Plenty of appealing mini PCs have hit the market in recent years, with a broad range of miniature machines available for those who want to tap into powerful and energy-efficient computing, whether that's at home or in the workplace.

Mobile working is changing, and many office spaces are already kitted out with monitors, meaning employees may not need laptops as they did during the peak of hybrid working. Desktop PCs, meanwhile, certainly have their place – but the prospect of a smaller, leaner and more affordable substitute carries a certain appeal. Some machines can match the power of a conventional desktop computer, while massively saving on energy costs, given they tend to be far more power-efficient.

But choosing the best mini PC depends on a huge number of factors, including budget, expectations, and how it'll be used. You can pick up a basic device for under $300 or push the boat out and bag a powerful machine for multimedia work or graphic design, or even consider a supercharged Nvidia DGX Spark system (or similar mini PCs) if you plan on running local AI models. Below, we've rounded up some of the most compelling mini PCs you can deploy either in your home office or as a fleet among the workforce.

What to look for in a mini PC

The best mini PCs massively save on desk space, and the smallest ones can even fit into your pocket. While they're all similar in terms of their dimensions, give or take, there may be massive variations in weight. Which is something you should keep in mind if you're not planning on keeping these devices in one place.

They're also relatively cost-effective, despite there being a handful of pricier devices out there, too. However, the very cheapest options tend to include hardware that's at least two generations behind – so you need to be careful that affordability doesn't contradict the idea of value for money, and you end up picking up machines that aren't suited to the sorts of workloads you plan on running – despite the purported cost savings. Most entry-level processors can hold their own on simple, day-to-day tasks like web browsing or spreadsheets – but you should look out for multi-core performance, which we've highlighted in our testing methodology.

If you're banking on a faster machine that can handle multiple workloads and more complex software, like multimedia applications, then you also need to pair this with plenty of RAM, with a minimum of 8GB (but ideally 16GB or above), as well as hard drive space (and speeds) if you're going to be housing massive quantities of data like images or videos, or even the essential data to run AI models on more advanced systems.

In that vein, it's hard to find mini PCs with dedicated graphics cards without blowing the budget, and you should be wary of limiting factors like throttling or airflow if you're looking on the higher performance end of the spectrum.

Most mini PCs carry a similar aesthetic, but the build quality and design elements can vary wildly. Thankfully, they're quite small and innocuous, but there's every chance you'll pick up a device that stands out like a sore thumb rather than blending into a desk setup as it should. More importantly, functionality is king – and you should decide which peripherals and connectivity options you'll need to use on a daily basis. Most business-focused mini PCs take care of the basics, but the more options you have at your disposal (including less common ports like SD Card reader), the better. The same goes for wireless standards – and you should make sure the mini PC is future-proofed against future standard upgrades.

Apple's own take on the mini PC excels in almost every quarter, with this tiny cube of a computer providing ample power for almost all users. The base M4 model is plenty powerful to run sophisticated multimedia workloads for most users, and the cost is wholly reasonable, but you can also upgrade to a supercharged M4 Pro unit for more intensive daily tasks, especially if you're a software engineer or want to experiment with small-scale AI.

Its performance and overall minimalist design – a classic trait in Apple devices – may suit most users, but so to does its connectivity options, with five USB-C ports including two at the front. Some users may bemoan the lack of USB-A ports or an SD card reader, with users needing to pick up a dongle or use the ports in their monitor. With prices starting at a very reasonable $599 (£599 in the UK), it's a highly competitive machine that also outpaces most of the Windows mini PC market. In summary, it's how all technology should be – useful, elegant, and fantastic value.

Read our full Apple Mac Mini (M4) review here

The Geekom A9 Max packs a massive punch despite its small frame. There are plenty of rivals to contend with, especially the Intel-powered MSI NUC AI+ 2MG, but this alternative, built with an AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series chip, as well as a powerful graphics card and a 50 TOPS NPU, comfortably meets that challenge. The hardware configuration is premium, especially given you can tap into 32GB RAM and a stonking 2TB SSD, but so too is its £999 price tag – making it one of the most expensive devices on the market.

However, it performed excellently in our testing, and its graphics power, in particular, is comfortably ahead of its key Windows rivals. With so many ports, you can also use it as a brilliant little AV or data hub. The machine isn't perfect, however, with niggles including a 2230 SSD slot instead of another 2280 one, and the lack of a second DisplayPort slot. That said, if you don't plan on upgrading what's already an excellent piece of machinery, then you're likely not going to encounter these issues. Overall, it's one of the best mini PCs that money can buy and the best miniature Windows computer out there right now.

Read our full Geekom A9 Max review here

Acemagic has made waves with a series of solid and reliable entry-level and mid-range mini PCs that are shedding market share from some of the bigger players. Much like the Acemagic Vista Mini V1, the Matrix Mini M1 is a highly compact and well-designed device that features a solid, albeit aging, set of components as well as a hefty amount of RAM and SSD storage space for under £400. This makes the device ideal for those who need something a bit more than entry-level without breaking the bank.

It's definitely a little underpowered if you compare it with some of the newest and most advanced mini PCs, but you know what you're getting into, and it still manages to come out with respectable performance scores in our benchmarking. We also really appreciate the connectivity options, as well as the standards used (including USB 4.0 support), despite the lack of an SD Card reader – although it's hardly a deal breaker. Overall, it's a compact, nice-looking, and capable machine that does a bit more than the bare minimum for a near entry-level price.

Read our full AceMagic Matrix Mini M1 review here

The pace of miniaturization is compelling, with AMD, Nvidia, and others engineering AI-focused mini PCs that far outpace most conventional desktops and laptops. The Acer Veriton GN100 is a classic Nvidia DGX Spark mini supercomputer that is engineered for advanced users and AI practitioners who want to experiment with and deploy projects within their organizations. Frankly, there's very little separating the different DGX Spark machines, given they are all made to a similar spec. But Acer's take on this mini PC has an interesting design and very attractive pricing.

Although you can't use Windows 11, the custom Linux distro is highly intuitive and designed to coax even those dabbling in AI for the first time into trying out different programs and projects. With the Grace Blackwell Superchip, there's enough power to handle mid-sized local large language models (LLMs) to great effect, while you can also connect it with another system to double up on power. For businesses striving to take the first steps in their AI journeys, machines like the Acer Veriton GN100 are a brilliant way to get started.

