Web Hosting Statistics & Trends [2024 Update]

Web hosting remains one of the essential services of the 21st century. Due to the increased engagement in internet usage globally, researchers expect that the demand for web hosting services and resources will continue to rise even more in the next few years. This post covers the most up-to-date web hosting statistics, trends and facts for 2024.

Here’s a summary of several vital statistics and facts about web hosting for 2024: 

  • After the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increased web hosting demand, and because of it, the web hosting industry’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will increase by 18% in the period from 2020 to 2027 (Global Industry Analysts; PRNewswire
  • Right now, there are more than 1,13 billion websites worldwide (Siteefy)
  • So far, there are more than 330,000 web hosting providers (Web Tribunal)
  • There are 349,9 million registered domain names, all across domains that are considered top-level (Verisign
  • The United States of America continues to be the country with the highest number of registered domains — 130,265,115. The USA is followed by:
    • China, with 18,417,470, 
    • Canada, with 17,198,100, 
    • Iceland, with 16,337,025, 
    • and France with 7,558,519 domains (Domain Name Stat).
  • The three most popular domain name registrars are:
    • GoDaddy, with a 12,26% share and 79,926,849 registered domains,
    • NameCheap, with a 2,85% share and 18,568,856 registered domains, 
    • and Tucows Domains with a 1,75% share and 11,436,566 registered domains (Domain Name Stat
  • Each week, approximately 900,000 new domains are registered on a global level (Host Sorter
  • The most popular platform for multi-purpose website hosting solutions is Wix, followed by Shopify, Squarespace, and Weebly (Built With

Websites on the internet cannot exist without its infrastructure, or more precisely — without the web hosting industry. Web hosting is, literally, the core of the internet

In a nutshell, web hosting is a service for taking care of and maintaining websites for website owners. It helps websites stay accessible for visitors and service users and keeps them up-to-date. 

As you can probably guess, the web hosting industry is rapidly growing and constantly changing. After the global pandemic hit the entire world, the internet — and with it, hosting providers — became essential for a much higher percentage of people on a global level. 

… did you know that: 

Currently, there are over 1.13 billion websites in the world. 18% of these websites are active, and 82% are inactive.

Source: Siteefy ^

The fact that there are over 1.13 billion websites in the world highlights the enormous growth of the internet and the increasing importance of online presence for businesses, organizations, and individuals. It also indicates the high level of competition in the online space.

Overall, this fact underscores the need for regular updates and maintenance of websites to keep them relevant and engaging for visitors. It also highlights the importance of effective website design, content, and marketing strategies to attract and retain traffic in the highly competitive online space.

2024 Web Hosting Statistics & Facts That You Need To Know

Here is a list of the most recent, up-to-date web hosting statistics and interesting facts and trends about this billion-dollar industry. Let’s begin!

How many web hosting providers are there?

Worldwide, there are over 330,000 web hosting providers.

Source: WebTribunal ^

Today, the number of web hosting providers is pretty high, so no one can keep track of the exact number of providers

Considering that the number of websites and apps is continuously growing, it’s more than likely that the number of hosting services will also grow. That pretty much means there will be quite a competition between these businesses.

Right now, these are the 13 cheapest and most popular web hosting providers worldwide: 

Hostinger is a Lithuanian web hosting provider that offers the most affordable pricing plans on the web hosting market. 

It’s the perfect solution for small and medium-sized businesses, solo website owners, and startups that don’t have a high percentage of organic website traffic daily. More than 1.3% of websites from all over the world use Hostinger as their web hosting solution.

What’s the most expensive domain in 2024?

The most expensive domain name ever sold has come to light — at $872 million.

Source: GoDaddy ^

Ever wondered what the most expensive domain is? It’s Cars.com, which cost an astonishing amount of $872 million

The business that owns this domain also has a very high value — $2.5 billion.

After Cars.com, these are the four other domains whose value is extremely high (but still lower than Cars.com): 

  • Insurance.com — $35.6 million
  • VacationRentals.com — $35 million
  • PrivateJet.com — $30.18 million
  • Voice.com — $30 million

What’s the most popular TLD in 2024?

52.8 percent of global websites use a .com top-level domain.

Source: Statista ^

Well, this one’s pretty much expected — .com remains the most commonly used domain on a global scale

So far, approximately 52.8% of domains use .com as their preferred top-level domain (TLD). 

Since it became so popular and so many legitimate businesses use it, it adds a particular value of credibility to a website.

The second most frequently used TLD is .org — about 4.4% of domains use it. Other popular TLDs are:

  • .edu — websites for educational purposes
  • .gov — governmental websites 
  • .org — non-profit organizations and civil associations’ website

What’s the largest domain registrar in 2024?

