Starting a website in the South African market? You should look for a host that has servers optimized to cater to visitors from that area. Though, you probably don’t want to lose your shirt in the process. So, here’s a comparison of the cheapest web hosting in South Africa to help you make an informed decision.
Fortunately, there are tons of cheap high-quality web hosts to choose from. Better yet, with such varying services, you’re sure to find a plan that suits your exact needs, whether that’s speed, security, or scalability.
👉 In this post, we’ll guide you through six of the cheapest web hosts in South Africa. We’ll then discuss some key factors to consider when making a final decision. Let’s get started!
The cheapest web hosting in South Africa in 2024
To begin our analysis, here’s a top-level overview of what you can expect from our lineup. Feel free to click on any host name to auto-scroll down to it.
Host | Storage | South African servers | Money-back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bluehost | 10 GB NVMe | * | ❌ | 30 days | |
HostAfrica | 20 GB SSD | * | ✅ | 30 days | |
Xneelo | 5 GB SSD | ❌ | ✅ | 7 + 30 days | |
Afrihost | * | * | ✅ | 60 days | |
A2 Hosting | 10 GB SSD | ❌ | * | 30 days | |
Axxess | R59 | 2 GB SSD | * | ✅ |
1. Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the most reputable web hosting providers across the globe. It’s a great option if you’re on a budget – especially for beginners – because it bundles in a lot of premium features with its hosting plans that other companies charge extra for.
If you need something more powerful than a simple shared web hosting plan, they also have plenty of other options to choose from, including VPS hosting, cloud hosting, and dedicated servers. Plus you’re guaranteed a 99.99% uptime.
⚙️ Key features
- WordPress pre-installed
- Custom themes
- 24/7 customer support via live chat (and phone on all plans above the entry-level plan)
- SSH and WP-CLI access
- WordPress staging site
- Get verified on Google My Business
- WordPress migration tool
- Three-month trial of premium email hosting (free email hosting also included)
💳 Price
Money-back guarantee: 30 days (details)
The most basic Bluehost plan starts at just $2.95 a month if you pay for a year upfront and renews at $11.99 per month after the initial contract expires. It supports up to ten websites and comes with 10 GB of NVMe storage, a free domain in your first year, a free SSL certificate, free Cloudflare CDN, and AI site creation tools. For security you get DDos protection and a WAF (web application firewall).
2. HostAfrica

HostAfrica is a major player in the web hosting market across several areas of Africa, including Nigeria, Kenya, and of course – South Africa. With over 15 years of experience and more than 20,000 customers, their track record speaks for itself, as do its features.
You’ll find everything from classic shared web hosting to WordPress hosting to reseller options here. They even offer domain name registration. And it’s all backed by a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
⚙️ Key features
- African-based servers
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain in your first year (limited to .co.za, .co.ke, .com.ng or .africa)
- Daily backups
- 24×7 network security with DDoS protection
- Knowledge base and ticket-based customer support
💳 Pricing
Money-back guarantee: 30 days (details)
The entry-level shared hosting plan is $5.64 USD (about R99.64) on a one-year plan. It includes 20 GB of SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, support for two websites, up to 25 email accounts, five subdomains, and five MySQL databases. You can also choose to pay month-to-month, every three months, or every six months (at progressively higher per-month prices).
3. Xneelo

If you’re looking for affordable web hosting in South Africa, it’s worth considering Xneelo. They have some attractive hosting plans and guarantee 99.9% uptime. On top of that, their customer support team has previously taken home the gold medal at the Stevie awards so you’ll be in good hands if anything were to ever go wrong.
However, the likelihood of something going seriously wrong is extremely low because Xneelo’s Johannesburg-based data center is fully redundant and they have enough fuel on site to power the entire facility for seven days in case of an extreme blackout.
⚙️ Key features
- WordPress easy install via Xneelo’s control panel
- Daily backups with a rolling 14-day retrieval
- 24/7 live chat support
- DDos protection
- Web application firewall (WAF)
- Free SSL certificate
- Unlimited bandwidth
💳 Price
Money-back guarantee: 7 days and 30 days (details)
The cheapest entry-level shared hosting plan starts at just R99 a month. It supports up to ten websites and includes 5 GB of SSD storage and 100 email accounts. The one big downside is that if you have an existing website that you’re looking to transfer over then you’ll have to do it yourself because Xneelo doesn’t offer a migration service.
4. Afrihost

Since you’re reading this because you’re looking for a great deal, then you’ll surely appreciate Afrihost’s offerings. For one, all of their hosting contracts are month-to-month so you don’t need to worry about getting locked into a long-term deal or higher renewal rates.
Beyond that, Afrihost provides most of the features you need for your website, including access to a free website builder and the Softaculous app installer. On the flip side, it doesn’t offer many extras or perks and the entry-level plan is quite limited. This makes it less suitable for large or complex websites like ecommerce stores – unless you opt for one of the pricier cloud, rack, or dedicated server plans.
⚙️ Key features
- Award-winning customer service
- Free domain in your first year (limited to .co.za, .site, .store, .tech and with shared hosting plans only)
- Free setup
- Website builder
- Choose between Linux or Windows servers (Windows costs slightly more)
- Upgrade or downgrade packages easily
💳 Price
Money-back guarantee: 60 days with double your money back on shared hosting plans (details)
You can get started with a shared hosting plan from R69 per month on a Linux server. It comes with 1 GB of storage space, 50 email accounts, one MySQL database, and unmetered website traffic. A shared plan on a Windows server starts from R89 per month. It includes 1 GB of storage, 25 email accounts, and one MariaDB database.
5. A2 Hosting

