Best FTP Hosting Providers | 7 Best FTP Hosts 2024

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Compare the 7 Best FTP Hosting Providers

We know that comparing hosting providers can be a headache. There are so many features to take into account: different storage levels, free domains, control panels, and more – not to mention confusing pricing plans! We’ve tried to make it easy for you. Below, you can compare each FTP hosting provider side by side in this handy chart, and use the arrows to scroll through all seven.

Swipe right to see more
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Bluehost

HostGator

InMotion Hosting

A2 Hosting

GreenGeeks

Hostinger

SiteGround

No. of FTP accounts on cheapest plan

Unlimited

No. of FTP accounts on cheapest plan

Unlimited

No. of FTP accounts on cheapest plan

Unlimited

No. of FTP accounts on cheapest plan

Unlimited

No. of FTP accounts on cheapest plan

Unlimited

No. of FTP accounts on cheapest plan

1

No. of FTP accounts on cheapest plan

Unlimited

Secure FTP available
Secure FTP available
Secure FTP available
Secure FTP available
Secure FTP available
Secure FTP available
Secure FTP available
FTP-specific support guides
FTP-specific support guides
FTP-specific support guides
FTP-specific support guides
FTP-specific support guides
FTP-specific support guides
FTP-specific support guides
Uptime

99.98%

Uptime

99.9%

Uptime

99.97%

Uptime

99.95%

Uptime

99.98%

Uptime

99.97%

Uptime

99.98%

Storage

50GB – Unlimited

Storage

Unlimited

Storage

50GB – 200GB

Storage

100GB – Unlimited

Storage

50GB – Unlimited

Storage

30GB – 200GB

Storage

10GB – 40GB

Money-back guarantee

30 days

Money-back guarantee

30 days

Money-back guarantee

90 days

Money-back guarantee

90 days

Money-back guarantee

30 days

Money-back guarantee

30 days

Money-back guarantee

30 days

Visit Host Visit Host Visit Host Visit Host Visit Host Visit Host Visit Host

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a popular method of transferring files from one computer to another. To upload or download files, you need to connect to an FTP server by running an FTP client (such as Filezilla). That’s where FTP hosting comes in – a good FTP host will make your life easy, no matter which FTP client you choose. So, which are the best FTP hosting providers?

7 Best FTP Hosting Providers

  1. Bluehost Best FTP hosting provider overall
  2. HostGator Best for uptime
  3. InMotion Hosting Best for shared and VPS plans
  4. A2 Hosting Best for affordability
  5. GreenGeeks Best for eco-friendly hosting
  6. Hostinger Best for discounted prices
  7. SiteGround Best for reliability

Bluehost is the best FTP hosting provider, because of its great security, uptime, support, and value for money. It’s easy to use, and powerful enough to support your needs. Now let’s find out which one is best for you!

What Is FTP?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, which is a way of transferring files from a server to a client using the internet. Websites may use FTP to upload or download files from a site’s server, or you may want to use it to transfer files from one computer to another.

FTP is useful if you’re handling a large number of files, for bulk transfers, or for transferring large files. One of the easiest ways to transfer files is by using an FTP client. You use an FTP client to connect to a server, where you can view and interact with your stored files.

Popular FTP clients include Filezilla, Transmit, WinSCP, Cyberduck, and Free FTP.

You need an FTP hosting provider to host your FTP servers, and that’s why we’re here. Let’s explore the seven best FTP hosts to find your perfect solution…

Useful Terms to Know…

  • FTP: File Transfer Protocol
  • SFTP: Secure File Transfer Protocol – uses SSH to establish a secure connection
  • FTPS: File Transfer Protocol Secure – uses SSL/TLS to establish a secure connection
  • SSH: Secure Shell Protocol – network protocol for securing an unsecured network services
  • SSL: Secure Sockets Layer – keeps an Internet connection secure
  • cPanel – a popular hosting control panel
  • CDN: Content Delivery Network – multiple servers at different locations to deliver faster performance

#1. Bluehost

Best FTP Hosting Provider Overall

Best FTP Hosting Provider

4.8

out of 5
Top Choice
Types of Hosting

4.6 out of 5 stars

Hosting Features

4.2 out of 5 stars

Disk Space

5 out of 5 stars

Uptime

3 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

4.7 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

3.5 out of 5 stars

Bluehost is a powerful web host that outperformed all other hosts in our research. It’s best known for its impressive WordPress hosting – if you’re a WordPress user, you won’t find better! This is our number one rated FTP host because it’s secure, offers SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) on its plans, and has great support guides to walk you through every step of the process – not to mention high uptime, great value plans, and generous features, too.

