What are the alternatives to OVH? 10 reliable web hosts and 2 promising new options to keep an eye on
For a long time, OVH, renamed OVHcloud, was the undisputed leader in the web hosting sector in France. A varied and comprehensive range of services, a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth... these are just some of the advantages that have convinced website owners.
But today many users, aware that the competition has grown and improved considerably, find the solutions and services offered by the French player unsuitable. In particular, they point the finger at regular breakdowns, slow uploads and poor customer service.
Like them, would you like to find out what other hosting providers have to offer? Discover the alternatives to OVH (PlanetHoster, Infomaniak, CPEM, etc.) and their advantages.
What is OVHcloud?
In 20 years, OVHcloud has become the leading French web hosting specialist and the European leader in cloud computing, offering a complete range of services tailored to the needs of individuals, SMEs and large companies. Whether you're looking to host a simple website, an online shop or deploy complex applications, OVHcloud offers flexible, high-performance solutions.
The company manages 43 data centres around the world and has more than 1.6 million customers.
✅ The key features of OVHcloud services are :
- Shared web hosting: ideal for personal sites and small businesses, with packages including a free domain name for the first year, Let's Encrypt SSL certificates, one-click installations for popular CMSs such as WordPress, and multisite management.
- VPS (Virtual Private Server) servers: Offer dedicated resources with NVMe SSD storage options, bandwidth up to 2 Gbps, choice of datacenter, and advanced backup options such as snapshots.
- Public Cloud: Allows resources to be deployed on demand, with pay-as-you-go billing, high data availability thanks to replication, and maximum flexibility for adapting the infrastructure in real time.
- Simplified management: An intuitive user interface for managing services, monitoring performance and accessing detailed statistics on traffic and resource use.
- Enhanced security: Integrated anti-DDoS protection, free SSL certificates and backup options to ensure service continuity and data security.
- Technical support: Assistance available 24/7, with teams ready to intervene when needed, and an active community to share advice and solutions.
OVHcloud
Why consider an alternative to OVH?
Over the last few years, more and more website and application owners have been expressing their dissatisfaction and looking for new hosting solutions.
👎 The causes of their dissatisfaction :
- the lack of responsiveness from customer support,
- recurring breakdowns,
- slow page loading times,
- a confusing range of offers,
- higher prices than competitors for almost similar offers. The minimum charge is €119 .99incl. VAT/TB/month with a 36-month commitment.
Fortunately, it's possible and easy to change hosters. Some platforms even offer free migration.
Want to say goodbye to OVH? Here are the 10 best alternatives.
The 10 best alternatives to OVH: comparison table
1 of 8
| OVHcloud |  o2switch |  Hostinger |  Infomaniak |  PlanetHoster |  LWS |  IONOS |  Scaleway |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For all companies | For companies with 2 to 250 employees |
| See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software | See software |
| Learn more about OVHcloud | Learn more about o2switch | Learn more about Hostinger | Learn more about Infomaniak | Learn more about PlanetHoster | Learn more about LWS | Learn more about IONOS | Learn more about Scaleway |
o2switch: for a French host with responsive customer support
" 100% independent and 100% French ": French web hosting provider o2switch is proud of its independence, operating its own data centres and infrastructure in France. It currently hosts more than 700,000 websites, demonstrating its continued growth with both individuals and businesses.
What's special about o2switch? The company offers three distinct, all-inclusive packages (Grow, Cloud, Pro) including :
- unlimited disk space
- a domain name for life,
- unlimited monthly transfers,
- technical support available Monday to Friday,
- High-performance NVMe SSD technology,
- integrated caches (Varnish or LiteSpeed),
- automatic back-ups for up to 90 days, depending on the package chosen,
- activation within the hour.
Data centre uptime is 99.99%, with some of the fastest performance on the market thanks to an optimised infrastructure.
Finally, the ultra-simple administration interface is designed for all users, including beginners.
