Best PHP Hosting Providers for 2024 – Optimize Your Web Development!

In 2024, A2 Hosting is your top choice for PHP Hosting, while Bluehost offers an excellent budget-friendly alternative.

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Choosing a PHP hosting plan can be overwhelming when there are various technical terms, different features, and so many options available. I will attempt to make it simpler for you to choose a PHP hosting plan. Before we talk about the numerous hosting providers, it is vital to understand the context.

What is PHP

PHP stands for ‘‘PHP: Hypertext Processor’’. It is open-source programming and scripting language. It is used to produce dynamic websites.

Trivia: The famous WordPress is written in PHP language.

When someone visits your website, the browser sends a request to the server to display the web page. The server will send the data to the web browser for display to the visitor. Now the web browsers only read HTML and not PHP. For a website created with PHP to be read, PHP code will have to generate an HTML page to be sent to the browser.

You can identify PHP code pages through the extension “.php” on the server. Choosing a host that supports PHP will allow you to make changes quickly and efficiently to your site.

What is PHP Hosting

In simple words, PHP hosting means web hosting that supports the PHP language. PHP is installed on a hosting server and enables running PHP scripts. Before selecting a PHP host, ensure they support a PHP environment.

Important features for developers are access to FTP and SSH. While FTP allows you to easily upload your code to the server. SSH allows you to log in to the server and work on it. Be sure to check with the hosting plan, as SSH access is limited in hosting plans.

Along with these features, it would be good to have SSD storage, SSL certificate, and access to CDN. Access to other programming languages like Python and Ruby might be helpful for you.

What to look for in PHP hosting Provider

Before choosing a PHP host, you need to consider the following pointers:

• PHP version supported: When choosing a host, look for the version supported. There are several versions available in PHP. When your host supports the latest version, it will ensure there are no compatibility issues.
• Uptime: Anything lower than 99.99% uptime will decrease your website uptime and performance. This is one of the main factors when choosing a host.
• Usage Allowance: The bandwidth you will have to operate your website. If you expect a lot of traffic to your site, it is better to go for a plan that offers unlimited bandwidth.
• Ease of Upgrade: If you are scaling your business, the upgrade should be a seamless experience. You should take this point into consideration.
• Migration Service: You want to assign this task to a team of experts that will make your life easy. You don’t want to go through this process alone. It should be very easy to migrate between providers.
• Support Channels: Look for multiple support channels. You want your host to provide 24/7 service. Most would prefer the chat option, but for urgent issues calling customer care and email, ticketing can bring resolution.

PHP doesn’t add additional cost to your website, but it is a good idea to conform support from your host before selecting a plan.

Benefits of PHP hosting

• PHP is fast: User experience is important for your website. Imagine your website requires a lot of server resources to load the pages; it will increase the cost over time, but most importantly, end users will be dissatisfied with the experience. PHP is light on server resources meaning your pages will load quickly, and the site will perform better. It’s an incredibly fast tool.
• PHP is simple to use: Many developers prefer PHP as it easily integrates with CSS and HTML without additional plugins. It also lets you pull content from multiple databases. You can use a single template and publish it on your website with content collated from multiple resources.
• Costing: PHP is free and open source. The hosting costs in a PHP environment are generally cheaper than other language hosting environments. Plenty of developers are discussing the latest features and how you can get most of the platform.
• Integration: PHP integrates well with different databases like MySQL & Oracle. This makes it versatile and easy to build a website across multiple platforms. As it is widely used, you will find information on issues and fixes on online forums.
• Compatibility: PHP is compatible with most operating systems. It works well on mobile, desktop, and tablet. You can optimize it to fit the different screens for a better user experience. Most users prefer using mobile phones for browsing; optimising pages for all devices is important.

Latest PHP versions

PHP development started in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf, and it didn’t start with the intention to be a programming language. It grew organically over time.

