Best Dedicated Web Hosting Services
Endorsed by WordPress
Good
Starts at $79.99 monthly with a three-year plan
No
No
Premium service
Excellent
Start at $199 monthly after the intro offer
99.9%
Yes, including a completely custom option
Excellent customization
Not via phone
Starts at $100 monthly
99.9%
Yes
Best uptime guarantee
Lackluster
Starts at $149 monthly for the annual plan
100%
No, but many options
Advanced performance
Good
Start at $105.99 monthly for the 24-month plan
99.9%
No
Dedicated web hosting is the way to go if your business needs more power and resources to expand your website presence. With a dedicated server, you'll experience faster processing and more storage capacity, which will help optimize your site's performance. This is a significant upgrade over shared hosting, albeit at a higher cost.
We picked the best dedicated web hosting services for various use cases and reviewed them to help you decide which is the right one for your business or website.
Our Top Picks For Best Dedicated Web Hosting Services
- Bluehost – Best For Free Domain Registration
- SiteGround – Best For Customizable Plans
- DreamHost – Best Uptime Guarantee
- Liquid Web – Best For 24/7 Customer Support
- A2 Hosting – Best Storage Options
Best Dedicated Web Hosting Services Reviews
Best for Free Domain Registration: Bluehost
Why we chose it: Bluehost is a beginner-friendly option with free domain registration for every new account. Its simple platform and partially managed servers make it easy to start with dedicated hosting.
Bluehost is one of the most popular services for all types of hosting, including dedicated hosting. Part of the appeal of Bluehost is that you can easily go from shared hosting to dedicated hosting whenever you're ready to make the switch. Its free domain registration is an added bonus if you're starting a new site rather than switching hosting plans.
Although Bluehost can house any type of website, this service is particularly well-suited for WordPress sites. WordPress recommends Bluehost as a preferred host, and Bluehost offers a one-click WordPress website builder.
Bluehost's prices are competitive and may have introductory offers — although your service will renew at the selected plan's regular rate. As of March 2023, you'll get a discounted rate of $79.99 monthly for choosing a three-year plan, which will renew at $125.99 monthly for another three-year term. All Bluehost plans must be paid in full and upfront.
When you sign up for a Bluehost Standard plan, you'll get four cores, 4GB of RAM and two of 500GB of storage. However, your data transfer is capped at 5TB, so you won't get unlimited bandwidth.
Best for Customizable Plans: SiteGround
Why we chose it: SiteGround allows you to customize your plan based on several different parameters. You can pay for what you need upfront and make adjustments down the line if necessary.
SiteGround provides a range of cloud hosting options with four pre-set plans, which are priced from $100 to $400 per month. These plans offer varying levels of resources, starting from 4 CPU cores, 8GB of memory, 40GB of SSD storage and 5TB of data transfer, to as high as 16 CPU cores, 20GB of memory, 160GB of SSD storage and 5TB of data transfer.
Alternatively, you can create your own plan with sliders for specific resources, which is a great option for businesses with unique needs, as you can avoid paying for resources you won't be using.
If your site experiences variable traffic spikes, you can add or subtract resources as needed. This scalability is one of the most appealing features of cloud hosting: You don't need to make a long-term commitment to secure resources you'll only need for a short time.
SiteGround also provides free daily backups with seven offsite copies. While its managed plans come with 24/7 customer support, there's no phone support available. You also won't get free domain registration from SiteGround, although that may not be an issue if you're migrating an existing site.
Best Uptime Guarantee: DreamHost
Why we chose it: DreamHost stands behind its 100% uptime guarantee by giving you a free day of hosting for every hour your site is down (capped at 10% of the renewal fee).
DreamHost goes above and beyond the 99% uptime many web hosting services offer by guaranteeing your site will be up 100% of the time (except during scheduled maintenance). While a 100% uptime rate might seem like a negligible improvement over a 99% rate, it can be pretty significant.
