Best Web Hosting Australia Comparison
A problem with researching the best web hosting in Australia, is that almost every guide promotes mostly American or (at best) Singaporean data centre hosts, because they pay large referral fees. If yours is an Aussie business catering to either of those markets and you don’t mind having your company or customer data overseas, that’s fine. But for Australians wanting the great speed and search engine optimisation benefits that come from hosting domestically (along with loading time, IP address geo-location is a ranking relevancy factor, much like having a “.com.au” domain), this blog is your solution. For the past decade, we’ve been a paying customer of 30+ Australian data-centre web hosting providers for our clients. Read on to learn about the best (affiliate disclosure: we’re reader-supported, if you buy through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you):
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WEBHOSTING FEATURES
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Best for:
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Value (HUGE Storage)
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WordPress Specialists
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Deluxe Inclusions
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Super Support & FAST
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Boosted CPU/RAM
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Site Updates Included
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Starting From (~AUD)
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N/A (monthly),
$9.00/mo (1-year)
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$19.00/mo (monthly),
$17.00/mo (1-year)
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$20.90/mo (after 1st mo),
$6.30/mo (1-year)
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$19.99/mo (after 1st mo),
* $2.99/mo (1-year) *
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$49.95/mo (after 1st mo),
$29.97/mo (1-year)
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$79.00/mo (monthly),
$75.05/mo (1-year)
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AU Centre(s)
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Local Support
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Free SSL
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Free Site Builder
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Free CDN/WAF
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Free AU Domain
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Load Time
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369 ms
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567 ms
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375 ms
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* 189 ms *
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307 ms
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262 ms
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Quick-Read Web Hosting Provider Reviews
We get it, you have better things to do with your day than read rambling reviews! So we’ve distilled the most essential facts about our best-rated hosts into a single paragraph and four bullet points for each. We also warn you of any caveats to look out for and provide local, as well as global, loading speed test results from our own sites hosted with each provider. Click on the tabs to navigate the reviews:
CrazyDomains: Value (HUGE Storage - 150+ GB)
CrazyDomains is our value leader, due to the HUGE storage inclusions in their shared web hosting plans, which can run all major web applications including WordPress (even though they also offer WordPress-tuned ones.) Their cheapest ($9.00/mo – 1 yr minimum term) “economy” plan provides 150 GB of storage and there is even a “business” plan with unlimited Webspace! At the end of the day, digital storage is the basis of web hosting, and it’s easy to forget how quickly site files and emails can use it all up, leading to a more expensive plan. So receiving a lot up front at a bargain price is an excellent start. Combined with fast load times, that makes CrazyDomains the best value choice.- No free SSL is included and paid ($6.58/mo) SSL is auto-added to your cart; it must be manually deactivated if you don’t want to double the cost of the economy plan
- Value is in speed (see our test results below; further CDN boost on premium plan) and generous inclusions even on economy plan: 150 GB storage, 100 emails, unlimited traffic
- They also have an affordable Website Builder (with 15-day free trial, no card required, includes hosting), business email plus support packages, and a “Simple SEO” subscription
- Account dashboard is very user-friendly and in our experience, their customer support (often available via live chat with minimal wait) has always been fast, patient and polite
| Sydney, AU | Hong Kong | India | Brazil | Canada | Texas, USA | London, UK |
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369 ms
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732 ms
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1300 ms
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1800 ms
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1000 ms
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1100 ms
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1300 ms
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| A | “First Contentful Paint” Loading Time ~ Performance Rating |
WP Hosting: Aussie WordPress Specialists
WPHosting is Australia’s first specialised WordPress host. Even though you can host non-WP sites on their platform as well, this provider’s main advantage is their WP (and WooCommerce) tuning and expertise. More importantly, all of their support staff are Aussie locals, whom you can call (Business plan or greater) and live chat (all plans) with during business hours or email to open a ticket 24/7. With their privately-owned data centre located in Melbourne, they are a very quality-of-service orientated company. So if you value calling your host and hearing an Aussie voice from someone that really understands the technology, WPHosting is the best local support choice.- No free SSL is included; however WPHosting offers Standard SSL certs for $49/yr and Wildcard (for subdomains beyond just “www”) certs for $199/yr, with free instant setup
- Their excellent local support is also available on Managed Virtual Dedicated Servers, which can be customised and easily scaled up/down, for high resource WP sites
