Starting a web project almost always ascends to the point of signing up for web hosting. Knowing where to start can be overwhelming with different terminologies and types of web hosting available in the market.
With this guide we take a look at the best web hosting packages available in South Africa, what they offer – who it’s best for.
We are only going to look at web hosting and not domain names – remember you will need a domain too – (the address that people type into the search bar to visit your website, like thefrontline.co.za for example). Domain names need to be renewed annually, so remember to factor this into your budget.
Note: Our Pricing information for the below packages was updated on 12 August 2024 – Prices may be different if you’re reading this article well into the future. We also do not receive any compensation for any of the recommendations below to keep our content fair 🙂
Here are the best and most affordable web hosting package from South African providers, and by web-hosting type:
Free Web Hosting
Yes you can get your website up at no cost at all. However if you plan on getting lots of website visits you will need to consider some of the options listed later on in this article.
| Provider | Plan | Price | Storage | Bandwidth | Websites |
| HostKing | Free Trial | R0.00 | 5GB SSD | Unlimited | 1 |
Shared Web Hosting
Shared Web Hosting simply means that your website will be hosted alongside other websites on a single server – thus sharing server resources. This allows you to to get your website up at minimal cost, however once your website grows you may need to consider a managed hosting or private server to keep up with the requests your website will be needing to serve.
Managed web hosting (sometimes also called Dedicated web hosting), usually the next upsell after shared hosting usually includes server maintenance, updates, security, and other technical aspects, which makes it simpler for beginners to manage their websites.
| Provider | Plan | Price | Storage | Bandwidth | Websites |
| HostKing | Micro | R25.50/month* | 5GB SSD | Unlimited | 1 |
| Absolute Hosting | NVMe Silver | R25/month | 500MB NVMe | Unlimited | 1 |
| Afrihost | Silver | R69/month | 1GB SSD | Unlimited | 50 |
| Axxess | Linux Hosting | R89/month | 5GB SSD | Unlimited | 2 |
| CyberSmart | Orange Plan | R79/month | 50GB SSD | Unlimited | 100 |
| HaloWeb | Starter | R19/month | 300MB SSD | 500MB | 1 |
| Smartweb | Value | R59/month | 2GB SSD | Unlimited | 1 |
| 1Grid | Small | R89/month | 10GB SSD | Unlimited | 1 |
| Web4Africa | Mercury | R225/year | 1GB | 10GB | 1 |
| Domains.co.za | DA Starter | R109/month | 10GB SSD | Unlimited | 5 |
VPS Web Hosting
VPS which stands for Virtual Private Server is web hosting where a physical server is divided into multiple virtual servers, each acting as its own dedicated server.
Unlike shared hosting, where resources are shared among all users on a single server. This gives your site guaranteed uptime and preference for the resources you are paying for.
| Provider | Plan | Price | Storage | Bandwidth | Websites |
| 1Grid | Starter | R209/month | Not Specified | Not Specified | Self-Managed |
| CyberSmart | Cloud Servers | R179/month | 20GB HDD | Unlimited | Not Specified |
| CyberSmart | Cloud Servers | R259/month | 50GB HDD | Unlimited | Not Specified |
| CyberSmart | Cloud Servers | R399/month | 100GB HDD | Unlimited | Not Specified |
WordPress Hosting
According to WPZoom, WordPress powers around 43% of all websites as their content management system. This because it is easy to use, allows many different types of websites to be built and extended.
As a result, many web hosting providers offer dedicated WordPress hosting plans optimized for running WordPress websites.
| Provider | Plan | Price | Storage | Bandwidth | Websites |
| HostKing | Micro | R25.50/month* | 5GB SSD | Unlimited | 1 |
| Absolute Hosting | NVMe Palladium | R33/month | 1GB NVMe | Unlimited | 1 |
| Afrihost | Silver | R69/month | 1GB SSD | Unlimited | 50 |
| Axxess | WordPress Hosting | R67/month | 5GB SSD | Unlimited | 2 |
| CyberSmart | WordPress NVMe Palladium | R33/month | 1GB NVMe | Unlimited | 1 |
| Smartweb | Startup | R100/month | 10GB SSD | Unlimited | 1 |
| 1Grid | Starter | R119/month | Not Specified | Not Specified | Not Specified |
| HaloWeb | CMS Startup | R225/month | 2GB SSD | Unlimited | 1 |
| Register Domain SA | Basic | R59/month | 5GB SSD | Unlimited | 5 |
| Register Domain SA | Standard | R129/month | 15GB SSD | Unlimited | 10 |
| Register Domain SA | Pro | R209/month | 35GB SSD | Unlimited | 25 |
| Register Domain SA | Premier | R239/month | 50GB SSD | Unlimited | 50 |
| Domains.co.za | Small | R119/month | 25GB NVMe | Unlimited | 2 |
Ecommerce Hosting
If you’re planning on building an ecommerce store, it might be a good idea to first look into which platform you will be building your storefront on. For Example Shopify or Ecwid which often times already includes web hosting in their packages.
Tips
Always compare package plans and look to save where possible. If a deal sounds too good to be true, that’s because usually it is. Always read the fine print too.
Finally look up reviews for web hosting providers and check whether other customers have had any difficulties of website down time recently – as this can be costly especially if you are planning on hosting a business website.