If your site experiences 1% downtime, that's three and half days per year that visitors can't get to your website. In our instant-everything age, customers aren't used to waiting. Any time your site is down, you risk losing customers — and with that, sales.
DreamHost prices are a little higher than the industry standard, although not dramatically so. The company's plans start at $149 per month on an annual plan and go up to $399 on a month-to-month plan. However, it's worth noting that DreamHost's prices don't make the sudden jump on renewal that many others do: You'll pay more your first year, but you won't be hit with sticker shock later.
Another feature that justifies the higher price tag is managed hosting. DreamHost doesn't offer any completely hands-off plans. All plans include monitoring and DDoS protection, although you'll still have root and shell access for full control.
Best for 24/7 Customer Support: Liquid Web
Why we chose it: Liquid Web is renowned for its customer service team, which it refers to as "Heroic Support." Its team comprises friendly and knowledgeable experts who provide prompt responses to your concerns, ensuring a quick resolution to any issue you may face.
Liquid Web is the managed host behind some of today's top brands, including National Geographic, Porsche and Symantec, so you can expect enterprise-grade customer support. The company has highly-trained technicians who hold credentials such as Windows, Linux, Cisco and Red Hat certifications.
Whether it's 2:00 AM and you want to talk on the phone or you'd rather submit a support ticket at lunchtime, you can contact Liquid Web's support team 24/7 through phone, chat, ticket or the online app. If you call or initiate a chat, you'll be talking with another human in less than a minute. If you submit a ticket, representatives will reply in less than an hour.
Liquid Web's other dedicated hosting features are also solid. The company owns and operates five data centers throughout the U.S. and Europe, and provides built-in backup drives, automatic off-server backups and real-time monitoring.
The main drawback of Liquid Web is that it's more expensive than many other options. It has six plans to choose from, starting at $199 per month (with an intro offer of $149.25/mo for four months as of March 2023). Liquid Web isn't a good choice if you're bargain-hunting, but if you're looking for top-of-the-line performance and service — and you're willing to pay for it — Liquid Web should be at the top of your list.
Best Storage Options: A2 Hosting
Why we chose it: A2 Hosting offers a wide range of storage options and the ability to customize configurations. You can scale your storage up or down to suit your needs.
On its highest-tier plans, A2 Hosting offers NVMe storage, which uses modern solid-state drives that directly interface with the CPU. This technology has faster read and write times than other options. NVMe drives communicate faster with the processor, which reduces latency and improves performance.
If you don't need or want to pay for state-of-the-art storage, you can still choose plans that provide more standard SSD storage. Regardless of which you choose, its servers are optimized for performance.
A2 Hosting offers five unmanaged plans, two of which include NVMe storage. Its most affordable one-month plan starts at $199.99 per month, which is on the higher end of the industry standard. However, customers can save by opting for a two-year subscription at a discounted rate of $105.99 per month.
As expected, NVMe plans are the most expensive at $329.99 per month, after an introductory price of $185.99 per month for your first 24-month billing cycle (as of March 2023). However, A2 Hosting provides high-performance servers and good customer service, so prices aren't out of line.
Other Dedicated Web Hosting Services We Considered
Below are some web hosting services that didn't make our best-of list but are still worth a look.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion has good performance reviews and a variety of managed and unmanaged plans with unlimited bandwidth and one dedicated IP. You can also opt for a customized plan designed to your specifications.
Why InMotion Hosting didn't make the cut: InMotion's plans are too expensive for what they offer — even more so when compared to similar hosting providers — and customers complain of poor support in online reviews posted on G2.
TMDHosting
TMDHosting offers five dedicated managed plans with generous resources and provides a lot of assistance with your servers. All of its plans are managed and include 24/7 monitoring and daily backups.
Why TMDHosting didn't make the cut: The company has no options for unmanaged plans, and its prices are higher than those of many other providers. TMDHosting's lack of options for those who don't need as much support kept it from being a top pick.
