“Green” web hosting is a term that we use to talk about providers that aim to minimize and offset their environmental footprint. If you’re looking for the best green web hosting, that means you want to prioritize hosting that uses renewable energy, is carbon-neutral, and takes other measures to minimize its impact on nature. 🍃
Using a green web host doesn’t mean settling for subpar performance or features. There are a lot of amazing eco-friendly web hosts that offer great performance and a variety of plans for different projects. It’s all a matter of doing your research before signing up with a provider.
📗 For this article, we did the research for you. We put together a list of the best green web hosting providers you can use. We’ll discuss what makes each of these providers green and what kinds of plans they offer. Let’s get to it!
Why consider using a green web host
We all make choices that impact the environment, from recycling to using means of transportation that minimize our carbon footprints. The businesses that we patronize can also choose to be more green, and you can make a conscious decision to use that as a factor when choosing a hosting provider.
👉 A green hosting provider needs to offer all the same features that other similar businesses do. That means a variety of plans, features to make your work easier, great performance and security, and a stellar support team. However, they also need to prioritize eco-friendly features such as:
- Using renewable energy to power servers (when possible)
- Optimizing their operation to be energy efficient
- Aiming to be carbon neutral
- Encouraging and/or sponsoring endeavors such as recycling and reforestation
Many web hosts emphasize what makes them green as a selling point. That means if you’re in the market for a new hosting provider, you can usually find information about what they do to be a more eco-friendly company.
Overall, you’re unlikely to pay more for using one of the best green web hosting providers. That means choosing to support a green business doesn’t have to impact your bottom line, but it can make a difference for the environment.
Five best green web hosting providers
In this section, we’re going to introduce you to the best green web hosting providers. For each provider, we’ll discuss their green initiatives, the kinds of plans they offer, and their starting prices.
1. DreamHost
DreamHost offers a variety of hosting plans, including shared servers, virtual private servers (VPS), dedicated and cloud options, and managed WordPress plans. If you’re interested in their managed WordPress hosting plans, check out our full review of their services.
In terms of green features, DreamHost is a partner in several “clean wind” programs in some states where they operate data centers. They also power their hardware using energy from renewable resources.
DreamHost is also a big proponent of remote work to minimize the impact of employees needing transportation to get to work.
💳 Price: DreamHost shared hosting plans start at $2.59, same as their basic WordPress plans.
2. HostGator
HostGator is one of the most popular web hosts on the web. They offer all kinds of hosting plans, including shared and dedicated options, as well as VPSs. You can also sign up for their managed WordPress hosting plans, which we’ve reviewed before.
Outside of their managed plans, HostGator doesn’t have the best reputation among users. However, their WordPress managed hosting options offer great performance at reasonable prices, which makes them a good “starter” provider.
As far as their environmental impact goes, HostGator has been committed to lowering its carbon emissions for over a decade now. They do this by purchasing more than enough renewable energy credits to offset their footprint, which makes them carbon negative.
💳 Price: HostGator managed WordPress plans start at $5.95 per month.
3. GreenGeeks
We’ve talked about GreenGeeks in the past. It’s one of the only web hosts built entirely around the concept of sustainability. They offer shared hosting, VPSs, and managed WordPress plans.
Their pricing is competitive with other popular web hosts. You also get access to LiteSpeed Web Server on all GreenGeeks plans, including pre-installed LiteSpeed Cache.
True to its name, GreenGeeks is unmatched in terms of green initiatives. GreenGeeks works with an environmental foundation to help generate three times the amount of clean energy they use. Moreover, they plant a tree for each hosting account that signs up for the platform.
💳 Price: GreenGeeks shared hosting plans start at $2.95 per month.
4. iPage
iPage is known for offering some of the cheapest hosting plans on the market. It’s a budget web-hosting service that offers a lot of freebies, such as support for unlimited sites (on its Go plan), unlimited storage, and traffic.
We’ve compared iPage against Bluehost in the past. This web host is a great option for personal projects on a budget due to their low entry prices. They’re also environmentally friendly in the sense that they offset their energy usage by buying renewable energy certificates. This is similar to how HostGator operates, and iPage buys twice the credits required to offset their footprint.
💳 Price: iPage shared hosting plans start at $1.99 per month.
5. HostPapa
HostPapa is a versatile web host that offers all kinds of plans, including shared options, managed WordPress plans, and VPSs. While HostPapa got its start in Canada, they offer datacenters all around the world. Still, Canadians might appreciate the ability to pay in Canadian dollars (though you’re also free to pay in USD).
They’re also unique in that they offer a service called PapaCare+, which is essentially managed hosting, as an add-on for any of their other plans.
HostPapa’s prices are in line with other budget hosting options. However, their performance falls a bit short of what you might need to run a growing website. That makes this web host a good option for starter sites and small projects.
When it comes to green initiatives, HostPapa offsets its footprint by buying renewable energy certificates. They’re also public about the facilities where they buy these certificates and to which they contribute.
💳 Price: HostPapa shared hosting plans start at $2.95 per month.
Try the best green web hosting 💚💻️
If you’re lucky, you’ll be using the same web host for years to come as your site grows. That means it’s in your best interest to choose a hosting provider that offers great performance, helpful features, and hopefully cares for the environment as well.
In terms of the best green web hosting, we recommend using DreamHost. They’re an environmentally friendly service provider, and they offer outstanding performance on their plans. We’ve tested their WordPress plans in the past, and they are some of the best on the market.
Do you have any questions about green web hosting? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!