7 Best FTP Hosting Providers Compared

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FTP is popular for handling a large number of files, for bulk transfers, or for transferring large files. Therefore, you might just be on the lookout for web hosting that offers solid, reliable FTP functionality along with all the other bells and whistles.

If that’s the case, then you’ll need to know which one best fits your needs—not just now, but in years to come. It has hung around for five decades, after all.

In this guide, we cut through the crowded hosting landscape to spotlight the best providers offering tailored FTP hosting solutions designed specifically for anyone with their own website. From Bluehost to Hostinger, here are the seven best FTP hosting providers.

1. Bluehost

Great for beginners

Bluehost homepage banner stating "Building your own website just got easier," with a "Get Started" button, recommended by WordPress.org, and a 75% faster claim.
Bluehost shared web hosting homepage. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Bluehost is one of the most popular shared hosting providers around, with competitive pricing and packages tailored to getting small and medium businesses (SMBs) websites online. When it comes to FTP, it’s pretty nifty too. That’s in no small part down to its support for secure file transfers via SFTP, easy-to-use FTP account management through cPanel, and the ability to create multiple FTP accounts for different users for secure and easy file management and sharing.

Pros and Cons

✔️ What We Liked

  • Relatively inexpensive hosting plans starting from $1.99 make Bluehost an attractive option for individuals and small businesses on a tight budget.
  • Bluehost is officially recommended by WordPress, which speaks volumes about its reliability and performance for WordPress hosting.
  • Support for Secure FTP (SFTP) on its plans, which is a more secure way to transfer files than traditional FTP.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • While it’s recommended by WordPress, the website builder can be a bit limited. You may need another builder for more advanced requirements as Bluehost is primarily known for its hosting services rather than its website building capabilities
  • Bluehost has a great starting point, but its entry-level plans do tend to be on the basic side.

Who Should Use Bluehost?

Recommended for Not Recommended for
WordPress users Users looking to grow significantly online
New entrepreneurs Advanced WordPress web-building needs
DIY website builders with minimal technical skills

Price and Plans

There’s no denying that Bluehost has one of the most attractive price points on the market. New users who sign up for 12 months will pay just $1.99 per month on the Basic plan.

Within that plan, you’ll have the ability to create FTP accounts, access free SSL certificates in your first year, and enjoy 10GB of web storage. There are three more options—Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro. As you go up the pricing tiers, you get things like more storage and marketing features, like emails.

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Security and Reliability

Security and reliability are off to a good start, as Bluehost encrypts file transfers for enhanced security using Secure FTP (SFTP) protocol. That means your data remains protected from prying eyes during website file transfers and management.

When it comes to reliability, Bluehost offers a 99.98% uptime pledge, which meets industry standards. Shared hosting reliability, however, can sometimes be less consistent. Fortunately, Bluehost arms users with cPanel backup utilities along with optional SiteLock and CodeGuard to safeguard data. All hosting administration and SFTP access is via a convenient unified cPanel login.

Bluehost's Uptime graph
We did a number of tests for Bluehosts's uptime. Overall, it averaged an uptime of 99.18%. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert
a comparison of the uptime between hostgator and Bluehost
We also compared the uptime of Bluehost with its closest competitor, HostGator. As you can see, it came slightly ahead in average uptime. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Security and Reliability

Security and reliability are off to a good start, as Bluehost encrypts file transfers for enhanced security using Secure FTP (SFTP) protocol. That means your data remains protected from prying eyes during website file transfers and management.

When it comes to reliability, Bluehost offers a 99.98% uptime pledge, which meets industry standards. Shared hosting reliability, however, can sometimes be less consistent. Fortunately, Bluehost arms users with cPanel backup utilities along with optional SiteLock and CodeGuard to safeguard data. All hosting administration and SFTP access is via a convenient unified cPanel login.

Storage and Backups

Basic plans include 50GB of SSD storage, which should be just fine for most small to medium-sized sites. In comparison to A2 Hosting, however, it’s half the amount for an entry-level plan.

