9 Best Green Web Hosting Providers
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We’ve spent 230+ hours researching the top hosting providers, focusing on areas that readers like you named as the most important.
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If you’ve made it to this page, chances are you’re already aware of how badly the web hosting industry impacts the environment, and you’re keen to host your website with a company that cares about putting this right. In which case, our top provider that puts the planet first is HostGator. In addition to its numerous features, it has the best help and support of any hosting provider on this list!
We’ve often described web hosting as ‘renting a virtual plot of internet land’, and don’t get us wrong, it is – but each website’s data is stored in a physical location (i.e. a data center) too.
There’s a lot going on in these data centers, as you can imagine, and the hardware gets very hot – much like an old laptop with too many tabs open. If you’ve ever left your iPhone in a patch of sun, you’ll be no stranger to the fact that heat and technology are a bad mix.
So what’s the solution? Aircon, and lots of it. This is incredibly energy-intensive, and is the reason why web hosting accounts for 2% of the world’s carbon emissions – the same amount as the airline industry. Hosting a website is thought to generate around the same carbon footprint per 10,000 visitors as driving 5,000 miles in a new car. Yikes!
Our green runner-ups we discovered in our research were DreamHost which got second place for its LEED Platinum and EnergyStar-certified facilities. Then GreenGeeks secured third place because it was recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 as a Green Power Partner.
We put together our holistic research approach to evaluate the top hosting providers. We underpinned the importance of their green initiatives as a key deciding factor, which is why the scores featured throughout may not go from highest to lowest. These are the nine that came greenest providers in order:
The Best Green Web Hosting Providers
- HostGator – Best overall green hosting provider
- DreamHost – Best for green tech & infrastructures
- GreenGeeks – Best green USP
- InMotion – Best reduction of HVAC power usage
- GoDaddy Hosting – Best variation in practices to minimize carbon footprint
- A2 Hosting – Best for longest offsetting (since 2007)
- Ionos – Best for solar data centers
- SiteGround – Best for green office practices
- iPage – Good green alternative
Fortunately, lots of big hosting companies are sitting up, paying attention and, most importantly, are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to lowering their environmental impact.
But it’s no use having an eco-conscious, yet ultimately useless hosting provider – you need to strike a balance.
When we carried out this research to determine the best green hosting provider, their environmental impact and green efforts were given a high weighting, but weren’t looked at in isolation. Instead, we also analyzed features that make for a good and reliable shared hosting plan (the most eco-conscious type of hosting), such as inclusion of a domain name, SSL certificates, backups, support, disk space, uptime, and price.
So, what exactly makes a hosting provider ‘green’? Hosting providers normally approach this using one or a combination of the following methods:
- Purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) – Providers buy ‘credits’ for green energy to offset their carbon footprint by helping to provide equivalent ‘green’ energy (wind, solar etc.)
- Practices to minimize carbon footprint – These include using more efficient software and hardware, having a robust recycling process, and encourage working from home.
- Supporting green initiatives – Such as tree planting.
