How We Rank Hosting Providers
WhichHosting evaluates hosting providers using 8 weighted criteria, each scored 0–10. The overall WhichHosting Score is calculated automatically from those criterion scores using fixed weights — it is never typed in by hand.
The 8 weighted criteria
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 20% | Server response time, TTFB, page load speed and the hardware/stack the plan runs on. |
| Reliability | 15% | Uptime record, infrastructure redundancy, backup coverage and status transparency. |
| Price | 15% | Introductory price, renewal price and how much the plan costs over a full term. |
| Features | 10% | Storage, bandwidth, sites allowed, staging, email, CDN and included extras. |
| Support | 10% | Channels available, response times, hours of coverage and quality of documentation. |
| Ease of use | 10% | Control panel clarity, onboarding, one-click installs and migration tooling. |
| Security | 10% | Free SSL, firewalls, malware scanning, isolation, 2FA and patching policy. |
| Value | 10% | What you actually get for the money compared with providers at the same price. |
How the overall score is calculated
Each criterion is scored 0–10, multiplied by its weight, and the results are added together and rounded to one decimal place. Performance carries the most weight (20%), followed by reliability and price (15% each), because those three decide whether a host is still the right choice a year later.
Example: performance 9.5, reliability 9.4, price 9.0, features 9.0, support 9.2, ease of use 9.6, security 9.3, value 9.1 gives 9.5×0.20 + 9.4×0.15 + 9.0×0.15 + 9.0×0.10 + 9.2×0.10 + 9.6×0.10 + 9.3×0.10 + 9.1×0.10 = 9.3.
Because the calculation is applied in the database, changing any sub-score immediately recalculates the overall score and the ranking order that depends on it. Scores therefore change when the underlying data changes.
Ranking order
A ranking page orders providers by their overall score, adjusted for the use case of that page: a WordPress ranking gives more room to WordPress-specific tooling, a cheap-hosting ranking gives more room to price and renewal cost. Criteria are applied consistently to every provider on the same page.
Renewal pricing matters
Hosting is routinely sold on a heavily discounted first term. We record both the introductory and the renewal price, and a provider whose renewal price triples is scored accordingly under Price and Value.
What the scores are based on
- Scores reflect the available evidence and our editorial assessment of it.
- Pricing and promotional offers change frequently and can differ by term and region.
- Provider information is reviewed periodically and carries a verification state.
- Commercial relationships never determine ranking order.
Independence
- Affiliate commissions do not determine ranking position or score.
- A commercial relationship never improves a criterion score.
- No provider can buy a placement, an award or a higher criterion score.
- No provider gets advance review of a verdict.
- The same criteria and weights are applied to every provider we cover.
Data freshness and verification
Prices, plan specs and deals are periodically re-checked against the provider's own site. Each provider and each deal carries a verification state and a last-checked date. Information that has not yet been checked by our editors is labelled as pending verification and is not presented as a confirmed fact.
Performance testing
Where we publish measured figures — uptime, server response time, TTFB, page load time — the test location and measurement date are shown alongside them. We do not publish invented benchmarks: if a measurement has not been taken, the section states that instead.
Last methodology update: