7 Best and Cheap Webhosting and Domain Registrars in 2024: A Comparative Buying Guide for Newbies

Picking up a memorable and relevant domain name is essential—it’s the first thing people see and affects how they perceive your site. Your web hosting is just as important, affecting your site’s performance, security, and reliability. Look for a provider with good uptime, speed, scalability, and customer support, and prioritize security to keep your site safe. By having a comprehensive price comparison and understanding these key factors, you can confidently select the best and cheap webhosting and domain registrar for your online journey.

This article examines the main characteristic features and services provided by well-known web hosting providers, while also comparing their basic plans and pricing. The goal is to assist beginners in selecting the most suitable budget-friendly domain registrar and web hosting provider based on their specific needs.

Since the article’s primary goal is to serve as a buying guide for novices, we have compared the costs and features offered in basic shared web hosting and managed WordPress hosting plans by several well-known service providers.

As we know that the .com domain TLD is universal and being a beginner, we just stick to it. Pricing for a .com domain starts at around $12.17 for the 1^st Year and renews @ $22.17 for the next year. It also offers 3 years billing plan. Domain name registration is free for 1^st year. If you purchase domain hosting services from the same service provider.

Beside Domain Registration Charges, Go Daddy also offers Full Domain Protection @ $9.99/year, which is highly recommended. The protection ensures your domain’s safety and credibility. It also strengthens your domain’s defenses with 2-factor verification, guarding against unauthorized changes, transfers, or deletions.

Combining Domain Registration amount with its security amount comes around $32.16/year at regular rate. Moreover, if you buy domain hosting from the same provider, the first year of domain name registration is free.

GoDaddy offers a variety of plans for different entities and purposes. Each plan is designed to cater to different stages of a website’s growth, from startups to large enterprises. It’s important to choose a plan that not only fits your current needs but also allows for future expansion as your website grows. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, please visit GoDaddy’s official website.

All of the plans offer:

1. Free One Click WordPress Installation
2. Easy to Use Control Panel (cpanel)
3. Unmetered Bandwidth
4. Automatic Daily Backup
5. Global Data Centers ensuring Faster Page Loads

For beginners, GoDaddy’s web hosting services offer a perfect blend of simplicity, performance, and support. By choosing GoDaddy, you’re setting the foundation for a successful online presence.

Considering the requirements for a beginner I just mentioned here two plans that would work for a startup. You can choose either of the two Packages i.e., Web Hosting Economy $83.88 for the first year and renews at $119.88 for the succeeding year, and the Managed WordPress Basic offered @ $131.88 for the 1^st year and renews at $155.88 for the next year.

Both options are good to go for a startup yet in Web Hosting Economy you have to Install WordPress and some security Plugins by yourself, which will be explained in detail in the upcoming sections.

The main features of the above-mentioned plans are summarized in the figure shown below.

Among Managed WordPress hosting plans, EasyWP Sarter plan is the most suitable for beginners. The plan can be purchased at $34.88/year which renews for $48.88/year.

All of the shared webhosting plans and Managed WordPress hosting plans include features like, Unmetered bandwidth, a free website builder, Domain name and privacy protection, Free automatic SSL installation and Free Supersonic CDN.

Moreover, it offers faster page load speeds as compare to Godaddy and BlueHost.

They often provide a free domain name with their hosting plans, which start at $2.95 per month or $ 12.99/1^st year and renews @ $21.99 for the successive year. For the first year, if you purchase domain hosting from the same service provider, domain name registration is free.

Additionally, they also offer Domain Privacy + Protection (Protect you from spam and identity theft by keeping your personal information hidden) at $11.88 for 1^st year and $15 for the next year. Therefore, the total cost would be $36.99/year.

SSLs: Customers buy more from a secure site. It protects customers’ sensitive information—like passwords, usernames, and payment information—from malicious third parties. Maximize your site’s trustworthiness with an SSL certificate. Bluehost offers 2 types of SSL Certificates:

1. FREE SSL powered by Let’s Encrypt that’s bundled with all the plans.
2. Premium SSL powered by Comodo that comes with a warranty of $10,000 to provide you an assurance that your site is safe to collect payments from customers.

