5 Best Cheap WordPress Hosting Providers in 2024

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Are you looking for a place to host your blog without spending too much? You’re not alone. Finding affordable hosting is a challenge many people face, especially when they’re just beginning with a website or blog. The good news? There are lots of budget-friendly WordPress hosting options that still offer great quality.

We’ve searched around and picked out the best hosting providers if you’re looking for an affordable option. These choices won’t hurt your wallet but still come with good uptime, great customer support, and all the features you need.

Just so you know, the prices we talked about are the cheapest you can get for each WordPress hosting service. To grab these awesome deals, you might need to stick with the same host for a year, three years, or maybe even four years. We’ll go into more detail about this below.

If you’re ready to jump in before choosing a web hosting provider, let’s get going!

1. Bluehost

Best for WordPress and Scalability

✅ Officially recommended by WordPress.org

Bluehost is now one of the biggest web hosting companies around, helping over two million websites stay online. Since 2006, WordPress.org has been officially suggesting people use Bluehost. What makes Bluehost really stand out is that it offers 24/7 help from its support team, has a strong setup for hosting websites, and a commitment to free open-source software like WordPress.

Bluehosts main page for hosting
Bluehost is our number one cheapest WordPress hosting provider. Once you choose your plan, you can check your site's statistics in the dashboard. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Bluehost Pros & Cons

✔️ What we liked

  • Offers competitive pricing
  • Known for its strong uptime record
  • WordPress one-click installations and site migrations​​

❌ What we didn’t like

  • Domain renewal rates can be higher than the average
  • Aggressive upselling of add-ons during the sign-up process

We Recommend Bluehost For:

Bluehost is a great choice for small businesses, start-ups, bloggers, and anyone using WordPress for their blogs. It offers different hosting plans that suit all types of website needs. With Bluehost, installing WordPress is super easy, and it has strong support and features that make your WordPress site run smoothly. So, if you’re searching for a hosting service that can keep up with your growing site, Bluehost is a solid option.

the softaculous management for wordpress in bluehost
You can manage your WordPress site thanks to the Softaculous platform in Bluehost. You can install apps, scripts and whatever else you need. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Bluehost Plans and Pricing

Bluehost has different hosting plans for bloggers at every level, from newbies to pros. The Basic plan is $1.99 per month for a year, and then it costs more to renew. It comes with a free domain for the first year, free SSL, and 10GB SSD storage.

If you’re looking for a good deal, the Choice Plus plan is $3.49 monthly for a year. It adds extras like keeping your website name private and backing up your site daily. For starting an online store, the Online Store plan is $6.99 per month for a year, letting you sell unlimited products with special online store features. The Pro plan, best for experts, is $8.99 per month for a year and includes top-tier features like your own unique internet address for a little extra cost.

Just a heads up, Bluehost’s low prices are for the first term only, and it’ll cost more after that. No hidden fees, but be careful with extra options at checkout that could add to your bill. Bluehost sometimes has special deals for new users, making its plans an even better deal.

Check out our complete guide on Bluehost’s pricing to see all the plans, deals, and what you’ll pay after the first term.

Bluehost Reliability and Performance

Bluehost is super fast, loading pages in about 1.1 seconds and responding in 140 milliseconds. This quickness and reliability mean your websites work smoothly, making it a great pick for any business that needs its online spot to be speedy and always up. Bluehost promises your site will be uptime guaranteed and running without breaks, which is awesome for anyone who really cares about their website being accessible all the time.

Graph showing average uptime of Bluehost over six tests
We examined Bluehost's uptime over six tests and noted an average uptime of 99.18%. Source: Website Builder Guide

Bluehost WordPress Support

Bluehost is all-in on WordPress and has special plans just for WordPress sites. You can start WordPress with just a click, get updates automatically, and talk to WordPress experts if you need help. With Bluehost, it’s easy to manage your WordPress site’s plugins and themes straight from its dashboard. It even lets you test changes on a demo site before showing them to everyone. Just be careful of extra offers in the dashboard—you can ignore them if you want to keep things straightforward.

