Best Web Hosting For Your Money - January 2023
Introduction
The main reason I started this website is to find the best web hosting for your hard earned cash. Time is money and with the amount of web hosts out there it takes a long while to make an informed decision.
I’m posting a new version of this guide every month. This way I can keep the prices updated, add new hosting packages and over time I will review hosts to get a better idea of the speeds and features of their websites.
For now, this guide is all about price and features. I’ve used only two of the web hosts listed so I can’t judge anything on personal experience.
Also, only ten web hosts are listed in this post. It’s ten of the biggest and to get the ball rolling I had to draw the line somewhere. If you would like to see your favourite web host in one of these posts then feel free to contact and me and I will include it.
The ten hosts are:
@lantic
Afrihost
Ample Hosting
Cybersmart
Gridhost
Hetzner
Host4Africa
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 | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| @lantic 1 | R29 PM | Unlimited | 100 MB | None | 1 | No | 1 |
| Afrihost 1 | R9 PM | Unlimited | 300 MB | 5 | 0 | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 2 | R19 PM | Unlimited | 750 MB | 25 | 0 | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 3 | R39 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | 75 | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 4 | R49 PM | Unlimited | 3 000 MB | 200 | 5 | Yes | 1 |
| Ample Hosting 1 | R26 PM | 20 GB | 4 000 MB | 7 | 7 | No | 1 |
| Ample Hosting 2 | R49 PM | 100 GB | 10 000 MB | 250 | 10 | No | 3 |
| Ample Hosting 3 | R49 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 1 |
| Ample Hosting 4 | R49 PM | 10 GB | 10 000 MB | 35 | 10 | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 1 | Free | Unlimited | 300 MB | 5 | Yes | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 2 | R18 PM | Unlimited | 1 000 MB | 25 | Yes | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 3 | R38 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | 75 | Yes | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 4 | R48 PM | Unlimited | 5 000 MB | 200 | Yes | No | ? |
| Gridhost 1 | R26.95 PM | 3 000 MB | 800 MB | 15 | 2 | No | 1 |
| Gridhost 2 | R8.95 PM | 9 000 MB | 70 MB | 15 | 2 | No | 1 |
| Gridhost 3 | R24.95 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | 30 | 3 | No | 3 |
| Gridhost 4 | R49.95 PM | 6 000 MB | 2 000 MB | 20 | 5 | No | 2 |
| Hetzner 1 | R19 PM | 1.5 GB / 5 GB | 1 000 MB | 20 | 0 | No | 1 |
| Hetzner 2 | R39 PM | 3 GB / 10 GB | 2 000 MB | 50 | 0 | No | 1 |
| Host4Africa 1 | R9.99 PM | Unlimited | 50 MB | 5 | 1 | No | 1 |
| Host4Africa 2 | R39.99 PM | Unlimited | 250 MB | 15 | 1 | No | 1 |
| MWEB 1 | R29 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| MWEB 2 | R49 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
| Serve Hosting 1 | R29.99 PM | 12.5 GB | 1 000 MB | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 10 |
| Web Africa 1 | R19 PM | 750 MB | 750 MB | 5 | 0 | Yes | 1 |
Cybersmart is the only web host in this list with a free hosting option. However you have to register a domain with them.
If you don’t already have a domain registered somewhere else and you want a .co.za domain then it’s worthwhile looking at low cost options that include a domain. Afrihost has a package for R9 per month that can easily compete with Cybersmart’s free package.
Here are my winners
Cheapest of the Cheap: Cybersmart
You can’t really beat free. Especially considering that you get unlimited traffic and access to MySQL databases. I can only wonder what the speed is like and will have to test that at a later stage. For a small site, this is really ideal.
The Most Space: MWEB
Unlimited at the lowest price, however according to their usage policy it’s for website related files only. So this excludes files like backups. Ample Hosting also has an option with unlimited hard drive usage but the server is based overseas and MWEB has a cheaper option offering. So MWEB wins this round.
Most Sites on a Single Offering: Serve Hosting
Ideal for a lot of small websites, Serve Hosting offers 10 websites for about R30 per month. If you like having everything in one place then this is ideal.
Best Low Cost Deal: Gridhost
It’s a difficult choice since everyone’s hosting requirements are different. The best all rounder for a good price in my opinion is Gridhost’s R24.95 per month option. 2 GB HDD space, unlimited bandwidth, multiple emails and databases plus the option to host 3 different domains. That’s a lot of value for a low price.
Medium sized website (R50 to R100)
| Cost | Traffic | HDD Space | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrihost 1 | R65 PM | Unlimited | 4 000 MB | 500 | 20 | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 2 | R99 PM | Unlimited | 10 000 MB | 2 000 | 100 | Yes | 1 |
| Ample Hosting 1 | R86 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | Unlimited |
| Ample Hosting 2 | R79 PM | 20 GB | 10 000 MB | 50 | 20 | No | ? |
| Ample Hosting 3 | R79 PM | 100 GB | 1 500 MB | 25 | 10 | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 1 | R98 PM | Unlimited | 10 000 MB | Unlimited | Yes | No | ? |
| Gridhost 1 | R79.95 PM | 9 000 MB | 4 000 MB | 30 | 3 | No | 3 |
| Gridhost 2 | R59.95 PM | Unlimited | 4 000 MB | Unlimited | 10 | No | 10 |
| Hetzner 1 | R99 PM | 20 GB / Unlimited | 5 000 MB | 100 | 5 | No | 10 |
| Host4Africa 1 | R69.99 PM | Unlimited | 750 MB | 30 | 1 | No | 2 |
| Host4Africa 2 | R99.99 PM | Unlimited | 1 500 MB | 75 | 1 | No | 5 |
| MWEB 1 | R99 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10 | 3 | Yes | 2 |
| Serve Hosting 1 | R89.99 PM | 36.5 GB | 3 000 MB | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 25 |
| Web Africa 1 | R79 PM | Unlimited | 5 000 MB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
Unlimited Everything: Ample Hosting
For R86 per month you can get unlimited HDD space, traffic, emails, databases and domains.