Compare the 9 Best Green Hosting Providers
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| HostGator | DreamHost | GreenGeeks | InMotion | GoDaddy | A2 Hosting | IONOS | SiteGround | iPage |
| Overall rating 4.7 | Overall rating 4.4 | Overall rating 3.5 | Overall rating 4.5 | Overall rating 4.0 | Overall rating 4.1 | Overall rating 4.0 | Overall rating 3.7 | Overall rating 3.8 |
| Starting from $4.95 | Starting from $2.95 | Starting from $2.49 | Starting from $3.49 | Starting from $6.99 | Starting from $2.99 | Starting from $0.50 | Starting from $2.99 | Starting from $1.99 |
| Uptime 99.99% | Uptime 100% | Uptime 99.98% | Uptime 99.98% | Uptime 99.97% | Uptime 99.95% | Uptime 99.99% | Uptime 99.99% | Uptime 99.94% |
| Money-back guarantee 45 days | Money-back guarantee 97 days | Money-back guarantee 30 days | Money-back guarantee 90 days | Money-back guarantee 48 hours to 30 days | Money-back guarantee 30 days | Money-back guarantee 30 days | Money-back guarantee 30 days | Money-back guarantee 30 days |
| Green credentials Carbon offsetting since 2010 Offset carbon by 130% | Green credentials Green workplace practices | Green credentials Offsets carbon footprint by 300% | Green credentials Energy-efficient hardware, partnership with nonprofit Trees For The Future | Green credentials Reduce emissions by 50% Hybrid work model UN Global Compact | Green credentials Supports tree planting initiative and has plenty of green workplace practices | Green credentials Carbon neutral Uses renewable electricity Recycle hardware Wind energy data centers | Green credentials Offsets carbon emissions by 100% | Green credentials Offsets carbon emissions by 200% |
| Storage space Unmetered | Storage space 50GB – Unlimited | Storage space 50GB – Unlimited | Storage space 75GB – Unlimited | Storage space 25GB – 100GB | Storage space 100GB – Unlimited | Storage space 25GB – Unlimited | Storage space 10GB – 160GB | Storage space Unlimited |
| Standout features High site speed Best Help & Support Unlimited bandwidth
| Standout features Loads of storage space available | Standout features Free daily backups | Standout features Best for shared and VPS hosting, free backups | Standout features 2nd best server response time 24/7 phone and live chat | Standout features Anytime money back guarantee, excellent help and support | Standout features Best site speed & uptime Best for ecommerce Relatively cheap | Standout features Free daily backups and automated WordPress updates, great uptime guarantee | Standout features Cheap prices across the board |
Now, let’s take a closer look at the green hosts and what efforts they are putting in to create a better environment for us all.
1. HostGator
HostGator
Best overall green hosting provider
- 2nd best hosting provider
- 130% wind power
- 1st for help and support
Paid Plans: $3.95 - $159.99 / month
Pros
-
Best shared hosting and VPS hosting - Unlimited storage and bandwidth
- Best help and support features
Cons
-
Server response time isn't super speedy - Could be doing more green initiatives
- Plans are slightly more expensive
How Green Is HostGator?
HostGator focuses on carbon offsetting. It uses 130% wind power to cool the servers and use renewable energy. Compared to competitors, this is a good start, but doesn’t quite cut the greenest mustard.
So why is HostGator here? Well, it is arguably the second best hosting provider after Bluehost (which didn’t make it on our green list) of all the providers tested! So, if you want an incredible hosting provider that also offers some green solutions, it’s only logical we place it here.
HostGator Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are HostGator’s Hosting Plans?
HostGator has some of the best hosting we’ve seen. With the cheapest shared plan you can get unlimited storage and bandwidth, a free migration and cPanel migration, a free SSL certificate, free unlimited subdomains (for the first year), and be able to use the Plesk control panel.
The spend for HostGator plans ranges from $3.95 to $16.95 per month for the shared plans when you choose the 12-month contract. HostGator’s VPS plans are between $23.95 to $149.95 per month (12 months). Lastly, the dedicated plans are priced between $109.98 to $289 per month. Although HostGator isn’t doing the most in the green web hosting space, it is a green hosting provider – and one of the best overall providers.
HostGator has the best help and support features for all of its hosting plans. You get 24/7 live chat and 24/7 phone support. It also has a good community center if you like searching for the answers yourself, or email support – allowing you to reach out in times of need in any way you want.
The only downside to this hosting provider is its server response time. This means that you might get more website downtime with HostGator than some of its competitors, like Ionos for example.
2. DreamHost
DreamHost
Best for green tech & infrastructures
- Great storage capacity
- 97-day money-back policy
- 2nd best site speed
Paid Plans: $2.95 - $379 / month
Pros
- 30 GB storage space as a minimum
- Shared plans start at just $2.95
- Uses renewable electricity & clean wind
Cons
- Mediocre uptime guarantee of 99.95%
- No direct phone support
- Not the best for dedicated hosting
How Green Is DreamHost?
