What is the Cheapest Web Hosting in South Africa?
The best and cheapest web hosting providers in South Africa are Hostinger, Mashjoy Hosting BlueHost, NameCheap, and DreamHost, amongst others. Jump to the full list↓
Now here’s the full list of 11 best web hosting providers in South Africa. Ranked and reviewed:
You’ll notice, most of the recommendations in this list are from international companies,
This is simply because all companies in this list offer fast, reliable cloud based hosting services on the internet. Plus outstanding customer support.
When you use cloud hosting, your website loads faster, and it’s safer from cyber-attacks and server problems, no matter where you live.
Also, the recommended web hosting South Africa companies in this list will give you all the things you need to host your website. They even offer free tools to build pages and market your site. Plus, their managed hosting prices are affordable.
These Features and Tools include:
Shared, VPS and Dedicated cloud servers (modern type of web hosting that is faster and more reliable). Startup plans which can host unlimited websites. Startup plans with enough storage or unlimited SSD storage. 24/7/365 Customer Support. 99.9% Uptime. 30 – 90 days money-back guarantee. Free Nightly backups. Free Domain. Free cPanel and updates (e.g. Free PhP versions updates) Free SSL certificate. Free WordPress Install. Free Content Delivery Network (CDN). Free Malware Scanning & Enhanced Web Security/Firewall. Email Spam Filtering.
✅ And even more… depending.
List of Best Website Hosting in South Africa
As an owner of a web hosting company with over five years of experience,
I used my knowledge and experience to provide you a list of the fast web hosting companies in South Africa.
I did not rank these providers by price, since prices change from time to time.
I ranked them mainly based on customer support, diversity of features and overall reliability for web host South Africa.
Now let us review each one by one:
Started in 2015, mashjoy.com is a website hosting company that prides itself on being fully equipped to help you host websites and emails with an edge against competition and cyber attacks.
With its range of convenient and free features, mashjoy.com is ideal for small to larger South African businesses who prefer customer support with a personal touch.
What We Like About mashjoy.com
mashjoy.com, is a true cloud-based web hosting platform that offers fast and reliable web hosting services with strong support for WordPress-based sites and those who need alot of “done for you” kind of customer support.
But that’s not all,
The company also provides free .co.za and .com domains with yearly hosting plans, 24/7 technical support, and free migrations.
In essence, mashjoy.com will help you get a stress-free onboarding experience with huge domain cost savings.
In terms of reliability and basics, mashjoy.com offers unlimited bandwidth, free nightly backups, and free SSL certificates to protect the private data of page visitors.
Second, The company prioritises security with its automated real-time website security that includes machine learning defense, real-time threat detection, and automated security patching.
This helps to prevent new web threats and attacks, ensuring that your website is protected 24/7.
Last, the company also provides full cPanel control, making it easy to install WordPress and build a website that fits your specific needs with all features just a click away.
The servers are always updated to the latest web hosting technologies for speed, security and keep up with the latest versions of WordPress. All at no extra cost.
mashjoy.com Pricing:
As you can see, Mashjoy Hosting is quite affordable, starting at just R49/mo with all standard features provided for free in each plan.
If your business is promising growth, I recommend starting out on the Business Plan package↗︎ since it provides up to 5GB of server storage and the flexibility to host up to 5 websites.
Final Verdict on mashjoy.com:
Mashjoy.com’s Web Hosting↗︎ is a reliable and secure web hosting company that offers a range of convenient and free features to small businesses and freelancers.
With a focus on reliability and customer support, 24/7 technical support, 24x7x365 uptime guarantee, and a strong emphasis on security,
Overall, with mashjoy.com, most of the features are 100% free, meaning you won’t be bothered with any unforeseen upsells when you are stuck.
Hostinger
Hostinger is a web hosting company that has been providing affordable and reliable hosting services to its customers since 2004.
Over the years, it has gained a reputation for being one of the best web hosting companies with over 1.5million users worldwide.
What We Like About Hostinger
Hostinger uses high-performance servers and employs advanced technologies to ensure fast and reliable website performance.
Here’s more of what makes them stand out:
First, Hostinger offers some of the most affordable web hosting plans in the market, with hosting plans from $1.99/mo (approx. R35/mo) up to $3.99/mo (Approx. R72/mo) with up to 200GB hosting space and up to 100 websites.
