Green Hosting can often be a misleading term because there are no definite requirements for claiming a “green” status. Governing bodies, like the FTC, only look for companies to provide some effort for bettering the environment. Generally, hosts will do one of two things in order to claim that status: either implement several technologies and policies to reduce power consumption and use renewable sources of energy or buy carbon credits in order to claim they are offsetting their carbon footprint. All of the hosts below fall into the former group, sortable by popularity or by lowest price.
Hatchling Plan by HostGator
Hosting Type: Shared
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Websites: 1
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Operating System: Linux
Starter Plan (Builder Hosting)
Websites: 1
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $3.84Regular Price: $4.99
Baby Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $3.95Regular Price: $9.95
Hatchling Plan (Cloud Hosting)
Websites: 1
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $4.95Regular Price: $8.95
Ecosite Starter Plan by GreenGeeks
Hosting Type: Shared
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Websites: Unlimited
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Operating System: Linux
Ecosite Pro Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $6.95Regular Price: $14.95
Ecosite Premium Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $16.95Regular Price: $24.95
1 GB RAM Plan (VPS Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: 25 GB
Bandwidth: 1000 GB
Today’s Price: $39.95
Lite Plan by A2 Hosting
Hosting Type: Shared
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Websites: 1
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Operating System: Linux
Swift Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $3.70Regular Price: $9.99
Lite Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: 1
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $4.90Regular Price: $9.99
Unmanaged Entry Plan (VPS Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: 20 GB
Bandwidth: 2 TB
Today’s Price: $5.00
WP Starter Plan by FatCow
Hosting Type: Wordpress
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Websites: 1
Email Accounts: Unlimited
Operating System: Linux
Original Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $4.08Regular Price: $12.95
WP Essential Plan (Wordpress Hosting)
Websites: 1
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $6.95Regular Price: $12.49
Basic Plan (VPS Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: 40 GB
Bandwidth: 1 TB
Promo Price: $19.99Regular Price: $24.99
Starter Plan by DreamHost
Hosting Type: Shared
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Websites: 1
Email Accounts: Contact provider
Operating System: Linux
Standard Plan (Builder Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Contact provider
Bandwidth: Contact provider
Today’s Price: $4.95
All Access Plan (Builder Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Contact provider
Bandwidth: Contact provider
Today’s Price: $7.95
Unlimited Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $7.95Regular Price: $10.95
Beginner Plan by Liquid Web
Hosting Type: eCommerce
Disk Space: Contact provider
Bandwidth: Contact provider
Websites: 1
Email Accounts: Contact provider
Operating System: Linux
Standard Plan (VPS Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: 40 GB
Bandwidth: 10 TB
Today’s Price: $59.00
Basic Plan (eCommerce Hosting)
Websites: 1
Disk Space: Contact provider
Bandwidth: Contact provider
Today’s Price: $99.00
Professional Plan (Wordpress Hosting)
Websites: 10
Disk Space: 50 GB
Bandwidth: 5 TB
Today’s Price: $99.00
Starter Plan by HostPapa
Hosting Type: Builder
Disk Space: Contact provider
Bandwidth: Contact provider
Websites: 1
Email Accounts: Contact provider
Operating System: Linux
Starter Plan (eCommerce Hosting)
Websites: 1
Disk Space: 100 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $3.95Regular Price: $7.99
Starter Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: 2
Disk Space: 100 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $3.95Regular Price: $7.99
Starter Plan (Wordpress Hosting)
Websites: 2
Disk Space: 100 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Promo Price: $3.95Regular Price: $8.99
Medium Plan by Contabo
Hosting Type: Shared
Disk Space: 50 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Websites: 11
Email Accounts: 1000
Operating System: Linux
Note: Prices for this host are based on exchange rates that are subject to change without notice.
VPS 300 Plan (VPS Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: 300 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Today’s Price: $4.56
VPS S SSD Plan (VPS Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: 200 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Today’s Price: $5.71
Starter Pro Plan by Heart Internet
Hosting Type: Shared
Disk Space: 10 GB
Bandwidth: 50 GB
Websites: 1
Email Accounts: 1000
Operating System: Linux
Note: Prices for this host are based on exchange rates that are subject to change without notice.
Home Pro Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: 1
Disk Space: 100 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Today’s Price: $13.99
Business Pro Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: 3
Disk Space: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Today’s Price: $19.08
Base Plan (Shared Hosting)
Websites: Unlimited
Disk Space: 50 GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Today’s Price: $38.18
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Buying Carbon Credits Vs Green Technologies
Carbon credits effectively act as a permit to produce a certain amount of emissions and reduce carbon footprints. Suppliers/providers in a given industry all pledge to not exceed a net amount of emissions, or the amount is regulated by governing body, and the credits can then be sold amongst all involved parties. By buying carbon credits, web hosts raise their emissions caps in order to remain compliant and avoid action taken against them.
While it is a step forward for a for an industry to agree to a cap and trade system, it can be a shortcut for companies relying solely on buying carbon credits. That said, it is nearly impossible – both logistically and financially – for web hosts to use only renewable sources of energy; most hosts do buy offset credits to some degree. Companies opt for technologies and policies that actively work to lower carbon emissions, like:
- Renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, and even water
- Data centers built with energy-efficient power grids and hardware
- Recycling hardware, equipment, computers, and of course, company waste
- Ensuring proper disposal of hardware and equipment
- Plant trees
It’s impossible to distinguish the source of power on the grid. This allows companies buying carbon credits to claim they are green and even using renewable sources of energy.
Impact Of Green Technologies On Hosting Cost Or Performance
While everyone wants to imagine a better world for all of us, businesses have to worry about their bottom line and service quality in order to continue operations. Fortunately, the impact of green technologies on the cost and performance of web hosting is minimal. While companies opting to be green incur a higher cost of operations, parts of this cost can be mitigated through tax breaks from state and federal authorities. The end result is hosting that is competitive with the rest of the industry in both pricing and services offered.
Whether or not a web host has taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint at their facilities, all hosts have to rely on a mix of renewable energies and carbon credits to meet and claim compliance. As a result, web hosts use the same sources and grid for power, and there is no perceivable impact on performance.