GoDaddy is the world’s largest and trusted domain registrar that empowers people like you with creative ideas to succeed online.

Source: GoDaddy, Domain Name Stats ^

GoDaddy is not only known for being one of the best web hosting providers; it’s also quite well-known for being the most commonly used domain registrar. 

With over 84 million registered domains and 21 million clients on a global scale, GoDaddy is the leading domain registrar. 

Right now, GoDaddy’s biggest competitor is NameCheap, with over 18 million registered domains and a 2.86% global market share.

Who’s the leader in cloud solutions in 2024?

GoDaddy is clearly the leader in the field of web hosting and domain market. But it is Amazon AWS that is the leader in providing cloud solutions.

Source: Enterprise Apps Today ^

Although GoDaddy might be the leading web hosting and domain registrar provider, Amazon AWS is — without a doubt — the most commonly used cloud solution provider. 

So far, it has approximately a 64% cloud solutions share and a continuous annual growth of about 40% in the past nine years. 

Amazon AWS is the preferred option by websites in over 190 countries. Netflix, one of the most popular online streaming platforms, is powered by Amazon AWS, accounting for approximately one-third of the overall worldwide internet traffic in high usage periods. 

What’s more, GoDaddy owns additional hosting providers: LA-based Media Temple and London-based Host Europe Group.

How much does it cost to buy and hold a domain name?

On average, it costs around $10-15 annually to purchase and hold a domain name.

Source: Domain.com ^

It costs approximately $10 to $15 to purchase a domain or renew an existing domain name. Although it might sound like buying a domain is not expensive at all, there are hidden fees that most domain buyers are not even aware of.

Most of these hidden fees are explained in detail in the “Terms of Service” contracts that all domain registrars give to their clients. 

As we’ve already mentioned, specific domain names have an extremely high value that only multimillionaire companies can afford. Some can cost thousands of dollars, and some even more — up to hundreds of millions.

What’s up with “green hosting”?

Green hosting is gradually becoming a necessity.

Source: Daily Host News ^

Green hosting has slowly but surely become one of the most popular types of web hosting services worldwide. Since it’s powered by energy that’s 100% renewable and comes from different sustainable sources, this type of hosting is entirely eco-friendly

Green hosting helps decrease the carbon footprint and the percentage of greenhouse gas emissions, which have increased in the last few years due to novel digital technologies. 

The most eco-conscious and sustainable web hosting company is GreenGeeks, which launched 15 years ago. GreenGeeks buys renewable power credits (wind energy) at a price of 300% of what they use. Right now, they have over 55,000 customers and 600,000 hosted websites. 

Another popular eco-friendly web hosting provider is A2 Hosting — they partnered with Carbonfund and started to recycle their old hardware. Due to their efforts, they’ve neutralized a high percentage of greenhouse gas — over 2 million pounds.

How big is Google Cloud?

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Google Cloud brought in 7.32 billion U.S. dollars in revenue.

Source: Statista ^

According to the latest statistics on the market share of website hosting providers, Google Cloud holds approximately 8.09% of the market share. With 21 data centers worldwide, Google Cloud’s hosting is the choice of over 10 million users. 

Almost 39 million websites use the Google Cloud Platform. Some of these websites are owned by multinational companies, such as Snapchat, Coca-Cola, and Spotify.

Is WordPress still popular?

WordPress is used by 63.4% of all the websites whose content management system we know.

Source: W3Techs ^

WordPress is the most commonly used content management system globally. In 2024, approximately 63.4% of websites use WordPress as their preferred online platform for website management. 

To use WordPress, you need to have a unique domain and a web hosting provider. Some of the most popular websites that use WordPress are the following: 

  • Sony 
  • Vogue
  • The New York Times
  • Forbes
  • Yelp 
  • eBay 
  • CNN
  • Reuters 
  • Samsung  
  • IBM

Shopify is another popular content management system with a 6.6% market share, followed by:

  • Wix — 2.8% market share
  • Squarespace — 2.7% market share
  • Joomla — 2.6% market share

Where are most web hosting companies located?

With almost 5000 active web host companies, North America hosts the majority of the web host providers.

Source: Digital Information World ^

Approximately 5000 web hosting companies are based in North America, followed by Germany and the United Kingdom.

North America’s market share is approximately 51.40%, Germany’s 11.71%, and the United Kingdom’s 4.11%.

Questions & Answers

What is web hosting?

As the name suggests, web hosting is a service that hosts your website and ensures that it stays updated and accessible.

Hosting companies provide web hosting with all the essential resources and web hosting technology to ensure your website’s functionality and safety from malware and other external factors.