Second, They offer a wide range of products, including shared hosting, cloud hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers, to meet the needs of different customers.
Third, Hostinger provides 24/7 support and 30 days money back guarantee. Their support is thorugh through live chat, ticket system, and a wide library knowledge base tutorials and guides.
Last, Hostinger’s control panel is user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for users to manage their hosting accounts.
Hostinger Pricing:
Looking at Hostinger’s pricing, I recommend you start on the Premium Web Hosting Package at $2.99/month (roughly R55/month) since it provides you a free domain and free hosting for 3 months.
The $1.99/month (R36/month) plan is also fine, but you’re better off just investing an extra $1/month (R18/month) to start on a plan that is fully equipped.
Final Verdict on Hostinger:
Overall, Hostinger is a great option for anyone looking for fast and reliable performance web host that is highly affordable.
With a wide range of products, excellent customer support, and user-friendly interface,
Hostinger is a strong contender for one of the best web hosting companies of 2024.
BlueHost is a well-established web hosting provider with over 5 million users worldwide.
They offer affordable hosting solutions and web marketing assistance tools for personal, business, and eCommerce websites.
Here's What Makes BlueHost Stand Out:
The most attractive thing about BlueHost is that they are the best for offering dedicated WordPress Web Hosting for blogs, eCommerce, and standard websites, at a cheaper price.
In actual fact, Bluehost is also an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider, which makes it a great choice for those who are looking to start a WordPress blog or website.
Compared to all others in this list, BlueHost also offers enhanced email hosting with better collaborative tools, web design services, and professional marketing assistance services. All in one platform.
There are no tradeoffs in using BlueHost. They too offer 24/7 support, automatic backups, free CDN, free SSLs, free malware scanning, etc – for secure web hosting South Africa.
Additionally, BlueHost’s hosting plans include a free domain name for the first year and a user-friendly website builder for easy website creation.
BlueHost Pricing:
BlueHost offers cheap web hosting South Africa pricing, with plans starting at just $2.95/month (roughly R52/month↗︎).
However, i’d recommend starting out on the highly discounted CHOICE PLUS package because you get more security and hosting features at the price of the PLUS package – roughly R98/month
Final Verdict on BlueHost:
Overall, Bluehost is a well established web hosting company that is easy to use and offers a range of hosting options.
It is a great choice for those who prefer to use WordPress without needing to understand the ins and outs of accessing WordPress via cPanel.
With its user-friendly interface, excellent support, and reliable uptime, you can be sure that your website will be up and running smoothly.
InMotion Hosting is a high-performance web hosting provider that offers fast and reliable hosting services for over 20 years.
It is known for its high-quality hosting services, exceptional support, and powerful technology that make it a preferred choice for many businesses and individuals.
Here's What Makes InMotion Stand Out:
InMotion Hosting stands out for its premium hosting services that are both reliable and fast.
Compared to BlueHost↑ and other, It offers a wider range of hosting options, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and WordPress hosting.
Additionally, it provides 24/7 support through live chat, phone, and email, ensuring that customers can always get help when they need it.
Furthermore, compared to all other hosting companies in this list, it has a 90-day money-back guarantee (instead of a typical 30-day money-back guarantee by others), allowing customers to try its services risk-free.
InMotion Hosting Pricing:
Final Verdict on InMotion:
If you’re looking for a high-quality web hosting company that has a great track record, offers a range of hosting options and exceptional support, InMotion Hosting is definitely a no-brainer choice↗︎.
With its powerful technology, fast servers, and reliable uptime, you can rest assured that your website will be running smoothly and efficiently.
NameCheap is a well-established web hosting company that has been providing hosting services since 2000.
It is known for its affordable prices, high-quality hosting services, and exceptional support, making it a popular choice for businesses and individuals who want to save money without sacrificing quality.
Here's What Makes NameCheap Stand Out:
NameCheap, as the name suggests, stands out for its cheaper prices and great value.
Making it one of the most cost-effective options for businesses and individuals who want to save money on their hosting and domains.
Another key differentiator is Namecheap’s all in one user-friendly platform, which makes it easy to manage your website and domain names.
They also offer a wider range of hosting options and related products like BlueHost↑, InMotion↑, and GoDaddy↓.
Including shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, WordPress hosting, domains, and dedicated apps for building and marketing your business online.
