GoDaddy

GoDaddy charges a monthly fee for its Linux- or Windows-based shared Web servers, but it reduces the price if you commit to a multi-month or annual package. Unfortunately, GoDaddy requires you to sign up for its pricier Deluxe or Ultimate plans (starting at $8.99 and $14.99, respectively) for the option to pay for Web hosting on a month-to-month basis (the basic Economy plan requires you to sign up for a minimum of three months). This may not have much (if any) impact on businesses, but a cash-strapped blogger may not appreciate GoDaddy's lack of a single-month option in its Economy package. In that regard, Arvixe (starting at $7 per month) is a better option.

GoDaddy's Economy basic shared hosting package includes a free domain name (in the form of yoursite.com) that you can keep as long as you use GoDaddy, 100GB of storage, the ability to host one website, unlimited monthly data transfers, and a skimpy 100 email addresses. The Deluxe plan (starting at $8.99 per month, or $4.49 per month with an annual commitment) builds upon the Economy package by adding unlimited storage, unlimited website hosting, and 500 email addresses. The Ultimate package (starting at $14.99 per month, or $7.49 per month with an annual commitment) adds a premium DNS management tool, 1,000 email addresses, and a one-year SSL Certificate.

GoDaddy has solid shared hosting plans, but HostGator£2.54 at HostGator UK still reigns as the PCMag Editors' Choice for shared Web hosting services. Like GoDaddy, HostGator boasts unlimited domains, storage, monthly data transfers, and a choice of Linux- or Windows-based servers, but tops its rival by offering unlimited email.