So you need to get a website online. You've probably spent the last hour going down the rabbit hole of hosting providers — comparing prices, reading specs, wondering if you actually need 100 GB of storage for a website that has three pages. Been there.
Let me tell you about Hostking — a South Africa-based hosting company that's been around for 15+ years and has a genuinely interesting pitch: they'll build your website for you, for free, when you sign up on their Starter plan or higher. No, that's not a typo.
👉 Check out Hostking's current plans and pricing
Hostking has been helping people get their websites online since the early 2000s, hosting over 8,000+ domains through Hetzner Data Center infrastructure. They're a smaller, more personal operation compared to the big-name global hosts — which, depending on your personality, is either a concern or a feature.
Their product lineup covers pretty much everything a small-to-medium website needs: shared web hosting, WordPress hosting, Linux VPS servers, reseller hosting, business email, SSL certificates, and domain registration. They've also recently added free website design to their Starter and Premium plans — and that's the thing that sets them apart most visibly right now.
Here's the deal. When you sign up for the Starter plan (or the Premium plan), Hostking builds you a professional, mobile-friendly, one-page website at no extra charge. They show real examples on their website — law firms, photographers, community radio stations, small businesses. The sites look clean and modern.
Their explanation for why they do this is refreshingly honest: they earn from long-term hosting customers, so instead of charging thousands upfront for a design, they invest in building your site and recoup it through affordable monthly fees. No hidden charges, no contracts, cancel anytime.
For a lot of small businesses and first-timers, this is kind of a big deal. Getting a decent website designed can easily cost $500–$2,000+ elsewhere. Getting it bundled into hosting at $4.50/month? That's a different conversation.
👉 See the Starter plan with free website design
All plans run on LiteSpeed web servers with NVMe SSD storage, which is the fast, modern setup you want. DirectAdmin is included as the control panel (not cPanel, but perfectly functional and lighter on resources). Redis object caching and SSH access come with the paid plans.
There's also a 14-day free trial on the micro-tier plan — no payment required upfront. Good way to test the platform before committing.
| Plan | Price (Annual) | Renews At | Websites | Storage | Emails | Free Website Design |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | $0 | — | 1 | 5 GB NVME | None | ❌ |
| Micro | $2.50/mo ($30/yr) | $5/mo | 1 | 20 GB NVME | 10 | ❌ |
| Starter | $4.50/mo ($54/yr) | $9/mo | 2 | 50 GB NVME | 25 | ✅ |
| Premium | $13/mo ($156/yr) | $26/mo | 100 | 100 GB NVME | Unlimited | ✅ |
All paid plans include free SSL, free domain on annual billing, unlimited bandwidth, LiteSpeed server, Redis caching, SSH access, malware/virus protection, and a free website builder.
👉 Start with the Free 14-Day Trial
👉 Get the Micro Plan — $2.50/mo
👉 Get the Premium Plan — $13/mo
If you need dedicated resources, full root access, and the ability to run custom applications, the VPS plans are where it gets interesting. These run on KVM virtualization with NVMe disks, 10 Gbps networking, and DDoS protection. They come with instant provisioning — up in minutes, not hours.
| Plan | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 vCPU | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB NVME | 20 TB | $14/mo |
| 4 vCPU | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB NVME | 20 TB | $28/mo |
| 8 vCPU | 8 | 16 GB | 320 GB NVME | 20 TB | $49/mo |
| 12 vCPU | 12 | 24 GB | 480 GB NVME | 20 TB | $95/mo |
The billing is flat monthly with no complicated bandwidth or IOPS charges — what you see is what you pay. Semi-managed support is included, covering things like boot issues, initial module installation, OS updates, and reinstallation.
👉 View the 2 vCPU VPS — $14/mo
👉 View the 8 vCPU VPS — $49/mo
Free website migration. If you're moving from another host, Hostking handles the migration for free — all files, databases, and emails moved with no downtime. Their team manages the whole thing.
30-day money-back guarantee. Standard risk-free window. If it's not working for you within 30 days, you get your money back.
1-click installs via Softaculous. WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, PrestaShop — 50+ apps available. Takes about 90 seconds to spin up a WordPress site.
LiteSpeed + Redis is genuinely fast. This is the same performance stack that more expensive hosts charge a premium for. Having it on a $2.50/month plan is notable.
The customer feedback on Hostking is mixed in the way most hosting reviews are — happy customers tend to quietly stay happy; frustrated ones write reviews. A few consistent themes show up: the support team (specifically staff like Johan and Dean get name-checked in reviews) is responsive and knowledgeable. The live chat and migration process get positive mentions regularly.
On the flip side, some longer-term customers have noted that support responsiveness has varied over the years. As with any smaller host, the experience can depend on the time of day and ticket volume.
The free website design service has been praised by newer customers in particular — getting a proper website handed to them as part of the hosting package seems to be a genuine surprise for people expecting to have to figure it out themselves.
Good fit for:
- Small businesses and freelancers who want hosting + a professional website without a big upfront cost
- Bloggers and developers who want LiteSpeed performance at budget pricing
- Anyone moving from a more expensive host who wants to try something leaner
- Resellers and agencies who need flexible, scalable plans
Less ideal for:
- Very high-traffic sites that need enterprise-grade infrastructure
- Users who need cPanel specifically (Hostking uses DirectAdmin)
Hostking doesn't try to be everything to everyone. What they do is offer solid, modern hosting infrastructure at prices that are genuinely lower than most comparable options, with the free website design offer being the most distinctive thing on the table right now.
If you're a small business that needs a website built and hosted, the Starter plan at $4.50/month is one of the better value propositions you'll find anywhere. For developers and power users, the VPS plans are competitively priced with good specs.
The 14-day free trial means there's no reason not to just try it.