GET TO THE POINT
Here's a list of what I consider *quality* hosting providers. I compiled this list after extensive research on WHT. If you just want to see the list, skip the "LONG STORY" and "MY BACKGROUND".
LONG STORY
I've seen a number of posts where people are asking for host provider suggestions. It seems that people are either starting out and don't know where to go or they had a bad experience. Well, not too long ago, I scoured WHT (Web Hosting Talk) for information about hosting providers. I read review after review and categorized about 40-50 providers. I spent an incredible amount of time reading tons of reviews and comment threads. As a result, I compiled my list into 3 tiers. Since finding *quality* providers seems to be difficult, I thought I'd share my list of what I consider to be high quality providers.
Because I've seen BlueHost, Hostgator and VPSLand come up a lot around the forum, I have included them here for comparison.
However, note the following:
All the others on the list had large amounts of consistently high feedback and extensive community praise. I was NOT looking for budget/cheap providers, so if you simply want low cost you should look elsewhere. For reference, I am using an Innohosting Reseller package and couldn't be more pleased.
I don't consider this list to be the end-all-be-all list. There are way too many providers out there and plenty of good ones on this board, so use this as a tool to help with your own research.
MY BACKGROUND
I'm an 20+ year IT professional who considers technology a hobby as well. I also like to research things to the point of near exhaustion. While I don't have any personal experience with most of these companies, I am confident in my research and regularly recommend these companies when asked. I would not hesitate to use any of them for my own hosting (except, BlueHost, Hostgator and possibly VPSLand for reasons mentioned above).
THE LIST
The list is not intended to be comprehensive. I tried to pick similar plans in each category so it would be easier to compare. Most providers have multiple options and addons.
Hope somebody finds this information helpful.
Here's a list of what I consider *quality* hosting providers. I compiled this list after extensive research on WHT. If you just want to see the list, skip the "LONG STORY" and "MY BACKGROUND".
LONG STORY
I've seen a number of posts where people are asking for host provider suggestions. It seems that people are either starting out and don't know where to go or they had a bad experience. Well, not too long ago, I scoured WHT (Web Hosting Talk) for information about hosting providers. I read review after review and categorized about 40-50 providers. I spent an incredible amount of time reading tons of reviews and comment threads. As a result, I compiled my list into 3 tiers. Since finding *quality* providers seems to be difficult, I thought I'd share my list of what I consider to be high quality providers.
Because I've seen BlueHost, Hostgator and VPSLand come up a lot around the forum, I have included them here for comparison.
However, note the following:
- BlueHost: I did not come accross BlueHost in my research so consider them "unranked".
- Hostgator: Ranked in the 3rd tier (out of 3 tiers) of providers. This was mostly due to the large quantity of customer complaints.
- VPSLand: Ranked in the 2nd tier (out of 3 tiers) of providers. This was mostly due to the lack of enough comments to support a top teir ranking, although the feedback received was very favorable.
All the others on the list had large amounts of consistently high feedback and extensive community praise. I was NOT looking for budget/cheap providers, so if you simply want low cost you should look elsewhere. For reference, I am using an Innohosting Reseller package and couldn't be more pleased.
I don't consider this list to be the end-all-be-all list. There are way too many providers out there and plenty of good ones on this board, so use this as a tool to help with your own research.
MY BACKGROUND
I'm an 20+ year IT professional who considers technology a hobby as well. I also like to research things to the point of near exhaustion. While I don't have any personal experience with most of these companies, I am confident in my research and regularly recommend these companies when asked. I would not hesitate to use any of them for my own hosting (except, BlueHost, Hostgator and possibly VPSLand for reasons mentioned above).
THE LIST
The list is not intended to be comprehensive. I tried to pick similar plans in each category so it would be easier to compare. Most providers have multiple options and addons.
Hope somebody finds this information helpful.
Code:
LINUX SHARED
Name Price Space B-Width Dom UK?
BlueHost-Shared++ $6.95 Unlim Unlim Unlim ?
Downtown Host-Bronze $7.95 10GB 200GB Unlim Yes
Hostgator-Baby++ $7.96 Unlim Unlim Unlim ?
Innohosting-E-commerce $14.99 10GB 250GB 15 Yes
WINDOWS SHARED
Name Price Space B-Width Dom UK?
EasyCGI $7.96 350GB 3500GB Unlim ?
RESELLER
Name Price Space B-Width IP UK
DowntownHost-Bronze $32.95 20GB 200GB 3 Yes
Hostgator-Aluminum++ $24.95 50GB 500GB ? ?
Innohosting-Pro $26.95 15GB 250GB 1 Yes
LINUX VPS
Name Price Space B-Width IP RAM* UK?
Downtown Host-Bronze $19.95 10GB 200GB 2 384/768MB ?
Future Hosting-Gold $32.92 20GB 1000GB 2 512/512MB ?
Hostgator-Level 1++ $19.95 10GB 250GB 2 384/384MB ?
Innohosting $35.95 20GB 250GB 2 256/512MB Yes
InownHost-VS2 $35.00 40GB 2000GB 2 768/768MB No
SolarVPS-Nano $44.63 50GB 1000GB 3 768/768MB Yes**
VPSLand-Starter $18.00 10GB 250GB 1 512/768MB ?
WINDOWS VPS
Name Price Space B-Width IP RAM* UK?
SolarVPS-Giga $51.00 50GB 1000GB 3 1024MB No
VPSLand-Value $23.00 10GB 250GB 1 1024MB No
DEDICATED
Name Price Space B-Width IP RAM CPU UK?
Downtown Host-Bronze $220.00 2x1000GB 5000GB ? 4GB Core i3 ?
Future Hosting-Q9550 $169.95*** 1x1000GB 10000GB 4 8GB Q9550 ?
Hostgator-Elite++ $223.00 2x500GB 2500GB 13 4GB Xeon 3210 ?
KnownHost-DEDI-CP2 $209.00 2x250GB 5000GB 4 4GB Q9550 ?
SolarVPS-Q9450 $209.95**** 2x250GB 2000GB 5 2GB Q9450 ?
Note: Prices are monthly costs with 12mo pre-pay and counting for any current specials.
++ Included for comparison only...see "LONG STORY" for details.
* Normal/Burst
** Currently sold out
*** Special
**** Add $20-$25/mo for Windows OS.