Web hosting is as important in Australia, as it is anywhere else in the world, and there are many benefits to using both local and international web hosts that offer services in the Australian market. Benefits of local hosting include speed due to server location proximity as well as customizable features tailored to the Australian market’s needs. Over the years, local Australian web hosts have increasingly transformed their services to compete with the bigger players in international web hosting.
What makes international web hosting providers so attractive is a mix of reputation, power and features that have been refined for customer satisfaction for years. Also, if you want to target an Australian audience, it’s worth having a localized website with a dot.au domain name from a top quality domain registrar.
There's a lot to consider and many providers to choose from. Luckily, we spend a significant amount of time testing web hosting services regularly on performance, ease-of-use, security, customer support and more, to bring you the pros and cons of each provider, to make your decision easier. If you’re looking for the best Australian web hosting service, we’ve created a list of the top ten that will service your business’ needs.
The quick list
Here's a roundup of our six top choices, where you can click to read a more detailed review of every Australian web hosting service that we've picked, along with its best features, our experience using it, as well as reasons to buy and avoid.
Best for overall web hosting performance
Hostinger has UK, US, Brazil, Netherlands, Singapore, Indonesia, and Lithuania data center server locations. So choose Singapore or Indonesia if your target audience is in Australia.
Best web host for Australian sites that need speed
SiteGround has a data center in Sydney (Australia) as well as nine other global locations. It also has a CDN location in Sydney, allowing for faster distribution of content to your target location.
Best for affordable local hosting
Founded in 2000, Digital Pacific is an Australian web hosting service that also provides web design and domain registration services. It owns and operates its own servers in Sydney.
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Best feature-rich web hosting
A2 Hosting will host your site from one of its four server locations, presumably its data center in Singapore (Asia). A2 Hosting also lets you pick the server location for yourself.
Best for all-in-one web hosting
Webcentral, formerly known as Netregistry, is an Australian owned hosting company that offers cPanel hosting, WordPress hosting and VPS hosting. It also has a website builder and domain registrar service.
Best Australian host for WordPress sites
Crazy Domains is a simple web host that has servers across the southern hemisphere. Its WordPress plans vary according to the storage space and the number of websites you can host.
The best web hosting services in Australia (2024)
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A good web hosting service depends on several things but ultimately boils down to your individual website needs. That's why we've narrowed it down to ten hosting providers that specifically serve the Australian market. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses but, overall, you can pick from this list and receive quality hosting performance.
Best overall web hosting performance
✅ You need affordable hosting. If you’re in need of cheap web hosting, Hostinger has very attractive starting prices, which could be within an affordable budget range.
✅ You need value for your money. Choose Hostinger if you’re looking for a feature-rich web host that includes free SSL on all plans.
✅ You need a helping hand. Hostinger’s 24/7 customer support is impressively responsive and helpful - great for newbies that are getting into the swing of web hosting all together.
❌ Your website is a busy one. You may need a more powerful host that can keep up as our experience reveals Hostinger struggles a bit with extremely busy sites.
❌ You want a server location in the country. If you feel that your site will benefit from a web host that has a server location in Australia, Hostinger is not the right web hosting service for you.
❌ You need a free domain with the cheapest plan. You get a free domain with most plans but not all. If you choose Hostinger’s cheapest plan, you won’t get that so bear that in mind.
What you need to know
Hostinger is a quality web hosting service which offers a stack of features for a surprisingly low price, perfect for small and medium businesses that are on a budget.
Even Hostinger's cheapest shared hosting plans includes core essentials such as SSL and backups, for instance (though they're only weekly on the starter products.) No need to spend big money on paid extras, Hostinger's plans typically come with everything most users need.
Speeds are another highlight, even with basic shared hosting, but Hostinger has plenty of other options. The website builder make it even easier to create a site, there's low-cost WordPress hosting, and VPS plans if you need more power.
What you don't get here is any support for dedicated hosting, unfortunately, where you can rent a server for your use alone. That could be an issue for very high traffic sites.
Overall, Hostinger stands out for its affordability, with prices starting at just $2.99 per month. It's not the best for very demanding projects with many simultaneous visitors, but there's more than enough power here for most personal, small and medium business sites.
