Comparing web hosting: eight criteria

On the product page all hosting plans look alike: disk space, a database, a monthly price. The difference only shows after you buy — at the first renewal, the first backup you need, and the first time you call support. These are the eight points where providers genuinely differ.

For each criterion: what it means, why it matters and which question you can put to a provider. We deliberately name no other providers: their rates and terms change outside our control, and an outdated comparison misleads more than no comparison at all.

Where providers genuinely differ

Where are the servers, and who runs them?

A Belgian billing address says nothing about where your data sits. There is a difference between a Belgian company, servers in Belgium, and a provider that also owns and runs those machines. The last of these decides who can step in when something breaks, and it decides your GDPR accountability.

Question you can ask: Which data center is my site in, and do you manage those servers yourselves or rent them?

What does the price actually include?

A low monthly price says little until you know what is not in it. SSL, daily backups, mailboxes on your domain and traffic are included with one provider and paid extras with another. Add up the extras you definitely need, and only then compare.

Question you can ask: Are SSL, backups, mailboxes and traffic included, or charged separately?

What does renewal cost?

A heavily discounted first year is a sales instrument, not a price. What you pay structurally is the renewal rate, and that can be a multiple of what the order page shows. This is where cheap hosting most often turns out expensive.

Question you can ask: What is the renewal price, and how far in advance is a rate change announced?

How are backups arranged?

Almost every provider says it makes backups. What counts is how far back you can go, how quickly a restore happens and whether you can request it yourself. A backup you cannot restore at the moment you need it does not help you.

Question you can ask: How far back can I restore, how do I request it, and how long does it take?

Who answers when something goes wrong?

Support is the part you only judge when you need it, and by then switching is too late. The difference lies between a ticket system in another time zone and someone who can open your environment, in your language, within the same working day.

Question you can ask: Who answers my question, in which language, and within what time outside office hours?

What happens if you go over the limits?

Every plan has limits: disk space, memory per request, traffic. What happens when you exceed them varies widely — a warning, automatic extra billing, or a site that goes offline without notice.

Question you can ask: Do I get a warning before I hit a limit, and what happens if I go over it?

Can you leave again?

The question nobody asks when signing up. Can you export your files, database and mailboxes yourself? Does the provider help you move elsewhere? Is there a notice period? The harder a provider makes leaving, the more it matters that you ask this up front.

Question you can ask: Can I take a full export myself, and what notice period applies?

Is there a growth path?

Your site today is not your site in three years. Can you move up to a larger plan, and on to a server of your own, with the same provider and without setting everything up again? A provider that only sells shared hosting is scheduling you a migration.

Question you can ask: Can I later move to a VPS or dedicated server, and what does that involve?

When is the cheapest provider the right one?

Often cheap is fine

For a personal site, a test environment or a project nothing depends on, the cheapest option is usually fine. If the site is down for half a day, that is annoying and no more than that. Do not pay for guarantees you do not need in that case.

Sometimes cheap is expensive

Does revenue run through your site, does your business email arrive on the same domain, do you process personal data? Then you are not buying disk space but certainty: a restore that works, someone who picks up, and data that stays where you expect it.

How to compare in practice

Four steps that cost you half an hour and save you years of hassle.

Lay out what you actually need: how much space, how many mailboxes, which software has to run.
Work out the yearly renewal price per provider, with the extras you need added in.
Ask the eight questions above. A provider that dodges three of them has already given you your answer.
Test support before becoming a customer: ask one concrete question and see what you get back, and when.

See our pricing

Frequently asked questions about comparing hosting

What should I look at when comparing hosting providers?

At eight points: where the servers are and who runs them, what the price really includes, what renewal costs, how backups are arranged, who answers when there is a problem, what happens if you exceed the plan limits, whether you can leave again, and whether there is a growth path.

Why do you not compare other providers by name?

Because their rates and terms change outside our control. A comparison table that is six months old gives you wrong information with an air of precision. That is why this page gives the criteria and the questions you can ask yourself — those do not go stale.

Is the cheapest hosting always a bad choice?

No. For a personal site or a test environment the cheapest option is usually fine. It becomes a bad choice as soon as revenue runs through your site or your business email arrives on the same domain: then you are not buying disk space but certainty.

Why does the renewal price matter so much?

Because that is the amount you pay structurally. A heavily discounted first year is a sales instrument; the rate afterwards can be a multiple of it. So always compare the yearly renewal price, with the extras you need added in.

How do I test a provider's support beforehand?

Ask one concrete question before becoming a customer, for instance about a migration or about backups, and see what you get back and when. A provider that answers slowly or vaguely before the sale rarely does better afterwards.

What if a provider will not answer my questions?

Then you have your answer. The eight questions on this page are all factual and answerable. A party that dodges three of them — where the servers are, what renewal costs, how you can leave — is telling you something about how it will go after the sale.

Can I still change provider later?

Yes, but it takes work: your site and mail have to move, and only then does the DNS switch. So ask before you sign whether you can take a full export yourself and what notice period applies. It is the cheapest insurance there is.

Why does it matter who runs the servers?

Because it decides who can step in when something goes wrong. A provider reselling someone else's capacity has to wait for its own supplier too. And for your GDPR accountability what counts is not where the billing address is, but where your data sits.