• PHP 3 – Features API extension, Object-oriented support, and Intro to Zend engine
• PHP 4 – Introduced superglobals, Object overloading support, and enhanced run time execution
• PHP 5 – Significant performance improvements, Over 400 bug fixes, Built-in debugging & SSL/TLS improvements
• PHP 6 – PHP 6 was supposed to be a native Unicode support, but it never succeeded. PHP 6 was not widely adopted. Eventually, the development was stopped in favour of PHP 7
• PHP 7 – PHP 7 offered impressive performance, better error handling, and many syntax modifications. It has features like Null Coalescing Operator, Scalar type declaration, and Return type declaration.
• PHP 8 – PHP 8 was released on Nov 26, 2020. It was a major version and had enhanced features. It includes Just in time compilation, Type changes, and additions & Syntax changes
• Latest PHP 8.1 – This is the latest PHP version released on Nov 25, 2021.

Hopefully, you now know the context while choosing PHP hosting plans. Now comes the main part of the articles, going through various PHP hosting plans available and choosing the one that fits best for your needs.

Best PHP Hosting

1. A2 Hosting – Best PHP Hosting in 2024

A2 Hosting supports several versions of PHP and regularly tests for compatibility. The most recent 8.1 version is also covered with A2 Hosting. If speed and performance, along with security and support, are all priorities in your web hosting, then A2 will be on the leading front. It was one of the pioneers that offered PHP 5 and supported Ruby on shared servers. A2 Hosting was one of the first hosting companies that offered to host with fast speed solid state drives. The speed went to the next level when it launched its Turbo hosting platform. With Turbo, the site speed experience loads pages up to 20 times faster than the average. The company promises 99.99% or higher uptimes. Guru crew support is available 24*7.

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Reasons to get A2 PHP Hosting: 

• Up To 20X Faster Turbo– A2 Hosting is one of the fastest shared hosting options. It has delivered best-in-class speed for the last years. The average speed is 286 ms. High speed leads to better SEO rankings, lower bounce rates & higher conversion rates!
• Guru Crew Support– Customer support is amazing and available 24/7/365. The communication channel for the users involves chat, email, and phone. They have a knowledge base available; also, some FAQs answer some of the common questions.
• 24/7 server monitoring and malware scanning – The speed is not affected even with extra safety features. Your site will be protected by Imunify360, a 24/7 monitoring service that checks for malware and other attacks. Make sure to keep your site safe before any issues break out.
• Content management systems – A2 hosting works seamlessly will all major content management systems. You can install WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla with a few clicks. If you are an agency looking to host multiple sites under one roof, A2 Hosting does come with developer-friendly tools. You can get admin-level access on servers, free server rewind backups, and multiple version of everything from PHP, MySQL, Python, Ruby, etc.
• Anytime Money-Back Guarantee – Most hosts give you 30 days of the money-back guarantee, but A2 Hosting has gone further with the Anytime money-back guarantee. Suppose you don’t find the services suitable. In that case, you can cancel anytime and receive a prorated amount based on the prepaid amount. You still get a full refund in the first 30 days. There are a few things to consider, Domain registrations, setup, or migration cost is non-refundable.
• 99.9% Uptime – A2 hosting average uptime is greater than 99.9%, which is impressive. A2 Hosting is quite reliable, along with its high speed.

Features with the basic plan available for 2.99$ monthly

• Unlimited Email Accounts
• Unlimited transfer
• 24/7/365 Phone, Live Chat & Email support
• Easy cPanel Control Panel
• 99.9% Uptime Commitment
• Free SSL Certificate
• Free Website builder
• Choice of data center location

Verdict

Here is a good point to note, A2 Hosting is that it cares for the environment. They have tied up with carbonfund.org to help support renewable energies and reforestation. They have a “futureserve” green hosting initiative to help offset emissions from their servers. This should not be the main reason to sign up with A2 Hosting but knowing that the company cares to good to know.

All right, A2 is one of the best web hosts for speed and performance. It is one of the top choices if you are looking for PHP hosting. It has consistently performed for several years. You will get a free SSL certificate and free site migration. If you come across any problem, customer service is very helpful.

A2 hosting lets you choose between various PHP versions, and you can choose between multiple data centers. A2 Hosting provides reliable, faster and comfortable PHP hosting. It is one of the best options available for your PHP hosting.