- Loading speed was a tad slower than the other hosts, but they are compatible with major CDNs (CloudFlare, MaxCDN, Incapsula, Akamai) and provide unlimited traffic
- Account dashboard includes Cpanel access, which is great for power users, and DDoS Protection plus free nightly DB/file backups (15+ day retention) are included
| Sydney, AU | Hong Kong | India | Brazil | Canada | Texas, USA | London, UK |
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567 ms
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1600 ms
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2000 ms
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3700 ms
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2300 ms
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1900 ms
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2800 ms
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| A – | “First Contentful Paint” Loading Time ~ Performance Rating |
ChemiCloud: Deluxe Technology & Inclusions
If you want a provider that ticks all the technology feature and plan inclusion boxes, including a free Australian domain name registration, then ChemiCloud is the web host for you. Rather than specializing in 1 or 2 areas, they offer one of the most comprehensively excellent Sydney-centred hosting plans for under $10/mo (1-year term or greater.) They accomplish this on a cloud infrastructure that distributes data for redundancy and reliability. Other deluxe areas include performance, security, email and developer features. So if you value a host that is rock solid overall, ChemiCloud is the best all-inclusive choice.- Free SSL certificate (Let’s Encrypt) with every plan, as well as a free site builder with 350+ mobile device-responsive web design templates, featuring a drag-and-drop interface
- NVMe storage (up to 300% faster than SATA SSDs) and up to 3 CPU cores + 3 GB RAM as your performance needs grow on their unlimited bandwidth shared hosting plans
- Sydney load time came in at under 400 ms even before enabling free CloudFlare CDN, which ChemiCloud provides detailed guidance on how to enable if/when desired
- Dashboard includes Cpanel access, which is great for power users, plus unlimited email accounts (allowing up to 50 MB attachments), and PHP version/extension selector
| Sydney, AU | Hong Kong | India | Brazil | Canada | Texas, USA | London, UK |
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375 ms
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1400 ms
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1900 ms
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2600 ms
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1400 ms
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1600 ms
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1900 ms
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| A | “First Contentful Paint” Loading Time ~ Performance Rating |
SiteGround: Award-Winning 24/7 Support & FAST
SiteGround is the winner of our two highest hosting plan ratings: “Absolute Best Deal” and “Unlimited Speedy Sites”, due to the 86% discount they are offering for a limited time. Meaning that you only pay $2.99/mo for a single site or $5.99/mo (1-year terms) for unlimited ones, with a host that has won awards for their excellent customer support. This on top of delivering the fastest load times in our speed tests, thanks to their Google Cloud-based and green Sydney data-centre plus CDN location. So if you value 24/7 live help and having the fastest loading times, SiteGround is the best support + speed choice.- Free Wildcard SSL certificates (Let’s Encrypt) on all sites/subdomains, as well as an integrated Weebly site builder (free version) if you prefer using it instead of WP
- Live chat support is available 24/7 and has a 90%+ resolution rate, with phone support also provided, and helpdesk tickets having an only 15-minute avg. response time
- The free CDN feature can be instantly enabled with just a few clicks from the dashboard, and even pre-CDN load times were the fastest in our tests (255 ms for Sydney)
- Dashboard is the most user-friendly we’ve found, though it doen’t provide Cpanel access but rather beautifully replicates its functionality, along with unlimited email accounts
| Sydney, AU | Hong Kong | India | Brazil | Canada | Texas, USA | London, UK |
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189 ms
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757 ms
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687 ms
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2600 ms
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1400 ms
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1700 ms
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2200 ms
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| A + | “First Contentful Paint” Loading Time ~ Performance Rating |
DreamIT Host: Boosted CPU/RAM (Premier Plans)
Once your website hits prime time, it’s also time to think about a high-traffic hosting plan. DreamIT Host is an Aussie provider that has built their network infrastructure with just that in mind. Their Premier plans are not only best-in-class, but also amazingly affordable. And for that extra bit of local speed, you can choose in between Sydney or Melbourne data centres. Each level of Premier features increasing CPU and RAM limits, with higher plans adding Redis Object Cache to further speed up WordPress, plus 1-2 hours of SmartHands support for optimisations from experienced engineers. So if you value boosted performance with monthly customisations included, DreamIT Host is the best premium hosting choice.- Free SSL certificates plus a dedicated IP address are included in Premier, with CPU/RAM limits ranging from 4-8 cores/GB on these unlimited bandwidth plans
- Premier phone support allows you to expedite an issue with the Melbourne-located support team, and free monthly SmartHands hours means a truly customised hosting setup
- DreamIT Host’s very own CDN is super affordable, starting at $2.97/mo, and Premier plans include optional free cache configuration on your website by their engineers
- Two dashboard types are available: Cpanel and DirectAdmin, with Dream Relay SMTP server ensuring email delivery via a high-reputation & blacklist-free IP address range
| Sydney, AU | Hong Kong | India | Brazil | Canada | Texas, USA | London, UK |
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307 ms
