Fastest Web Hosting of 2024 – Find Out Who Wins!
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When it comes to web hosting, speed is one of the most (if not the most) important factors in choosing a hosting company. There are many factors that influence the speed of your website, but one of the most crucial (and one that you can’t control) is how well your host manages the servers where your site is hosted.
Good hosts typically do a lot to reduce bandwidth abuse, optimize memory usage, and make use of server-side caching. Bad hosts usually let customers run wild on the server, hog memory for others, and don’t really take too much time to optimize their servers beyond the default configurations.
When looking for a speedy web host, you want someone that’s on top of managing resources and also understands how to make the most of the hardware they have in order to deliver the most performance.
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Why Speed Matters
There are a million reasons why speed matters, but we’re going to narrow it down to 3 of them in order to help you understand.
1) Slow websites increase user bounce rates
There have been multiple studies that show after the time to load a website or web page surpasses 3 seconds, user bounce rates increase exponentially.
Companies like Dotcom-Monitor and CrazyEgg have done extensive studies one how website speed impacts bounce rates and user satisfaction, and these studies (as well as others) have consistently shown that users not only bounce exponentially after the 3 second mark, but they often don’t return. This can be attributed to increased user expectations due to the proliferation of broadband internet, LTE smartphones, and faster computers in general. Whatever the cause, users have come to expect speed.
2) Slow websites lead to lower conversion rates
When a website loads slowly it can have a dramatic effect on conversion rates, simply because people run out of patience. Fast websites help to create implicit trust with users and also help to ensure that they don’t lose patience waiting for your site to load.
If you want people to subscribe to your email list—speed matters. If you want people to check out using your shopping cart—speed matters. Whatever your conversion metric is, speed affects everything. The faster your website is, the better it will convert.
3) Slow websites appear lower in search engines
Some of the most popular search engines use speed as a ranking factor when it comes to order the search engine results. Google has said specifically that it takes speed into account when ranking websites. Other search engines also take this into account, so it’s important to ensure that your site is as fast as possible to maximize your search engine visibility.
Fastest Web Hosts—The Ultimate Test
In order to truly find out who’s the best of the best, we put 24 popular web hosts to the test. Some of these hosts we don’t recommend to begin with (iPage, FatCow, etc.) but it was worth testing them as well because although they’re not companies we recommend, they are still relatively popular so we thought it was worth giving them a chance (to hopefully prove our point).
Other hosts, we don’t really recommend hosting WordPress on like Digital Ocean or Vultr, because they don’t have the support of more managed hosting companies and you really need to know your stuff in order to use them, but they’re big enough players that we added them for the sake of comparison.
The Players
Below are the hosts that we’ve put to the test for this showdown:
| Web Hosting Companies | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1&1 | Flywheel | HostPapa | Namecheap |
| A Small Orange | GoDaddy | InMotion Hosting | SiteGround |
| Bluehost | GreenGeeks | iPage | Web Hosting Hub |
| DreamHost | HostGator | JustHost | WebHostingPad |
| FatCow | HostMonster | LiquidWeb | WP Engine |
| Hostinger | A2 Hosting | Vultr | Digital Ocean |
Although some of these hosts are at different price points/quality levels (such as WP Engine being a higher end host) it’s important that all of them be tested together to really get an idea from an objective standpoint if the more expensive hosts are that much faster.
Finding the Fastest Web Hosting Company: Server Response Time vs Page Load Speed
In order to determine who is the fastest, it’s crucial that we first understand two different metrics: server response time and page load speed.
Server response time is exactly what it sounds like—the time it takes for a server to respond to a query from a browser or device.
Page load speed is the time it takes for all of the elements on a particular page to load completely. For example, if you typed the name of a specific website into your web browser, the website may appear but some images may take longer to load than others. In this situation, a website would not be considered to be “loaded” until all of the elements on the page have finished loading.