Secure Shell (SSH) access, a secure protocol for accessing and managing servers remotely, provides secure, advanced management. Then there’s CodeGuard Backup, an automatic daily backup afforded on Bluehost’s Pro plan and for the first 12 months of the Choice Plus plan.

cPanel disk usage page on Bluehost
One of the other benefits of Bluehost is being able to monitor your disk space from cPanel. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Performance and Scalability

All plans offer unmetered bandwidth, which means users aren’t charged based on the volume of traffic and can enjoy consistent site performance even during traffic surges. If you have grand designs of serious scaling, you might require a larger plan over the entry-level versions to meet enhanced power requirements.

Help and Support

What makes Bluehost so good for beginners is its help and support offering. Even the cheapest plans have access to dedicated support, including the latest versions and 24/7 customer service and technical help.

Additionally, Bluehost offers tools like Content Delivery Network (CDN) for enhanced website speed and performance. It does this by distributing content from servers located closer to the end-users, reducing latency and improving load times for visitors around the world.

User-Friendly FTP Hosting

When it comes to rock-solid and budget-friendly FTP functionality, Bluehost leads the pack with its beginner-friendly setup, renowned WordPress optimization, and layers of security-protecting sensitive transfers. If you need an affordable, reliable FTP host to handle large volumes of file traffic, Bluehost hits the mark.

Bluehost ftp connections page in cPanel
I was able to access my FTP setting in cPanel. I was pleasantly surprised by how much control they gave me. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

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2. HostGator

Best for uptime guarantee

HostGator homepage banner featuring "Hosting for every website" with unlimited storage and bandwidth, and a cartoon alligator peeking from behind a browser window.
Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

HostGator is a well-established web hosting provider that just so happens to offer FTP hosting. It also hits the right notes with a 99.9% guarantee and plans starting from as little as $2.75 per month. Let’s see what HostGator has to offer.

Pros and Cons

✔️ What We Liked

  • A user-friendly interface means it’s easy to navigate your way around.
  • Affordable pricing makes HostGator competitive in the FTP hosting market.
  • 24/7 customer support is ideal for quick queries and more in-depth questions.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • Limited scalability on shared hosting plans means you’ll need to pay the big bucks if you start to really scale.
  • High renewal fees mean the price can jump quite considerably (more than 70%!) when it comes time to renew.

Who Should Use HostGator?

Recommended for Not Recommended for
Small businesses and individuals looking for budget-friendly FTP hosting Users looking for more moderate renewal fees
Users who prioritize user-friendly interfaces

Pricing and Plans

To start, all of HostGator’s plans offer FTP hosting. That means you can sign up for the Hatchling Plan for as little as $2.75 per month and still get full access to FTP file management capabilities through cPanel (more on that later). You get a range of features across all plans, including storage (of varying sizes) and unmetered bandwidth.

But if you want more extras like increased performance, you’ll need to upgrade to the Baby plan ($3.50 per month) or the Business plan ($5.25 per month). All prices are part of a commitment to a 36-month contract, which has steep renewal fees that climb by more than 70%.

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Security and Reliability

Let’s start with FTP. Signing up for a HostGator plan gives you SFTP for secure file transfers. Like Bluehost, it uses SSH to encrypt all data transfers and protect your files from interception and tampering during transmission. Malware scanning is available across all plans to protect any pesky malicious software infiltrating your website. HostGator also guarantees 99.99% uptime, meaning reliability shouldn’t be a problem.

CodeGuard acts as Hostgator’s backup solution, offering daily automatic backups, one-click restore options, email alerts for unauthorized changes, and 24/7 website monitoring. Users can also access their accounts via the same cPanel login, which simplifies the management of your hosting services.

a graph showing HostGators uptime
We tested HostGator six times to see its total uptime, coming at an average of 99.1% uptime. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Storage and Backup

You’ll have the necessary resources and security when using HostGator—even shared hosting plans have unlimited bandwidth and disk space, so there’s no need to worry about exceeding your capacity. When it comes to SSD storage, the Hatchling plan offers 10GB, while the Baby plan and Business Plan offer 20GB and 40GB SSD, respectively.

a screenshot of disk usage in cPanel on HostGator
You can also check disk usage in the cPanel for HostGator. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Performance and Scalability

HostGator maximizes performance and scalability for sites of all sizes through optimization and flexible cloud hosting. It optimizes WordPress sites by reducing resource-heavy plugins and compressing images while implementing caching to improve speed and efficiency.

