Top 8 Web Hosting and Recommended Hosting Plans For Art Websites
Website builders and hosting providers are making it easier than ever for visual artists to showcase their work online. With free web hosting services and easy-to-use platforms, artists can share their artworks and skills easier and go straight to success.
However, if you’re running your website as a business or building your website on an open-source platform like WordPress, you’ll need a paid web hosting plan. And choosing the right one is essential.
After trying all various web hosting plans and doing lots of research, we’ve put together the best web hosting providers for artists. These providers offer large space for your gallery and shopping carts needed to exhibit or sell your work — all at a reasonable cost and with easy configurations.
Here is a quick look at the options:
Best “Cheap” Web Hosting for Artists (Top 3)
IONOS – Best site speed and uptime
Dream Host – Best value for shared hosting
HostGator – Affordable shared hosting
Best “Ecommerce” Web Hosting for Artists (Top 3)
BlueHost – Beginner-friendly option for art sites on WordPress
SiteGround – Good option for online selling websites
InMotion – Powerful security features
Best “WordPress” Web Hosting for Artists (Top 3)
BlueHost – Beginner friendly option for art sites on WordPress
HostGator – Affordable shared hosting
GreenGeeks – Best eco-friendly hosting provider
Best Free Web Hosting for Artists
Wix – Best free website builder and hosting
And we’ve picked some hosting plans for small-to-middle size websites, in regard to performance, storage and price. But it depends on how many images you plan on having and how popular you imagine your site to be. You can choose any plan that fit your needs.
And since most of them offer money-back guarantee and site migration, feel free to try them out.
#1. IONOS – Best site speed and uptime
Pricing plans from: $1 per month
IONOS offers different hosting types:
| Hosting Type | Start from (Monthly Cost) |
| Shared Hosting | $1 |
| VPS Hosting | $2 |
| Dedicated Hosting | $45 |
Recommended hosting plan for artists:
For artwork showcase websites
Business Plan
Promotional offer $1/mo*
Then $10/mo*
Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited storage
RAM 768M
For online selling website:
WordPress Hosting E-Commerce
Promotional offer $8/mo*(for 12months)
Then $16
100 GB SSD storage
Unlimited products and categories
For website that doesn’t want to share a hosting server (dedicated hosting):
L-16 SSD
Promotional offer $70/mo* (for 3months)
Then $90/mo*
Setup fee $50
480GB SSD storage
Unlimited traffic
16GB RAM
CPU – 4 Cores
CPU – 4 Threads
CPU – 3.5 GHz
IONOS offers the most affordable hosting solution you are going to find on the market.
But low price doesn’t mean poor quality. It is one of the fastest providers out there. It beats every hosting provider in our site speed and uptime test. Faster hosting means a smoother visitor experience and results in fewer visitors leaving your page early.
However, we found a few things about IONOS that may turn people around. One thing is the non-smooth purchased process. Errors such as zip code issues occurred several times when we tried it out. And they have service available in limited countries. Good thing is that their live chat support is pretty promptly and solve the problem quickly.
It also pushes a number of additional charges on users, from extra cost of a second email account to setup fee for dedicated hosting. Despite that, IONOS does provide cheap shared hosting plans, and all guarantee unlimited bandwidth, 99.99% uptime, automatic backups, and a free domain for first year.
#2. DreamHost – Best value for shared hosting
Pricing plans from: $2.59 per month
DreamHost offers different hosting types:
| Hosting Type | Start from (Monthly Cost) |
| Shared Hosting | $2.59 |
| VPS Hosting | $13.75 |
| Dedicated Hosting | $149.00 |
Recommended hosting plan for artists:
For artwork showcase websites
WorPress unlimited Plan
Promotional offer $2.95/mo*(yearly plan, 3-year plan at $3.95/mo*)
Normally $10.99/mo*for 3-year plan
Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited Storage
RAM 1GB
For online selling website:
DreamPress (VPS hosting)
Promotional offer $16.95/mo*(yearly plan)
Normally $19.99/mo*
Unlimited Bandwidth
30GD SSD Storage
RAM 1.5GB
DreamHost offers 2 very affordable shared hosting plans. Both plans are very inclusive in terms of resources, like storage and traffic, and tools like free domain, SSL, and automated backups, advertised uptime of 100%. Especially considering the price point.