Check out our full Bluehost review for an in-depth look.

Can’t decide which to choose? Our Hostinger vs Bluehost comparison may help.

2. IONOS

Best for Budget-Conscious WordPress Users

IONOS is really good and cheap for making websites with WordPress. It’s one of the best places in Europe for keeping websites running smoothly and fast without costing a lot of money. This makes it a great pick if you’re starting a small business or if you’re in the US and want a reliable place to host your blog. IONOS has shown again and again that it keeps websites up without problems and works well, so it’s a smart choice if you need a dependable place for your blog without spending too much.

IONOS overview in the dashboard
IONOS is a great, low-cost hosting provider, with strong performance scores. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

IONOS Pros & Cons

✔️ What we liked

  • Offers competitively priced hosting plans
  • 99.95% uptime guarantee and georedundant infrastructure
  • SSL certificates and malware scanning across all plans
  • 24/7 support via phone and live chat

❌ What we didn’t like

  • Critiqued for offering less CPU power and memory
  • Custom control panel is outdated and less intuitive compared to the widely used cPanel
  • Unreliable customer support in terms of responsiveness and help center organization​​​​

We Recommend IONOS For:

IONOS is great for small businesses and startups looking for dependable, wallet-friendly hosting that doesn’t need you to be a tech whiz. It’s also a good fit for bloggers, content makers, or anyone setting up a personal or work website who wants to save money but still have a site they can count on. If you’re into WordPress but don’t want to deal with the techy side of running a website, its managed WordPress hosting is a sweet deal. It makes things easy and keeps your site up-to-date.

a green bar chart for performance in bluehost
One of the best features I found in IONOS was this bar chart showing the site speed for my website. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

IONOS Plans and Pricing

IONOS has different WordPress hosting plans. The Grow plan begins at only $1.00 per month for the first 6 months, and then it’s $10 per month for the next 6 months. These plans come with SSD storage and a free domain for the first year, and you can get your money back within 30 days if you’re not happy. But watch out for extra charges and the price of add-ons like site builders or email marketing tools. Also, keep in mind that prices might go up when it’s time to renew.

IONOS Reliability and Performance

IONOS promises your site will be up and running 99.95% of the time, which means it hardly ever goes offline. They’ve invested money into really good technology to make their servers super reliable, and they have data centers in different places to ensure everything is secure. Even though some people have said the servers can be slow, IONOS usually does a good job of keeping your site working well for most websites.

Graph showing the average uptime of IONOS after six tests
IONOS has one of the strongest average uptimes from our testing (99.69%). Source: Website Builder Guide

IONOS WordPress Support

IONOS makes it super easy to install a WordPress site with just one click. It specializes in WordPress hosting, giving you daily backups and speedy SSD storage so your site loads fast. The basic plan has all the basics, but if you go for an upgrade, you’ll get more cool WordPress perks and better support. But, if you’re hunting for really specific WordPress hosting features, IONOS might not be your go-to. IONOS is only perfect for users who like keeping things simple and affordable rather than getting into deep customizing.

Read our full IONOS review.

3. HostGator

Best for Ease of Use and Scalability

HostGator has been a big player in the hosting game since 2002, taking care of over 2.5 million websites worldwide. It’s famous for being super reliable when it comes to shared hosting and having awesome customer service. HostGator has all kinds of hosting options that work great for big businesses. People really like HostGator for always keeping websites up and running smoothly, being easy to use, and offering different hosting plans to choose from.

