6 Best cPanel Hosting Providers: Take Control of Your Hosting

Choosing the right cPanel hosting provider can feel like a mammoth task. From bandwidth and security to speed, uptime, and of course, price, there’s a LOT to think about. To help you out, we’ve put all the key information in this handy comparison table. Thank us later!

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Editor's Choice
Bluehost	HostGator	InMotion	A2 Hosting	SiteGround	GoDaddy
Overall rating 4.8	Overall rating 4.7	Overall rating 4.5	Overall rating 4.1	Overall rating 3.7	Overall rating 4.0
Starting from $2.95	Starting from $4.95	Starting from $3.49	Starting from $2.99	Starting from $2.99	Starting from $6.99
Uptime 99.98%	Uptime 99.99%	Uptime 99.98%	Uptime 99.95%	Uptime 99.99%	Uptime 99.97%
Money-back guarantee 30 days	Money-back guarantee 45 days	Money-back guarantee 90 days	Money-back guarantee 30 days	Money-back guarantee 30 days	Money-back guarantee 48 hours to 30 days
Storage space 10GB – Unlimited	Storage space Unmetered	Storage space 75GB – Unlimited	Storage space 100GB – Unlimited	Storage space 10GB – 160GB	Storage space 25GB – 100GB
Bandwidth Unmetered	Bandwidth Unmetered	Bandwidth Unlimited	Bandwidth Unmetered	Bandwidth Unmetered	Bandwidth Unmetered
Visit Bluehost	Visit HostGator	Visit InMotion	Visit A2 Hosting	Visit SiteGround	Visit GoDaddy
See our Bluehost review	See our HostGator review	See our InMotion review	See our A2 Hosting review	See our SiteGround review	See our GoDaddy review

Best overall cPanel hosting provider.

Bluehost takes the top spot as the best cPanel hosting provider in our list – in fact, it comes out as a top-rated hosting provider full stop in most of our research, particularly when it comes to hosting WordPress websites. Impressive!

The cPanel dashboard is sleek and easy to use, and the provider excels when it comes to WordPress hosting with specially tailored shared and managed WordPress hosting plans available.

Check out our full Bluehost review

✔️ What We Liked

• Bluehost is a great WordPress provider and it’s the top-rated provider by WordPress itself!
• All the plans are packed full of features, even the very cheapest options.
• Free domain is included with every plan.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• The basic plans live up to their name and are limited when it comes to features included, which can result in having to pay for expensive add-ons.
• The uptime is a little unreliable.

Who Should Choose Bluehost?

Plans and Pricing

Bluehost pricing offers great value for money and has shared hosting plans that start at just $1.99 per month for new customers (always remember that these are introductory offers and will be more expensive when you renew your plan!)

Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and if you sign up for 36 months instead of 12, you’ll be in line for a discount too.

Whichever plan you use, cPanel is included (you don’t have to pay extra, hurrah!).

Performance and Scalability

On the whole, Bluehost is a speedy host, however, all of its data centers are located in the US which can impact international load speeds ever so slightly. Not a major cause for concern, but something to consider if you’re targeting an audience from further afield.

Bluehost has an advertised uptime of 99.98%, and considering no cPanel hosting provider can guarantee 100% uptime (unfortunately), this is pretty much as close as it gets.

The cheapest Bluehost plan only offers 10GB of storage, which means if scalability is on your radar you’ll need to commit to one of the pricier options. You won’t get your hands on 100GB unless you opt for the Pro plan, which also happens to be the most expensive option.

Compatibility and Support

The Bluehost cPanel is sleek and clean and is easy to use for anyone, from beginners to web experts.

There are also a variety of support options available including live chat and, one of our favorites, phone support. After all, when you have an urgent problem, it’s often much easier to speak to another human on the phone than via a computer screen on live chat. Phone support is only available for those on the Plus plan and above.

There’s also a help page with answers to some of the most common questions which could help you avoid wasting time waiting for an operative to become available.

Security and Reliability

You want your website to be safe and secure right? Well if you opt for Bluehost as your cPanel hosting provider of choice then you’ll get a free SSL certificate as standard, keeping both your and your users’ data safe.

It IS worth noting, however, that the more basic Bluehost plans lack some of the more advanced security features such as DDoS support.