Read our full Acer Veriton GN100 review here

How we test mini PCs

Our rigorous testing methods at ITPro are designed to put each device through its paces and glean how it performs against the expectations we have from the outset, keeping the end user and their expected usage in mind at all times. Whether you're picking up a device to augment your home office workspace or making a huge purchasing decision over a fleet of devices, we know that it's important to get as much information about the device itself, but also what it's like to use it and whether it'll fit the bill for how you plan on using it. We also weigh up whether the device offers value for money – comparing it with counterparts in the field to measure how it stacks up.

For mini PCs, we begin by studying the general design and build quality – highlighting any specific quirks or areas of strength in our appraisal. For instance, we'll remark on the connectivity options, the standards of those options, and the placement of any ports, alongside any features we feel could be missing. Our review will also consider the size and shape of the machine, as well as its weight, comparing this with similarly categorized mini PCs you may also be considering.

Next, we'll use a set of benchmarks to determine the machine's performance levels and general capabilities. These industry-standard tools help us determine how well it can cope under day-to-day load and intensive strain, as well as what kind of user it may be suited to. Our assessments also measure the speed of the storage system (whether that's an SSD or otherwise). We'll use the machine actively as our primary work unit and push it with software like Photoshop or Lightroom too to get a feel for how it copes under load. For specialist machines like workstations or AI-centric hardware, we'll run local AI workloads and see how the machine copes under sustained duress.

There's nothing quite like a good book, and here at ITPro, we love our non-fiction tech reads. The internet is an endless pit of news, and we still value print partly because it is still the best way to fully absorb information.

We've taken five of the latest technology-focused books off the shelf and reviewed them for your pleasure. These cover flying cars, working at Meta, the inner workings of Huawei, and more.

Quick list

The Long History of the Future, by Nicole Kobie

They promised us smart cities, when all we really wanted was clean ones with well-organized transport networks. The reality is that we are not close to having either, and it's this kind of grounding that makes Nicole Kobie's The Long History of the Future such an engrossing read.

Across nine chapters, Kobie bursts the bubble on AI, Robots, Augmented Reality, Cyborgs, smart cities, Hyperloops, and both flying and driverless cars. Each subject is laid out in as simple a description as possible, freeing the reader from the marketing spiel and the jargon. What is left is a realism that both explains why we are not quite at the future we were promised. But also a sensible suggestion that these are not necessarily the best solutions to the problems they're pitted against.

The key to many of the breakthroughs is AI; it underpins them all. Kobie tackles this in the second chapter with a realism you will not find in any press release or tech company blog. Where the world has lost its cool over the potential of generative AI, Kobie shows you a technology that still has limitations. Where CEO's talk of the threat of an AI dystopia, Kobie explains that it's all just a part of the marketing. Ultimately, and quite reassuringly, Kobie uses the history of AI to show us how far away we really are from any such doomsday scenario (climate change is arguably more of a concern).

Kobie's book can also feasibly work as a guide to working in tech journalism and the strange places it may take you. From waiting for a Hyperloop in the Edinburgh rain to looking for SEO-worthy news about brain-reading technology in Germany, Kobie has done the hard yards and always comes away with the facts. From cover to cover, she puts each technology in its place with the right level of scepticism and a smattering of witty one-liners: "Roombas are small, flat suction machines, handily rideable by cats – and the closest most of us will come to a robo-butler"

House of Huawei, by Eva Dou

Origin stories and biopics can be a little dull, but Eva Dou's comprehensive account of the rise of Huawei and its reclusive founder, Ren Zhengfei, is an existential family saga akin to The Godfather.

Dou gives you everything you need to understand the story, with a complete list of characters and a guide to Chinese naming conventions within the first few pages. This allows us to enter the world of Ren as we begin with his humble(ish) beginnings.

He is a man on the wrong side of the Chinese political spectrum until he joins the military and the country begins experimenting with capitalism. From here, we see the shrewd businessman emerge alongside the rapid growth of the city of Shenzhen.

Ren marries and has a child, his eldest daughter, Meng Wanzhou, who later becomes Huawei's CFO – her story starts at Vancouver International Airport, where she was arrested on allegations of espionage in 2018.

This is one of many Huawei controversies Dou talks us through. The book is littered with little mysteries that Dou unravels as we go; Does Ren have ties to the Chinese government? Is Huawei a company controlled by the state? The answer to the first question is yes, but it's largely through a messy handling of its early investors, many of whom own companies with ties to its government. It's in these small puzzles that we come to view the controversial conglomerate that we know today.

Huawei may have earned global attention (scrutiny) when Meng was detained in 2018, but what will surprise readers is the fact that the Chinese company was being investigated long before that (2008), and actually, how much it invested in American manufacturing during its formative years. Huawei began as a reseller of telephone switches before constructing its own, in partnership with US-based manufacturers.

Dou is not just a diligent and vastly experienced correspondent; her account of Huawei also proves that she is a skilled storyteller and writer.

"Barber told Hu that he wasn't in the business of giving advice but that Huawei certainly had a problem, given the perception of the company as an arm of the Chinese state. Barber said: "You guys are going to get whacked!".

Computers that Made the World, by Tim Danton

While you're doomscrolling on social media, shopping online, or tinkering with a shiny new AI assistant, it's easy to forget the technology at our disposal today is the culmination of decades of tireless work and progress.

That's what makes Tim Danton's The Computers That Made the World such a captivating read.

Rolling back the years, Danton explores the theoretical breakthroughs and development of transformative devices built between the mid-1930s up to the early 1960s: from the Atanasoff-Berry computer (ABC), built out of Iowa State University, to the monstrously sized ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) device.

Far from a whistlestop tour on early modern computing devices, Danton examines in detail a slew of iconic devices: spanning the development processes, motivations behind these projects, and their long-term implications.

We learn that John Vincent Atanasoff, designer of the ABC device, became frustrated with early tabulator machines while studying for a PhD, later modifying an IBM tabulator to speed up solving linear equations and in turn creating the first electronic digital computer.

