The next best thing in the web hosting realm are SSDs or Solid State Drives. They are the next development from the usual and traditional HDDs, Hard Disk Drives.
If you are looking for a good web hosting service you may notice some have just HDD plans, some have just SSD and some might have a mix.
Below I will help you through understanding the difference between these two drive options. Who might be better with what type and offer you my top ten best SSD hosting companies. I will outline what they have to offer and give you the chance to compare their key features like price, support level, uptime and such.
Maybe you are completely new to website hosting and are looking for some tips and guidance. Or maybe you have a website but want to know whether you should switch to an SSD provider. Why ever you need to know about the best SSD hosting options, I have the answers.
What is SSD Hosting?
HDD is how hosting sites traditionally have stored your data on their drives. SSD is more recent development in drive technology. Some companies have not yet moved to SSDs, some have a mix and some are now offering only SSD. It really is a mixed bag of tricks right now.
Let me just compare SSDs with HDDs so you can see the main differences.
| Drive types | Cost | Use of energy | Read Mechanism | Capacity | Time in hours till they fail | Speed |
| SSD | Higher | Less energy drawn | Integrated circuitry | Not many limits | Around 2 million hours of use | Up to 500 MB per second |
| HDD | Lower | More energy drawn | Mechanical arm | Not many limits | Around 1.5 million hours of use | 50 to 120 MB per second |
As you can see SSDs are faster, more reliable and last longer than HDDs. They do not have a moving part like the mechanical arm to store the data either. This means they are less prone to breaking down and that means less downtime happening when something needs fixing. They are easy for companies to move to because while they work differently it is the same interface technology used as the HDDs.
A break down of the advantages to using SSDs is;
- Tougher when it comes to physical attack
- Almost silent when running
- Less prone to overheating
- Faster
- Less likely to have mechanical failure
- Use less power and that means better for the environment
- Run for longer than HDDs
- Do not need to be defragged
- Better storage now
- More reliable so better uptime
- Faster loading websites
Part of the reason why some host providers did not move to SSD is that at first there were limits to the storage they could handle. However now this is not the case. In fact they have a better capacity than HDDs. The best SSDs can handle about 5 times what the best HDDs can handle.
Another reason why, is the cost factor. SSD hosting is more expensive. It is cheaper today than when it first came out, but it is still about 7x the cost then HDD hosting. That is why the best SSD hosting services tend to be more expensive than the HDD plans.
Importance of Website Speed
SSDs are faster than HDDs because of how each of them access the stored data. HDDS have to spin and the arm reads the information. While each read takes just a couple of milliseconds those then add up, especially when you get a lot of traffic on your website. This can add up to loading times taking longer.
If a person is on a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load a page they usually leave. This is especially a problem on ecommerce pages. Customers will not buy from you if they find your pages are slow or your site is laggy. In fact KISSmetrics have found that if your page takes 4 seconds to load, you will get 25% less sales.
SSDs do not access the information physically. It is part of the circuitry so it is electronic. It is quicker to access the information and does not cause lag or spikes. People who will benefit from SSDs over HDDs are;
- Websites that get a lot of visitors
- Websites that have large files to listen to or view like podcasts and videos
- Websites that have large databases of information it needs to use for example ones with WordPress or Drupal
- eCommerce sites
- People not on any kind of budget who just want the best option and do not need huge amounts of storage space
Choosing the Best SSD Hosting Service
A number of hosts save their SSD hosting options for their VPS and Dedicated Hosting options. These options are more expensive than Shared Hosting, especially Dedicated Servers, but if budget is not a concern then you could certainly explore those options further.