2. Bluehost – Best Budget PHP Hosting

Bluehost is one of the largest user bases for beginners. There are millions of websites hosted on Bluehost. It must be doing something right when many users adopt it. It has been around for ages (Since 1996 USA), always keeps up with the new features, good uptime rates, and ease of use. It is a good budget-friendly option. It is one of the three officially recommended websites hosted by WordPress.

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Reasons to get Bluehost hosting: 

• Low introductory Price – You can get started for a single website with basic features 2.75$/month. You will find pretty much everything you need for a single website. This includes 10GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and more. It is one of the cheapest options available out here. Due note that the renewal price is on the higher side. This is a good option if you are starting your PHP site on a budget.
• Uptime – As mentioned earlier, uptime should be one of the reasons to choose a hosting plan. Bluehost, though, starts cheaper; it doesn’t cut corners on important features and performance. The average uptime is 99.98%.
• Decent page loading time – The bounce rate is higher if the loading time is poor. The average load time is 420 ms. Though it is up to some of the loading speed that other hosting plan offers but it is quite decent. It is good enough to keep your visitors engaged. It is improving year on year.
• 24/7 Customer support – Bluehost provides 24/7 customer support over live chat, phone, and email. It also has a large knowledge base along with FAQs answered. The customer support is good with professional service and helpful staff.
• 30 days money-back guarantee – Bluehost offer 30 days money-back guarantee with all of its plans. A few things to consider is that you get refund hosting plans and not on add-ons. It doesn’t refund any request after 30 days.
• Ease of use for beginners – Bluehost is great for beginners. Their customer portal is clean and simple to understand. The client area is super beginner friendly. Bluehost also has features for advanced users who want to code their websites.
• Security options – Bluehost provides your site with a free SSL certificate. It offers free CDN (Cloudflare), one-click WordPress installation, multiple CMS integration, and other plugins. The high-tier plan includes spam protection, domain privacy, and server backups. Advanced features like sitelock protect from malware attacks.

Top Features with the basic plan 

• 1 Website
• 50 GB SSD Storage
• Unmetered Bandwidth
• 25 Sub Domains
• 1 Database
• Domain for 1 Year

Verdict

If you are a beginner, I will refer to this option as it is one of the budget-friendly options. Bluehost is one of the reputed hosting providers that offer multiple PHP versions. It lets you customize your PHP version and create a perfect balance between affordability and functionality. You can configure the PHP environment with the help of php.ini, plus you will get documentation and generous customer support. It has a 30-day money-back guarantee with 99.98% uptime. Bluehost offers the best value for your money.

Bluehost is owned by Endurance International Group (EIG), and EIG has a bad reputation for ruining the hosts it acquires.

3. Siteground

Siteground was founded in 2004 in Bulgaria by a few university friends. They have four offices and multiple data centers spread across multiple global locations. Siteground has been one of the best PHP hosting providers, with a wide range of modules to work with. You can choose between all the PHP versions available. The company makes sure you get industry-leading hosting technologies and awesome customer support. It is one of the three officially recommended websites hosted by WordPress.

Reasons to get Siteground Hosting: 

• Handy tools for efficient workflow – 1 click switch between multiple PHP versions, PHPadmin for easy data management, Git integration for a smooth deployment process, and 1 click WordPress staging for easy code testing.
• 24/7 Advanced support – 90% resolution at first contact. The team is super supportive of solving if you face any challenges. They have the necessary knowledge base in place. The technicians usually revert in 15 mins to tickets. On top of 24/7 support, there is a decent knowledge base and helpful tutorials for beginners.
• PHP Feature – Siteground offers several features that are not easily available. A new ultrafast PHP setup that reduces TTBB (time to the first byte) and SG Optimizer, this plugin automatically configures your website for optimal performance. They have features like Supercacher, which leads to increased loading speeds.
• Performance (Uptime & Page Speed) – The uptime is 99.99%, and the page speed is 356 ms; it is one of the best performances among the hosting providers. Enjoy high speed for the best performance of your PHP sites. For speed solutions, they offer free Cloudflare CDN with Railgun and Google cloud infra with SSD persistent storage and ultra-fast network.
• Security solutions: Free Standard and Wildcard Let’s encrypt SSL certificates. Managed AI anti-bot tool. Free daily backups and restore options. Spam protection by Solarwinds Spam experts and web application firewalls.

