r/webhosting Mar 27 '26

Looking for Hosting Best Web Hosting Providers in 2026: Community Recommendations, Tested and Reviewed

32 Upvotes

There is a tremendous amount of noise amongst reviews and guides when looking for best web hosting, and it is THE most common question we get here. To cut through the noise, and make things simpler, the r/webhosting mod team curated web hosting providers we've personally used and would confidently use again.

This guide covers hosting options that will meet 99% of practical, real-world needs, from small static sites and blogs to high-traffic WooCommerce stores and small business websites. Our picks reflect years of hands-on experience and focus on what actually matters: performance, helpful support, sane pricing and renewals, reliable backups, platform security, and easy migrations.

THIS GUIDE WAS LAST UPDATED ON JULY 15th, 2026.

Quick Reference

Provider Location Best For Stack Highlights
NixiHost USA (Texas) cPanel shared hosting, migrations from mega-brands LiteSpeed, CloudLinux, Imunify360, JetBackup
KnownHost USA Low-density shared, VPS, hands-on support LiteSpeed, Redis, Imunify360
InMotion USA Growing businesses, agencies, custom workloads UltraStack, CloudLinux, Redis, Monarx, 24/7 human support
Zume UK/EU Transparent all-inclusive pricing, no AI chatbots High-frequency CPUs, on-shore support
Krystal UK Green hosting, performance-tuned shared LiteSpeed + LSCache, 100% renewable energy

How We Selected Providers

  • Transparent Pricing: No hidden fees, clear renewal rates. You should know exactly what you'll pay at renewal before you sign up.
  • Infrastructure: Modern hardware, sensible replacement cycles, honest resource allocation.
  • Support Quality: In-house support, fast average response times, strong technical expertise level, availability of human support.
  • Platform Openness: Standard control panels (cPanel, Plesk, etc.), SSH availability, easy in/out migration, no lock-ins.
  • Company Stability: Long track record in the industry, financial security, proven staying power. We want to recommend web hosting companies that will be around for years to come, not fly-by-night operations.

Real World Testing and Experience

Mods have hosted busy sites (typically WordPress) on each of these hosts. We also occasionally secret-shop support with simulated common issues to confirm response times and competence. These providers also have a representative in the subreddit to help offer guidance when needed.

Important: Recommended hosts can help you migrate from a current provider if you're looking for an alternative to your existing host. Most offer free migration services and are excellent alternatives to the high priced and underperforming mega-brands like HostGator, SiteGround, BlueHost, and other brands. If you're unhappy with your current web hosting provider, switching is easier than you think.

RECOMMENDED USA WEB HOSTING COMPANIES

NixiHost - Founded by former HostGator staff. 15+ years of independent web hosting operations. All-USA based support staff and Texas based servers. Transparent pricing with cPanel, CloudLinux, LiteSpeed, Imunify360, and JetBackup included on all plans. A strong choice for shared hosting whether you're running a personal blog, a small business site, or a WordPress store.

KnownHost - Independently owned since 2006 with true in-house 24/7 support that treats you like a human, not a ticket. Servers are kept low-density with a premium stack standard (LiteSpeed, Redis, Imunify360). Excellent for anyone who wants reliable web hosting with real technical support when you need it.

InMotion - Independent and private for the last 25 years. InMotion designs, owns, and operates its own bare-metal hardware and private network, with options from VPS, dedicated servers up to managed private cloud, with managed services available. Tier 3+ human support is available 24/7, making it a good fit for custom environments where access to experienced infrastructure specialists matters.  InMotion Hosting is a strong choice for agencies, growing companies, and technical teams that need more control than a typical VPS or Cloud offering.

RECOMMENDED UK & EU WEB HOSTING COMPANIES

Zume - All-inclusive pricing with no hikes or surprises, modern hardware with high-frequency CPUs, straightforward on-shore support without AI and chatbots. What you see is what you pay, both now and at renewal.

Krystal - UK's largest independent web hosting provider. Real UK-based support and a performance-tuned stack (LiteSpeed + LSCache). 100% renewable-powered; they even plant a tree for every customer. An excellent choice for affordable web hosting that doesn't compromise on speed or support.

(As with anything, this list is not set in stone. Companies can be added or removed based on ongoing performance or changes. Use the message the mods feature if you have suggestions or questions.\***)*

For Specific Use Cases

For WordPress specifically: NixiHost includes LiteSpeed and LSCache on all plans, which provides excellent WordPress performance out of the box. NixiHost and KnownHost both offer optimized WordPress environments with managed updates and caching. All hosts listed are strong choices for WordPress hosting at almost any scale.