Things to think about when hosts make certain promises with SSD Hosting;
- Getting the best performance is not only about the SSD, some companies might boast 20x the speed but there are other factors that influence the speed and performance
- If you want the best SSD hosting plan you also need one that uses the best and latest processors too
- The plan needs a large amount of memory too
- If you are doing shared hosting you do not want a lot of clients using the same server
- Cheap SSDs affects their life span, so you want companies that use good quality drives
- Also look for hosts that have servers closer to where you are, within a thousand miles, otherwise you are better off with cloud hosting
- Also think about security, you will want your data kept safe
- Make sure you can get a hosting service with either an uptime guarantee, or one with a history of excellent uptime
- Pricing is higher than for HDDs but those prices are dropping, it is estimated by the International Data Corporation that by 2021 the price for SSDs will only be a little more than twice of HDDs
10 Best SSD Hosting Providers Reviewed
The 10 best SSD hosting platforms that stand out for me are outlined below. Each of them have their value and I believe are worth thinking about. It will then be about your own preferences and things like price differences.
The best SSD hosting platforms to be explored are;
- DreamHost
- TMD Hosting
- LiquidWeb
- KnownHost
- GreenGeeks
- InMotion Hosting
- SiteGround
- A2Hosting
- WebHostingHub
- InterServer
The following table compares the lowest priced Shared Hosting SSD plan each of these companies offer. Here is an overview of the best SSD hosting services;
| Hosting Platforms | Help | Price for SSD Shared Hosting | Websites | Money back guarantee
| Disk Space | Amount of Bandwidth | Promised
Uptime |
| DreamHost | 24/7 live chat, email, forums, ticketing | $4.95 for monthly hosting
| 1 | 97 days | Limited on basic plan | Unmetered | 100% promise |
| TMD Hosting | 24/7 tickets, email, articles | $8.95 regular price | 1 | 60 days | Unlimited | Unmetered | 99.99% promise |
| LiquidWeb | 24/7 Knowledge base, phone, email, live chat, | $39 a month but this is for managed WooCommerce Hosting not Shared | – | 30 days | – | – | 100% promise |
| KnownHost | 24/7 email, help desk, forums | $6.95 a month regular price | 1 | 30 days | 5 GB SSD | Unmetered | 99.996% promise |
| GreenGeeks | Tickets, phone, live chat, 24/7 | $9.95 regular price | 1 | 30 days | Unlimited | Unmetered | 99.9% promise |
| InMotion
Hosting | Live chat, 24/7, support center and email | $7.99 regular price | 2 | 90 days | Unlimited | Unmetered | No promise
(99.9% promise only for top plan) |
| SiteGround | Tickets, phone, chat, 24/7 | $11.95 regular price | 1 | 30 days | 10 GB | Unlimited | 99.9% promise |
| A2Hosting | Tickets, phone, live chat, email 24/7 | $7.99 regular price | 1 | 30 days | Unlimited | Unlimited | 99.9% promise |
| WebHostingHub | 24/7 email, phone, tickets, chat, help center | $8.99 regular price | 2 | 90 days | Unlimited | Unmetered | 99.9% promise |
| InterServer | Chat, email, tutorials, phone, 24/7 | $5.00 regular price | 1 | 30 days | Unlimited | Unmetered | 99.9% promise |
1. DreamHost
DreamHost have been hosting sites for people since 1997 so are considered to be one of the more experienced companies. The pricing tends to be a bit higher than other platforms for most of their plans. The plan I have chosen for the table above is called Shared Starter, the first of their Shared Hosting Plans. It is worth noting that while this offers SSD storage, it is not unlimited SSD, if you want that, their price starts at $7.95 monthly if you choose a contract or $10.95 a month if you pay monthly.
These are the two best SSD hosting plans they offer,
Shared Starter plan – cheapest
- 1 Website
- SSL Certificate
- SSD storage (calculated at 200% faster than HDDs by them, not unlimited)
- No free domain
- Unlimited traffic
- 24/7 help
- 1 click installations
- 100% uptime guarantee
Shared Unlimited plan
- Unlimited Websites
- Included is email hosting
- SSL Certificates
- Unlimited SSD storage (calculated at 200% faster than HDDs by them)
- Free domain
- Unlimited traffic
- 24/7 help
- 1 click installations
- 100% uptime guarantee
This provider is somewhat unique in that they promise 100% uptime apart from when they have scheduled maintenance. The industry standard is 99.8 or 99.9%. If you are running a business or ecommerce store uptime is essential. Customers will stop coming by if they cannot get on your site.