GoDaddy
You probably think of domain names when you hear GoDaddy, but the company also provides a range of website services, including managed and unmanaged dedicated web hosting and website builders. GoDaddy offers free domain registration for the first year with a 30-day money-back guarantee and 24/7 support.
Why GoDaddy didn't make the cut: Although GoDaddy provides both managed and unmanaged plans, customers must pay extra for each add-on feature. The company upsells various features that are typically included in the plans of other providers. Additionally, its basic plans are comparatively less affordable than those of its competitors.
Dedicated Web Hosting Services Guide
What Are Dedicated Web Hosting Services?
Dedicated web hosting services enable you to lease an entire physical server from a provider. This hosting option allows you to have complete control over the server, as you won't be sharing resources with other websites. By not sharing resources, you won't be affected by any issues that may occur with other sites. This control allows you to configure the server for optimal performance and security.
You'll also pay more for dedicated hosting, which is why most small websites use shared hosting. Dedicated hosting is especially worth the investment if you have high traffic volume that could cause a crash on a shared server or if you need additional security.
Dedicated web hosting services typically offer the following:
Resources
With dedicated web hosting, you have complete control and access to the server's CPU, RAM, storage and bandwidth. Because you don't have to share resources with other websites, your site will be more secure and able to handle a much higher traffic volume.
Server management
When you sign up for a shared hosting plan, the provider manages the server. With dedicated hosting, you're responsible for managing and maintaining the server. This includes tasks like installing and configuring software, updating your operating system, installing security patches, backing up your site and monitoring performance.
If you need dedicated web hosting but your technical skills aren't up to managing the server, you can opt for a managed dedicated hosting plan. With a managed plan, you pay the provider to manage the server for you.
Customization
Dedicated web hosting allows you to customize your server based on your site's needs. You can install any software or application you need for your site to run at its best. You also control the security settings and network configuration, which can be an important consideration for sites that handle sensitive or confidential data. You may need to install security measures such as intrusion detectors and firewalls.
How Do Dedicated Web Hosting Services Work?
Web hosting providers typically own the physical hardware required to keep your website online, such as the servers, network switches and storage devices. This hardware is typically housed in a data center that provides a secure and climate-controlled environment with backup power and internet connectivity. The provider is responsible for securing the hardware's physical location and providing utilities.
Choose Your Hardware
The first step in using dedicated web hosting is choosing your hardware. You may need a single processor with six cores or a dual processor with 24 cores; this will depend on what exactly you're hosting. If you're creating a new AI application or an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), you may need multiple servers, whereas one server will be plenty if your website traffic is just starting to outgrow your shared hosting.
Once you've determined what level hardware you'll be leasing, you need to figure out how much memory you'll need. Again, this is extremely application-dependent. The more processors you have, the more memory you'll need. You'll need to configure your local storage with one or more drives of appropriate sizes.
Finally, you can customize your server with finishing touches such as a dedicated load balancer, a firewall or block storage.
Choose Your Software
Your server is a blank slate, so you can install whatever software you want on it. Some of the most common operating system options are Windows Server, Ubuntu, CentOS and Debian. Beyond this, the options are almost limitless, including control applications such as Plesk, cPanel or WHM. You may also want to add a content management system, File Transfer Protocol and mail software, among many others software applications.
Add On Additional Services
Dedicated web hosting usually comes with support for hardware, but not much else. Some providers include minimal server support, such as backups and automatic updates, but the lion's share of the maintenance and support will rest with you.
Be that as it may, many dedicated web hosting services offer server management for an additional fee. Depending on your vendor, you may also be able to add services such as server migration, firewalls, cloud backup, DDoS protection and rapid-response security monitoring.