DreamHost is another strong contender in the eco-friendly space. DreamHost has highly optimized HVAC plants, high efficiency cooling infrastructures, energy-efficient processors, and even ‘clean wind’ programs.
DreamHost is powered by grids that obtain electricity from many renewable sources, and uses reclaimed water in its cooling systems. Great stuff!
DreamHost Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are DreamHost’s Hosting Plans?
DreamHost’s hosting plans are, overall, pretty good. It has the second best site speed of the providers, comes with a 97-day money-back guarantee, and it has really cheap shared plans and renewal prices!
Its plans are good value for money, with its (full priced) cheapest shared plan offering 50GB storage space, unlimited bandwidth, free daily automatic backups, and a free SSL. The VPS and dedicated plans are similarly affordable.
But why choose DreamHost over another provider on this list, especially if overall it comes in fourth place in our list of best hosting providers, with an overall score of 4.4 out of 5? Well, in terms of green hosting, it’s putting in great efforts to help reduce the harm of hosting – it’s even powered by grids that use renewable electricity!
Because DreamHost has so many dedicated plans to choose from, it’s really easy to start off on the lowest plan ($149 per month, on a years contract), then gradually upgrade. This means you’re never paying more than you need to. For that reason, we’d recommend DreamHost to eco-conscious, media-heavy sites which are just looking to make their first step into dedicated hosting.
3. GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks
Best for green USP
- 3x carbon offsetting
- Unlimited domains
- Not as scalable
Paid Plans: $2.95 - $109.95 / month
Pros
- All websites are carbon-reducing
- Free nightly backups
- Free SSL certificate
Cons
- Doesn't offer dedicated hosting
- Not super scalable for larger businesses
- Cheapest shared plan has 50GB storage
How Green Is GreenGeeks?
When it comes to green web hosting, GreenGeeks’ has centered its whole USP on its green initiatives. In its own words: “for every amperage it pulls from the grid, it invests three times that in the form of renewable energy via Bonneville Environmental Foundation”. That means with GreenGeeks, you’re effectively offsetting your carbon footprint by a factor of three. Nice work, GreenGeeks!
GreenGeeks Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are GreenGeeks’ Hosting Plans?
GreenGeeks has strong hosting plans, but it doesn’t cover every type of hosting. It has options for shared, WordPress, and VPS hosting – but could leave really large sites short on options.
Since shared plans are the greenest and, typically, the most popular, we’ve focused our attention there. GreenGeeks’ Lite plan packs a real punch. With a starting price of just $4.95 per month (if you commit to a year), you get a good amount for your money – unlimited domains, unlimited email accounts, unlimited bandwidth, 50GB of storage, a free domain, free nightly backups, and a free SSL certificate.
GreenGeeks also offers widely praised support via phone and 24/7 live chat.
There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee available, plus free website migration if you’re already hosted somewhere else, so you can easily take their services for a risk-free test drive. It’s clear that GreenGeeks is committed to being more than just ‘green’.
4. InMotion
InMotion
Best reduction of HVAC power usage
- Tree planting initiatives
- Professional support team
- Lackluster renewal prices
Paid Plans: $3.49 - $539.99 / month
Pros
- Excellent shared and VPS plans
- Free backups
- Good scalable option
Cons
- A little pricey
- Uptime of only 99.98%
- No Windows servers
How Green Is InMotion?
While GreenGeeks and HostGator focus their green attention on offsetting, InMotion sees more value in reducing its initial energy consumption. Its green data center in LA uses an air cooling technique that circulates outside air, rather than relying solely on air conditioning. This has helped InMotion cut its carbon output by over 2,000 tons per year.
InMotion has also partnered with Trees For The Future to plant 5,000 trees across the developing world.
InMotion Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good are InMotion’s Hosting Plans?