Progress forged in the pursuit of science or mere everyday problems has been the catalyst for great technological leaps, but as we also learn, the spark of innovation was fueled by the fires of war.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and the subsequent entry of the United States into the conflict prompted a wave of innovation in computing.

Bell Labs devices, such as the Model II and Model II, aimed at tracking aircraft and fine-tuning anti-aircraft weapons systems, derived from the Complex Number Calculator, a precursor to the first modern digital computers built as part of a 1937 research project.

Danton also explores the computing prowess of Britain during this period, with the Colossus computer living up to its name and playing a key role in supporting the iconic Bletchley Park codebreakers. As he notes, this was a device that "helped win a World War".

The journey doesn't stop there, however. The post-war years precipitated a wave of innovation with great leaps made on both sides of the Iron Curtain: from the EDVAC and Princeton-based IAS machine to the Pilot ACE computer, built based on designs by Alan Turing.

Denton ends this journey with an appropriate nod to Moore's Law, a concept we've all enjoyed the fruits of in the 60 years since its creation.

"And to think, it all started from people wanting to add things together."

Careless People, by Sarah Wynn-Williams

How did Facebook get a seat at the international table? What made Mark Zuckerberg swap hoodies and junk food for suits and fresh-cut fruit? And what implications does this journey have for all of us?

A tell-all memoir from the former director of global public policy at Facebook, Sarah Wynn-Williams, documents the internal culture at the firm in its pre-Meta days, charting its rise to global prominence. Along the way, Wynn-Williams charts purported missteps by executives, ranging from the embarrassing – repeated mistakes at events lead to Mark Zuckerberg sidelined or forced to contend with Big Bird for space onstage – to disturbing accusations of professional misconduct and international deals.

The first half of the book primarily comes in the form of an 'insider's view' of the early days at Facebook – with Wynn-Williams fighting to get executives to understand the importance of engaging with politicians at a global level.

It's worth noting that this is not a book for the faint of heart. Beyond the very serious allegations Wynn-Williams makes, she also chronicles two of the biggest health scares of her life: a near-fatal shark attack she experienced aged 13, and a terrible complication that occurred during the birth of her second child.

These aren't just side-note stories, but integral life events that help contextualize Wynn-Williams' worldview and her determination to make it through the worst moments.

Throughout the book, Wynn-Williams makes a series of major allegations around Facebook executives, the company's relationship with China, and its impact on the violence against Rohingya in Myanmar (backing statements made by Amnesty International).

As reported by CNBC, a Meta spokesperson said the book is "a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives".

Whatever readers make of the content within Careless People, it's startling to read a tech memoir that lays out its claims so starkly. Wynn-Williams' structure leads the reader from the familiar public view of Facebook, through to a striking series of claims from behind the social media curtain.

Empire of AI, by Karen Hao

If there's one thing that really annoys me with books, it's quotes on the cover that say something like "urgent and necessary". Nevertheless, given how quickly things are changing in the world of generative AI, I would urgently recommend anyone interested in the personalities and philosophies behind the current hype to read this book before things change again.

Empire of AI forms part of a growing corpus of media that started accumulating over the course of 2025 as interest has grown in the background and motivation of Sam Altman and other AI leaders.

It follows Altman from studenthood to his time at Y Combinator, meeting Elon Musk, and, ultimately, the founding of OpenAI.

If you're somewhat familiar with the story – as I was, courtesy of various podcasts and articles – it's still worth a read. Hao's deep research, based on interviews with hundreds of people, and excellent prose fleshes out this story in ways you're unlikely to have heard before. The insider view of a company that's changing shape almost as quickly as its products change our reality is novel and intriguing in a way that purely third party research can't replicate.

If you're unfamiliar, you're in for a treat as the origins and evolution of OpenAI are what can only be described as a wild ride. Let's put it this way: turning your photos into Studio Ghibli-style illustrations and writing your emails was not the original mission of the operation.

Other characters from the world of tech you may recognise, in addition to Altman, are Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei and members of the self-styled PayPal Mafia Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.

There are also guest appearances from Bill Gates and Satya Nadella that, given Microsoft's investments in OpenAI, may seem obvious but supply a hard-nosed business focus to the more esoteric concerns of the previous group.

Empire of AI is very much a business book so if you're interested in the inner workings of ChatGPT and Dall-E it's not going to give you much. If, by contrast, you want to know more about the companies, egos, and philosophies that are driving this latest technological revolution you would do well to start here.

The answer we are looking for here is essentially quite straightforward; the best Linux server distros are, generally, the ones that make setup and management of server hosting a doddle. Windows is, without a doubt, the most used operating system in the world, particularly on desktop PCs, but when it comes to web server OS, it's Linux, hands down.

Which Linux distro your business uses is largely down to need. Different distros do different things, and within that are quality, value, and budgetary considerations to mull over. It isn't as simple as picking the best of the best, regardless – ITPro, however, is here to help.

The best server distros

When it comes to production servers, the important thing to remember is that you need to prioritize stability, with solid servers that need as little maintenance as necessary. And, unless you have specific hardware and or software requirements, you need long-term security updates, which include any repo packages you use, as they're crucial.

It is for those reasons that it is generally best practice to use distros that offer stable, long-term support versions, responsive security updates, and that are familiar so that troubleshooting is a breeze. For this, Ubuntu and Red Hat are particularly good and popular choices.

Ubuntu Server

Canonical has positioned Ubuntu as the enterprise-ready server distro for all kinds of businesses and budgets. It's incredibly easy to roll out a wide range of secure and fully functional servers from its packages.

It's also free and conspicuously quick when it comes to security updates. Long Term Support versions get five-year security, an extra five years of extended security maintenance (ESM) guarantees for Ubuntu Pro subscribers, plus an extra couple of years of legacy support.

Ubuntu remains free for everyone, but you'll notice adverts in your package manager for Ubuntu Pro. As well as ESM, Ubuntu Pro, which is free for up to five systems, adds extra repositories to Ubuntu. These include Ubuntu Security confirmed fixes for packages in the broad universe repository (all main and restricted packages for Ubuntu already get this for all users).