Cloud hosting allows for dynamic resource allocation to meet variable traffic levels, supporting everything from small startups to major enterprises. With data mirrored across devices, cloud plans offer both redundancy and the ability to scale quickly during traffic spikes for uncompromised uptime.

Help and Support

HostGator offers great help and support that’s available 24/7. However, phone support is only available on the Baby Plan and up, which starts from $3.05 per month. The knowledge base goes some way to making up for that with plenty of information about all aspects of HostGator’s services, letting users take a deep dive and find answers to the questions they need. You can really get into the nuts and bolts of HostGator.

FTP Hosting With Strong Uptime

With budget-friendly plans starting from $2.75/month inclusive of secure FTP tools, HostGator makes it easy and affordable to manage file transfers. Backed by strong uptime, thorough backups, and helpful support, it’s a great FTP host for anyone needing to move large volumes of data without complexity or high costs.

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a control panel for FTP in HostGator
HostGator doesn't have as in-depth FTP settings as Bluehost, but I found it a lot more user-friendly to use. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

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3. InMotion

Best for navigation

InMotion Hosting banner for Business Class Shared Hosting, highlighting 24/7 human support, cPanel management, and developer-friendly hosting with a 'Rated Excellent' badge.
InMotion’s shared web hosting page. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

InMotion stakes its claim for FTP hosting with SSD storage across plans for ample file capacity and a complimentary SSL certificate for secure data encryption. With 99.9% uptime, unlimited bandwidth, and 24/7 support, InMotion manages heavy FTP workloads with reliability so you can focus on your business instead of file transfers.

Pros and Cons

✔️ What We Liked

  • Offers FTP, SFTP, and SSH access for secure file management.
  • Data centers positioned at key internet exchange points for fast connections and 99.99% uptime.
  • Easy to set up and navigate.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • Additional costs for automated backups.
  • No Windows servers.

Who Should Use InMotion?

Recommended for Not Recommended for
People who want seamless navigation Users outside North America who want more support
Anyone looking for competitive pricing Anyone using Windows
Users requiring strong U.S.-based support

Price and Plans

There are plenty of plans to choose from with InMotion, including shared hosting, VPS, and dedicated options. All plans feature FTP support, especially for popular clients like FileZilla and Cyberduck. If FTP is all you’re after, you might be better off on the shared hosting starting from $2.29 per month.

Security and Reliability

InMotion Hosting implements several security measures, including offering FTP with unlimited accounts and SFTP and SSH access for secure file transfers. Its data centers offer 99.99% uptime, so you can expect reliable performance for your websites.

InMotion uptime graph
Over the six tests we did for uptime for InMotion, it averaged an uptime of 99.21%. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Storage and Backups

Users can expect FTP access to easily transfer files to and from their website, with the cPanel File Manager available for uploading files one at a time or in bulk. Automatic backups are also available if you sign up to the Business Hosting add-on at $30 per year.

Performance and Scalability

InMotion Hosting uses server-side optimizations, including minimizing resource-intensive plugins, optimizing images, and utilizing caching. These strategies help reduce CPU for better website speed. When it comes to scalability, InMotion offers UltraStack configurations and VPS hosting plans that allow for easy resource upgrades, handled mostly transparently by InMotion’s technical personnel.

InMotion software available through cPanel
InMotion also showed the software I have access to through cPanel, including WordPress management. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Help and Support

With InMotion, you get dedicated support across all plans. That means even on the cheapest pricing tiers, users have access to 24/7/ live technical support for basic hosting issues. You’ll also get access to the latest software and helpful runtime environments, such as multiple PHP versions, MySQL, and cPanel, all of which are essential for running a wide range of applications securely. The Support Center also has a knowledge base with lots of handy tips.