InMotion offers a range of different hosting types, and scores pretty consistently well throughout each of the plans – doing particularly well in the VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting.
Let’s start with the shared hosting plans. InMotion offers four exclusively discounted plans for WBE users, ranging from $2.49 per month to $12.99 per month. The Lite plan is the cheapest (plus, it’s only available to you, our WBE visitors!)
But we’d recommend spending a little more to get the Power plan for $4.99 per month. That way, you’ll get all the same great features: unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, free SSL certificate, free backups, free domain name, and double the power (i.e. more CPU cores), so your visitors are never kept waiting.
InMotion excels for VPS and dedicated hosting, too. Thanks to unlimited CPU cores, free backups, root access, and a 90-day money-back guarantee. Put simply, we believe it to be the best managed VPS plan on the market. Plans range from $39.99 per month to $144.99 per month, but InMotion always runs some very generous offers for new customers, where you could save over 55% on this price.
Like the providers above, InMotion’s help and support is great, offering all types of help and support with the added extra of 24/7 live chat support.
The two areas it falls down in is uptime, guaranteeing only 99.98%. It’s worth remembering that this is only a minimum guarantee though, and only works out as a few hours each year. Secondly, its prices aren’t as generous as competitors – in our research InMotion did poorly for price in most categories.
But that’s why we’re looking out for you with our deals on InMotion plans. If you like InMotion’s offering, give it a try,making use of the generous 90-day money-back guarantee (available from the shared Pro plan, all VPS and dedicated plans) should you run into any problems with uptime performance.
5. GoDaddy Hosting
GoDaddy
Best Variation in Green Practices
- Holistic approach to eco
- 2nd best server response
- Good alternative
Paid Plans: $2.99 - $469.99 / month
Pros
- Implements human rights & labor ethics
- Reduce carbon emissions by 50%
- Good for photography websites
Cons
- Didn't win 'best' for any plan
- Prices are more expensive
- Lackluster site speed
How Green is GoDaddy Hosting?
GoDaddy hosting applies a varied approach to green hosting. It doesn’t just aim to reduce its carbon emissions (scope one and two) by 50% by 2025, but it has adopted a hybrid work model – with office sustainability in mind. GoDaddy has also reduced its active corporate real estate footprint by 55% in two years.
What’s more, GoDaddy doesn’t just have the good of the planet in mind, but it has implemented the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact. For those who don’t know, the principles are centered around labor ethics, human rights, environment, and anti-corruption within the business. It’s really awesome to see GoDaddy take a holistic approach to being green!
GoDaddy Hosting Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are GoDaddy’s Hosting Plans?
GoDaddy Hosting is a good middle-of-the-pack hosting provider. It didn’t manage to take the top spot for any of the hosting plan types, but it does have the second best server response time, and came out third best for photography websites because of this.
With GoDaddy’s shared hosting plan you’ll get free daily automatic backups, 24/7 network monitoring, a year of free and unlimited external domains, 100GB of storage, and unmetered bandwidth. The four shared hosting plans cost between $6.99 to $29.99 per month and, while they’re not the best shared hosting plans, they definitely offer a good amount of features.
The VPS and WordPress plans fare a bit better than the shared plans in testing. The cost of the VPS is between $5.99 to $88.99 per month, but it varies a lot depending on whether you use Windows or Linux. GoDaddy’s WordPress plans cost between $8.99 to $29.99 per month and come with a one-click migration tool.
Overall, GoDaddy has good help and support, but lacks in site speed and is, perhaps, a little more expensive than the hosting providers mentioned above. But we’d say it’s still worth a mention for its holistic green initiatives!
6. A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting
Best for longest offsetting (since 2007)
- A carbon-neutral company
- Good features
- Somewhat overpriced
Paid Plans: $6.59 - $529.99 / month
Pros
- Uses SSD hosting to cut on carbon
- Free expert migration
- 24/7 network monitoring
Cons
- Need higher plans to get good features
- Sign-up is a little laborious
- 9 hours of downtime per year
How Green Is A2 Hosting?
