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SiteGround offers hosting plans starting at $2.99 per month. Yes, that is true…but that’s only for the first year. Once that introductory period ends, the price jumps to $17.99 per month. Over five years, you’re looking at spending around $825, and over ten years, that total climbs to about $1,900. If you’re reading this, you’re probably already aware of this and are searching for more affordable options.
The good news is there are cheaper alternatives that perform just as well.
I’m not just saying this – I’ve spent several years researching the hosting market. Our team runs WordPress hosting surveys annually and maintains testing environments for each host we evaluate. In fact, we’ve conducted over 16,000 performance tests to date.
With all this data in hand, I can confidently recommend a few solid SiteGround alternatives that should fit your budget and needs.
I’ve tried to focus on identifying good alternatives for a couple of common scenarios.
- Most importantly, all hosts can handle WordPress and can handle WordPress well.
- First, I recommend alternatives for short-term hosting – one year or so.
- Then, I also recommend alternatives for longer-term hosting – from three up to ten years (biggest savings there!)
Here are the best hosts if you’ve had enough of SiteGround:
If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to SiteGround, I’d recommend giving Bluehost a look. Their one-year plan starts at $1.99 per month (as long as you buy through our link), which is $1 less than SiteGround. Over the first year, you’d end up paying $23.88 total, saving you $12 right away. Bluehost also includes some helpful extras, like a free domain for the first year and easy WordPress setup, which makes getting your site up and running pretty straightforward.
Based on our test setups, Bluehost performs well in key areas. They offer solid uptime and good loading speeds, especially if your audience is in the U.S. or Europe. In our hosting survey, Bluehost scored 7.10, which I think is a good rating considering how widely used it is. Just like SiteGround, though, Bluehost’s prices go up after the first year. In Bluehost’s case to $11.99 per month, so that’s something to keep in mind if you plan to stay with them longer.
What stands out are the savings you can get over time. For example, you’d save over $200 on a 3-year plan compared to SiteGround, and more than $700 over 10 years. If you’re after a reliable and affordable hosting option with some decent long-term savings, Bluehost is definitely a solid choice. Just watch out for the storage and traffic limits if your site starts to grow, since their basic plan does have some restrictions.
👉 Go here for a full review of Bluehost, and here for a direct comparison against SiteGround.
Features that make Bluehost good for WordPress
- Free WordPress migration tool
- WordPress staging site
- SSH and WP-CLI
- Free CDN – Cloudflare with argo routing
- Web application firewall
- DDos protection
- Free malware scanning
- Managed WordPress updates
- Managed PHP updates
- Static content caching
- Object caching
Uptime last three months
Performance this month
| East Coast USA: 0.86s ⭐ | West Coast USA: 0.71s ⭐ |
| Central USA: 0.64s ⭐ | London, UK: 0.69s ⭐ |
| Paris, France: 0.49s ⭐ | Mumbai, India: 0.43s ⭐ |
If you’re looking for an affordable long-term alternative to SiteGround, nothing beats Namecheap.
For example, over 5 years, it’ll cost you $230, which is almost $600 cheaper than SiteGround. If you’re in it for the long term, the 10-year cost is only $474.80, which saves you over $1,400 compared to SiteGround.
However, if you’re only thinking short-term, the cost difference isn’t huge. For a one-year plan, it’s priced pretty close to SiteGround at $2.91 per month, totaling $34.92 for the first year.
Even though it’s one of the cheapest hosts out there, Namecheap still offers solid performance. With their basic plan, you can host one website, manage up to 50,000 visitors per month, and get 10 GB of disk space – plenty for smaller sites or new projects. One thing to keep in mind is that Namecheap doesn’t include a free domain with their entry-level plan, so you’ll need to factor in that cost separately.
In terms of reliability, we’ve found that Namecheap holds up well, especially for US-based traffic. It offers good uptime and competitive loading speeds, and users have rated it highly in our survey, with an 8.03 score. If you’re after a low-cost, long-term hosting solution that still delivers decent performance, Namecheap is a great option to consider.
Features that make Namecheap good for WordPress
- Easy-to-use dashboard to manage WordPress websites
- Free CDN
- Easy backups and restores
- SFTP and database access
Uptime last three months
Performance this month
| East Coast USA: 0.74s ⭐ | West Coast USA: 0.70s ⭐ |
| Central USA: 0.69s ⭐ | London, UK: 1.33s |
| Paris, France: 1.45s | Mumbai, India: 2.17s |
ENTRY PRICE (first year) vs SiteGround 💵
- On a 1-year plan: $2.69
- Full 1-year cost: $32.28 ($3.60 cheaper)
Next on my list of affordable alternatives to SiteGround is Hostinger. Their one-year plan costs $2.69 per month, which works out to $32.28 for the year – pretty close to SiteGround’s pricing. But the longer you stick with them, the more you save. For example, a three-year plan is $88.44, which is over $300 cheaper than SiteGround. Over five years, you’d pay $273, saving you more than $550, and for ten years, you’d save over $1,100.
Even though it’s budget-friendly, Hostinger still offers a lot. You get a free domain for the first year, SSL, and one-click WordPress installation. Their basic plan gives you 100 GB of storage and supports up to 100 websites, which is plenty of room for most projects. It can handle around 25,000 visits per month, so unless you’re expecting major traffic spikes, it should meet your needs just fine.