Bluehost is very easy to get started with, especially for WordPress users. It aims to save you time and hassle with one-click WordPress installation, meaning you can get straight to building.

It’s also easy to run once you’re set up, with automatic updates and 24/7 support. In addition to this, Bluehost uses cPanel, a popular and user-friendly control panel.

Bluehost’s support deserves a special shout out – it has plenty of guides dedicated to FTP hosting, showing you how to create, edit, and add accounts, as well as specific guidance on using popular FTP programs such as FileZilla and Cyberduck.

Bluehost is reasonably priced – it’s not the cheapest FTP hosting provider around, but it does offer the best value out of all the hosts we’ve tested so far. Its shared hosting starts at just $2.95 per month for new users, while its most expensive dedicated plans start at $79.99 per month.

Bluehost offers promotional pricing for your first term if you’re a new customer. Most web hosts do this, so always check renewal prices as well as introductory deals. The good news is, Bluehost’s renewal prices aren’t too steep!

Bluehost has a solid range of features, including free domains and unlimited disk space on most plans – WordPress users will feel the biggest benefit, thanks to automatic WordPress installation, automatic updates.

Bluehost recommends using FileZilla as your FTP client, although it also has guides to help you set up other programs, including CyberDuck, Dreamweaver CS5, and Publisher 2007. You can create, edit, and add FTP accounts by logging into your control panel.

One standout feature is Secure FTP (SFTP), which is available with your Bluehost hosting account – security is super important, so we recommend making the most of this! Bluehost provides SFTP enabled by default on VPS and dedicated plans, while you need to enable SSH Access on shared plans to get started.

bluehost logo

Do You Want the Best of the Best?

Bluehost is the best FTP hosting provider, topping our research tables with its impressive features.

Find Out More

  • Read our Bluehost Review to learn more about Bluehost’s strengths and weaknesses
  • Read our Bluehost Pricing Review for a more in-depth analysis of its pricing plans

#2. HostGator

Best for Uptime

Best for Uptime

4.7

out of 5
Types of Hosting

3.7 out of 5 stars

Hosting Features

4.1 out of 5 stars

Disk Space

5 out of 5 stars

Uptime

4 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

3.5 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

3.5 out of 5 stars

HostGator has the highest uptime guarantee we’ve ever seen – 99.99% means your site will be up and running most of the year. It also provides powerful dedicated hosting plans. An FTP account is automatically created for you when you register a hosting package with HostGator, and your welcome email contains all the essential information you need to proceed.

HostGator is suitable for beginners and pros alike – it makes life easy for you by creating an FTP account automatically as soon as you register your HostGator hosting account. You also receive a welcome email containing the information you need to connect your FTP client to your server.

It has helpful FTP support resources, including written guides and video tutorials, so you should find it easy to get started even if you’re new to FTP hosting.

HostGator has some great deals for new users, although it’s not the best value FTP host on the market – it scored an underwhelming 3.5 stars out of 5 in our research. You can expect a 45-day money back guarantee, unmetered bandwidth, and even a free domain depending on the plan you choose!

HostGator’s prices start at just $2.75 per month for shared hosting. In our research, we found HostGator stands out most for its powerful dedicated hosting plans, which range from $89.98 to $139.99 per month.

HostGator boasts an impressive uptime guarantee of 99.99%, so if time online is most important to you, it’s a top choice.

 

You get an unlimited number of FTP accounts even on HostGator’s cheapest shared hosting plan, which gives you plenty of freedom for creating new accounts.

In terms of security, HostGator supports SFTP and FTPS. That may sound complicated, but they’re both different ways of securing your FTP. SFTP uses SSH, while FTPS uses SSL or TLS – they’re both secure FTP protocols to keep your transfers safe!

It’s worth noting neither of these options is supported on Optimize WordPress plans. SFTP isn’t available on Windows shared plans either.

hostgator logo

Is Uptime of the Utmost Importance?

HostGator boasts unbeatable uptime, and makes using FTP super easy too.