👍 Benefits and features
- Three scalable hosting packages (from €7 excl. VAT/month),
- Customer service available by phone (weekdays) and full documentation to answer most of your questions,
- free transfer of your site to the hosting provider,
- 3.2 GB/s NVMe SSD technology, free caches (Varnish or LiteSpeed),
- activation within the hour,
- automatic daily back-ups for up to 90 days, depending on the package.
o2switch
Hostinger: for beginners and projects on a limited budget
Lithuanian company Hosting Media, founded in 2004, launched its free web hosting services (000webhost.com) three years later, to great success. In 2011, the Hostinger platform was launched, and since then it has enjoyed dazzling growth. Today, it hosts more than 3 million customers in over 150 countries!
✅ The web hosting provider is winning you over with :
- some of the lowest prices on the market,
- high-quality services,
- smooth loading times.
Hostinger's Tier III-certified data centres guarantee an availability rate of 99.982%. And because they are spread across the four corners of the world (11 data centres, including one in France), load times are considerably reduced.
Other highlights include
- the comprehensive and intuitive administration interface,
- customer support available by chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with an average response time of less than 2 minutes,
- free, unlimited migration of your old hosting to Hostinger.
Hostinger even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. So you can test the services and features for a month and make up your own mind!
👍 Benefits and features
- reasonably priced offers (from €2.99/month for a 1-year commitment),
- a free domain name with a choice of extension (.com, .fr, .net, etc.),
- weekly backups included and daily backups depending on the plan,
- LiteSpeed Server plugin to boost site speed,
- one subscription can cover several sites,
- unlimited functions for premium users and businesses.
Hostinger
Infomaniak: for a green and reliable web host
The Swiss company, which has been in business since 1994, is 100% employee-owned. It stands out for its ethical and ecological commitments. For example, Infomaniak uses renewable electricity, fully offsets its CO₂ emissions and gives preference to local partners.
The company operates data centres located in Switzerland and has more than one million customers. Its hosting solutions offer:
- a 99.99% guaranteed availability rate,
- high-performance protection against DDoS, malware and viruses
- a smooth administration interface.
Infomaniak's flagship package (web hosting only) includes :
- 250 GB of SSD disk space (expandable to 500 GB),
- 20 sites included (with the option of hosting up to 100),
- a free SSL certificate,
- 10 GB for VOD/AOD content.
Competent and responsive, customer service is available via various channels (email, live chat and telephone), 7 days a week from 6am to 11pm by email, and Monday to Friday from 6am to 7pm for telephone and chat, with the option of 24/7 premium support with priority assistance.
👍 Benefits and features
- a wide choice of offers (web hosting from €5.75 excluding VAT per month, web and email hosting from €7.25 excluding VAT per month, managed or unmanaged cloud hosting from €29 excluding VAT per month, etc.),
- award-winning data centres for energy efficiency, located in Switzerland,
- hosting on latest-generation SSD disks,
- EV and DV SSL certificates for all our hosting services,
- traffic surcharges absorbed instantly to guarantee stable, high-performance services.
Infomaniak
PlanetHoster : for a flexible and secure hosting solution
Founded in 2007, PlanetHoster is a Canadian web hosting company serving over 150,000 customers from 7 data centres in France, Switzerland and Canada. Its optimised network offers 99.999% uptime.
PlanetHoster offers two hosting solutions, including a free package (WorldLite) that lets you discover site creation. This includes 750 MB of disk space, 2 FTP accounts, 2 email accounts, 2 databases, 2 sub-domains, unlimited traffic and community support.
The World subscription, available from €6 incl. VAT/month, includes unlimited shared hosting for multiple sites. You :
- choose the location of your server (France, Switzerland or Canada) ;
- get a free domain name for life (with a choice of .com, .fr and .net extensions);
- unlimited disk space and email accounts.
Technical support is available via various tools (ticket, telephone, livechat, etc.), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with qualified and experienced technicians.
👍 Benefits and features
- rapid technical support available 24/7 with qualified and experienced technicians,
- an eco-responsible infrastructure and architecture (data centres use renewable energy),
- free migration,
- attractive partnerships that enable you to benefit from advantageous features free of charge (SSL certificate, performance and SEO optimisation tools, etc.),
- LiteSpeed and MariaDB plugins for enhanced performance,
- back-ups every 12 hours to a second datacentre.
