Linux stands out as one of the most commonly used OS (operating system) globally. A free, open-source solution, Linux is incredibly flexible for both novices and experts. In terms of hosting, Linux has a reputation in the market due to its compatibility with a variety of apps and tools.
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What is Linux Hosting?
Linux hosting is a terminology used to describe a hosting provider that utilizes Linux OS on its servers. When you are in the shared hosting market, you may notice a choice between Linux and Windows hosting, where the difference is their OS.
As we have mentioned above, many Linux hosting software and server tech is open-source, which means you can find hosting packages at affordable prices. Other than low-priced hosting packages, it offers high-quality hosting services for all clients’ needs.
NOTE: There are free Linux hosting options out there. While they may seem attractive to avoid premium hosting, the powering site with this option is risky to your business or company. Why? Such providers can vanish any time without notice, plus storage, security options, and bandwidth restrictions.
Linux Hosting vs. Windows Hosting
As I have always said in most of my reviews, price should be the last factor to consider after major features. Now today, I add another important factor to consider when choosing a hosting package – operating system or OS.
Linux and Windows are the two main options that dictate the web hosting server space. While both platforms are functional, they have their similarities and differences as well. So, what makes one better than the other?
- User-friendliness – The choice between the two on this factor is rather counterintuitive! Linux OS relies on CLI (command-line interface) and uses cPanel to create databases for popular CMSs. Windows servers, on the other hand, use Microsoft’s Web Platform Installer that integrates your site with Windows-specific apps.
- Uptime – Linux servers are admired for their uptime that allows system updates and programs to run without taking your website offline. Windows servers, on the other hand, are known for their instability due to continuous and time time-consuming updates that need several restarts. That results in site downtime that leads to unsatisfied site visitors.
- Support – Technical support is another factor to consider. Most hosting companies tend to have advanced support for Linux servers compared to Windows. Why? They are less costly and widely used for web hosting.
- Security – Windows servers are vulnerable to online attacks compared to Linux servers, which makes Linux hosting more secure. Reliability is also Linux strong suit, given there are some of their web servers that have not been rebooted for years.
- Pricing – Many Linux servers run on similar hardware they were configured on almost 10+ years ago. This slow change-rate in the environment means minimal upgrades, hence cost-friendly. It also offers free and functional versions. Both OS server administrators are costly, but Linux has the upper hand when it comes to hardware and software upgrades.
Ultimately, you might need to choose between Windows and Linux hosting depending on the preferred type of peripherals servers and databases. Eventually, the best hosting depends on your needs!
Linux server hosting is compatible with sites built on standard CMS, PHP, and MySQL databases. Windows server hosting, on the other hand, works well for clients who anticipate to create a Microsoft MySQL database or use the ASP server apps.
Linux Hosting Prices
Linux hosting prices depend on the hosting company you choose, as well as the hosting plan that meets your website needs. If you are looking for high scalability, high-grade features, and performance then you will have to dig deeper into your pockets for the services. Such requirements are better fulfilled in either cloud, VPS, or dedicated hosting.
By the end of this review, you will have this question answered to your satisfaction.
Reviews of the Best Linux Server Hosting
During our review, we conducted a series of Linux hosting providers on the market (20 to be precise), and came up with our nine best Linux server hosting. In this review, we shall look into the details, including features, pricing, pros & cons of each.
By the end of the review, you will know which provider suits your specific needs at the price you would afford. Let’s roll!
Bluehost – Best overall Linux hosting provider
Uptime: 99.98%
Website: https://www.bluehost.com/hosting
Disk Space: 50GB
One of the EIG (Endurance International Group) brands, Bluehost stands out as our first Linux hosting provider. They offer a range of hosting packages, including shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting. Bluehost is the best overall Linux hosting provider, and its WordPress-optimized VPS hosting plan makes it ideal for WP sites.
