Domain Registration and Web Hosting

Choosing a reliable and capable domain registrar and web hosting provider is a critical choice in the performance and well-being of your website. The Surelutions team is happy to help you navigate this process and translate the "tech speak" to help you understand what your website needs.

If you're looking for quick answers, see our Domain and Hosting cheat sheet in the yellow box below. For more details, we've provided additional explanation further down the page.

NOTE: Some of the links mentioned here may be affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, we could earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We ONLY share links to companies we personally recommend to friends, family, and clients.

Domain and Web Hosting Cheat Sheet

What's the best web host and domain registrar for nonprofit and small business WordPress websites?

Having designed and supported hundreds of WordPress websites since 2009, here's our recommendations for cost-effective, reliable, and professional domain and web hosting for your WordPress website:

Our Nonprofit Web Hosting Recommendation

Most of our clients find the domain and hosting part of website-ownership confusing and stressful. Sadly, the worst of the budget hosts are great at marketing, and well-meaning people opt for a cheap deal they find online, only to find out that it was a short-term offer, their website keeps crashing, and they have to pay extra for essentials like privacy, SSL, backups, security, etc. When we help them get sorted out with better web hosting, their website problems "magically" disappear. Ultimately, the difference in price from budget to premium is nominal because the better providers include the essentials (and more) in their standard pricing.

WordPress Web Hosting with Kinsta

Our favorite web hosting company for nonprofits and small businesses is Kinsta. They specialize in WordPress websites, which means their entire infrastructure and technical support team is focused on making WordPress websites perform well. The Kinsta Starter Plan is fine for most small to medium websites. Their pricing is around $35/mo with discounts for nonprofits and annual payments.

If you want to migrate your website over to Kinsta, in most cases, we can help you switch over at no cost other than the hosting itself. The Kinsta team will be happy to help you as well.

Surelutions is a Kinsta Agency Partner. We recommend that all our clients use Kinsta, whether through our services or with Kinsta directly. For our Care Plan clients, we provide a boosted plan that includes additional resources.

Sign up at Kinsta.com

Other Good and Bad Web Hosts for WordPress websites

These web hosts are also fine:

  • Rocket.net - Starter plan is fine for most. I have not personally used Rocket but it's highly praised by trusted colleagues.
  • WP Engine - Startup plan or higher
  • Siteground - GrowBig or higher, unless you have a tiny website (note the renewal cost)
  • Flywheel - Starter or higher, unless you have a tiny website
  • Hosting.com (was A2 Hosting) - Managed WP Hosting Starter or higher (note renewal costs)

Note that some hosts often offer deep discounts for your first year of web hosting. Pay attention to the renewal price as well. In some cases, their lower-tier plans are the same price as the better premium plans on Kinsta when you look at next year's costs.

Avoid these web hosts for your WordPress website:

These webhosts are those we have have struggled with endlessly in the past. Don't let the flashy cheap prices dazzle you. Your website is too important to trust with iffy platforms and servers, and entry-level support.

  • Do not choose: GoDaddy, Network Solutions, IONOS, BlueHost, JustHost, HostGator, HostMonster, iPage, Dreamhost, IONOS 1&1, and any EIG subsidiary

Our Recommendation for Domain Registration

We recommend:

Domains are pretty inexpensive in general, so our recommendations are based on (1) how easy the interface is to use, (2) what features are included, and (3) how easy it is to transfer domains to and from the registrar.

Before choosing a provider, check whether privacy, SSL, and other features are included or cost extra. Registrars often list a very low price on the surface, but then upcharge or increase costs in subsequent renewals.

Avoid these domain registrars:

  • GoDaddy - Watch out for the upsells. Prices are not as cheap as they appear.
  • Squarespace (was Google Domains) - We suggest a dedicated registrar, not a subservice of a different type of service provider.
  • Network Solutions - Expensive for a mediocre service, and they make it difficult to transfer domains
  • GreenGeeks - Although I do like their philosophy, they make it difficult to make changes to your account or transfer domains
  • HostGator, Dreamhost, 1and1 (ionos), Bluehost, iPage, and many of the same companies listed in our list of hosts to avoid.