The Best Web Hosting for United States (US)

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TL;DR

The best hosting solution for those seeking to target US-based web traffic is InMotion Hosting. Although it might not show the best HostScore, there is more to consider. This is especially true when it comes to targeted traffic.

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.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, South America, and Europe

Recommended for

Users looking for
Beginners-friendly, Small Business, Enterprise, Developers-friendly, or eCommerce
Hosting Services.

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

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.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, South America, Oceania, Europe, and Asia

Recommended for

Users looking for
Beginners-friendly, Budget, Small Business, International Website, eCommerce, Enterprise, or Managed WordPress
Hosting Services.

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

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.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, Oceania, Europe, and Asia

Recommended for

Users looking for
Beginners-friendly, Budget, or Developers-friendly
Hosting Services.

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

Nexcess

Capitalizing on the fully managed services market, Nexcess offers a relatively high-end range of application-specific hosting. That narrows down the field somewhat and enables them to survive in a highly competitive industry.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, South America, Europe, and Asia

Recommended for

Users looking for
eCommerce, Enterprise, or Developers-friendly
Hosting Services.

HostScore

%65.2
Hosting Services
Cloud
Visit Online

Nexcess Pros

  • Powerful hosting plans
  • Application-centric hosting
  • Outstanding documentation
  • Outstanding documentation

Nexcess Cons

  • Too expensive for most newbies

HostWinds

For those who seek out only the best, that’s where HostWinds is positioned. Speed, reliability, and support come out tops. Founded in 2010, the company has made excellent progress over the past decade-plus and is now in the league of the big boys.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, and Europe

Recommended for

Users looking for
Small Business
Hosting Services.

HostScore

%50
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Cloud, and Reseller
Visit Online

HostWinds Pros

  • Fast and reliable services
  • Sterling reputation and support
  • Lots of automated services
  • Weebly website builder included

HostWinds Cons

  • Slightly higher than usual starting prices
  • No extra business services

Web.com

One of the brands that you either love or hate is Web.com. It brings along one of the most mixed offerings you’ll likely encounter. You may consider some of their more specialized services if you can get by that.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America

Recommended for

Users looking for
Small Business
Hosting Services.

HostScore

%37.8
Hosting Services
Shared
Visit Online

Web.com Pros

  • Decent speed and reliability
  • Impressive business deals
  • Good range of services
  • Custom services available

Web.com Cons

  • Slightly complex site navigation

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.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, South America, Oceania, Europe, and Asia

Recommended for

Users looking for
Beginners-friendly, Budget, Small Business, International Website, or Adult Website
Hosting Services.

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

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.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, Europe, and Asia

Recommended for

Users looking for
Beginners-friendly, Budget, Small Business, International Website, or Adult Website
Hosting Services.

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

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.

More Details in Our Review

Data Centers Locations

North America, South America, and Europe

Recommended for

Users looking for
Beginners-friendly, or Budget
Hosting Services.

HostScore

%77.1
Hosting Services
Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Reseller
Visit Online

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


How to Choose the Right Web Host for a US Website?

When evaluating a web hosting service provider, details matter. To get the best bang for your buck, you need to look past the price tag. Server locations, performance, security, customer support, and overall user experiences are other factors you need to look into.

Server Location Is the Key to Meeting Latency Targets

For those seeking to meet visitor traffic within the United States (US) though, one factor does stand out more than others – server location. The US is rather special geographically, being a large landmass that’s relatively far from most other countries.

One example of this on an international scale can be seen in the distance from New York to Berlin – a whopping 3,965 miles (6,381 km). However, because of sheer size, even hosting within the US can result in considerable distance.

For example, the distance from San Francisco to New York is approximately 2,572 miles (4,139 km). All of this brings to focus the latency which could arise from data having to traverse such distances.

Why latency affect your hosting choice? Demo - New York to Berlin = 3,965 miles; San Francisco to New York = 2,572 miles.
New York to Berlin = 3,965 miles; San Francisco to New York = 2,572 miles.

How Latency Affects Web Page Loading Speed

Latency is the time taken for data to get sent from point A to point B.

The longer the distance, the higher the latency. The higher the latency, the longer a visitor has to wait for the site to load.

When a visitor enters your website address into their browser, a request is made. That request travels all the way to your web server. Once your web server receives it, a reply needs to be sent, which travels back the other way.

Because of this, you need to place considerable thought into where your visitor base is mainly going to be, even if you get hosting with a server within the US.