PlanetHoster
LWS: for a French hosting provider for SMEs
Since 1999, LWS (Ligne Web Services) has specialised in web hosting and domain name registration. The French company manages Tier III and Tier IV quality data centres in the Grand Est region. It hosts more than 280,000 websites and has registered more than 800,000 domains.
LWS offers a wide range of hosting packages (Linux, Windows, WordPress, PrestaShop, etc.), all with :
- a high availability rate of 99.99%,
- DDoS protection,
- a free domain name,
- NVMe SSD storage,
- unlimited traffic,
- free SSL certificates,
- free backups.
The standard Linux package (LWS Perso) starts at €1.79/month. It includes :
- 100 GB disk space,
- 10 email addresses
- a MySQL database,
- unlimited traffic,
- a free SSL certificate,
- free back-ups.
The best-selling package (LWS Starter) is aimed at SMEs and small businesses and starts at €4.19/month. It can cover up to 5 websites and includes :
- 250 GB of NVMe SSD storage,
- 25 MySQL databases,
- 150 professional email addresses,
- unlimited traffic,
- a free SSL certificate,
- free back-ups.
The technical support team is made up of hosting professionals who can provide a tailored response. They can be contacted 7 days a week by ticket from the customer area, by telephone, by e-mail and by LiveChat. LWS guarantees a response time of less than 4 hours from Monday to Friday, which is very good for the market.
👍 Benefits and features
- anti-DDoS protection,
- ultra-fast connection (155 GBit/s),
- an automatic installation programme (over 20 applications available and over 100 certified compatible),
- automatic daily back-ups,
- a free domain name,
- a 30-day money-back guarantee with no need to provide proof of purchase and just 1 click.
LWS
IONOS: an intuitive interface and 24/7 support
The German company, formerly known as 1&1, has been operating under the IONOS brand since 2018. Part of the United Internet group, it is positioned as one of Europe's leaders in web hosting, with a focus on accessibility and performance.
In terms of figures, IONOS boasts more than 13 million customers worldwide and manages more than 22 million domain names. Its ISO 27001-certified data centres are located in Europe and the United States, with an availability rate of 99.99%.
IONOS offers a wide range of packages, from shared hosting to cloud solutions, with a focus on simplicity and customer support.
Perfect for both business sites and personal projects, web hosting starts at €1.20/month, with a domain name, SSL certificate, pro emails and generous SSD storage. All services are powered by 100% renewable electricity in European datacentres.
👍 Benefits and features
- a domain name and SSL certificate included in all packages,
- 24/7 technical support (telephone, email, virtual assistant),
- an intuitive administration interface (My IONOS),
- automatic back-ups and integrated DDoS protection,
- a one-click application installer (WordPress, Joomla, PrestaShop, etc.),
- a 30-day money-back guarantee.
IONOS
Scaleway: for a hosting provider specialising in cloud computing
In 2018, the Online company set up by Xavier Niel (founder of the Iliad telecommunications group, which owns Internet service provider Free) became Scaleway. The French hosting provider ranks just behind OVHcloud on the French market. It operates 6 data centres, 4 of which are located in France. These are Tier III certified, with an availability rate of 99.982%.
Scaleway offers 4 web hosting solutions:
| Offer | Cores | Memory | Storage | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | 1 core | 1 GB SSD | 10 GB SSD | 5,39 € / month |
| Personal | 2 cores | 1 GB SSD | 50 GB SSD | 8,98 € / month |
| Professional | 4 cores | 2 GB SSD | 100 GB SSD | 17,07 € / month |
| Ecommerce | 8 cores | 8 GB | 250 GB SSD | 26.96 / month |
All include :
- a domain name,
- unlimited e-mail accounts,
- 24/7 ticket and telephone support.
👍 Benefits and features
- over 420 pre-configured applications (WordPress, Drupal, PrestaShop, Joomla, etc.),
- a single portal to facilitate multi-site management,
- 100% of the electricity used for our data centres comes from wind and hydroelectric power,
- a complete, fluid interface,
- unlimited databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Memcache, etc.).
Scaleway
Ex2: for an eco-friendly web host with high-performance web services
The Canadian company, which has been in existence since 2013, stands out for its social and environmental commitments. Ex2 is recognised in France as the first green hosting company specialising in WordPress.