Best for shared hosting.

Next on our list of the best cPanel hosting providers is HostGator. If you opt for one of the shared or VPS hosting plans then you’ll get cPanel included free of charge.

HostGator has taken its cPanel one step further and customized it to make it even easier to use, making navigation simple in the default Jupiter Hostgator cPanel theme. In the unlikely event that you do get stuck using it, there are plenty of useful help and support articles on the HostGator website.

Check out our full HostGator review

✔️ What We Liked

• The dashboard is super easy to use with one click install for some of the most popular apps.
• HostGator’s help and support is next-level, perfect for those who are worried about getting to grips with setting up and running a website.
• The shared hosting plans are some of the best on the market, with all the core hosting essentials included in even the cheapest plan.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• The plans are a little more expensive compared to other cPanel hosting providers such as Bluehost.
• While the control panel is simple, it is a little outdated and clunky at times.

Who Should Choose HostGator?

Plans and Pricing

HostGator is one of the pricier cPanel hosting providers on the market, with prices starting at $2.52 per month on the most basic plan when you sign up for 36 months, affectionately called the Hatchling Plan.

Shared hosting prices rise to $4.67 per month for the most expensive Business Plan. Like with many hosting providers, these are introductory offers so always consider that when you renew, your prices will go up.

All the plans on offer have the latest cPanel control panel, easy app installation, and website stat tools included in HostGator pricing.

You’ll also get a 1 year domain registration within your plan however this will renew at $19.99 once the first year is up.

Performance and Scalability

You want your website to be online and accessible to users, which is why uptime is important.

HostGator guarantees an uptime of 99.9% which makes it one of the best on the market when it comes to uptime plus the provider offers a monthly credit if your website is down for more than nine hours per year.

HostGator does offer unmetered bandwidth but this isn’t quite as exciting as it sounds. HostGator expects you to never exceed 25% of system resources for more than 90 seconds… the problem is they aren’t clear on what that figure actually is.

If you’re looking to scale in the future, or want to attract a large number of web visitors now, you could run into some hurdles.

Compatibility and Support

HostGator determines how much support it offers you based on the plan you choose. Those on the Hatchling plan (the cheapest option) will only have access to live chat, while the more advanced plans get live chat and phone support.

The HostGator knowledge base is packed full of cPanel resources, helping you to get to grips with the system and allowing you to bypass contacting the team for some of the more common problems and questions.

Security and Reliability

HostGator offers a free SSL certificate with every plan, which is pretty standard for cPanel hosting providers. But HostGator goes above and beyond, offering protection from DDoS attacks – this is an additional paid extra with Bluehost, for example.

If you’re serious about website security (and you should be) then you can enhance your cyber safety by purchasing the SiteLock security add-on that starts at $2.99 per month. This will scan your website for problems and can even fix many of the issues it detects, plus you’ll get notified on your cPanel when it spots anything.

Want to compare our top two cPanel hosting providers? Take a look at our Bluehost vs HostGator comparison guide.

Best for VPS hosting.

InMotion is a cPanel hosting provider that comes with many benefits. For starters, the cPanel is uncluttered and easy to use, with everything you need available on a single page.

What this means is that you can do everything you need in one place, such as managing your website and tracking key stats. There’s also a really handy search bar that allows you to find exactly what feature you’re looking for.

InMotion is a particularly great choice for VPS hosting and the cPanel is specifically tailored to this service. This includes optimizations in place to ensure all resources are used minimally, helping to improve performance and speed.

Check out our full InMotion review

✔️ What We Liked

• The VPS-optimized cPanel on all VPS plans enhances the user experience.
• There’s unlimited disk space and free SSL certificates on offer, even with the most basic plan.
• Every plan allows at least two websites.
• Over 400 one-click installs of apps.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• One of the more expensive cPanel hosting providers and renewal plans can be steep.
• There’s no free domain on the most basic plan meaning this is an added expense you’ll have to consider.

Who Should Choose InMotion?

Plans and Pricing

InMotion offers an array of different shared hosting plans and the basic plan starts at just $3.29 per month. The most advanced shared hosting plan, Pro, will set you back $11.25 per month…making InMotion one of the more expensive options on the market.

