Best Web Hosting For Your Money - January 2023
Introduction
Time flies. I’m sure that many people will agree with me on that. It’s been two months since the last time when I published one of these guides.
It’s something that I thought about and it will stay that way. The Best Web Hosting guides will now be published bimonthly (as in every second month, not twice a month). The reason for that is simple. It takes time to do these and the hosts aren’t updating their prices that frequently. So instead of wasting time I will now update the prices on the site once a month.
There’s been a couple of requests regarding the guide and the website. Sortable tables is definitely something I will look into. I’ve also tried to make the site a bit easier to navigate. All links are now underlined and the list of South African web hosts on the right should be easier to spot now.
Virtual Private Servers deserve a guide like this and I’m looking to make one in the next month or so. Especially after Afrihost’s problems with their cloud servers these last couple of months. Everyone was looking to move to a different hosting company and unfortunately this guide only features shared hosting.
New this month is Hostking who has really impressed me with their pricing. Some of the hosts have also changed their pricing or their hosting packages completely.
14 South African hosting companies are featured in this post:
- @tlantic
- Afrihost
- Ample Hosting
- Cybersmart
- Domaincheap
- Elitehost
- Gridhost
- Hetzner
- Host4Africa
- Hostking
- MI HOST
- MWEB
- Serve-Hosting
- Web Africa
Categories
Linux Shared Hosting-Cheapest of the cheap (R0 to R50)
-Medium sized website (R50 to R100)
-Large with fries (R100+)
Windows Shared Hosting
Final Word
Linux Shared Hosting
Cheapest of the cheap (R0 to R50)
| Cost | Traffic | HDD Space | Local | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cybersmart-Pink | R0 PM | Unlimited | 600 MB | Yes | 5 | Yes | No | ? |
| Domaincheap-Free | R0 PM | Unlimited | 700 MB | Yes | 1 | No | No | ? |
| Hostking-Free | R0 PM | 1 GB | 250 MB | Yes | 1 | 1 | No | 1 |
| MI HOST-Bronze | R6 PM | Unlimited | 100 MB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | Unlimited |
| Gridhost-Personal | R8.95 PM | Unlimited | 70 MB | No | 15 | 2 | No | 1 |
| Afrihost-Bronze Home | R9 PM | Unlimited | 300 MB | Yes | 5 | No | Yes | 1 |
| Hostking-Starter | R9 PM | Unlimited | 500 MB | Yes | 10 | Unlimited | Yes | 1 |
| Host4Africa-Basic Hosting | R9.99 PM | Unlimited | 50 MB | No | 5 | 1 | No | 1 |
| Cybersmart-Blue | R18 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | Yes | 25 | Yes | No | ? |
| Afrihost-Silver Home | R19 PM | Unlimited | 750 MB | Yes | 25 | No | Yes | 1 |
| Hetzner-Micro | R19 PM | 1.5 GB / 5 GB | 1 GB | Yes | 20 | No | No | 1 |
| Web Africa-Starter | R19 PM | 750 MB | 750 MB | Yes | 5 | No | Yes | 1 |
| Domaincheap-Micro | R24 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | Yes | 20 | 0 | Yes | ? |
| Hostking-Basic | R24 PM | Unlimited | 1 GB | Yes | 25 | Unlimited | Yes | 1 |
| Gridhost-Blogger | R24.95 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | No | 30 | 3 | No | 3 |
| Gridhost-Personal | R26.95 PM | 3 GB | 800 MB | Yes | 15 | 2 | No | 1 |
| MWEB-Lite | R29 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 1 x 50mb | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| @lantic-LinuxWeb | R29 PM | Unlimited | 100 MB | Yes | None | 1 | No | 1 |
| Serve Hosting-Serve 1 | R29.99 PM | 12.5 GB | 1 GB | No | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 10 |
| MI HOST-Silver | R31 PM | Unlimited | 500 MB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | Unlimited |
| Elitehost-Unlimited | R35 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 1 |
| Cybersmart-Yellow | R38 PM | Unlimited | 4 GB | Yes | 75 | Yes | No | ? |
| Afrihost-Gold Home | R39 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | Yes | 75 | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| Hetzner-Micro Pro | R39 PM | 3 GB / 10 GB | 2 GB | Yes | 50 | No | No | 1 |
| Host4Africa-Standard Hosting | R39.99 PM | Unlimited | 250 MB | No | 15 | 1 | No | 1 |
| Hostking-Standard | R42 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| MI HOST-Gold | R46 PM | Unlimited | 1 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | Unlimited |
| Cybersmart-Green | R48 PM | Unlimited | 10 GB | Yes | 200 | Yes | No | ? |
| Afrihost-Platinum Home | R49 PM | Unlimited | 3 000 MB | Yes | 200 | 5 | Yes | 1 |
| Ample Hosting-Silver-U | R49 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 1 |
| Ample Hosting-Silver | R49 PM | 10 GB | 5 GB | Yes | 35 | 10 | No | ? |
| MWEB-Pro | R49 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 5 x 50mb | 2 | Yes | 1 |
| Gridhost-Storefront | R49.95 PM | 6 GB | 2 GB | Yes | 20 | 5 | No | 2 |
| Domaincheap-Starter | R50 PM | Unlimited | 4 GB | Yes | 30 | 1 | Yes | ? |
Three of the hosts now offer free hosting. Hostking has joined Domaincheap and Cybersmart. There are some really cheap hosting packages available. For most small sites these would suffice. Unfortunately I can’t speculate about the speed of the sites but the prices are good!