Ubuntu Pro is intended for server use, and while many admins will be happy to periodically upgrade versions, this 10-12-year lifespan makes it a useful alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux's maintenance and extended life phase periods.

Canonical also offers commercial support contracts. The distro's popularity means that it's widely supported by third-party support firms and community forums, and the Personal Package Archive (PPA) system means that developers are able to easily ship the latest versions of their software to the platform.

Not that, although Ubuntu PPAs can't be used with Debian, from which Ubuntu is forked, they will work with most downstream distros based on Ubuntu.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is synonymous with big business, not least because it comes with a significant subscription cost. For your money, you get rigorous testing, fast security updates, and 10+ years of extended support.

Although RHEL's source code is technically open, the company uses significant non-free, trademarked, and proprietary elements, as well as restricting customers from distributing its source code in a move that's been heavily criticized by the open source community.

You need a subscription to access RHEL repositories and updates. Red Hat emphasizes security, hands-on subscriber support, and regulatory-compliant technologies and certification. Its developers also put a lot of effort into its enterprise-grade GUI, which can be more comfortable for those who'd rather not do all their configuration at the command line.

The now-discontinued point release version of CentOS, a community distro sponsored by and affiliated with Red Hat, used to be the first choice for consumers seeking a free and fully open alternative to RHEL. However, it's been discontinued, and Red Hat's increased restriction of access to its source code means that proposed alternatives such as Rocky Linux and Alma Linux face challenges in maintaining feature equivalence with RHEL.

The nearest free alternative is now Red Hate blessed CentOS stream, a "midstream" distro that takes features from Fedora, upstream of it, and feeds them into RHEL, downstream of it. However, it's a rolling release rather than an LTS point release distro, which has adverse implications for long-term consistency and stability in production environments.

All this leaves RHEL itself as the best option for consistent, long-term stability for anyone who requires a Red Hat-based Linux distribution for business use. Fortunately for SMBs, the no-cost version of RHEL has been expanded to compensate for the loss of traditional CentOS, allowing individual developers and small teams with up to 16 production systems to get a free subscription, providing access to the distro's update repositories. However, that's a hard limit, that growing businesses should bear in mind.

Amazon Linux

Amazon's own Amazon Linux – the version at the time of writing, in mid-2024, is Amazon Linux 2023, is designed to work optimally on the cloud service provider's platform. It supports all features of Amazon's EC2 instances and its repositories include packages designed to seamlessly integrate with AWS's many other services. Long Term Support versions are available, making it an appealing CentOS replacement, as long as you're happy moving your machines to the AWS cloud.

The previous LTS version, Amazon Linux 2, remains available for compatibility with existing deployments, although some comparatively outdated features and characteristics, including a hard dependency on Python 2.7, mean that you should use the latest version of AL2023 wherever possible.

Although its VM image and containerized versions are designed first and foremost for deployment on AWS, you can download VM images for on-premises use if you want them.

While the first generation of Amazon Linux was based on CentOS, current versions are now built on Fedora but respecced as a server distro.

Best security distros

Some people use Linux because it's free, or because it's fun to tinker with, or because they don't like being beholden to a large corporate entity. Others use Linux for security: either to maintain it or to test it. There are a number of distros designed for those who want to lock down their privacy and security at all costs, as well as distros built for infosec professionals who need to make use of more specialized tools.

Kali Linux

Built for penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and other red-team-oriented security tasks, Kali is definitely not an appropriate choice for an everyday desktop distro. That doesn't mean it lacks quality-of-life features, though. It's based on Debian and includes the lightweight Kali Linux Desktop environment (based on the Xfce window manager) by default, with GNOME and KDE Plasma versions also available.

Nice though the UX is, it's the ready-to-go security tools that Kali's users are here for. A wide range of 32- and 64-bit images for a range of platforms and use cases are available, from password cracking to VoIP research and RFID exploitation. Kali ships with up to 600 security tools, but there are vanishingly few use cases that will call for all of them. Specialist hardware support includes Kali NetHunter for Android devices and a range of ARM images.

There's a guide to help you work out which you need, and storage requirements range from 2GB to 20GB. If you opt for a minimal install, you can use metapackages to pull down exactly the toolkit you require. Paid-for customer support is also available from developer Offensive Security, which also provides courses and technical certification.

How we test

Our expert reviewers immerse themselves in each review they undertake to assess the quality of each product fully. For a desktop distro, this means a full installation of the software and a specific period of use. Only then can we arrive at a comprehensive assessment of quality. When reviewing a distro, we look at installation and setup, design, features, pricing, and comparisons with similar products.

FAQs

Businesses with a distributed workforce will find cloud file sharing offers secure and convenient ways for remote workers to collaborate with colleagues and clients regardless of their location. There's no need to invest in complex VPNs (virtual private networks) as these cloud services allow staff to share and work on documents and projects anytime, anywhere, and from their choice of device. 

Cloud file sharing offers an appealing range of features as their syncing services ensure all your employees are on the same page and working with the latest versions of documents and files. Staff can collaborate in real-time on projects with other team members from their own workspace and seamlessly access work documents stored in the cloud.

All cloud providers offer a choice of storage plans allowing businesses to select one that best fits their requirements. Businesses should opt for paid-for plans as they offer higher cloud storage capacities and more generous file size limits than free versions and also provide an administration web portal.

Cloud file sharing needn't be a separate business process with many providers offering tight integration with other apps such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, and Salesforce. For extra protection, some provide integral malware services that scan files as they are uploaded to the cloud.

Confidential documents need protecting and a minimum requirement from your provider is AES-256 encryption of data prior to transmission and at rest in their cloud data centers. For even greater security, look for services that encrypt shared data on the users' devices and offer zero-knowledge encryption.

Other considerations that will help businesses choose the right provider are price transparency accompanied by clear descriptions of the features included in each plan. The cloud file sharing products we review below are all (bar one) available as free time-limited trials so you can take them out for a test drive before making any commitments.

Best cloud file sharing services

Box is ideal for businesses that want a cloud file sharing service that snaps into existing workflows as it offers more app integrations than most of its rivals. Even better, admins can control which third-party apps are to be made available and users can browse and install them directly from their personal web portal.

