Web Hosting is one of those terms that can bring up a lot of shaky information. There are many businesses competing for web hosting customers, and a lot of people who make money pretending to be objective while selling this or that web hosting provider. It’s always good to be critical — perhaps verging on paranoid — when you’re shopping for web hosting (or almost anything else on the ‘net).

That being said, we’ve assembled a list of web hosting providers who generally enjoy more praise than criticism among users. This list come with the caveat: do your research. Not all web hosting services will suit your needs, so the best method is to try to communicate with others who have been where you are right now.

  • Host Gator – plenty of options & plenty of satosfied customers. Shows up on the usually suspect “Top 10″ lists a little too much, but it may actually be deserved for once.
  • InMotion – once again: for a web host that comes up often in the “Top 10″ search results, InMotion seems to have a lot of satisfied customers that may actually be real people.
  • Cirtex – seems to be extremely professional, mature design with a wide range of reasonably-priced plans from minimal to outrageously spacious
  • A Small Orange – pleasantly stylish design & hosting options with a good satisfaction profile. Possibly perfect for people who like VW Beetles and Macs.
  • Host-ed – nice free ‘trial’ tier, good upgrade path to low-cost paid options. A favorite among techies and semi-techies who like more hands-on control.
  • ICD Soft – appears to be reliable and very professional, with many very satisfied customers. Decent cost and international locations also make this a web host well worth considering.
  • FreeHostia – interesting host that offers a free “Chocolate” plan and various other interesting-named paid tiers as well. Cost seems good, clustered hosting too, not sure if I’m impressed or repelled by the creative design.
  • KnownHost – seems like a good option for VPS needs, with reasonable upgrade to Hybrid & Dedicated options. Worth investigating further.
  • ThisWebHost – This* seems to be pleasing a lot of people. Fast, helpful, inexpensive. Also pretty no-nonsense in their approach; they explain what they do and how they do it (and why their competitors claims may be misleading) better than any other host site that I’ve seen.