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1100 ms
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1500 ms
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3200 ms
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1700 ms
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1800 ms
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2100 ms
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| A | “First Contentful Paint” Loading Time ~ Performance Rating |
Hosting Australia: Site Updates Included (Fusion WM)
Even with today’s site builders and user-friendly hosting dashboards, not everyone has the time or inclination to manage so many elements in the digital toolbox. For this reason, Hosting Australia has developed Fusion WM (Web Management). For a single monthly fee, you can have a local Aussie team with decades of combined experience host, design and update your site. They will migrate your existing site to a customised hosting package or, if you’re starting from scratch, they’ll create a WordPress site for less than $600 and then ongoing edits are covered by the monthly fee: from $79/mo to $139/mo depending on site size. So if you value being able to focus on your business while experts handle all the digital stuff, Hosting Australia is the best managed hosting + web design choice.- The customised hosting package they’ll create for you can include a free SSL certificate and CPU/RAM limits ranging from 1-4 cores/GB on an unlimited bandwidth plan
- Another area where Hosting Australia shines is their 100% local Aussie phone support and ticket desk, where you can request help from the same support engineer each time
- Not only are their load time test results among the fastest (262 ms), but as an HA customer, we’ve seen how they constantly update their network to ensure high performance
- Even under management, you’ll have full WordPress dashboard control and Cpanel access to your hosting setup, which includes unlimited email accounts and daily backups
| Sydney, AU | Hong Kong | India | Brazil | Canada | Texas, USA | London, UK |
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262 ms
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1300 ms
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1400 ms
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2700 ms
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1300 ms
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1600 ms
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2300 ms
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| A + | “First Contentful Paint” Loading Time ~ Performance Rating |
Most Popular Hosting Australia Plans
And if you’re looking to save time, here are provider links to our three highest-rated web hosting plans:
$19.00
AUD, 1 month term
- 1 Website
- 5 GB SSD Storage
- Unlimited Data Transfer
- Free Migration
- $49/yr SSL Certificate
- 100% Local Australian Support
- Melbourne Data Centre
$35.88
~AUD, 12 months term (86% discount applied)
- 1 Website
- 10 GB SSD Storage
- Unlimited Data Transfer & Best Speed Rating
- Free Migration & Site Builder
- Free SSL Certificate
- Award-Winning 24/7 Support
- Green Sydney Data Centre & Free CDN
$59.88
~AUD, 12 months term (86% discount applied)
- Unlimited Websites
- 20 GB SSD Storage
- Unlimited Data Transfer & Best Speed Rating
- Free Migration & Site Builder
- Free SSL Certificate
- Award-Winning 24/7 Support
- Green Sydney Data Centre & Free CDN
for Local Australian Support
AUSSIE SUPPORT PLANfor Absolute Best Deal
SUPER VALUE PLANfor Unlimited Speedy Sites
UNLIMITED SITES PLANPlan Your Hosting Stages
As your website grows in popularity, you’ll need to plan your hosting stages as well:
Shared Server Web Hosting
Your website is hosted alongside others, sharing the resources of a single server.
Virtual Private Server Hosting
Your website is hosted on a virtualized private environment that may be custom configured, but still shares a single physical machine with others.
Managed Dedicated Server Hosting
Your website is hosted on its own physical machine, guaranteeing exclusive use of its resources.
frequently Asked Questions
- The best value (huge storage space) choice – CrazyDomains
- The best local Aussie support choice – WPHosting
- The best all-inclusive choice – ChemiCloud
- The best 24/7 live support + fastest loading speed choice – SiteGround
- The best premium (for high performance sites) choice – DreamIT Host
- The best managed hosting + web design included choice – Hosting Australia
- Much faster website loading speed times, which visitors love
- An Australian IP address for your website, which helps with SEO rankings
- Company/customer data stays in-country, which helps avoid legal issues
- Comparison chart of Australian data-centre hosts – Best Web Hosting Australia
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Boost Your Growth Rate
Once your business website is hosted, you can use the following services to promote and protect it:
Google Ads (PPC) Management & Search Engine Optimisation
01Every website can benefit from a well-crafted Google Ads campaign. We can help you maximize your advertising dollars and get quality traffic from day one. Then grow your organic search footprint with our best-in-class Search Engine Optimisation support, resulting in first page rankings to complement your ads.
Conversion Rate Optimisation & High-ROAS Generating Campaigns
02Increase your Return on Ad Spend by having us conduct relentless CRO experiments and adopt best practices on your landing pages. Combine that with an email marketing campaign plus pre-recorded 24/7 webinar presentation and watch your online lead conversion rate grow from strength to strength.
Digital Strategy Consulting & Global Growth Marketing + Dashboards
03From creating a domain name portfolio to planning a global digital growth strategy with custom dashboard, we’ve got you covered. Our specialty is utilising Pirate Metrics (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue) to measure digital equity and to build your customer funnels, resulting in a robust online business.
Web Application Testing & WordPress Web Design
04Why spend a small fortune and countless weeks on web design when you can leverage the power of WordPress and pre-designed themes to launch a beautiful site in days? Then help secure your new website with the correct host, plugins and configurations, plus pro-active testing against the most common vulnerabilities.