Box is packed with a wealth of collaboration tools. Along with cloud file sharing and syncing services, it provides facilities for issuing file upload requests to external users, strong access controls for shared files, Box Preview for viewing and editing files in a browser without downloading them, Box Relay for automating repetitive tasks, and Box Notes for taking real-time meeting minutes.

User onboarding is swift and they'll find the web portal very easy to use. It opens with an overview of all their files and folders and shows recent documents across the top with the left menu bar providing one-click access to all Box tools.

Security is tight as users can apply one of seven access permissions when sharing files. Box Collections allow users to organize files, folders, and web links in logical groups in their web portal without having to create new shared folders for them. 

Business Plus supports unlimited external collaborators but they will require a Box account to access shared files. This isn't a major issue as when you send a share invitation using an email address outside your account domain, the user is prompted to create a free Box Individual account.

Box offers five plans with Business Plus starting at three users and costing £20 each per month when billed yearly. It enables a 15GB maximum file size, a fifty-file version history, includes initial access to ten app integrations, and gives value a boost by offering unlimited cloud storage. 

Egnyte offers an impressive range of cloud file sharing services and collaboration tools and includes integral malware and ransomware protection. The entry-level Business plan looks good value as it starts at £16 per month for each user and supports a maximum file size of 100GB. 

Setup is a breeze as you create an administrator account and choose a personalized sub-domain name for your business account URL. Invitations are emailed to users so they can set up their accounts and personal web portal which provides access to their private and shared folders 

Egnyte supports two user types with power users permitted to engage in all file sharing activities. External partners are designated as standard users so they can upload and download files, edit them, and install the Egnyte mobile apps.

App integration is excellent with Egnyte supporting third-party apps including Microsoft 365 and Teams, Google Workspace, Adobe Sign, and many more. Another stand-out feature is the Smart Cache hybrid service which can be virtualized on–premises and used to provide fast local access to selected shared content.

Malware protection is enabled by default and scans all files uploaded using any method. It worked perfectly during testing, as malware samples uploaded to cloud folders were automatically quarantined with email alerts received in 20 seconds.

The admin portal provides easy access to all features and plenty of controls for user access. Reporting and auditing are also good with the admin console providing a wealth of detail on users, permissions, file activities, devices, and cloud capacities.

Ionos HiDrive will appeal to smaller businesses that want affordable cloud file sharing. Free trials aren't available, but a one-year HiDrive Business plan costs a mere 70 pence per month for 5 users and 1TB of storage plus you can cancel your contract with minimum notice.

From the HiDrive admin portal, you can create new users by sending email invitations but remember that the storage assigned to your account is not per user, but shared across them all. For greater security, you can globally enable 2-factor authentication (2FA) and assign admin rights to selected users although roles are not supported so they will have full access to all settings. 

Once users have downloaded the Windows or macOS desktop syncing app they can choose the cloud folders they want synchronised to their local mapped drive. The Business plan supports encryption of data in flight and at rest, but you'll need to upgrade to the Pro plan if you want end-to-end encryption.

File versioning isn't supported but all plans provide automatic backup of cloud data which can be run by admins as often as every four hours with data retained for up to a year. Users can access the backups from their personal portal and restore selected items to a cloud folder or download them as ZIP archives.

Sharing files between team members is handled by a 'Common' area in their web portal and users can email invitations to share items in their portal with anyone, including external collaborators, password-protect the link, and set read/write privileges plus expiry dates. This can only be done from the web portal as Outlook and Gmail plug-ins aren't available and HiDrive lacks integration with third-party apps.

Small businesses seeking simple cloud file sharing services will find Ionos HiDrive Business a worthy contender. Collaboration tools and app integrations aren't provided but it is easy to use and comparatively good value.

ShareFile will appeal to businesses with big cloud collaboration plans as all licenses start at 1TB of storage per user with the option to upgrade capacity as required. Recent price revisions have improved value with the Premium edition costing around £20 per user per month when billed yearly with the minimum number of users dropped from five to three.

Maximum supported file sizes have also changed with the entry-level Standard edition supporting 10GB while Advanced and Premium plans boost this to a generous 100GB. It's easy to deploy as the rapid onboarding feature streamlines new user creation by emailing one-click agreements with auto-fill templates and providing options to e-sign them.

Two user types are supported with internal users, or employees, each consuming a license and having full access to all ShareFile features as determined by the administrator. External users such as consultants, are classed as clients, have access to more basic collaboration facilities, and don't require a license.

Access controls are excellent as admins can assign existing personal, shared, and favorites folders to users set monthly bandwidth limits, enforce storage quotas, and delegate specific permissions from a list of nearly thirty management privileges. ShareFile also provides malware protection as it scans all files when they are uploaded to cloud storage and blocks any deemed to have malicious content.

The new storage usage dashboard makes it easy for admins to track cloud capacity consumption. It provides details of total account storage usage plus the top consumers, allows you to notify them of their excesses, and stops users from uploading more files.

The Premium edition includes an e-signature service for sending virtually unlimited documents. It's easy to use as you import Word, text, or PDF documents to the web portal, add multiple signatories, arrange their signing order, and email them for drawn and typed signatures.

Businesses that place a high priority on file sharing security and privacy will love Tresorit. Its zero-knowledge policy delivers end-to-end AES-256 encryption and never stores keys or passwords in the clear so only account holders and users can access their data. 

It's commendable that Tresorit's prices haven't increased for over four years with the Business plan costing £12.83 per user per month when billed yearly. It provides 2TB of cloud storage per user and offers a 100-file version history, although the maximum 15GB file size is comparatively small.

The Tresorit Admin Center is used to email invitations to users and when they click on the message link, they can create an account and choose a password. No need to worry about users forgetting it as the Advanced Control feature provides password reset services.

After downloading the desktop app, it creates a personal 'Tresor' – Tresorit's moniker for a secure, encrypted folder. An unlimited number of Tresors up to your storage limit are supported and the app also creates a quick access Windows Explorer drive mapping or a macOS Finder favorites folder.

Integration with third-party apps includes support for Microsoft Teams so you use Teams Admin console to decide which users can install the Tresorit add-in on their Teams desktop app. Tresorit also offers optional eSign digital signature services and an add-on for email encryption.

