A reliable host ensures fast loading times, consistent uptime, security, and accessibility around the clock. But finding all these features at one place can be a struggle, which is why we’ve put together this guide of our tried and tested hosting providers for nonprofits.
We’ve shortlisted hosting providers that don’t break the bank but provide the most reliable uptime and fast website performance. So let’s get into the details.
1. A2 Hosting
- Uptime: 99.90%
- Response Time: 1.289s
- Pricing: $2.99-$79.99/month
- SSL Certificate: Yes
A2 hosting makes a great choice for nonprofits due to its fast and dependable performance. While it falls on the pricier end of the spectrum, you can bag special discount offers by showing the proof of your organization and build a solid, feature-dense website for your nonprofit on a budget.
We consider A2 hosting a reliable choice to improve an organization’s online presence as it guarantees a 99.9% uptime, ensuring the availability of the website to visitors at all times. It also falls within Google’s benchmark range for website loading time, with an average of 1289 ms, and provides a seamless browsing experience to visitors. The data centers are located in the US, Asia, and Europe so site speeds are promising in most part of the world.
If you plan to go ahead with A2 hosting, you get to choose from a range of 4 different hosting plans starting from $2.99/month for shared hosting and up to $79.99/month for dedicated server plans. The good news is that nonprofit organizations can get promising discounts simply by following the button below.
The lack of phone call support and unsatisfactory live chat response was disappointing for us, but we figured out that A2 hosting compensates for it by providing reliable assistance via email instead.
Just like most hosting providers, A2 hosting also offers a free SSL certificate with each plan. Besides, it is also a great option for those seeking advanced security features like Hack Scan protection and DDoS protection to ensure the safety of sensitive data.
Pros
- Advanced security features
- Discounts for nonprofits
- Sustainable practices
Cons
- Costly renewals
2. BlueHost
- Uptime: 99.98%
- Response Time: 362 ms
- Pricing: $2.95-$13.95/month
- SSL Certificate: Yes
Bluehost is a well-reputed hosting provider for multiple entities, including nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and e-commerce owners. It offers a user-friendly website interface with an intuitive control panel, robust security, and reliable performance.
Being a recommended hosting provider by WordPress, it stands out as a particularly good option if you’re planning to create a WordPress website. Blue Host offers an amazing uptime of 99.98%. While this advertised claim is not completely true, we didn’t notice any problematic disruptions or downtime of the websites either.
As for the response time, it’s second to none at 362 milliseconds, making your website super speedy for the visitors. However, Bluehost data servers are limited within the US only so site performance can be slightly compromised outside the States, which can be a downside if you’re aiming to target an audience elsewhere in the world.
The basic plan, which is suitable for most nonprofits, starts at $2.95 per month and gets you 1 website, 10 GB SSD storage, and chat support. Plus, you can save more by signing up for long-term plans so the pricing, all in all, seems reasonable. Bluehost’s Pro plan, on the other hand, costs $13.95 per month and gets you 5 websites optimized for high traffic and 100 GB SSD. Unlike A2 Hosting, nonprofits do not get to enjoy special discounts with Bluehost though.
Bluehost won us over with its incredible customer support as well. Live chat, email, and call support – all three are equally responsive and provide users with detailed information regarding all types of queries. Bluehost also offers a free SSL certificate with all hosting packages that keeps the sensitive user information from being compromised.
Pros
- Auto renewal at regular rate
- Free domain
- Affordable
Cons
- Advanced security features are costly
3. Site Ground
- Uptime: 99.9%
- Response Time: 0.3s
- Pricing: Starting from $3.99/month
- SSL Certificate: Yes
Site Ground boasts an exceptional reputation as a web hosting provider and gives you access to the latest technology for a remarkable website performance. With its intuitive user interface, it is a great option for beginners and nonprofits seeking an effortless hosting solution. But like every other hosting provider, Site Ground does have some caveats too.
First things first, the uptime provided by Site Ground is beyond impressive. With a 99.9% uptime guarantee, the instances of downtime and outages are nearly non-existent. This ensures the availability of your nonprofit’s websites to donors and visitors without interruptions.
The data servers are located in the US, UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia, Singapore so the response time in these regions turned out to be particularly faster, at an amazing average of 0.3s only. The site performance in the rest of the world still falls within Google’s standard range for loading times at 0.9s on average.
The hosting plans by Site Ground start at $3.99 per month and can be up to $10.69 per month for plans with more advanced features. Each hosting plan comes with a free SSL certificate, WordPress installation, unmetered traffic, CDN 2.0, etc. However, unlike most hosting providers, SiteGround doesn’t offer a free domain with any plan, which makes it a pricier choice in contrast to others.
In terms of customer support, SiteGround is exceptionally efficient and fast, offering support via live chat, phone, and help desk tickets throughout the day. Each plan offers multiple security features, such as real time monitoring system, web application firewall, security plugins, free native CDN setup, etc. – all of which will protect your nonprofit’s website from millions of potential threats, common malware, DDoS attacks, and other security concerns.