DreamHost have good site speed too. Their 97 day money back promise is also more than the industry standard of 30 days. You can also easily try them out before committing with their monthly payment option rather than having to tie yourself to a 1 to 3 year plan.
It is an easy to use SSD hosting company so is great especially for new website owners. But it is also perfectly good for the more experienced. There is 24/7 help with various forms, but not via phone.
2. TMD Hosting
TMDHosting are another great option for the best SSD Hosting services. They also offer plans on both Linux and Windows which not all hosting companies can do. The Linux options run from $8.95 up to $16.95 monthly regular prices. Windows plans start at $8.99 and run to $16.85 monthly regular prices. There are three plans, Starter, the cheapest, then Business, then Enterprise.
Here is are those Linux plans.
Starter plan – cheapest $2.95 a month now, $8.95 regular
- 1 Website
- SSD space unlimited
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free domain
- 24/7 help
- 1 click installations
- 99% uptime guarantee
- 60 day money back guarantee
Business plan – $5.95 a month with special, $9.95 regular
- Unlimited Websites
- SSD space unlimited
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Standard SSL
- x2 performance
- Free domain
- 24/7 help
- 1 click installations
- 99% uptime guarantee
- 60 day money back guarantee
Enterprise plan – $12.95 for the monthly special, $16.95 regular
- Unlimited Websites
- SSD space unlimited
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Wildcard SSL
- x3 performance
- Free domain
- 24/7 support
- 1 click installations
- 99% uptime guarantee
- 60 day money back guarantee
TMD Hosting is user friendly and customers score it well for its reliability and support. Its plans are attractive and its hosting locations are spread across the world from the US to the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.
The money back guarantee is good being double the standard in the industry. TMDHosting has been hosting since 2007. It may not be as well-known as some other hosting companies but it is well worth a closer consideration.
3. LiquidWeb
LiquidWeb have just recently sold their Shared Hosting to Deluxe Hosting, so no longer offer it to new customers. However they do have other hosting plans so I have included it in these ten best SSD hosting companies. They have Dedicated Hosting, Cloud VPS, Cloud Dedicated, WordPress Hosting, Managed WooCommerce Hosting (which is what I will look at) and so on.
Beginner plan for Managed WooCommerce Hosting – $39 monthly
- Unlimited products or unlimited orders
- Free SSL certificate
- Detailed reporting
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Lots of themes and customization
- Mobile optimization
- No transaction fees
- Unlimited staff accounts
If you are looking to start an ecommerce site there are a lot of extras included with LiquidWeb that other companies charge extra for. It is fast, promises 100% uptime and easy to work with.
4. KnownHost
KnownHost are considered to be one of the best SSD hosting providers because they are affordable, easy to use and are committed to keeping their technology up to date. While they offer other forms of hsoting including VPS and Dedicated, their Shared Hosting has two plans, SH-1 and SH-2. SH-1 is the cheapest SSD hosting plan at the regular price of $6.95 monthly. Let’s look at the two.
SH-1 – cheapest plan at $3.47 monthly with the special or $6.95 monthly regularly
- SSD 5 GB storage
- Unlimited emails
- 5 domains
- LiteSpeed Optimized
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Free SSL certificate
- One click installations
- 996% uptime guarantee
- 24/7 help
- Free migrations
- Free backups
- Fully managed
SH-2 – $6.47 a month with the special or $12.95 a month regularly
- SSD Unlimited storage
- Unlimited emails
- LiteSpeed Optimized
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Free SSL certificate
- Unlimited domains
- One click installations
- 996% uptime guarantee
- 24/7 help
- Free migrations
- Free backups
- Fully managed
KnownHost promise high performance with their SSDs and offer 24/7 support as well as the standard money back guarantee of 30 days. It is nice that there is no charge for moving existing websites to them and will help with it. They have DDoS protection to keep your data secure and one of the best uptimes promises too.