For small business sites: Any of our recommended shared hosting providers will handle a typical small business website with room to grow. In the USA, NixiHost, KnownHost are particularly well-suited for small businesses that need a little extra help and still want reliable performance without enterprise pricing.

For technical users that need more control: InMotion Hosting is a strong option for businesses that want the flexibility of dedicated infrastructure without being left to manage every detail alone. InMotion human support is available 24/7, allowing users to directly work with the people who understand the systems behind their websites and applications. The company designs, owns, and operates its own bare-metal hardware and private network.  With the full gamut of VPS, dedicated servers, and private cloud, with large-scale managed infrastructure options also available.

On a budget? Our picks start well below what the mega-brands charge at renewal. Unlike hosts that lure you with $2/month introductory rates and then triple the price, our recommended providers maintain transparent pricing from day one. Cheap web hosting doesn't have to mean bad web hosting.

New to web hosting? All of our recommended providers offer free migration from your current host, making it easy to switch even if you've never managed a server before. Their support teams can walk you through the entire process.

What We Recommend Avoiding

We specifically recommend against relying on mega-brands with impossibly low "intro pricing". These companies are known for aggressive upselling, overcrowded servers, offshore or AI support with limited technical knowledge, and significant price hikes at renewal. They also tend to lock down their platforms preventing you from exporting your data to move to a new host.

With 8+ million visitors annually, r/webhosting is the largest web hosting discussion forum on the internet. Every month, we see numerous success stories from users who found their ideal hosting solution through this guide and subreddit, reinforcing that these aren't just theoretical picks but proven choices backed by real community experiences.


r/webhosting 6h ago

Technical Questions My server got wiped.. what now?

0 Upvotes

Guys I fucked up so badly. I missed payment on my contabo sever and they deleted everything..

I have been building on there for the past year And didn’t have a back up. Latest one I have is from January.. and I added a lot of stuff since then.

I don’t actually know how to code and have been using gpt this entire time.

Basically I have a website that hosts video games. So I have frontend and backend files on my personal pc. The server actually launched a server for the game. And I could join the game on my pc (not website)

Anyways I’m hoping someone here can help me, I need to figure out how I can rebuild all my server docs. Can I reverse engineer them based on my frontend/backend docs? Using my database info? Vercel info? GitHub info?

I only know a few files on the server, but idk all of them or their functions.. I’m really overwhelmed and don’t know what to do?

I appreciate any advice


r/webhosting 17h ago

Technical Questions Stackcp hosting

1 Upvotes

So recently I remade a website for a small company I work for. My new website is completley static and I wrote all the html, css and js files myself on my pc. The old website was made through wordpress. Is it as simple as deleting the wordpress files from the file manager and adding my own (whilst making a backup of course) or is there more I need to do? The domain name and therefor certificates should all stay the same right? Im sorry if this is a basic question but all the help out there is trying to get me to use wordpress or another site builder.


r/webhosting 1d ago

Looking for Hosting Hosting Platform Quandry

1 Upvotes

I'm a marketing pro that's taking on a freelance client separate from my office job work.

They have a current website built in Wix that they've just set up to get started, but are wanting my help "upgrading it." We'll essentially be starting from scratch (design & copy), so I'm thinking of moving it to Wordpress.

The question is, where should I host?

In my office job, we host sites on WP Engine, but I'm not sure that's necessary for their site. It's a rather simple consulting website, but they do want to eventually put resources on the site that people purchase.

Additional context:

  • My web dev skills are limited
  • I'll likely use elementor to design the site
  • I'd want them to own the license/subscription and me be a contributor on the site

I've researched Elementor hosting, Flywheel, Cloud-ways and Siteground, but I just can't decide what would work best. Right now, it's just one client site. I want something reliable, and I don't want to lead them astray.

  • What is your monthly budget? I don't have a specific budget, but client would be paying.
  • Where are you/your users located? U.S.
  • What kind of site are you hosting (Wordpress, phpBB, custom software, etc) or what is your use case? Wordpress
  • Do you have a monthly traffic volume? 3-5k
  • If you’re looking at VPSes: Do you have experience administrating linux servers and infrastructure? No
  • Did you read the sidebar/check out the hosts listed there? I've personally vetted these companies and their services are a good fit for 99% of people.

r/webhosting 1d ago

Advice Needed Certificate Error

2 Upvotes

I created a website recently due to a supplier's requirements. They require a secured site, but the supplier contact keeps saying that they are unable to verify this. They have tried two separate browsers and both result in the same error. NET:ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID.

