Articles
Hosting articles, reviews & guides
Independent comparisons, head-to-head reviews, and editorial guides — all scored on renewal pricing, support, and real-world performance.
- Comparison
Best Web Hosting for Small Businesses
4 hosts compared on renewal price, support and migration: Cloudways from $11/mo flat, Hostinger $2.99/mo renewing at $10.99, Kinsta and Namecheap.
- Comparison
Best VPS Hosting for Developers
Independent picks for developer-friendly VPS hosting in 2026 — root access, snapshots, predictable pricing, and clean APIs.
- Comparison
Best Email Hosting for Custom Domains
Independent business email hosting picks for your own domain — chosen for deliverability, transparent pricing, and proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC support.
- Comparison
Domain Renewal Prices: Where a .com Stays Cheap
.com renewal prices compared across registrars — from Cloudflare's $10.46 at-cost to Gandi's $38.38. Verified July 2026, with 5-year cost math per registrar.
- Versus
Cloudways vs Kinsta
Cloudways from $11/mo, flat billing; Kinsta from $30/mo billed annually. Managed WordPress, pricing, support and who each host suits, no affiliate spin.
- Versus
DigitalOcean vs Vultr
DigitalOcean vs Vultr compared on regions, pricing, networking, and developer experience — to help you pick the right cloud VPS.
- Versus
Namecheap vs Cloudflare Domains
Namecheap renews a .com at about $14.78/yr; Cloudflare Registrar is $10.46 at cost but needs Cloudflare DNS. Pricing, DNS, privacy and TLDs compared.
- Review
MXroute Review
Our MXroute verdict: $59/yr buys unlimited domains and mailboxes against 10 GB of shared storage and a send-rate cap. Who it fits, and who it does not.
- Guide
How to Choose Web Hosting
A practical guide to choosing web hosting — what actually matters, what marketing claims to ignore, and how to match the host to your project.
- Versus
MXroute vs Migadu
MXroute ($59/yr, unlimited domains) vs Migadu (from $19/yr) — real plan prices, sending limits, and who each flat-fee email host actually suits. Verified July 2026.
- Versus
Fastmail vs Google Workspace
Fastmail ($5/user/mo for your own domain) vs Google Workspace (from $7/user/mo) — real prices, privacy trade-offs, and when the suite is worth it. Verified September 2026.
- Versus
Kinsta vs WP Engine
Kinsta $30/mo annual against WP Engine $28 first-year then $35. Same visit-metered shape, and our own monitoring recorded 46 slow episodes at WP Engine.
- Versus
Porkbun vs Cloudflare Registrar
Porkbun charges $11.08/yr for a .com, same at renewal; Cloudflare Registrar is $10.46/yr at cost but requires its DNS. Plus the hybrid setup pros run.
- Versus
Hetzner vs DigitalOcean
Hetzner cloud starts at €5.49/mo with 20 TB of EU transfer; DigitalOcean at $4/mo. The per-GB math, the 2026 US repricing, and which cloud fits you.
- Guide
How to Switch Web Hosts Without Downtime
A step-by-step web host migration guide: backups, parallel setup, DNS TTL, email gotchas, and the overlap week — switch hosts with seconds of downtime, not hours.
- Guide
How to Migrate a WordPress Site to a New Host
WordPress migration, step by step: plugin-assisted and manual paths, database search-replace, staging checks, DNS cutover, and what free host migrations cover.
- Versus
SiteGround vs Bluehost
SiteGround vs Bluehost compared on verified July 2026 pricing — $2.99 vs $3.99 intro, $17.99 vs ~$9.99 renewal — plus support, performance posture, and upsells.
- Versus
Hostinger vs SiteGround
Hostinger vs SiteGround on verified July 2026 pricing: identical $2.99 intros, $10.99 vs $17.99 renewals, 48-month vs 12-month terms — and where support tips it.
- Data
The Hosting Renewal Price Index
The Hosting Renewal Price Index: intro vs renewal prices across web hosts, registrars, and email providers — verified on vendor sites, dated, downloadable as CSV.
- Comparison
Best Email Hosting for Small Business
Small-business email hosting costed for a five-person team over three years: MXroute $177 flat, Fastmail $900, Workspace or Microsoft 365 $1,260. Sept 2026.
- Comparison
Cheap Email Hosting: What $19–$59 a Year Buys
The cheapest credible email hosting compared — Migadu from $19/yr, MXroute at $59/yr, Zoho Mail's genuinely free tier — and the limits each price hides.
- Review
Migadu Review
Our Migadu verdict: $19/yr Micro buys unlimited domains and addresses against 5 GB pooled storage and a 20-outbound-a-day cap. Respect it and it is superb.
- Review
Fastmail Review
Our Fastmail verdict: $5/user/mo Standard buys custom domains, masked email and no renewal jump. The $3 Basic tier has neither custom domains nor IMAP.
- Versus
Fastmail vs Migadu
Fastmail Standard at $5/user/mo against Migadu Micro at $19/yr for unlimited addresses. Polished apps and per-seat billing, or a 20-mails-a-day cap.
