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How it works, and who it suits

How many accounts the host puts per server, which they rarely publish but reviews reveal.

Server-level caching and a CDN, which limit the impact of a busy server.

Clear resource limits (CPU seconds, entry processes, inodes) rather than vague 'unlimited' claims.

An upgrade path to a VPS or cloud plan on the same host, so growing is not a migration.

Resources, control and price, side by side

Every price and spec below comes from our provider data, checked September 2026. Full detail is on each host’s review page.

HostFromRenews atSitesBackupsRefund
Hostinger$2.99/mo$10.99/mo25Weekly (Premium), daily (Business+)30 days
DreamHost$2.59/mo$5.99/mo1Daily97 days
SiteGround$2.99/mo$17.99/mo1Daily30 days
GreenGeeks$2.95/mo$10.95/mo1Daily30 days
Shared Hosting Explained (2026): Who It Is For and What to Watch. Checked September 2026.

Our recommended providers, ranked

Our top pick
1

Hostinger

4.2 / 5

The fastest of the cheap shared hosts thanks to LiteSpeed caching and a free CDN, with a clear upgrade path to its own VPS and cloud plans.

From $2.99/mo (48-month term)renews $10.99/mo25 GB SSD9 datacenter regions

Best for: New blogs, small business sites and first WordPress installs

2

DreamHost

4.1 / 5

Well-provisioned shared hosting with daily backups and the smallest renewal jump, plus a genuine 97-day guarantee.

From $2.59/mo (36-month term)renews $5.99/mo50 GB SSD1 datacenter regions

Best for: One-site owners who plan to stay put for years

3

SiteGround

4.0 / 5

The premium shared option: fast Google Cloud infrastructure and the best support, at a renewal price that reflects it.

From $2.99/mo (first year)renews $17.99/mo10 GB7 datacenter regions

Best for: WordPress sites where speed and support matter more than price

4

GreenGeeks

3.9 / 5

Solid mid-market shared hosting with daily backups and a free CDN included, on renewable-matched power.

From $2.95/mo (36-month term)renews $10.95/mo10 GB (web)3 datacenter regions

Best for: Small sites that want daily backups and a lighter carbon story

How we picked

We keep a data sheet of every provider in the comparison: current intro and renewal pricing, datacenter locations, storage, backups and money-back terms, each with the sources we checked it against. The ranking on this page is our judgement about which of those providers fits shared hosting best, weighted by the criteria above. A provider only appears once its current data is verified; where we could not confirm a number, that host is left off rather than guessed.

Learn the fundamentals behind this comparison

Plain-English guides to the parts of hosting that decide whether a plan performs for this use case or falls over.

All hosting guides →

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Frequently asked questions

What is the downside of shared hosting?

You share CPU and RAM with every other site on the server, so a neighbour's traffic spike or badly coded plugin can slow your site down, and you have no control over it. Hosts manage this with resource limits and by moving abusers, but it is the fundamental trade-off you accept for the low price.

When should I move off shared hosting?

When your site is consistently slow despite caching and a lean build, when you hit the host's CPU or process limits regularly, or when downtime costs you money. That is usually somewhere between 25,000 and 100,000 visits a month, earlier for a store. The next step is a managed VPS or Cloudways.

Is 'unlimited' shared hosting really unlimited?

No. 'Unlimited' storage and bandwidth are subject to an acceptable-use policy and to hidden limits on inodes (file count), CPU seconds and concurrent processes. A normal site never hits them; a site that does gets a warning or a forced upgrade. Prefer hosts that publish real numbers.

Still deciding?

Our top pick for shared hosting is Hostinger. Read the full review, or start from the hosting hub to see how it compares across other needs.