Relating this to Our Best US Web Hosting Selection

Our point on latency explains why we picked InMotion Hosting as the best hosting solution for US websites. Although the company does a global business, a strong part of the appeal for those aiming for local traffic is their data centers. InMotion Hosting is perhaps the perfect choice for US-based web hosting with data centers in Ashburn, Virginia (East Coast) and Los Angeles, California (West Coast).

InMotion Hosting data centers give strategic coast-to-cost coverage for US web traffic.

These dual locations are immensely strategic locations for a few reasons.

For traffic within the US, you serve either the East or West very quickly. At the same time, they are close enough to the seaboard to sufficiently support some international visitors as well.

InMotion has a good range of web hosting plans so there’s no concern about limited scalability here. Whether you need budget shared hosting, Cloud VPS, or even just data storage – they have a solution for it.

Other Factors to Look Into

Besides server location, several other crucial factors that you need to consider include: Security, Scalability, Pricing, and Support.

  • Security: With cyber threats on the rise, robust security features are non-negotiable. This includes SSL certificates, regular backups, web application firewall (WAF), malware scanning, and more.
  • Scalability: The ability to scale resources quickly is essential for handling traffic spikes and growth without downtime.
  • Pricing: While budget is always a consideration, the best value comes from balancing cost with the features and performance your site requires.
  • Support: Access to knowledgeable, responsive customer support 24/7 is crucial, especially for businesses that operate around the clock. For those targeting US-based traffic, it be prudent to seek a web hosting provider with in-country support teams. At the very least you can be assured that there will be minimal communication barriers. Be aware though that smaller local web hosting companies may not be able to meet the same levels of service that global partners may have. Attention needs to be paid to fine-line items such as the Service Level Agreement to see what’s spelled out in black and white.

We have discussed these factors in another guide. To learn more, please read “How to choose a web host”.

Conclusion

The web hosts on our list as best for the US come with the distinction of not only using local data centers, but also being light on the budget. At the same time, they all have a broad range of plans, making them very agile and suitable for various needs.

Any of the web hosts on this list will do well for those targeting local traffic within the US, serve bordering countries well, and in a pinch, support global visitors as well.

About United States of America (USA)

Map of United States of America (source)

The United States of America (abbreviated U.S. or U.S.A.) is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. The country has a population of 332 million in 2021 with California as the highest populated state (source). Country’s capital is Washington, DC.; other major cities include New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Web Hosting Buyers FAQs

What makes a good web host?

Performance, security, customer support, and cost are the four main factors to consider when it comes to choosing a web host. Server response speed, reliability, scalability, backup and recovery capability, and website migration support are some key consideration factors.

What are the different web hosting types available in market?

Technically, there are four main types of web hosting: Shared, VPS, Cloud, and Dedicated Hosting. As user needs have evolved, hosting companies have adjusted their offers to meet specific user needs. Some common specialized hosting plans available in today’s market such as: Managed WordPress , WooCommerce, and Minecraft Hosting.

Which type of web hosting plan is right for me?

If you are unsure about your website requirements, it’s recommended to start with an affordable shared hosting plan. If you have outgrown your hosting, you can always upgrade to a higher plan, such as VPS or cloud hosting, later with same provider.

How do I choose the right web hosting provider?

Choosing the right web hosting provider depends on several factors, including: Performance requirements, server security, scalability, customer support, and budget. To learn more, please read our choose-a-host guide.

Can I switch web hosting providers later?

Yes, it is possible to switch web hosting providers if you find that your current provider does not meet your needs or if you find a better deal elsewhere. The process typically involves purchasing a new hosting plan, transferring your website’s files and database to the new server, and updating your domain’s DNS settings to point to the new host. Most reputable hosting providers offer migration services to assist with this process.

What is a domain name, and do I get one with my web hosting service?

A domain name is the address that people use to access your website on the internet, such as “www.example.com.” Many web hosting providers offer a free domain name registration as part of their hosting packages for the first year. After the first year, you will need to renew your domain registration annually at the market rate.

What is data transfer and storage space in web hosting?

Storage space is the amount of server space available to store your web files. Data transfer, is the amount of data allowed to be transferred between your hosting account and users.

Article by Jerry Low

Jerry Low has immersed himself in web technologies for over a decade and has built many successful sites from scratch. He is a self-professed geek who has made it his life’s ambition to keep the web hosting industry honest. For latest personal updates and news, follow Jerry on Facebook and Twitter.
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