Read our full Hostinger review
Best web host for Australian sites that need speed
✅ You need an Australian server. If you want a global web host with local server locations, SiteGround is a strong option.
✅ You have a high-traffic site. SiteGround places huge importance on power and doesn’t compromise in this area, which is beneficial to those running several high-traffic websites.
✅ You need wide range of support. Nothing beats a web host that offers telephone support that’s helpful 24/7.
❌ You need different payment options. SiteGround supports payments via card only. If that is too limiting, try Hostinger as the web host has more options.
❌ You want to host an online store. If you’re looking for a host that has a dedicated ecommerce plan to choose from, SiteGround isn't that host and you may need to look elsewhere.
❌ You're on a budget. SiteGround’s shared hosting prices shoot up after the first term and it’s generally not the cheapest web hosting service.
What you need to know
Another top quality contender is SiteGround, a web host which has so many offices and data centers around the world - including one in Sydney, Australia - that it has built its own CDN (Content Delivery Network.)
The company demonstrates its expertise everywhere you look. SiteGround doesn't just offer the same identikit hosting as every other provider, for instance; it's developed its own tools and technologies, including custom WordPress plugins and a special implementation of PHP to 'make your pages load 30% faster on average'.
We set out to create an ecommerce site with SiteGround, and although the company doesn’t have a tailored ecommerce package, all its shared hosting plans come with an auto-installer which can set up WooCommerce or other ecommerce platforms.
SiteGround also offers lots of help with getting started. When we log in after signing up, we are presented with an array of support pages covering several common setup tasks, including how to import an existing WordPress site, launch WordPress, create email accounts at a new domain, point an existing domain to WordPress, and more.
SiteGround offers 24/7 support via phone, live chat, ticket and its web knowledgebase. Our experience with its ticket support system wasn’t the smoothest (we kept getting directed to a help page that did not answer the question we asked), however, we moved to its telephone support and found it extremely helpful.
Read our full SiteGround review
Best for affordable local hosting
✅ You want an open and honest host. Digital Pacific has no hidden fees and is completely transparent about its pricing. If you need an open and honest web host, consider Digital Pacific.
✅ You need a local server. Your Australian audience would benefit from you using an Australian web hosting service mainly because of the speed aspect.
✅ You need a host that's easy to use. Digital Pacific has a simple interface, which is great for those beginning their journey of growing an online presence.
❌ Your audience is global. Digital Pacific doesn’t have overseas servers, therefore, if you’re outside of Australia, you might want a hosting service with a broader range of server locations.
❌ You want all features included in the plan you buy. You’ll need to pay separately for SSL if you choose Digital Pacific, which will bump up your total spend significantly.
❌ You want customizable packages. There’s limited room for customization, therefore, if you need more flexibility with your hosting plan, Digital Pacific shouldn’t be an option for you.
What you need to know
Australian web hosting provider Digital Pacific stands out for its huge range of products and services covering just about every possible need. Simple shared hosting, more capable business plans, managed WordPress, a powerful VPS range, high-speed dedicated servers, SSL certificates, domain registration: it's all here.
Most plans are highly configurable, too. You're not forced to use Digital Pacific's preferred control panel, for instance: many plans offer cPanel, Plesk or WHM, and you can choose whatever works for you.
Digital Pacific offers 24/7 customer support via telephone and a ticketing system. Note that you’ll need to log in first to use the ticketing system - therefore general queries about the service would be better suited to its phone helpline. There’s also an email address dedicated to technical support.
We were also able to register a domain name with Digital Pacific with ease, but the company also has options for domain name transfers and renewals. There is no charge to change the registrant of .com, .net, .org, .info or .biz domain names. We tested this by logging in to the domain name management and updating the registrant details from there. Overall, Digital Pacific gets our seal of approval because of the level of quality that comes with its services as well as the wide range of options on offer.
Best feature-rich web hosting
✅ You need plenty to work with. If you need a web host that is feature-rich, A2 Hosting will not disappoint.
✅ You need lots of power. A2 Hosting is big on power and speed, so if that’s what your website needs then check out one of its four shared web hosting plans.
✅ You want to sell hosting. A2 Hosting also offers reseller hosting so you can make a bit of extra income on the side should you wish to do so.
