The Top 11 Australian Web Hosting Companies Ranked

Looking for the top web hosting services in Australia? In this article, we’ll explore the top 11 hosting providers in Australia, catering to the needs of individuals and business owners alike. Whether you’re seeking cheap web hosting or the best web hosting Australia has to offer, we’ve got you covered.

With features like unlimited bandwidth, daily backups, and free domain names, hosting companies like DreamHost, BlueHost, and InMotion make it easy to get started with your dream website. From cloud web hosting and WordPress web hosting to dedicated hosting, these providers can offer solutions tailored to your specific requirements. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, read on to find the perfect hosting plan for your target audience.

The Top 11 Australian Web Hosting Companies Ranked

While there are hundreds of web hosts for Australia, picking the good from the bad is a difficult task. Thankfully, we’ve done the work for you, boiling it down to a list of the top 11 Australian web hosting companies:

1. DreamHost — With over 20 years of experience, this web host is a highly regarded provider offering a range of services. Prioritises reliability, ensuring 100% uptime and optimised performance.
2. BlueHost — A reliable and user-friendly web hosting provider offering robust features and affordable plans. With a simple website builder and WordPress integration, it provides an easy solution for building websites.
3. InMotion — Offers a diverse range of hosting options. Its shared plans are well-priced and feature-rich and come with unlimited data transfers and free SSL.
4. Liquid Web — This premium web hosting provider specialises in high-performance hosting solutions. With generous resources, customisable plans, and reliable support, it caters to businesses and individuals with specific scalability needs.
5. A2 Hosting — A reputable web hosting provider known for its performance-driven solutions for individuals, small businesses, and enterprises. Its user-friendly control panel simplifies website management, and it offers optimised WordPress hosting with one-click installations.
6. Inter Server — With outstanding customer support available 24/7, a user-friendly control panel, and one-click installations for popular CMS platforms like WordPress, this web host ensures a seamless hosting experience. Its hosting plans come with generous resources and scalability options.
7. IONOS — A versatile web hosting provider offering a range of hosting packages. Its cloud hosting and dedicated hosting options cater to enterprise needs, while managed WordPress hosting is painless and hassle-free.
8. HostArmada — With nine data centres worldwide, this firm prioritises speed and performance. Its Australian data server caters to the nation and ensures optimal website loading speeds.
9. NameCheap — A renowned domain registrar that offers cost-effective hosting services. Provides free domain registration, cPanel, unmetered bandwidth, and a free website builder.
10. Domain.com — This reliable web hosting service is known for its user-friendly shared hosting packages. Its plans offer unlimited disk space, monthly data transfers, and email accounts and are great for beginners.
11. HostPapa — A highly rated web hosting service known for its affordability and exceptional one-on-one support. Maintains a commitment to sustainability as a certified green hosting provider, which is powered by renewable energy sources.

The Best Australia Hosting Options Reviewed

Here are our reviews of the best web hosting solutions for Australia today, listing their features, pricing, and pros and cons.

1. DreamHost — Our Number One Choice for Web Hosting in Australia

DreamHost is our most highly recommended web hosting provider, offering a wide range of web hosting services in Australia and worldwide. Delivering outstanding web hosting since 1996, DreamHost has established itself as one of the best web hosting companies, known for its reliability and high levels of customer satisfaction. Its hosting plans satisfy a wide range of needs, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting.

DreamHost’s shared hosting plans are a great place to start if you’ve never run a website before. You’ll get free domain registration with the plan.

WordPress comes preinstalled by default, which saves you the headache of setting it up yourself and allows you to get right to creating your website. DreamHost’s WP Website Builder takes a lot of the stress out of the process by providing an easy-to-use creation wizard and a drag-and-drop editor to tailor the details without needing in-depth technical knowledge.

If you’re just interested in a WordPress website and don’t care about extras, DreamHost offers specialised WordPress web hosting plans, providing optimised performance and convenient one-click installations.

Something else that sets DreamHost apart is its 100% uptime guarantee. The firm takes proactive measures to minimise downtime, ensuring that your website remains accessible to visitors at all times. If your website goes down for any reason, you’ll be reimbursed by up to 10% of your monthly hosting bill.

