Afrinet Hosting Review: South African Web Hosting From R49.99/mo — Shared, WordPress & Cloud Plans Compared
So you're looking for web hosting in South Africa and you keep bumping into Afrinet. Fair enough — they're one of the more visible local options, and their pricing in rands is a real selling point when you're tired of watching exchange rates eat into your budget.
Let me walk you through what they actually offer, how the plans stack up, and who each one really makes sense for. No fluff, just the stuff you'd want a friend to tell you before you sign up.
Afrinet is a South African web hosting company offering shared hosting, WordPress hosting, email hosting, Linux cloud servers, reseller hosting, and eCommerce solutions. Everything is priced in ZAR, which is a genuine convenience if you're running a local business or freelancing in SA. Their infrastructure claims 100% uptime, 24/7 expert support, and free SSL certificates across plans.
The portal has over 35,000 clients on file, and the homepage testimonials paint a picture of a provider that customers find reliable for domain management, email, and small-to-medium websites.
👉 Browse all Afrinet hosting plans
If you're launching a personal site, a blog, or a small business page, shared hosting is the obvious starting point. Afrinet's shared hosting lineup uses mythology-themed names (classic move), and the entry-level plan currently shows a discounted rate of R49.99/month on a 12-month term — down from the standard R69.99/mo.
| Plan | Storage | Email Accounts | Sub Domains | MySQL DBs | Price | Get It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asgard | 5 GB SSD | 5 | 5 | 5 | R69.99/mo | Order Asgard |
| Valhalla | 10 GB SSD | 10 | 10 | 10 | R99.99/mo | Order Valhalla |
| Olympus | 15 GB SSD | 15 | 15 | 15 | R129.99/mo | Order Olympus |
| Elysium | Unlimited SSD | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | R399.99/mo | Order Elysium |
The Asgard plan is the obvious pick for a single site just getting started. The Elysium plan makes sense if you're managing multiple projects and don't want to think about limits — unlimited storage, unlimited email accounts, the whole deal.
All plans also include a free domain for the first year, free CDN, and a free SSL certificate when you go with a 12-month term. That's a solid bundle for the price point.
👉 Start with Afrinet Shared Hosting from R49.99/mo
Running WordPress? Afrinet has a dedicated WordPress hosting tier. The plans mirror the shared hosting specs but are optimised specifically for WP installs — faster load times, better security defaults, and one-click setup.
| Plan | Storage | Email Accounts | Sub Domains | MySQL DBs | Price | Get It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP Starter | 5 GB SSD | 5 | 5 | 5 | R69.99/mo | Order WP Starter |
| WP Business | 10 GB SSD | 10 | 10 | 10 | R99.99/mo | Order WP Business |
| WP Professional | 15 GB SSD | 15 | 15 | 15 | R129.99/mo | Order WP Professional |
| WP Agency | Unlimited SSD | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | R399.99/mo | Order WP Agency |
The WP Agency plan is the one to look at if you're a freelancer or agency managing multiple client sites. Unlimited everything at R399.99/mo is genuinely competitive for the South African market.
Sometimes you just need reliable business email without paying for a full website hosting package. Afrinet's email hosting starts at R49/month and includes weekly backups — which is a nice touch you don't always see at this price.
| Plan | Storage | Email Accounts | Backups | Price | Get It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scroll Email | 2 GB SSD | 5 | Weekly | R49.00/mo | Order Scroll |
| Runestone Email | 5 GB SSD | 10 | Weekly | R99.00/mo | Order Runestone |
| Seer Email | 10 GB SSD | 15 | Weekly | R149.00/mo | Order Seer |
| Prophecy Email | 30 GB SSD | Unlimited | Weekly | R289.00/mo | Order Prophecy |
The Prophecy Email plan at R289/mo with unlimited accounts and 30 GB of storage is the one small businesses with growing teams should be looking at.
If you need more control — custom software installs, higher traffic capacity, root access — Afrinet's Linux Cloud Servers are the step up. These are fully managed VPS-style servers with ECC RAM and SSD storage, running from R190/month all the way to R3,000/month for serious workloads.
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | SSD Storage | Static IP | Price | Get It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Server 1 | 1 core | 1 GB ECC | 20 GB | 1 IPv4 | R190/mo | Order CS1 |
| Cloud Server 2 | 1 core | 2 GB ECC | 50 GB | 1 IPv4 | R250/mo | Order CS2 |
| Cloud Server 3 | 2 cores | 2 GB ECC | 80 GB | 1 IPv4 | R380/mo | Order CS3 |
| Cloud Server 4 | 2 cores | 4 GB ECC | 100 GB | 1 IPv4 | R490/mo | Order CS4 |
| Cloud Server 5 | 4 cores | 8 GB ECC | 200 GB | 1 IPv4 | R899/mo | Order CS5 |
| Cloud Server 6 | 6 cores | 12 GB ECC | 300 GB | 1 IPv4 | R1,350/mo | Order CS6 |
| Cloud Server 7 | 8 cores | 16 GB ECC | 400 GB | 1 IPv4 | R1,790/mo | Order CS7 |
| Cloud Server 8 | 12 cores | 32 GB ECC | 500 GB | 1 IPv4 | R3,000/mo | Order CS8 |
The entry point at R190/month is reasonable for a dev environment or staging server. The mid-range Cloud Server 4 (2 cores, 4 GB RAM, 100 GB SSD) at R490/mo is probably the sweet spot for a growing business running a more demanding application.
👉 See all Afrinet Cloud Server options
Afrinet also handles domain registrations. Here's a quick look at what they charge:
- .co.za — R108/year
- .org.za — R108/year
- .com — R223/year (portal price) / R320 (main site price — check at checkout)
- .africa — R164/year
- .org — R149/year
- .io — R717/year
For local South African businesses, .co.za at R108/year is competitive and the obvious choice for brand credibility.
👉 Register your domain with Afrinet
Honestly, the value proposition here is pretty clear. If you're a South African small business owner, freelancer, or startup who wants hosting priced in rands, with local support, and straightforward plans — Afrinet ticks those boxes.
The shared and WordPress plans cover most use cases at prices that won't make your accountant cry. The cloud servers scale surprisingly well for the price in ZAR terms. And the email hosting, with weekly backups included even on the entry plan, is a solid standalone option for businesses that just need professional email without the complexity of a full hosting setup.
The free domain, free SSL, and free CDN bundled into annual plans are real additions — not marketing noise.