Best Australian Web Hosting Services 2022
Our guide compares popular hosting services Bluehost, Crazy Domains, Crucial, GoDaddy, Hostinger, VentraIP, Vodien and Webcentral to help you find the right hosting company for your website
Updated 29 May 2024
Summary:
Know this first: The best web hosting package will offer competitive pricing, a local Australian server, 24/7 support, free email accounts, free SSL and fast speeds. Some overseas web hosting companies offer a "free domain", but this rarely includes a .com.au service.
Our guide covers:
Summary:
- There's a big range in prices for website hosting, and many small businesses are, arguably, paying too much for what they receive.
- Hosting companies know that it's a high-margin service and essential, hence their ability to keep clients long-term.
- Websites will only be as powerful as the hosting they run on. While almost every Australian hosting service has reasonable uptime, the more reliable the service, the less risk of outages and errors.
- This review focuses on shared server hosting which is the most affordable and suitable for 95% of Australian businesses - for example, sole traders, small businesses and organisations.
Know this first: The best web hosting package will offer competitive pricing, a local Australian server, 24/7 support, free email accounts, free SSL and fast speeds. Some overseas web hosting companies offer a "free domain", but this rarely includes a .com.au service.
Our guide covers:
Our Favourite Website Hosting Packages for Australian Businesses
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We've seen a lot of improvements in website hosting over the last few years. Overall, prices have fallen, speeds have increased, SSL certificates have become free, and servers have popped up in Sydney and Melbourne. All of this is good news for every Australian business owner who receives better value for money.
We believe that the best web hosting package will offer competitive pricing, a local Australian server, 24/7 support, free email accounts, free SSL and fast speeds. Some overseas web hosting companies offer a "free domain", but this rarely includes a .com.au service. What website hosting service is best? Everyone's business is different, but as our review focuses on shared hosting packages, we've shortlisted three must-consider options with a specific appeal based on business size and budgets. 1. Our pick for any sole trader or business that wants to deal with an Australian company, get useful freebies and pay a fair price AND 2. Our pick for any business with 5+ more team members looking for free email hosting and reliable hosting:
3. Our pick for anyone wanting cheap hosting that does what it needs to do and provides overseas support:
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Know This:
- Website hosting setup can be complicated, especially if you're migrating servers. The support service of the new host will be instrumental in how easy the process is, so Australian support maybe appeals more if you're unfamiliar with the process.
- Once you've chosen a hosting package, it can be disruptive to your business to another hosting service later. For this reason, it's essential to make an informed decision upfront.
- Domain registrars sell website hosting services, but they are not always the cheapest and may not suit your needs. You can connect a domain to any website hosting package.
- If you're currently paying for a hosting email service, you may find that a website hosting package includes business emails. In such situations, you can migrate your business emails to the website hosting email service after you backup everything. After that, you're likely to save money going forward and avoid paying for something twice.
Must-Know Considerations for Choosing the Right Hosting for your Website
1. Speed
The loading speed of your website is critical to your user experience and to Google, which preferences fast-loading websites. Your hosting needs to quickly load images, videos, text, and other elements. You can check how fast your website loads using this Google tool.
2. Server Locations
There is a lot of debate around whether or not Australian-based servers make a website 'better' or 'more Google friendly. Generally, what matters is the server's speed, not its location. So, for example, it's arguably better to have a super-fast server based in the USA than a sluggish or unreliable local server in Australia. However, if you can find a local Australian server with great speeds, this will likely be a strong contender.
3. Uptime and general reliability
A server needs to be working (or 'up') 100% of the time or as close to this as possible. Many big hosting companies advertise a 99.9% uptime, but even 30 minutes of downtime can cost you customers. Some hosts advertise their uptime while others don't; we tend to favour transparent ones with their numbers.
4. Storage Space
Some hosting companies limit how much you can put on your website – this means your content, images, videos and other files. It's usually measured in MB or GB; however, the storage space limit is relatively rare (but always important to ask about just in case there's a difference in expectations).
5. Data use
Some hosting services limit how much data your website uses. For example, if your website receives 10,000 visitors a day, it will use more data providing the users with your content than a website receiving 100 people a day. Some hosting companies will charge you based on the data that's transmitted. If you plan to grow into a big website, this is an important upfront consideration.
