Best Web Hosting for Freelancers

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Web hosting for freelancers isn’t all that much different from generic hosting. At the same time, due to the nature of freelancers’ work – it helps if a host has as wide a diversity of tools as possible. This helps give freelancers the agility they need to support a wide variety of clients on a single platform.

While site builders like Wix and Weebly are usually freelancers’ favorites in the past, self-hosting options today are cheaper and catching up in capability (for freelancers).

ScalaHosting, for example, comes with built-in security features (auto malware scan, firewall, etc) so you don’t have to worry about your site getting hacked. Hostinger, on the other hand, provides a website building tool to help with rapid deployment requirements.

Now, let’s look at some hosting services we find suitable for freelancers.

ScalaHosting

ScalaHosting has a full range of products including VPS hosting with its in-house built control panel, sPanel. The “Anytime Unconditional Money-back Guarantee” offered by the company transforms their offers into an irresistible proposition, particularly for those eager to experiment with their services without any financial risk.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$2.95
– $19.95
/mo

HostScore

%85.9
Hosting Services
Shared, Cloud, and Reseller
Visit Online

ScalaHosting Pros

  • Outstanding hosting uptime and speed performance
  • Affordable pricing
  • Anytime unconditional Money-back Guarantee
  • Automated backup with 7 restore points
  • Generous offer in server resources – Even the lowest shared plan gets unmetered bandwidth and unlimited emails
  • NVMe SSD storage for all shared hosting plans
  • Innovative technology – SPanel, SShield, SWordPress

ScalaHosting Cons

  • Price increase during the renewal

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$2.49
– $8.99
/mo

HostScore

%79.9
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, and Cloud
Visit Online

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

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$2.95
– $12.95
/mo

HostScore

%64.8
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, and Reseller
Visit Online

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

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$2.95
– $2.95
/mo

HostScore

%66.9
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Cloud
Visit Online

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

InMotion Hosting

Backed by excellent performance and customer support, InMotion is easily one of the top web hosting choices in the market. There are extensive plans available for website to scale up with. And for those with an already existing site, free migration services for easy transfer.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$3.49
– $11.25
/mo

HostScore

%67.9
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Cloud, and Reseller
Visit Online

InMotion Hosting Pros

  • Affordable pricing
  • Lowest shared hosting plan supports Python, Node.JS, Ruby and GIT version control
  • Choice of data center locations in the United States and Europe
  • Free AutoSSL
  • Built-in hack, DDoS, and malware protection
  • 90-day money back guarantee
  • Free website migration services

InMotion Hosting Cons

  • Lower shared hosting plans lack speed optimization
  • Price increase during the renewal

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$2.00
– $8.00
/mo

HostScore

%72.6
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, and Dedicated
Visit Online

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)

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$4.95
– $22.95
/mo

HostScore

%67.3
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, and Reseller
Visit Online

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$1.79
– $4.99
/mo

HostScore

%73.7
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, and Dedicated
Visit Online

Fastcomet Pros

  • High-speed and reliable hosting
  • Decent range of hosting plans
  • Comprehensive support
  • Excellent reputation

Fastcomet Cons

  • Limited features on lower-priced plans

BlueHost

One of the oldest names in shared hosting market, BlueHost today is now owned and managed by public listed company NewFold Digital. Features are unremarkable and while sign-ups may get you steep discounts, renewal prices are about on par with market average.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$2.95
– $13.95
/mo

HostScore

%53.3
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, and Dedicated
Visit Online

BlueHost Pros

  • Free domain name with all shaerd hosting plans
  • $100 free ad credits with all plans
  • Comprehensive and easy-to-navigate knowledgebase
  • Comprehensive and easy-to-navigate knowledgebase

BlueHost Cons

  • Renewal fees can be significantly higher
  • Many upsells on additional features
  • Add-ons can get expensive
  • Only US-based servers
  • Customer support can be better

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$3.08
– $12.99
/mo

HostScore

%79.2
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Reseller
Visit Online

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.

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.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$4.99
– $14.99
/mo

HostScore

%56.6
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Reseller
Visit Online

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

A2 Hosting

In the past one of the best hosting providers around, today A2 Hosting has slightly lost its shine. Pricing is above market average and performance is no longer top of its class. Still, reliability is decent and their attention to detail can be seen in prudent plan revisions on occasion.

Learn More in Our Review

Recommended Plans for Freelancers

Shared Hosting:
$2.99
– $14.99
/mo

HostScore

%58.1
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Reseller
Visit Online

A2 Hosting Pros

  • Server locations in North America, Europe, and Asia
  • Free website migration assistance
  • Developer-oriented features even on shared hosting
  • Custom performance optimizations tools available in higher shared plans

A2 Hosting Cons

  • Steep price increase during the renewal
  • Free site transfers mainly for cPanel installations
  • HTTP/2 only on TURBO plans
  • Lowest shared plan does not support automatic backup

Freelancers: Hosting Features You Need

Because of the wide diversity of needs that may occur from one client to another, freelancers would do well to find web hosts that have vast potential.

When choosing a web host as a freelancer, here are the hosting features you need to consider:

  • Performance – Being in the middle of a client and a service provider is never easy. The better the website performance in terms of speed and reliability of a host, the less problematic a freelancer’s life will be.
  • Scalability – Freelancers work with clients of all sizes and being able to work consistently with one host can make a difference.
  • Rapid Development & Deployment – Having the tools to quickly design, build, and launch customer sites can incredibly boost a freelancer’s bottom line.
  • Development Environments – Different projects may require different environments for development and a host which is more agile in this area can be helpful.
  • Partner Programs – Different clients work in different ways. Ideally, a good host for freelancing has great partner programs that can handle both clients and referrals from freelancers.

The Freelancer’s World is a Crowded Place

In recent study, Upwork finds 64 million Americans freelanced in 2023 and contributed $1.27 trillion into U.S. economy (source). In this rapidly growing and fiercely competing industry, having a personal website to showcase work is crucial for standing out.

For freelancers, selecting a hosting service that is both reliable and affordable becomes essential, balancing cost-effectiveness with the need for a professional online presence.

Article by Timothy Shim

Timothy Shim is a writer, editor, and tech geek. Starting his career in the field of Information Technology, he rapidly found his way into print and has since worked with International, regional and domestic media titles including ComputerWorld, PC.com, Business Today, and The Asian Banker. His expertise lies in the field of technology from both consumer as well as enterprise points of view.
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