Poll: Who Is the Best Web Host?

Mark, from those listed I believe MochaHost has cloud dedicated servers. Not so sure exactly which technology they use. Check them out.

Mark, I don't think any of these offers cloud hosting services. If you are sure you want your website to be cloud hosted, check Rackspace - http://www.rackspace.com, I heard they have good cloud offerings. If you need a host for a hot site, consider just buying dedicated server, don't rush into cloud just because it is a buzz topic these days.

Do any of these companies offer cloud hosting services. It is a hot topic these days and it seems like the way to go.

I don't know about fatcow support, but I might tell you good support is one of the most important things you should look for when buying hosting. No matter which host you would like to choose, check for reviews on their support.

How good is fatcow support? I heard a lot of opposite opinions and now I see them high on this poll. Are they good in terms of a support?

best,best, why do people look for best? There is no such thing as the best web hosting. I am using Hostgator, a lot of people consider them to be the best, but I sign up simple beacuse they offering suited my needs and the price was good.

Lot of beginners make the wrong choice by focusing too much on price. recently one friend ask me to suggest him a good web host under $1-2. Of course, I told him that he should raise the budget a bit. At least to $4-5 to get decent level of quality.

There are literary thousands of hosting companies it is often very hard to find the best one in all that mess. Especially for a new blogger like me. I've heard that free hosting services are not a good choice so I'm in the shopping process now. This poll helped me narrowing down my choices. Thanks!

The way I look at it, the best web host should be invisible. You choose it, sign up, set up auto payments and forget that it exist. They should handle all the updates and security and keep the server 100% time up and running. Unfortunately, often it is not like that. That's why I reported every host that I had problems with on several hosting review sites. On this poll I have voted for Powweb, I'm currently hosted with them and I'm totally satisfied with their service. Cheap, smooth and reliable, as the best web host should be.

How can a novice know if his host is a good host?

Offering something unlimited is overselling by definition. But if done carefully overselling doesn't have to have negative influence on any website on oversold server. Many hosts are simply overselling space and or bandwidth which would be left unused. So if they don go overboard with it, the only effect of their "unethical business practices" are lower prices. That's fine with me. I'd rather pay $5 per month than $10.

"best hosting companies" are all offering unlimited data transfer and unlimited space. One could suppose they are magicians. There is no unlimited bandwidth and space, only unlimited bullshit. READ THE FINE PRINT. if you plan to use a lot of resources on server like that (oversold server more often than not).

My primary concern when choosing the best web hosting for my websites is RAM/CPU. Those two will define site performance under heavy load. That's why I always use VPS or dedicated servers. maybe when cloud technology grow up I'll reconsider shared servers.

ha,ha, ha. it is very funny to mock at people who know less than you do.

Well, i'm sure some people use site builders. many people that want to build a website have no web developing experience and know nothing about html, css, and what the f... is php or mysql???? Some strange animals probably.

I don't understand why so many top hosts are promoting free site builders, do anyone use these software? I never met a webmaster who use site builders offered by web hosts.

Some best tips for choosing web hosting providers: be aware of your needs. Don't rush into signing up until you have thoroughly examined your current and future needs. You website maybe needs now only 512MB, but will it be so after six months? Beside space, there are other factors to consider: bandwidth, OS, control panel... I am used to CPanel, so I would never choose hosting company offering some other panel. Why would I? After all the choice is so big.
Second: Do read hosting reviews and visit few forums do find out if the company is known for having some problems. Just take all the reported problems with the grain of salt. It is too easy to give bad review. And good one too.
Finally: test support. Ask them few question before signing up to "test the waters". See how do they react. You can also ask some bit more technical questions to test their knowledge. Also ask them what plan would they recommend for your website. If they try to sell you more than you need, RUN AWAY FAST. As I said before, the choice is big.

I am using dreamhost and can say only the best about them.

here are my 5 cents:
Write down all the prerequisites you need: space, bandwidth, software applications, payment options
Collect hosting providers that satisfy your list.
Compare them based on: price, upgrade/downgrade options, support options, uptime stats
Narrow your list to the ones that seems better or more affordable.
Now you should have 3-4 providers on your list and now you can start reading reviews. You should read a lot of reviews because reviews are to read them but not to trust them. Bad reviews are given to good companies and vice verse so it is important to look for repeated problems. If you find 2 customers complaining about particular hosts tech support, that doesn't mean anything. Every company has few unsatisfied customers. But if you find 30 users complaining of bad support which doesn't know how to answer their questions or replies after more than 24 hours, than there's great possibility that the company in question doesn't take proper care of their clients.

Data transfer and space are two factors not important at all if you don't want to build video hosting site. Today almost every hosting company offers more resources than any average website needs.

Just Host would be a great choice. I am using them for the last 10 months. Very reliable company.

From my personal experience I can say cheap and best doesn't go hand in hand. hosting is not something you should save on. If you choose wisely, you can sign up, set payment subscription and forget that it exist.

Why is iPage missing from this poll? they are definitely one of the most popular low budget hosting companies. Plus they are excellent in every aspect.

Anyone here have some personal experience with CoolHandle? I like their offering but have read some negative reviews on the web so I am reluctant to use them.