❌ You're a beginner. Even though plenty of features is usually a good thing, it can be overwhelming for beginners. If you’re looking for something simple, A2 Hosting might not be for you.
❌ You want a local server. If you want a web host that has an operating data center server in Australia, A2 Hosting shouldn’t be considered.
❌ You're on a budget. A2 Hosting is not the cheapest option and its renewal pricing reflects this.
What you need to know
A2 Hosting is a provider that has sustainability in mind, which is a pleasant bonus in our opinion. Its data centers are designed to use less energy and its servers use energy-efficient components. Despite not having a server location locally, its data center in Singapore would do the trick and not compromise the speed quality of your site. After all, the distance between Australia and Singapore is 4,370 kilometers.
A2 Hosting offers a full range of hosting products, from shared and WordPress ranges, to an easy-to-use website builder, and faster and more powerful VPS and dedicated servers. (There's no Windows hosting any more, unfortunately: A2 Hosting is Linux-only).
To find out what a hosting provider really delivers, we use Uptime.com to check a WordPress-based test site every five minutes for 14 days. A2 Hosting did well, and we experienced 100% uptime.
It took a little longer for us to get set up on SiteGround purely because of the number of features it offers. This makes the service a little more complex, however, once we looked through everything we needed (e.g. daily site backups, free site migration, etc.) we were able to navigate through the dashboard. Also note that A2 Hosting has no live chat or telephone support.
Read our full A2 Hosting review
Best for all-in-one web hosting
✅ You need round the clock support. If you need a local web hosting service that offers 24/7 phone and email support, Webcentral is a strong option.
✅ You need a free trial. Webcentral lets you try the hosting service for a month before committing to it financially.
✅ You want quality cPanel hosting. Its cPanel plans are worth a look because of just how many features Webcentral has managed to pack into each plan.
❌ You don't want extra charges. WebCentral charges customers for excess traffic outside of their allowances, so you could end up with a higher bill than you anticipated.
❌ You want more time to try it out. This feature-rich web host offers a 14-day money back guarantee. While this is good, other hosts on this list offer the standard 30-day guarantee.
❌ You're on a budget. Its VPS hosting is pricey - ranging from AU$179.25 per month to AU$337.50 per month. If this is too much, consider a cheaper option in this guide.
What you need to know
Webcentral, formerly known as Netregistry, describes itself as Australia’s largest web and application hosting company. It boasts of servicing more than 330,000 small and medium businesses (SMB) and 2,500 enterprise, wholesale and government customers.
Not many web hosts offer the chance to try out the hosting service for free before committing to a paid plan, which we think is an added positive touch. We tested it out using a domain name we already own and found the service was truly free for us to use for the month. Webcentral didn’t ask for bank details either. We struggled a little to reset our password - the reset link email never came through, therefore, we went through the entire process again.
Its cPanel web hosting starts from AU$6.95 per month, which is not the cheapest on our list but deserves a second look purely because of the features included. It’s essentially an all-in-one kit for building an online presence.
For that price, we get one professional website, five free business email accounts, 10 GB SSD storage (less than other hosts but could be enough depending on the site), unlimited bandwidth, unlimited databases, daily email and website backups, as well as SSL security encryption.
Best Australian host for WordPress sites
✅ You need a local server. You want your site hosted on a hosting provider that has servers in Australia.
✅ You want unlimited bandwidth. If you’re looking for a plan that offers unlimited bandwidth, Crazy Domains offers it across all its shared plans.
✅ You need help designing your site. As well as a website builder, Crazy Domains has a website design service so you don’t need to build your site yourself. If you want to build and host your site under one brand, Crazy Domains ticks those boxes.
❌ You want SSL included. Not offering free SSL means you’ll need to spend more money purchasing one.
❌ You need plenty of added features. If you need more features than the basics, Crazy Domains would not be the web host to pick.
❌ You're on a budget. Crazy Domains is affordable but not the cheapest.
What you need to know
Crazy Domains boasts of over 1.5 million websites trusting its hosting services and has data centers in Perth and Sydney, as well as the UK, Belgium, the US, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore. It offers web hosting, DNS hosting, WordPress hosting, Linux hosting, Windows servers, dedicated servers, custom servers and more.