Just like NameHero↑, they also have a strong commitment to security, by offering a range of features for all secure web hosting needs,
These include SSL certificates, domain privacy, anti-spam protection, cyber insurance, ID validation, and two-factor authentication, to keep your website and personal information safe.
Likewise, NameCheap provides outstanding 24/7 support through live chat and ticketing systems, ensuring that customers can always get help when they need it.
Namecheap Pricing:
NameCheap offers some of the most affordable pricing in the industry, with plans starting at just about $1.98/month (or R34/month).
However, I would recommend starting on the Stellar Plus plan at $2.98/mo (or R54/mo) because you get a little bit more out of the box from the start.
Final Verdict on Namecheap:
As you can see, Namecheap is a customer-focused company that is dedicated to providing excellent service and supporting its customers.
The company has a strong commitment to privacy and freedom of speech, and actively works to protect the rights of its customers online.
In conclusion, Namecheap’s low prices, user-friendly platform, commitment to customer support, and focus on security make it a standout option for businesses looking for an affordable and reliable web hosting company.
GoDaddy is a well-known web hosting company that has been providing hosting services since 1997.
GoDaddy stands out for its user-friendly platform and cost effective web hosting solutions, making it easy for even the most inexperienced and professional users to manage their website.
Here's What Makes GoDaddy Stand Out:
First, GoDaddy, is one of the biggest web hosting companies with intensive experience in servicing worldwide customers.
They’re so good in terms of having adjusted prices↗︎ to cater to the South African landscape (or other countries in general), whilst other companies give fixed dollar prices across the board.
GoDaddy excels in offering a modern user-friendly platform, ridiculously low domain reservation prices, affordable hosting prices, including dedicated WordPress hosting, with exceptional 24/7 support.
They also have a free professional website builder tool that works like Wix, and a variety of domain services.
For this reason, GoDaddy is currently the most loved web host out there, with over 44 million shared hosting users worldwide.
Second, GoDaddy is also a leader in innovation, regularly introducing new products and services to help businesses succeed online.
As well as a range of exclusive tools and integrations to market your business with ease.
Some of the exclusive tools you find through GoDaddy are professional emails with Microsoft 365 integration, email marketing services, digital marketing services, and a content design tool that works similar to Canva.
Last, GoDaddy provides 24/7 support through live chat, phone, and email, with trained local and remote agents worldwide to answer all your questions.
GoDaddy Pricing:
GoDaddy’s hosting prices are always cheap and always change overnight with some ridiculously low deals possible. More so to even beat most local South African web hosts.
For this reason, i’d recommend viewing their Newest Deals on their Website!↗︎.
Final Verdict on GoDaddy:
GoDaddy’s focus on innovation, and commitment to security make it a standout option for businesses looking for a reliable and comprehensive web hosting company.
Having monitored GoDaddy for years, They actually hold a record of having launched a lot of integrated tools and resources, to help businesses build and grow their online presence.
Overall, GoDaddy is a trusted and well-established company with a reputation for reliability and security.
DreamHost is a web hosting company that has been providing hosting services since 1996.
DreaHost focuses mainly on making open-source software such as WordPress and data privacy better for everyone.
This means with DreamHost’s hosting, you can host your blog, website, and e-commerce store on a powerful infrastructure built to protect and help you excel online.
Here's What Makes DremHost Stand Out:
DreamHost stands out for its commitment to putting a customer’s needs first, providing privacy, and making open-source technologies better.
First, they offer a 97-day money-back guarantee – instead of the typical 30-day money-back guarantee. Meaning they are confident you’ll stay with them longer without needing to switch hosts.
Second. The company is dedicated to providing an open platform where customers have control over their data and how it is shared.
They offer domain privacy protection for free, and other multiple layers of privacy protection for free.
Most other web hosting companies in this list will only give you free SSLs and other cyber security features, but things like domain privacy are generally sold as an extra addon.
Third, the company also highly supports WordPress users, like me, who rely on building websites solely with WordPress.
Their success is reflected in its high number of happy customers and its 750,000+ WordPress installations.
Last, they have all sorts of hosting services, from dedicated WordPress, Shared hosting, VPS, Dedicated Servers, Cloud Hosting, WordPress website builders, Email Hosting, or real-time email collaboration with Google Workspace.
And unlike other hosts, they also offer free Academy classes to help you build a website, attract traffic and grow your website in general.
