Shared hosting providers that are pleasant to build on with PHP, compared by version control, developer tooling, database support and fair pricing.
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We compared 27 providers and 12 plans for PHP web hosting on six criteria, from the real monthly cost (including the renewal price) to support and refund terms. Key factors here: supported PHP versions, OPcache and per-site PHP settings.
PHP powers WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento and countless custom applications built on frameworks such as Laravel and Symfony. Nearly every shared host supports PHP in some form, but the developer experience varies enormously. Some hosts give you one fixed version and a file manager; others offer per-directory version switching, SSH, Composer and Git-based deploys. This list ranks hosts on how well they serve people who write or maintain PHP code.
You should be able to select from currently supported PHP releases and switch versions per site or directory. Just as important is how a host handles end-of-life versions: clear notice before removal and a period to test upgrades protect you from sudden breakage.
Common extensions such as intl, gd or imagick, mbstring, zip, sodium, opcache and database drivers should be available. The ability to adjust settings like memory_limit, upload_max_filesize and max_execution_time through a panel or a per-directory configuration file saves support tickets.
MySQL or MariaDB with a reasonable number of databases, remote access options where needed, and a management tool such as phpMyAdmin. Some hosts also offer PostgreSQL, which certain applications prefer.
PHP-FPM or LiteSpeed's PHP handler, OPcache enabled by default, NVMe storage and enough process limits keep applications responsive under load.
Modern frameworks expect the web root to point at a public subdirectory rather than the project root. Check that the host lets you change the document root for a domain. Queue workers and long-running processes are usually not allowed on shared hosting; if your application depends on them, you will need a Linux VPS.
Look for staging subdomains, the ability to clone a site, and automated backups you can restore before and after deployments. A simple workflow is to push to Git, pull on a staging copy, run migrations and tests, then deploy to production.
Developer features are sometimes limited to higher tiers, so check which plan includes SSH and Git. Compare the monthly price and the renewal price, and use the money-back guarantee to deploy a real application and verify extensions and limits.
If WordPress is your main PHP application, see our best WordPress hosting list. To understand when shared PHP hosting is the right fit compared with other hosting tiers, read our overview of web hosting options.
PHP web hosting starts at $1/mo. Our catalog lists 131 plans here, from budget to high-end. The final price depends on CPU cores, RAM and storage type, and on whether an intro price renews higher.
| Tier | Price, USD/mo | Best for | Plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | $1 – $2.99 | Personal sites, portfolios, landing pages | 19 |
| Standard | $3 – $9.99 | Business sites, WordPress with several plugins, small stores | 54 |
| Premium | from $10 | Multiple busy sites, WooCommerce, priority resources | 58 |
Providers in this ranking take payment directly at checkout, with no middleman. Here is how many of them accept each method; the full list is on every provider card.
| Payment method | Accepted by |
|---|---|
| Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) | 26 of 27 providers |
| PayPal | 14 of 27 providers |
| Crypto (Bitcoin, USDT and others) | 3 of 27 providers |
| Bank transfer / invoice | 4 of 27 providers |
