Best Web Hosting Services for Australia

TL;DR

Many strong global players have focused on the Asia Pacific region, heating up competition for placing as top web hosting provider for Australia. ChemiCloud, Hostinger and HostPapa are the top hosts that have established a good presence in Australia.

Top Three Australian Web Hosts

* Scroll down for each hosting performance stats and reviews.

1. ChemiCloud

ChemiCloud

One of the top web hosts for Australia, ChemiCloud is growing and their hosting plans are solid. Australians users can benefit from their latest Sydney datacenter.

Visit ChemiCloud

CCHosting Inc. HQ: 651 N. Broad Street, Suite 206, Middletown, Delaware 19709, United States.

ChemiCloud may not be as big a household name as Google but they have been steadily increasing global presence. Just this year they’ve moved into the Australian market, making use of data centers in Sydney.

For those unfamiliar with the brand, ChemiCloud started off in the US. Over the years, they’ve moved into other markets as well. Today the company has a presence in almost all key locations covering America, Europe, Asia, and now, of course, Australia.

What Makes ChemiCloud Ticks?

As a typical full-service web hosting provider, ChemiCloud has a broad range of plans. The hosting services include Shared, WordPress, Cloud VPS, and reseller hosting. Rather than blurring lines to confuse users, these plans strictly focus on performance – and hence come with the corresponding price tags. 

While this is great for useability, those wanting to simply experiment might not find ChemiCloud the best choice. Still, for Australian users who know what they need, you’ll absolutely find the right plan for you with them.

More interestingly, for those who are already hosting with them and want to move to the Aussie datacenter – they can do this for you as well. 

With this web host, you will get support anytime of the year. They are also strong in both server uptime and speed. Price starts from $3.95/mo on shared hosting and WordPress plan.

Key Features with ChemiCloud

• Free domain for life
• Full SSD hosting solutions
• 99.99% uptime guarantee
• Global server locations
• 24/7 technical support
• Free daily backup

ChemiCloud Ratings & Performance

Read our ChemiCloud review to find out more.

2. Hostinger

Hostinger

Hostinger is a fantastic budget-oriented hosting option. It has data centers across the world, two of which are near Australia.

Visit Hostinger

Hostinger HQ: Jonavos g. 60c, Kaunas 44192, Lithuania.

Hostinger is a Euro-based web hosting brand, but they have successfully spanned the globe. Since 2004, they have offered web hosting services based on affordability, and more importantly, availability. Starting from Lituania in Europe, the company today serves customers in over 170 countries. 

Yet since localization isn’t as big an issue in Australia, we can focus instead on other reasons to choose them – pricing, features, and performance. This is a well-rounded hosting provider that can fit many use-cases very neatly.

Why Hostinger for Aussie Websites?

Although Hostinger doesn’t have a direct presence in Australia they offer access to many data centers around the world. Thanks to this, whether you’re going after local, regional, or global traffic, it’s easier to base your site closer to them.

If you want to offer better access to local or regional traffic, Hostinger has data centers in Singapore and Indonesia. For global access, options include the UK, US, Brazil, Netherlands, and Lithuania.

Their plans start off really cheap even if you’re paying in US dollars. 99 cents is roughly the equivalent of $1.30 Aussie, much less than what a can of Carlton Draught would cost. That’s enough juice to power a single website through a month of reasonable usage.

If you need something a bit more reliable, there is always the option to go for Cloud hosting here as well. These start at around $13 Aussie and can run nearly the bulkiest of sites. 

Key Features with Hostinger

• Excellent cost of entry
• Git access on all plans
• SSD-based storage
• Free weekly backups
• Choice of 7 data center locations
• Managed WordPress

Hostinger Ratings & Performance

Learn more about Hostinger server performance.

3. HostPapa

HostPapa

Available locally with overseas data centers, HostPapa fits the profile for those seeking to support a more global target audience with great customer support.

Visit HostPapa

HostPapa Australia: 40 Mount St, North Sydney NSW 2060, Australia.

Unlike ChemiCloud and Hostinger which has expanded but not really localized, HostPapa has moved into the Aussie market directly. This is done though their Sydney office – although their datacenter locations are a little more limited.

