Top hosting providers in India have data centers close to your target market. Thus, they can deliver data reasonably quickly, improving the customer experience. Usually, you can also expect a local phone line and technical support, affordable and available web hosting for everyone.
Still, today’s market is saturated with web hosts with various features and prices. So, choosing the best hosting provider in India might be a challenging and daunting task.
On the good side of things, our HostAdvice experts have assembled a list of all the reputable hosting sites in India. We’ve performed an independent study, testing each company optimized for the Indian market, measuring its performance, customer support, responsiveness, and features. In addition, we’ve reviewed the company’s reputation and user reviews to further detect any red flags, giving extra points for transparency and fair pricing.
This article teaches you how to find the best and cheapest web hosting in India, the pros and cons of reputable providers, trade-offs, and several other exciting details. If you don’t have the time for it, let’s dive right into it. Here’s our selection of the top 5 web hosting companies in India.
Short on time? Check Our Top Indian Web Hosting Providers
- Verpex Hosting – Best Cheap Web Hosting in India
- HostArmada – Best Overall Web Hosting in India
- FastComet – Best Shared Hosting in India
How Do We Rank and How You Should Choose the Best Hosting Provider in India?
- Type of Hosting5%
- Scalability5%
- Server Location15%
- Hosting Features12%
- Server Performance15%
- Customer Support10%
- Pricing8%
- User Reviews30%
Picking a dependable web hosting company might be the most important decision for your online journey. You want to avoid a website that loads slowly or constantly crashes. Why? Because it can quickly lead your visitors to become frustrated, leave your site, and look elsewhere.
Our professionals have performed in-depth research, backed up with independent testing to deliver you the best hosting services in India. At HostAdvice, we measure each provider’s performance, speed, and uptime. We purchase web hosting plans as regular customers to report to you first-hand. We also review the company’s features, customer support, and ease of use during our testing. Most importantly, we continually upgrade our methodology to reflect the newest releases and innovative technologies.
But how do we actually rate the providers? We develop grading lists for each category separately. The list consists of the factors relevant for the category, or in this case, web hosting in India, along with their relative importance expressed in percentages. We then use these numbers to calculate a single weighted score, reflecting the overall quality of the Indian web host.
If you don’t want to follow our recommendations regarding best hosting providers in India, here’s what you need to consider when choosing the right Indian web hosting provider for your website:
- Type of Hosting (5%): Before you start browsing Indian web hosting providers, you should clearly state your needs and preferences. What type of web hosting are you looking for? All services come with trade-offs. For instance, shared hosting is the cheapest alternative, but it’s the most basic. On the other hand, dedicated servers account for the best performance, but they cost a bit too extra, and so on. It would be best to understand your business needs to match them with the best plan.
- Scalability (5%): Beginners and first-time users almost always start their hosting journey with a shared hosting plan. And that continually proves to be the best approach. However, as your traffic increases, your performance will start to suffer. That’s why it’s key to select a web host that grants you room to grow. Check if you can stick with the same provider in India (if it provides more advanced solutions such as VPS or dedicated servers) when your site blows in popularity. If you cannot, you’ll need to migrate to a new web host – preferably for free and without downtime.
- Server Location (15%): The closer the server location is to you and your target audience, the better. Ideally, you want to select a server in an Indian city, such as Mumbai, for your Indian website. If you cannot find such an option, you can always select one in a neighboring country or one within the Asian region, like Singapore.
- Hosting Features (12%): The web host’s offered features should match your website needs. For instance, a provider might work perfectly with WordPress but struggle with eCommerce. It would also be best to consider the hosting essentials, including free SSL certificates, website migration, user-friendly control panel such as the cPanel, 1-click installs with Softaculous, website builder, professional email, and automated backups, dedicated IP, development features, eCommerce extras, etc. Any location-specific features are a bonus.
- Server Performance (15%): A web host might have the best price, extras, and support. Still, it would be worth nothing if it cannot keep your site up and functional. It would help to opt for an uptime guarantee of at least 99.95% to constantly keep your website up and running. Lightning-fast speeds, in turn, will ensure constant engagement. Look for SSDs, a CDN (Content Delivery Network), caching, and similar speed-enhancing add-ons. Also, check the security measures in place for optimal server reliability, such as firewalls or DDoS.
