Best Green (Eco-Friendly) Web Hosting Services (2023)

Switching to the best green web hosting can help you cut your online carbon footprint, and consequently reduce the impact of your website on Mother Earth.

Jack Amend, co-founder of Web Neutral Project, an organisation that helps tackle websites’ carbon footprints said “The internet is essentially the largest coal-fired machine on the entire planet.” And he’s (arguably) right!

According to the Website Carbon Calculator, the average web page they test produces approximately 0.5 grams of CO2 per pageview. That translates to 60 kg of CO2 per year for a website with 10,000 monthly pageviews.

As an eco-friendly, mother-earth-conscious, good soul; switching your website to green hosting could be your best contribution to sustaining our dear old earth!

So, if you’re ready, here’s my top 3 recommended green web hosting providers;

GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks re-invests 3X every energy they pull from the grid, and they have very impressive hosting features.

Check GreenGeeks

iPage

With excellent hosting features to boast of, for every KWH of energy that iPage uses, the company purchases Renewable Energy Certificates to offset that amount with wind energy by 200%

Check iPage

HostGator

For over a decade, HostGator has been buying up Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset 130% of its carbon emissions. The RECs are used to purchase renewable energy and put it back into the grid. Their hosting does not disappoint either.

Check HostGator

The truth about web hosting is that it is very energy-intensive. Data centers may have tens of thousands of high-powered computers, most of these with permanently high CPU and drive usage, generating so much heat that the provider will usually need a massive cooling system to keep temperatures manageable.

Hosting has a very real environmental impact, and it’s much more significant than you might think. Web hosting providers are putting up measures to mitigate the impact their service is having on the planet. Some hosts claim to be green, but they aren’t quite as eco-friendly as they seem.

So I’ve created this post to highlight the best green hosting services, alongside the green initiatives they have put in place to help the planet.

But what did I consider in coming up with this list of green hosting services?

What To Consider in Choosing the Best Green Web Hosting Services

Here are questions I asked before coming up with this list of my best green hosting providers;

What green initiatives do they have in place? There are many green web hosting services using green energy in their data centers. Others offset their carbon emissions to compensate for fossil fuel usage.

Do they have good features and at what price are they offering them? What features does the host offer? Are the features good? At what price are they offering it? How does the price compare to similar hosts with the same features? Is it worth any extra costs?

Are there any workplace initiatives to foster a cleaner earth? Green initiatives like composting, recycling, or encouraging employees to reduce emissions by working from home.

Disclosure: I may receive compensation for some of the links in this article, at no cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. This helps me keep this website online. You can read my full affiliate disclosure in my Privacy Policy page.

What Are The Best Green Hosting Options in 2023?

Having asked the questions above, I settled on the best green hosting options for you to use this year.

The Best Green Web Hosting Providers Listed In Order;

1. GreenGeeks
2. iPage
3. HostGator
4. Ionos
5. DreamHost
6. InMotion Hosting

I will talk about each of these green hosting providers in more details in the following sections.

1. GreenGeeks.

Best Green Web Host With Impressive Range of Features And 300% Carbon Offsetting

GreenGeeks claims to be the No. 1 green web hosting provider in the world. According to its name, GreenGeeks originally set-out to be an environmentally responsible web host, and they have proudly marketed their web hosting service as such.

The platform is designed for maximum energy efficiency, and is carbon-neutral. And for every amperage they pull from the grid, GreenGeeks invests three times that in the form of renewable energy via Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

So GreenGeeks is essentially carbon-reducing.

Key Features of GreenGeeks:

• 1 tree planted for every new hosting account
• 300% green energy match
• Free domain name (1st year only)
• 50GB web space and bandwidth
• 50 email acounts
• Free Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Built-in caching
• Unlimited databases
• Free managed migrations
• Free SSL certificates
• 30-days money-back guarantee

GreenGeeks web hosting comes with an easy-to-use control panel, round-the-click pro-active network security monitoring with Advanced WAF powered by AI and DDoS protection.