In terms of figures, the hosting provider has more than 180,000 customers and manages more than 280,000 websites in an environmentally-friendly way.
Ex2 offers a wide range of services, from shared hosting to Divi hosting and green hosting.
Perfect for small and medium-sized sites, green hosting (from €1.45 per month) is a shared package with zero carbon footprint (renewable energy used for the datacentres). When a customer subscribes to this package, Ex2 donates 3 solar lamps to a family in Africa, in partnership with Solar Aid.
👍 Benefits and features
- a free domain name and SSL certificate for life,
- daily off-site back-ups,
- servers located in France, Canada and the United States,
- technical support available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via ChatLive (no telephone line),
- a 30-day money-back guarantee,
- free site migration.
Kinsta: for a host specialising in Wordpress
Founded in 2013 in Los Angeles, Kinsta has established itself as a global benchmark for managed WordPress hosting. The company relies on a high-end infrastructure based on Google Cloud Platform and a performance and security-oriented approach.
Kinsta hosts sites in more than 120 countries and offers 37 data centres on 6 continents. Each site is isolated in a dedicated container, guaranteeing enhanced security and optimal performance.
Kinsta's offering is exclusively dedicated to WordPress, with plans tailored to freelancers, SMEs, agencies and large enterprises. Prices start at €26.97/month for a WordPress installation, 25,000 monthly visits and 10GB of SSD storage. All plans include a free CDN, daily backups, premium migrations and expert technical support available 24/7.
👍 Benefits and features
- an infrastructure powered by Google Cloud Platform,
- advanced security with Cloudflare firewall, DDoS protection and real-time monitoring,
- optimised performance thanks to Nginx, PHP 8.1, MariaDB and an integrated CDN,
- an intuitive and powerful MyKinsta administration interface,
- automatic backups with customisable frequency options,
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
Gandi: transparency and ethical commitment
Founded in 2000, the French company Gandi started out as a domain name registrar before extending its services to web hosting. It stands out for its commitment to an ethical, transparent Internet that respects privacy.
Gandi has over 350,000 customers and manages more than 2.5 million domain names. Its data centres are located in France and Luxembourg, ensuring that data remains subject to the RGPD.
Gandi's shared hosting offer, called Simple Hosting, is designed for users looking for a simple and scalable solution. Prices start at €18/month for the Starter plan, which includes a maximum of one site, up to 1 vCPU, 256 MB of RAM and 20 GB of SSD storage. The Business plan offers up to 4 vCPUs, 2GB RAM and 80GB SSD storage for €36/month.
All plans include a free SSL certificate, 2 email inboxes, and the ability to install CMS such as WordPress or PrestaShop in one click. The domain name is not included and must be purchased separately.
👍 Benefits and features
- Free SSL certificate to secure your site.
- 2 email boxes included with each plan.
- One-click installation of popular CMS such as WordPress and PrestaShop.
- Servers located in France and Luxembourg, ensuring RGPD compliance.
- Ethical commitment to an open and privacy-friendly internet.
- 24/7 customer support via email and live chat.
2 new entrants to keep an eye on
Bluehost
Founded in 2003, Bluehost is now one of the world's leading web hosting companies. Bluehost is particularly well-known for its official partnership with WordPress.org, which has been recommending it since 2006.
Bluehost claims to host more than 2 million websites worldwide. Its main data centres are located in Provo and Orem (Utah, USA), with extensions in London, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Shanghai to serve an international customer base.
Bluehost offers a wide range of services, from shared hosting to dedicated solutions, including services optimised for WordPress and WooCommerce.
Perfect for small and medium-sized sites, shared hosting starts at €2.49/month for the Basic plan, including 10GB of SSD storage, a free domain name for a year, an SSL certificate, and the option to host a website.
👍 Benefits and features
- Free domain name for the first year,
- Free SSL certificate,
- Technical support available 24/7 by phone and live chat,
- User-friendly administration interface with cPanel,
- One-click installation for WordPress and other CMS,
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
GreenGeeks
Founded in California in 2008, GreenGeeks has established itself as a major player in eco-friendly web hosting. The company stands out for its environmental commitment: it feeds three times the amount of energy consumed back into the network in the form of renewable energy, and plants a tree for every new account activated.