Features with the basic plan 

• 1 Website
• 10 GB Web Space
• ~ 10,000 Visits Monthly
• Unmetered Traffic
• Free SSL
• Daily Backup
• Free CDN
• Free Email
• Enhanced Security
• Ecommerce Enabled
• Managed WordPress
• Out-of-the-box Caching
• Unlimited Databases
• 100% renewable energy match
• 30-Days Money-Back

Verdict

Siteground offers automatic PHP updates with secured PHP execution. It offers 100% renewable energy matches on shared PHP hosting. The advanced PHP optimization gives you a nice environment for PHP hosting without any hassles. If you are a developer on a budget but still want advanced features like Github integration and Supercacher, go for Gogeek shared hosting.

Siteground doesn’t limit your website or charge for unlimited resources. It provides uniform speed and one of the best performances. Siteground has a beginner-friendly and good-looking control panel; you can code in PHP in no time.

A good option with powerful features for your PHP hosting.

4. InMotion

This is a good PHP option for small businesses to professionals. It offers a powerful tool called suPHP that makes the site secure and safe. It has more than 300 employees and hosts 1000s of clients worldwide. It was founded in 2001. Inmotion provides the best PHP hosting features, scalable plans, and professional PHP support.

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Reasons to get Inmotion Hosting: 

• Professional PHP support – 24/7/365 support available on chat, email, and phone. Your PHP questions can be supported by professional staff. It has a support system with over 5000 articles and guides. They have blogs with a lot of up-to-date information.
• 90 days money-back guarantee – Inmotion offers 90 days money-back guarantee. 90 days period time is rare in the hosting business. One thing to keep in mind is that you must pay for the plan upfront.
• Performance – The speed for Inmotion hosting shows results with the page load time at 311 ms. This can be considered a fast page load that is good for SEO and user experience. The uptime is 99.97%.
• Free website transfer – Inmotion offers free website transfer with zero downtime during migration
• PHP latest version – Inmotion keeps your site updated with the latest PHP version so you can be at ease with the new version upgrades in PHP.
• Security – Inmotion offers a free SSL certificate, SSH access, a web application firewall, and a secure site with protection against hacks, malware, and DDOS attacks. The automatic backup option is available in all plans except the core plan.

Features with the basic plan 

• Websites Supported 2 Websites
• Disk Space 100 GB SSD
• Bandwidth Unlimited
• Email Accounts 10 Email Addresses
• Dedicated IP Address Available
• No-Downtime Website Migration Available
• UltraStack Optimized Performance 2x Speed and Performance

Verdict

Inmotion provides free SSD storage to boost your website performance and maintain backups to keep your site secure. In motion provides non-PHP features along with some of the best speed-optimized features.

5. Cloudways – Best Cloud PHP Hosting

Cloudways provides fast and straightforward PHP hosting. It allows you to deploy PH applications on the PHP hosting platform and is one of the best in PHP hosting. It includes git integration to improve the workflow. It is best suitable for a medium-sized company. Enjoy paying the need option without managing the hassle of building your infrastructure.

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Reasons to get Cloudways hosting: 

• PHP website on the infrastructure of your choice – You can host your website with an option on the top 5 infrastructure as a service (IAAS) cloud provider, including AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, and Linode.
• Free migration option is available, so you don’t have to deal with migration difficulties.
• Performance – All the plans are optimized with advanced caches and the CDN add-on, ensuring the site delivers the best speed and performance.
• Git integration – To improve the workflow, Cloudways include git integration. You can deploy updated codes on live servers in no time with the help of auto-deployment.
• Additional Features – Include free SSL, automatic backups, dedicated firewalls, 1 click SSL installation, and auto-healing.
• 24/7 Expert support – The customer support team quickly resolves your queries. There is a huge base for the customers. An active community is constantly sharing its knowledge and skills while contributing to the community.

Verdict

Cloudways host integrates well with all PHP versions. You can switch from one PHP version to another version with a click of a button. Cloudways has a great administration console. The console allows you to deploy more clouds and web applications. You get cloudways API for server automation, PHP FPM automatic backups, and much more.