These prices are based on signing up for 12 months. The longer you sign up to InMotion for, the cheaper your plan will be. You can commit to 1 month, 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years.

To be honest, we think 3 years is a pretty big commitment and until you’re sure InMotion is the right choice for you, the 1 year option is probably the best choice, both in terms of value for money and flexibility.

Every InMotion plan lets you have at least two websites (the more advanced plans offer unlimited) which is a relatively unique cPanel hosting provider feature.

As mentioned, we highly recommend InMotion’s VPS hosting plans. There are four plans to choose from, starting from $14.99 per month when you sign up for a year, and all plans come with a free SSL certificate, a choice of data center and a choice of control panel.

Performance and Scalability

Uptime is key to keeping your website online and accessible to users and InMotion offers a guaranteed uptime of 99.98% across shared and VPS plans.

This does fall slightly to 99.9% for dedicated and WordPress plans but this is still a pretty good uptime stat so shouldn’t cause too much concern.

InMotion’s two data centers are based in the US, which is great if you’re targeting an American audience. But if you’re hoping to attract international visitors, you’ll be better off choosing Bluehost or A2 Hosting as both offer centers in multiple locations.

When it comes to scaling, even the cheapest Core plan has you covered, with unlimited bandwidth, 10 email addresses, and 100GB of SSD storage on offer.

Compatibility and Support

Your InMotion cPanel makes installing apps easy and the hosting provider offers a range of support options including a support centre of resources, phone, email, and live chat support.

When we tested the support center, we found plenty of resources and articles related to getting the most out of the cPanel, with many including step-by-step instructions and screenshots.

Security and Reliability

Keeping your website stable is a top priority for InMotion and there’s a free SSL certificate included in every plan along with automatic daily backups, DDoS protection, and malware monitoring to help keep you and your users safe.

Best for additional security.

A2 Hosting uses cPanel to power its shared, VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting services and combines the professional cPanel with SwiftServers, a super-speedy hosting feature that A2 Hosting have fine tuned over the past decade, to ensure your website gets the speed and support it needs.

With a particular focus on performance and security, A2 Hosting also provides easy Cloudflare setup from your cPanel control panel, with Cloudflare being the Content Delivery Network (CDN) of choice for the provider.

Check out our full A2 Hosting review

✔️ What We Liked

• A2 Hosting has some of the best customer service on the market, allowing you to quickly get the help you need.
• There are various “extra measures” for website security included in every plan as standard.
• An anytime money-back guarantee is available to customers, almost unheard of!

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• The uptime isn’t the most competitive on the market and slightly lets the provider down.
• There’s a lot of upselling at the checkout when you choose your plan, something that can be a little off-putting.

Who Should Choose A2 Hosting?

Plans and Pricing

When it comes to pricing, A2 Hosting offers a 30 day money back guarantee (or a 30-90 day prorated refund for unused services). This is pretty standard but A2 Hosting did previously offer an anytime money back guarantee, so it’s a shame that this is no longer available for new users.

Unfortunately, that’s where the price benefits end as A2 Hosting’s value for money is nowhere near what we would expect. While the basic plans stay pretty affordable, with an introductory offer of $2.99 per month, the more features you add, the more the plans increase in price (and drastically so).

A2 Hosting renewal prices are also pretty steep, with the basic Startup plan going from $2.99 for the first twelve months to $12.99 per month after that.

Unsure what hosting type you need? Take a look at our Shared Hosting vs VPS Hosting guide to help you make a decision.

Performance and Scalability

A2 Hosting offers an uptime of 99.90% which is pretty average so while it won’t win any awards for its speed, it also won’t leave you with a website that’s never online either.

If uptime is a big issue for your website – for example, if you’re running an ecommerce store and can’t afford to miss out on sales if your website is down – consider looking into Bluehost instead.

Compatibility and Support

A2 Hosting offers an array of plans geared towards WordPress hosting, making it a great choice if that’s your CMS of choice.

Thanks to Softaculous integration it also allows the installation of third-party software such as calendars, wikis, and ad management with just a single click, making this a great beginner-friendly choice.

There’s live chat and email support on offer. We recommend email support if you’re looking for more detailed responses, and the on-site resource center has plenty of cPanel-related articles to help you out.