Best Deal for R100 or Less: Web Africa
This was a toss up between Web Africa and Ample Hosting. I picked Web Africa because it’s a little bit cheaper and it includes a free domain plus it has the added bonus of being hosted on South African servers.
Large with fries (R100+)
| Cost | Traffic | HDD Space | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| @lantic 1 | R179 PM | Unlimited | 2 GB | 250 | 5 | No | Unlimited |
| @lantic 2 | R399 PM | Unlimited | 3 GB | 500 | 20 | No | Unlimited |
| Afrihost 1 | R165 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | 5000 | 200 | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 2 | R399 PM | Unlimited | 50 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | 1 |
| Ample Hosting 1 | R138 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | Unlimited |
| Ample Hosting 2 | R129 PM | 40 GB | 20 GB | 75 | 25 | No | ? |
| Ample Hosting 3 | R259 PM | 80 GB | 40 GB | 100 | 50 | Yes | ? |
| Ample Hosting 4 | R129 PM | 200 GB | 3 GB | 75 | 50 | No | ? |
| Ample Hosting 5 | R199 PM | 400 GB | 5 GB | 200 | 100 | No | ? |
| Gridhost 1 | R129.95 PM | 15 GB | 8 GB | 60 | 5 | No | 5 |
| Gridhost 2 | R249.95 PM | 30 GB | 16 GB | 120 | 8 | Yes | 10 |
| Gridhost 3 | R129.95 PM | Unlimited | 15 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Gridhost 4 | R149.95 PM | 20 GB | 10 GB | 60 | 15 | Yes | 3 |
| Hetzner 1 | R149 PM | 30 GB / Unlimited | 10 GB | 250 | 10 | No | 25 |
| Hetzner 2 | R279 PM | 50 GB / Unlimited | 15 GB | 500 | 20 | No | 50 |
| Hetzner 3 | R439 PM | 100 GB / Unlimited | 20 GB | 1000 | 40 | No | 75 |
| Host4Africa 1 | R149.99 PM | Unlimited | 3 GB | 100 | 2 | No | 10 |
| Host4Africa 2 | R199.99 PM | Unlimited | 5 GB | 200 | 5 | No | 25 |
| Serve Hosting | R149.99 PM | 66.5 GB | 5 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | No | 50 |
| Web Africa | R199 PM | Unlimited | 20 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
Unlimited Everything (Part 2): Ample Hosting
For R138 per month you can get hosting where everything is unlimited plus it includes a dedicated IP and Rapid SSL. I look forward to the day when we can get this on locally hosted servers!
Best High Priced Deal: Ample Hosting
Even though the servers are hosted overseas, you can’t question the value of this package.
Windows Shared Hosting
| Cost | Traffic | HDD Space | Emails | Databases | Free Domain | Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| @lantic 1 | R79 PM | Unlimited | 200 MB | None | 1 | No | 1 |
| @lantic 2 | R199 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | 250 | 1 | No | Unlimited |
| Afrihost 1 | R29 PM | Unlimited | 300 MB | 5 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 2 | R59 PM | Unlimited | 750 MB | 25 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 3 | R99 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | 75 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 4 | R149 PM | Unlimited | 3 000 MB | 200 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 5 | R199 PM | Unlimited | 4 000 MB | 500 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 6 | R249 PM | Unlimited | 10 000 MB | 2 000 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 7 | R349 PM | Unlimited | 20 000 MB | 5 000 | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Afrihost 8 | R599 PM | Unlimited | 50 000 MB | Unlimited | Yes | Yes | 1 |
| Cybersmart 1 | R18 PM | Unlimited | 1 000 MB | 25 | Yes | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 2 | R38 PM | Unlimited | 2 000 MB | 75 | Yes | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 3 | R48 PM | Unlimited | 5 000 MB | 200 | Yes | No | ? |
| Cybersmart 4 | R98 PM | Unlimited | 10 000 MB | Unlimited | Yes | No | ? |
| MWEB 1 | R29 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 | 1 | Yes | 1 |
| MWEB 2 | R49 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5 | 2 | Yes | 1 |
| MWEB 3 | R99 PM | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10 | 3 | Yes | 2 |
| Web Africa 1 | R19 PM | 750 MB | 750 MB | 5 | 0 | Yes | 1 |
| Web Africa 2 | R79 PM | Unlimited | 5 000 MB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
| Web Africa 3 | R199 PM | Unlimited | 20 000 MB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Yes | Unlimited |
Cheapest Worthwhile Deal: Cybersmart
Compared to the other low priced packages, the R18 per month package by Cybersmart offers the best value by far. If you are going to go the Windows hosting route then you will most likely make use of a database and Web Africa I’m really disappointed that your cheap package only allows for 750 MB traffic.
Best Windows Hosting Deal: Web Africa
This was a difficult choice. Cybersmart may take this title from Web Africa but I must still find out how many domains and databases can be used on their packages. Web Africa’s R79 per month deal comes with a free domain and allows for as many domains and databases as you want which puts it ahead for now.
Final Word
There’s some good hosting packages out there. Finding the best one will depend a lot on your own website requirements. The winners I’ve chosen in this post are the ones I see as the best value but if you disagree then please give your input. I can always use your insight for November’s version of this guide.