Pros
- Free website builder
- Integrated speed solutions for fast website performance
- 8 server locations
Cons
- No free domain
4. InMotion
- Uptime: 99.99%
- Response Time: 0.5s
- Pricing: Starting from $2.99/month
- SSL Certificate: Yes
InMotion is yet another strong contender among web hosting providers known for its incredible customer support, reliability, and versatile hosting plans. But since it is on the pricier side, it may not be suitable for nonprofits with a limited budget. The standout features of InMotion include foolproof website security and the capacity to host large amounts of visual content on the website.
The average uptime offered by InMotion is 99.99% translating to only 52 minutes of downtime in a year. This means you provide a positive user experience to the visitors of your organization’s website at all times.
While the response time for US-targeted websites is quite promising, the site loading speed is more than 2s in Asia and Australia, which doesn’t meet Google’s standard criteria for website speed. So if you’re targeting an audience in the said regions, InMotion may not be your best bet.
Now as for the shared hosting plans, you can subscribe for as little as $2.99 per month for a basic plan. As you move towards hosting with advanced features, the prices can go up to $12.24 per month. Each hosting plan comes with a free domain and SSL certificate, except for the core plan that comes with a free SSL only.
InMotion offers email, live chat, and phone call support for its customers. The customer support is reliable but not something we can write home about. So let’s move on to the security features offered by InMotion, which are truly impressive.
Apart from the free SSL certificate, automatic daily backups, DDoS protection, and malware monitoring are also a part of each plan, ensuring the safety of sensitive information of donors that use your nonprofit’s website.
Pros
- Exceptional uptime
- Suitable for hosting large amounts of visual content
- Advanced security features
Cons
- Slow site performance in Asia and Australia
5. Hostinger
- Uptime: 99.9%
- Response Time: 511 ms
- Pricing: $2.99/month
- SSL Certificate: Yes
Hostinger is a decent option for beginners and nonprofits that cannot afford putting a dent in their budgets. It comes with an integrated website builder, a user-friendly interface, and other basic features that serve beginner organizations just right. With Hostinger, you can expect your website to experience quite a few outages, which can especially be a problem if you’re hosting for donations.
Per the advertised claims, Hostinger provides an uptime of 99.9%. However, we found the claims to be far from reality. The website downtime is significantly high and can be a problem for nonprofits organizing fundraisers regularly.
The website loading time, on the other hand, didn’t disappoint and delivered an average of 511ms response time. Hostinger has eight data centers around the world, which makes it a good option for nonprofits targeting a wide range of international audiences.
The upfront pricing of Hostinger plans are budget-friendly and start at $2.99 per month for a premium plan (12 months subscription) supporting a considerable traffic of 25k monthly visitors. However, the renewal fees can be a pain, which is why we recommend subscribing to a 2 to 3 year plan. Other plans can cost up to $8.99 per month depending on the hosting features.
Hostinger has a dedicated informational section on its website where you can find answers to most of your questions. Moreover, the live chat support is pretty useful but there’s no way to connect to a representative over the phone unfortunately. The security features are not extraordinary but sufficient to keep the data of your website visitors safe.
Pros
- Budget friendly
- Fast site loading time
- 30 day money back guarantee
Cons
- Steep renewal fees
6. DreamHost
- Uptime: 100%
- Response Time: 0.2s
- Pricing: Starting from $2.59/month
- SSL Certificate: Yes
DreamHost is one of the most trusted options for nonprofits seeking extensive security solutions and a rich feature set for their websites. It offers flexible pricing, reliable site performance, and dependable customer support services. The setup process is a breeze and you get to choose from multiple hosting plans too.
DreamHost is one of the rare web hosting providers that claim a 100% website uptime and to our surprise, it lives very well up to its claims. We didn’t experience any outages or downtime while testing, which means you can expect your website to be available to visitors without interruptions. The response time at 231 ms is incredible too as the website loads in a flash without the speed being compromised even during periods of heavy traffic.
The hosting plans by DreamHost start at $2.59 per month for WordPress and Shared Website Hosting that comes with a free domain name, SSD storage, free SSL certificate, daily backups, and email hosting for your website. The prices can go up to $149 per month for dedicated hosting plans that come with advanced features.
Like most hosting providers, DreamHost also has a dedicated section offering detailed tutorials for setting up websites. Apart from that, you can connect with their representatives via chat, email, and phone calls. But just a heads up, phone calls cost $9 per callback so you may want to consider using email or live chat for support.
As for security features, all DreamHost plans offer free SSL certificates, firewalls, daily automatic backups, 24/7 server monitoring, and domain privacy. While these security features are quite suitable for nonprofits, the lack of malware shield leaves a bit to be desired. DreamHost requires you to pay $3 monthly if you want to keep your website secure and free from malware.