DreamHost excels in its performance. It utilises solid-state drives and caching mechanisms to optimise website loading speed. This attention to performance translates into a smoother browsing experience for your visitors and can positively impact search engine rankings.

DreamHost’s customer support specialises in providing support for WordPress-based issues, but there’s also a comprehensive knowledge base if you want to take a shot at fixing your issue yourself. The support team is available 24/7 through various channels, including live chat, email, and a community forum. The only negative we can really find is that there’s no phone support, and the free domain you get can’t be an .au domain.

Pricing

While DreamHost’s pricing may not be the lowest available, it offers competitive pricing for its hosting plans. The Shared Starter hosting plan starts at $2.59 a month and comes with unlimited data transfers and 30GB of website storage, which is more than enough for a new website. Unfortunately, the Shared Starter plan lacks email, while the Shared Unlimited plan at $3.95 a month includes email and allows for unlimited website storage.

2. BlueHost — Easy WordPress Setup

BlueHost is a widely recognised web hosting provider that has been serving customers since 2003. Known for its reliability, user-friendly interface, and robust features, BlueHost has become a popular choice for individuals and businesses alike. It is a stable, easy-to-use, and affordable service that makes building websites easy, with a simple website builder and WordPress integration.

BlueHost provides three Linux-based packages for WordPress hosting that come at the same price as its shared hosting plans. It also offers managed WordPress plans with additional features such as SEO tools, live chat support, and staging areas.

BlueHost boasts powerful servers and a solid network infrastructure, which contribute to a stable hosting environment for your website – something that’s crucial for online and e-commerce businesses.

The company’s scalable hosting options allow you to easily upgrade resources as your website grows and gets more traffic. The Basic shared hosting package includes a free domain name, 10GB of storage, unlimited monthly data transfers, and five email addresses.

BlueHost also offers VPS and dedicated hosting options for more power and higher traffic volumes. However, it’s worth noting that BlueHost does not offer reseller hosting or cloud hosting.

The user-friendly control panel makes it easy to manage your hosting account and website settings. It is intuitive and provides convenient access to features such as domain management, email setup, e-commerce tools, and website statistics. BlueHost also offers one-click installations for popular CMS platforms like WordPress, simplifying the process of setting up and managing your website.

Pricing

Bluehost offers competitive hosting plans, which start at only $2.95 a month for shared hosting. It provides value-added extras such as a free domain name and SSL certificate for the first year, a free content delivery network, and a range of custom WordPress themes. You can also save 40% across the board by buying a 36-month plan. All of this makes it a great addition for your business, alongside your e-commerce and VoIP toolset.

3. InMotion — Fast, Secure, and Reliable

InMotion Hosting has been in operation since 2001, offering a wide range of features and hosting options.

InMotion’s shared web hosting plans are reasonably priced and well-rounded. It offers unlimited monthly data transfers, free SSL, and a free domain. However, most shared hosting plans require an annual contract, and monthly payment options are not available for all plans.

For VPS hosting, InMotion offers managed and unmanaged cloud VPS options. If you’re more interested in dedicated web hosting, InMotion provides powerful dedicated servers with the latest Intel Xeon tech and various Linux OS options.

InMotion’s WordPress hosting plans offer solid packages specifically optimised for WordPress websites. The servers come with WordPress preinstalled, website staging, automatic software updates, and performance enhancements. This is a great first step to maintaining the security of your WordPress site.

Setting up a website with InMotion is a straightforward process, although the website builder’s design options may appear a little dated. InMotion offers e-commerce options such as OpenCart and PrestaShop, but they are only available on higher-tier plans.

Security is a priority for InMotion Hosting, and it employs advanced measures to protect your website and data. This includes DDoS protection, malware scanning, and automatic backups. These security features contribute to a secure hosting environment and help safeguard your website against potential threats.

Pricing

InMotion offers a good balance of features and value at $2.99 a month for the core shared hosting plan. No matter which plan you choose, you’ll get SSL for free – forever. The core package also lets you host two different websites and up to ten email addresses for no extra cost. It’s an ideal choice for cheap website hosting.

4. Liquid Web — Premium Web Hosting

Liquid Web is a premium web hosting provider that’s been in business since 1997. It caters to businesses and individuals with high-performance hosting needs and high uptime requirements.