Cheapest of the Cheap: CybersmartCybersmart is still the champion of free hosting. Unlimited traffic (I wonder if they will force you to upgrade if you get too much traffic) plus access to a database makes it truly the cheapest of the cheap.
The Most Space: MWEBI still can’t help but wonder how much space their acceptable use policy will allow. It’s something worth investigating before going with them for the unlimited HDD space.
Most Sites on a Single Package: MI HOSTLimited only by the amount of HDD space, you can host as many sites as you want with MI HOST. For a couple of small sites you need to look no further.
Best Low Cost Deal: Hostking StarterIt’s such a difficult choice and it will really depend on your needs. I think most people will want to host a single website and they will need a domain. I’m sure they also won’t want to worry about exceeding their allotted bandwidth. Hostking’s Starter package offers all that plus 10 email addresses, unlimited databases and 500MB space. The domain is free. It’s a great offer that will work for most people out there.
Medium sized website (R50 to R100)
| Cost | Traffic | HDD Space | Local | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gridhost-Standard | R59.95 PM | Unlimited | 4 GB | No | Unlimited | 10 | No | 10 |
| Elitehost-Unlimited Plus | R60 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 3 |
| Afrihost-Bronze pro | R65 PM | Unlimited | 4 GB | Yes | 500 | 20 | Yes | 1 |
| Host4Africa-Power Hosting | R69.99 PM | Unlimited | 750 MB | No | 30 | 1 | No | 2 |
| Web Africa-Premium | R79 PM | Unlimited | 5 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Ample Hosting-Gold | R79 PM | 20 GB | 10 GB | Yes | 50 | 20 | No | ? |
| Ample Hosting-Gold | R79 PM | 100 GB | 5 GB | Yes | 25 | 10 | No | ? |
| Gridhost-Blogger | R79.95 PM | 9 GB | 4 GB | Yes | 30 | 3 | No | 3 |
| Elitehost-Business | R89.95 PM | 30 GB | 10 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 1 |
| Serve Hosting-Serve 2 | R89.99 PM | 36.5 GB | 3 GB | No | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 25 |
| Cybersmart-Aqua | R98 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Yes | No | ? |
| Afrihost-Silver Pro | R99 PM | Unlimited | 10 GB | Yes | 2000 | 100 | Yes | 1 |
| Hetzner-Basic | R99 PM | 20 GB / Unlimited | 5 GB | Yes | 100 | 5 | No | 10 |
| Domaincheap-Silver | R99 PM | Unlimited | 10 GB | Yes | 50 | 5 | Yes | ? |
| MI HOST-Elite | R99 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | Unlimited |
| Hostking-Business | R99 PM | Unlimited | 5 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| MWEB-Ultra | R99 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 10 x 50mb | 3 | Yes | 2 |
| Host4Africa-Mega Hosting | R99.99 PM | Unlimited | 1.5 GB | No | 75 | 1 | No | 5 |
Almost Unlimited – Local: Web Africa and Elitehost
The same as last time. Web Africa limits you to 5 GB hard drive space and Elitehost limits you to 3 domains. It’s the closest to unlimited you can get for that price locally.
Unlimited Everything – International: Nothing!Ample Hosting has dropped their truly unlimited packages so there’s nothing left in this price class that’s truly unlimited.
Best deal for R100 or less Web AfricaI’m staying with my choice of Web Africa. Their Premium account has everything you need for biggish sites. At R79 per month is just looks to be the best deal for a website that’s hosted locally.