Bluehost’s shared hosting includes three plans priced at $3.95and offers features such as Cloudflare CDN, enhanced cPanel, email, automatic backups, and 1-click WP installs. All Bluehost shared servers run on a standard LAMP hosting structure running CentOS 6. Features improve with upgrades in pricing packages.
When it comes to customer support Bluehost offers 24/7 expert assistance via live chat and phone options.
Linux Plans & Pricing
Bluehost Linux plans depend on the packages you choose and so do their features. There are four pricing plans to choose from including Shared (costs $2.95/m – $5.45/m), Managed WP (costs $19.95/m – $49.95/m), VPS (costs $18.99 – $59.99/m), and Dedicated at $79.99/m – $119.99/m.
These plans are based on the promotional price range. Their pricing plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Check here for Bluehost pricing.
Key Features:
- 1-click WP installation
- Auto software updates
- SSL certificates
- cPanel
- Free Cloudflare CDN & SSL certificate
- Spam protection, and more
Pros:
- Robust pricing plans
- Excellent support
- Beginner-friendly
- Scalability
- Strong uptime guarantee
Cons:
- No free site transfer
- Unwanted checkouts at checkout
HostGator – Best for uptime
Uptime: 99.99%
Website: https://www.hostgator.com/vps-hosting
Disk Space: Unlimited
Our runners-up, HostGator, has reputation for offering the best uptime guarantee on the hosting market. All their shared, reseller and VPS hosting plans run on CentOS Linux x86 which is equal to Red Hat Enterprises Linux. Their dedicated hosting runs on Linux CentOS or Windows Servers 2012 R2 OS by default.
HostGator Linux hosting offers a range of tools to reveal your online presence, with your A to Z for launching your site. This includes 1-click apps installer, 99.99% uptime guarantee, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited subdomains, and site-building templates.
In terms of support, HostGator has a 24/7 live support team that you can reach via live chat and phone options.
Linux Plans & Pricing
HostGator offers multiple pricing plans, including shared (costs $2.75/m – $5.95/m), managed WP (costs $5.95/m – $9.95.m), VPS (costs $29.95/m – $49.95/m), and dedicated ($118.99/m – $148.98). All these plans are based on promotional price range.
The plans come with a generous 45-day money-guarantee. Check here for HostGator pricing.
Features:
- Unlimited bandwidth, domains, & storage
- Free SSL certificate
- Toll-free number
- Free site migration
- 1-click installation
- cPanel
Pros:
- Reliable 24/7 support
- Drag-and-drop builder
- Automatic backup
- Variety of Linux hosting plans
- 45-day refund policy
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
Cons:
- Costly premium plan
- Expensive
InMotion Hosting -Best for shared and VPS hosting plan
Uptime:
Website: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/
Disk Space: Unlimited
InMotion Hosting, our third-best Linux hosting provider, is another reputable name in the hosting arena. It has been providing clients with good shared and VPS hosting solutions. InMotion Hosting has extra stack servers that are optimized for lightning-fast Linux hosting experience.
The provider servers run on SSD drives, and its shared hosting plan comes with multiple beginner-friendly and professional user features at a considerable price. From unlimited disk space & bandwidth, expert staff, free SSL/backups/domains, and generous refund policy.
InMotion Hosting offers 24/7 help and support via live chat and phone support options.
Features:
- Free SSD drives
- cPanel
- Unmetered bandwidth/disk space/email
- Ready eCommerce
- Free SSL
Linux Plans & Pricing
InMotion Hosting offers four plans for its Linux hosting, including shared (costs $2.49/m – $12.99/m), managed WP (costs $4.99/m – $10.99/m), VPS (costs $22.99/m – $54.99/m), and dedicated at $115.69/m – $248.99/m. All these costs are based on the promotional price range.
Their pricing plans come with a generous 90-day money-back guarantee. Check here for InMotion Hosting pricing.