With a variety of hosting options available, including dedicated servers, VPS hosting, cloud hosting, and managed WordPress hosting, Liquid Web allows users to choose the solution that best suits their specific requirements and scalability needs. These hosting plans come with generous resources, ample storage space and bandwidth, and dedicated IP addresses.

For WordPress users, Liquid Web offers managed WordPress hosting with preinstalled CMS and one-click installs. It provides several tiers of hosting plans with automatic updates, access to plugins, and customisable themes.

Cloud hosting is another option offered by Liquid Web, providing flexible configurations and resources shared across multiple servers. While its cloud hosting options are powerful, they do come at a higher price point compared to other providers.

For those interested in reseller hosting, Liquid Web provides reseller plans with the option to apply your own branding. It offers reseller packages for both Linux and Windows servers, backed by 24/7 technical support.

It’s important to note that Liquid Web does not offer shared hosting plans, which may be a drawback for individuals and small businesses seeking more affordable options. If you’re looking for cheap hosting, you’re limited to managed WordPress installs.

Pricing

Liquid Web is more expensive than any other provider on our list, as it doesn’t offer shared hosting, and its managed WordPress plans start at $7.60. However, you’re paying for 24/7 support and automated website management that optimises your WordPress content for fast loading. Even the basic packages come with unlimited email accounts and 30-day backups in case anything goes wrong.

5. A2 Hosting — Makes WordPress Easy

A2 Hosting is a leading web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting solutions designed to meet the needs of individuals, small businesses, and enterprises.

A2 Hosting uses high-performance servers, solid-state drives, and advanced caching mechanisms to deliver fast website loading times. A2 Hosting also offers various optimisation features, such as HTTP/2 and GZIP compression, which contribute to improved performance.

A2 Hosting makes website development easy, thanks to a user-friendly control panel that allows straightforward management of your hosting account and website settings. It uses the cPanel control panel, which offers an intuitive interface and a wide range of features for website administration.

A2 provides cloud hosting with multiple tiers, but it is limited to the Linux operating system. It offers e-commerce tools such as PrestaShop, OpenCart, and WooCommerce for creating online stores. It also provides SSL certificates for secure online transactions, starting at $49.95 annually.

When it comes to WordPress hosting, A2’s shared WordPress hosting plans are identical to its shared web hosting plans but with optimised environments for faster page loading. A2 Hosting makes it easy with one-click installations for popular CMS platforms. It also offers unmanaged WordPress servers for a more hands-off approach to updates and patches at a reduced price.

For VPS hosting, A2 offers both managed and unmanaged options. The unmanaged VPS plans provide a range of resources and allow for customisation, while the managed VPS plans include HostGuard Management service for easier server management.

Pricing

A2 Hosting is in the middle of the pack at $2.99 a month. It has a variety of hosting options, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers, allowing you to choose the solution that best fits your needs and budget.

6. Inter Server — Stellar Customer Service

Inter Server is a reputable web hosting provider that has been serving customers since 1999. Inter Server offers a comprehensive range of hosting options, including shared, managed WordPress, reseller, VPS, dedicated server, and colocation hosting services.

Customer support is where Inter Server excels. It offers 24/7 support through various channels, including live chat, phone, and a ticketing system. Its knowledge base includes over 400 step-by-step tutorials, a FAQ section, YouTube video guides, and a community forum, providing extensive resources for users.

Inter Server provides a user-friendly control panel that simplifies the management of your hosting account and website settings. It uses the popular cPanel control panel, which offers a familiar interface and a wide range of features for easy website administration. Advanced hosting plans also offer options like CloudLinux, DirectAdmin, and Plesk at an extra cost.

Inter Server also offers one-click installations for popular CMS platforms like WordPress, making it convenient to set up and manage your website. The Softaculous one-click installation tool allows easy installation of WordPress and over 400 other apps. Additionally, Inter Server offers a drag-and-drop website builder from SitePad at no additional cost.

Inter Server’s hosting plans come with generous resources, including ample storage space, bandwidth, and email accounts. It offers scalable hosting solutions, allowing you to choose the solution that best suits your needs and scalability requirements.