I have contacted the web site hosting platform Zoho Sites and they were unable to recreate this issue as well, they also reaffirmed that the website's certificate is valid, that the website is secured, and that the link is running with HTTPS. I can't recreate what is happening on the supplier's end. Is it a company antivirus that is blocking it? Should I go and install a new certificate?

The website: cg-computers-llc.com

I'm stuck, any help would be greatly appreciated!


r/webhosting 1d ago

Advice Needed Would you use a global CDN at ~$8/TB with no regional pricing?

0 Upvotes

I’m evaluating a CDN business idea before building it, and I’d particularly like feedback from hosting providers and people managing meaningful amounts of customer traffic.

The proposed offer:

- ~$8/TB

- same price worldwide

- full global CDN network

- no regional surcharges

- no large monthly commitment

- pay only for actual usage

The underlying delivery would use an established global CDN network rather than a new/self-built network.

The target would probably be customers doing roughly 5–200+ TB/month who want better global coverage than ultra-cheap “volume” CDN tiers, but don’t want enterprise commitments.

For those of you running hosting companies or managing CDN traffic:

Would you actually test something like this with 1–5 TB of real production traffic?

If not, why?

I’m particularly interested in:

- which CDN you currently use

- approximate TB/month

- where most of your traffic goes

- approximate effective $/TB

- what would make you unwilling to switch

I’m looking for reasons this idea doesn't work before I invest in building it.


r/webhosting 1d ago

Advice Needed Need help migrating a website to GoDaddy Domain

0 Upvotes

I'm not sure if this is the correct sub, but I recently hired someone to make a new updated website for me that will replace our old one. However, despite asking for up-front pricing, they keep adding more charges for services that would have been otherwise included in the beginning. Because of this, I am not keen on paying them to migrate the files.

They have since given me the file to download (WPRESS File) but whenever I try to download it into the transfer option on GoDaddy, it says the file is too big. Any advice is appreciated


r/webhosting 2d ago

Advice Needed Is ultahost a good provider?

0 Upvotes

I want to go in the web hosting reseller business and I looked into mdmhost AND THEY APPARENTLY SUCK now I am looking into ultahost as a provider-- are they any good? Also considering Accu23. We are trying to start small at first.

Accu23 with the Silver Plan

  • 100 GB Storage
  • 300 GB Bandwidth
  • 30 cPanel Accounts 30 cPanel accounts with an unlimited number of websites as an addon domains.
    • 10 Accounts - $10 USD/Mo.
    • 25 Accounts - $25 USD/Mo.
    • 50 Accounts - $50 USD/Mo.
    • 75 Accounts - $75 USD/Mo.
    • 100 Accounts - $100 USD/Mo.
  • 1 vCPU Per cPanel Account.
  • 1 GB RAM Per cPanel Account.
  • 1024 IOPS Per cPanel Account.
  • 250000 Inodes Per cPanel Account.
  • Unlimited Email Accounts
  • Unlimited FTP Accounts
  • Unlimited Sub Domains
  • Unlimited MySQL Database mySQL Database version 8.x is installed on our reseller hosting server.
  • PHP Support The latest PHP versions 8.x and 7.x are supported on this plan. You can easily switch between the available versions.
  • HTTP/3 Support
  • Let's Encrypt SSL Let's Encrypt SSL for All domains
  • Free Setup

ULTAHOST

  • 80 GB NVMe SSD
  • 50 cPanel Accounts
  • Free Dedicated IP
  • Unlimited Data Transfer
  • Free Domain Transfer
  • Free SSL Certificate(s)
  • No setup fees ever!
  • Free cPanel Migrations
  • cPanel & WHM
  • Click Script Installer

r/webhosting 2d ago

Advice Needed Inmotion Hosting

4 Upvotes

Thanks for the advice.

Moved from Bluehost to Inmotion and it has been a very good experience.


r/webhosting 2d ago

Rant Uptimerobot increased solo tier price by 62.5%

20 Upvotes

Title. I was willing to pay 8$ a month for a direct ping with a discord webhook when something exploded on my server so I could quickly fix the one service I remotely care about, but I received an email at 4am stating that my plan is getting an "update" and is now 13$ a month (but I can save 1$ a month if I get the annual plan!).