A great thing is that DreamHost does offer a generous 97-day money-back guarantee on all shared hosting plans, and a 30-day guarantee for other hosting types. So, you can try it out with zero commitment!
#3. InMotion – Powerful security features
Pricing plans from: $2.49 per month
InMotion offers different hosting types:
| Hosting Type | Start from (Monthly Cost) |
| Shared Hosting | $2.29 |
| VPS Hosting | $19.99 |
| Dedicated Hosting | $89.99 |
Recommended hosting plan for artists:
For artwork showcase websites
Launch Plan
Promotional offer $4.99/mo*(3-year term)
Normally $11.99/mo*
Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited Storage
RAM 1GB
For online selling website:
Power plan
Promotional offer $4.99/mo*(3-year term)
Normally $15.99/mo*
Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited Storage
RAM 2GB
For website that doesn’t want to share a hosting server (dedicated hosting):
Aspire
Promotional offer $89.99/mo* (1-year term)
Normally $149.99/mo*
1TB SSD storage
10TB/mo Bandwidth
16GB RAM
CPU – 4 Cores
CPU – 8 Threads
Features
InMotion has four shared plans: Core, Launch, Power, and Pro. It offers unlimited bandwidth and storage across all of these, excluding its Core plan. You’ll also receive free SSL, protection from hacking, and access to a backup manager. InMotion’s strong security features are a big reason why we recommend the provider. Also we suggest the Launch plan with unlimited bandwidth and storage for art websites, the Power plan with larger RAM size if you plan to create an online selling store.
#4. Bluehost – Beginner-friendly option for art sites on WordPress
Pricing plans from: $2.95 per month
BlueHost offers different hosting types:
| Hosting Type | Start from (Monthly Cost) |
| Shared Hosting | $2.95 |
| VPS Hosting | $19.99 |
| Dedicated Hosting | $79.99 |
Recommended hosting plan for artists:
For artwork showcase websites
CHOICE PLUS
Host Unlimited Websites
$5.45/mo* (for 12months)
then $18.99/mo*
40GB SSD storage
Unmetered Bandwidth
For online selling website:
WordPress Hosting E-Commerce
$9.95/mo*(for 12 months)
Then $24.95
100 GB SSD storage
Unlimited products and categories
For website that doesn’t want to share a hosting server (dedicated hosting):
Dedicated Hosting -STANDARD
$79.99/mo*(for 36 months)
Then $119.99
2*500GB SSD storage
5TB Bandwidth
4GB RAM
CPU – 4 Threads
CPU – 2.3 GHz
CPU – 4 Cores
Bluehost might be the most popular web hosting providers on the market. It is great for artists too since it is very easy to use.
Bluehost automatically installs WordPress for you, so you don’t have to worry about that. And if you want to install a different CMS, you are free to do so too. The setup won’t take longer than 5 min.
For your convenience, Bluehost offers staging on selected plans, which allows you to experiment with your site without impacting the live version. You can improve the design, change the site’s layout, or edit existing content. Once you’re happy with the changes, you can easily push the finished product out for the world to see.
Another great benefit is Bluehost Lets You migrate your site For Free! All you have to do is sign up to your chosen plan, fill out the free migration form, and then let Bluehost’s team of migration experts take care of the rest!