Storage-Friendly FTP Hosting

Boasting ample storage and rock-solid uptime, InMotion provides handy FTP tools plus the reliability to support heavy file workloads. Combine that with competitive introductory pricing, superb North American support, and robust scalability, and InMotion emerges as a formidable FTP host, especially for growing U.S. businesses. Just make sure you don’t need Windows hosting; otherwise, you’ll need another option, like Bluehost or HostGator.

InMotion FTP accounts
I was able to access InMotion's FTP settings with cPanel. It was slightly different to Bluehost's cPanel, but had a similar level of customization. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

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4. A2 Hosting

Best for speed

Web hosting promotional banner featuring "Hosting in the Fast Lane" with a smiling person holding a tablet and talking on the phone in a cafe setting, pricing starting at $2.99/month.
A2 Hosting homepage. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

With servers delivering impressive speeds, A2 Hosting is primed for high-performance FTP transfers. Its fully managed cloud platform supplies ample storage, unlimited bandwidth, and free site migration to boot. For data-intensive sites requiring ultra-fast FTP along with bulletproof reliability, A2 Hosting delivers impressively quick file sharing and site loads to satisfy the most demanding users.

Pros and Cons

✔️ What We Liked

  • Great site speed and performance, leveraging optimized environments and servers.
  • Good storage and bandwidth options, accommodating large file transfers like FTP and high traffic volumes.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • Lacks Windows hosting, limiting options for users dependent on Microsoft’s platform.

Who Should Use A2 Hosting?

Recommended for Not Recommended for
Users requiring high-performance FTP transfers and site loads Users dependent on Windows hosting
Websites with large files and high-traffic volumes

Plans and Pricing

A2 Hosting has shared hosting plans from Startup ($2.99 per month) to Turbo Max ($14.99) tiers, all supporting FTP access. The Turbo Boost plan ($6.99) hits the sweet spot for FTP transfers, thanks to its next-gen Turbo Servers with up to 20X faster speeds than lower plans for lightning-quick file transfers.

Security and Reliability

A2 Hosting supports SFTP for secure file transfers, allowing users to use the same username and password as SSH or cPanel access so that file transfers are encrypted and secure.

SSL certificates, HackScan Protection, and virus scanning are all part of A2 Hosting’s security features. And while shared hosting can generally be less reliable, A2’s 99.95% should provide you with confidence that you’ll get a good service that’s operational.

A2 Hosting uptime graph
We tested A2 Hosting six times for uptime. As you can see, it had slightly more variation in time, with an average uptime of 99.13%. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Storage and Backups

You can expect unlimited storage and bandwidth on three of A2 Hosting’s four shared plans. However, the entry-level plan provides 100GB of SSD storage—ideal for websites that handle a lot of media content or have high traffic volumes.

SSH access is available, providing a secure way to manage files and perform administrative tasks. For backups, A2 Hosting offers tools for manual backups, and users can also use off-site storage options like Amazon S3 or Google Drive for additional security.

Performance and Scalability

Offering FTP functionality across shared hosting plans, A2 Hosting supplies ample transfer speed and storage capacity to support data-intensive sites. Its Turbo Servers (available on Boost and Max plans) deliver page loads up to 20 times quicker than standard hosts for ultra-fast file transfers.

A2 Hosting wordpress management
As well as FTP, you can also access WordPress Management in A2's cPanel. This was really useful for customizing my website. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Help and Support

All shared hosting plans come with dedicated support, such as multiple PHP versions, MySQL, MariaDB, Node.js, Apache, and more. There’s also support in the form of a knowledge base, although the lack of live chat (unless you want to speak to the sales team) is disappointing.

Speedy FTP Hosting

With Turbo Servers, unlimited bandwidth, and strong uptime, A2 Hosting is just the trick for intensive FTP workloads. Its finely tuned environment delivers both speed and reliability for seamless file transfers.