Find Out More

#3. InMotion Hosting

Best for Shared and VPS Hosting

Best for Shared and VPS Plans

4.5

out of 5
Types of Hosting

4.3 out of 5 stars

Hosting Features

5 out of 5 stars

Disk Space

5 out of 5 stars

Uptime

3 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

3.8 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

3.5 out of 5 stars

If you want FTP on a shared or VPS plan, InMotion Hosting is your go to. It wowed us with its features in our research, and packs a powerful punch with its security measures – its cheapest shared plan includes free SSL, hack and malware protection, DDOS protection (against Denial-of-service attacks), SSH (Secure Shell Protocol) access, plus automatic backups available as an add-on. You can easily create and remove FTP accounts from your cPanel.

InMotion Hosting uses cPanel for its control panel, which is popular thanks to its user-friendly interface. You can use your cPanel username and password to connect directly to your server’s Home directory. There’s even a handy Quick Connect feature to speed up the process of configuring your FTP client.

There’s plenty of support guides in its knowledge center to walk you through getting started with FTP, and more specific guides on how to set up FTP with specific clients, such as FileZilla.

InMotion scored 3.8 stars out of 5 for value for money in our research – not as good as Bluehost, but better than HostGator.

Its shared hosting prices start at $5.99 per month, which is pretty pricey compared to other competitors. However, you get a lot of features included for this price, making it worth the money.

You get a 90-day money back guarantee with InMotion, giving you plenty of time to try it out and see if it’s right for you!

InMotion came out as the best FTP hosting provider for both shared and VPS hosting types in our research, and scored an impressive 5 stars out of 5 for its features!

As an example of how generous InMotion Hosting is with its features, its cheapest shared plan includes:

  • Free domain
  • Free SSL
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • 50GB SSD storage
  • 10 email addresses
  • Security Suite
  • SSH Access

InMotion Hosting recently added Secure FTP (SFTP) to its shared hosting plans, meaning you don’t use the same cPanel login to access your account. Considering shared plans are usually the least secure, this is a great feature for protecting your files!

inmotion logo

Do You Need Shared or VPS Hosting?

InMotion’s shared and VPS plans outperform all others in our research. It’s super hot on security, too!

Find Out More

#4. A2 Hosting

Best for Affordability

Best for Affordability

4.1

out of 5
Types of Hosting

5 out of 5 stars

Hosting Features

4.25 out of 5 stars

Disk Space

5 out of 5 stars

Uptime

2.5 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

3.9 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

5 out of 5 stars

A2 Hosting is a hosting provider with a real focus on speed, security, and affordability. SFTP is available on all of A2 Hosting’s Linux hosting accounts – this includes shared, VPS, reseller, and dedicated plans. You manage your FTP accounts in cPanel, and there’s plenty of guides to walk you through the process. A2 Hosting recommends its VPS plans for FTP hosting.

You’ll find plenty of easy to understand guides on FTP hosting in A2 Hosting’s help center – it’s very beginner-friendly, with a section explaining exactly what FTP is and how to access and manage your account.

Your FTP account is instantly activated when you register your A2 Hosting account, and you receive a Welcome email containing all your FTP connection information. This makes getting started as smooth as possible, no matter which FTP client you choose.

A2 Hosting is an affordable FTP hosting provider, with plans starting at just $2.99 per month for its cheapest shared hosting plan.

While you can choose any hosting plan you like, A2 Hosting recommends its VPS plans for FTP hosting – these start at $4.99 per month and range up to $79.99 per month for more advanced features.

A2 Hosting comes with a generous 90-day money-back guarantee, and scored 3.9 stars out of 5 for value in our research.

All A2 Hosting’s Linux plans come with SFTP (Secure Shell File Transfer Protocol), which uses SSH to encrypt your file transfers. The main thing to know is that this is a more secure way of transferring your files than normal FTP.

On A2 Hosting’s VPS plans, you can expect 1BG RAM, at least 150GB SSD storage, and at least 2TB bandwidth, as well as root access, and SSH access. This means you have a lot of control over your servers, and plenty of resources to build on.

a2 hosting logo

Do You Need FTP Hosting On a Budget?

A2 Hosting is an affordable choice, and it values speed and security too.