5. GreenGeeks
The company GreenGeeks are a good choice for the environmentally aware customers looking for the best SSD hosting platform. It was begun in 2008 and as well as having WordPress and Shared Hosting they focus on using technology which is better for the environment. When you need to have an online presence but are also concerned about your eco footprint, GreenGeeks have got you covered.
They offer everything you need from the best SSD hosting company, they promise fast times, excellent uptime and security. They do this while creating less waste, being more energy efficient and they invest in renewable energy. There are three SSD shared web hosting plans to choose from. The one they say is the best in terms of value, Ecosite Starter is $9.95 monthly, next it’s Ecosite Pro then the top one Ecosite Premium.
Ecosite Starter (small websites, new websites, blogs) – with special you pay at $3.95 monthly but regular price is $9.95 a month
- Domains are unlimited
- 24/7 help
- SSD disk space is unlimited
- Unlimited emails
- Bandwidth is unlimited
- Free domain x 1 given
- Website builder included
- SSL certificate included
- Backups are done each night
- Do not get the PowerCacher Technology
- 100 emails each hour
- Performance is standard
Ecosite Pro (growing websites) – with special it is $6.95 monthly but regular price is $14.95
- 24/7 help
- Domains unlimited
- No limit on emails
- Website builder
- Performance is 2x
- Unlimited SSD disk space
- Included is SSL certificate
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 1 domain free
- PowerCacher tech included
- Nightly backups
- 300 emails hourly
Ecosite Premium ( busier websites and ecommerce sites) – with special it is $16.95 monthly but regularly it is $24.95
- 24/7 help
- Domains unlimited
- No limit on emails
- Website builder
- Performance is 4x
- Unlimited SSD disk space
- Included is SSL certificate
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 1 domain free
- PowerCacher tech included
- Nightly backups
- 500 emails hourly
GreenGeeks have data centers in Canada, US and Europe. They have a 99.9% uptime promise and thanks to their use of SSDs they have a speed that out performs a lot of their competitors. They only offer the standard money back in 30 days guarantee but they do transfer websites for free. Their nightly backup is better than some too.
6. InMotion Hosting
InMotion is another site that offer SSD hosting as standard claiming they have found them to be 20x faster than HDDs and are able to handle up to 65% more information too. Whether they can meet those high claims or not, it is true that SSD will give better performance in general, need less power and have better uptime.
Along with offering other hosting services like VPS, Dedicated, WordPress and Reseller they also offer Shared. They are quick and easy to get going and offer good 24/7 help. There are 3 plans all of which have unlimited SSD space. The most affordable is Launch for a usual monthly cost of $7.99, then comes Power then Pro. Here they are.
Launch (cheapest) – with special this is $6.39 monthly but usual monthly price is $7.99
- Help 24/7
- Websites x 2
- Emails unlimited
- Unlimited SSD disk space
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSL certificate
- 1 free transfer or 1 free domain
- Free SSL
- Website Builder
- Own security measures – Security Suite
- Free backups
- Installations in 1 click
- Databases x 2
- Money back guarantee of 90 days
- 25 sub domains, 6 parked domains
- $150 advertising credits given
Power (their top seller) – today at $8.49 monthly but regularly $9.99
- Help 24/7
- Websites x 6
- Emails unlimited
- Unlimited SSD disk space
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSL certificate
- 100 sub domains, 26 parked domains
- Website Builder
- 1 free transfer or domain
- Free SSL
- Own security measures – Security Suite
- Free backups
- Installations in 1 click
- Databases x 50
- $150 advertising credits given
- 2x performance
- ecommerce ready
- Money back guarantee of 90 days
Pro (best value) – with special $14.71 monthly but regularly $15.99
- 24/7 help
- Websites unlimited
- 99.9% uptime promise
- Emails unlimited
- Unlimited SSD disk space
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSL certificate
- 1 free transfer or 1 free domain
- Website Builder
- Own security measures – Security Suite
- Free SSL
- Free backups
- Installations in 1 click
- Databases unlimited
- $150 advertising credits given
- Performance 4x
- Money back guarantee of 90 days
- Unlimited sub domains and parked domains
- ecommerce ready
This best SSD hosting platform have a great 90 day money back guarantee but it is worth pointing out their uptime promise is only for those who get the Pro plan. There is no uptime guarantee on the Launch or Power plans though. They have data centers in the US but do not have any elsewhere either. The support is good and they have over 12 years of hosting experience.