Security features are excellent as Admin Center policies control everything users are allowed to do. You can decide what types of devices they can access their account from, stop users from permanently deleting content, block their browsers from storing login details, use IP filtering to limit access from specific locations, enable single sign-on (SSO), and enforce two-factor authentication (2FA).

Cloud computing may be all the rage but when faced with ballooning costs, ever more frequent outages and the worrying trend in data breaches, businesses of all sizes are seeing the tangible benefits offered by on-premises servers. With the appropriate supporting infrastructure in place, they can deliver 24/7 data availability and put you in full control of all services and business apps. 

True, your capital expenditure (CapEx) will be higher, but compared to ongoing cloud service subscriptions, your operating expenses (OpEx) over the long term could be significantly lower. You’ll have total equipment ownership and be free to make any customisations you want, whenever you want, store your data in more cost-effective ways, and be in full control of all aspects of security, including data governance.

One of the biggest challenges facing businesses is the sheer range of servers on today’s market, making it important to choose the right one. Over the past twelve months, we’ve lab-tested and reviewed servers ranging from enterprise powerhouses to small business models, and in this guide, we bring you our pick of the best ones.

Best Business Servers 2026

Dell's PowerEdge R770 is one of Dell’s most versatile rack servers yet, as it teams up Xeon 6 power with a high memory capacity and a wide range of storage options. This 2U rack mounter is available in hot and cold aisle configurations, supports air-cooling or direct liquid cooling (DLC) kits, and expansion options include plenty of GPU choices.

Its excellent internal design has room for two Xeon 6 P-Core CPUs up to 86 cores or E-Core models up to 144 cores, and if you choose the former, you can use the 32 DIMM slots to push capacity to an incredible 8TB of fast DDR5 memory. Storage features are outstanding as the R770 can handle up to 24 SAS4/SATA devices, including 8 SFF NVMe SSDs or up to 40 E3.S Gen5 NVMe SSDs.

Dell has wholeheartedly embraced the DC-MHS specification, so you’ll find its fPERC RAID cards and BOSS-N1 controllers are fully compliant. Dell also delivers unbeatable remote management services as its iDRAC10 modular controller presents a wealth of valuable server information, plus essential platform security and links up with Dell’s OpenManage Enterprise and Power Manager, along with its AI-driven AIOps infrastructure management cloud service.

Price: Starts from £6,100 excluding VAT

Read our full Dell PowerEdge R770 review for more information

Enterprises seeking a powerful edge server that can cope with harsh environments will find a lot to like about HPE’s ProLiant DL145 Gen11. Along with support for all twelve of AMD’s EPYC 8004 CPU family, including the six ‘PN’ NEBS-friendly models, this compact 2U system is resistant to extreme shock and vibration and rated for continuous operations in temperatures between -5 and +55 degrees C. 

Its high CPU core potential makes it a good choice for virtualisation at the edge, and it’s ready for AI and ML workloads as it can handle up to three Nvidia L4 Tensor Core GPUs. Maximum memory capacity is 768GB of fast DDR5, and although storage capacity isn’t high, it supports two SATA/NVMe SSDs and has options for up to six EDSFF E3.S SSDs.

Management features are undiminished as it sports an embedded iLO6 chip, which offers strong security, zero-touch provisioning, and full integration with HPE’s GreenLake Compute Ops Management cloud service. The DL145 Gen11 is clearly capable of delivering plenty of processing power to the network edge, and deployment options are extensive as HPE offers desk, rack, and wall-mount kits, so it can happily go where normal servers fear to tread.

Price: Starts from £2,393 excluding VAT

Read our full HPE ProLiant DL145 Gen11 review for more information

Broadberry’s CyberServe EPYC EP1-226T has some big surprises in the storage department as this 2U rack server sports a SupremeRAID SR-1010 RAID solution from GRAID Technology. Hardware RAID cards can present performance bottlenecks when managing high-speed NVMe SSDs, but GRAID Technology neatly overcomes these issues by offloading all RAID operations to a GPU and using out-of-path technology to reduce CPU load.

It certainly delivers on its speed claims as in our lab tests using twelve 3.8TB Micron 7450 PRO U.3 NVMe SSDs, Iometer reported mind-boggling throughputs of 58GB/sec and 21GB/sec for sequential reads and writes, with random operations returning 56.2GB/sec and 20.6GB/sec. Swapping Iometer to a 4K request size delivered equally impressive I/O rates with sequential reads and writes settling at 1.11million IOPS and 591,100 IOPS, while random reads and writes both returned around 1.1million IOPS.

The CyberServe works for us as a powerful general-purpose storage server, as it comes with a 24-core 2.9GHz AMD EPYC 9254 CPU, and the price includes a generous 128GB of DDR5 memory. The server is limited to a maximum of 16 NVMe SSDs, but the SupremeRAID card makes it an ideal choice if you want to get the best from your storage investment.

Price when reviewed: £15,906 excluding VAT

Read our full Broadberry CyberServe EPYC EP1-226T review for more information

First introduced way back in 2010, HPE’s ProLiant MicroServer just keeps marching on with the latest Gen11 model delivering a wealth of new features. Targeting small offices seeking a compact entry-level server, it’s now available with a choice of Intel Pentium Gold, Xeon E-2400 or Xeon 6300 CPUs and supports up to 128GB of DDR5 memory.

It’s slightly larger than the Gen10 Plus model, and HPE has put the extra space to good use by radically improving system board access. Its smart clamshell design allows the upper section of the inner chassis to be swung over through 90 degrees to provide unfettered access – you don’t even need to remove any cables. 

Storage looks good as there’s room for four LFF SATA NHP (non-hot-plug) HDDs or SATA SFF drives using optional converter kits. RAID is handled by an embedded Intel VROC (virtual RAID on CPU) controller, and remote management is a standard feature as the server sports HPE’s excellent iLO6 controller.

Price: Starts from £714 excluding VAT

Read our full HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen11 review for more information

Most small business servers tend to be black and boring, but Dell’s PowerEdge T160 breaks the mold as it packs an impressive hardware package into a compact and stylish chassis. Presented in eye-catching silver, the T160 has a zinc coating for protection, while its industrial-strength construction and optional bezel filter kit make it a solid choice for near-edge deployments such as warehouses and retail offices.

