So you’ve got this great idea for a new Web 2.0 service, you’ve laid out your database schema, made some bright catchy logos, solidified that marketing plan and now the decision you’ve been putting off, choosing a webhost. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 12,000 web hosts offering their services today. As a web developer, I have been making this decision over and over again for the last 5 years, bouncing from host to host looking for someone who could provide consistent reliable service as well as the most update to date technologies. Almost all the hosts below I have had personal dealings with and half of them I still have open accounts with. This is a summary of which I have found to have the most consistent, most reliable, and most forward thinking service. So if the morass of webhosts has got you down use this guide as a basis for your search.

1.BlueHost(Best Overall)
Cost Per Month - $7.95*

Bluehost is one of the fastest growing web hosts in the industry and for good reason. The reason I rate this company the best overall is their commitment to customer service which I have experienced first hand as well as their commitment to Web 2.0 technologies. When a client asks me which host they should host their sites on, the answer is always Bluehost.

The Kicker:
Stated Ruby on Rails Support
FREE domain 4 life
FREE 2 Years hosting if you can beat the CEO in Table Tennis(as per his blog)
PHP 4/5

2.MidPhase(Digg Proof)
Cost Per Month - $7.95

Midphase is what I like to call the “Digg Proof” host. They offer true unmetered bandwidth and is my choice for any blog where you anticipate large amount of traffic. This site is running on a midphase host. They also have a very well designed site.

The Kicker:
UN-METERED Bandwidth
FREE domain 4 life
FREE Car Promotion

3.AceHost(Best Value)
Cost Per Month - $5.95

Ace-host is kind of a diamond in the rough. I found this host while searching for the most features for the least amount of money. It’s $5.95 for the 12 month plan and you get all the amenities as the more expensive ones and even unlimited MySQL databases which is why I consider ace-net when i have a project I just want to fiddle around with. Ace-net, cheap, feature rich, kinda shady.

The Kicker:
UNLIMITED MySQL DBs
PHP 4/5
Static IP

4.iPowerWeb(Best Marketing)
Cost Per Month - $7.95

iPowerWeb is quite a large host, you can see their advertisements in Wired magazine. Fitting that I’ve named it the most marketing friendly. If you have a product website or a site that you want to advertise I recommend iPowerWeb since they offer both a $30 AdWords credit as well as a $50 Overture(Yahoo’s advertising equivalent to AdWords) credit.

The Kicker:
$30 AdWords credit
$50 Advertising to Overture
FREE Domain

5.Lunar Pages
Cost Per Month - $7.95

Lunar pages is one of the hosts that I have not had direct contact with but comes highly recommended by my associates. They have been around for a while and currently host some 90,000 sites, and they don’t look like they are going away anytime soon, although their canned page design may lead you to believe otherwise.

The Kicker:
FREE Domain for Life
UNLIMITED MySQL DBs
Tape Backups

*prices based on the 12 month plan