- Customer Support (10%): Solving your issue might take a while, depending on the technician’s skill, the complexity of your problem, and the type of query you have raised. If you decide to call your web hosts out of the country, this will cost you a lot. That’s why you need an Indian web hosting provider with a local phone line. Also, check for other channels to reach customer support agents, such as live chat or email, and test for 24/7 availability. At first glance, customer support might seem unimportant, but once you encounter an issue, you’ll soon realize its necessity.
- Pricing (8%): Indian web hosting providers generally offer lower pricing rates. However, the price you must pay each month primarily depends on the web hosting plan and the included features. You will want to pay the most affordable fee for reliable service. But if you want your hosting to remain budget-friendly, it would be best to consider the contract terms, introductory vs. renewal rates, cost of any extra features, and refund policies.
- User Reviews (30%): Top hosting providers in India have proven their worth time and again. Before you spend your money on a plan, it would be best to check its reputation. Whether it’s our site, other customer reviews, testimonials, social media polls, or feed, ensure you rely on a reputable source. False reviews or biased recommendations can sure cost you a lot.
What Is Web Hosting In India, and Who Is It For?
Web hosting providers make your site accessible on the Internet so that anyone can view your content or even buy from you. These companies house, serve, and maintain your files and support thousands of other businesses.
A quality web host will set a strong foundation for your online presence. Essentially, this can be the dealmaker or the dealbreaker for your business’s success. You can easily experience downtime, slow load times, insufficient features, or even security concerns and hacks if you make the wrong choice. In reality, this translates to a bad user experience, loss of customers, SEO, and profits.
The thing is, the quality of the provider significantly depends on location. For instance, a web host might be ideal for the US but struggle to deliver content in Asia. By struggling, we refer to below-average loading speeds and overall server performance.
India’s best web hosting services refer to providers whose hosting plans are geared primarily towards the Indian market. If you host your website near India, locals will always experience faster load times. At the same time, you will benefit from more affordable plans since hosting in India is generally cheaper. And finally, you can expect local customer support.
So, web hosting in India is suitable for anyone looking to expand their market share in the respective area, those who sell primarily to Indians or have readers/site visitors from the country or the near region, and those willing to save a few bucks on hosting.
The Best Web Hosting Services in India Of 2023 (Bought and Tested):
Your budget might be your concern. Still, if you are price sensitive, it doesn’t mean that you’ll have to sacrifice quality when it comes to web hosting. I’ve found a diamond among the rocks, Verpex Hosting.
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Server Location: 4.9
- Reliability: 4.7
- Features: 4.8
- Customer Support: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.9
Verpex is a superior cheap web hosting in India, providing excellent availability and performance, 24/7 expert support, and a wide range of valuable extras. While it competes with leading providers, it offers lower prices than its peers, essentially accounting for the best price-value ratio.
Research Findings:
Server Location: Verpex offers three Indian locations, two of which are in Indian cities (Mumbai and Bangalore), and the third one is nearby (Singapore).
Reliability: Verpex will deliver lightning-fast speeds, regardless of your traffic. You’ll get LiteSpeed web servers and an uptime guarantee from 99.50% to 99.99% (depending on your plan).
Features: All Verpex plans, including the cheapest one, include a free domain registration/transfer, free setup, free SSL certificate, free migrations, daily backups, cPanel control panel, and a money-back guarantee.
Customer Support: With Verpex, you can expect instant 24/7 support via live chat, phone, and ticket. Its friendly representatives are open and happy to help you with any questions.
Pricing: You can start at $0.50 with 90% off on your first month for one website, 10GB bandwidth, 1GB SSD disk space, and lots of extras. Despite the introductory discount, prices increase on renewal. But even with the new prices, Verpex is still one of the most affordable providers.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Fully WordPress optimized (free migrations, one-click installs, and advanced security measures)
- Valuable extras are included (cPanel, Softaculous, Jetbackup, WP CLI, SitePad Sitebuilder, and more)
- Global server network with three locations for hosting in India
Cons:
- Free domain is excluded from the monthly plan (you have to sign up for at least a year)
- Phone support is limited to the US and the UK (there’s no line in India; you can use email or live chat instead)
- The cheapest plan comes with a 99.5% uptime guarantee (fortunately, you can upgrade to 99.99% in all remaining plans)
I found in my complete review that HostArmada is the best hosting provider in India. It works for various purposes, and it can indeed help you get your site online, whatever your demands.