You also enjoy faster page-load times due to their global data centers that host your website near your visitors and daily website backups.

All shared hosting plans come with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder and free site migration of one website and plans are scalable, so you can add extra RAM and disk space if you need.

GreenGeeks Eco-friendly Initiatives

1. 300% Energy Match: For every unit of energy GreenGeeks uses, it puts three units back into the grid in the form of renewable energy.
2. Tree Planting: GreenGeeks works with OneTreePlanted, to plant trees wherever they’re needed around the globe, for each new hosting account that signs up.
3. EPA Green Power Partner: The United States Environmental Protection Agency has recognized GreenGeeks since 2009, for its commitment to energy sustainability.

GreenGeeks Pros And Cons

Pros

• Free SSL certificates
• 24×7 expert customer support
• Free website migration
• Loads of developer-friendly features
• Professional email addresses included with every hosting plan

Cons

• GreenGeeks still has data centres relying on diesel for back-up power

Why should you host your website on GreenGeeks?

GreenGeeks offers fast, secure and exceptional hosting plans for an affordable price. They’ve been in business since 2009, and are an A+ BBB Accredited business. Much more than that, GreenGeeks are leading the way in green web hosting.

With a great track-record in the hosting industry, GreenGeeks will make a good choice if you’re an eco-friendly business looking to host your website, with their impressive features and scalability.

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2. iPage.

Straight-forward Carbon-Neutral Provider With Excellent Features

iPage has a very clear and definitive green policy, unlike most green web hosts who’ll make all kinds of claims about their eco-friendliness. For instance, one provider might say it’s using an energy-efficient cooling system. But what exactly does that mean, in terms of energy savings (if any), and how does it compare to the rest of the industry? We can’t tell.

To avoid this vague use of language, iPage tells you succinctly: “For every KWH of energy that iPage uses, the company purchases Renewable Energy Certificates to offset that amount with wind energy by 200%” I think that is clear enough to understand.

iPage is simply good, and outperforms most claimed carbon-neutral providers by offsetting twice its energy usage. Still impressive, even though GreenGeeks does 300%.

On the hosting side of things, which is obviously as important to you, iPage is not doing badly.

They have impressive introductory shared hosting plans beginning at $1.99/month for 3 years. This shared hosting plan is feature-rich and good enough if you just want to host a basic blog, personal or business website.

Key Features of iPage:

• Unlimited disk space and storage
• Unlimited domain name hosting with one account
• Free SSL Certificate
• Free domain name (1st year only)
• 1-Click WordPress install
• Unlimited MySQL bases

iPage has a suite of security features that include 24/7 security monitoring, and an enhanced security suite.

iPage Pros And Cons

Pros

• 99% uptime guarantee
• Lower prices
• Free SSL certificates
• High user ratings on Trustpilot
• 24/7 telephone and live chat support
•  No limits on bandwidth or storage

Cons

• No VPS or dedicated servers
• Slower speed compared to competitors
• Data centers only in the US

Why should you host your website on iPage?

If you’re looking for a serious green web hosting partner, iPage is a great choice. They don’t have VPS or dedicated server hosting options, but their shared hosting will do the work if you’re looking to build a simple website or learn WordPress or any other web technology for that matter. If you’re looking to build more serious tech, you should probably look at CloudWays.

3. HostGator.

Low Cost, Great Hosting Company With Impressive Carbon-Offsetting Record For Over a Decade

Another top choice for the best green web hosting services is HostGator.

For over a decade, HostGator has been buying up Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset the carbon emissions produced by its servers and cooling systems. The RECs are used to purchase renewable energy and put it back into the grid.

HostGator purchases RECs through 3Degrees Inc. and aims to offset 130% of its consumption. One REC purchased by HostGator at 3Degrees is equivalent to one megawatt-hour (MWh) of energy used.

