This is part 2 of my hosting series. For when free hosting beats paid options, read part 1 here: /blog/hosting-options-comparison.

Disclosure. I have personally used DreamHost, Cloudflare Pages, and GitHub Pages for personal projects. Everything else here is summarized from current product pages and docs. I link to official references so you can verify limits and terms.

Shared hosting in 2025

DreamHost

• Features: custom control panel, shared and WordPress plans, SSL, privacy on domains, website builder
• Pros: long money back window, transparent pricing, strong privacy stance
• Tradeoffs: email not included on entry shared plan, no cPanel
• Official: https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/shared/

Bluehost

• Features: shared and WordPress plans, cPanel, free domain year one, SSL
• Pros: WordPress org recommended, beginner friendly setup, broad help docs
• Tradeoffs: higher renewals than intro price, paid site migration on many plans
• Official: https://www.bluehost.com/hosting/shared

SiteGround

• Features: Site Tools panel, daily backups, CDN, staging on higher tiers
• Pros: quick support, performance focused defaults, managed WordPress features
• Tradeoffs: limited storage on entry plans, higher renewal pricing
• Official: https://www.siteground.com/shared-hosting.htm

Hostinger

• Features: hPanel, LiteSpeed stack, SSL, weekly backups on many tiers
• Pros: low entry pricing, simple dashboard, decent global footprint
• Tradeoffs: best pricing needs long term, some features only on higher tiers
• Official: https://www.hostinger.com/web-hosting

GoDaddy

• Features: cPanel based Linux hosting, domain and email add ons, SSL
• Pros: one account for domains, DNS, email, and hosting
• Tradeoffs: frequent upsells, check renewals and add on pricing closely
• Official: https://www.godaddy.com/hosting/web-hosting

VPS and developer focused hosts

More control, better price to performance than shared, you manage more of the stack.

DigitalOcean

• Features: Droplets, managed databases, object storage, API and Terraform
• Pros: predictable pricing, strong docs, simple developer UX
• Tradeoffs: self managed by default, support tiers vary by plan
• Official: https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets

Vultr

• Features: many regions, compute types, block storage, bare metal options
• Pros: wide location coverage, flexible instance sizes
• Tradeoffs: self managed, backups and snapshots are extra
• Official: https://www.vultr.com/pricing/

Akamai Linode

• Features: shared and dedicated CPU, volumes, load balancers, mature API
• Pros: flat and readable pricing, strong documentation
• Tradeoffs: self managed, fewer managed services than big cloud
• Official: https://www.linode.com/pricing/

Hetzner

• Features: cloud instances, volumes, private networking, snapshots
• Pros: standout price to performance in EU and some US regions
• Tradeoffs: fewer global regions than DO or Vultr, self managed
• Official: https://www.hetzner.com/cloud

OVHcloud

• Features: VPS and public cloud, anti DDoS, many EU locations
• Pros: competitive network pricing, broad catalog
• Tradeoffs: support and UX vary by product, self managed
• Official: https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/vps/

Jamstack and static platforms

Git based deploys, CDN by default, great for sites that do not need servers.

Cloudflare Pages

• Features: static hosting, git integrations, automatic HTTPS, global CDN
• Pros: generous free tier, easy custom domains, part of Cloudflare stack
• Tradeoffs: build time and minutes have plan limits, server side needs Workers
• Official: https://developers.cloudflare.com/pages/

Netlify

• Features: git deploys, functions, forms, image and edge add ons
• Pros: integrated workflow from repo to CDN, preview deploys
• Tradeoffs: free tier limits on bandwidth and build minutes, usage based costs
• Official: https://www.netlify.com/pricing/

Vercel

• Features: framework aware builds, serverless and edge functions, previews
• Pros: strong experience with Next and modern frontends
• Tradeoffs: free tier limits apply, team features on paid plans
• Official: https://vercel.com/pricing

GitHub Pages

• Features: static hosting from repo, Jekyll support, HTTPS
• Pros: free for public repos, simple for docs and personal sites
• Tradeoffs: static only, usage limits apply
• Official: https://docs.github.com/pages

Firebase Hosting

• Features: SSL, CDN, custom domains, tight Firebase integration
• Pros: simple for SPAs and apps using Firebase
• Tradeoffs: storage and bandwidth limits by plan, lock in to Google tooling
• Official: https://firebase.google.com/docs/hosting

Big cloud for small projects

Managed services that feel lighter than raw compute.

AWS Lightsail

• Features: simplified instances, managed databases, load balancers, snapshots
• Pros: predictable bundles, easy path to broader AWS
• Tradeoffs: fewer instance shapes than EC2, watch regional pricing
• Official: https://aws.amazon.com/lightsail/pricing/

Google Cloud Run

• Features: serverless containers, scale to zero, HTTP and events
• Pros: no servers to manage, per request billing
• Tradeoffs: request time and concurrency limits, cold start concerns for some apps
• Official: https://cloud.google.com/run/pricing

Azure App Service

• Features: managed web apps, slots, autoscale, runtime choice
• Pros: quick deploys, integrated logs and auth options
• Tradeoffs: plan sizing matters for performance, limits by tier
• Official: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/app-service

Oracle Cloud Always Free

• Features: always free compute, storage, networking, databases
• Pros: useful for learning and tiny services at zero cost
• Tradeoffs: capacity varies by region, quotas are strict
• Official: https://www.oracle.com/cloud/free/

IBM Cloud Code Engine

• Features: serverless containers, batch jobs, event driven runs
• Pros: simple container to URL model, per use billing
• Tradeoffs: regional availability and limits vary, fewer regions than big three
• Official: https://cloud.ibm.com/codeengine/pricing

Evaluation checklist

Use this to compare options without oversimplifying to one best pick.

• Fit
  • WordPress or static or custom app
  • Region coverage your users need
  • Managed features you want to offload
• Limits
  • Build minutes and bandwidth on static platforms
  • Email, backups, staging, storage on shared hosts
  • Snapshot, egress, and support on VPS
• Pricing
  • Renewal rates vs intro price on shared hosts
  • Per GB and per operation costs on static and cloud
  • Backup, snapshot, and data transfer line items
• Vendor lock in
  • Proprietary panels and features
  • Path to migrate out if you grow
• Support
  • Channels included on your plan
  • SLAs and escalation paths

Notes

• Pricing and limits change often. Always confirm on the official links above.
• If you are not sure you need servers, start with the static section and the part 1 article. It is cheaper, faster, and simpler for many sites.