While its data centres are limited to the US, Inter Server’s performance is impressive, with a page loading time well below the average and a minimum uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

Pricing

Inter Server’s entry-level package starts at $2.50 per month and includes unlimited storage, data transfer, FTP, and email accounts, providing great value for money. However, domain names are not free and cost $7.99 for the first year. WHOIS privacy protection is available for an additional $5.00 per year to protect your personal information.

7. IONOS — Great Cloud Hosting Options

IONOS is a web hosting provider that offers a variety of hosting packages, including shared, VPS, WordPress, and dedicated hosting. It caters to both small businesses and enterprise customers, offering robust packages at competitive prices.

Shared web hosting is an affordable option, and IONOS provides flexible pricing based on monthly, multi-month, or annual plans. Its Linux-based servers are reliable and offer essential features like 10GB of storage, an email account, and the ability to handle 50 visitors per minute.

For those who need more power, VPS hosting is a step up from shared hosting. IONOS offers cloud-powered VPS plans starting at $2 per month, with up to 12GB of RAM and 240GB of storage.

IONOS offers a user-friendly control panel that simplifies the management of your hosting account and website settings. Its control panel provides a straightforward interface and intuitive access to features such as domain management, email setup, and website statistics. Additionally, IONOS offers one-click installations for popular CMS platforms like WordPress, making it easy to set up and manage your website.

Cloud hosting is another strong suit of IONOS. Its managed and unmanaged cloud hosting plans start at $0.0056 per hour, with customisable options available. The company excels in providing feature-rich cloud hosting at affordable prices, making it an excellent choice for enterprise-class hosting needs.

Dedicated hosting is the most powerful option, and IONOS offers four Linux-based plans with varying specifications and prices. The plans include Sitelock malware protection and the RailGun content delivery network.

Pricing

Web hosting on IONOS starts at $4 for the Essential package, which grants you 10GB of storage, a free domain for one year, and a free SSL certificate and email access. However, it offers a promotional package for Plus hosting at only $1 a year for the first twelve months, which lets you host unlimited sites with unlimited storage.

8. HostArmada — Great Australian Hosting Services

HostArmada is a relatively new web hosting provider that has quickly gained attention for its reliable hosting services and customer-centric approach. It operates nine data centres in various countries, including Australia, ensuring fast and reliable performance for users worldwide.

It prioritises speed and uses powerful cloud technology, native SSD platforms, redundant networks, and the latest AMD CPUs to ensure excellent performance. The firm uses cutting-edge technologies like SSD storage, LiteSpeed web servers, and caching mechanisms to ensure fast website loading times and optimised performance. However, it only guarantees 99.9% uptime.

HostArmada hosts an Australian data server and understands the specific requirements you need when looking for an Australian web hosting provider. It offers web hosting services tailored to the needs of Australian business owners, ensuring reliable performance and optimal website loading speeds.

HostArmada offers a user-friendly control panel that simplifies website management. It uses the popular cPanel control panel, which provides an intuitive interface and a wide range of features for easy website administration.

HostArmada also offers one-click installations for popular CMS platforms like WordPress, making it convenient to set up and manage your website. Its intuitive dashboard enables you to manage your account information, hosting services, email accounts, domains, and more.

HostArmada’s competitive hosting plans with transparent and affordable pricing structures. It has a variety of hosting options on offer, including shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated CPU servers, and development-oriented hosting solutions.

All of these packages come with a money-back guarantee. Unfortunately, HostArmada’s prices increase significantly upon renewal, so watch what you’re paying once the introductory offer expires.

Pricing

HostArmada provides some of the best website hosting Australia has to offer for a dirt-cheap price. Shared web hosting starts at $2.99 for 15GB SSD storage on one website, which includes free SSL, seven daily backups, and a whole range of security features, including malware scans and an IP firewall.

9. NameCheap — Cheap Web Hosting

NameCheap is a well-known domain registrar that also offers hosting services to individuals and businesses.

The provider offers hosting plans at competitive prices, making it an attractive option for those on a budget. NameCheap’s hosting plans provide a good balance of features and resources, catering to different needs and website sizes.