6. Costs
As we can see in the table below, there is a huge price range, with very little difference in benefits or value for most small and medium-sized businesses given their basic website needs.
7. Hosting Support
Can you call your host, or is email and online chat only? Website hosting is critical for your business, so you may want to consider choosing a service that offers 24/7 support should an issue arise.
Know this: Your website's success will depend on its design and content, SEO efforts and hosting. A poorly designed and unappealing website cannot be enhanced with high-end website hosting, and it's a waste of money to upgrade hosting when the website is deficient.
The loading speed of your website is critical to your user experience and to Google, which preferences fast-loading websites. Your hosting needs to quickly load images, videos, text, and other elements. You can check how fast your website loads using this Google tool.
2. Server Locations
There is a lot of debate around whether or not Australian-based servers make a website 'better' or 'more Google friendly. Generally, what matters is the server's speed, not its location. So, for example, it's arguably better to have a super-fast server based in the USA than a sluggish or unreliable local server in Australia. However, if you can find a local Australian server with great speeds, this will likely be a strong contender.
3. Uptime and general reliability
A server needs to be working (or 'up') 100% of the time or as close to this as possible. Many big hosting companies advertise a 99.9% uptime, but even 30 minutes of downtime can cost you customers. Some hosts advertise their uptime while others don't; we tend to favour transparent ones with their numbers.
4. Storage Space
Some hosting companies limit how much you can put on your website – this means your content, images, videos and other files. It's usually measured in MB or GB; however, the storage space limit is relatively rare (but always important to ask about just in case there's a difference in expectations).
5. Data use
Some hosting services limit how much data your website uses. For example, if your website receives 10,000 visitors a day, it will use more data providing the users with your content than a website receiving 100 people a day. Some hosting companies will charge you based on the data that's transmitted. If you plan to grow into a big website, this is an important upfront consideration.
6. Costs
As we can see in the table below, there is a huge price range, with very little difference in benefits or value for most small and medium-sized businesses given their basic website needs.
7. Hosting Support
Can you call your host, or is email and online chat only? Website hosting is critical for your business, so you may want to consider choosing a service that offers 24/7 support should an issue arise.
Know this: Your website's success will depend on its design and content, SEO efforts and hosting. A poorly designed and unappealing website cannot be enhanced with high-end website hosting, and it's a waste of money to upgrade hosting when the website is deficient.
What’s the Difference Between Shared, VPS, Dedicated, CDN and Business Email Hosting?
We explain the options below, outlining the pros and cons and expected costs:
1. Shared hosting (the focus of this review)
This is the cheapest form of hosting. Your website is shared on a hosting space with many other websites. This is what most small and medium-sized Australian businesses use, given the demands of their website are limited.
2. VPS hosting
VPS means ‘Virtual Private Server’, which means your website is hosted on its own space in a larger server.
3. Dedicated hosting
A dedicated server gives your website its data centre.
4. CDN hosting
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) helps boost a website’s loading time by using multiple servers and locations and programming to make images load faster.
5. Business Email hosting
Business email hosting is a service separate from website hosting. Our guide to business email hosting providers outlines the options available. Our experience is Google Workspace is the best provider given its flexibility, support service and pricing.
1. Shared hosting (the focus of this review)
This is the cheapest form of hosting. Your website is shared on a hosting space with many other websites. This is what most small and medium-sized Australian businesses use, given the demands of their website are limited.
- Pros – it’s the cheapest way to host a website.
- Cons – It’s less secure than private hosting; it can be slower (but this isn’t noticeable for websites that receive less than 100,000 visits a month
- Costs – From $5 to $100 per month
2. VPS hosting
VPS means ‘Virtual Private Server’, which means your website is hosted on its own space in a larger server.
- Pros – Extra storage, security and resources, as well as faster loading time (for websites that need require a lot of resources)
- Cons – Additional cost (well above shared hosting ranges)
- Costs – From $100+ per month
3. Dedicated hosting
A dedicated server gives your website its data centre.
