Quick answer
- Best UK-based all-rounder: Krystal. Clear pricing with no big renewal jump, daily backups, UK phone support and a 60-day money-back guarantee.
- Lowest upfront cost: Hostinger. Introductory prices from £1.49 a month on a 48-month term, but renewal is several times higher.
- Big-brand option with UK pricing: IONOS. Starter offers from £1 a month (excl. VAT) for the first year, with a personal consultant included.
Comparison at a glance
| Host | Entry plan price | After the offer | Money-back | Backups on entry plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krystal | £7 a month (Amethyst, monthly billing, excl. VAT) | Same price; annual £70, two years £126 (excl. VAT) | 60 days | Daily |
| Hostinger | £1.49 a month (Single, 48-month term, £71.52 upfront) | Renews at £7.99 a month for the same term | 30 days | Weekly |
| IONOS | £1 a month for 12 months (excl. VAT) | Then £9 a month (excl. VAT) | 30 days | See plan details |
What a small business actually needs from hosting
For a typical brochure site, a small shop or a WordPress blog, the essentials are simple:
- Predictable cost after year one. Many hosts advertise a low first-term price that renews much higher. Budget for the renewal price, not the headline.
- Backups you can restore yourself. Daily backups are a sensible minimum for a business site you update often.
- Support you can reach. If your site goes down on a Monday morning, live chat or phone support matters more than an extra gigabyte of storage.
- Free SSL and enough email. All three hosts include free SSL certificates. Check how many mailboxes you get if you plan to use your hosting for business email.
- A fair exit. A long money-back period gives you time to check the host suits you.
Not sure what you will spend overall? Try our hosting cost calculator.
The hosts in detail
Top pick
1 Krystal: best UK-based all-rounder
Krystal is a London-based host that runs its own cloud platform. Its shared hosting plans use cPanel and LiteSpeed caching, and every plan includes unlimited mailboxes, unlimited bandwidth and free SSL. The entry Amethyst plan hosts one site with 10GB of NVMe storage and daily backups; Ruby hosts five sites and adds a free domain for the life of the plan; Emerald allows unlimited sites with 12-hourly backups. Read our full Krystal review.
Price checked 1 November 2026: Amethyst £7, Ruby £11, Emerald £19 a month on monthly billing, excluding VAT. Annual billing saves 16% and two-year billing 25%, according to Krystal.
Good points
- No large renewal jump: the monthly price is the price
- 60-day money-back guarantee (domain costs excluded)
- Phone, live chat and ticket support from a UK team
- Daily backups even on the entry plan
- Certified B Corp running on renewable energy
Watch out for
- Higher first-year cost than budget hosts
- Entry plan hosts only one website with 10GB storage
- Prices shown exclude VAT, so add 20% if you are not VAT-registered
2 Hostinger: lowest upfront cost
Hostinger's UK plans are among the cheapest to start with, especially on long terms. The Single plan covers one website with 10GB of storage and weekly backups; Premium covers three sites; Unlimited adds unlimited websites, 50GB of NVMe storage and daily backups. All plans use Hostinger's own hPanel control panel rather than cPanel, and include an AI website builder alongside WordPress. Read our full Hostinger review.
Price checked 1 November 2026: Single £1.49, Premium £2.39, Unlimited £3.29 a month on a 48-month term, paid upfront (£71.52, £114.72 and £157.92). These renew at £7.99, £10.99 and £13.99 a month. Hostinger was running a sale when we checked, so offers may change.
Good points
- Very low upfront price on long terms
- Unlimited plan includes daily backups and unlimited sites
- 24/7 support and a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Free website migration
Watch out for
- Renewal prices are several times the introductory price
- The headline price needs a 48-month commitment paid upfront
- Entry plans only get weekly backups
- hPanel instead of the industry-standard cPanel
3 IONOS: big-brand option with a personal consultant
IONOS is one of Europe's largest hosting companies, with a UK site, pricing in pounds and data centres in Europe. Its web hosting packages include an SSL certificate, a domain and email, and every customer gets a personal consultant as well as 24/7 support. IONOS is also unusually flexible about contract length on some packages, offering monthly billing with a one-month cancellation period.
Price checked 1 November 2026: Web hosting from £1 a month for 12 months, then £9 a month, excluding VAT, on the package advertised when we checked. Other packages were on six-month offers (for example £3 a month for six months, then £6 a month, excluding VAT).
Good points
- Low first-year price in pounds
- Domain, SSL and email included
- 24/7 support plus a named personal consultant
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Watch out for
- Offers are short (6 or 12 months) before the regular price applies
- Prices exclude VAT
- Lots of upsells to work through at checkout
Renewal prices: the number that matters
Hosting is a long-term purchase. Moving a site is a hassle, so most businesses stay put for years. Here is what each entry plan costs over three years, using the prices above and excluding domain fees:
| Host and plan | Three-year cost | How we worked it out |
|---|---|---|
| Krystal Amethyst | £252 excl. VAT (£302.40 incl. VAT) | £7 × 36 months on monthly billing; less on annual or two-year billing |
| Hostinger Single | £71.52 | Covered by the 48-month upfront payment; renewal at £7.99 a month comes after year four |
| IONOS entry offer | £228 excl. VAT (£273.60 incl. VAT) | £1 × 12 months, then £9 × 24 months |
Hostinger looks cheapest over three years, but only because you pay four years upfront. In year five the Single plan renews at £7.99 a month on the same term. Krystal costs more at the start but has no renewal surprise, and the 60-day refund window lowers the risk of trying it.
Which host should you choose
- You want UK-based support and predictable bills: KrystalAd.
- You want the lowest possible upfront cost and are happy to commit for four years: HostingerAd.
- You want a large provider with a named consultant and short commitments: IONOSAd.
- You would rather not manage hosting at all: a website builder may suit you better. See the best website builders for UK small businesses.
How we compared these hosts
We compared the plans, prices, backup schedules, support channels and money-back terms published on each host's UK website on 1 November 2026. We have not run our own speed or uptime tests for this page. Hosts publish their own uptime guarantees (Krystal advertises 99.99%), but the best test is your own: use the money-back period to check speed from where your customers are. See how we review.
Sources we checked
All checked on 1 November 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.