Despite a large number of global points of presence (PoP), HostPapa customers only get to choose from data centers in America, Canada, or Amsterdam in Europe. While this may seemingly make it unsuitable for this list, that’s not really true.

Is HostPapa The Fastest Australian Web Host?

If you’re a local Aussie business wanting to target visitor traffic from other regions – this is where HostPapa can come into play. Their local PoP can easily support your business while an overseas datacenter can bring you closer to your customer base. It’s the best of both worlds for the scenario.

In addition, HostPapa offers extremely high-performance hosting plans. It’s one of the hosts that HostingGuruReviews tracks performance of constantly and it manages to return very solid speeds from the test server we keep an eye on.

HostPapa also a green web hosting company. Not only are they environmentally friendly, but also regularly carry out eco-friendly activities such as tree donations and the like. They’re a truly forward-looking host any company can be proud to work with. 

HostPapa has great 24/7 customer support and their services include Shared, VPS, WordPress, and reseller hosting. HostPapa shared hosting and WordPress plan starts from $3.95/mo.

Key Features with HostPapa

• Free domain name and website builder
• Green web hosting provider
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Excellent server performance
• 24/7 customer support

HostPapa Ratings & Performance

Learn more about HostPapa server performance from our review.

4. Digital Pacific

Digital Pacific

True blue Aussie, Digital Pacific isn’t cheap but is the top choice if you want to support a local company and get excellent services.

Visit Digital Pacific

Digital Pacific HQ: Level 11, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia.

If you need access to a truly Australian web hosting, Digital Pacific is the choice for you. It’s a home-grown web hosting company that has expanded comprehensively across the entire country. Major Digital Pacific PoPs include Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and more.

They also have a massive range of web hosting plans, so don’t let that “home grown Aussie” label fool you. From standard shared hosting to powerful dedicated servers and even colocation services, there’s something for everyone here.

Is Digital Pacific The Top Australian Web Host?

Digital Pacific has been in the business for two decades now. It already caters to a very wide audience and has become a trusted brand in Australia. Perhaps the only downside though, is slightly steeper than average prices.

Even personal web hosting doesn’t come cheap and starts at more than $9.90 per month and the WordPress plan starts from $16.90/mo . Still, for the price you get great hosting specs and even 24/7 phone support. All of this is backed by a 99.9% uptime guarantee for complete quality assurance.

Key Features with Digital Pacific

• 100% Australian Hosting
• Sydney datacenter available
• 30-day backup cycles
• Comprehensive support channels

5. Netregistry

Netregistry

For a true-blue Aussie web hosting company consider Netregistry. They are a true-blue Aussie company with all the bells and whistles.

Visit Netregistry

Netregistry HQ: Level 23/680 George St, Sydney NSW 2000.

Netrigistry has been around for a long time – since 1997, in fact. Having gone through the dot-com boom (and bust) they’ve not just survived but thrived.  It is part of the larger Webcentral group and fits the overall portfolio.

The problem is that Netregistry isn’t a cheap solution at all. A big part of this is due to their focus on the small business segment, and there are specific features catering to that area. Unfortunately, this puts it a bit further out of reach for non-business use.

For Australians by Australians

Despite steeper pricing than many global competitors, Netrigistry’s strongest redeeming feature for localized use is their Aussie data center. Aside from that, they also have a ground presence in Sydney, melbourne, and Brisbane.

Because of this, Netregistry is hard to beat for those who need a closer relationship with their web hosting service provider. If you want to serve an Australian customer base – they are a very viable option.

Once past localization, things get diverse a bit quickly. With starting prices close to the $10 mark, not everyone will be willing to pay for Netregistry hosting. Yet small businesses will benefit from their plans due to specific features.

For instance, even their starter plans come with a DIY website builder. In addition, everything is based on excellent Amazon Web Services infrastructure, giving businesses that extra level of quality assurance.

