The 'Unlimited' Web Hosting Lie (Yes, Even the Hosts I Recommend)
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Every hosting company advertising “unlimited” hosting is lying to you.
Including the ones I recommend.
I make money from Scala Hosting and ChemiCloud. Both advertise “unlimited” hosting.
Both are lying.
So is Bluehost. So is HostGator. So is SiteGround. So is GoDaddy. So is literally every shared hosting company that uses the word “unlimited” or “unmetered.”
The only honest hosting I recommend? Hetzner. They give you 20GB NVMe SSD, 20TB bandwidth, and 2GB RAM for €4.49/month, clearly stated. No “unlimited” bullshit.
This article is me calling out the entire industry, including my own affiliate partners. Because this shit needs to stop.
⚡ 30-Second Verdict
- Every “unlimited” hosting plan has hidden limits buried in Terms of Service
- Bluehost/HostGator “unlimited”: Actually 200,000 inodes, 25% CPU, 10GB database
- The math proves it’s impossible: 1 server ÷ 1,000 “unlimited” users = 4GB each
- It’s legal because fine print says “subject to fair use policy”
- Even my paid recommendations lie about this (Scala, ChemiCloud use “unlimited”)
- Only honest option: Hetzner VPS with clearly stated limits ($0 commission)
What “Unlimited” Actually Means
Here’s what “unlimited” means in web hosting marketing:
“Unlimited until you hit the limits we buried in our Terms of Service.”
It’s not fraud. It’s not technically illegal. It’s just… deeply misleading.
The FTC has guidelines on deceptive advertising, but hosting companies get around it with “fair use” policies hidden in their ToS.
The Fine Print Everyone Ignores
When Bluehost says “unlimited bandwidth,” they’re not lying - they’re just not finishing the sentence.
The full sentence is: “Unlimited bandwidth… until you use too much, at which point we’ll throttle you or tell you to upgrade.”
It’s the same with every hosting company.
The Real Limits (Pulled From Actual ToS)
Let me show you what “unlimited” actually means by quoting the Terms of Service that nobody reads.
Bluehost’s “Unlimited” Limits
According to Bluehost’s official resource limit documentation:
- Inodes: 200,000 maximum (that’s files + folders)
- CPU usage: Roughly 8% of CPU cycles
- Database tables: 5,000 maximum
- Total database storage: 10GB
- Single database size: 5GB maximum
Translation: You get “unlimited” storage until you have 200,000 files. Then you hit the limit.
You get “unlimited” bandwidth until your CPU usage spikes. Then you get throttled.
HostGator’s “Unlimited” Limits
According to HostGator’s account limits:
- Inodes: 200,000 (removed from backups at 100,000)
- CPU usage: 25% maximum for 90 seconds
- Database tables: 5,000
- Total database storage: 10GB
- Single database size: 5GB
Translation: “Unlimited” means 25% CPU usage for 90 seconds. After that, they serve a cached version of your site.
When your traffic increases, your site breaks. Then support tells you to upgrade.
GoDaddy’s “Unlimited” Limits
According to GoDaddy’s own resource limits documentation, their “unlimited” plans have the following actual limits:
- Website connections: 100 maximum
- Active processes: 100 maximum
- Disk I/O: 1 MB/s maximum
Users on Web Hosting Talk report that GoDaddy throttles CPU, RAM, Disk I/O, number of processes, and SQL requests on shared hosting, with sites being suspended or slowed when hitting these undisclosed limits.
SiteGround’s “Unlimited” Limits
SiteGround advertises various plans but is notorious for CPU limits. According to detailed user reports:
- CPU limits that trigger account suspension
- Running a security scan can exceed limits (Wordfence scans trigger warnings)
- Forced upgrades due to “excessive CPU usage”
- No clearly stated CPU allocation - they just tell you when you’ve used “too much”
Translation: Even basic WordPress maintenance can hit their “unlimited” CPU limits. Then you’re forced to upgrade from $4.99/month to $29.99/month or higher.