HostGator's main page for hosting
HostGator's hosting management enables you to manage your WordPress site directly from the dashboard. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

HostGator Pros & Cons

✔️ What we liked

  • Quick and easy WordPress installation through Softaculous and QuickInstall
  • With daily automated backups, malware protection, and free SSL certificates
  • Offers a range of plans that are affordable and scalable

❌ What we didn’t like

  • Aggressive upselling tactics during sign-up
  • Some tests have shown mixed results regarding loading times​​

We Recommend HostGator For:

HostGator is awesome for small to medium businesses, startups, and anyone running personal or professional blogs, content websites, or online portfolios. Its easy-to-use platform and the way it can grow with you make it perfect if you’re planning to expand and need your hosting to be flexible. If you’re a freelancer or web developer working with lots of clients, you’ll really like HostGator’s hosting plans that let you manage multiple sites at once, especially for WordPress projects.

HostGator cPanel
Much like Bluehost, HostGator uses cPanel and Softaculous to manage WordPress. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

HostGator Plans and Pricing

HostGator’s WordPress hosting has three main deals: the Baby Plan, Business Plan, and Pro Plan. They come with cool features like a free domain for the first year, SSL certificates, a super easy WordPress setup, and Cloudflare CDN to make your site faster. The Baby Plan is $3.05 per month and lets you have up to two websites if you choose it for 36 months. The Business Plan is $4.67 per month for up to three websites. The Pro Plan is $9.95 per month for up to five websites, and you get between 20GB to 100GB of fast SSD storage, depending on which one you pick.

All of them offer unlimited data use and help over the phone or via chat. But remember, be aware of the higher costs for monthly or quarterly terms and consider the long-term savings of longer commitments.​​

For help picking the best plan for what you need, check out our in-depth HostGator Pricing Review.

HostGator Reliability and Performance

HostGator is a solid choice for hosting, promising your site will be up 99.9% of the time and offering fast server speeds everywhere. But, how well your site runs might change based on what you need, like if you get a lot of visitors at once or have large media files. Even though HostGator says you can use as much bandwidth as you want, make sure to stick to the service terms to keep your site running smoothly.

Graph showing the average uptime of HostGator after six tests
Our testing found that HostGator has an average uptime of 99.1% as opposed to its advertised 99.9%. Source: Website Builder Guide

HostGator WordPress Support

HostGator is great at helping out with WordPress. It does a lot for you automatically, like updates and backups, and makes it super easy to move your site over. HostGator keeps your site safe with DDoS protection and checks for malware regularly. Plus, it has great WordPress features like a one-click install, WordPress-specific tools, and dedicated support for WordPress queries. If you’re looking for a host that really gets what WordPress sites need, HostGator is a solid choice.

Check out our complete HostGator review.

For help choosing between HostGator vs DreamHost, see our comparison of the two.

4. Hostinger

Best for Affordable WordPress Hosting with Solid Performance

✅ Officially recommended by WordPress.org

Hostinger is famous for its good deals and solid performance in WordPress hosting. It’s another web host officially recommended by WordPress.org, alongside Bluehost. With over 17 years under its belt, the company has become a top choice for users in over 150 countries. If you’re running a small business, launching a startup, or building a blog, its shared hosting options are great for getting online without spending a lot.

Hostinger's hosting dashboard in pastel purple
Hostinger is a combination hosting provider and website builder, but you can still choose to use WordPress on it. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Hostinger Pros & Cons

✔️ What we liked

  • Budget-friendly options available​​
  • Excellent response times across Europe and North America
  • One-click WordPress installation, automatic updates, and WordPress-specific speed acceleration

❌ What we didn’t like

  • Some plans come with caps on websites, storage, and bandwidth
  • Response times for live chat and email can be modest​​

We Recommend Hostinger For:

Hostinger is perfect if you’re running a small business, starting something new, or blogging and looking for something that’s easy on your wallet but still works great. It’s got different hosting options specially made for WordPress, so it’s good for anyone, from personal bloggers to big-time websites. Hostinger is super user-friendly and straightforward, making it a great starting point if you’re new to hosting websites. Plus, you can easily upgrade as your site gets bigger.