Pros:
- Unlimited disk space/bandwidth
- Backups
- Unmetered bandwidth/Email accounts
- Reliable support
- Lightning-fast speeds
- 1-click installation
- 90-day refund policy
Cons:
- Costly dedicated plans
- Extended verification process
A2 Hosting – Best for cloud hosting
Uptime: 99.95%
Website: https://www.a2hosting.com/linux-hosting
Disk Space: Unlimited
A2 Hosting is our fourth-best Linux hosting provider with a status for offering Linux cloud hosting solutions, plus support options. The provider offers unlimited bandwidth and storage, and they have high-performance servers (20x faster page loading) joint with user-friendly cPanel.
The provider boasts a winning cloud hosting with greater maximum RAM and more CPUs compared to other providers on the list. They also allow root access with plans that are ideal for scaling your website. You also get free site transfer, anytime refund policy, unmetered bandwidth, and a free SSL certificate.
A2 Hosting has 24/7/365 guru crew support via phone option only.
Features:
- Unmetered bandwidth/storage
- Free SSL certificate
- cPanel
- Free site transfer
- High-performance servers
- Free Office 365 email
Linux Plans & Pricing
A2 Hosting offers competitive pricing for its Linux hosting plans, where you can choose from its four types of hosting. The plans include shared (costs $3.92/m – $9.31/m), but their Cloud hosting starts at $32.99/m (4GB RAM, 4vCPUs, 75GB storage), up to $65.99/m (8GB RAM, 8vCPUs, and 150GB storage).
Their pricing plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and payment options include PayPal, bank transfers, and credit cards. Check here for A2 Hosting pricing.
Pros:
- Unlimited everything
- Compatible with multiple CMS apps
- 30-day refund policy
Cons:
- High renewal rates
- The cheapest plan allows 1 site
- No auto-backups on the low-priced plans
SiteGround – Reliable, with good help and support
Uptime: 99.98%
Website: https://www.siteground.com/linux-hosting.htm
Disk Space: 10GB
Are you looking for a reliable Linux hosting provider with good help and support? Our fifth-best provider, SiteGround, would be a fantastic choice. The company’s Linux hosting service allows you to install 300+ apps, accessible on the cPanel. SiteGround Linux hosting is compatible with the latest MySQL and PHP versions.
Even with its shared hosting plan, you have access to features such as a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates, SSH access, cPanel, Cloudflare integration, unlimited databases/emails, daily backups, and more.
SiteGround Linux hosting offers 24/7 help and support via live chat and phone options.
Features:
- Linux OS
- Domain name registration
- cPanel
- Multiple PHP versions & server locations
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Apache webserver
- Cloudflare integration
Linux Plans & Pricing
SiteGround offers two types of Linux hosting, including shared ($6.99/m – $14.99/m) and managed VPS starting at $6.99/m. You can go with SiteGround’s most popular plan – GrowBig. These plans are based on the promotional price range. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
View their pricing here.
Pros:
- Daily backups
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL
- SSH access
- Excellent customer support
- Easy site management
- Flexible pricing plans
Cons:
- Costly
GoDaddy – Plenty of extra perks and features
Uptime: 99.9%
Website: https://in.godaddy.com/hosting/web-hosting
Disk Space: 10GB
Yet another reputable hosting provider, GoDaddy is known for offering plenty of extra perks and features. Ranking as our sixth-best Linux hosting provider, the most popular package in its shared hosting plan is the Economic Linux hosting plan that comes with cPanel.
It comes with one-click installation for apps, on-demand resources, one-click domain set-up, 1GB database storage space, faster page loading time, unmetered bandwidth, and more! GoDaddy is an excellent choice for sites built on PHP, HTML, or any CMS like WP.
When it comes to supporting, they offer 24/7 options via live chat or phone.
Features:
- 24/7 network security
- One-click installation/domain set-up
- Resources on-demand
- cPanel
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 1GB database storage
Linux Plans & Pricing
On its site, GoDaddy claims to have a plan for every plan. It offers a free plan version of its hosting services that you can use forever, but with limited features like 1 site, SSL certificate, and more.