A2 Hosting cPanel for FTP
Much like other hosting providers, you can find FTP settings in the cPanel. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

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5. GreenGeeks

Best for green initiatives

GreenGeeks web hosting banner with the slogan "Blazing Fast & Secure Eco-friendly Web Hosting," featuring a woman working on a laptop and icons for security and eco-friendliness.
GreenGeeks web sharing page. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

For eco-conscious users seeking secure and reliable FTP green hosting, GreenGeeks hits the mark with carbon-neutral web services backed by 99.98% uptime for green hosting. Its rich feature set spanning unlimited SSD storage, free site migration, and round-the-clock support means lean sites and large enterprises alike can effortlessly manage extensive file transfers in a responsible cloud infrastructure committed to sustainability.

Pros and Cons

✔️ What We Liked

  • Eco-friendly hosting with a 300% green energy match.
  • Impressive speeds and reliability, with a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
  • Unlimited resources on certain plans, including SSD web space and data transfer.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • Limited scalability for sites with sudden traffic spikes or high growth.
  • No Windows hosting

Who Should Use GreenGeeks?

Recommended for Not Recommended for
Environmentally conscious users seeking eco-friendly hosting Websites with extremely high traffic
Small to medium-sized sites looking for reliable and fast hosting

Storage and Backups

You’ll get unlimited SSD web space and data transfer on GreenGeeks Pro and Premium plans, meaning you won’t face strict limits on the amount of data they can store or the volume of traffic they can handle. This is ideal for sites with heavy media content or high visitor numbers and isn’t widely available with other hosting providers. For backups, GreenGeeks performs nightly disaster recovery, with Pro or Premium plan users having direct access to these for on-demand restoration.

Performance and Scalability

GreenGeeks maximizes performance through server-side optimization features like LiteSpeed caching, SSD storage, and PHP caching alongside website-level tactics like using lightweight WordPress themes, enabling browser caching, and compressing images.

Price and Plans

GreenGeeks offers three shared hosting plans: Lite, Pro, and Premium, ranging from $2.95 to $8.95. All plans offer FTP support, but you might opt for the Pro Plan ($4.95 per month) thanks to its unlimited SSD web space and data transfer, which is beneficial for FTP use. It also includes a free domain for the first year and nightly backups.

Security and Reliability

With GreenGeeks, you get security measures, such as login verification emails and full two-factor authentication, to protect against unauthorized access. Despite the risks of shared hosting, such as downtime due to shared resources, GreenGeeks maintains a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

It performs regular disaster recovery backups, with Pro or Premium plans offering direct access to system backups for on-demand data restoration. There’s also support for Secure FTP (SFTP) encrypted file transfers. While GreenGeeks doesn’t directly limit visitor numbers, high-traffic sites can be impacted by performance issues—this might be a challenge for extremely high-traffic sites.

greengeeks file manager
One of the features I could access from GreenGeeks' portal was the File Manager. This gave me a great overview of all my sites elements, though it was confusing at first. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert
greengeeks security settings
GreenGeeks didn't immediately take me to cPanel. Instead, it has its own setting portal, where I could customize my sites SSL configurations. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

For scalability, it provides easy resource upgrades, integration with Cloudflare’s CDN to cache static content closer to visitors, multiple worldwide data centers to reduce latency, and an array of built-in speed technologies like HTTP/2 and PHP7 to keep sites responsive as traffic grows.

Help and Support

Multiple support channels are available, such as 24/7 live chat, email ticketing, and US-based phone assistance from 9 am to midnight EST. You can get help in areas ranging from hardware issues and network availability to core GreenGeeks services like account management and VPS hosting. GreenGeeks also offers cPanel and Softaculous support alongside malware scanning.