- Versus
MXroute vs Zoho Mail
MXroute ($59/yr flat, unlimited domains and mailboxes) vs Zoho Mail (from $1/user/mo) — verified prices, the free-plan catch, and which fits your team. Verified September 2026.
- Comparison
Best Private Email Providers (2026)
Best private email providers, verified Sept 2026: Migadu from $19/yr, MXroute $59/yr, Fastmail $5/user/mo, plus Proton and Infomaniak — on your own domain.
- Guide
Managed vs Unmanaged Dedicated Servers
Managed vs unmanaged dedicated hosting, decided on cost and who does the ops — bare metal from $97/mo (Hivelocity) vs fully managed from $167.50/mo (Liquid Web). Verified 2026.
- Comparison
Cheap Dedicated Server Hosting
The cheapest credible dedicated servers compared — Hivelocity bare metal from $97/mo, what promo pricing hides, and when cheap dedicated beats a big VPS. Verified 2026.
- Versus
Hivelocity vs Liquid Web
Hivelocity vs Liquid Web dedicated hosting compared — bare metal from $97/mo vs $167.50/mo fully managed, and which team each one is for. Verified 2026.
- Comparison
Cheap Domain Registrars: 9 Compared on the Price You Keep Paying
Nine registrars ranked on the five-year cost of a single .com: Spaceship $9.98 at renewal, Cloudflare at wholesale cost, Porkbun and Dynadot both flat.
- Comparison
Best GoDaddy Alternatives
The best GoDaddy alternatives in 2026, by verified renewal price: registrars that renew a .com at $10–12 instead of $22.99, plus hosting and email swaps.
- Versus
GoDaddy vs Namecheap
GoDaddy renews a .com at $22.99/yr; Namecheap at about $14.78. Privacy is free at both. Verified September 2026, with upsells and support compared.
- Guide
GoDaddy Renewal Prices, Explained
A GoDaddy .com renews at $22.99/yr, verified September 2026. Why renewal coupons rarely exist, where hosting renewals hide, and the two moves that work.
- Review
Spaceship Review: The Cheap-Renewal Registrar, Verified
Spaceship is a sister brand founded by Namecheap's founder, ICANN-accredited since 2022. How its $9.98 .com renewal compares with Namecheap and Porkbun.
- Review
IONOS Review: What the $1 Deal Actually Costs
IONOS is the former 1&1: Frankfurt-listed, 6.2M customers, a $1/mo plan renewing at $14/mo. How it compares with GoDaddy on hosting, domains and email.
- Comparison
Best Web Hosting According to Reddit, Priced and Checked
The r/webhosting moderators' pinned shortlist, priced against our own verified renewal data: KnownHost, NixiHost, InMotion, Zume and Krystal, compared.
- Versus
KnownHost vs NixiHost
KnownHost vs NixiHost on verified September 2026 pricing: $6.71 (renews $8.95) vs $4.99 (renewal unpublished), LiteSpeed stacks, support models, refund terms, and locations.
- Versus
Krystal vs Zume
Two UK hosts that publish no introductory price, so the figure you see is the figure you keep paying. Which one fits, on plan limits rather than discounts.
- Data
The Uptime Study: 45-Day Interim Findings
45 days of five-minute checks from four continents: two verified major outages, 10 of 34 providers with a clean sheet, and Flywheel at 209 slow episodes.
- Review
Hostinger Review: Cheap for Four Years, Then Not
Hostinger's $2.99/mo needs a 48-month prepay and renews at $10.99 — about 3.7×. Zero incidents in our 45-day window. Who should buy it, and who shouldn't.
- Review
Bluehost Review: The Default Choice, Scored Honestly
Bluehost rates 3.8 — our lowest shared-hosting score. $3.99/mo on 36-month prepay renews at $9.99, and it blocks our uptime probes outright. Who it fits.
- Review
SiteGround Review: The Support Is Real, So Is the 6× Renewal
SiteGround's $2.99/mo renews at $17.99 — about 6×, the steepest standard-tier jump we track. It also logged zero incidents in 45 days. When that's worth it.
- Review
Cloudways Review: The Flat-Price Managed Cloud
Our Cloudways verdict: $11/mo flat with no renewal jump is the real draw, but the managed-WP tier now starts at $99/mo and it blocks our uptime probes.
- Review
DreamHost Review: What Month-to-Month Billing Is Worth
Our DreamHost verdict: $2.89/mo renewing at $10.99 is mid-pack — true month-to-month billing is the reason to buy. 18 minutes down in our 45-day window.
- Review
A2 Hosting Review: The Rebrand, the Speed Claim, and the Missing Renewal Price
Our A2 Hosting verdict: $3.99/mo Starter, a renewal price the vendor no longer publishes, and 235 minutes of degraded time in our 45-day uptime study.
- Review
InMotion Hosting Review: The Renewal Is Printed on the Card
Our InMotion Hosting verdict: Launch is $4.79/mo on a 3-year term, renewing at $14.99 — disclosed on the card. The 90-day refund is the longest we track.