Pros
- Excellent performance results
- Free domain
- Easy setup
Cons
- Paid malware protection
7. HostGator
- Uptime: 99.9%
- Response Time: 143 ms
- Pricing: Starting from $2.57/month
- SSL Certificate: Yes
Hostgator is yet another reliable hosting provider for nonprofits seeking shared hosting plans that won’t break the bank. It offers a wide range of hosting features that allow nonprofits to establish and consistently maintain their online presence without excessive costs.
The uptime offered by Hostgator does fall a bit behind other competitors such as DreamHost and InMotion. However, a 99.9% uptime is still reliable enough to keep your nonprofits website up and running for the majority of the time. With roughly 8 hours of downtime in a year, the occasional disruptions won’t have an impact on the online operations of your organization.
The server response time provided by Hostgator is impressive with an average speed of 143.3 ms. The site loading time is particularly fast in Canada, US, and UK yet doesn’t fall below 261 ms even in Mumbai. However, the basic Hostgator plans are known to handle low traffic only with the site loading times increasing with increasing visitors.
Hostgator’s shared hosting plans start low at $2.57 per month but with the steep renewal prices the subscription fee for the same plan turns $11.99 per month. Each hosting plan comes with a free SSL certificate and domain. Other than that, you get 24/7 chat support, call support, email assistance, and a helpful community center at their website.
Lastly, the security features are up to par for a nonprofit’s requirements. Apart from SSL, Hostgator also provides free DDoS protection while additional SiteLock security features can be purchased for $2.99/month as well.
Pros
- Reliable customer support
- Fast server loading time
- Unlimited storage space and bandwidth
Cons
- Costly renewals
Best Web Hosting For Non-Profits In 2024: Buyer’s Guide
Here are a few things you must take into account as you choose the best web hosting for nonprofits:
Uptime & Speed
As a nonprofit organization, it is important to have a website that remains accessible to donors and visitors at all times. A higher uptime means less outages and better reliability for your website. Therefore, you must always look for providers that guarantee at least 99.9% uptime to avoid any disruptions in your website’s operation.
Additionally, it is also important to consider the server speed offered by the provider as it influences the loading time of your website. For optimal user experience and search engine rankings, the website loading time should fall below 2 seconds. All web hosting providers in our list meet this criteria, with most of them offering a response time of less than 1 second.
Bandwidth
Websites with limited bandwidth struggle to maintain their speed and reliability when experiencing high traffic or data intensive content. To avoid slower loading times or frequent outages, it is important to opt for a hosting plan that provides sufficient bandwidth to accommodate high volumes of visitors.
When choosing a hosting plan, identify the requirements of your organizations. For instance, if your nonprofit’s website has 20,000 visitors per month, it needs a bandwidth of 5 GB at least. Most hosting providers offer unlimited bandwidth with some of their hosting plans.
Price
It is crucial to compare pricing plans from different hosting providers when choosing a web hosting for your nonprofit organization. A few hosting providers, like A2 Motion, offer special discount offers for nonprofits so it can be a good idea to utilize such offers and save some money.
Most nonprofits can suffice with basic hosting plans offered by most providers, costing around $2.5 per month on average. These basic plans often include free SSL certificates, domain registration, and security features, which make them good to go for nonprofits.
In case you’re looking to save some extra bucks, consider signing up for 24 or 36 month plans as they’re cheaper and save you from the hefty renewal fees each time you pay the subscription fees.
Security Features
As a nonprofit organization that receives donations via website, you cannot risk compromising the safety of the sensitive information of your donors. Data security is the first step to help the donors develop trust in your organization. Therefore, you must look for a provider that promises industry standard security protocols.
Some of the key security features to look for in a hosting plan include SSL certificate, DDoS protection, and malware scanning. DDoS protection helps to prevent malicious traffic that is used to cause disruption in a website’s function while SSL ensures an encrypted connection between a web server and a user’s web browser.
FAQs
Is GoDaddy Good For Nonprofits?
GoDaddy is a great web hosting for beginner nonprofits mainly due to its user-friendly interface and a bunch of tools for receiving donations easily. The setup is easy and the hosting plan comes with impressive templates suitable for nonprofits. You can also get a nonprofit discount on domain names. However, GoDaddy is not a good fit for large scale nonprofit organizations due to lack of nonprofit specific hosting functions.
What is The Best Domain For Nonprofit?
A good domain name should be professional as it improves the credibility of your website and reflects the identity of your organization. You should typically use the registered name of your organization as the domain name and .org as the extension instead of .com. Avoid using complex words or numbers to make the name concise and easy to remember.
Is Wix Good For Non Profit?
Wix doesn’t offer any dedicated plans for nonprofits yet it is still a reasonable hosting provider for small nonprofit organizations. If you’re just starting out your organization, you can even build a free Wix website to collect donations and promote yourself. The paid hosting plans by Wix, which will likely become a need once your organization has established, are expensive as compared to other competitor providers in the market.
Is WordPress Good For Nonprofits?
WordPress is an excellent platform for nonprofits if you’re just starting out and aiming to grow your organization without spending on web hosting. The basic WordPress features can help you set up online donations, create calendars, capture emails, and present success stories – all free of cost.