Green is Serene With GreenGeeks

With eco-friendly carbon-neutral hosting, unlimited SSD storage, and excellent uptime, GreenGeeks helps all sites, from lean startups to thriving enterprises, run intensive FTP workloads seamlessly. Though lacking Windows hosting, its responsible infrastructure strikes the perfect balance between power, security, and sustainability.

greengeeks FTP setup
I was able to access the FTP accounts without using cPanel, which was nice. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

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6. Hostinger

Best for value

Hostinger web hosting promotional banner offering up to 75% off with features like 24/7 customer support, free domain, website migration, and a special price of $2.99 per month with 3 months free.
Hostinger shared web hosting homepage. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Offering free domain registration and SSL certificates alongside unmetered bandwidth and SFTP access, Hostinger delivers an extremely affordable FTP hosting solution. With 24/7 live chat support, 99.9% uptime commitment, and a lightweight infrastructure for fast speeds, you can handle FTP transfers and large file management on a budget.

Pros and Cons

✔️ What We Liked

  • Competitive pricing across its hosting plans is available, making Hostinger accessible for users on a budget.
  • The custom-built hPanel is designed for ease of use, simplifying website and FTP management.
  • Hostinger provides unlimited FTP accounts, allowing for efficient file management and transfers.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • On shared hosting plans, there are limitations in bandwidth, storage space, and processing power.
  • Users have little to no control over server configuration in shared hosting environments, potentially limiting those with specific technical requirements.

Who Should Use Hostinger?

Recommended for Not Recommended for
Beginners and small to medium-sized websites Websites with high traffic and large file management needs
Users seeking an affordable and user-friendly FTP hosting solution

Pricing and Plans

Hostinger offers affordable shared hosting tiers from basic Single plans to Business hosting, all incorporating FTP tools. The Premium plan strikes an optimal balance at $2.99/month but comes with three free months.

With SFTP encryption securing sensitive data alongside capable infrastructure to support multiple sites, Hostinger allows lean startups and growing SMBs to deftly manage websites via intuitive FTP for less. While light on backups and support, the unbeatable value makes it easy to overlook limitations.

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Security and Reliability

Employing advanced firewall rules, malware scanning, and DDoS protection, Hostinger secures its infrastructure to safeguard user sites and data. Included SSL certificates encrypt transmitted data, while the 99.9% uptime pledge meets industry reliability standards—ideal for anyone concerned about shared hosting risks.

For secure file transfers, Hostinger supports encrypted SFTP protocols alongside its own hPanel interface for unified access control. While high-traffic sites may require dedicated servers, Hostinger delivers capable security and availability to sustain most SMB workloads.

Storage and Backups

Hostinger’s shared hosting plans offer SSD storage ranging from 50GB to 200GB—plenty of space for most small and mid-sized websites to operate smoothly. The SSD drives provide faster speeds compared to older HDDs, too. Even the entry plans come with 100GB in bandwidth, which should allow for good traffic.

On the security side, Hostinger has SSH login alongside both automatic and on-demand backups, so your data stays protected. While not exactly cutting-edge, it checks the core boxes on storage, bandwidth, and backup capabilities to keep most businesses happily humming along.

Performance and Scalability

Hostinger uses optimization tricks to keep websites fast. Its servers use LiteSpeed instead of Apache, as it uses fewer resources, so more websites can run without slowing down. It also separates each customer’s account so one website can’t take up all the resources and affect others.

The goal is speed for personal blogs all the way to big business sites as they grow. Between optimized servers and separated accounts, Hostinger tries to keep a balance so every site stays lean as it expands.

Help and Support

Even the cheapest shared hosting plans come with 24/7 live chat and email support, so all users have help on tap. Hostinger provides the current PHP versions for security and site compatibility, too. The custom hPanel interface aims to simplify hosting management via one-click CMS installers, caching managers to accelerate sites, access controls for collaboration, and website builders for drag-and-drop creation.

Security and Reliability

Employing advanced firewall rules, malware scanning, and DDoS protection, Hostinger secures its infrastructure to safeguard user sites and data. Included SSL certificates encrypt transmitted data, while the 99.9% uptime pledge meets industry reliability standards—ideal for anyone concerned about shared hosting risks.

For secure file transfers, Hostinger supports encrypted SFTP protocols alongside its own hPanel interface for unified access control. While high-traffic sites may require dedicated servers, Hostinger delivers capable security and availability to sustain most SMB workloads.

