West Host Essential, $ 3.75/mo. on Linux Shared

Name: Essential
Brand: West Host
SKU: p139528
Availability: InStock
Rating: 2.8 (16 reviews)

Essential has been added on Nov 7, 2025, Aggregate Rating (2.8 out of 10 from 16 reviews)

🔌 Hosted domains :	1
🆓 free domains :	1
📌 Dedicated IPs :	0
💳 Payment Methods :	Credit / Debit / Prepaid CardsPayPal
🔨 Control Panel :	[In-house]
🔧 Category :	BackupCDNWebsite BuilderE-CommerceDDoS Protection
✍️ Support Options :	EmailHelp DeskPhone / Toll-FreeLive ChatAvailable 24/7
⚑ Targeting :	US
💰 Money-back guarantee :	30 days
🚀 Uptime :	99.9 %

screenshot of Essential from westhost.com

See also initial Essential plan location on their website!

*📜 Plan description

Get started with one website, 25 GB storage, unmetered bandwidth, 10×1 GB databases, 25 subdomains and a 10 GB mailbox. A free domain is included on 1-year+ terms, and unlimited Let’s Encrypt SSL keeps traffic encrypted. You also get 80+ one-click apps, backups, FTP/SSH, phpMyAdmin and DNS management inside StackCP. Built-in protections cover DDoS mitigation, automatic malware scans, email AV/anti-spam and PCI-aligned practices, with Git integration for version control. Performance helpers—autoscaling, a free CDN and edge caching—are enabled by default so even entry-level sites load fast. This is a tidy launchpad for blogs, portfolios and simple stores that need predictable costs and a safety net.

All Westhost web hosting packages advertise 99.9% uptime and a 30-day money-back guarantee, plus 24/7 expert assistance via live chat, tickets and phone. Features common across the range include unlimited free SSL, free migration help, a user-friendly StackCP control panel, 80+ app installer (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento and more), cron jobs, raw access logs, site stats and web acceleration. Infrastructure adds a free CDN, edge caching, autoscaling and renewable-energy backed power. Security is layered with DDoS protection, daily malware scans, email antivirus/spam filtering and ecommerce-ready hardening, and you retain unlimited email forwarders. A StackCP Site Builder is available for quick page creation without code.

📄 Editorial Review

WestHost (founded in 1998 by Chris Russell, which is still the CEO), is a long-running hosting brand within THG Ingenuity (formerly UK2 Group acquisition in 2008). They position themselves as a straightforward provider of secure, cost-effective web services with a focus on entry-level and SMB use cases.

The current catalog centers on shared web hosting, email hosting, WordPress hosting, domain registration, a website builder and a paid security clean-up service.

Shared hosting highlights include a free domain, free mailboxes, and free wildcard SSL; higher tiers advertise unlimited disk space, unlimited MySQL databases, and unlimited websites. WordPress plans layer a guided installer and the broader plugin/theme ecosystem on top of the same infrastructure. The website builder line targets non-technical users with bundled domain, email, page limits by tier, and eCommerce features at the top end.

Email hosting remains a clear emphasis, offered in two tiers (Personal and Professional) with POP/IMAP, mobile sync, webmail, spam/virus protection, and optional mailbox storage upgrades. Domains are actively marketed with aggressive first-year promos and useful extras like DNS control, email forwarding, and a free one-page site.

Historically they offer VPS options (SSD, multiple Linux/FreeBSD choices), but those services—along with dedicated/bare metal—have been folded into THG’s broader Ingenuity Cloud Services. Public activity on the WestHost brand has slowed (e.g., older blog/social timelines), suggesting the brand now primarily maintains core shared, email, WordPress, domains, and builder offerings.

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The ideal starting point into shared hosting!
Save 40%
Billed for 24 month term.
1 Domain
~10,000 Visits Monthly
30 GB NVMe SSD
Unlimited Bandwidth
Free [...]