NameCheap’s hosting platform is designed with user-friendliness in mind. It provides a user-friendly control panel that simplifies website management tasks. The control panel offers an intuitive interface and easy access to essential features like domain management, email setup, and file management.

WordPress hosting plans are optimised for faster loading times, and reseller hosting allows users to sell hosting plans under their own brand name. It also provides free website migrations, making it easier to switch to its hosting services without experiencing downtime.

However, there are some downsides to consider. Namecheap lacks phone support and has limited data centres, which can impact performance for users located outside the US and UK.

Pricing

Namecheap’s introductory rates are as low as $1.98 per month for the first year. A domain name and SSL are included in the first-year pricing, and 24/7 live support is available. Namecheap also provides a 100% uptime guarantee on certain plans, with compensation on your bill if it fails to meet this guarantee. However, the renewal costs increase significantly after the introductory period, which may be a concern for long-term hosting.

10. Domain.com — Ideal For Starting a New Website

Domain.com is a reliable web hosting service that offers a range of hosting options suitable for beginners. While it lacks advanced hosting features and flexible plan offerings compared to top competitors, it provides a useful suite of tools for building and managing websites.

Domain.com’s real strength is its shared hosting packages, which are well-suited for small businesses and individuals. The entry-level Basic plan includes unlimited disk space, monthly data transfers, email inboxes, and the ability to host a single site.

For WordPress users, Domain.com offers two hosting plans: WP Starter and WP Essential. These plans provide unlimited storage, monthly data transfers, and email. The WP Essential plan includes expert WordPress support, automatic malware removal, and enhanced site security. However, Domain.com doesn’t offer discounts for annual sign-ups, unlike some competitors.

Domain.com provides a user-friendly website builder with drag-and-drop functionality, allowing users to easily create attractive websites. The plans include unlimited storage and a free SSL certificate for added security. Alternatively, there’s also Weebly, another website builder that offers more flexibility with custom themes and password-protected pages.

Domain.com treats security seriously, with 24/7 network monitoring, DDoS protection, and SSL support. These features ensure the safety of your websites and protect sensitive information, particularly if you’re running online stores.

However, Domain.com does have some limitations. It doesn’t offer cloud, VPS, dedicated, or reseller server options, limiting scalability for growing businesses. Additionally, there are no Windows-based server options available.

Pricing

Domain.com’s basic hosting package starts at $3.75 a month, which gives you unlimited storage and scalable bandwidth on one website. You’ll also get hosting for 10 SQL databases, a free domain for the first year, and a free SSL certificate forever. Domain.com also has a flexible cancellation policy, allowing users to cancel their hosting package anytime and receive a refund for the remaining payment term.

11. HostPapa — Green Hosting with Fantastic Customer Support

HostPapa is a highly-rated web hosting service that offers affordable plans and stands out with its one-on-one support and training.

What sets HostPapa apart is its commitment to sustainability. It is a certified green hosting provider that uses renewable energy sources to power its data centres and reduce its carbon footprint. By choosing HostPapa, you can support environmentally friendly hosting practices and contribute to a greener future.

HostPapa’s plans come with a variety of features and inclusions. The lower-tier plans include a starter website builder and allow up to two pages, while the higher-tier plans offer the Business Website Builder with support for up to 1,000 pages. All plans come with an SSL certificate, free email addresses, free domain registration, and free website migration. HostPapa also provides a user-friendly cPanel for managing website features and settings.

HostPapa uses Imunify360, a security solution for web servers, to protect against various threats. The higher-tier plans come with enhanced security features such as free automated backups, basic website protection, and daily malware scans.

Customer service and support from HostPapa is good, with quick responses and helpful assistance through live chat, email, and phone. We’re a fan of the free 30-minute one-on-one training sessions HostPapa uses for setting up websites, as well as video tutorials for learning in your own time.

It’s worth noting that HostPapa does offer some expensive add-ons at checkout, which can increase the overall cost. These include paid SSL certificates, website backups, and additional services like PapaCare+ for customised support.

Pricing

HostPapa’s pricing starts at $2.95 per month for the Start plan (with a three-year commitment) and goes up to $39.99 per month for the Ultra plan, which includes unlimited storage. The company also provides a 30-day money-back guarantee and an uptime guarantee of 99.90%.