- Pros – Full control and management over your server and the ability to scale up resources as more users visit the website
- Cons – Expensive and requires a lot of maintenance
- Costs – From $5 to $100 per month
4. CDN hosting
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) helps boost a website’s loading time by using multiple servers and locations and programming to make images load faster.
- Pros – Fast loading times
- Cons – Can require ongoing technical tweaking to function
- Costs – Basic CDN services start from around $20/month but can be as expensive as $250+.
5. Business Email hosting
Business email hosting is a service separate from website hosting. Our guide to business email hosting providers outlines the options available. Our experience is Google Workspace is the best provider given its flexibility, support service and pricing.
- Costs – From $5 to $20 per email account
Top-Rated Australian Hosting Providers
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We've seen a lot of improvements in website hosting over the last few years. Overall, prices have fallen, speeds have increased, SSL certificates have become free, and servers have popped up in Sydney and Melbourne. All of this is good news for every Australian business owner who receives better value for money.
We believe that the best web hosting package will offer competitive pricing, a local Australian server, 24/7 support, free email accounts, free SSL and fast speeds. Some overseas web hosting companies offer a "free domain", but this rarely includes a .com.au service. What website hosting service is best? Everyone's business is different, but as our review focuses on shared hosting packages, we've shortlisted three must-consider options with a specific appeal based on business size and budgets. 1. Our pick for any sole trader or business that wants to deal with an Australian company, get useful freebies and pay a fair price AND 2. Our pick for any business with 5+ more team members looking for free email hosting and reliable hosting:
3. Our pick for anyone wanting cheap hosting that does what it needs to do and provides overseas support:
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Know This:
- Website hosting setup can be complicated, especially if you're migrating servers. The support service of the new host will be instrumental in how easy the process is, so Australian support maybe appeals more if you're unfamiliar with the process.
- Once you've chosen a hosting package, it can be disruptive to your business to another hosting service later. For this reason, it's essential to make an informed decision upfront.
- Domain registrars sell website hosting services, but they are not always the cheapest and may not suit your needs. You can connect a domain to any website hosting package.
- If you're currently paying for a hosting email service, you may find that a website hosting package includes business emails. In such situations, you can migrate your business emails to the website hosting email service after you backup everything. After that, you're likely to save money going forward and avoid paying for something twice.
Detailed Provider Reviews - bluehost vs Crucial vs CrazyDomains vs GoDaddy vs Hostinger vs Ventra IP vs Vodien vs webCentral:
Bluehost
Our view: BlueHost offers discounted hosting for new customers, but the service isn't price competitive compared to many Australian-based hosting providers. Long a favourite host for WordPress websites, we believe there are better deals to be had. While support is 24/7, it is overseas, as are the server locations. We estimate that the annual hosting cost will be around $150 for standard hosting and around AU$500 if you want a premium package.
The specifics:
The specifics:
- Speed: High-speed service with a focus on WordPress websites
- Server Locations: Europe, Asia and North America. There is no Australian-based server.
- Uptime and general reliability: No published uptime guarantee but they aim for close to 100% per this statement.
- Storage Space: 50Gb ("Single Shared Hosting") to unlimited for a "Pro" account
- Data use: Unmetered bandwidth
- Costs: From $14/month ("Single Shared Hosting") to around $40/month ("Pro" account") with new customer discounts available.
- Hosting Support: 24/7/365 email, phone and live-chat
- Other benefits: Free domain (for the first year)
- SSL included? Yes
- More information: BlueHost Website Hosting
Crazy Domains
Our view: CrazyDomains offers cheap and locally-housed website hosting with generous storage. However, unlike most other hosting providers you'll need to buy a SSL certificate separately. Support is available 24/7 although it's overseas based. We estimate that the annual hosting cost will be around $120 including GST for standard hosting and around $180 if you want a premium package.