Security and Reliability

If website security is your top consideration when choosing a cPanel hosting provider then A2 Hosting should go to the top of your list.

The provider not only offers an SSL certificate with every plan as standard, but has also put together its own Perpetual Security Initiative that provides additional security features including limited server access (A2 Hosting’s staff must use keys instead of passwords to access the servers), reinforced DDoS protection, and a Dual Hosting Firewall.

For websites that will be taking a lot of sensitive user data or those with member areas that require secure log-ins, A2 Hosting’s extra security measures should provide you with the peace of mind you need.

Best for educational support and resources.

While SiteGround isn’t close to being the best on this list (hello Bluehost) thanks to its poor performance in some areas (more on that later), it is a WordPress-approved hosting provider making it a popular choice for those building a site on WordPress.

All SiteGround plans come with cPanel included (it wouldn’t make this list otherwise!) and you can manage your domains, track your billing, and access support all in one place.

Check out our full SiteGround review

✔️ What We Liked

• There are automated daily backups undertaken free of charge, a great additional safety feature for your site.
• The resources and knowledge base are some of the best of any of the providers we’ve reviewed, offering expert insights and tips.
• It’s WordPress-recommended, which is a good stamp of approval if you’re running a site on the CMS.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• The performance is very hit-and-miss and hard to keep track of.
• Renewal prices are incredibly steep.

Who Should Choose SiteGround?

Plans and Pricing

SiteGround’s pricing is erratic, to say the least. It used to be one of the more expensive cPanel hosting providers on the market (and honestly, we’re not sure why) but then it dropped its prices right down to attract a wider audience and be more in line with its competition.

Those prices have recently risen slightly, meaning the most basic plan, Startup, is $2.99 per month and the most expensive, GoGeek, is $7.99 per month.

While these prices are pretty good, the renewal rates are shocking. Those prices are only available on a prepaid 12-month plan, if you want to pay monthly or renew after the 12 months, even the Startup plan will set you back $17.99 per month. Yes, you read that right, meaning you’ll be forking out over $200 a year for a very basic hosting plan.

Performance and Scalability

To be honest, and what would be the point in this review if we weren’t, performance is where SiteGround really lets itself down.

No matter what industry or plan, there’s just no concise outcome, and within our research, the provider failed to score higher than 3.5 out of 5. In fact, for its shared hosting offer it scored a measly 0.7 out of 5, the worst score of any provider we tested. Oh dear.

SiteGround does redeem itself slightly when it comes to uptime, with a guaranteed uptime of 99.9%, making it parallel with rival A2 Hosting.

The most basic plan only supports up to 10,000 visits a month, compared with fellow WordPress-recommended provider Bluehost whose basic shared plan can easily support 15,000 monthly visits…something to consider if you want to target a large audience.

Compatibility and Support

SiteGround offers 24/7 phone and great live chat support, we always like to know our hosting provider is on hand at any time should an issue arise.

Where SiteGround excels is with its help resources and knowledge base. Articles and tutorials are organized into easy-to-navigate categories and the advanced search bar makes finding what you’re looking for simple.

Security and Reliability

SiteGround takes security seriously and provides not only a free SSL certificate with every plan but also free daily backups.

There is also an array of advanced security measures available, one of our favorites of which is the new AI anti-bot system, helping to prevent AI crawlers and bots from accessing your website and putting your site content and data at risk.

Want to directly compare SiteGround with some of the other providers in this list? Read some of our expert comparisons:

• SiteGround vs GoDaddy
• SiteGround vs HostGator
• SiteGround vs InMotion

Best for keeping everything in one place.

Best known as a domain registrar, did you know that GoDaddy also offers web hosting and a website builder too?

Just because it’s the last in our list of the best cPanel hosting providers, doesn’t mean it doesn’t offer an array of features that make it the ideal choice for some website owners.

While it may not be the best hosting provider on the market, it does have the benefit of allowing you to have everything – your hosting, domain, and website builder – all in one place. This is a particular benefit for beginners looking to keep things simple.

Check out our full GoDaddy Hosting review

✔️ What We Liked

• A great way to keep all of your website services in one, central place.
• Free SSL certificate plus a free domain for your first year.
• Easy one-click WordPress installation.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• There are plenty of add-on features but they’re pricey and can quickly add up.
• Even the unlimited offerings aren’t always what they seem and need a close look at the fine print.
• Very limited migration options.