WordPress installation on Hostinger
To install WordPress, I simply searched on the custom "hPanel". As well as WordPress, I could use Hostinger's AI tools to build a website. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Hostinger Plans and Pricing

Hostinger’s WordPress hosting starts at $2.99 monthly, plus you get up to three extra months free if you sign up for a four-year subscription. Just remember, the price will go up when it’s time to renew.

Every plan comes with free SSL certificates, a one-click WordPress install, and access to Hostinger’s custom control panel that makes managing your site simple. The cheapest plan is a good deal to start, but if you shell out for higher-tier plans, you get extra goodies like a WordPress staging tool, free CDN, and dedicated IP address.

Read our Hostinger Pricing Review for more information on its pricing plans.

Hostinger Reliability and Performance

Hostinger really supports your website running smoothly, especially if your audience is in Europe or North America. Hostinger uses fast SSDs to store your data, which means your site loads quickly, and it has Cloudflare CDN to help your site reach people all around the world. Even though it’s usually consistent, performance might dip a bit outside those main areas. But Hostinger is really reliable—tests show it hardly ever goes down.

Hostinger WordPress Support

Hostinger’s got your back with special support. You get to set up WordPress with just a click, enjoy automatic updates, and use features made for WordPress sites. You can reach out to Hostinger’s support team any time through live chat or tickets. If you hit a complicated problem, it might take some time to get an answer, but Hostinger has a huge help-yourself library with articles and videos if you like figuring things out on your own.

Check out our comprehensive Hostinger review.

5. GoDaddy

Best for Beginners and Small Businesses

GoDaddy is a big name as a hosting provider and is really good for beginners and small businesses looking to start a WordPress site. Founded in 1997 as a place to register website names, GoDaddy has grown a lot. Now, the platform does all sorts, including web hosting, helping you pick and register website names, and even marketing help. For anyone wanting an easy-to-use platform with cool features to get their website going fast, GoDaddy’s WordPress hosting is a go-to choice.

GoDaddy's hosting dashboard
Like Hostinger, GoDaddy is a combination hosting provider and website builder. However, you can still use WordPress. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

GoDaddy Pros & Cons

✔️ What we liked

  • Competitive pricing for managed WordPress plans
  • Excellent features for ecommerce
  • 99.9% uptime guarantee​​

❌ What we didn’t like

  • Limitation​ support for only a single website across basic plans
  • Some features advertised by GoDaddy are available for free via plugins
  • Does not currently support WordPress multisite setups

We Recommend GoDaddy For:

GoDaddy is a good choice for you if you’re new to blogging or if you’re running a small business and just getting started. It’s especially great if you like things simple and don’t need a ton of fancy features. GoDaddy works well for personal or professional blogs, content sites, or small online shops using WordPress. Its easy-to-use setup and basic tools make it perfect for people who aren’t super tech-savvy.

GoDaddy cPanel CMS installtion page
Through cPanel, I was able to to pick WordPress and a number of other CMS apps for my website. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

GoDaddy Plans and Pricing

GoDaddy starts at $8.99 monthly for the Basic plan, which lets you run one website and gives you 20 GB of storage. The Deluxe plan is $10.99 monthly for one website and 40 GB of storage. The Ultimate plan is $13.99 monthly for one website with 60GB of storage. These rates are based on sticking with them for at least 36 months, and paying month-by-month will cost you more.

GoDaddy often has deals for new users, like discounted prices when you first sign up. But remember, the cost will go up when it’s time to renew.

Read our GoDaddy Pricing Review for a deeper dive into each of its plans.

GoDaddy Reliability and Performance

GoDaddy makes sure your website is almost always up and running by promising it will be available 99.9% of the time with its WordPress hosting. This means your site will hardly ever be down when people want to visit. It uses a CDN to make your site faster and handle traffic when you get lots of visitors at once.

But the speed at which the server responds to requests can change sometimes, which means the site’s performance might not always be the same.