- Overall Score: 5.0
- Server Location: 5.0
- Reliability: 4.9
- Features: 5.0
- Customer Support: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.9
HostArmada offers shared hosting, WordPress hosting, reseller, and VPS on the cloud. If you need to scale further, you can also go for dedicated CPU server hosting, open-source, or development hosting.
Research Findings:
Server Location: HostArmada utilizes nine data centers worldwide, including Mumbai, India and Singapore, Asia, which is essentially the best-case scenario for serving the Indian market.
Reliability: HostArmada utilizes cloud technology, providing outstanding reliability and redundancy with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. You can also expect dedicated website optimization for superior speeds, firewalls, and web security you can count on.
Features: Even the cheapest HostArmada hosting plans come with a free SSL, free domain, website transfer, optimization, web server caches, cPanel control panel, daily backups, and more.
Customer Support: You’ll never be alone if you face obstacles or issues. You can count on HostArmada’s 24/7 available technical support experts, answering calls immediately and tickets within 10 minutes of submission.
Pricing: HostArmada offers fair pricing across all of its plans, demonstrating an incredible value for money. You can benefit from frequent discounts and a money-back guarantee on all plans. Its cheapest shared hosting plan starts at $2.99 for a single website, 15GB SSD, 2 Cores CPU, and 2GB RAM.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Two server locations in Asia (Mumbai and Singapore)
- Incredible performance (cloud SSD technology for 99.9% uptime)
- Human-powered technical support service available 24/7
Cons:
- Standard rates are pretty pricey (fortunately, you can benefit from introductory discounts)
- Prices increase on renewal (the best way to benefit from cheap hosting is to sign up for the longer term in the first place)
For all newbies in web hosting and beginners on a budget, FastComet offers the best shared hosting in India. Its motto is ‘Think Global, Host Local,’ and they demonstrate it impeccably.
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Server Location: 5.0
- Reliability: 4.8
- Features: 4.8
- Customer Support: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.6
FastComet’s shared hosting is perfect for the Indian market and for serving a global audience on a budget. How? The web host has a well-established server network, further boosted with lots of extras, and hosting freebies.
Research Findings:
Server Location: FastComet has 11 data centers worldwide, including Mumbai, India, Singapore, Asia-Pacific, Tokyo, Asia, and 200 Global CDN Anycast Network access points. With Cloudflare CDN, you can distribute your content worldwide, so it’s closer to your visitors.
Reliability: FastComet utilizes an SSD-only cloud, RocketBooster, Cloudflare CDN caching, SpamExperts, WAF, malware scans, and reports. You can expect a 99.9% uptime commitment and many speed- and security-enhancing add-ons for a smooth experience.
Features: The best shared hosting in India with free Let’s Encrypt, daily backups, cPanel, managed migrations, a 1-click app marketplace with over 450 options, over 20 frameworks, and your favorite development tools, free drag & drop website builder, unlimited email accounts, etc.
Customer Support: You can expect unlimited 24/7 priority support. Apart from always-free in-house technical assistance, FastComet provides over 3,000 pages of tutorials to get you started with your shared hosting plan.
Pricing: FastComet enables you to start at $2.95 per month for a single website and 15GB SSD space. Its shared hosting comes with a 100% or a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Three data centers in Asia (Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo) + 200 CDN access points
- Incredible ease of use (powered by cPanel and Softaculous)
- 100% satisfaction or 45-day money-back guarantee
Cons:
- No free domain name (costs $9.95 in the first year)
- The standard rates are very high (you can benefit from frequent ‘special prices’)
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
Different Types of Web Hosting Services
There are several web hosting alternatives available to get your site online. Nevertheless, each of them caters directly to the demands of website owners, no matter how big or little those needs are.