Who Should Choose GoDaddy Hosting?

Plans and Pricing

Go Daddy’s most basic and cheapest plan, Web Hosting Economy starts at $8.99 per month for a 12-month subscription.

This is therefore one of the most expensive options in this list and it doesn’t end there. This price is only available if you pay upfront for the year and renewal will cost you around $18 per month once your initial year is up.

GoDaddy also throws a host of features into the Web Hosting Economy plan for the first year, such as a free SSL certificate, free domain, and two Microsoft 365 mailboxes, but you’ll have to start paying extra for these once the year is up.

Performance and Scalability

GoDaddy claims to offer an uptime of 99.99%, which is as close to 100% as you’re going to get, however in testing it tends to come out at around 99.97%, which is still a pretty good uptime guarantee.

While the provider does offer unlimited bandwidth, there’s a lot of fine print surrounding just how much they will let you have…it’s murky, to say the least.

All of the GoDaddy plans also cap things such as storage, databases, and the number of websites allowed which can make scaling your online business tricky.

Compatibility and Support

There’s a whole section within the GoDaddy help center dedicated to cPanel and answering the most common questions about the control panel and how to get the most out of it.

Up until February 2024, GoDaddy also had an online forum where users could ask questions, help each other out, and provide best practice ideas. Unfortunately, it’s been closed which we think is a real shame since it was a great chance to connect with other users and access unique insights.

GoDaddy has the standard live chat support and as well as 24/7 phone support, the team also regularly responds to queries on social media.

Top tip! GoDaddy is such a huge and popular brand that there are loads of YouTube tutorials on how to use the cPanel and other features. Uploaded by third-party users and reviewers, they can provide valuable insight.

Security and Reliability

GoDaddy runs daily backups for your website, meaning should the worst happen and you encounter a security breach, you’ll be able to get your website back up and running in no time.

You’ll also get a free SSL certificate included, however this is only available for the first year, and after that, you’ll have to pay around $11.99 per year extra. This is a pretty rare add-on, with providers such as Bluehost and HostGator offering it as standard for all plans, for as long as you are a customer.

When choosing the best cPanel hosting provider for your website, you need to think carefully about your requirements both now and in the future.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use and intuitive interface, browser compatibility, and the option to install software, you need a cPanel provider, but which one?

Some things to consider include:

• Pricing and plans: How much budget do you have to spend on a hosting provider? Be sure to check not only the introductory offer but also the renewal price. Take into account additional add-ons as with some providers, such as A2 Hosting, these can get expensive.
• Essential features: Make a checklist of the key features you expect from a hosting provider. Things such as security, bandwidth, free SSL certificates, free domains, and automatic backups are all things to consider adding to the list.
• Scalability and bandwidth: Many hosting providers like to advertise unlimited storage or bandwidth but the reality is that if your website requires too much, you’ll be in breach of the terms. If your website uses too many resources on a shared server you risk being asked to upgrade your plan or worse, having your site speed slowed down.

Top tip! Check out the provider’s refund policy, most of the ones in this list offer at least a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to test if the cPanel hosting provider is right for you.

Believe it or not, the reviews and opinions in this piece (and all of our expert guides) are the result of our rigorous testing process…and not just made up on the spot!

When it comes to hosting providers, the main areas we look at are:

• Price – is it good value for money?
• Performance – can you rely on it to keep your website online and fast?
• Features – what do its plans include? What do you need to pay extra for?
• Help and support – how easy is it to get assistance with a problem?
• Market analysis – how does it compare to its competitors?

Of the six cPanel hosting providers that we’ve reviewed in this list, Bluehost comes out on top as the best overall provider. With great value for money, competitive uptime rates, and recommended by WordPress itself, it remains our favorite cPanel hosting provider.

Not far behind is HostGator, while A2 Hosting is the one to choose if security is your biggest web concern.

If you’re still unsure and want to try any of our six best cPanel hosts out for yourself, then all of them offer at least a 30-day money-back guarantee, meaning you can sign up to try it out and get your money back if it’s not the right choice for you!