6. Hostinger

Founded in 2004, Hostinger has been one of the fastest-growing companies. Headquartered in Lithuania, the company has 1000 employees and a strong force of remote workers to ensure support is responsive and always running. It offers round-the-clock support and 99.9% uptime.

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Reasons to get Hostinger hosting: 

• PHP7 – Hostinger has PHP7 support. PHP7 was one of the biggest PHP releases and is faster than its previous versions.
• Zero tier support system – There is no tier system. Each member is trained to support every possible query, leading to faster resolution. The support interface is unique, where you can send emojis and GIFs.
• HTTP/2 – HTTP/2 is enabled across all servers. It is a successor of HTTP1 and is faster, more secure, and easier to use.
• Security – They have infused PHP hosting with a customer firewall and a smart WAF layer. It protects against DDoS attacks, injections, brute force attempts, and other attacks. It also offers additional Cloudflare integration that adds an extra layer of security.
• Features – Hostinger aims to provide all the necessary tools to set up an environment for code development. It offers PHP version control, Git integration, Optimized stack, and Cache Manager.

Verdict

Excellent services combined with low prices make a good option for your PHP hosting. You can always move to an advanced plan to add more features. Hostinger provides a high level of security modules like Suhosin PHP hardening and PHP open_basedir protection to grant a high level of security. It has a good uptime and speed added with few features. Recently added free SSL to its users.

In 2015, 000webhost (Subsidiaries of Hostinger) was subject to a data breach for 13 million users, including IP addresses, email IDs, and plain text passwords, due to the servers running a long-outdated version of PHP.

7. Hostgator

Hostgator was founded in 2002 in Texas. It is well respected for its reliability and large number of servers. Root access, SSH, and support for programming languages like Ruby, PHP, and Python are available with Hostgator.

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Reasons to get Hostgator hosting: 

• Softaculous – This is a one-click application installer which will help in deploying over 400 applications with the use of predefined scripts. You can build your website in numerous ways, from softaculous one-click installation to uploading custom code written in PHP, Python, Ruby, etc.
• 45 days money-back guarantee – Most hosting companies, in general, allow 30 days money-back guarantee. Hostgator allows you a 45-day money-back guarantee. You get 15 days extra to check for the hosting services.
• Knowledge Content – They have a good knowledge base with the topic covered over a wide range. They have a dedicated Youtube channel where all the, ‘How to’ videos are shared. They offer a Facebook community where you can ask all your queries.
• One-click WordPress install & free blog tools – You can install WordPress with one click, and Hostgator offers free blog tools. It also provides drag-and-drop and mobile-friendly templates.
• Uptime 99.9% guarantee – If it falls short of the guarantee, you will receive one month of credit for that package in your account. It only applies to shared web hosting accounts. The point to note is if the website is not working, it is not counted as downtime. The uptime guarantee is met as long as the server is available to deliver the content.

Verdict

PHP7, HTTP/2, NGINX Caching, and CDN Hostgator offers good performance. You get fast SSD drives on all hosting plans. Free SSL, Sitelock, and Customized firewall against DDoS attacks. One year of free domain, free website builder, and free website transfer. Yes, Hostgator is a good solution for your PHP hosting.

However, I would like to highlight a period when the support and service didn’t seem that great. Lately, this doesn’t seem to be the issue. Lastly, Hostgator is owned by Endurance International Group. Just be aware Hostgator, will eventually be impacted by how EIG runs things. EIG does seem to have a bad reputation.

Best PHP Hosting Services 2024

There are many hosting options available in the market. One simple look up, and you will be presented with numerous options. Not all hosting plans will meet your requirements. I have listed some of the best options available in PHP hosting.

• A2 Hosting – Best PHP Hosting service 2024.
• Bluehost – Best Budget Option

End of the day, there is no right or wrong option selection; it all boils down to your need and requirement. Ensure it has the latest PHP version, good support, and good performance.

As highlighted before, A2 Hosting is the best PHP hosting. At the same time, Bluehost is a great budget option.