DreamHost Pricing:
DreamHost’s pricing↗︎ is also very likable, they’re also happy to give you cheap managed web hosting for just less than $3/mo (Roughly R55/mo) on a yearly subscription.
Final Verdict on DreamHost:
As you can see, DreamHost is a standout web hosting company for those who need a reliable web host for the long term.
With their commitment to privacy, open-source technology, and 24/7 support, they provide a reliable and innovative platform for businesses and individuals to build a solid online presence with safety.
And with all that good stuff, their pricing still compares similar to all other hosting providers in this list.
CloudWays
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that makes your website load at the highest speeds, and with the best security enhancements.
They have been helping businesses and individuals build, deploy, and scale their online presence. Since 2012.
What We Like About CloudWays
Cloudways is best if you want even more from your cloud web hosting experience.
Cloudways supports a variety of cloud infrastructure providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and DigitalOcean, among others.
This gives customers the flexibility to choose the infrastructure that best suits their needs and budget.
Here’s more that makes Cloudways special: ✅
Cloudways provides managed cloud hosting solutions that are optimised for performance and security. The company takes care of all the technical details of hosting, allowing customers to focus on building and growing their website.
Also, Cloudways is arguably the safest and most secure place to host your website. They deploy advanced measures to help protect customer data and ensure that websites remain secure.
This includes two-factor authentication, SSL certificates, and automated backups, among others.
CloudWays Pricing:
If you choose to build your website on WordPress, I recommended you use the Digital Ocean cloud infrastructure, since it is proven to be the best and for the price.
The startup plan of $12/month (roughly R215/month) should be enough to even host a website that gets over 100 000 visitors a month.
Final Verdict on Cloudways:
In conclusion, Cloudways↗︎ is a great option for anyone looking for a managed cloud hosting South Africa platform that provides excellent performance, security, and support.
In our analysis, We find Clouways’s professional web hosting being best for those who plan to build larger websites, blogs, and ecommece stores without the need to worry about speed and security at all.
Wix
Wix is a website builder and hosting company that has been providing hosting services for businesses and individuals since 2006.
Known for its user-friendly platform and drag-and-drop website builder, Wix has become a popular choice for those who don’t want to waste time hiring a web designer or don’t even want to learn WordPress, Shopify, or code.
What We Like About Wix
Wix allows you to kill two birds with one store. They offer both professional web builder tool and a comprehensive web hosting platform in one place.
And the best part? Wix doesn’t charge you upfront, they allow you to build your entire website for free, until you are happy and confident about publishing it.
Other hosting companies in this list do offer some sort of custom/third-party page builder tools, which just don’t cut it like Wix.
But I can tell you this, Wix templates are very professional, award-winning, very polished and are even used by most big freelancers and influencers to showcase and sell products online.
From blogs to e-commerce sites, Wix has a template for every type of website
In addition, their intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for anyone, regardless of technical expertise. You don’t need to know any coding or design skills to build a website on Wix.
Last: Wix’s app market has over 260 apps and integrations that can be added to your website to enhance its functionality. From appointment scheduling to live chat, there is an app for every need.
Wix Pricing:
Wix allows you to start completely free, but without a @wix.com temporary domain name.
Once you’re ready to upgrade from a free trial and use a proper @yourbusinessname.com domain, You can get started for just $4.50 per month (approximately R81 per month).
However, the features included in the $4.50 per month package are quite limited. It’s recommended that users start with either the Combo package for $8.50 per month (approximately R153 per month) or the Unlimited Package for $12.50 per month (approximately R225 per month) to get the most out of their website building and hosting experience.
Final Verdict on Wix:
Wix is the best choice for those who want a free page builder tool and web hosting in one place.
While it might be a bit more expensive than some other recommended hosting companies, it has a powerful page builder tool that can save you a lot of time.
Especially if you manage most things in your business by yourself.
What I really like about Wix is that it’s effortless to get started. All you need to do is create an account, select a website template, and start customizing – it’s as easy as using Facebook!
Digital Ocean
DigitalOcean is a cloud hosting provider that was founded in 2011.
The company caters to the needs of individual software developers and small-scale startups and to provide them with high-performance cloud hosting services and server provisioning that is easy to use and cost-effective.
What We Like About Digital Ocean
DigitalOcean is more on the developer’s side. But also strong in the industry of hosting traditional websites and e-commerce stores.