7. SiteGround
SiteGround’s SSD Shared Hosting plans start at a slightly higher price than many but still remains affordable, and they have some good plans. As well as offering other hosting options like Dedicated and VPS, they have three SSD hosting plans. StartUp is the most affordable being $11.95 monthly, GrowBig is the next one and then GoGeek. Here is a closer look;
StartUp – with deal it is $3.95 monthly, otherwise that monthly cost is $11.95
- Help is 24/7 but you do not have priority. When others paying more need support when you do, they go first
- Website x 1
- Emails are unlimited
- Disk space is 10 GB SSD
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 30 day money back guarantee
- SSD storage
- Website Builder
- Sub and parked domains are unlimited
- Unlimited databases
- No free website transfer
- 30 free auto backups daily but do not get backups on demand or backup restore
- Up to 10,000 visits a month
GrowBig – today it is $5.95 monthly but regularly that monthly cost is $19.95
- Help 24/7 and now you have priority
- 25,000 visits monthly
- Website unlimited
- Unlimited emails
- Money back guarantee of 30 days
- Disk space of 20 GB SSD
- Website Builder
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSD storage
- Unlimited parked and sub domains
- Unlimited databases
- 30 free auto backups daily and you do get backup restore for free but still no backups on demand
- Free website transfer
GoGeek – today it is $11.95 monthly but usually that cost monthly is $34.95
- Help 24/7 and now you have priority
- 100,000 visits monthly
- Website unlimited
- Unlimited emails
- Money back guarantee of 30 days
- Disk space of 30 GB SSD
- Website Builder
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSD storage
- Unlimited parked and sub domains
- Unlimited databases
- 30 free auto backups daily and you do get backup restore for free plus now you can get backups on demand too
- Free website transfer
It is important to note that priority is given to those with higher plans. Also they do not offer unlimited disk space like some. SiteGround do promise the best technology and they have four data centers around the world in the US, Asia and Europe.
8. A2Hosting
They claim they are one of the first hosting platforms to offer SSDs and they offer them on all their plans, boasting they give 300% faster loading. They have both Windows and Linux plans under their Shared Hosting offers. Those three plans start with Lite at the regular price of $7.99 a month, then Swift then Turbo. A closer look is below;
Lite Linux – at special, $3.92 monthly but usual price is $7.99
Lite Windows – at special, $4.90 monthly but usual price is $9.99
- Website x 1
- 99.9% uptime promise
- Databases x 5
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSL certificate free
- 24/7 help
- SSD storage unlimited
- Money back guarantee of 30 days
- Included are 25 emails
- Free site movement
- 25 parked domains and 5 sub domains
Swift Linux – at special, $4.90 monthly but usual price is $9.99
Swift Windows – at special, $5.88 monthly but usual price is $11.99
- Websites unlimited
- 99.9% uptime promise
- Databases unlimited
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSL certificate free
- Money back guarantee of 30 days
- 24/7 help
- SSD storage unlimited
- Unlimited emails
- Unlimited sub domains and parked domains
- Free site movement
Turbo Linux – at special, $9.31 monthly but usual price is $18.99
Turbo Windows – at special, $10.78 monthly but usual price is $21.99
- Websites unlimited
- 99.9% uptime promise
- Databases unlimited
- Bandwidth unlimited
- SSL certificate free
- 30 day money back guarantee
- 24/7 help
- SSD storage unlimited
- Free SSL and SSD
- Unlimited emails
- Free site movement
- Unlimited parked and sub domains
- Turbo faster hosting 20 x
This is one of the best SSD hosting options you can choose. It is simple to use, quick to get started and they offer good 24/7 support. Its money back guarantee is just the 30 day standard but at least there is one. It also guarantees good uptime at 99.9%.