Available with a choice of Intel Pentium G7400, Xeon E-2400, or the latest Xeon 6300 CPUs, the server supports a healthy 128GB of DDR5 memory and offers an impressive storage potential. The two internal cages support three LFF plus two SFF SAS/SATA devices, and there’s even room below for Dell’s optional BOSS-N1 card, which presents two M.2 NVMe SSDs in hot-plug carriers accessible at the rear. 

Full remote management is included, and although the embedded iDRAC9 controller isn’t the latest generation, its web console presents a wealth of information about system and component status. Small businesses will also appreciate Dell’s embedded LifeCycle Controller as it makes light work of OS installation. 

Price: Starts from £1,172 excluding VAT

Read our full Dell PowerEdge T160 review for more information

Chromebook Plus is more than just a fancy new label. Historically, the Chromebook has had an image problem. There are buyers out there – including business buyers – who may be looking for efficient, low-cost laptops designed to run Cloud-based applications with a high level of security built-in. However, too many of them either don't understand what Chromebooks are or what they can do; there is a dated misconception of Chromebooks as low-performance devices that can do little more than run a browser – the kind of thing that your kids might use at school.

Google has spent years fighting such misconceptions and building a robust enterprise ecosystem around Chromebooks. Chromebooks can now run a wide range of Android and Linux apps and have Web apps that don't fall apart or lose your data as soon as your Internet connection drops. Google's partners have even produced mid-range and premium devices with the processing power needed to work in more challenging scenarios and run more demanding software. Yet not everyone knows how to differentiate these advanced Chromebooks from basic, budget models – or even that these higher-end Chromebooks exist.

Chromebook Plus is Google's answer to this problem. It's an initiative designed to make it clearer when a Chromebook offers a stronger feature set and a higher level of performance, and give buyers and software developers more confidence that Chrome OS devices will handle more demanding software. Chromebook Plus Chromebooks have to meet a minimum set of requirements and come with a selection of exclusive features and perks. If you're buying a Chromebook for business, it's well worth going for a Chromebook Plus model.

What makes a Chromebook Plus?

The Chromebook Plus initiative covers consumer Chromebooks as well as business models, but to make the grade the Chromebook in question has to meet specific criteria. The core requirements start with an Intel Core i3 or faster CPU, or a Ryzen 3 5000 CPU on the AMD side. Chromebook Plus devices also need to have at least 8GB of RAM, plus 128GB of storage, The display needs a 1080p resolution and to use IPS (or better) technology. Finally, the Chromebook Plus needs a 1080p resolution Webcam that supports Temporal Noise Reduction.

The first wave of Google Plus Chromebooks meet and usually exceed all these criteria, and may carry Chromebook Plus branding and launch straight into Google's new Chromebook Plus-specific setup experience. Yet they aren't the only Chromebooks to match Google's spec. In fact, a range of popular Chromebooks released over the last year also meet the CPU, RAM, storage, and webcam requirements. These include some brilliant business-ready Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 and Chromebook 516GE, the Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip, the HP Dragonfly Pro, and the Lenovo ThinkPad C14 Chromebook. You can find a full list here.

What benefits do you get with Chromebook Plus?

The biggest benefit is arguably knowing that you're getting a Chromebook with the performance and features to make the best of a wide range of Cloud-based and local Android or Linux apps. Software developers can also build and optimize software to run on that minimum spec and feel confident that any Chromebook Plus model will be able to run it at a decent lick.

However, Google has developed some additional Chromebook Plus features and integrated them into Chrome OS. These start with the Chromebook Plus-specific new user setup experience and continue into Chromebook Plus-exclusive wallpapers and screensavers with their own built-in, AI-powered effects. These aren't game changers for business users, but they're nice to have all the same.

Chromebook Plus models also come with some Chromebook Plus exclusive offers, designed to showcase the additional performance and screen capabilities you can expect from these more advanced devices. These include a free three-month subscription to a cloud-based version of Photoshop along with Adobe Express Premium, and a discount on purchases of the LumaFusion Pro video editor.

What's more interesting for business users, though, is that Chromebook Plus adds additional AI-powered features to Chrome OS and apps. For instance, the Google Photos app now incorporates a version of the Magic Eraser tool you might have seen in the Camera app on Pixel phones. We also get new automatic lighting and background blur enhancements for video calls and meetings, along with AI-powered noise reduction for your mic. These work across Microsoft Teams, Skype, and Zoom as well as Google Meet. Google also promises that these are just the first of a series of AI enhancements to Chromebook Plus devices, including AI-assisted writing tools and the ability to generate custom wallpapers from text prompts.

The final feature for now isn't specific to Chromebook Plus models, but it's a real boost for productivity. Chrome OS's File Sync features maintain a local copy of key files and documents in your Chromebook's storage, syncing them with a version stored on Google Drive so that you always have what you're working on close to hand. With this in place, going offline doesn't have to destroy your productivity, and you don't need to mess around with workarounds just to keep an up-to-date local copy of a file.

Buying Chromebook Plus

If you have a mid-range of high-end Chromebook that delivers the performance you need, there's no need to upgrade right now to a new Chromebook Plus model. However, if you're buying a new Chromebook, then it just makes sense to buy a Chromebook Plus or a Chromebook that's eligible for the upgrade.

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34

Asus's 14-inch Chromebook Plus is a great budget ultraportable. The slightly cheap-feeling plastic chassis means it looks more expensive than it feels, but it's still robust enough for business use, and the keyboard and trackpad are surprisingly good. On a more expensive device, we'd have more to say about the slightly dull 1080p screen and 7hr and 12min battery life, but both are forgivable when you see how much the Chromebook Plus CX34 costs. What's more, it's impressively speedy for a sub-£400 Chromebook, thanks to its Core i3-1215U processor and the mandatory 8GB of RAM.

