Who do I recommend for hosting in 2026?

Introduction

Throughout this post we will explore who I recommend to new clients to use as their host and the main reasons why. Covering how this host solves most of the modern web challenges that are thrown at it such as Speed, Scalability and Ease of Use.

We will also take a look at the integrations that make them a solid solution for most web scenarios.

Netlify

It may come as no surprise to people in the industry, but Netlify is my general recommendation for a hosting platform for most new clients. There are, of course, exceptions, but as an all-round platform, I find it difficult to beat their offering.

Fast Hosting Built With Jamstack in Mind

Netlify is built from the ground up with the Jamstack in mind, making it the perfect platform for modern, high-performance web experiences. (If you’re new to the concept, check out our post - The Jamstack: What Is It?)

What makes this so efficient is Netlify's global edge network, it distributes pre-rendered static pages to edge nodes worldwide, ensuring your website is ready to be served with low latency whenever visitors request it.

If you’ve managed a website before, you’re probably familiar with SSL certificates. Netlify makes them effortless and free unlike many hosting providers that charge an annual fee.

Seamless Deployments

When building a website, it’s natural for content to change over time. Need a fresh build with updated information? No problem. With the GitHub or GitLab integration, any file changes you push are automatically queued and built within your project, you can also toggle this automation on or off based on your workflow with one button click.

Tasks that once felt tedious, like triggering manual builds, upgrading Node versions, or changing your build image, are now simple and intuitive with Netlify. It’s designed so that anyone from developers to content editors can manage deployments with ease.

The Free Package

No list would be complete without a nod to the Free tier on Netlify. It contains enough free credits each month that you can get your website off the ground and start gaining traction. Then you can easily scale with Netlify far above and beyond this.

Forms

This has to be one of Netlify's strongest areas. Netlify Forms are simply brilliant. It’s a feature that will definitely keep me on the platform time and time again and more importantly clients love them.

Ease of Use for Web Designers

Instead of paying extra for a web designer to configure complex hosting platforms, Netlify streamlines the process. With just a few clicks, it automatically detects your project’s setup and builds it accordingly saving time, money, and effort.

This is further extended by the ease of use of their Serverless Functions, which bring a whole new level of functionality to static sites. They allow you to add dynamic behaviour without needing to manage a traditional backend. You can even configure OAuth connections directly in the UI, making integrations with third-party services much simpler.

Honourable Mention

When discussing the best hosting providers, I can’t ignore Cloudflare. It offers industry-leading services, albeit in what some consider a slightly less user-friendly package. For many use cases, though, it’s hard to beat.

For larger or more media-heavy sites I often recommend a combination of Cloudflare and Netlify. Cloudflare R2 is particularly useful for image hosting, with a generous free tier and an easy way to manage assets. Content is then delivered via their CDN, ensuring fast global access.

The Importance of Platform Flexibility

In such a competitive and fast-paced market, it’s important to stay flexible. This means choosing a framework that can easily be ported to a new platform is now more valuable than ever. For example, an 11ty or Next.js site can be picked up and deployed on a wide variety of hosting services. Yes, some changes will be needed - for example a new form provider as mentioned above, but that’s a much easier job than having to change framework.

Conclusion

Netlify strikes a great balance of performance, simplicity, and scalability, making it a standout choice in today’s web ecosystem. Whether you’re an indie designer launching your first project or part of an enterprise team managing large-scale applications, Netlify adapts seamlessly to your workflow.

By embracing modern best practices from the Jamstack architecture to automation and edge computing.

If you want to see a professional site built using Nextjs, hosted on Netlify with media on Cloudflare take a look at Jake Bryant Creative.

At the end of the day, choosing a hosting provider comes down to your specific needs. Not every platform is right for every project, and this is simply my recommendation based on experience. If you prefer an alternative, that’s completely fine, often the “best” choice is simply what works for you. The hosting market is full of strong options, including Vercel, Cloudflare, and many others.