / 5 for value-for-money.
Rated 4.0 / 5 for reliability.
When to consider using HostGator
HostGator offers an enticing combination of low prices and good speeds for WordPress websites. What’s more, their support service isn’t half bad either.
Conclusion
When it comes to cheap WordPress hosting, Namecheap plainly beats everyone. Having the price tag of just $0.82 per month for the first year has to get your attention. The performance results are also very good, and should be enough to get your first website going.
We’ve also always enjoyed InMotion Hosting and SiteGround in regards to quality-price ratio. We’ve been recommending them basically every time anyone asks. Both companies have good track records with actual users (good survey ratings), and they offer their servers at great prices.
That being said, each of the cheap WordPress hosting options we’ve discussed today have their own unique strengths, which makes all of them solid contenders.
Let’s check them out one final time:
| Namecheap | InMotion | SiteGround | A Small Orange | iPage | HostGator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | $0.82 per month | $2.95 per month | $3.95 per month | $4.16 per month | $3.25 per month | $2.78 per month |
| WordPress-specific plans? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WordPress-specific features? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WordPress-proficient support? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Average loading speed | 1.77 seconds | 1.77 seconds | 1.66 seconds | 1.77 seconds | 1.25 seconds | 1.22 seconds |
| User rating | N/A | 4.3 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 | N/A | N/A | 3.7 / 5 |
| Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit |
Do you have any insights on using any of these cheap WordPress hosting solutions? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below! But please keep in mind, the thing we’re looking at here specifically is the price. Everything else is second in importance.
Original text by John Hughes and Karol K. Layout and presentation by Karol K.