We set up a basic but functioning website on Crazy Domains and found the speed and overall performance was fast. Crazy Domains, doesn’t offer the same level of features as Hostinger or SiteGround but it’s easy to use, which makes it a solid contender for beginners. Its cheapest plan goes for AU$5.03 per month on the three-year plan, which gets you 150 GB webspace, 100 email addresses, 10 databases, one website, and two free stock images. Beware, though, there's no monthly billing. The shortest contract term Crazy Domains offers on many ranges is one year.
That being said, all of its shared hosting plans provide unlimited bandwidth, which is pretty impressive but there’s no free SSL. In our opinion, its standard WordPress hosting plan isn’t worth it because you really don’t get much for the price. Also note, Crazy Domains has a ten year contract for some of its hosting plans, which we think is a tad bit excessive but it does reduce the overall cost monthly.
Crazy Domains also has its own website builder service. It’s definitely more pricey but there’s the option to try it out for free before you commit. Crazy Domains packages come with weekly backups - we think daily backups are better for obvious reasons but the offering is there nonetheless. The response time on its live chat support was fairly quick and intuitive, and Crazy Domains also offers 24/7 phone and email support.
Best for money back guarantee
✅ You need free site transfer. FastComet has a lot of features that will help your site perform at the top of its game including free website and domain transfer (just to name two).
✅ You want an extended testing time. A 45-day money back guarantee is longer than most web hosting services on the market which not only shows FastComet pleases in its abilities so much.
✅ You need an easy to use host. If you’re looking for an easy to navigate web host that has a server in the region.
❌ You have a tight budget. FastComet could fall on the pricier side and, therefore, we’d urge you to look at some cheaper web hosts listed in this guide.
❌ You want automatic SEO features. You’ll have to manually add SEO audit features as FastComet doesn’t add it on by default. If you’re looking for as little work as possible on the SEO-front, FastComet may not be for you.
❌ You need unlimited bandwidth. Like most web hosting services, there are some storage and bandwidth limits on some plans.
What you need to know
San Francisco-based FastComet has a wide range of web hosting offerings which includes shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, WordPress hosting, a graphical website builder, WooCommerce, Magento and more. It has eleven data centers around the world: North America, Europe, India, Singapore, Japan and Australia. Its cPanel shared hosting comes with a website starter kit, a single website, free website transfer, free domain registration, free domain transfer, cPanel and Softaculous (an auto-installer that makes installing web apps easier).
FastComet may not be the best web hosting provider if you're looking for unlimited resources at the absolute lowest price, then, but what we found interesting is its features and functionalities. Setting up is relatively easy too. All we did was pick a plan, sign up, choose a domain, select a data center and subscription length, choose a payment method (card or PayPal), then hit pay. This all ran smoothly for us during our test.
The purchase page highlights the renewal price, as well as the special deal, making it clear that there will be a price increase at some point down the line. There are a handful of optional extras such as search engine submission and SEO audit - but FastComet doesn't add any of these by default.
FastComet's prices can seem high, but that's mostly because they're full of high-end features which are normally paid extras elsewhere. We used FastComet’s live chat service and got responses fairly quickly. Even better, FastComet offers a very generous money-back guarantee that gives you 45 days to decide if FastComet is the provider for you. FastComet offers SSL free as a bundled package with its hosting plans.
Read our full FastComet review
Best web host for add-ons
✅ You need an eco-friendly host. HostPapa promotes the development and use of wind and solar energy resources by purchasing green energy certificates to offset all the power it uses in its data centers.
✅ You need speed. If speed is what you’re after, HostPapa can offer that since it has a server in Australia.
✅ You want a feature-rich host. If you’re looking for a hosting provider that includes every feature needed to host a high-performing site albeit with some added costs, you might want to check HostPapa out.
❌ You need daily backups. If you expect daily site backups at no extra cost, HostPapa’s cheapest shared hosting plan is not the right plan for you.
❌ You want to pay monthly. If you don’t want to commit to yearly plans, we suggest picking a host in this guide that lets you commit on a month by month basis.
❌ You need Windows hosting. If you’re after Windows hosting, HostPapa will not cater to those needs as that service is not part of the provider’s list of services on offer.