In order to test both server response time and page load speed, we enabled monitoring on 24 test websites for 72 hours on the hosts mentioned above using Dotcom-Monitor’s BrowserView platform. As we’ve said on other places on this site, we prefer Dotcom-Monitor’s speed test and some of their other tools. BrowserView is nice because it measures both server response time and page load speed. Each of the sites monitored was a WordPress site with similar plugins, similar content, and similar page sizes. Although the sites weren’t 100% identical (which doesn’t matter for server response time), they were very close so any difference in page load speed would be marginal. Note that some hosts tested are no longer available for new accounts so they are showing legacy numbers (such as A Small Orange), and that some hosts who have made significant changes to their platforms have been re-tested. The results of the server response times (sorted by the average server response time) for each host are summarized below:
| Ranking | Host | Average Server Response Time | Fastest Server Response Time | Slowest Server Response Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | SiteGround | 0.552 | 0.342 | 2.112 |
| #2 | Digital Ocean | 0.651 | 0.209 | 2.774 |
| #3 | 1&1 (IONOS) | 0.653 | 0.420 | 0.793 |
| #4 | Vultr | 0.660 | 0.455 | 2.112 |
| #5 | A2 Hosting | 0.662 | 0.275 | 3.854 |
| #6 | WP Engine | 0.677 | 0.233 | 2.980 |
| #7 | FatCow | 0.689 | 0.332 | 1.522 |
| #8 | Flywheel | 0.701 | 0.224 | 2.999 |
| #9 | DreamHost | 0.713 | 0.316 | 3.159 |
| #10 | Web Hosting Hub | 0.727 | 0.352 | 5.210 |
| #11 | iPage | 0.878 | 0.392 | 4.006 |
| #12 | Hostinger | 0.902 | 0.302 | 4.520 |
| #13 | HostPapa | 0.950 | 0.456 | 6.099 |
| #14 | HostGator | 1.174 | 0.446 | 2.114 |
| #15 | GreenGeeks | 1.397 | 0.601 | 1.997 |
| #16 | HostMonster | 1.399 | 0.862 | 5.294 |
| #17 | A Small Orange | 1.448 | 0.186 | 2.999 |
| #18 | Bluehost | 1.774 | 0.784 | 1.373 |
| #19 | GoDaddy | 1.776 | 1.354 | 3.535 |
| #20 | InMotion Hosting | 1.800 | 0.533 | 5.527 |
| #21 | Namecheap | 1.824 | 1.099 | 4.719 |
| #22 | LiquidWeb | 1.947 | 0.492 | 8.027 |
| #23 | JustHost | 2.635 | 1.069 | 4.909 |
| #24 | WebHostingPad | 2.837 | 1.347 | 10.905 |
Looking at the hosts in the table, you can see that SiteGround had the lowest average server response time coming in at 0.552 seconds, followed by Digital Ocean in second place with an average of 0.651 seconds. These results aren’t surprising as both of them are hosts that have lots of experience managing web servers and are well known in the space.
In terms of server response time, the fastest web host was:
#1 SiteGround
With #2 going to Digital Ocean.
Digital Ocean is an awesome hosting company, but definitely not for beginners. They are fully cloud-based, so we aren’t surprised by their speed. It’s interesting that IONOS was actually #3 in this category, because their interface, and hosting is quite terrible in our opinion.