The specifics:
The specifics:
- Speed: High-speed service with a focus on cloud for middle and top-plan hosting
- Server Locations: Sydney, Melbourne and Perth
- Uptime and general reliability: 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Storage Space: 150Gb ("economy plan") to unlimited ("premium plan")
- Data use: Unmetered bandwidth
- Costs: From $9.58/month ("economy plan") to $17.25/month ("premium plan")
- Hosting Support: 24/7/365 email, phone and live-chat
- Other benefits: Free email accounts
- SSL included? No
- More information: CrazyDomains Website Hosting
Crucial
Our view: Crucial has operated for over 20 years and has a loyal customer base of businesses all over Australia. It performs well and benefits from a local Sydney server and 24/7 Australian support. However, it is expensive compared to other Australian-based options that are very similar. We estimate that the annual hosting cost will be around $250 including GST which is very much at the higher end.
The specifics:
The specifics:
- Speed: High-speed service
- Server Locations: Sydney
- Uptime and general reliability: 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Storage Space: 50Gb (standard hosting) to 150Gb (advanced hosting)
- Data use: Unmetered bandwidth
- Costs: From $22.90/month (standard hosting) to $42.90/month (advanced hosting)
- Hosting Support: 24/7/365 email, phone and live-chat, all Australia-based
- Other benefits: Unlimited email for all plans
- SSL included? Yes
- More information: Crucial Website Hosting
GoDaddy
Our view: GoDaddy is a global web hosting giant and offers flexible and easy-to-understand plans to suit any small Australian business. We estimate that the annual hosting cost will be around $130 including GST.
The specifics:
The specifics:
- Speed: "Standard" and "Increased processing power" available
- Server Locations: Global - North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. GoDaddy does not have servers in Australia.
- Uptime and general reliability: 99.9% uptime guaranteed
- Storage Space: 10Gb (economy package), or unlimited (all other packages)
- Data use: Unmetered bandwidth
- Costs: From $11.95/month (discounts available for new customers)
- Hosting Support: 24/7/365 email, phone and live-chat
- Other benefits: Free domain and email (first year only)
- SSL included? No, this is an optional extra service.
- More information: GoDaddy Website Hosting
Hostinger
Our view: Hostinger offers cheap, flexible and fast website hosting. If you're comfortable with an overseas server location and support, Hostinger is one of the cheaper hosts available in Australia. Support is available 24/7. We estimate that the annual hosting cost will be around US$48 (around AU$70 including GST) for standard hosting and around AU$160 if you want a premium package.
The specifics:
The specifics:
- Speed: High-speed service, with plug-in to accelerate WordPress websites
- Server Locations: Europe (the Netherlands, Lithuania, the United Kingdom), Asia (Singapore, India), North America (the USA) and South America (Brazil). There is no Australian-based server.
- Uptime and general reliability: 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Storage Space: 30Gb ("Single Shared Hosting"), and up to 200GB ("Business Shared Hosting")
- Data use: Unmetered bandwidth
- Costs: From US$3.99/month ("Single Shared Hosting") to US$8.99/month ("Business Shared Hosting")
- Hosting Support: 24/7/365 email, phone and live-chat
- Other benefits: One email account (single shared hosting), unlimited email for all other plans
- SSL included? Yes
- More information: Hostinger Website Hosting
VentraIP
Our view: VentraIP offers competitively priced hosting packed with features and benefits such as free email accounts and an SSL certificate. Best of all, Melbourne-based support is available 24/7. We estimate that the annual hosting cost will be around $60 including GST for standard hosting and around $180 if you want a premium package.
The specifics:
The specifics:
- Speed: "high speed", "ultra-high speed" and "extreme speed" available
- Server Locations: Melbourne
- Uptime and general reliability: An uptime percentage not specifically guaranteed
- Storage Space: 5Gb (starter package), and up to 25GB (premium package)
- Data use: Unmetered bandwidth
- Costs: From $5/month ("Starter" hosting) to $15/month ("Premium" hosting)
- Hosting Support: 24/7/365 email, phone and live-chat
- Other benefits: Unlimited email accounts
- SSL included? Yes
- More information: VentraIP Website Hosting
Vodien
Our view: Right now, Vodien is offering $0/month hosting. Our research team has contacted the company to determine the nature of the offer and the renewal costs. We will update this section when we confirm details with Vodien's team.