The image features a laptop displaying the hPanel management interface, with a title "What Is hPanel? hPanel Tutorial With Feature Overview and Tips".
hPanel is a custom-designed panel from Hostinger so users can manage their hosting account quickly and easily. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert
Hostinger uptime graph
In our tests, Hostinger scored an average uptime of 99.38%, the highest on this list! Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Guidance is also provided on optimization best practices, from image compression to eliminating bloated plugins. By blending helpful support, optimized technology, and easy-yet-powerful tools, Hostinger helps novices and experts alike to create and run sites with ease.

Affordable FTP Hosting

As a highly affordable and newbie-friendly FTP host, Hostinger is great for entry-level websites that want to effortlessly manage transfers and bulk file storage. If you’re seeking a simple yet capable hosting gateway, Hostinger hits the price-performance-simplicity sweet spot.

Hostinger hPanel FTP page
Instead of cPanel, Hostinger's hPanel operates a similar function. Here, I could edit and add my FTP settings. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

More Information

Learn more with our in-depth Hostinger review.

7. SiteGround

Best for security 

SiteGround web hosting service banner with the message "Web Hosting Built for Your Success," featuring a man with a laptop and icons representing the website's features and security.
SiteGround’s shared web hosting homepage. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

SiteGround shines for FTP needs with unmetered traffic, daily backups, and free Cloudflare CDN integration. Coupled with lots of helpful support, it makes managing FTP simple for novices. However, while loading speeds are swift, they don’t quite match top-tier competitors, such as A2 Hosting’s turbo plans. Still, for an easy, reliable FTP environment and excellent security features, SiteGround delivers ample capabilities without huge demands on your wallet or technical skills.

Pros and Cons

✔️ What We Liked

  • Advanced security features in the form of AI-powered anti-bot filtering, smart firewall configurations, and 24/7 active server monitoring.
  • Rapid response to threats—compromised websites are fixed within 24 hours.
  • Comprehensive protection and repair services such as automatic threat removal and protection to emergency repair for hacked websites.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • The extensive features and services offered by SiteGround might be more than necessary for people with basic FTP needs..

Who Should Use SiteGround?

Recommended for Not Recommended for
Businesses with high-profile online operations vulnerable to cyber-attacks Small personal projects where the risk and impact of cyber threats are minimal
Websites that handle sensitive user data, requiring top-notch security measures

Pricing and Plans

There are a few shared hosting plans packed for sites small and large. Starting at just $2.99 monthly introductory offer, SiteGround’s StartUp plan happily hosts one site with room for 10,000 visits.

Stepping up to the $4.99, GrowBig plan buys you more resources to host unlimited sites and handle 100,000 visitors. Finally, large platforms needing space for 400,000 visits can enjoy the advanced tools in GoGeek from $6.99 onward.

All SiteGround’s pricing tiers incorporate secure FTP tools and easy account management so you can effortlessly access files.

Security and Reliability 

SiteGround takes your site’s safety seriously, and this is where it shines, arming servers with intrusion prevention systems, auto-updating WordPress and its plugins, and nonstop monitoring. Leveraging cloud technology means websites scale to meet traffic spikes without pesky downtime—just what you want from reliable hosting.

Comprehensive daily and on-demand backups let you restore your work in a few clicks. And accessing your FTP is no problem at all, thanks to protocol encryption and support for generating secure SSH keys.

Siteground uptime graph
In our six tests of SiteGround's uptime, it received an average uptime percentage of 99.21%. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Storage and Backup

SiteGround offers shared hosting plans with scalable bandwidth and storage, catering to websites of varying sizes. With strong security measures and reliable infrastructure, it provides a trustworthy hosting solution, emphasizing performance and user data protection.

Performance and Scalability

Thanks to a modern Google Cloud infrastructure, sites enjoy swift connectivity and high availability on SiteGround. An exclusive SuperCacher technology also stores preprocessed pages in memory for fast load times, while custom PHP configurations allow more simultaneous visitor requests.