My Own Recommendations Aren’t Innocent Either
Let me be clear: some of the hosts I recommend also do this shit.
- Markets “unmetered” bandwidth and storage
- Has resource limits (less restrictive than Bluehost, but they exist)
- Will tell you to upgrade if you consistently max out resources
- Advertises “unlimited” websites and storage
- Has 500,000 inode limit (2.5x higher than Bluehost, but still a limit)
- CPU and RAM are limited to your plan tier
The difference: Scala and ChemiCloud have higher limits and don’t aggressively throttle. But calling it “unlimited” is still marketing bullshit.
Why “Unlimited” Is Physically Impossible
Let’s do the math that proves this is all bullshit.
Storage Limits
A typical shared hosting server has maybe 4TB of storage.
If they sell “unlimited storage” to 1,000 customers, and each customer actually uses “unlimited” storage…
4TB ÷ 1,000 customers = 4GB per customer.
That’s your “unlimited” storage.
Bandwidth Limits
A 10 Gbps network connection (standard for hosting servers) can handle about 3.25TB of transfer per month if maxed out 24/7.
If 1,000 customers all use “unlimited” bandwidth:
3.25TB ÷ 1,000 customers = 3.25GB per customer per month.
That’s your “unlimited” bandwidth.
CPU Limits
A server with 32 CPU cores running at 100% capacity can process approximately 99 requests per second (based on average PHP execution time of 0.323 seconds).
If 1,000 websites share those cores equally:
99 requests/second ÷ 1,000 sites = 0.099 requests/second per site.
That’s roughly 8,553 page views per day per website if equally distributed.
For a $5/month “unlimited” plan, you’re getting at most 1/1000th of a server.
The math doesn’t lie. “Unlimited” is physically impossible.
What Happens When You Hit The Limits
Here’s how the scam plays out in practice:
Stage 1: Everything works fine
You sign up for “unlimited” hosting. Your WordPress site runs. You’re happy.
Your site uses maybe 1GB of storage and gets 1,000 visits a day. You’re nowhere near the hidden limits.
Stage 2: You hit the first limit
Your site grows. You add WooCommerce. You upload product images. You install plugins.
One day you hit 200,000 inodes.
Your backups stop working.
You contact support. They tell you that you’re using “excessive resources” and need to “optimize” or upgrade to a higher plan.
Stage 3: Traffic increases, site breaks
Your traffic grows to 10,000 visits/day. Your CPU usage spikes.
Your site starts showing 5xx errors.
Support response: “You’re using too much CPU. You need to upgrade to our VPS plan.”
The VPS plan costs $30/month instead of $5/month.
Stage 4: You upgrade or migrate
You either:
- Pay 6x more for hosting that should have handled your traffic
- Migrate to another host and start the cycle over
- Deal with a slow, broken website
This is the business model.
Why Every Host Does This
Here’s why this scam is industry-wide:
1. Marketing necessity
If GoDaddy advertises “unlimited” and Bluehost advertises “500GB storage,” customers pick GoDaddy.
Even though both have the same actual limits, the word “unlimited” wins.
2. The 80/20 rule
80% of customers will never hit the limits.
Most small business websites use less than 1GB storage, 100GB bandwidth/month, and minimal CPU.
Hosting companies bet on this. They oversell servers knowing most customers won’t use their “unlimited” resources.
3. Built-in upsell mechanism
When the 20% of power users hit limits, they’re forced to upgrade.
That $5/month customer becomes a $30/month customer.
Or they leave, and the host doesn’t care because they already collected the annual prepayment.
4. Everyone else is doing it
Even hosts that want to be honest can’t compete if they’re the only one listing actual limits.
It’s a prisoner’s dilemma. The first one to be honest loses.
Is This Legal?
Technically, yes.
The FTC regulates deceptive advertising, but hosting companies stay legal by:
-
Burying limits in Terms of Service
- “Unlimited subject to our Acceptable Use Policy”
- “Fair use applies to all unlimited plans”
-
Vague enforcement language
- “Excessive use of resources”
- “May impact server performance”
- “At our discretion”
-
Small damages
- Individual customers lose $50-200 max
- Not worth suing over
- No class action because ToS requires arbitration
So they get away with it.