96$ a year to $156 (62.5%, or 50% if you pay $144 a year) is an insane increase when the only things you have to say you improved is a couple of services integrations maybe 4 people worldwide use, and that you "rebuilt your dashboard and apps" and "made an MCP server" (things I'd expect you to do with the money I already pay you).

I'm so fucking tired of every company deciding that their shareholders deserve more so they squeeze the lowest tiers like we're swimming in capital and offering jack shit in return.

Is there a decent replacement for this slop, I literally just need something that pings my frontend/API, can fire a Discord webhook on a failure, and has a decent looking status page? Or is it just cheaper to rent a VPS, point it myself and home cook this thing.


r/webhosting 2d ago

Advice Needed Inode frustration

5 Upvotes

After finally settling on SiteGround for my new quality webhost after fleeing closte.com, I am disappointed to get a warning that my "Inode usage" is at 80% with only 5 websites on a $50/mo plan. This feels like a cynical strategy to force clients into a $100/mo+ plan.

Am I crazy? I've never encountered a "too many inodes" issue in 30 years on the web.


r/webhosting 2d ago

Looking for Hosting I need a hosting setup

0 Upvotes

I'm a beginner building a site for my own project. I need hosting but I don't understand anything about site speed, sitemaps, indexing and all that. of course i study diff tutorials now
please recommend a simple hosting (no builder needed). What's better to choose Hostingr, GoDaddy or SiteGround


r/webhosting 2d ago

Technical Questions Crossbar manages our Route 53 DNS, but told us to add subdomain NS records at Network Solutions — what’s the correct approach?

1 Upvotes

I’m helping a small organization separate its public website from its existing Crossbar site, and I want to make sure I’m understanding the DNS side correctly before changing anything.

Using a made-up domain:

examplehockeyclub.org

The domain is registered at Network Solutions, but the authoritative nameservers are AWS Route 53 nameservers:

ns-xxx.awsdns-xx.net
ns-xxx.awsdns-xx.org
ns-xxx.awsdns-xx.com
ns-xxx.awsdns-xx.co.uk

Crossbar confirmed that those nameservers point to them and that they manage the DNS zone.

Current setup is roughly:

examplehockeyclub.org
    → Crossbar website

members.examplehockeyclub.org
    → separate member billing system

We are building a new public-facing site on Wix and want the end result to be:

examplehockeyclub.org
    → Wix

www.examplehockeyclub.org
    → Wix

portal.examplehockeyclub.org
    → existing Crossbar site

members.examplehockeyclub.org
    → existing billing system, unchanged

Crossbar has already configured portal.examplehockeyclub.org on their side and told us to add these records:

portal    NS    ns1.crossbar.org
portal    NS    ns2.crossbar.org
portal    NS    ns3.crossbar.org
portal    NS    ns4.crossbar.org

They told us to add those at Network Solutions.

The problem is that when I log into Network Solutions, I cannot edit individual DNS records because the domain is using the AWS Route 53 nameservers managed by Crossbar. Network Solutions only gives me the option to change the authoritative nameservers for the entire domain.

Crossbar also told me that they manage the zone and can add TXT, CNAME, MX, and other DNS records when needed, but that they normally “don’t input any subdomain records” and expect the customer to add those.

This is the part I’m confused about.

Since Crossbar’s Route 53 nameservers are currently authoritative for examplehockeyclub.org, wouldn’t these:

portal NS ns1.crossbar.org
portal NS ns2.crossbar.org
portal NS ns3.crossbar.org
portal NS ns4.crossbar.org

need to be added to the existing parent examplehockeyclub.org Route 53 hosted zone?

And if Crossbar controls that hosted zone, wouldn’t they currently be the only party that can actually add those delegation records?

I definitely do not want to change the domain-level nameservers in Network Solutions just to accomplish this, since that could affect the existing website, email, billing subdomain, and other DNS records.

My main questions are:

  • Am I correct that the portal NS delegation records need to be added to the current authoritative parent zone in Route 53?
  • Since Crossbar controls that zone, should Crossbar be the one adding those four records?
  • Longer term, once the root domain moves to Wix, would you leave authoritative DNS with Crossbar and have them point the root/www records to Wix, or would it be better to move the main DNS zone somewhere we control and delegate only portal.examplehockeyclub.org to Crossbar?

Main priority is avoiding downtime or accidentally breaking email, billing, or the existing site during the transition.