Graph showing GoDaddy's average uptime over six tests
We examined GoDaddy's uptime over six tests and noted an average uptime of 99.14%. Source: Website Builder Guide

GoDaddy WordPress Support

With GoDaddy, setting up and managing your WordPress site is pretty easy. GoDaddy automatically sets up your site, provides daily backups, and keeps your software up to date.

If you run into tricky problems, GoDaddy’s support team is there with WordPress-specific help, including pre-installed premium plugins and security options like malware scans and removal. Just a heads up, though, you can find many of these cool add-ons for free with other plugins.

Check out our GoDaddy Hosting Review for a detailed view of GoDaddy’s hosting services.

Buying Guide: How to Choose a Cheap WordPress Hosting Provider

Looking for budget-friendly WordPress hosting can seem pretty tricky, but we’re here to help you keep your blog running smoothly and quickly without spending too much. Here are some tips to help you pick wisely without regretting it later:

  1. Know what you need: First, consider your blog’s needs. How big do you see it getting? Are you all about keeping things easy, or do you like diving into the tech details for more control? Figuring this out will prevent you from paying for extras you don’t actually use.
  2. Reliability is key: Just because you’re looking for a deal doesn’t mean you should settle for less uptime. Find hosts that are known for keeping sites like yours live and kicking. You don’t want your blog missing in action when your readers come looking, do you?
  3. Support matters: Aim for hosts with stellar support. Is someone ready to chat 24/7 or are there a solid set of guides and tutorials to check out?
  4. Think about tomorrow: Right now, your blog might be small, but who says it’ll stay that way? Choose a host that lets you scale up easily. That way, as your audience grows, you can bump up your plan without any drama.
  5. Reviews are your friend: Sometimes, the best advice comes from others who’ve been in your shoes. Look at our full reviews and testimonials about the hosting providers you’re considering.

Finding a budget-friendly host doesn’t mean you have to settle for less. Keep an eye on what your blog truly needs, and you can snag a deal that supports your blogging journey all the way.

How Do We Test Blog Hosting Providers?

When we check out blog hosting providers at Website Builder Guide, we really put our hearts into it. We’ve been doing this for over 10 years, so we’ve got a good handle on what makes a hosting provider stand out.

Here’s how we break it down:

  • Price: We look at how much you’re getting for your money. It’s not just about the cheapest option but finding the value—what features are included and if they’re worth the investment.
  • Performance: This is about how fast your blog loads and runs. We test how these providers hold up under pressure because we know your audience won’t wait around for slow loading times.
  • Features: From one-click installs to security measures, we examine the tools and services offered by each provider to ensure they meet your blogging needs.
  • Support: If something goes wrong, you want help fast. So, we assess the responsiveness, knowledge, and availability of the support teams.
  • Market Analysis: We also look at what’s happening in the market, comparing and contrasting what’s out there to ensure we recommend the best.

After we gather all of this info, we put it through our special scoring system. This helps us figure out which hosting services are the best of the best.

Our goal? To give you clear, honest advice that you can rely on. Making big decisions for your blog or business is much easier when you have trustworthy information. You can read more about $1.99/month for a whole year, while IONOS starts at $1.00/month for the first six months and then bumps up to $10/month for the next six months.

But remember, just because it’s the cheapest doesn’t mean it’s the best for your website. Look at what each provider offers in terms of features. Figure out what matters most for your blogs and make your decision based on that. That way, you’ll get the best bang for your buck and the right help for your WordPress site.

Written by:
Headshot of Emma Ryan
Emma is Lead Writer at Website Builder Guide, having first joined the team in 2022. She manages the website's topical content strategy to help website owners navigate the highs and lows of being online. Emma also specializes in following the development of leading website builders Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify, through hands-on testing and research. Her work and expertise have been featured in Startups.co.uk, Digiday, TechRound, Industry Today, and Digital Information World.

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