Top Consumer Rankings

Feature Comparison

Many web hosting services (such as iPage and HostGator) will offer similar or equivalent features within all of their packages, whilst others (such as GoDaddy and 1&1) will offer three or more diverse packages to help meet the needs of specific consumer groups. In order to avoid comparing vastly differing web hosting companies, we only review those who offer similar packages to keep things simple for the consumer. The table below outlines the features of each comparable package across our top web hosting service providers as they currently appear.

iPage	BlueHost	HostGator	JustHost	FatCow
Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site

Main Features

Disk Space	Unlimited	100 GB	Unlimited	100 GB	Unlimited
Domain Name	FREE	FREE	FREE	FREE	FREE
Bandwidth Traffic	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Marketing Credits	$200	$50	$200	$50	$250
Site Creation Tools	Template - Yes Blog/CMS Support - Yes	Template - Yes Blog/CMS Support - Yes	Template - Yes Blog/CMS Support - Yes	Template - Yes Blog/CMS Support - Yes	Template - Yes Blog/CMS Support - Yes
Windows or Linux	Linux	Linux	Linux	Linux	Linux
Customer Support	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours
	Visit Website	Visit Website	Visit Website	Visit Website	Visit Website

Frequently Asked Questions

What is 'web hosting' and how does it work?

For a website to go live (or become viewable) it needs to be "hosted" on a web server. There are companies out there who own servers- and they can rent out space to you, thus hosting your website. There are free web host services available, but these can leave your visitors looking at unwanted pop-ups and advertisements, so many potential website owners opt to pay those in the know to host their content for them.
What is a 'domain name' and why do I need one?

A domain name is especially important as it is essentially the title in which consumers can use to find your website. In most cases, a domain name will start with the name of your business or brand, and the second part dictates what kind of website viewers will be looking at. For example, ".com" stands for company and is used for businesses, whereas ".gov" is used to determine an official government website. Domain names that end in ".co.uk" (British) or ".com.au" (Australian) usually denote the country in which the site comes from. If your website doesn't have a relevant domain name, no one will know who you are or how to look for you.
What is 'bandwidth' and what does it do?
Bandwidth is the term used for the amount of data that a website transfers, because of the traffic it receives. This amount is usually regarded on a monthly basis, and the required amount will depend on the website's main purpose. For example, a small blog will usually require minimal bandwidth, whilst large company websites need higher bandwidth to cope with a more substantial amount of users.
How much does web hosting usually cost?

Web hosting costs will depend on the company in which you choose, and the type of hosting that you want. Shared hosting is the cheapest option, dedicated servers cost more, and co-located servers are the most expensive of the three.
What web hosting services am I paying for?

When you pay for web hosting services, you typically receive one of three levels of account. The cheapest service features shared hosting, which means that your website will share the space on a server with other websites. This isn't usually a problem, but the next level- a dedicated server, will better suit the needs of a busier website. A 'dedicated server' is the term used for space that your website alone inhabits on someone else's server. This means that your website is the only one on a particular server, though the server is still owned by someone else. The third account type is a co-located server, which means you will actually own the space yourself, but you'll still have to pay for someone else house it.
How much disk space do I need for my website?

Like bandwidth, disk space also depends on the purpose of the website in question. Each page of a website uses space to some degree, but the more content there is, the bigger the space needs to be. In accordance to this, email files also take up disk space, as do any downloadable files that may need hosting. So, low disk space will suffice for a text-only blog with a small reader base, whereas an e-commerce site will need a higher amount.

About the Service

*The rankings and ratings expressed on this site are the opinion of TopConsumerRankings.com and are subject to change based on our ranking criteria seen above. To keep this valuable service free, we generate advertising revenue from some of the companies featured across our site.

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