Find Out More

  • Wondering if A2 Hosting is right for you? We answer your questions in our full A2 Hosting Review

#5. GreenGeeks

Best for Eco-Friendly Hosting

Best for Eco-Friendly Hosting

3.5

out of 5
Types of Hosting

4 out of 5 stars

Hosting Features

5 out of 5 stars

Disk Space

5 out of 5 stars

Uptime

4 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

4.2 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

1.3 out of 5 stars

GreenGeeks is the best FTP hosting provider for eco-conscious users. Hosting is, sadly, pretty terrible for the environment – data centers use a lot of energy to power and cool servers, which results in eye-watering carbon emissions. GreenGeeks offsets its carbon footprint by 300%, so it’s the perfect choice for green FTP hosting.

On top of that, it has great features such as free nightly backups, free CDN (Content Delivery Network, for faster performance), and free domain for your first year – plus you can create an unlimited number of FTP or SFTP accounts, even on the cheapest shared plan.

GreenGeeks is another FTP host that uses cPanel – this is user friendly and means you can use FileZilla’s Quickconnect feature using your cPanel login.

There are plenty of detailed guides showing you how to use FTP with GreenGeeks, which is helpful for first-time FTP users. In addition, GreenGeeks’ standard features also include daily backups, free malware cleanups, free website migration, and built-in caching – all designed to make your life easier!

GreenGeeks scored impressively for value for money in our research, with 4.2 stars out of 5 – second only to Bluehost in our list! Its pricing ranges from $2.49 per month for its cheapest shared plan to $109.95 for its most expensive VPS plan.
Unlimited FTP and SFTP accounts is the first thing to mention when it comes to GreenGeeks’ features. Aside from that, its generous storage is another perk – the cheapest shared and WordPress plans come with 50GB, while most other plans provide unlimited disk space.

It’s worth noting that GreenGeeks offers a smaller range of plans than other FTP hosting providers. It provides plans for:

  • Shared
  • WordPress
  • VPS
  • Reseller

So if you need cloud or dedicated plans, you’ll need a different provider – we recommend A2 Hosting for cloud and InMotion Hosting for VPS.

greengeeks logo

Do You Want Eco-Friendly FTP Hosting?

GreenGeeks puts three times the amount of energy it consumes back into the grid, in the form of renewable energy. That’s pretty green!

Find Out More

  • GreenGeeks is great for eco-friendly hosting, but what else is it good at? Find out in our GreenGeeks Review

#6. Hostinger

Best for Discounted Prices

Best for Discounted Prices

3.6

out of 5
Types of Hosting

3.3 out of 5 stars

Hosting Features

4.2 out of 5 stars

Disk Space

3.3 out of 5 stars

Uptime

3.5 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

3.7 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

0.7 out of 5 stars

If you need dirt cheap FTP hosting in the short-term, Hostinger is worth a look. It offers awesome discounts for first-time users – these low prices last for your first term, and then renew, at which point it’s worth shopping around again. Hostinger has less storage and lower uptime than other FTP hosts, but is otherwise a very feature-rich provider.

Hostinger is a pretty beginner-friendly web host – its features are designed to help you get set up and running as easily as possible. For example, it provides weekly backups, a 1-Click Installer, and instant setup for new users.

Hostinger doesn’t use cPanel unless you choose a cPanel specific hosting plan. Instead, it uses a custom control panel called hPanel, but it’s still user-friendly.

Luckily, Hostinger’s support guides are tailored to its custom control panel – for example, its guide on configuring FileZilla shows you where to look in hPanel for your FTP details.

Hostinger has cheap discounted prices for new users, meaning you can get shared hosting for as little as $1.39 per month! WordPress plans start at $1.99 per month, while VPS hosting starts at $3.95 per month. Hostinger provides a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free.
Hostinger’s cheapest plans are more limited than some of its competitors. For example, its cheapest shared plan comes with:
  • 30GB SSD storage
  • 100GB bandwidth
  • Two databases
  • Only one FTP account

Unlike more advanced plans, there’s no free domain, no SSH access, no free CDN, and no daily backups. To unlock unlimited FTP accounts, SSH access, a free domain, and unlimited databases, you need the next plan up – at $2.59 per month it’s not too bad!

hostinger logo

Do You Love A Good Discount?

Hostinger offers some awesome discounts for new users, making it a really budget-friendly choice.