Something important to consider is the fact that while server response times do give an idea of server “snappiness” so-to-speak, they only paint one part of the picture. When measuring page load times, you can get a better idea of how a host manages their SQL database queries as well as how they balance other aspects of their servers that tend to be more memory and CPU-intensive. Below, you’ll see the table of page load times for the 24 hosts that were tested:
| Ranking | Host | Average Page Load Time | Fastest Page Load Time | Slowest Page Load Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Hostinger | 2.4621 | 1.985 | 3.403 |
| #2 | WP Engine | 2.5470 | 1.802 | 3.020 |
| #3 | A2 Hosting | 2.7654 | 1.705 | 4.050 |
| #4 | Digital Ocean | 2.7705 | 1.282 | 5.955 |
| #5 | Vultr | 2.7822 | 1.293 | 4.955 |
| #6 | Bluehost | 2.8034 | 1.989 | 5.403 |
| #7 | LiquidWeb | 2.8182 | 1.285 | 9.544 |
| #8 | DreamHost | 2.8889 | 2.359 | 4.037 |
| #9 | WebHostingPad | 2.9270 | 2.063 | 5.306 |
| #10 | A Small Orange | 2.9814 | 2.120 | 5.140 |
| #11 | SiteGround | 3.1910 | 2.040 | 7.994 |
| #12 | 1&1 (IONOS) | 3.4072 | 2.615 | 5.651 |
| #13 | Flywheel | 3.4094 | 1.829 | 12.873 |
| #14 | Web Hosting Hub | 3.4191 | 2.253 | 6.434 |
| #15 | Namecheap | 3.4487 | 2.190 | 6.887 |
| #16 | InMotion Hosting | 3.5184 | 1.445 | 34.226 |
| #17 | HostGator | 3.5240 | 2.296 | 8.137 |
| #18 | FatCow | 3.7883 | 2.369 | 4.712 |
| #19 | iPage | 3.8223 | 2.504 | 5.173 |
| #20 | JustHost | 4.2910 | 2.522 | 10.356 |
| #21 | HostMonster | 4.2993 | 2.419 | 32.617 |
| #22 | GreenGeeks | 4.3443 | 2.770 | 7.126 |
| #23 | HostPapa | 6.2920 | 3.807 | 10.847 |
| #24 | GoDaddy | 8.1604 | 3.198 | 28.553 |
In terms of page load speed, you can see in the table above that Hostinger came in first place with an average time of 2.4432 seconds, while WP Engine came in second place with an average time of 2.6470 seconds. Again, this isn’t surprising as these are two of the best hosts out there for the money in our opinion, although we did think that WP engine might place above Hostinger as they’re a managed WordPress hosting company and a bit more expensive.
In terms of page load speed, the winners are:
#1 Hostinger
#2 WP Engine
So who’s the fastest web host overall? Well, determining that requires a little more analysis and math. In order to figure this out, we added both the average server response time and average page load time together (giving them equal weight) and then divided by two for a combined server response time and page load time metric for each host.
You can see the table of combined and average times below:
| Ranking | Host | Combined Average | Average Page Load Time | Average Server Response Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | WP Engine | 1.6455 | 2.5470 | 0.742 |
| #2 | Hostinger | 1.6820 | 2.4621 | 0.902 |
| #3 | Digital Ocean | 1.7107 | 2.7705 | 0.651 |
| #4 | A2 Hosting | 1.7137 | 2.7654 | 0.662 |
| #5 | Vultr | 1.7211 | 2.7822 | 0.660 |
| #6 | DreamHost | 1.8008 | 2.8889 | 0.713 |
| #7 | SiteGround | 1.9139 | 3.1910 | 0.637 |
| #8 | Flywheel | 1.9172 | 3.4094 | 0.425 |
| #9 | 1&1 | 2.0300 | 3.4072 | 0.653 |
| #10 | Web Hosting Hub | 2.0730 | 3.4191 | 0.727 |
| #11 | Bluehost | 2.1160 | 2.4581 | 1.774 |
| #12 | A Small Orange | 2.2145 | 2.9814 | 1.448 |
| #13 | FatCow | 2.2384 | 3.7883 | 0.689 |
| #14 | HostGator | 2.3490 | 3.5240 | 1.174 |
| #15 | iPage | 2.3503 | 3.8223 | 0.878 |
| #16 | LiquidWeb | 2.3827 | 2.8182 | 1.947 |
| #17 | Namecheap | 2.6363 | 3.4487 | 1.824 |
| #18 | InMotion Hosting | 2.6592 | 3.5184 | 1.800 |
| #19 | HostMonster | 2.8491 | 4.2993 | 1.399 |
| #20 | GreenGeeks | 2.8706 | 4.3443 | 1.397 |
| #21 | WebHostingPad | 2.8820 | 2.9270 | 2.837 |
| #22 | JustHost | 3.4630 | 4.2910 | 2.635 |
| #23 | HostPapa | 3.6210 | 6.2920 | 0.950 |
| #24 | GoDaddy | 4.9682 | 8.1604 | 1.776 |
With a combined time average time of 1.6455 seconds, the fastest web host is:
#1 WP Engine
Honestly, they deserve every bit of praise they get here as they’re one of the best WordPress hosts out there for the money, if not the best. While some people may say it’s not a fair comparison because their entry-level plan starts at $30/month ($20/month if you pay annually with our WP Engine coupon), they are such a popular web host for WordPress now that we thought it was important to include them in the test, and when you look at all of the results, they put up some great numbers deserving of the win.