What you need to know
Founded in 2006, HostPapa has made a name for itself as a reputable web hosting service worldwide, and it now operates in Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, European Union, France, Ireland, Belgium and Spain.
We tested the cheapest shared hosting plan at AU$2.95 per month if you commit to a three year contract. Straight away we noticed that HostPapa includes all the basics, free standard SSL, a website builder, free website migration, cPanel and more. What got us really excited was all the extra features that come with the low price tag. This includes over 400 app installers, CloudLinux servers, and 100 GB of SSD storage, which puts HostPapa in the running with the likes of Hostinger.
However, when we were ready to pay for the service, we saw a few additional features that were added but weren’t free, such as daily automated backups and website security (a feature that helps prevent loss of website visitors caused by hacks, infections, or Google security notices with real-time alerts of potential vulnerabilities, proactive monitoring, advanced CDN, and more).
Not quite as long as FastComet, but HostPapa does offer the standard 30-day money back guarantee. We did find though that domain registrations are non-refundable. However, you will own the domain name whether you remain with HostPapa or not. A way around this is to possibly transfer the domain to another provider since you’ll still have ownership of the domain. In the past, HostPapa’s speed test gave us some concerns when we tested the service back in 2020. Since then though, we’ve seen significant improvements in the speed of our test site hosted on its shared hosting plan.
Read our full HostPapa review
Best web host for beginners
✅ You need WordPress hosting. If you’re looking for a top WordPress hosting service and want to use the WordPress dashboard you know and love, Bluehost is the host for you.
✅ You want choice over your server location. Bluehost has local data centers for its various regions - USA, India, China - but your site is automatically assigned to the nearest location when you sign up.
✅ You need an informative guide. Bluehost's web knowledgebase has a huge range of helpful articles, neatly organized into sensibly-named categories. Should you want a host that will set you up with all the information you need to get started, Bluehost is a strong choice.
❌ You need more payment options. Bluehost accepts payment via card only. This is quite limiting, therefore if you’d like to pay another way, check out Hostinger, which has more options available.
❌ You want SSL refund. Bluehost offers a 30-day money back guarantee. However, it doesn't offer refunds on SSL certificates, for instance; Hostinger does.
❌ You need downtime compensation. Bluehost doesn't quote any target uptime figure, or have any formal method of compensating you if your server is down for a lengthy period.
What you need to know
Bluehost is one of the most well-known providers in the web hosting game and for good reason. Its service is reliable and we’ve always found it easy to get started and set up a website on its shared hosting plan. In regards to its benefits for Australian users, Bluehost offers plans in Australian dollars, which is always extremely helpful so you know exactly how much you’ll be paying for the service you pick.
Its cheapest plan in no way competes with the likes of Hostinger and HostPapa when it comes to storage as it only offers 10 GB of SSD storage, but we find that’s more than enough for most websites. One thing we found with Bluehost that stands out from its competitors is the way in which we are able to customize themes to fit our site’s needs and with Bluehost, you generally never have to pay for features you don’t need. What also makes Bluehost a worthy option for us is the fact that the provider has developers working on the platform full-time, and has been directly recommended by WordPress.org since 2005.
When testing the service, we registered a domain name for free with the cheapest shared plan, which is ours to keep and won’t need to pay for it for one year. Bear in mind that if you wish to cancel your Bluehost account and you’ve registered a free domain, you’ll be charged a fee to keep the domain.
Bluehost's account control panel is easier than most to get started on your site. Also, WordPress comes preinstalled, so there was no need for us to do it ourselves when testing out the shared plan. We also took full advantage of the useful shortcuts to 'Customize your design' or 'Write your first blog post', which allowed us to immediately begin working on our site. There’s also the option to work from the regular WordPress dashboard, which experienced WordPress users would find extremely handy.
Read our full Bluehost review
Best local provider for reseller hosting
✅ You need round the clock support. If you want a local web host that’s available 24/7 365, Crucial’s support team were friendly enough and helpful.
✅ You want sufficient testing time. It offers a reasonable and hassle-free 30-day money back guarantee.
✅ You Cloudflare plugin. Its Cloudflare plugin provides more security. If that’s on your check list of must-haves, Crucial could be the web host for you.
❌ You need free SSL. If you’re not willing to pay extra for SSL, Crucial is not the right web hosting service for you.
