Largest Best Web Hosting Companies (Aug. 2023)

Whether you’re looking to grow an online business, house your portfolio, or power a family blog, knowing which host to trust with your website can be tricky. The promising, young startup may offer appealing hardware configurations and performance at bargain rates — but how will the company’s network hold up to a rapidly increasing customer base and frequently emerging security threats?

Well-established hosting providers have withstood the test of time and continually deliver superb services. With years (and sometimes decades) in the industry, these hosts have grown to become highly respected global powerhouses. Take a look at the largest hosting providers (as measured by the percentage of the market), along with a few key factors to aid your decision:

Everyone seems to measure a host’s success differently. For some, it’s the number of websites hosted; For others, it’s the number of customers — or the number of domains registered, the amount of traffic handled, or the total revenue generated. Because the internet is a rapidly changing landscape, we sought to paint the most complete picture.

1. GoDaddy — 15.6% of Websites

The grand poobah of web hosting companies, GoDaddy has dominated the industry for more than 20 years. Seemingly everyone’s first web host and domain registrar, GoDaddy boasts more than 84 million domain names under management and 7,000 employees around the world. GoDaddy, which also owns managed hosting leader Media Temple and the popular Host Europe Group, specializes in affordable and user-friendly shared hosting and domain registrations.

Users can find specialized options that cater to website builders, eCommerce stores, WordPress users, and site owners needing more a powerful virtualized or dedicated server. When you add in the vast array of SSL certificates, web security, online marketing, and email tools, GoDaddy surely has something for everyone.

2. Amazon Web Services — 11.1% of Websites

It should come as no surprise the company leading the charge in one of the industry’s hottest technologies ranks high on the list of largest hosting providers. Cloud-hosting behemoth Amazon Web Services extends beyond simple web hosting to power more than 90 services, including cloud computing, storage, networking, database, analytics, application services, deployment, management, mobile, developer tools, and systems for the Internet of Things.

The on-demand cloud platform began as an in-house innovation retail giant Amazon re-launched in 2006 after retooling its infrastructure to be more standardized and automated.

Due to the high degree of difficulty associated with AWS, combined with the lack of support commonly found among traditional web hosts, these cloud services are typically reserved for experienced developers and established larger businesses.

3. Google Cloud Platform — 7.9% of Websites

Similar to Amazon, Google made the internal infrastructure known for powering some of the internet’s most highly trafficked sites publicly available to the world. Google Cloud comprises the public cloud infrastructure as well as G Suite and enterprise versions of Android, Chrome OS, and APIs for machine learning and mapping services.

With Google Cloud Platform, developers and website owners can experience more than 90 on-demand services, including cloud computing, analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, storage, and mapping.

The platform launched in 2008 and became generally available in late 2011, putting it a few years behind AWS, but the craze behind cloud computing launches Google to the forefront of the world’s biggest hosting providers.

4. 1&1 IONOS — 6.5% of Websites

Finally, moving to a web hosting company headquartered outside the US, 1&1 IONOS comes in as the fourth-largest web hosting provider in the world. The Germany-based host carries global appeal for its well-rounded suite of services, affordable prices, and customer support. The company employs more than 2,000 people worldwide and offers services in 10 countries throughout Europe and North America.

With roots dating all the way back to 1988, 1&1’s legacy has expanded to cover more than 12 million domain names and 70,000 servers worldwide. A 2017 merger between 1&1 and RedBricks led to the birth of 1&1 IONOS, which, starting in 2020, became known as simply IONOS.

In addition to the expected portfolio of shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting, IONOS offers domain name registrations, and a website builder, plus tools for eCommerce, email, online marketing, and security.

5. HostGator — 5.3% of Websites

The first brand from Endurance International Group to make our list, HostGator manages more than 9 million domains for nearly 500,000 customers. The company provides the full slate of powerful web hosting products, from shared to dedicated server hosting. In 2019, HostGator launched a proprietary drag-and-drop site builder, which we reviewed, that includes a free hosting plan, a domain name, customizable templates, and analytics.

Although HostGator promises the relatively standard 99.9% uptime guarantee, customers have an extended 45-day window to test services and request a refund, if needed. The company supplies around-the-clock support through phone calls and live chat to assist customers with their websites or online business.

6. Bluehost — 3.2% of Websites

If GoDaddy is the typical first web hosting provider for new site owners, Bluehost is the second. One of the flagship brands of parent company Endurance International Group, Bluehost oversees more than 2 million domains as part of its varied collection of services.

The company offers the full slate of shared, cloud, VPS, and dedicated hosting options, as well as platforms specifically tailored to WordPress and eCommerce. Founded in 2003 — the same year as WordPress — Bluehost is one of only three hosts endorsed by the ultra-popular content management system. The company’s optimized WordPress hosting introduces high-performance solid-state drives, NGINX web servers, a custom PHP-FPM configuration, a content delivery network, and a web application firewall for ultimate speed and security.