TL;DR
The thing about blogs is that with so many types, there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Because of this we recommend our top hosts for blogs based not only on performance and reliability but also range and type of services. Our top choice though is Hostinger for their all-round excellence as well as very established track record.
Hostinger
Don’t be fooled by the low sign-up prices that Hostinger is boasting, they are far from your average budget host. Hostinger hosting excels in both speed and uptime performance which is hard to come by at this entry point price tag. Be aware though that renewal prices can hit your bottom line.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
Hostinger Pros
- Affordable pricing
- Nine different data centers in four continents
- Good spread of hosting plans
- User-friendly control panel (hPanel)
- Wide range of payment options accepted
- Git environment available on shared hosting
- Additional 7% discount with coupon code “HOSTSCORE”
Hostinger Cons
- Price increase during the renewal
- Does not support Windows hosting
TMDHosting
TMDHosting is a full-service host and offer the gamut of hosting types ranging from shared all the way to dedicated servers. Plans are reasonably priced and come with significant value-added features. The company operates from data centers in five continents including South America and Africa, which is not often seen in market.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
TMDHosting Pros
- Affordable pricing
- Choice of global data centres in six continents
- Easy-to-use centralized dashboard
- Free white glove migration
- Host unlimited websites in Business or Enterprise plans
- Outstanding customer support
- Reinforced DDoS protection for all shared hosting accounts
TMDHosting Cons
- Lowest shared plan does not support automatic backup
- Free domain has no privacy protection
- Price increase during the renewal
Ultahost
Being the new kid in town Ultahost hosting offers are tempting. That’s especially true for their cheaper plans like Shared Hosting or WordPress Hosting. The cost is meager, and the company doesn’t overly penalize those that don’t want extended contracts. There’s no harm in taking them for a spin at just $3 per month with 99.99% uptime guarantee and free website migrations.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
Ultahost Pros
- Outstanding server uptime and speed performance
- Highly competitive pricing
- Easy-to-use user dashboard
- NVMe SSD storage in all shared hosting plans
- Free malware scan & web applications firewall (WAF) in all shared hosting plans
- Choice of 5 server locations in four continents
Ultahost Cons
- Price increase during the renewal
- Limited disk space.
Chemicloud
A relatively new player in the web hosting scene, Chemicloud first emerged in 2016. Since then, they’ve been growing slowly but steadily. Part of that is their focus on increasing their capabilities alongside their customer base.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
Chemicloud Pros
- Excellent reliability and speed
- Dev-friendly packages available
- Well-priced
- Impressive customer support
Chemicloud Cons
- Lack of other business services
- Limited knowledge base
Fastcomet
While the brand may not be globally recognized, Fastcomet comes up aces when considering performance. It tacks along sterling support to bring it up to par with the best in the industry. If reliability is what you seek, look no further.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
Fastcomet Pros
- High-speed and reliable hosting
- Decent range of hosting plans
- Comprehensive support
- Excellent reputation
Fastcomet Cons
- Limited features on lower-priced plans
GoDaddy
One of the most outstanding and longstanding names in the hosting industry, GoDaddy is recognized worldwide. They truly know what it means by “it helps if you speak their language.” The brand is a safe choice, especially for beginners.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
GoDaddy Pros
- Easily navigable product range
- Relatively good pricing
- Some business-oriented service
- Good localization
GoDaddy Cons
- Cheap plans are skimpy on resources
- Limited knowledge base
OVHcloud
Since the great data center fire of ’22, OVHcloud has hit a rut. While they remain a strong contender in business and enterprise, what’s behind the scenes seems more concerning. Nevertheless, this giant won’t go down without a fight.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
OVHcloud Pros
- Broad range of products
- Enterprise-scale services available
- SAP-friendly
OVHcloud Cons
- Poor customer service and support
- No refunds or money-back guarantees
- Complex site navigation
HostPapa
Hailing from the land of Maple syrup, HostPapa is as sweet as that not-so-secret sauce. It offers outstanding deals for new signups and has a broad range of hosting plans thrown into the mix. They’re relatively well thought of by the public and stand tall in the hosting space.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostPapa Pros
- Broad range of hosting plans