❌ You want variety. There’s not much difference between the hosting plans aside from the storage. If you prefer plans that give you something completely different in each, check out Bluehost.
❌ You need a detailed guide. The knowledgebase is useful in certain aspects but basic overall. Check out Bluehost if you need a wider pool of guides.
What you need to know
Crucial is an Australian web hosting and VPS provider for businesses. Hosted in Sydney, it offers cPanel hosting, WordPress hosting and reseller hosting. These all offer unlimited data, which perhaps explains the relatively high prices: its cheapest web hosting plan cost AU$22.90 per month.
We did notice that across its three web hosting plans, the only difference was the amount of storage on offer (50 GB, 100 GB and 150 GB for its advanced plan). All other features on offer are the same. When we signed up, we were presented with three domain options: the choice to register a new domain name, or not transfer or register any domain for the time being. We were then able to pay via BPAY, PayPal or a credit card.
Using Crucial’s knowledgebase, we found it to be quite basic and the advice articles are quite outdated. Our search for “How to connect our domain to an external web hosting provider” brought up a useful article from 2018. As products develop, so should the knowledge base. Other resources we found used images to illustrate how to create a WordPress staging subdomain, for example, which we found extremely useful and straightforward.
Services on offer aside from web hosting and VPS hosting include reseller hosting, cPanel VPS, domain name registration and SSL certificates. (You’ll have to pay for SSL separately because it’s not included in the web hosting packages.) While some other hosting providers in our guide offer free site migration, Crucial charges AU$99 as a one off charge to assist with website migration. We do like that the web host is transparent about the type of migration it's capable of doing (cPanel-to-cPanel only).
How to choose the best Australian web hosting service
The easiest way to choose the best web hosting for your individual needs is to outline what those needs are. Is having unlimited bandwidth at the top of your must-have list? Maybe you would like a host that offers 24/7 support?
Whatever your must-haves are, we suggest you prioritize speed, ease of use, affordability, security and uptime when choosing your Australian web hosting provider. We would also recommend you take a look at the hosts that have servers located in or near Australia.
Server location affects website speed, therefore, if your servers are located far away, it will cause a delay in data transfer. As a result, your users will witness website latency. For beginners, you may want to gravitate towards a web host above that offers around the clock customers.
How we test the best web hosting services
We test web hosting services by signing up to each provider (usually a shared hosting plan) and hosting a functioning website created by our team. This gives up real insight into the overall experience of the web host (exactly the way you would experience it when you sign up).
We test overall performance, speed, and uptime using tools such as GTMetrix and Uptime.com. We also draw conclusions on ease of use, features and add-on functionality, value for money and more.
For Australian users, we focus on web hosting providers that cater specifically to the Australian market, whether its server locations in the region or price plans that are modified for Australian users.
Best Australian web hosting FAQs
What are the different types of web hosting services?
There are many different types of web hosting options that will all get your site online.
1. Shared hosting is perfect for entry-level website hosting. This is where your website will be stored on the same server as multiple other websites.
2. A VPS hosting plan is the ultimate middle ground between a shared server and a dedicated server.
3. Dedicated hosting gives website owners the most control over the server that their website is stored on.
4. Cloud hosting is a hosting solution that works via a network and enables companies to consume the computing resource like a utility.
5. Colocation hosting gives access to higher levels of bandwidth than a normal office server room at a much lower cost.
We have a web hosting glossary which explains all the jargon you may find when shopping for a web host.
What is included with a web hosting service?
Depending on the web hosting provider and type of hosting package you sign up for, what is included varies.
Shared hosting, for example, usually includes one website, SSD storage, custom themes, 24/7 customer support, CDN and SSL. Some include a free domain (usually for one year), as well as automatic site backups (daily or weekly).
Some web hosting providers offer managed hosting services, where hosting companies provide technical services such as hardware and software setup and configuration, maintenance, hardware replacement, technical support, patching, updating and monitoring.
How much does it cost to host a website in Australia?
Hosting a website in Australia can cost you anywhere between AU$2.95 – AU$49.99 per month. Shared hosting is usually the cheapest because you share the same server with multiple websites.
Dedicated hosting plans are usually the most expensive because the server is exclusively rented by you and your website is the only one stored on it.