What Honest Hosting Actually Looks Like
If you want actual transparency, here’s what you need to look for:
True VPS Hosting
Hetzner Cloud VPS - €4.49/month (~$4.90)
What you actually get:
- 1 dedicated vCPU core (100% of it, not shared)
- 2GB RAM (dedicated, not shared)
- 20GB NVMe SSD (actual limit clearly stated)
- 20TB bandwidth (clearly stated, not “unlimited”)
This is honesty. You know exactly what you’re getting.
”Honest” Shared Hosting
Scala Hosting - Actually shows resource limits
While they market “unmetered,” they’re more transparent about what you actually get:
- Dedicated resources (not oversold)
- Clear upgrade path when you need more
- Don’t aggressively throttle like Bluehost
ChemiCloud - Lists actual CPU/RAM allocations
- 3 CPU cores + 3GB RAM (clearly stated)
- 500,000 inodes (stated upfront)
- Scalable to 6 cores/6GB without forced upgrades
They’re not perfect, but they’re better than hosts that hide everything.
How To Check Your Host’s Real Limits
If you’re on “unlimited” hosting right now, here’s how to find out what you actually get:
1. Read the Terms of Service
Search for:
- “Resource usage”
- “Acceptable use policy”
- “Fair use”
- “Inode limits”
- “CPU limits”
Every host has these limits buried somewhere.
2. Check your current usage
For cPanel users:
# Check inode count
find . -printf "%i\n" | sort -u | wc -l
# Check disk usage
du -shFor Plesk users:
- Websites & Domains → Statistics
- Look for “Inodes Used”
3. Contact support and ask directly
Email them: “What are the actual resource limits on my unlimited plan?”
Get it in writing.
4. Monitor for throttling
Use uptime monitors like:
- UptimeRobot (free)
- Pingdom
If you see downtime patterns at high traffic times, you’re being throttled.
When You Should Actually Upgrade
Sometimes the upsell is legit. Here’s when:
You actually need more resources
If you’re running:
- E-commerce with 10,000+ products
- High-traffic blog (50,000+ visits/day)
- Media-heavy site (lots of video)
Shared “unlimited” hosting was never right for you.
Your site outgrew shared hosting
Signs you need VPS or cloud:
- Regular 5xx errors during traffic spikes
- Slow load times despite optimization
- Plugin/theme conflicts due to PHP limits
- Can’t install needed software due to restrictions
But not when they say to upgrade at 10K visits/day
If your host is telling you to upgrade from a $5/month plan because you get 10,000 visits/day, they’re scamming you.
A properly configured shared hosting plan should easily handle 10K visits/day.
Compare that to ChemiCloud which can handle this traffic on their entry-level plan, or Hetzner’s cheapest VPS which could handle 50K+ visits/day.
The Bottom Line
“Unlimited” hosting is a lie.
Not because hosts are evil (though some are), but because:
- It’s physically impossible
- Everyone does it
- Customers won’t buy plans with stated limits
- The ToS makes it legal
What You Should Do
- Check your actual usage against your host’s hidden limits
- If you’re under 50% of limits, you’re fine on shared hosting
- If you’re hitting limits, migrate to VPS or better shared hosting
- Stop believing “unlimited” - it’s always a lie
Don’t Trust Me — Verify Everything
Seriously. Don’t take my word for it:
- Read your host’s Terms of Service (search “resource” and “acceptable use”)
- Check ToS for hosts mentioned: Bluehost, HostGator
- Search Reddit for “[your host name] unlimited hosting limits”
- Use the commands above to check your current resource usage
If I’m full of shit, the ToS will prove it. That’s the point.
Full disclosure: I make money from Scala Hosting and ChemiCloud, both of which use “unlimited” marketing. I make $0 from Hetzner, which is the only truly honest option.