While they all function as a storage location for your website, the quantity of storage space, control, the technical expertise required, server speed, and dependability vary.
The following are the six most common forms of web hosting.
Shared Hosting
The best shared hosting in India is ideal for low-cost website hosting. Your site will be kept on the same server as several other websites. All domains based on a shared hosting plan utilize identical server resources, like RAM and CPU. But, since all resources are shared, shared hosting plans are generally cheaper, making them a good choice for newbies.
In most circumstances, new website owners consider shared hosting the most straightforward way of hosting their site. But although shared hosting offers website owners a more straightforward approach to the Internet, the exchange is that you share the server with several other website owners, implying that spikes in usage might impact the user experience of your website.
Pros:
- The most affordable sort of web hosting
- The setup is simple
- No technical knowledge is necessary
- Excellent for newcomers and smaller websites
Cons:
- You cannot influence performance concerns
- Lower uptime rates and slower loading times
- It is not very scalable
- Sharing server resources with other websites
VPS Hosting
A virtual private server hosting package is the middle ground between a shared and a dedicated environment. It’s excellent for website owners who want more control but don’t want or cannot pay the high costs of owning a dedicated server.
With VPS hosting, the company houses each website in its own area on the server, although sharing a physical server with several other customers. While VPS hosting allows website owners better control and storage capacity, it cannot handle extremely as high traffic volumes or spikes in usage as a dedicated server or cloud hosting, which means that other sites could still impact site performance upon that server.
VPS hosting is typically utilized by website owners that desire dedicated hosting but lack the necessary technical competence. VPS hosting combines the cost savings of shared hosting with the flexibility of dedicated hosting. It’s a fantastic option for sophisticated users and those who want customized programs and package installs.
Pros:
- Server space that is dedicated
- Scalability and stability
- Root access to the server, with the capability to download any software you choose or require
- Less expensive than a dedicated server
Cons:
- You are responsible for software fixes and security
- You are responsible for server performance tweaking and “housekeeping”
- Installation and administration demand technical knowledge
- There are still configuration and control constraints
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting gives website owners more autonomy over the website server. Your website is actually the only tenant hosted on the server because you are the only tenant on the server. You have full root and administrative access and can manage everything from security to your operating system.
Dedicated servers are among the most costly web hosting solutions. They are typically utilized by site owners with large amounts of website traffic and those that want total control over their servers. Furthermore, a significant level of technical competence is necessary for the server’s installation and continuous operation.
Pros:
- Unrestricted configuration/customization
- Complete control over the hosting server
- Ensured resource availability
- Enhanced privacy and security
- Website performance that is consistent and predictable
Cons:
- The most costly web hosting package available
- Management requires technological resources
- Maintenance and upkeep are required regularly
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is indeed the latest IT industry jargon. In terms of web hosting, it refers to several computers working together to run programs utilizing shared computing resources. It is a network-based hosting solution that allows businesses to use computer resources as if they were utilities.
Users can utilize as many resources as they require without creating and managing their own computer infrastructure. The resources are distributed across many servers, limiting the possibility of downtime due to server failure.
Pros:
- Downtime is limited
- Access to resources on demand
- Reduced latency
- Pricing based on use
- Customization and scalability
- Availability of value-added services
- Combining resources
Cons:
- Customization is limited
- Responsibilities for security are shared
- Cloud knowledge is essential
- Suboptimal resource utilization might result in increased expenditures
Reseller Hosting
If you own a company that builds websites, such as a developer or design firm, you will almost certainly need to cope with hosting. Many clients don’t comprehend how hosting operates and may benefit from assistance in getting things set up and running.
The best reseller hosting in India provides a solution in these cases. In essence, you gain access to the account that allows you to host your clients’ websites. Those customers are paying you immediately, and you are in charge of their accounts.
If that seems like more effort, you’re absolutely accurate. However, reseller hosting has many advantages if you really can pull it off.