CodeGuard Backups: Never lose your precious work! Get automated, daily backups and monitoring for your site, plus one-click restore with CodeGuard.

SiteLock: Protect your website from malicious attacks, spammers, and hackers. With SiteLock, you can guard your site against search engine blacklists, all while detecting malware and protecting your site from costly downtime.

24/7 Availability: Our team of experts is available 24/7 to help you with issues you may have while building your website.

Phone & Chat Support: Bluehost offers both phone & chat support. Connect with them as you like.

From Hostinger .com domain can be purchased at $9.99 and registration renews at $15.99/year. The initial year of domain name registration is free when you acquire domain hosting services from the same service provider.

For Shared Hosting and Managed WordPress hosting, premium plan is offered for beginners. Premium plan from both categories has the same specs and features and can be availed at $38.28 for the first year, and its renewal rate is $119.88/year.

This basic plan is truly premium as it includes tons of features and free offers. Here are some key services and features offered by Hostinger:

Money-Back Guarantee: These plans are tailored to meet different needs and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Performance: Hostinger’s hosting services are designed for speed and reliability, with features like 100 GB SSD storage for standard performance and up to 200 GB NVMe storage for increased performance plans.

WordPress Solutions: They provide managed WordPress hosting with features like free automatic website migration, 1-click WordPress installation, WordPress acceleration (LiteSpeed), and smart WordPress auto-updates.

Website Builder: Hostinger includes a drag-and-drop website builder, AI website creation tools, and over 150 designer-crafted templates to help users build their websites without needing coding skills.

eCommerce Features: For online stores, Hostinger offers 0% transaction fees, over 20 payment methods, and WooCommerce support for WordPress users.

Security: Security features include DDoS protection, a web application firewall, Cloudflare protected nameservers, and a malware scanner. They also offer free SSL certificates to ensure secure connections.

Customer Support: Hostinger prides itself on providing 24/7 customer support and maintains a high Trustpilot rating, reflecting their commitment to customer service.

Global Data Centers: With server locations across the USA, United Kingdom, France, India, Singapore, Brazil, Lithuania, and the Netherlands, Hostinger ensures high uptime and fast content delivery worldwide.

These features make Hostinger a comprehensive solution for individuals and businesses looking to establish a strong online presence.

A .com domain registration with HostGator is priced at approximately $12.99 per year that renews at $19.99 for the upcoming year. If you purchase domain hosting from the same service provider, you will receive free domain name registration for the first year.

HostGator offers different Shared Hosting Plans, out of which Hatchling plan is most suitable for a newbie. Its price starts from $47.4 for the first year and renews at $143.88 for each successive year.

In case of Managed WordPress hosting, Baby Plan is recommended for beginners, that can be availed at $60/ 1^st year and renewed at $203.88 for the next year.

A .com domain can be purchased here at $8.99 for the first year and its renewal rate is $19.99/year. When domain hosting service is purchased from the same service provider, domain name registration is free for the first year.

DreamHost also offers shared web hosting, managed WordPress hosting, and cloud hosting services. For beginners, Shared Starter Plan of shared web hosting is recommended. The plan is offered at $35.4/1^st year and can be renewed at $83.88/next year. Same specs at the same price are offered under the plan WordPress starter in managed WordPress category. Both plans have a site storage of 50GB ssd, free FREE Email, SSL, Domain + Privacy Protection and Advanced, Easy-to-Use cPanel.

Domain registration is a critical step in establishing your online presence, and it can significantly impact your website’s SEO. Choose a reputable domain registrar, consider your budget, and follow the registration procedure diligently. With the right domain, your website can become more accessible to your target audience and improve your search engine rankings.

By having a detailed comparative analysis and reviewing the prices, services and features offered by different webhosting providers, I believe that Hostinger is the best and cheap webhosting solution for young businesses. The second best alternative for those with a limited budget is Namecheap, which may accomplish the job well.