Large with fries (R100+)
| Cost | Traffic | HDD Space | Local | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ample Hosting-Platinum | R129 PM | 40 GB | 20 GB | Yes | 75 | 25 | No | ? |
| Ample Hosting-Platinum | R129 PM | Unlimited | 10 GB | Yes | 75 | 50 | No | ? |
| Gridhost-Business | R129.95 PM | 15 GB | 8 GB | Yes | 60 | 5 | No | 5 |
| Gridhost-Unlimited | R129.95 PM | Unlimited | 15 GB | No | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Elitehost-Unlimited Pro | R140 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 7 |
| Hetzner-Standard | R149 PM | 30 GB / Unlimited | 10 GB | Yes | 250 | 10 | No | 25 |
| Gridhost-Warehouse | R149.95 PM | 20 GB | 10 GB | Yes | 60 | 15 | Yes | 3 |
| Host4Africa-Ultra Hosting | R149.99 PM | Unlimited | 3 GB | No | 100 | 2 | No | 10 |
| Serve Hosting-Serve 3 | R149.99 PM | 66.5 GB | 5 GB | No | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 50 |
| Afrihost-Gold Pro | R165 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | 5000 | 200 | Yes | 1 |
| Elitehost-Business Plus | R169.95 PM | 60 GB | 20 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 3 |
| @lantic-LinuxWeb+ | R179 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | Yes | 250 | 5 | No | Unlimited |
| Ample Hosting-Diamond | R199 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | 200 | 100 | No | ? |
| Domaincheap-Gold | R199 PM | Unlimited | 50 GB | Yes | 100 | 10 | Yes | ? |
| Web Africa-Premium Plus | R199 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Web Africa-Premium Plus | R199 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Host4Africa-Extreme Hosting | R199.99 PM | Unlimited | 5 GB | No | 200 | 5 | No | 25 |
| Gridhost-Pro | R249.95 PM | 30 GB | 16 GB | Yes | 120 | 8 | Yes | 10 |
| Ample Hosting-Platinum Plus | R259 PM | 80 GB | 40 GB | Yes | 100 | 50 | Yes | ? |
| Hetzner-Advanced | R279 PM | 50 GB / Unlimited | 15 GB | Yes | 500 | 20 | No | 50 |
| Elitehost-Business Pro | R319.95 PM | 120 GB | 40 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 7 |
| @lantic-Linux Ultimate | R399 PM | Unlimited | 4 000 MB | Yes | 500 | 20 | No | Unlimited |
| Afrihost-Platinum Pro | R399 PM | Unlimited | 50 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 1 |
| Hetzner-Master | R439 PM | 100 GB / Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | 1000 | 40 | No | 75 |
Almost Unlimited Everything (Part 2) Local: Elitehost
Nothing much has changed in the more expensive packages. The closest you get to unlimited is with Elitehost’s Unlimited Pro.
Unlimited Everything (Part 2) International: None!
Ample Hosting dropped most of their unlimited hosting plans. Even if it was internationally hosted it’s a shame that it’s not available anymore.
In my opinion you should most likely get a good hosting option for prices less that R100 per month. If you do want something faster then I suppose these will suffice but then you can just as well start looking at cheap vps or cloud servers.
Windows Shared Hosting
| Cost | Traffic | HDD Space | Local | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostking-Free | R0 PM | 1 GB | 250 MB | Yes | 1 | 1 | No | 1 |
| Hostking-Starter | R9 PM | Unlimited | 500 MB | Yes | 10 | Unlimited | Yes | 1 |
| Cybersmart-Blue | R18 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | Yes | 25 | Yes | No | ? |
| Web Africa-Starter | R19 PM | 750 MB | 750 MB | Yes | 5 | No | Yes | 1 |
| Hostking-Basic | R24 PM | Unlimited | 1 GB | Yes | 25 | Unlimited | Yes | 1 |
| MWEB-Lite | R29 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 1 x 50mb | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost-Bronze Home | R29 PM | Unlimited | 300 MB | Yes | 5 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Cybersmart-Yellow | R38 PM | Unlimited | 4 GB | Yes | 75 | Yes | No | ? |
| Hostking-Standard | R42 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Cybersmart-Green | R48 PM | Unlimited | 10 GB | Yes | 200 | Yes | No | ? |
| MWEB-Pro | R49 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 5 x 50mb | 2 | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost-Silver Home | R59 PM | Unlimited | 750 MB | Yes | 25 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| @lantic-WinWeb | R79 PM | Unlimited | 200 MB | Yes | None | 1 | No | 1 |
| Web Africa-Premium | R79 PM | Unlimited | 5 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Cybersmart-Aqua | R98 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Yes | No | ? |
| MWEB-Ultra | R99 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 10 x 50mb | 3 | Yes | 2 |
| Afrihost-Gold Home | R99 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | Yes | 75 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Hostking-Business | R99 PM | Unlimited | 5 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Afrihost-Platinum Home | R149 PM | Unlimited | 3 000 MB | Yes | 200 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost-Bronze Pro | R199 PM | Unlimited | 4 GB | Yes | 500 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| @lantic-WinWeb+ | R199 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | Yes | 250 | 1 | No | Unlimited |
| Web Africa-Premium Plus | R199 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Afrihost-Silver Pro | R249 PM | Unlimited | 10 GB | Yes | 2000 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost-Gold Pro | R349 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Yes | 5000 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost-Platinum Pro | R599 PM | Unlimited | 50 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Yes | Yes | 1 |
Cheapest of the Cheap (Windows Edition): Hostking
A new category! With some of the unlimited packages we lost we get a new king in a different category. Free Windows hosting! It even includes a database. Nicely done Hostking for being able to offer this. Of course as a C# developer I’m a bit biased towards Windows hosting environments but it truly is a nice feat.
Cheapest Worthwhile Deal: HostkingR9 a month with unlimited traffic and a free domain. I wish I knew of this earlier!
Best Windows Hosting Deal: Web AfricaIf you will be hosting a couple of sites and want one place to have them all then Web Africa’s package still seems like the best option.
Final Word
As with the previous guides I can only make judgement on the prices and the features you get for your hard-earned money. What the speed or support is like I can honestly not tell you. Many of the hosting companies will let you try out their hosting for a short while to try them out. Well the small ones do.
If you have any questions, comments or see any mistakes please comment below. I try to be as accurate as possible and will make changes to the guide if needed.