One of the best parts about A2 hosting is that it offers a wide range of solutions. So, you’re bound to find an option that meets your website needs. Besides VPS, shared, and dedicated hosting, you’ll also find WordPress hosting, reseller hosting, and ecommerce hosting.
Additionally, it’s a great choice for those that prefer different platforms like Drupal, Joomla, or OpenCart. And, you can even get WooCommerce pre-installed if you’re looking to list and sell products online.
Similar to the other hosts on this list, A2 also has a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
⚙️ Key features
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free automated backups
- WordPress and WooCommerce installs
- Free website migration
- 99.99% uptime
- 24/7 support via ticket, email, phone, or chat
- Turbo LiteSpeed web servers
- Anycast DNS
- Developer tools (Python, Ruby, automatic Git deployment, etc)
💳 Price
Money-back guarantee: 30 days (details)
The cheapest shared hosting plan starts at $2.99 (~R52.83) per month on a three-year contract. It renews at $9.99 (~R176.50) on another three-year contract. Lower time commitments are available but at a higher cost. This plan supports one website and includes 10 GB of SSD storage, unlimited email addresses, five databases (your choice of MySQL or MariaDB), automatic backups, and a free SSL certificate.
6. Axxess

Axxess offers some of the cheapest web hosting in South Africa with super flexible plans. It’s great if you’re looking for a simple shared hosting plan, but you’ll also find VPS and WordPress plans as well.
Better yet, all new customers get their first month pro-rated (unless they sign up on the first of the month). Axxess also offers free domains, a free SSL certificate, and more, making it an excellent option for those on a tight budget.
⚙️ Key features
- Free domains (limited to .co.za, .site, .online, or .store)
- Free SSL certificate
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Softaculous app installer
- SitePad website builder
- Firewall and anti-spam protection
- 24/7 monitoring
- Rolling 3-day backups
- Developer tools (PHPMyAdmin, CRON Jobs)
💳 Price
Money-back guarantee: 7 days with heavy restrictions (details)
You can find shared hosting plans starting from R59 per month. This price gives you 2 GB of SSD storage and includes 75 email mailboxes, 5 MySQL databases, and unlimited monthly traffic. It comes with the DirectAdmin control panel. If you prefer cPanel, then it’ll cost you R74 per month on that same plan. But for that extra cost, Axxess will also throw in Imunify360 and KernelCare services.
Things to keep in mind when making your decision
Now that you have an understanding of the layout of the land, it’s decision-making time. Although you probably already have your own personal criteria that you’re going to go by, we also want to bring to your attention the following considerations:
- Uptime. 📊 You’ll want a web host that offers at least 99.99% uptime. Otherwise, your website may be unavailable for large periods of time, resulting in a loss of traffic and revenue.
- Speed. 🏎️ If you serve a global customer base or run a specialized site like an ecommerce store, look out for speed-based features. We are talking about CDNs, built-in caching, and high performance servers, especially optimized to cater to audiences from the geographical area that you’re interested in – South Africa.
- Security. 🔒️ To keep you and your visitors safe, it’s important to find a web host that provides security features like SSL certificates, backups, and firewalls.
- Extras. 🎁 If you own an existing website, you might find free migrations useful. Or, for new websites, look out for free domains or a website builder.
- Pricing. 💵 While it’s tempting to go for the cheapest option available in South Africa, make sure you read the terms and conditions. If a host offers an initial discount, how much will you pay once the offer ends?
- Support. 🖱️ It’s important to find a web host that provides timely customer support and in a format that you personally prefer. This way, when you have a problem, you know it will get resolved quickly.
With that out of the way, we’ll leave it to you.
Recap and conclusion 🧐
If you’re on a strict budget, web hosting is an easy cost to cut down. Fortunately, web hosting is a competitive industry. Therefore, there are tons of high-quality options with useful features and low rates.
👉 To recap, here are six of the cheapest web hosting providers in South Africa:
- Bluehost: Best all-round host with tons of features.
- HostAfrica: South African company with African-based servers and great plans.
- Xneelo: With servers in Johannesburg, this host offers award-winning customer support.
- Afrihost: Excellent option for beginners who don’t want to get locked into long-term contracts.
- A2 Hosting: Great choice for ecommerce stores.
- Axxess: Most flexible hosting provider with six months free.
Do you have any questions about finding the cheapest web hosting in South Africa? Let us know in the comments below!
Or start the conversation in our Facebook group for WordPress professionals. Find answers, share tips, and get help from other WordPress experts. Join now (it’s free)!