Comparison of the Best Hosting Services for Australian Websites

Here is a comparison table of the key features of each of the top 11 best hosting providers for Australia so you can see what they offer at a glance.

What is Web Hosting, and How Does it Work?

Web hosting is a service that allows individuals and businesses to make their websites accessible on the internet. When you have a website, you need a place to store your website files, data, and other resources. That’s where web hosting comes in.

To make your website accessible, you also need to register a domain name and connect it to your web hosting server using DNS settings. This process allows users to reach your website by typing your domain name into their browser.

What Type of Web Hosting Should I Choose?

The type of web hosting you should choose depends on your specific needs, budget, and technical requirements. Here are some common types of web hosting to consider:

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is an affordable option where multiple websites share resources on a single server. It is suitable for small to medium-sized websites with moderate traffic and limited technical requirements. However, since resources are shared, performance may be affected if other websites on the server experience high traffic.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

VPS hosting provides more resources and flexibility than shared hosting. It partitions a physical server into multiple virtual servers, giving each website a dedicated portion of resources. VPS hosting is suitable for websites with higher traffic, resource-intensive applications, and greater control over server configurations.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting offers an entire physical server dedicated solely to your website. It provides maximum control, customisation, and performance. Dedicated hosting is suitable for large websites, high-traffic e-commerce platforms, and applications that require extensive resources and security.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting works on a network of interconnected servers to distribute resources and handle traffic spikes effectively. It offers scalability, flexibility, and high uptime. Cloud hosting is suitable for websites with unpredictable traffic patterns, rapid growth, and the need for scalability.

Managed WordPress Hosting

Managed WordPress hosting is specifically optimised for WordPress websites. It provides enhanced performance, security, automatic updates, and specialised support for WordPress. This type of hosting is suitable for WordPress users who prefer a hassle-free experience and want to focus on content creation rather than server management. You can check out our recommendations for the best WordPress hosting.

Other Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Web Hosting Service

In addition to the type of web hosting, there are several other factors to consider when choosing the best web hosting service for your needs. These factors include:

Reliability and Uptime

Look for a web hosting provider that offers a reliable infrastructure and high uptime guarantee. A reliable hosting service ensures that your website is accessible to visitors consistently without frequent downtime.

Performance and Speed

Website loading speed is crucial for user experience and search engine optimisation. Choose a hosting provider that uses fast servers, offers solid-state drives (SSDs), and employs caching mechanisms to optimise website performance.

Scalability

Consider your website’s growth potential and whether the hosting provider offers scalable solutions. Scalable hosting allows you to easily upgrade or downgrade your resources as your website’s needs change over time.

Security Measures

Website security is vital to protect your data and visitors’ information. Look for a hosting provider that offers robust security measures such as firewalls, malware scanning, SSL certificates, regular backups, and secure data centres. Most good hosting providers will protect against the OWASP Top Ten online threats.

Customer Support

Reliable customer support is crucial in case you encounter technical issues or have questions. Ensure the hosting provider offers responsive and knowledgeable customer support through various channels like live chat, phone, or email.

Pricing and Value

Compare the pricing structures of different hosting providers and evaluate the value they offer. Consider factors such as features, resources, performance, security, and customer support in relation to the price. Some sites offer free website hosting, but you generally get what you pay for.

Control Panel and Ease of Use

A user-friendly control panel, such as cPanel or Plesk, can simplify website management tasks. Ensure the hosting provider offers an intuitive control panel and easy-to-use interface for convenient website administration.

Reputation and Reviews

Research the reputation of the hosting provider by reading customer reviews and testimonials. Look for feedback on the firm’s reliability, customer support, and overall satisfaction.

Additional Features

Consider any specific features or extras you may require, such as one-click installations for popular CMS platforms, email accounts, e-commerce functionality, content delivery network integration, or website builder tools.

Web Hosting Australia FAQs

Sam Dawson

Sam Dawson

Sam is a cybersecurity researcher working in the field of hardware security and AI-driven penetration testing. He has spent the last few years contemplating some of the ways in which computers have been built wrong, and how we can possibly detect those flaws. When not stressing out over arcane details of computer hardware, Sam can be found advocating for data privacy in his spare time.

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