- Beginner-friendly
- Excellent support services
- Multi-language website
HostPapa Cons
- Few dev-friendly tools
- Limited features on lowest shared plans
Hostens
Hostens hosting plans come extremely feature-packed at highly competitive signup discount rates. Though their EU-only servers does present a bit of a potential disappointment for international customers.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
Hostens Pros
- Highly competitive pricing
- Support Ruby and Python in all shared hosting plans
- Daily backup included in all shared hosting plans
- Choice of 10 distributed data centers in seven countries
Hostens Cons
- Price increase during the renewal
- Limited storage in shared hosting plans
- Hosting upgrade to VPS only (lack higher hosting capacity)
Verpex
As a newcomer in the hosting industry, Verpex shows promise with feature-rich, affordable plans and solid customer support. Sadly, however, their premium hosting plans fall short in value compared to top-tier providers.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
Verpex Pros
- Budget-friendly shared and VPS hosting plans
- 45-day money back guarantee
- Daily backup included in all shared hosting plans
- Unlimited free site migrations
- Choice of 12 distributed data centers across five continents
Verpex Cons
- Price increase during the renewal
NameCheap
Namecheap is another long-serving company in the web hosting business and was founded way back in 2000. They are an excellent resource for not just new domain names, but you can also bid for some existing ones as well. NameCheap also offers a good range of hosting solutions including shared, VPS, dedicated, and reseller plans. While their hosting features might not be outstanding, they are certainly adequate – especially when you consider their exceptionally low pricing.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
NameCheap Pros
- Budget-friendly shared hosting plans
- Excellent domain name prices with free lifetime privacy protection
- Free site migration
- Perl, Ruby, and Python support in shared hosting plan
NameCheap Cons
- Price increase during the renewal
- Limited VPS plans
- Only US and UK-based servers
- Pay extra to choose UK-data center
HostArmada
HostArmada offers some excellent features for shared plans and does so at very low prices. This is true even for their renewal rates which don’t spike horribly after your term is up. The company also offers full range solutions, users who wish to scale up get to choose from a wide range of VPS and dedicated hosting offers. More importantly, HostArmada ensures robust security in all shared hosting plans, incorporating WAF, DDoS protection, and automatic malware scanning, fortifying their commitment to customer safety and satisfaction.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
HostArmada Pros
- Affordable pricing
- Daily remote backup included
- Host unlimited websites in mid-to-high shared hosting account
- 45-day money back guarantee
- Free malware scan & web applications firewall (WAF) in all shared hosting plans
HostArmada Cons
- Price increase during the renewal
- Lack server speed features in lower shared hosting plans
DreamHost
DreamHost has been in business for more than 20 years today. It is a full service host that offers plans suitable for a variety of needs from shared hosting to VPS, cloud, and dedicated servers. Features are unremarkable but the company is one of the very few recommended by WordPress.org.
Cheapest Hosting Plans Available
Number of Blogs Allowed in One Account
HostScore
DreamHost Pros
- Reliable server uptime performance
- Daily backup included in all shared hosting plans
- 97-day Money back guarantee
- Extensive knowledgebase
DreamHost Cons
- Price increase during the renewal
- Live chat support can be better
- Server location in the United States only
- No free site migration
Key Areas to Look Out for in Blog Hosting
Blogs come in many sizes, from the small one-man operation to those run by fortune 500 companies. The main difference between these and ordinary websites is that blogging platforms are designed to handle dynamic content.
- Speed – Your blog speed affects user experience and Google search ranking, you need a blog host that loads quickly.
- Reliability – The fastest blog isn’t any use if it is always unavailable.
- Application optimization – Web applications are resource intensive, some hosts balance this by fine tuning for best performance.
- Blog building tools – Tools help you build parts of your blog quickly and reduce the need for technical knowledge.
- Automated functionality – The more that is automated, the less you have to do, leaving you more time to focus on content and monetization.
Why A Good Blog Host Matters?
Good blog platforms often share common traits by there are also some key features that some might have. These usually help bloggers to operate sites more easily and host blogs that perform reliably and smoothly.
Making the right choice could mean the difference between struggling to overcome hosting difficulties and having the time to focus on your main objective – content.