GoDaddy’s cheapest shared hosting plan, Economy comes with 100GB and costs $2.99/m, Deluxe costs $4.99/m, Ultimate costs $5.99, and Maximum costs $12.99/m. Other hosting options include WordPress hosting (starts at $4.99/m), Business ($19.99/m), VPS ($29.99/m), and dedicated at $89.99/m.
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Check out their pricing information here!
Pros:
- Reliable uptime guarantee
- Scalability
- 24/7 tech support
- Faster page loading time
- 30 days money-back guarantee
Cons:
- ******
iPage – Cheap plans, but the expense of speed
Uptime: 99.94%
Website: https://www.ipage.com/
Disk Space: Unlimited
Our seventh-best Linux hosting provider, iPage, is known for its cheap plans that start as low as $2/m. While good value for money is their strong suit, this comes at the expense of speed. This factor appeals many clients to participate in their hosting plans, including a free domain name and free marketing credits, among others,
iPage Linux hosting also comes with a drag-and-drop site builder, UPS power backup, unlimited domains, FTP accounts, MySQL databases, root access, and supports site backup scripts. These resources are useful in your website’s scalability.
When it comes to supporting, the iPage guru team offers 24/7 support via live chat and email.
Features:
- Unlimited domains
- Free domain name
- FTP accounts
- MySQL databases
- Subdomains
- Root access
- UPS power backup
Linux Plans & Pricing
As we mentioned earlier, iPage is popular for offering cheap hosting. Their shared hosting Essential plan is the cheapest and starts at $1.99/m, with their dedicated hosting package (Enterprise plan) starting at $191.99/m. VPS hosting starts at 19.99/m, dedicated hosting at $119.99/m, and WP hosting at $3.75/m.
These plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. View more information on their pricing here.
Pros:
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Drag-and-drop site builder
- SSL scripts
- Supports site backup scripts
- Free marketing credit
- Strong support
Cons:
- Slow speeds
- Low uptime guarantee
- Costly backups
DreamHost – Loads of storage space: great for heavy media sites
Uptime: 99.95%
Website: https://www.hostinger.com/
Disk Space: Unlimited
One of the most popular hosting companies in the market today, DreamHost is known for offering plenty of storage space. Ranked as our eighth-best Linux hosting provider, the features mentioned earlier makes it an excellent option for heavy media sites.
The provider offers a wide variety of useful features, including the proprietary Remixer site builder, one-click CMS apps installer, and more. DreamHost’s shared hosting plan is fully dependent upon the Linux hosting server.
While DreamHost excels in the mentioned features, the provider falls down on help and support. They do not offer any contact on their site in case you require help, just ticketing like Hostinger.
Features:
- Consistent low prices
- Site builder
- Plenty of storage space
- One-click CMS apps installer
- Free domain
- Fast SSD storage
- Free SSL certificate
Linux Plans & Pricing
DreamHost offers five types of Linux hosting including shared ($3.95/m – $4.95/m), managed WP ($10/m – $71.95/m), VPS ($13.75 – $110/m), Cloud ($4.50/m – $96/m), and dedicated hosting ($149/m – $379/m).
The provider offers the most generous in the market and our review of a money-back guarantee of 97 days. Check here for more information on DreamHost pricing plans.
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Pre-installed WP
- Unlimited sites
- Unlimited traffic
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Cheap renewal rates
- 97-day refund policy
Cons:
- No help and support
- No cPanel
Hostinger – Stripped back features, but cheap discounted price
Uptime: 99.91%
Website: https://www.hostinger.com/
Disk Space: 10GB
Hostinger ranks as our ninth-best Linux hosting provider, and is known for stripped-back features but offers cheap hosting solutions at a discounted price. This is a perfect illustration of WYSIWYG. The company offers high-quality hosting by offering everything you need to create, host, and manage your site.
Even with their cheapest Single Shared Hosting plan, which is ideal for beginners, you get 100GB, free SSL certificate, 1 site, one email, and more! Other features include free backups, webmail access, PHP configuration, and hotlink protection.