#5. HostGator – Affordable shared hosting
Pricing plans from: $2.75 per month
HostGator offers different hosting types:
| Hosting Type | Start from (Monthly Cost) |
| Shared Hosting | $2.75 |
| VPS Hosting | $23.95 |
| Dedicated Hosting | $89.98 |
Recommended hosting plan for artists:
For artwork showcase or online selling websites
Baby plan
Host 5 websites
Promotional offer $3.5/mo*(36-month term)
Then $12.99/mo*
Unmetered Bandwidth
40GB storage
For website that doesn’t want to share a hosting server (dedicated hosting):
Value Server
Promotional offer $89.98/mo* (36-month term)
Then $179.99/mo*
Unmetered bandwidth
1TB HDD storage
8GB RAM
CPU – 4 Cores
CPU – 8 Threads
Features
HostGator has three shared web hosting plans to choose from: Hatchling, Baby, and Business. All plans come with unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, a 1-year free domain, unlimited email address, and guaranteed 99% uptime.
However, our research did reveal a poor server response time which can result in website downtime.
About help and support, HostGator offers 24/7 live chat and phone service (toll-free). And they have a pretty extensive Knowledge Base, which puts you a few clicks away from all the information you need. But we did notice that their live chat services is slow and below our expectations.
Overall, HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price consider the features it offers.
#6. SiteGround – Good option for online selling websites
Pricing plans from: $2.99 per month
Recommended hosting plan for artists:
For artwork showcase or online selling websites
GrowBig plan
Host unlimited websites
Promotional offer $2.99/mo*(12-month)
Then $24.99/mo*
Unmetered Bandwidth
20GB storage
Features
For shared hosting, SiteGround offers three plans to choose from: StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek. It’s also one of the leading providers for WordPress-managed hosting, recommended by WordPress itself, which we think is pretty impressive!
SiteGround really excels when it comes to security. Not only does it include the basic tools like SSL and automatic backups, but also advanced options like a real-time monitoring system, web application firewall, and an AI anti-bot system. You can be sure that the most common threats are nothing to worry about. Especially if you’re thinking about monetizing your site.
#7. GreenGeeks – Best eco-friendly hosting provider
Pricing plans from: $2.95 per month
Recommended hosting plan for artists:
For artwork showcase and online selling websites:
Pro plan
Promotional offer $4.95/mo*(12-month term)
Then $15.95/mo*
Unmetered Bandwidth
Unlimited storage
Features
GreenGeeks offers shared, VPS, and WordPress hosting. It has three shared hosting plans: Lite, Pro, and Premium. Each plan comes with unlimited bandwidth, free backups, free domains, advanced security features, and 24/7 live chat support.
The main thing people note about GreenGeeks is its strength as the industry’s leading eco-friendly hosting provider – it returns 300% of the power it consumes, and it’s even been recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a Green Power Partner since 2009. Concerned about your impact on the planet? GreenGeeks is for you!
#8. Wix – Best free web hosting provider and website builder
Pricing plans from: free – $59 per month
Website building is where Wix shines. Wix is an extremely easy to use website builder that gives you total creative control over your site. They provide free website hosting and free web builder plan. And they offer tons of design features and templates even with free plan.
However, if you need more features such as adding custom domain, getting paid online, you will need to subscribe their paid plan.
Their Premium Plans are quite pricy, starting from $22/mo* for small sites and $27/mo* for ecommerce websites. The good news is that they occasionally offer great discounts for users. Take the 50% off today.
Even though it is a bit pricy, we still take it our top pick if you have a keen eye for design. It takes precise attention to detail to create compelling works of art.
Best web hosting for artists: final recommendations
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to web hosting for artists. It all depends on your specific needs and wants. Let’s quickly go over all the different hosting options so you can make the best decision for your website.
- #1. IONOS – Best site speed and uptime
- #2. Dream Host – Best value for shared hosting
- #3. HostGator – Most affordable shared hosting
- #4. BlueHost – Beginner friendly option for art sites on WordPress
- #5. SiteGround – Good option for online selling websites
- #6. InMotion – Powerful security features
- #7. GreenGeeks – Best eco-friendly hosting provider
- #8. Wix – Best free website builder and hosting
Keep in mind your budget (and renew rate), the features you require, and how you built your site, as these will all be factors in your choice. Ultimately, it’s best to choose the feature that you value most and base your decision on that.
If you’re still unsure after reading this, feel free to reach out to us or leave a comment below. We’re always happy to help!