I inherited this setup and don’t have access to the AWS account, so I just want to make sure I’m not misunderstanding how the subdomain delegation should work.


r/webhosting 3d ago

Rant Namecheap keeps going down! Is anyone else experiencing these constant outages? This is getting ridiculous.

8 Upvotes

My sites hosted with Namecheap have been experiencing intermittent downtime for the past few weeks, and it's badly impacting my business and projects
I have contacted support but noone can do anything

What are your experiences with Namecheap's reliability lately? Are you considering switching providers if so who are you looking at? I am feeling i should have chosen something else other than Namecheap for all my domains


r/webhosting 2d ago

Advice Needed Best domain registrar for domains, email, and website hosting... what are people using rn

1 Upvotes

Been trying to clean up my little stack and move a few domains off random old providers. I kinda want one place that can handle domains and basic email and simple hosting without it turning into some giant cloud project.

For context its like 5 small sites, a couple inboxes per domain, nothing huge, but I care about dns reliability and not getting stuck in some nightmare ui. Been looking at the usual big names and idk if i should just split it up or keep it all in one spot. Appreciate any thoughts.


r/webhosting 3d ago

Advice Needed Hosting change after hacker attack

3 Upvotes

Over the last year my website got hacked twice, maybe cuz of an outdated plugin, there is nothing unusual in the website, just a regular business page. Can the hosting provider somehow save from hacking?

I'm now on GoDaddy, checkin out Host inger, they seem pretty popular - seen that they're fast and secure, but Idk how to check if this is true.

Who was hacked, did changing the hosting help reducing the risk?


r/webhosting 3d ago

Advice Needed Tripod shut down permanently on April 24, 2026, after Lycos ended all operations

15 Upvotes

Does anyone know how to do webpage retrieval for an site that is shut down?

Three decades of internet service gone, just like that. It was great while it lasted and I am forever thankful to Tripod for cementing childhood core memories.

However, I did not manage to back up my website in time. The website I put my heart and soul into is gone forever.

I have tried archive.org and my website cannot be found there. Not even a page was scrawled. I searched up other old websites of mine, from Blogger and Wordpress - everything was there. I am not sure why the Tripod one isn’t.

Does anyone know how to retrieve a website back?


r/webhosting 3d ago

Rant if most people here say that IONOS is a scam, why their reviews are good?

6 Upvotes

Hey, many people here say that IONOS is a scam (Including me!), but why do most of you write this here, forgetting to write a Trustpilot review?


r/webhosting 3d ago

Rant GoDaddy issues

0 Upvotes

GoDaddy confirmed a commission payout issue on their end, no timeline, owes me ~$1k — anyone else?


r/webhosting 3d ago

Looking for Hosting Is Nixihost the best option for my wood art business?

1 Upvotes

I make and sell hand carved artwork. Most of my portfolio is NSFW, 18+, adult themed, etc. My current host is GoDaddy and they just revoked my ability to take payments due to this content (after a year or so). I've reviewed the recommended hosts from this sub and Nixihost seems like the best option but I want to check with the larger community.

Currently I pay around $50 monthly for my website. Users are mostly US based with some international outliers.

I just want a site where I can sell my carvings and clients can get in contact with me for customs. Preferably without relying on payment services like paypal.

Also not sure if I'm allowed to link my current website but its in my profile for reference. I removed all the NSFW projects out of caution.


r/webhosting 4d ago

Advice Needed PCI-DSS compliance of r/webhosting's main recommended providers?

9 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I am currently looking at making a website for the first time ever for selling self-published comics, and in the course of looking at web hosts have become aware that for any eCommerce purposes I need to ensure my host is PCI-DSS compliant.

I was talking to support at Zume who told me their two cheapest options (Launch and Ultimate Shared Hosting) are NOT PCI-DSS compliant but that their Managed WordPress services are, and wondered if anyone knew to what degree this is the case for Nixihost, KnownHost, InMotion and Krystal? There doesn't seem to be a general "Is/Is not PCI-DSS compliant" as a standard listing on feature lists for any plans so I'm a little lost as to this. Any help or clarification on this point would be welcome!


r/webhosting 4d ago

Advice Needed Out of control spam filtering I can't control

2 Upvotes

I own the domain [mylastname.com]. For decades I've had a "real" email address at yahoo, gmail, or a university and I forwarded email from [firstname@lastname.com](mailto:firstname@lastname.com) to my "real" account. No one new my real account and I never needed to update people that my email address was changing. (I adopted this initially with bigfoot in the 90s). A few other members of my family do the same.