When traffic spikes strike, cloud hosting plans seamlessly scale up resources to match demand. Whether launching a simple blog or building the next big business, SiteGround has the power to help you see your vision through. So, both startup founders and enterprise teams can feel confident in entrusting their web presence to optimized hosting.

SiteGround's site scanner in the dashboard
A cool feature I liked in SiteGround's dashboard was the Site Scanner. It was able to detect any weaknesses or threats to my site's security, keeping my mind at ease. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Help and Support

SiteGround’s support team is available 24/7 to help with anything from basic questions to complex issues. Their experts make sure problems get fixed fast. It also runs the latest and most secure software versions behind the scenes.

This keeps your site safe while providing handy tools that help improve site speed and performance automatically, such as storing pages in a quick-access cache and distributing content globally so visitors around the world load pages faster.

Protected With SiteGround

For effortless media uploads without sacrificing speed or protection, SiteGround delivers and offers seamless integration with popular FTP clients for secure file transfers.

SiteGround's FTP account page
A part I really appreciated with SiteGround's FTP features was a definition at the top explaining it to beginners. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

More Information

Read our full SiteGround review to see if it meets your requirements.

How To Choose FTP Hosting

When choosing an FTP hosting provider, there are a few key factors to consider so that you select the service best suited for your needs:

Storage and Bandwidth

If you plan to transfer large files or heavy multimedia content via FTP, ample storage space and generous bandwidth allotments should be top priority. Many shared hosting plans impose limits, so inspect allotted storage capacity and monthly data transfers for adequate room for growth. Unlimited options are ideal for heavy workloads.

Speed

The faster the server and network infrastructure, the quicker your FTP transfers will complete. Opt for hosts using SSD storage over old-school HDDs, and pick plans based on speed-optimized server technology like LiteSpeed or Nginx over conventional options.

Reliability

Look for providers offering at least 99.9% uptime commitments. Downtime directly cuts into productive FTP work by interrupting transfers or making your server inaccessible. Reliable data center infrastructure, as well as DDoS protection, helps ward off potential outages.

Security

At a minimum, your host should support Secure FTP (SFTP) encryption for safeguarding sensitive transfers. Additional measures like firewalls, 2FA authentication, and vulnerability scanning provide further assurances your FTP environment stays secure. Automated backups are also crucial for protecting against failed uploads or accidental deletions.

Support Quality

Even the most user-friendly FTP tools come with a learning curve. Comprehensive customer support via live chat, phone, and tickets helps troubleshoot issues that stall productivity. Knowledge bases and FTP walkthroughs are handy self-service resources as well.

Prioritizing factors like ample space and bandwidth, speed, reliability, security, and support mean you’ll be on your way to selecting a robust FTP host for the job, whether you’re just getting started or migrating intensive workloads.

How We Test Hosting Providers

Choosing reliable FTP hosting ensures fast and secure file transfers critical for managing websites. To get the best results, we look at key factors like ample storage and bandwidth, speedy infrastructure, 99.9%-plus uptime, and encryption protocols like SFTP.

For FTP specifically, prioritize unlimited traffic and space, allowing for room to grow, SSD technology accelerating transfers, and features like free SSL that keep sites secure. Avoid barebones plans lacking resources or support. Though FTP remains highly affordable, premium hosts provide extra speed and protections worth the small price bump for smooth media and backup management.

Summary: 7 Best FTP Hosting Provider

FTP is still a popular way to transfer files, and more importantly, it’s supported by some of the top web hosting providers in the business. So whether you’re using Bluehost for its simplicity or Hostinger for its price, there are plenty of options out there ready to meet your FTP needs.

Written by:
simon banks headshot
I joined the Website Builder Expert writing team in 2023. With a decade of writing experience, I really love helping brands and small businesses, with a talent for making seemingly dull topics fun and engaging. My aim is to get you feeling confident about marketing your business so it can achieve success. Having a background in advertising has given me a unique lens through which to view topics. I love turning tricky subjects – like website security certificates and crafting a customer journey map – into easy-to-understand pieces of content that capture attention whether you're reading at home or browsing while out and about.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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