What is Offshore Web Hosting?
Offshore hosting, just as the name says, is hosting that is outside of the United States. Anytime you host a website on servers that are not located in the United States, you are offshore hosting.
However, when people use the term “offshore hosting” it usually means that they are doing it deliberately. Normally for the reasons of privacy, security or freedom of speech. One example is if you need hosting for alcohol, gambling, tobacco or pornography. If that sounds like your business, check out our list of the Best Adult Website Hosting companies.
Why Would You Need Offshore Hosting?
There are many situations in which you might need to host your site outside the United States. Below, I have listed the top 5 reasons many people choose to do so:
- Freedom of speech & press, or escaping censorship
- Increased anonymity for the website owner/s
- Evading national regulations on running certain businesses
- Not having to abide by national cybersecurity laws
- To avoid DMCA takedown request
Do you feel restricted by your government’s current laws limiting what you can say and show on the internet? When using an offshore provider, you will have fewer legal barriers than what you might face with hosting in your home country.
Some activities on your website may be illegal here in the states, but in other parts of the world might be completely fine. Hosting your website with an offshore server in a country in which it’s legal can keep your business out of trouble.
If your website is selling, streaming, or using pirated content (I do not condone this in any way), the original author can have a DMCA notice sent to your web host asking them to take your site offline. Most offshore hosts will just ignore these.
Related: Looking for a truly fast WordPress host? Read out our Rocket.net Review!
The Top 5 Best Offshore Hosting Providers
Now that you have a better understanding of what offshore hosting is and why you might need it for your website, let’s take a look at what I think are the top five providers.
The web host on this list are in no specific order. All of them provide high-quality services. It’s just a matter of finding the one that fits your needs the best.
#1 Hostinger
Hostinger is an extremely popular web hosting company founded in 2004. Based in Europe, they serve over 29 million customers around the world with over 15,000 signups a day!
No matter which hosting plan you choose to go with, Hostinger seems to emphasize low prices and affordability on all of their products. Some plans being as low as $0.80 a month!
You know the old saying “you get what you pay for?” That’s not the case here. You are getting much more bang for your buck when compared to other offshore hosting providers.
One feature that stands out to me about Hostinger are their strong firewalls. These are provided on all of their servers. Regardless of which plan you choose. This will help protect your website from malicious attacks such as DDOS and Malware.
Hostinger Key Features
- $0.80 Shared Hosting
- DDOS Protection
- Malware Protection
- Free SSL certificate
- Choice of Server Location
If you are looking for a reliable company that is easy to use, has a simple web hosting interface and has incredibly low prices, Hostinger should be number one on your list. Hostinger is also a great company for your adult web hosting needs.
Related: Adult, Gambling or Tobacco? Check out the Best Adult Web Hosts
#2 AbeloHost
AbeloHost is a leading offshore web hosting provider that was established in 2012 and is based in the Netherlands. Their core values are data and customer privacy. Which they uphold by offering their client’s world-class security, data anonymity and reliability.
They also support freedom of speech on the Internet, which is shown in their very flexible content policy. They are strictly against data censorship, and they protect their clients by never sharing any of their data with third parties.
AbeloHost offers a wide range of plans including offshore shared hosting, VPS, dedicated server hosting and offshore domains. Most of their plans can scale with your company, so you can stick with them for the long haul.
Their customer support is pretty good. They have a ticket system and live chat (it’s only available during work hours). Queries submitted via their ticketing system are typically responded to within a few hours, which is nice.
Abelohost Key Features
- Multiple Operating Systems
- Anti DDoS Protection
- 24/7 Server Monitoring
- Free SSL Certificate
- Based In Netherlands
Abelohost is a well-rounded company. Their prices are very reasonable for an offshore host, but not at the sacrifice of performance and reliability. In my honest opinion, they are one of the most trustworthy providers on this list.
#4 Koddos
Koddos was Founded in 2007, this company focuses on standard hosting, high-risk hosting and offshore hosting. Their servers and equipment are located in Holland, which is great for evading national regulations.
Koddos utilizes the latest technologies and high-end hardware to provide the fastest possible speed while providing security against DDoS and other malicious attacks.
Their datacenter has multiple features including redundant power, 24/7 physical security, and SSAE16 compliance. As a result of its high-quality infrastructure and redundant network connections, the company features a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
Koddos’s support staff is made up of web hosting and security experts. You are not going to find a group of people who are more knowledgeable in this field and they are available 24/7 via live chat and e-mail.
Koddos Key Features
- Blazing Fast Hardware
- Best DDoS Protection
- 24/7 Live Support
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
- Based In Holland
If you take a look around the web you will see that Koddos takes their job very seriously. Almost every person that has used their service gave them a 5-star rating. The only drawback in my eyes would be their price. They can be quite a bit more expensive than the other web host on this list.
#3 Shinjiru
Shinjiru’s mission is to protect privacy, a fundamental human right. Based in Malaysia they have been providing offshore and anonymous web hosting services since 2000.
They are one of the most experienced offshore web hosting companies in the world, with eight offshore locations, their own anti-DDoS attack network and thousands of dedicated web servers. Shinjiru is also an ICANN accredited Domain Registrar.
Shinjiru’s servers come with lightning-fast SSD storage, multi-core hyper-threaded Intel processors and enterprise-class network equipment with Gigabit ethernet. This all adds up to extremely quick load times and unmatched reliability.
Support is available via their online ticketing system, live chat and by phone call. The Shinjiru team has over 50 experienced staff members ready to assist you 24/7. They are ISO9001:2008 accredited with a quality control management system that is recognized for customer focus and satisfaction.
Shinjiru Key Features
- Anonymous Payments
- Enterprise-Grade Hardware
- Anti DDoS Protection
- 24x7x365 Suupport
- Based In Malaysia
In my opinion, Shinjiru definitely serves as an impressive offshore web hosting company. With its wide but not overwhelming lineup of plans, products, and services they truly have something for everyone.
#5 BlueAngelHost
BlueAngelHost has been around since 2012 and they have three datacenter locations in Bulgaria, Russia, and the Netherlands. All servers feature unmetered bandwidth, optional DDoS protection, and your choice of Windows or Linux operating systems.
In addition to web hosting services, BlueAngelHost offers colocation at its Russian and Bulgarian datacenters. They also provide top-notch web design services and SSL Certificates are available upon request.
All of BlueAngelHost’s plans feature 1 Gbps uplink/downlink connections, Xeon processors, SSD storage, free domain registration, unlimited bandwidth, cPanel, DDoS protection, Softaculous 1-click installations, and Weebly Site Builder.
BlueAngelHost’s customer support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via email, an online ticketing system, and social media. Their support is some of the best you will find in the business.
BlueAngelHost Key Features
- 100% DMCA Ignored Hosting
- Free DDOS Protection
- Enterprise-Grade Hardware
- 99.95% Uptime Guarantee
- Multiple Operating Systems
BlueAngelHost is a good all-round hosting provider. They offer you almost everything you need to be successful online. With the most up to date hardware in the industry and a 30-day money back guarantee to back it all up, there is really no risk in giving them a try.
Closing Thoughts
Offshore hosting can be a great way to practice freedom of speech, keep anonymous and bypass censorship. But, this doesn’t mean that you can host illegal content which is strictly forbidden e.g. phishing, spamming. scamming, carding, fraudulent activities and content that supports terrorism.
The best offshore hosting company for you all comes down to the needs of your site. How much space you will need and how much traffic you are currently getting. Hopefully, this list has helped narrow it down some.
If you see anything I have missed or have a question about any of these hosting providers, let me know in the comments below.