Pros:
- Set unrestricted rates for your customers
- Obtain regular and long-term revenue
- Enhance your current services
Cons:
- You’ll need a huge number of customers to make your time and work worthwhile
- Your clients will come to you if something goes wrong
WordPress Hosting
To appreciate the notion of the best WordPress hosting in India, you must first realize how widely used this CMS is; WordPress powers roughly 30% of the web as a platform.
As a result, it should come as no surprise that many web hosting companies provide WordPress-specific plans. WordPress-specific plans typically offer some degree of managed service. They frequently provide free licenses for pricey plugins, templates, or other resources.
Remember that you don’t have to utilize a specific WordPress plan to establish a website with the platform. However, these plans are usually designed to deliver greater performance and make things easier. If you want to use WordPress, this sort of hosting is a good choice.
Pros:
- WordPress-optimized
- WordPress pre-installed or one-click installs are available
- WordPress site security has been improved
Cons:
- There is less control and flexibility
- Updates aren’t always easy
- Resources are shared with other WordPress sites
Which Type of Web Hosting Is Best for You?
Although there are several possibilities for the finest hosting services, it all boils down to selecting a package that meets your requirements. Each plan accommodates the demands of different groups, and knowing what your needs on a website are can help you choose the proper plan for both you and your company.
Here’s a brief rundown of the benefits of each kind of web host.
- Shared Hosting – The cheapest package for entry-level websites
- VPS Hosting – Designed for sites that have surpassed shared hosting
- Dedicated Hosting – High-end servers for huge websites
- Cloud hosting – Ideal for sites that are fast expanding
- Reseller hosting – Intended for use by agencies, web designers, and web developers
- WordPress Hosting – Hosting that’s specific to the CMS
Linux or Windows? When Should You Select Each?
Linux provides high speed and security, but Windows provides great simplicity of use, allowing even non-technical individuals to operate effortlessly on a personal computer.
Many corporate businesses utilize Linux as servers and operating systems for security, whereas corporate customers and gamers generally use Windows. When it comes to pricing, there are several aspects to consider when comparing the prices of these two operating systems.
I can’t say that Linux is completely free or less expensive than Windows. The licensing cost for Linux is free, but both Windows and Linux have infrastructure costs, software support costs, and IT manpower costs.
The best Linux hosting in India is an excellent choice for most people since it supports almost anything you need or desire in your website, including WordPress blog posts to online markets and more.
The best Windows Hosting in India also covers nearly everything that most people want or desire in their websites. If you require or wish to utilize MS-SQL databases, ASP.NET, or.NET Core on your website, you must use Windows Hosting. All of these require your server to be running Windows.
What If You Have A Global Audience? Should You Choose India Or The USA?
A data center is a structure that holds clusters of servers that hold website data. By selecting a data center near your target audience, you will be able to assure optimal site performance for visitors; this helps you prevent downtime and gives faster server performance.
In my experience, the support team of each hosting provider’s US version has been superior to the Indian equivalents, whether in terms of dealing with the problem of competence.
The Indian support crew is adequate, but the US team is outstanding in every way. And, considering the importance we place on “technical support” when selecting a hosting package, I recommend opting for the US versions.
Furthermore, due to decades of existence in the United States or other non-Indian areas where these corporations are located, their server infrastructure is better than that of their Indian counterparts.
Best Web Hosting in India: Final Recommendations
Web hosting in India is a suitable choice for anyone with a target market in the country or looking to expand their market share in the respective area. Selecting a web hosting provider with a data center/server location in the area (whether it’s an Indian city or Asia) can significantly improve the customer experience, boost loading speeds, and reduce downtime. It’s the best way to cater to the Indian market.
When selecting the best hosting provider in India, it’s necessary to match your business needs with the web host’s offer. This way, you can gain the needed capabilities while staying on your budget. Once it relates to plans and features, the top web hosting providers will provide you with several possibilities. That way, you’ll have more options for acquiring the tools you need to build your website.
So, what is the finest web hosting alternative for you? If this is your initial time creating a site, shared hosting is typically a good place to start, and you can only go higher from there. But on the other hand, a VPS may be a better choice if you’re a more advanced user who needs complete control over your setup.
And if you still find it difficult to weigh all criteria for choosing the best hosting in India, you can simply follow our recommendations. Easy, right?