Some of the primary responsibilities of web hosting providers are to:

– Make sure the server is 100% functioning and running 
– Store website files 
– Update your website with the latest security measures 
– Protect your website from errors, hackers, and malware and other cybersecurity threats
– Transfer all your website’s data to the browsers of website visitors 

What is the number of web hosting providers on a global scale?

So far, there are more than 330,000 hosting providers globally. Hosting providers offer different pricing plans that you can usually subscribe to monthly or annually. Once you subscribe to a project, you’ll be provided with specific hosting features and services.

In most cases, web hosting businesses will ask you to have a domain they can host. Some platforms, like the all-inclusive website builder and hosting provider Wix, can offer you to buy a domain through their website. 

What are the main types of web hosting?

Web hosting providers can host websites in several ways, such as: 

Shared hosting: This type of web hosting is the most affordable compared to the rest. As the name suggests, hosting providers offer shared services and manage several websites simultaneously by using one server system. Although this option is cheaper than the rest, it certainly comes with a price — often, a website’s accessibility can be disrupted because only one server is used for multiple web platforms. Shared hosting is the best option for websites that don’t have a high percentage of organic traffic.

Dedicated hosting: With this type of hosting, web hosting providers use one server and additional hosting resources for each customer. Although dedicated hosting is a bit more expensive than shared hosting, it also provides a much safer hosting environment, which is essential for websites with a high volume of organic traffic on a daily basis. This type of hosting provides websites with a flexible environment, a high level of privacy, and improved website performance. With most subscription plans that include dedicated hosting, clients also get premium customer support if they pay for dedicated hosting.

Cloud hosting: Cloud hosting, or cloud VPS hosting, is an innovative method that provides websites with shared hosting resources, aiming to reduce hosting costs while maintaining low chances for service disruptions. Physical and virtual cloud servers connect to one network and host several websites or mobile apps at the same time, offering accessibility, scalability, and a more affordable service compared to dedicated hosting.

Managed hosting: With managed hosting, websites get limited access to a server that offers dedicated hosting without a series of administrative features and services. The hosting resources are not shared with another website, and website owners select their operating systems, while their service providers are in charge of website management, administration, and customer support.

Virtual private servers: These servers are known as VPS, and they provide hosting by storing website files in a so-called dedicated space. One server is used for several websites, like shared hosting, but the hosting environment is quite different. Web hosting providers use a hypervisor, a virtual layer, which divides the physical server into various compartments, which run their software and operating system. Therefore, each website is hosted in an independent environment.

What makes web servers essential for website accessibility?

You can’t have a fully functional, accessible, and updated website without web servers — this basically means that they’re vital internet features. Without them, a website simply cannot function or exist

Web servers manage and process HTTPS and HTTP responses and requests; they transmit a website’s data to the website visitor’s computer.  

Web servers are primarily used to process and manage HTTP/HTTPS requests and responses from the client system. 

The two most popular web servers that dominate the web server business are Apache and Nginx. Nginx holds approximately 34.2% of market shares, and Apache 31.2%.

What is the definition of a domain name?

A domain name is basically the website’s name — you can’t have a website without a domain name. You can purchase a domain name through a domain registrar.

Most domains cost from $10 to $15; however, some can even cost thousands or millions of dollars. It all comes down to how popular or influential the domain name is. 

Domain names point to an Internet Protocol address with 10 unique digits. They exist because it’s much easier to remember an actual name instead of 10 digits.

The most commonly known domain name globally is Google.com, and the most popular domain name registrar is GoDaddy, with a 12,26% market share.

Web hosting remains one of the essential services of the 21st century. Due to the increased engagement in internet usage globally, researchers are expecting that the demand for web hosting services and resources will continue to rise even more in the next few years. 

If you’d like to find out more about web hosting, don’t forget to check out our latest articles on: 

Sources

If you are interested in more statistics, check out our 2024 Internet statistics page here.

Mathias Ahlgren is the CEO and founder of Website Rating, steering a global team of editors and writers. He holds a master's in information science and management. His career pivoted to SEO after early web development experiences during university. With over 15 years in SEO, digital marketing, and web developmens. His focus also includes website security, evidenced by a certificate in Cyber Security. This diverse expertise underpins his leadership at Website Rating.

The "WSR Team" is the collective group of expert editors and writers specializing in technology, internet security, digital marketing, and web development. Passionate about the digital realm, they produce well-researched, insightful, and accessible content. Their commitment to accuracy and clarity makes Website Rating a trusted resource for staying informed in the dynamic digital world.

Lindsay Liedke

Lindsay is the Chief Editor at Website Rating, she plays a pivotal role in shaping the site's content. She leads a dedicated team of editors and technical writers, focusing on areas such as productivity, online learning, and AI writing. Her expertise ensures the delivery of insightful and authoritative content in these evolving fields.

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