Faster blogs get more readers
The performance of a blog generally covers two core aspects; speed and reliability. Speed itself is important for two main (but related) reasons. The first is the user experience. Because of an ever-increasing number of blogs online, Internet users have become spoilt for choice.
If your blog is slow, users will quickly lose interest and rather than wait, will go elsewhere for an answer they are seeking. Google recognizes this and because they want to deliver the fastest answers possible to users, will penalize sites that are too slow.
This is one of the core reasons why HostScore places such great emphasis on web host server response times, so that you can get a more accurate feel of how fast you can expect each web host to respond consistently at.
Time saved in technical can be spent on monetization
The life of a blogger can be difficult since many blogs are one-man operations. You need to be able to handle planning, setup, content, marketing, and basically everything else. Because of this it is always helpful when a host offers useful features that are automated.
For example, while many hosts will offer free SSL certificates, some will have Let’s Encrypt or AutoSSL. This lets you run your blog without having to be concerned about SSL installation or renewal.
Automated backups are another useful feature to have since it is a routine task that needs to be done consistently.
Having automated backup service from a host removes one more ‘to-do’ item off your list. The less time you spend on technical details, the more you get to spend on expanding your reach and monetization.
Easy optimization
Because blogs run on web applications there are many things that can be done to help them run more smoothly. Unfortunately, some details may require some level of technical knowledge. This is where a host that offers pre-optimized hosting options comes in.
Hosts like Hostinger, BlueHost, UltaHost, and ScalaHosting have special plans and tools that help WordPress users run their sites at optimum efficiency. Among the benefits of these plans are pre-optimized settings and even special caching plugins for better performance.
Faster customization
Everyone wants a pretty blog but not everyone has the skills to design one. This is where building tools come in handy. Many web hosts today offer blog building tools but not all are equal. Some blog builders are far more advanced, easy to use, or powerful than others.
And then there are many advanced page building tools that are specially designed to allow WordPress users an easy way to highly customize their web pages.
Some examples of these are Elementor and Beaver Builder.
Although these page builders can be installed on your own after setting up WordPress, some web hosts have taken the initiative to include them as part of their web hosting plans.
Is WordPress the Only Blogging Platform?
Although blogging can take many forms, all bloggers will almost exclusively make use of a Content Management System (CMS). Today, WordPress is the dominant blogging platform (and software) for bloggers with over 60% market share in this category of web applications.
Before you jump in and start a blog with WordPress, it is important to take note of two things here. There first is that 60% is a very large portion and represents more than 34% of all websites online today. The second is that there is still a 40% market share divided up among some other popular CMS applications as well.
Alternatives to WordPress
Although WordPress holds the lion’s share of the blogging market there are many other options available for bloggers. Some blogging software can be setup in just a few clicks using an auto-installer. Some blogging platforms include read-to-use solutions where you can simply sign up for an account and start writing. Top options include;
- Typepad – This subscription-based blogging platform offers bloggers a quick and easy way to get started. Just sign up for an account, customize your site and you’re ready to go.
- Medium – More than your average blogging platform, Medium is an entire ecosystem where subscribers not only share content but also help drive readership to one another.
- Blogger.com – Having been around for 20 years now, Blogger.com is one of the oldest ready-to-run blog platforms around. Basic accounts here are free.
- Ghost – Whether you want to use a ready-made blog platform or install one on your own blog host, Ghost can do either. It’s open source but isn’t exactly the cheapest option around.
- Serendipity – Serendipity is a PHP-powered weblog engine which gives the user an easy way to create and maintain a blog.
- Weebly – Weebly is a very versatile solution that can be used for blogging and a host of other needs. They host sites but can also be found as the default site builder on some hosts.
But WordPress is Still King!
By now you’re probably realized that not all blog hosting is created equal. Many top-tier web hosts have come to see WordPress as their bread and butter and have skewed their products to cater to this market specifically.
Personally, I feel that WordPress is a good choice simply because it offers the greatest range of features and support. Don’t get distracted by this however, as many of the web hosting providers listed here are excellent even in other areas as well.
Ultimately, when it comes down to blogging, look at the features on offer and match them with your needs. At the end of the day, much will come down to the quality of your content and how you market it. Using any one of the web hosts on this list will give you an excellent launching point for your blog.
All you’ll need to do is set it up and start filling it with the sum of your knowledge.