Key Features of HostGator:

• Free domain (1st year only)
• 99.9% uptime guarantee
• Free site transfer
• Free SSL certificate
• Unmetered bandwidth
• Free email account
• Incredibly responsive support

HostGator has some of the best hosting plans I’ve seen as a website designer. With their cheapest shared hosting plan you can get unlimited storage and bandwidth, a free migration and cPanel migration, a free SSL certificate, free unlimited subdomains (1st year only), and be able to use the Plesk control panel.

HostGator Pros And Cons

Pros

• Unlimited bandwidth and storage
• Award-winning support
• Top shared and VPS hosting features

Cons

• Comparatively more expensive plans
• Could do more to help the environment

Why should you host your website on HostGator?

HostGator has been an eco-friendly web host for a long time, and it’s credentials are proven on the green energy front. They’re also one of the biggest web hosting companies out there.

If you’re looking for a green web host with good hosting features, HostGator ticks both boxes. Note though, that it lacks some features, like automated daily backups and free security features; if those are important to you, you should consider another good alternative – GreenGeeks.

4. Ionos.

Best for solar-powered data center, with excellent site speed and uptime

Ionos has impressed the hosting world with their green efforts so far.

Their largest US data center generates its power from wind energy, and they use renewable energy for data centers in Germany and the UK. Ionos is impressively carbon-neutral.

Taking their eco-friendly practices a notch further, the data centers use energy-efficient hardware, and they recycle outdated hardware. To top it all off, the offices employ remote working and responsible travel. They’re so green!

And with plans starting at $1/month for the first year, they’re the cheapest green web hosting service on this list.

Key Features of Ionos:

• Free domain for the 1st year
• Free wildcard SSL certificate
• DDoS protection
• Daily backups and recovery
• Free professional email
• 24/7 phone support
• 99.9% server uptime
• 30-day money-back guarantee

In addition to all these, Ionos has one of the best site speed and uptime, which is great for keeping your website up and running! 

Note though that at the time of writing, Ionos does not offer live chat and email support, and they have received poor support ratings because of this.

Ionos Pros And Cons

Pros

• Reliable site speed and uptime
• One of the most affordable hosting providers on the market
• Dedicated support assistant for every customer
• Free Domain
• Free SSL
• 30 days money-back guarantee

Cons

• Help and support is unimpressive
• Outdated and unintuitive control panel
• Reported hidden costs to look out for

Why should you host your website with Ionos?

Ionos have made giant strides in their green efforts and are one of the best green hosting providers in the market. That aside, their site speed and uptime is excellent and is something to consider if your website uptime is a deal breaker for you.

5. DreamHost.

DreamHost has made significant strides in reducing their environmental impact by making policies that respect the earth and her natural resources.

Their employees work from remote locations, thereby reducing the amount of fuels burnt while commuting to work. DreamHost also maintain a paperless virtual workspace to reduce the use of printers, inks and papers

DreamHost’s data center is powered by grids that obtain electricity from many renewable sources. They’re partners in state-level “clean wind” programs and use high-efficiency cooling infrastructure in their data centers

DreamHost offers shared hosting plans starting at $2.95/month. They also offer VPS, dedicated server and cloud hosting options.

Key Features of DreamHost:

• On-demand backups
• Staging environment
• Free automated website migration
• Fast SSD storage
• Unlimited traffic
• 1-click WordPress installations
• Website builder

In addition, DreamHost offers the additional benefit of including Jetpack for free on their DreamPress plan. Jetpack is a powerful security plugin that provides a range of benefits, such as downtime management, prevention of brute force attacks, and real-time malware scanning. It also includes automatic critical CSS generation, which can significantly boost website speed.

DreamHost Pros And Cons

Pros

• Industry-leading 97-day money-back guarantee
• Great website speed
• Free automatic WordPress site migration
• 100% uptime guarantee
• Jetpack security and performance
• Excellent storage capacity

Cons

• Lack of cpanel
• Does not offer phone support.