A2 Hosting has used an energy offset scheme to effectively remain carbon neutral since 2007. It also encourages employee telecommuting to cut traffic emissions, and it carefully recycles old hardware. A2 Hosting was also one of the first hosting providers to offer SSD (Solid State Drive) hosting, which is far less carbon intensive than using traditional HDDs (Hard Disk Drive).
In an effort to reduce its emissions, A2 Hosting embraced remote working before the pandemic even began.. It also works closely with Carbon.org, and has been known to run special promotions to plant three trees with each new sign up over certain periods.
A2 Hosting Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are A2 Hosting’s Plans?
A2 Hosting didn’t come out top in our research for any one particular type of hosting, but it scores pretty good across the board, and is the provider we found to score consistently high for its features.
Although you lose out on a free domain, you do get free expert site migration when you join, access to 24/7 friendly help and support, and, best of all, some comprehensive security setups. You can rest easy knowing you’ll have 24/7 network monitoring, a free SSL, SSH, DDoS, Malware scanning, and Brute force defense! That’s pretty secure.
A2 Hosting has four shared plans to choose from, making it easy to upgrade when you need to. With the Drive plan ($9.99/month) and above, you can even split your hosting across more than one site, and get free automatic backups. This is why we’d recommend this plan most, even if you only have one site.
7. Ionos
IONOS
Best for data center powered by solar energy
- Carbon neutral
- Recycle outdated hardware
- Best site speed & uptime
Paid Plans: $0.5 - $35 / month
Pros
- Employees have remote working
- Decent value for money
- Cheapest dedicated plans on the market
Cons
- Some hidden costs to look out for
- Dated control panels
- Hit and miss help and support
How Green Is Ionos?
Ionos continues to impress us with their green efforts! Ionos is carbon neutral and uses renewable energy and electricity for data centers in the UK and Germany. Plus, in the US, Ionos’ largest data center uses wind energy for its power generation.
To take it a step further, the data centers use energy-efficient hardware, and they recycle outdated hardware. To top it all off, the offices employ remote working and responsible travel. So, Ionos is very green!
Link to green policy: https://ipage.com/blog/green-hosting-the-what-and-why/
Ionos Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are Ionos’ Hosting Plans?
In one word: decent. Ionos has the best site speed and uptime, which is great for keeping your website up and running!
However, there are a couple of things to watch out for. Ionos receives poor help and support ratings because of its lack of live chat and email options. It does have 24/7 phone support though for those who prefer it.
Pricing-wise, Ionos does have comparatively cheaper options, which are great, but it does have a few add-ons to look out for. For example, it has a $50 starter fee on certain dedicated plans, migrations come at a quoted cost, and additional charges of up to $60 for Windows users.
Overall, the pricing is really good! Shared plans range between $6 to $16.00 per month, while the dedicated plans are really reasonably priced between $47 to $160 per month. These are some of the cheapest dedicated plans on the market!
8. SiteGround
SiteGround
Best for green office practices
- Zero waste office
- Good for small startups
- Not as many features
Paid Plans: $2.99 - $400 / month
Pros
- Operates in the cloud
- Offers employees e-cars
- Free automated daily backups
Cons
- No VPS plans
- Domain name not included
- Only 10 GB storage on cheapest plan
How Green Is SiteGround?
SiteGround is currently pretty green, and it is becoming increasingly so. In 2020, it began using Google Cloud to host part of its infrastructure. All customers who signed up in the US or Europe after this point were automatically added to the Google Cloud platform, and SiteGround also began the process of transferring some of its existing customers.
Google matches 100% of the energy it produces with renewable energy equivalents (by purchasing RECs). So, any new SiteGround clients in the US and Europe (and some who joined prior to 2020) will effectively have carbon neutral accounts.
Also, SiteGround has a zero waste office and offers employees company e-cars, e-bikes, and free charging ports!
SiteGround Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are SiteGround’s Hosting Plans?