Key Features with Netregistry

• Aussie data center availability
• Ground presence in key Aussie cities
• Free website builder access
• Marketing and other services available
• Python & Perl support
• Free antivirus and anti-spam

Choosing The Best Web Hosting Australia

Thanks to a boom in the digital industry, many areas have experienced significant growth. One example of this is the public Cloud sector, expected to hit a volume of over $10 billion by 2020. That’s an estimated expansion of around 87%. 

On the consumer side of things, an increasing number of websites are being created. This is in line with global growth expectations despite a slight drop in numbers in 2018. As of now, we’re seeing more blogs, personal sites, small business sites, and more coming online.

Keeping an Eye on Latency

As a county located “somewhere on the bottom right corner” of the map, Australia is a little unique in placement. Its closest neighbours are the tiny island countries of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, with most other locations being at the very least – thousands of miles away.

If you’re aiming to create a digital presence to serve the Australia-New Zealand market, latency (measures in milliseconds, ms) is something that needs to be kept in mind. Although websites may seem readily accessible from our web browsers, how the Internet works is a bit more complex.

Data travels relatively quickly – but the time taken increases depending on the distance it needs to move. This means that the closer your website files are to the target audience, the more quickly your site will load for them. This results in faster website load time.

Although it may only be one element of how well your site performs, latency can be a significant contributing factor, especially for Australia. Let’s take a look at some of the best web hosts for Australia we mentioned above before we discuss other specifics affecting your website performance.

Other Highlights to Consider for Top Australian Web Hosting

Australia is a fast-growing country where technology is concerned. In mobile broadband penetration rates alone it ranks third after only South Korea and the United States. An increasing digital population means the consumer landscape will shift as well.

Several factors come into play when considering the best website hosting choices. The first covered earlier is the issue of latency – time taken for data to travel to and back from your website visitor. Other factors to consider can include; 

Pricing

Although Australia has a relatively strong dollar, one thing that factors in is still cost. A big part of the reason why is simply because technology costs similar amounts worldwide. Ultimately, everything gets converted to US dollars – still significantly strong.

It’s also vital to note that just because a web host provider is ‘local’ doesn’t mean you’re paying ground rates. In fact, since large providers serve a global audience, it is more likely you will get more competitive rates with web hosts provider like Hostinger or ChemiCloud than Digital Pacific.

Consider your options carefully and weight the balance of what you’re getting between different providers. You don’t have to sign up for the absolute best – just the one that you feel hits the sweet price-performance value that you need.

Getting Help with Customer Support

Thanks to its relatively out-of-the-way location, Australians needing web hosting need to be concerned about support from the host as well. Not all web hosts offer multiple support channels and some may not be really accessible 24/7.

Imagine your business site hosting server going haywire one hour before a digital sale is going to commence and you can likely visualize your panic. Having a local support team in place is a major plus point that most of the providers on this list have to offer.

Even if not for urgent scenarios like the one just described, sometimes it simply helps to speak to local support. Or at the very least, a company that understands local needs. This can go a long way in a smooth flowing relationship between you and the web hosting provider of your choice.

Hosting Backup

As recent events such as the OVH data center fire have shown us, even enterprise-class facilities aren’t immune to disasters. And that was when temperatures were in the single digits. Imagine how a data center under the blazing hot Aussie sun would do.

Having a web hosting provider that offers cheap, available services is one thing, but how safe is your website there? There are a number of ways to address this issue, and one of them is of course, hosting backup.

Many web hosting service providers will offer backup services, but keep an eye on the frequency of these backups. The more mission critical your site is, the more frequent they should be.

In addition, you should also consider keeping some offsite backups, just in case your data center burns to the ground, like in the case of OVH.

Conclusion

Even if the Australian market isn’t expanding at the speed of light, digitization is simply the way of the future. Everyone and their dog has a website today, along with fast, stable data connections. On a personal basis, this getting online can help you expand your connections significantly.

Business-wise, moving to the digital space can help increase consumer confidence in your brand. At the very least, you can tap into a sales channel you never had access to before. Just make sure you choose the right web host to work with.

More About Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is the largest country in Oceania and the world’s sixth-largest country by total area. The resident population is projected to be almost 26 million as of March 2021. The country ranks 60th in the world on fixed Internet connection speed and 7th on mobile Internet speed, far above the US and UK.

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