From our experience, Hostinger’s performance is solid. They have great uptime and reliable speeds, which is important if you want your site to be consistent. Customers seem to agree, too – it scored an 8.11 in our recent survey. If you’re looking for a cheaper hosting option with a lot of features and good long-term savings, Hostinger is definitely worth considering.
Features that make Hostinger good for WordPress
- Free 1-click WordPress installation
- Free pre-built templates
- WordPress auto updates
- WordPress vulnerabilities scanner
- WordPress compatibility checker
- WordPress multisite
- WP-CLI and SSH
- Starter WooCommerce – sell up to 10 products
Uptime last three months
Performance this month
| East Coast USA: 1.19s | West Coast USA: 1.71s |
| Central USA: 1.47s | London, UK: 0.49s ⭐ |
| Paris, France: 0.43s ⭐ | Mumbai, India: 1.53s |
If you’re looking for the absolute cheapest option to get started with hosting, IONOS is hard to beat. Their one-year plan comes in at just $1 per month, so you’ll only pay $12 for the entire first year, which is $24 cheaper than SiteGround. It’s by far the lowest price you’ll find for short-term hosting.
However, after that first year, you’ll need to switch to a lower-tier plan to keep the cost down, especially if you’re planning to stay with them for several years. Even then, IONOS remains a solid value with long-term savings of over $1,200 compared to SiteGround over ten years.
What I like about IONOS is that even with their rock-bottom pricing, you still get a lot of useful features. The plan lets you host one website, offers 25 GB of SSD storage, 9 GB of RAM, and even includes AI tools to help with website creation and chatbot integration. You also get a free domain for the first year, along with one email address.
If you’re mainly focused on keeping your short-term costs down and want a reliable, low-cost solution, IONOS is definitely worth a look. Just be aware that to maintain those savings over the long term, you’ll need to adjust your plan after the first year.
Features that make IONOS good for WordPress
- SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access
- SiteAnalytics
- Customizable updates
- Malware scanning
- Vulnerability scanning
- Customized caching
- Jetpack Backup
Uptime last three months
| July 2024 | August 2024 | September 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 99.93% | 100.00% ⭐ | 100.00% ⭐ |
Performance this month
| East Coast USA: 0.58s ⭐ | West Coast USA: 0.59s ⭐ |
| Central USA: 0.50s ⭐ | London, UK: 0.64s ⭐ |
| Paris, France: 0.61s ⭐ | Mumbai, India: 1.40s |
DreamHost has been a mainstay of the WordPress hosting space for a long time now. As one of the few officially recommended hosts by WordPress.org, it’s built a big customer base among WordPress users.
If you’re considering it as an alternative to SiteGround, you’re going to be thinking long-term – this is where the real savings kick in. For example, a three-year plan will cost you $93.24, which saves you over $300 compared to SiteGround. Over five years, DreamHost comes in at $285, saving you more than $500, and for ten years, you’ll save around $1,286.
What I also like about DreamHost is that it’s not just cheap – it’s also packed with solid features. You get unlimited traffic, 50 GB of disk space, and can host one website, which is perfect for small to medium-sized projects.
While it doesn’t come with a free domain on the entry plan, the user-friendly control panel and one-click WordPress installation make setup a breeze. In terms of performance, DreamHost does well with uptime, though its load times are about average compared to other hosts. They offer 24/7 support through online tickets and live chat during business hours, which is helpful if you need assistance.
Features that make DreamHost good for WordPress
- WordPress preinstalled
- Free automated WordPress migrations
- WordPress website builder
- AI business advisor
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Automated daily backups
- SFTP, shell access, WP-CLI
Uptime last three months
Performance this month
| East Coast USA: 1.87s | West Coast USA: 1.03s |
| Central USA: 0.75s ⭐ | London, UK: 1.48s |
| Paris, France: 2.10s | Mumbai, India: 2.83s |
My top recommendations
Two options stand out, each suited for different needs:
1. Namecheap – best for long-term hosting
If you’re focused on long-term savings, Namecheap is the top choice. Over 10 years, you’ll save over $1,400 compared to SiteGround, making it ideal for small to medium sites. With 50,000 monthly visits and 10 GB of storage, it’s perfect for those looking to keep costs low without sacrificing basic performance.
2. Bluehost – best for short-term hosting with great WordPress features
For short-term hosting with strong WordPress support, Bluehost is a great pick. It’s affordable upfront, offers one-click WordPress setup, 100 GB of storage, and a free domain for the first year. If you need a fast, reliable setup and room to scale, Bluehost is the way to go.
More about our methodology
I know that choosing the right hosting provider is tough. We’ve been developing a detailed methodology to test and review hosts so that we can then recommend them to our readers. Since 2009, we’ve reviewed over 20 providers, combining expert analysis, user feedback, and performance monitoring. While our in-house team offers honest opinions and testing, our annual surveys provide insights from real users:
- We start by signing up for hosting plans and setting up test sites with demo data. Then, we run performance tests, tracking load times globally and monitoring uptime. Hosts are rated on pricing, features, and real-time testing. We account for hidden fees and discounts and evaluate key features like storage and bandwidth.
- Since 2016, we’ve also been running user surveys that gather feedback on various hosting providers. These surveys run discreetly on our sites to capture honest, unfiltered feedback, providing valuable insights into the pros and cons of each host.
I hope this guide has helped you find the right budget-friendly alternative to SiteGround that fits your specific needs. Whether you’re looking for a short-term solution or a host with particular features, there’s an option out there for you! If you have any questions or need further clarification about the hosts mentioned, feel free to ask in the comments.
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