Final Thoughts on the Fastest Web Hosting Companies
In 2024, website speed has never been more important—and in order to optimize speed, there are three main considerations that a website owner should think about: 1) on-site optimization (images, scripts, etc.), 2) off-site optimization (DNS, CDNs, etc.), and 3) your choice of hosting company.
While there are a lot of different factors that can affect website speed (even random things like visitor location, etc.)—in our opinion, these are the “big 3” and account for at least 80% of what makes up a fast website. So, if you want a fast website—these are the things to focus on.
On-Site Website Speed Optimization (span)
There have been volumes written about optimizing a website for speed and performance, so we’re not going to get into a giant post about it here—but it’s important to note that this is a big way to pick up website speed, and the first place you should start looking when trying to get your website loading time under 3 seconds.
Content management systems like WordPress are notoriously slow and full of JavaScript calls, so if you can optimize your scripts, compress your images, include some caching, and limit the overall size of your page—that will go a long way toward making your website fast.
Some of the fastest web hosting companies on this page (WP Engine, SiteGround) even have awesome caching that integrates with WordPress in order to help speed up websites and solve some of the aforementioned problems.
Off-Site Website Speed Optimization
While it’s important to first make sure that your website is as optimized as it can be in terms of scripts, page size, etc.—it’s also important to look into off-site optimization best practices as some of these things can also be quite impactful on website speed.
For example, if you look at some of the most popular websites on the Internet, they all generally have a premium DNS setup which includes some form of secure DNS that helps to mitigate DDOS attacks, spoofing, and other DNS issues.
On top of that, they almost always use some type of CDN such as Cloudflare or a custom solution that allows content to be served from anywhere in the world in a fast, efficient manner. CDNs also help reduce buffer time and deliver content uniformly across a wide range of browsers and devices. So, if you’re looking to optimize web performance, it’s important in our opinion to consider the use of a CDN.
Choosing the Fastest Hosting Provider
Selecting a fast web hosting company is something that’s often overlooked by webmasters who are looking to speed up their websites. It goes back to that old adage about a “house built on sand vs. a solid foundation.”
In other words—you can do everything right in terms of on-site and off-site optimization, but if you don’t choose a web hosting company with fast, high-performing web servers, a lot of that optimization well essentially have been done for nothing, because the slow servers will be limiting the performance of your website.
So, as we’ve described in this breakdown—there are a few web hosting companies with notable for performance, and they are WP Engine, SiteGround, Hostinger.
With a notable mention to Digital Ocean and Vultr if you’re tech-savvy and don’t mind managing your own servers.
If you’re looking for a good, reliable hosting company to build a solid foundation of speed and performance for your website, we would recommend any of those four options.
We hope this breakdown of the fastest web hosting companies has been helpful, informative, and sheds some light on the topic of speed and performance, helping you to create the fastest website possible!