They partner with CloudWays↗︎ to cater for the needs of managed cloud web hosting for smaller businesses who need simple web hosting for WordPress, Magento and other CMS apps.
DigitalOcean has become a favorite among developers due to several reasons: ✅
Firstly, its user interface is simple, less cluttered, aesthetic, and functional, making it easy for beginners to use.
The interface is highly equipped too, with one-click App installs, automation and integration with third party tools for developers.
Secondly, it provides remarkable managed cloud hosting perfomance, using SSD-based virtual machines with dedicated ECC RAM and RAID SSD storage.
Third, DigitalOcean offers professional documentation that helps developers to understand the platform and its resources.
Lastly, the company is associated with Hacktoberfest, an event for the open-source community where developers can gather and share ideas and opinions.
Digital Ocean Pricing:
As you can see, DigitalOcean has several hosting products starting from free – $4/month (or around R72/month).
Again, if you need to host use DigitalOcean’s platform to host traditional websites, find it under CloudWays website↗︎. You will also get a Free Trial! – without having to enter your credit card numbers.
Final Verdict on Digital Ocean:
We love Digital Ocean for its affordable pricing, making it a great option even for freelancers, smaller businesses and developers.
Another big benefit, They offer 24/7 support and a professional documentation with helpful tutorials and step by step guides.
Overall, With DigitalOcean’s user-friendly platform and advanced technology, fast and scalable hosting services. You can be sure that your website will be running smoothly and easily managed.
NameHero is well known for its impressive cloud hosting performance, with blazing fast load times and high uptime rates.
They’re actually new in the game – launched in 2015 and gained popularity in being able to offer premium web hosting at the most affordable price.
Here's What Makes NameHero Stand Out:
If you have never heard of NameHero, you’ll actually love them for doing most things right and making web hosting a pleasurable experience overall.
In actual fact, they stand out from other web hosting because:
Firstly, the company prides exceptional customer support that you wouldn’t even want to leave them. They actually hold the highest customer ratings from most verified shopper review sites.
Since they’re based in the US, you’ll most likely be using support tickets or instant chat to contact them.
And trust me, their ticket response times are so quick and you will always get help with a personal touch.
For this reason, they actually grew faster with new customers signing up as migrations from other alternative hosts who lacked speedy customer support.
Second. NameHero’s hosting services are top notch, and also very affordable in comparison.
They use advanced cloud hosting technology as standard, more so like Digital Ocean and Cloudways. But obviously cheaper in comparison.
And the best part? NameHero’s plans are bundled with a lot of much-needed features for free, and without any upsells.
Including the latest version of cPanel, free SSLs, free LiteSpeed web server, free Cloudflare and QUIC.cloud CDN, free nightly backups, etc. See everything here.
Another key differentiator is their strong focus on security, with features such as daily backups, SSL certificates, and DDoS protection included as standard in all of its hosting packages.
This is exactly why I chose NameHero when starting my own web hosting company as a reseller, and I still use them today.
NameHero Pricing:
NameHero offers competitive pricing, Starting at just about $2.69 (approx. R55 for unlimited SSD cloud server storage). – View on their website↗︎.
They also offer a wide range of unlimited hosting plans to accommodate various needs, including, shared hosting, reseller web hosting, VPS web hosting, and dedicated web hosting.
Final Verdict on NameHero:
Overall, NameHero’s commitment to customer support, use of advanced cloud hosting technology, and a strong focus on security make it a standout option for businesses looking for a reliable and innovative web hosting company of 2024.
Not only will the NameHero team help you solve any issues, but they’ll also provide you with tutorials to help you understand and resolve problems on your own or grow in that aspect.
What is Web Hosting in South Africa - Why it is important?
Web hosting is the foundation of your website. It is a paid service that involves storing the files and data that make up your website on a server and connecting that server to the internet.
Without web hosting, your website and domain emails would simply not exist online. It’s like having a physical shop for your business – without a physical location, you can’t operate.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the best web hosting company for you will depend on your specific needs and requirements.
Whether you’re a small business, blogger, e-commerce website, or need high-performance hosting,
I hope there’s a web hosting company that’s perfect for you from my list of recommendations.
I hope that my in-depth analysis of 11 of the best web hosting companies in South Africa has helped you make an informed decision. Good luck and happy hosting!