What To Consider When Choosing A Dedicated Hosting Plan
Some factors you should consider when evaluating dedicated web hosting vendors include:
Server Location
Some dedicated web hosting services will let you choose your server location. Although this may not matter if your visitors are widely distributed throughout various geographical locations, you may want a local server if the bulk of your traffic is concentrated in one area. Some factors that server location can affect are:
- Latency: The time it takes for data to travel between the server and the user's device increases with physical distance. Higher latency causes slow page-loading times and can negatively impact a user's experience.
- Bandwidth: When data takes longer to travel from the server to the user, it reduces the bandwidth available for other users.
- Data protection regulations: The location of your server is important for compliance if you're subject to regulations that require data to be stored locally.
- SEO: If you're trying to rank high in a specific geographical region, having a server in the area will boost your results.
If your users are widely dispersed, you can mimic the benefits of a local server by using a CDN (content delivery network). A CDN uses a network of servers distributed throughout the world to provide content to users based on their location.
When a user requests content from your site, it's normally delivered from your dedicated server. With a CDN, your content is cached on the CDN's distributed servers. The content is delivered from the closest CDN server instead of being delivered from your server.
CDNs typically deliver static content such as images, videos and files. They can also deliver static content such as APIs and web applications.
Server Performance
Because you're leasing a specific server, you'll want to evaluate its performance to determine if it's appropriate for your business. Factors that influence server performance include:
- CPU performance: The processor is responsible for carrying out instructions. CPU performance is judged by clock speed (measured in GHz), and the number of cores. You'll need a minimum of 2.4 GHz and four cores for website hosting.
- RAM: Random access memory stores frequently accessed data such as files and common database queries. The amount of RAM you'll need depends on how data-heavy your website is.
- Disk space: Running low on disk space can fragment your files and cause your pages to load slower. If your server runs out of disk space, your website can develop problems or even crash completely.
- Network speed: Slow network speed can negatively impact your website's performance by slowing down page loading and may cause downtime. Look for a provider who offers high-speed, low-latency internet connection and uses multiple ISPs and redundant network connections.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred between your website and visitors. A dedicated server gives you full control over the bandwidth available to your website. You'll need more bandwidth if you're running a site with a lot of images, videos or other large files. You'll also need more bandwidth if you have more visitors to prevent your server from overloading and crashing.
Security
If you choose an unmanaged dedicated hosting plan, you'll be responsible for securing and monitoring your servers. Your hosting provider will only need to ensure the hardware is physically secure. With managed plans, the provider will also handle much of the security, so look for features such as 24/7 monitoring, DDoS protection and automatic security updates.
Customer Ratings
Check out the ratings on online review sites to get a good idea about how customers feel about a hosting service and for a heads-up about any common issues.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of dedicated web hosting?
With dedicated web hosting, you're the boss, so you get to make all of the decisions. While that can eliminate a lot of frustrations and friction points on your website, there are also some negatives.
The advantages of dedicated web hosting include:
- Ultimate control: You can configure your server any way you want and install any combination of software.
- High performance: No more worrying about server overload from your site going viral — a dedicated server can easily handle traffic spikes.
- Enhanced security: You can sleep at night knowing you've turned your server into an impenetrable fortress.
- Scalability: If your site grows faster than expected, you can add more storage, RAM or processing power to your server.
The disadvantages of dedicated web hosting include:
- Higher cost: All those shiny resources are yours alone — and you alone have to pay for them.
- Technical expertise: You need to know how to configure your server. Unless you choose a managed option, you'll be the one handling all of the technical problems that crop up.
- Extra time: Maintaining and updating a server requires constant vigilance. Expect to spend a significant amount of time working on it.
- Lack of redundancy: If your site goes down, it's down until the issue is resolved. In contrast, if one server goes down with cloud hosting, another one steps in to take its place.
Dedicated Web Hosting Services FAQ
How We Chose The Best Dedicated Web Hosting Services
Our methodology for choosing the best dedicated web hosting services included the following factors:
- The level of customization available
- Responsiveness and skill level of customer support
- What resources were included
- The CPU performance level
- Uptime guarantees
- Whether managed plans were available