Hostinger offers 24/7/365 expert support via ticketing only and a domain name is included with some plans.
Features:
- One-click installation
- Hotlink protection
- PHP configuration
- cPanel
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain
- 24/7/365 expert support
Linux Plans & Pricing
Hostinger offers four pricing tiers for its Linux hosting, including shared ($0.99/m – $3.99/m), WP ($2.15/m – $14.96/m), VPS ($3.95/m – $29.95/m), and cloud ($7.45/m – $37/m). These pricing plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Check here for more information on Hostinger pricing.
Pros:
- Unlimited sites
- Weekly backups
- Webmail access
- User-friendly cPanel
- Beginner-friendly
- 30-day refund policy
- Discounted pricing
Cons:
- Low uptime guarantee
- No live chat or phone support
Bluehost is the top Linux hosting provider due to its offerings that include a range of plans on all its hosting plans. If you run a small website and your hosting choice is shared/VPS hosting with quality support & free site transfer, go for InMotion. For high traffic sites, choose HostGator.
Linux Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated server hosting offers lightning speed solution that your website demands. In this review, we would recommend A2 Hosting for your Linux dedicated servers. When you combine their Turbo option with your high-powered server, you get access to 20x faster page load speed. That is more than you would get with their Linux dedicated hosting alone.
A2 Hosting dedicated hosting offers plans such as Semi-Dedicated at $9.99/m that comes with unlimited storage, transfer, 2GB RAM, free SSL, and 2×2.1 GHz cores.
Others include Unmanaged Server at $99.59/m, Managed Flex Server at $141.09/m, and Core Flex Server at $141.09/m. Our runners-up in Linux dedicated hosting is Bluehost.
Check here for more pricing and feature information for each of these plans.
FAQs
What is Linux Hosting with cPanel?
cPanel is a web-based app that lets you manage everything in your web hosting account. It is the most popular site control panel in the market that is primarily in Perl and only supported by Linux hosting.
With a cPanel, you enjoy hosting benefits such as user-friendly auto-configuration updates, admin password resetting, enhanced website development, and much more. Its flexibility and simplicity allows easy site management, and keeps your site safe no matter what you click within it.
What is Economy Linux Hosting with cPanel?
Economy Linux hosting with cPanel is one of GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans that is precise for hosting a single site. It comes with a free domain name with the annual subscription. The plan comes at $7.99/m and comes with unlimited bandwidth and 100GB storage.
It supports PHP version 7.x, and comes with 1GB MySQL databases, an optional SSL certificate, and restore. Economy Linux Hosting with cPanel allows you to install over 125 apps, including Drupal and Joomla with one click.
What’s the Best Linux Hosting South Africa?
If you are in South Africa and looking for the best Linux hosting, Absolute Hosting is a fantastic choice. The provider offers to host and secure DirectAdmin Linux Web Hosting with anti-malware, anti-virus scanning, and brute force detection.
Absolute Hosting runs on SSD powered Linux servers with Cloudlinux for lightning-fast website speeds. It also comes with a free website builder, one-click apps installation, and free SSL certificates.
There are three pricing tiers to choose from, including DirectAdmin SSD Silver (costs R5/m) that comes with 150MB storage, cPanel, 1 domain, 10 email accounts, unlimited bandwidth, and more. Other plans include DirectAdmin Palladium (costs R18/m) that offers 750MB storage, and DirectAdmin Osmium (costs R45/m) and offer 2000MB storage space.
Check here for more information on features and pricing.
My name is Nate Reiner and I am the editor here at 10Webtools. I have 8 years of experience using 50+ different web tools ranging from podcast, web hosting, email marketing, and much more. I previously managed a team offering support services to a large conglomerate that utilized tens of software solutions. I now run this blog full-time and when I am not reviewing or testing software, I enjoy riding bikes and supporting my clients achieve internet success. You can reach me directly at [email protected]