GreenGeeks hosts over 600,000 websites for more than 55,000 customers worldwide. Its data centres are located in Chicago (USA), Montreal (Canada), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Phoenix (USA) and Singapore, ensuring global coverage and high performance.
The company offers a wide range of packages, from shared hosting to VPS, with specific solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce. Shared hosting starts at €2.65/month for the Lite plan, including fast SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth and a free domain name for the first year.
👍 Benefits and features
- Carbon-neutral hosting (certified Green Power Partner by the EPA),
- Solid performance thanks to LiteSpeed, MariaDB and an integrated caching system,
- Automated nightly backups,
- Access to cPanel and Softaculous for simplified management,
- Technical support available 24/7 (chat, phone, email),
- 1 tree planted for every new customer.
How do I choose an alternative to OVH?
Summary table of the best alternatives to OVH
| Software | Types of user | Key benefits | 3 key features | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| o2switch | VSEs, freelancers, bloggers | Unique all-inclusive offer and human customer support | Unlimited disk space, free migration, daily backups | From €7 excl. tax/month |
| Hostinger | Beginners, freelancers, personal websites | Ultra-competitive rates | LiteSpeed server, free domain name, 24/7 chat support | From €2.99/month |
| Infomaniak | Eco-responsible SMEs, companies and NGOs | Ecological commitment + performance | Datacentres in Switzerland, back-ups for up to 90 days, multi-channel support | From €5.75 excl. tax/month |
| PlanetHoster | For everyone, business or personal use | Flexible and secure multi-site hosting | Choice of data centre, free migration, green infrastructure | Free option |
| LWS | VSEs, SMEs, showcase or e-commerce sites | Wide range of offers for all profiles | Free backups, unlimited traffic, free domain name | From €1.79 excl. tax/month |
| IONOS | Professionals, small businesses, agencies | Intuitive My IONOS interface and 24/7 support | SSL certificate, 1-click installation, green data centres | From €1 excl. tax/month |
| Scaleway | Tech start-ups, developers, scale-ups | High-performance French cloud infrastructure | Domain name included, 24/7 support, 420+ pre-installed apps | From €5.39/month |
| Ex2 | Green websites, WordPress blogs, associations | Green hosting with a tangible social impact | Lifetime SSL certificate, external backups, servers in France, CA and the US | From €1.45/month |
| Kinsta | Agencies, e-merchants, large WP sites | Ultra-optimised for WordPress on Google Cloud | Integrated CDN, advanced security, 24/7 WP expert support | From €26.97/month |
| Gandi | Associations, tech, RGPD-sensitive customers | Ethics, transparency and respect for data | Free SSL certificate, email included, RGPD compliant hosting | From €18/month |
Our advice for the best choice
Before leaving OVHcloud, it's best to know what you're looking for. A good alternative is measured first and foremost in terms of performance (SSD/NVMe storage, availability greater than 99.95%) and the quality of customer support (ideally available 24/7 in French).
A clear management interface is also essential, especially if you're not a technical expert.
Make sure you check the features included from the outset: domain name, SSL certificate, email addresses, back-ups... not everything can be taken for granted.
As for the budget, beware of tempting introductory prices: remember to compare prices excluding promotions and over the long term. And if you don't want to have to migrate everything in a year's time, choose a scalable package now that can grow with you.
Finally, if the environmental impact is important to you, you should choose a web host that is committed to an ecological approach (green energy, real carbon offsetting, etc.).
Alternatives to OVH: in a nutshell
There is no shortage of solutions for website and application owners looking to replace French hosting provider OVH. There are now many convincing, high-performance players offering hosting packages that combine speed, quality and security.
Some of them even offer eco-friendly packages, in response to the environmental issues that are becoming an increasing priority for individuals and businesses alike.
When choosing your future web host, we recommend that you take into account :
- the type of site or application to be hosted,
- the content to be put online
- the security solutions (back-ups and computer protection) offered,
- the technical support available (documentary resources, chat, telephone line, etc.),
- and of course the price!
Don't hesitate to compare.
Article translated from French