Don't choose free hosting. They're not reliable and the support is usually equal to zero. You can find good service for $3 or $4 per month, that cannot be too much. That's one beer per month.

I would like to choose a free host for my new website and later on when my site grows I'll move it to paid one. Is there any reliable free solutions? Will I be able to change the host later on without loosing any content or domain? Any recommendations for a good free service?

I voted up PowWeb. They are very good webhost. My site is happily hosted with them for the past two years. no issues at all till now.

No, there is no hosting provider that will keep your site 100% of the time online. It is hardly achievable. Sooner or later there will be need for hardware or software upgrade or some other maintenance that will require server to go offline. The question is how often will that happen, and when it does happen how long will it last.

Is there any hosting company that can offer 100% uptime? I don't mean 100% uptime guarantee, but real 100% uptime?

I found that a lot of webmasters prefer hostgator. i don't understand that. they are too big company to provide really quality service. i guess everything is great untill the problems start popping out. Those largest hosts usually have problems with lack of quality support an performabnce problems due to overselling. they are too big to pay enough attention to one client/website.

Cloud and shared are not two types to compare. it is comparing apples and oranges. shared is the type of hosting, where resources are shared among all clients on the same server as opposite to VPS and dedicated server. cloud is technology of using multiple servers for multiple or one website. So shared hosting can be cloud enabled. So as the VPS and dedicated.

What's the difference between cloud hosting and shared?

Does any of these listed in the poll offer cloud hosting?

i am in the buying process right now. i have spent my last two days comparing hosting companies and reading reviews from varios sources. My top candidates are fatcow and hostgator. Can anyone tell me what differences may I expect form those two regarding support and uptimes?

all those cheap companies will give you cheap service. If you need rock solid solution be prepered to pay for it decently.

I need a host for my commercial site. with ecommerce cart and ssl cretificates. must be a secured server. any offers?

My advice for all people looking to buy a webhosting is don't focus too much on others experience. Find a host that looks good and releiable and give it a try. You will not go well by listening to others.

I valuate hosts on following criteria:
- features: does it have all the features I need
- support: is there phone support, forums, knowledge base
- server hardware
- upgrade options
- exceeding quota handling: you don't want your site to be shut down or pay unrealistic fees
- user reviews
- money back guarantee
- and lastly, price

Interesting poll! I was using FatCow in the past, they we're great. Now I'm with LunarPages, they are not on the list, but they are also very god.

Hi anonymous, if you follow guidelines and advices in these comments you will not make a bad choice. Juts right down your needs, find appropriate providers and then read reviews to check support and performance and that's it. And to admin if this website, wouldn't it be better to not allow posting comments without user name (anonymous)?

I voted for BlueHost. phenomenal host in my opinion. I host all of my 5 sites with them. However I agree with some comments, best is a subjective term.

You got that right, "Best" is a very vague way to define any service.

Best is a subjective term. Do you mean cheapest? Best hardware? Fastest support? Best features?... It's choice we should make on our own. No one can tell you go host with that company.

DownTownHost is the best for shared hosting.

Well there are lot of differences between these hosts and it's not true that all have the same features, but if you're needs are general like you need PHP and MySQl, and don't need for example Ruby on Rails and MS Access, yes then all of them will fulfill your tech needs completely. What often sets good host apart form not so good is customer support. Another biggie is server performance and density. some of them will oversell servers so your website might be unavailable in peak hours or load slowly. However you won't find that info on their websites. All of them advertise 24/7 support, but that doesn't mean that they have the same level of support. Somewhere you will get reply in 5 minutes, somewhere else after 5 hours. On the other hand, do you need 5 minute answer if it doesn't help?

I'm a bit confused with this. With this poll and with best 10 hosting sites and with this issue in general. While checking offerings from all this best web hosts I found that almost all of them offer the same features. All of them have unlimited bandwidth and space (LOL, I have large garage and can park unlimited number of cars), blogs CMSs included, site builder, support for PHP, Perl, MySQL, 24/7/365 support... What is the real difference between them?

If you need quality don't ever buy in bundle. Buy quality hosting form reputable company. Buy web development and design from company or individual (you can try freelance sites for this) who is specialized in this and only this. Buy domain from domain registrar like GoDaddy or Name.com (don't buy hosting form them, just domain). reagrding marketing, if you want quality service, and of course you do, be prepered to for your waklet to get wide open. I suugeest you not to waste time on freelancers for freelance sites on marketing, especially with link building. I have had negative experinece every time I decided to outsource link building to cheap freelancers. they did more harm than good.

What is the best company where you can get complete range of services: domain, hosting, design, web development and marketing services?

I agree with teddybear, it is good to test support before you click buy. But you cannot valuate post buy support with pre buy questions. You can get different level of quality and response time once you signed up.

poor customer support is the main reason for unsatisfied customers. That's way it is the most important aspect when buying. Read reviews, a lot of them form different sources and try evaluate: how fast is tech support? How knowledgeable are they? Is there a phone support so you can talk to actual people? All those are pretty important questions to investigate. It is also good to send few mails to support before buying to check their responsiveness and if they are going to try to sell you more than you need.