Find Out More

  • Hostinger’s cheap prices are appealing, but is it right for you? Find out more in our Hostinger Review

#7. SiteGround

Best for Reliability

Best for Reliability

3.7

out of 5
Types of Hosting

2.4 out of 5 stars

Hosting Features

4 out of 5 stars

Disk Space

0.05 out of 5 stars

Uptime

3 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

3.85 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

2.5 out of 5 stars

SiteGround is a reliable FTP host. While that may not sound like much of a boast, when you’re storing, organizing, and transferring large files, reliability is hugely important! All plans allow you to create unlimited FTP accounts and access SFTP for secure file access, transfers, and management. SiteGround’s value for money and storage could be better, but it’s easy to use,and offers round-the-clock support.

SiteGround certainly seems to have its users in mind with its plans and features. Daily backups on all plans is a huge perk, along with free CDN, free email are just some of the features meant to make your life easier. In addition, adding and removing FTP accounts is easy.

Recently, SiteGround has introduced the option for Multisite SFTP access with a single SSH key. In jargon-free terms, that means you no longer need to create a separate key for different sites if you manage multiple sites. Instead, you can securely upload files for all the sites you own with one central hostname and username. In short, it’s super convenient for users with multiple websites!

SiteGround isn’t expensive, but it may seem pricey after some of the other FTP providers we’ve looked at. Its cheapest plan costs $4.99 per month for new users, while its most expensive plan comes in at $400 per month for advanced cloud hosting. It scored poorly for value for money in our research because of its limited storage space and lack of powerful features.
Despite its user-centric features, such as daily backups, SiteGround failed to impress us too much with its features in testing. The main drawback is its limited storage – its most expensive shared plan only provides 40GB disk space, which is a shame.

In terms of FTP, the good news is that you can create an unlimited number of accounts and have access to SFTP, no matter which plan you choose!

siteground logo

Do You Value Reliability?

SiteGround is a reliable FTP host that has useful features, and makes creating FTP accounts a breeze.

Find Out More

  • Read our SiteGround Review for a full look into it spros, cons, features, and more
  • Wondering if SiteGround offers good value? We get into the nitty gritty of its plans in our SiteGround Pricing Review

Best FTP Server Hosting: Final Thoughts

We spent over 230 hours testing the best web hosts on the market, and found these seven hosts to be the very best FTP hosting providers. We explored their features, pricing, uptime, disk space, support, and more – we want you to be happy with the host you choose!

7 Best FTP Hosting Providers

  1. Bluehost Best FTP hosting provider overall
  2. HostGator Best for uptime
  3. InMotion Hosting Best for shared and VPS plans
  4. A2 Hosting Best for affordability
  5. GreenGeeks Best for eco-friendly hosting
  6. Hostinger Best for discounted prices
  7. SiteGround Best for reliability

Reliability, speed, and security are all major factors when choosing an FTP hosting provider – when managing and transferring large files, or a high quantity of files, you don’t want to take any risks.

That’s why our top FTP host is Bluehost. Not only is SFTP available, it’s also great value, has a high uptime guarantee, and is optimized for WordPress, the most popular CMS worldwide!

FAQs

Yes! Popular FTP clients include:
  • FileZilla
  • Cyberduck
  • Free FTP
  • WinSCP
  • Transmit
  • CuteFTP

Overall, we recommend FileZilla – it’s free, supported by the majority of FTP hosts, and is easy to use on Windows, Linux, and Mac.

It’s always worth checking your hosting provider’s plans – many include unlimited FTP accounts on all plans, but some aren’t so generous.

It’s best to go with the plan that best suits your needs. Shared hosting is the cheapest option, but usually has less storage and weaker security. VPS plans are more robust and more secure, so we recommend this if you can afford it.

Here are some key features to look for in a good FTP host:
  • Unlimited FTP accounts, even on cheap plans
  • Security – whether it’s SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) or FTPS (FTP with SSL), make sure your host provides secure FTP
  • Plenty of storage
  • Easy to use control panel, such as cPanel
  • Plenty of easy to understand FTP help guides
  • High uptime (99.98% or above is ideal)

Written by:
Lucy Carney is a Content Manager at Website Builder Expert, specializing in website building, ecommerce, and digital marketing. Previously working as a Writer and then Senior Writer on the brand, Lucy has 6 years of hands-on experience testing web building platforms including Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify. Lucy is passionate about using her knowledge to help small business owners build their online presence and achieve their goals. She’s reported on industry trends over the years, attended events such as the eCommerce Expo, and advised readers directly with over 400 comment replies on the site to date. Her work has also featured on other online publications such as the Shopify Partners Blog, Usability Geek, Serpstat, and Open Source, and has over 100 articles published on the Website Builder Expert blog.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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