9. WebHostingHub
With just about 40,000 users WebHostingHub are one of my smaller best SSD hosting platforms, but size is not everything! They do not offer the larger range of different types of hosting, sticking just to Shared Hosting and WordPress Hosting. They have three SSD hosting plans as part of their Shared Hosting service. The cheapest is Spark at a regular cost of $8.99 monthly, then there is Nitro and then Dynamo. Let’s look at what each has to offer;
Spark – at special, $4.99 monthly but a regular price of $8.99
- Domain for free
- Cannot choose the data center you want
- Bandwidth unlimited
- Databases x 10
- SSD free
- Websites x 2
- Emails unlimited
- No web design discount
- SSL free
- 90 day money back guarantee
- 25 sub domains and 5 parked domains
- Speed is standard
- Storage unlimited
- Free advertising credits at a value of $150
- Free website transfers x 3
- 1 click applications
- 24/7 help
Nitro – at special, $6.99 monthly but a regular price of $12.99
- Domain for free
- Can choose the data center you want
- Bandwidth unlimited
- Databases – unlimited
- SSD free
- Websites – unlimited
- Emails unlimited
- Design discount up to twenty per cent
- SSL free
- 90 day money back guarantee
- No limit to sub domains and parked domains
- Speed 2x
- Storage unlimited
- Free advertising credits at a value of $150
- Free website transfers x 3
- 1 click applications
- 24/7 help
Dynamo – at special, $8.99 a month but regular price of $16.99
- Domain for free
- Can choose the data center you want
- Bandwidth unlimited
- Databases – unlimited
- SSD free
- Websites – unlimited
- Emails unlimited
- Design discount up to thirty per cent
- SSL free
- 90 day money back guarantee
- No limit to sub domains and parked domains
- Speed 4x
- Storage unlimited
- Free advertising credits at a value of $150
- Free website transfers x 3
- 1 click applications
- 24/7 help
While the 3 times the average 90 day guarantee is very good and they do have the 99.9% uptime promise, backups are an additional cost. The basic plan is aimed at new website owners and smaller sites, the next at ones that were growing in size and then the top one for websites that had a lot more traffic coming to their site.
10. InterServer
This SSD Hosting platform is not as well-known as some but it is the lowest priced option here, and on paper at least they are very promising. They have their price locked which is set right now to $5.00 but keep in mind there is no contract, so at any moment they could technically cancel. But it also means no price hikes or renegotiating contracts. There is not a number of plans, just the one. With it you get;
- Emails are unlimited
- 24/7 help
- Website migration for free
- SSD is unlimited
- One click applications
- Unlimited storage
- It is simple to use
- Registering the domain costs $1.99
- Money back guarantee of 30 days
- Good security
- Unlimited data transfer
Backups do happen weekly and the uptime of 99.9% is a guarantee, apart from scheduled maintenance. InterServer are easy and not too complicated to use, and have 24/7 support in case you need it. You may not have heard of them but they have been around for over 16 years and state a commitment to upgrading their technology and plans while still offering low fixed pricing.
Summary: Best SSD Hosting Providers
Really in most cases people who are planning on hosting their own website are going to be better off using the best SSD hosting platforms, like the ones above. Unless you have a lot more data to be stored, you get a faster load, less downtime (with problems like cooling or having to fix moving parts as with HDDs) and more reliability. However it does come at a slightly higher cost at the moment.
While the basic packages may only be a dollar or three more than HDD basic plans, those dollars add up. Also should you want to use higher plans, the price increases further. If you do not have problems with a budget you should certainly find the best SSD hosting service for you.
If you are working from a limited budget it may be worth waiting a little. In just a couple of years prices should drop even more and even out, making SSD hosting more available to everyone. Also make sure you check that the host does not rely on SSDs, their other technology needs to be up to date too for you to get the real benefits.
Another option may be to consider hosting plans that use SSHDs. These are hybrids of HHDs and SSDs called solid state hybrid drives. You get the larger storage space as with an HDD but some of the speed and reliability of the SSD. They are not as fast but are still better than just HDDs.