Why should you host your website on DreamHost?

DreamHost is among the very few web hosting providers who walk the talk when it comes to going green. The policies and practices they have put in place is testament to that. They also have impressive hosting features both for the newbie website user, and for more sophisticated use cases. There’s something for everyone on this web host.

6. InMotion Hosting.

Unlike GreenGeeks, iPage and HostGator – who are offsetting their carbon footprint, InMotion Hosting believes it’s better to reduce their energy consumption, and they do so in a number of ways;

1. Their office policy of reduce, reuse and recycle has led to the reduction of paper plates and plasticware, leading to more energy-efficient office spaces.
2. InMotion Hosting’s green data center in Los Angeles uses an air cooling technique that circulates outside air, rather than relying solely on air conditioning. This has reduced their carbon output by more than 2000 tons per year by cutting cooling costs by up to 70%.
3. InMotion has also partnered with Trees For The Future to plant 5,000 trees across the developing world.

Along with their green initiatives, InMotion offers a host of plans ranging from VPS, dedicated and WordPress hosting. Prices start at $2.99/month (on a 2 year plan) for the shared hosting plan to $89.9/month for dedicated hosting.

Key Features of InMotion Hosting:

• 99.99% uptime and security monitoring
• Free SSL certificate
• Premium malware and hack protection
• 90-day money-back guarantee
• 24/7/365 award-winning custmer support

InMotion Hosting Pros And Cons

Pros

• 24/7 live chat support
• Industry-leading 90-day money-back guarantee
• 99.99% uptime guarantee
• Jetpack security and performance
• Excellent storage capacity

Cons

• Lack of cpanel
• Does not offer phone support.

Why should you host your website with InMotion Hosting?

Apart from their eco-friendly hosting initiatives, InMotion’s help and support is great, offering all types of help and support with the added extra of 24/7 live chat support. InMotion Hosting also offers a range of different hosting plans doing particularly well in the VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting. You should seriously give InMotion a thought if you’re considering any of those hosting types

Comparing my Top Choices for best Green Hosting

Regarding green web hosting, I have discussed several excellent choices to help you decide . But 3 of my best choices are;

GreenGeeks is particularly impressive for its performance level as a green web hosting provider and their focus on green initiatives, re-investing 3X what they take from the power grid. iPage, on the other hand, provides an excellent balance of eco-friendly hosting, plus great features and performance, making it a great choice for 2nd place. Finally, HostGator is known for its excellent hosting choices and features and carbon offsetting record spanning over a decade now. The table below compares all 3 hosting providers at a glance;

Frequently Asked Questions About Green Web Hosting

Final Thoughts on Green Web Hosting

So there you have it; my list of the best green web hosting providers to use this year. GreenGeeks took the top spot because of their 300% carbon offsetting. They offer fast, secure and exceptional hosting plans for an affordable price, and are leading the way in green web hosting. Their initiative of planting one (1) tree for every new website they provision is what I considered in handing them top spot. So if you want to help the earth, hosting with GreenGeeks = planting one (1) tree.

All green web hosting services listed here have a form of money-back guarantee, with some (like DreamHost) giving as long as 97-days to test out their services. It means you can try out any one you like and cancel at any time.

If green web hosting is not really your thing, and your website is running on WordPress, you might consider checking out this article for WordPress cloud hosting.

Disclosure: I may receive compensation for some of the links in this article, at no cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. This helps me keep this website alive. You can read my full affiliate disclosure in my Privacy Policy page to find out more.

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Dienye Diri

Dienye Diri is a WordPress website design geek and content writer. He writes about the tools and software he uses for his trade. Join Dienye and other readers on DienyeDiri.Com to learn more about the best software and tools that drive the digital marketing ecosystem. Before starting his blog, Dienye has been a guest author on several web design blogs and managed countless web design projects. Now he writes about and reviews the best software to use for your online business.

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Last Update: July 4, 2023 by Dienye Diri