Webcentral
Our view: Webcentral offers many website hosting packages backed up by generous support hours and robust Australian servers. We like the free email accounts that come every hosting package. We estimate that the annual hosting cost will be around $120 including GST for standard hosting and around $240 if you have a WordPress website.
The specifics:
The specifics:
- Speed: "high speed", "ultra-high speed" and "extreme speed" available
- Server Locations: Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney
- Uptime and general reliability: An uptime percentage not specifically guaranteed
- Storage Space: 10Gb (starter package), and up to 50GB (premium package)
- Data use: Unmetered bandwidth
- Costs: From $9.95/month (cPanel hosting) and $19.95/month (WordPress hosting)
- Hosting Support: 7:30am – 10:30pm (AEDT) email, phone and live-chat
- Other benefits: Free email accounts for up to five users
- SSL included? Yes
- More information: Webcentral Website Hosting
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of shared hosting?
The most notable benefit is the low price charged for hosting. The hosting provider manages shared hosting, so additional benefits include outsourcing server management and maintenance.
Beyond the hosting service, what other features does a shared hosting package include?
The best web hosting package will offer competitive pricing, a local Australian server, 24/7 support, free email accounts, free SSL and fast speeds. Some overseas web hosting companies offer a "free domain", but this rarely includes a .com.au service.
I am paying for business email hosting already. Do I need to pay for it if I get a website hosting package?
It depends on what your website hosting package includes. Many include 1-10+ emails, which can save a business a significant amount of ongoing monthly costs. As a point of reference, our business email hosting review has more details about what's on offer.
What is the difference between shared hosting and WordPress hosting?
Not all hosting packages integrate with WordPress. If you are using WordPress (or plan to use WordPress), check with the hosting company that the package you're buying integrates with WordPress. The simpler and more automatic the process, the better.
What is the difference between shared hosting and VPS Hosting?
Shared hosting packages means your website shares its server space with hundreds or thousands of other websites using the same server. This means you need to share the speeds, memory and bandwidth. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting package offers you a dedicated server if you need to scale traffic and reach thousands of users every hour, for example.
Most Australian businesses don't expect more than 100-200 users to visit their website a day. For this reason, shared hosting packages are perfectly suitable for businesses selling offline.
Most Australian businesses don't expect more than 100-200 users to visit their website a day. For this reason, shared hosting packages are perfectly suitable for businesses selling offline.
Once I buy web hosting, what happens next? How do I get my website live?
If you have an existing website already running, you'll need to migrate to the new provider's server. Again, the hosting company's support service will usually guide you through this as it can be time-consuming and extremely complex.
Our Favourite Website Hosting Packages for Australian Businesses
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We've seen a lot of improvements in website hosting over the last few years. Overall, prices have fallen, speeds have increased, SSL certificates have become free, and servers have popped up in Sydney and Melbourne. All of this is good news for every Australian business owner who receives better value for money.
We believe that the best web hosting package will offer competitive pricing, a local Australian server, 24/7 support, free email accounts, free SSL and fast speeds. Some overseas web hosting companies offer a "free domain", but this rarely includes a .com.au service. What website hosting service is best? Everyone's business is different, but as our review focuses on shared hosting packages, we've shortlisted three must-consider options with a specific appeal based on business size and budgets. 1. Our pick for any sole trader or business that wants to deal with an Australian company, get useful freebies and pay a fair price AND 2. Our pick for any business with 5+ more team members looking for free email hosting and reliable hosting:
3. Our pick for anyone wanting cheap hosting that does what it needs to do and provides overseas support:
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Know This:
- Website hosting setup can be complicated, especially if you're migrating servers. The support service of the new host will be instrumental in how easy the process is, so Australian support maybe appeals more if you're unfamiliar with the process.
- Once you've chosen a hosting package, it can be disruptive to your business to another hosting service later. For this reason, it's essential to make an informed decision upfront.
- Domain registrars sell website hosting services, but they are not always the cheapest and may not suit your needs. You can connect a domain to any website hosting package.
- If you're currently paying for a hosting email service, you may find that a website hosting package includes business emails. In such situations, you can migrate your business emails to the website hosting email service after you backup everything. After that, you're likely to save money going forward and avoid paying for something twice.