SiteGround offers some really useful perks, such as free and automated daily backups, as well as automatic WordPress updates. It’s ideal for small startups because it hasn’t really got the features needed for scaling your business. This is because it only offers 10GB of storage on the cheapest shared plan, 10,000 website visits, and doesn’t offer a VPS or dedicated plan.
If reliability is top of your priority list, alongside eco-friendliness, SiteGround is a natural choice.
SiteGround is a consistent hosting provider but, ultimately, a pretty expensive one. Shared plans start at $2.99 per month (for a year contract), and renew at pricey $14.99 thereafter, putting it around twice the price of other introductory shared hosting plans.
At this price, you’d hope to have a domain name thrown in for free, but no such luck. SiteGround also doesn’t offer any VPS hosting, which is something that you may want to step up from shared hosting as your website starts to grow.
9. iPage
iPage
Good green alternative
- Offsetting of 200%
- Very cheap plans
- No dedicated or VPS plans
Paid Plans: $2.99 / month
Pros
- Offsets carbon footprint by 200%
- Most expensive plan is just $9.99
- 3rd for speed and blogging
Cons
- Not at all scalable
- Backups cost $100 each time
- Only one data center location
How Green Is iPage?
For a hosting provider that’s often labeled as ‘cheap and cheerful’, we were really impressed by the steps iPage has taken to counteract its impact on the environment.
iPage’s hosting is effectively powered entirely by wind energy because it purchases wind energy RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates). In fact, it purchases enough to cover double the energy that it actually uses, meaning it’s effectively offsetting its carbon footprint by 200%.
If you host your website with iPage, you can even display an eco-friendly badge on your own website.
Link to green policy: https://ipage.com/blog/green-hosting-the-what-and-why/
iPage Gallery
Click the image below to expand How Good Are iPage’s Hosting Plans?
iPage plans are super affordable. The company also offers heavy promotional discounts, meaning you could pick up a shared plan for just $1.99 per month. Keep in mind that the renewal prices for iPage’s shared plans start at $9.99 per month, but it does not offer a VPS or dedicated plan.
As we’ve hinted above, iPage’s rock-bottom promotional prices come at a cost, and that cost is scalability. Across all types of hosting, iPage also consistently scores poorly for features when compared to competitor plans. Although it does come in joint third for speed and blogging, it wouldn’t have the power to support a sizable website.
However, it’s a good option if you’ve got a small, personal site that you need to host cheaply, and in an eco-friendly way.
The Best Green Web Hosting Providers: Final Thoughts
So there you have it: our list of the top green web hosting providers, ranked and reviewed. We gave the top spot to HostGator as its overall score soared high above the rest – but plenty offer great green solutions.
The Best Green Web Hosting Providers
- HostGator – Best overall green hosting provider
- DreamHost – Best for green tech & infrastructures
- GreenGeeks – Best green USP
- InMotion – Best reduction of HVAC power usage
- GoDaddy Hosting – Best variation in practices to minimize carbon footprint
- A2 Hosting – Best for longest offsetting (since 2007)
- Ionos – Best for solar data centers
- SiteGround – Best for green office practices
- iPage – Good green alternative
At the end of the day, with all providers offering some form of money back guarantee, your best bet is to give one a go, then simply switch if you don’t get on with it.
And if you’re not yet sure which type of hosting you need, check out our guide to the difference between shared and VPS hosting, or our guide to the best dedicated hosting providers.
Discover More
- Check out our guide for 3 Ways to Make Your Website More Eco-Friendly and learn how to build (and use) websites in a greener way!
- Want to know what the Best Hosting Provider’s of all time are?
- Need to build a website, then take a look at our best website builder’s page.
- Get marketing inspiration, with our list of Green Marketing Examples
FAQs
Check out our guide to the best web hosts for nonprofits to find out which other hosts are offering a great deal to non-profits.
It’s also incredibly important for your business, as more and more customers shop with the environment in mind.
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