Now for the problem - in the last year or so spam filtering has gotten overly aggressive and I can't get my email. What happens is this:

  1. email comes in to [firstname@lastname.com](mailto:firstname@lastname.com) at my webhost.
  2. Webhost forwards it to [whatever@gmail.com](mailto:whatever@gmail.com), but now it considers it outgoing mail
  3. The outgoing spam filter sees a mailing list or something else slightly commercial and blocks it.
  4. No one is notified of the block. The sender doesn't even get a bounce message.

I talked to my webhost and the best they could do was migrate me to another web server that used MailChannels instead of SpamExperts, but hat only made it worse. I talked to tech support at MailChannels and they basically said my best bet was to stop using their product. My web host won't opt me out of spam filtering because of fairly obvious reasons.

What are my options? I understand that ignoring a tech system for 15 years leads to some obsolescence, but at this point I've resigned myself to be dragged (kicking and screaming of course) into whatever the newer solution is. I really don't want to go back to thunderbird/whatever has replaced pop3. I don't want to do google hosting since not everyone in my family likes google (my sister uses hotmail. No, I can't explain why). The other thing is that all of us do hybrids - we have some email going to [first@lastname.com](mailto:first@lastname.com), and some email goes directly to the gmail/hotmail/whatever account. Having two email accounts to check is a pain in the neck. Is there some way to combine these two accounts without using forwarding? Any webhosts that won't do content filtering on my mail? Another obvious solution I'm missing?


r/webhosting 5d ago

Looking for Hosting Is goDaddy a scam that is buying all the searched domains?

162 Upvotes

I searched for a domain on HostGator that was available at a low price; five minutes later, I tried to buy it, but it was already taken. I looked up the owner and found that GoDaddy had purchased it and was selling it for the modest sum of $500,000.


r/webhosting 4d ago

Advice Needed Want to create my first web app from scratch (AI platform)

0 Upvotes

I want to create a complex first app

I got this idea into myself to host an AI chat platform, but I came to the conclusion that the best way is to make a website, but I do know almost nothing

So my basic idea Is having users to purchase a Key valid for a certain amount of time, they paste it in the website and It serves as an authentication.

How could I do that? my idea Is website sends API request with Authorization header->cloudflare tunnel->a backend Python script process a answer->sent back to user

but: -how can I manage multiple users? do I just make so that the Python script associates the Key to the prompt and forward It to vLLM, then also tie the answers to the response so I can trace the user back and not mix them up?

-how can I grant user support if no account Is made? what if they just lose the key? They would have no way to invalidate or regenerate It

-how do I keep the Key between sessions? just write it in local storage?

-How can I manage 2 APIs for both account creation and chats?

But mostly, AM I MISSING SOMETHING? do you think this is actually doable if a newbie puts time into It? (I am only experienced in python)I am thinking of making a beta version that Is super basic (no context, One single chat) and improve It over time Also if somone is available to help I would love it


r/webhosting 6d ago

Rant Hosting.com scamming customers with "malicious content" emails.

33 Upvotes

Posting this as a warning to anyone who might Google or Reddit search this.

Yesterday hosting.com emailed me with an alarming email saying one of my websites (I host a lot of sites for clients) was infected with "malicious content" and had likely been hacked. It ruined my evening as I'm a bit of a work perfectionist and want to keep my clients happy.

The email said someone from the security team would call me soon. I started a live chat right away as I was just about to finish work for the day. They confirmed it wasn't a phishing email and there was "malicious content" but couldn't tell me anymore until the security team called me.

The call was not from anyone in security, but a sales person. They confirmed which website it was but couldn't tell me what the "malicious content" was. Good news though! They could fix the mystery issue for a fee of £39.

I said I would investigate the problem myself and fix it, I asked them to email me with a list of files or a report from their scanner with the details. The sales person agreed. They emailed me once again with the link to pay the fee to the fix the "malicious content" and no info on what or where the content was.

I replied saying I needed to see evidence as this is a serious issue for me considering this is my business.

They replied and told me there were over 600 injected links that were being used for Spam SEO purposes by a hacker. Again they refused to give me more details in order to find and resolve the issue.

I tried again and firmly told them these are my websites and I need to know where these links are so I can ensure my client sites are secure.

I received a final email saying there had been a mistake and there was actually no "malicious content" at all.

I can only conclude that hosting.com are selling services to people who do not need them and are behaving like scammers.