Web Host of the Year

The Vote for Web Host of the Year is an annual public award run by hosttest. Users have the opportunity to vote in multiple categories for their preferred hosting providers. The voting shows which companies particularly convince the community — through quality, support and fair terms.

The Vote for Web Host of the Year has been held annually on hosttest since 2015 and has since become an established part of the German-speaking hosting landscape.

All visitors to hosttest country pages who wish to share their experiences with providers on the hosting market are eligible to vote. Participation is open to everyone and does not require registration. In recent years, regularly over 20,000 people have cast their vote — a clear sign of the high interest and growing importance of the vote within the hosting community.

The Vote for Web Host of the Year recognises the most popular providers across 14 categories. From the start, classic areas such as Web hosting, domains, VPS hosting and Dedicated Servers have been a fixed part of the vote. Over the years, further specialised categories have been added to reflect current developments and trends in the hosting market — for example Managed WordPress hosting, website builders, cloud servers or Exchange & e-mail hosting. This allows the vote to continuously adapt to changes in the industry and to cover the full spectrum of modern hosting services.

With hosttest.co.uk and hosttest.es we are now also present in the United Kingdom and Spain and are expanding the vote beyond the German-speaking area with the categories Web Host UK and Web Host Spain.

Hosting providers can apply to participate at hosttest before the vote begins. Each application is reviewed by us. We then decide which providers are nominated in the respective categories. In doing so, we take into account quality, performance and customer satisfaction in particular.

• Providers apply before the vote begins.
• Each application is reviewed by hosttest.
• The winners from the previous year receive a wildcard and are automatically nominated in their respective category.

This results in a diverse field of participants made up of established hosting companies with many years of experience and innovative newcomers offering modern services.

In each category, the number of votes cast alone determines the placement. The provider with the most votes wins the respective category.

1. 1st place: Winner of the category
2. 2nd place: Second-placed provider
3. 3rd place: Third-placed provider

This means the three providers with the most votes in each category are recognised.

The Vote for Web Host of the Year takes place each year from August until mid-October. During this period, users can vote in the various categories for their preferred hosting providers.

The Vote for Web Host of the Year differs from traditional industry awards because it is not decided by a jury, but by the users themselves. As a genuine public vote, it puts users' experiences and opinions at the centre. This independence gives the voting particular credibility and makes it one of the most significant user votings in the German-speaking hosting industry.

Moreover, participation not only gives you the chance to support your favourite: each year attractive prizes are drawn among all participants. At the same time, sponsors regularly support charitable projects, so the vote not only highlights the best hosting providers but also makes a positive social contribution.