Acer Chromebook Spin 714

While it was launched before the Chromebook Plus initiative, the 2023 version of the Chromebook Spin 714 is one of the first existing Chromebooks to be eligible for the Chromebook Plus update. It's still one of the best business Chromebooks – if not the best – with a sleeker all-metal build than any of the new breed of Chromebooks, excellent connectivity, a garaged stylus, and good all-round ergonomics, plus a brighter, richer 14-inch, 16:10 screen. Throw in a choice of Intel's 13th-generation Core i5 and Core i3 CPUs and it's hard to go wrong.

Venture capital (VC) funding has become one of the main drivers of the tech economy. However, new startups are exploring alternative funding options, as these may be more appropriate or offer greater flexibility that business founders are looking for.

When they start investigating, however, business owners can feel overwhelmed by the sheer variety of what’s on offer. It’s essential, therefore, that founders arm themselves with as much information as possible.

“When exploring alternative funding options, it’s important to have a strong understanding of what’s available,” says Jessica Bonner, head of origination at Capita Scaling Partners (CSP). “Whether it’s debt funding, grants, crowdfunding, revenue-based financing or others, each option carries its own benefits, risks, and criteria. It’s therefore crucial to determine the type of funding that best suits specific circumstances and aligns with long term plans.”

Types of alternatives to VC funding for startups

While not an exhaustive list, these are some of the main alternative funding options that startups searching for additional sources of finance other than venture capital should consider.

Government funding and grants

Central and local governments have offered startup businesses loans and grants for decades, although they often target a specific business process, such as research and developing a new product. Innovation grants are also available, as well as R&D Tax Credits, Patent Box and Creative Industries tax relief. For those aged 18-30, the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme is also an option and has supported thousands of young entrepreneurs.

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) are closely linked to VC funding but could offer the funding level a new startup business is looking for. Detailed information is available on the Gov.uk website.

Bootstrapping

Self-funding your new startup business should always be considered first. Using your own financial resources will give you ultimate control over how the money is spent and the level of reporting that needs to be completed. Using family and friends should also be explored, as they can often be an untapped source of support for new businesses.

Angel investors

Wealthy people who want to support new businesses often invest significantly in high-risk companies. These early-stage investments are risky, but they can deliver potentially massive rewards to the angel investor. For your business, angel investors tend to be less stringent with their requirements than a VC, but may want more hands-on, day-to-day influence over your company. Locating an angel investor can take time. One of the most effective routes is to use one of the many angel investor networks.

Crowdfunding

One of the most active funding channels is crowdfunding. If your business has an innovative new product, asking potential customers to support its development for rewards – often significant discounts on the final price of the product – could help bring your idea to market, as it has thousands of other new products. Among the best known crowdfunding platforms are Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which are reward-based systems. An alternative is equity-based systems that offer a stake in your new business such as Crowdcube and Seedrs.

Be prepared to make what could be a significant investment in the explainer video; you will need to communicate information about your new product to entice backers to make a pledge.

Incubators and accelerators

Many of the most well-known tech companies were funded by incubators. These differ from venture capital as they usually only invest in a limited number of companies yearly. This means they can become highly competitive, but if you’re accepted expertise and mentoring are often also included. If your business needs more than money to start, these funding options, which include the likes of Entrepreneur First and Active Capitals among others, could be for you.

Debt financing

Borrowing the money you need to start your business can be approached in several ways: Startup business loans are always available from the leading banks and the British Business Bank for up to £25,000. You will need a detailed cash flow forecast and a detailed business plan, especially when approaching the big four retail banks. Peer-to-Peer lending could also be an option. Individuals back the businesses they like the look of by lending small amounts along with what could be many other lenders. You will sometimes hear these schemes described as debt crowdfunding. Platforms include Funding Circle and Crowdstacker.

Invoice financing

This method of financing uses the outstanding invoices your new business has to release the money needed to expand. The financing company pays the invoice value, which can give you the required cash. The improvement in cashflow could provide your business with the financial resources it needs. The low cost of these schemes has made them very popular. Options include The British Business Bank and SME Invoice Financing.

Understanding potential VC funding alternatives for startups

The funding landscape has many options to choose from. Sophie Lonergan, head of startup investment at Digital Catapult, advises that founders should fully understand each funding type and what the lenders’ expectations will be.

“Every funding option comes with its own set of pros and cons, but in general founders should look out for two key components of any funding option: control terms and economic terms. The former refers to what, if any, control a business or lender has over the company they’ve invested in, which a founder should consider carefully and assess on an individual basis,” Lonergan explains. “Economic terms refer to the financial implications of an agreement, and founders should make sure they understand what, if any, repayment or interest might be required as well as any other financial implications.”

“Startup founders should always seek their own legal advice before agreeing to any new funding options, and establishing a network with other founders can be a great way to share ideas and experiences,” she adds.

With so many alternative funding options available, it’s vital to understand how each one differs. Looking closely at what your business needs the money for will direct you to which funding options may be more appropriate than venture capital. Drawing up a shortlist for further research is always a good first step and always seek advice if unsure which option to choose and look closely at the costs. 

The modern age and various unprecedented circumstances have pushed a large part of the global workforce to go mobile and/or start working from home. This transition has led to a rise in tools that allow these workers to accomplish their work tasks and remain in constant contact with their management, colleagues, and clients. Among the most popular ones have been online collaboration tools.

Not only have these tools helped facilitate normal communication among employees, but many of them have also provided handy collaboration options to better organise individual and group tasks, distribute them among individuals, keep track of their progress, and streamline the entire work process.

Without further ado, here are the best tools we discovered while scouring the online collaboration market.

The best online collaboration tools available

1. Microsoft 365

Document collab meets UC integration

REASONS TO BUY

• Robust and user-friendly apps
• Bundles for any user
• Microsoft Teams with UC

REASONS TO AVOID

• Somewhat limited collab features

Microsoft’s collection of cloud-based office tools, known as Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365), is one of the most popular platforms of its kind, for more reasons than one. All the tools are easy to use, capable, and, most importantly - allow teams to collaborate in real-time on documents, from texts to spreadsheets to presentations, and more.

The appeal of Microsoft 365 is also in its accessibility on all major operating systems, including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Some Microsoft 365 packages include Microsoft Teams, facilitating the integration of unified communications with the common office software.

Microsoft 365’s prices depend on whether you’re a personal or business user. The former starts at £5.99 a month, while the latter begins with Business Basic at £4.50 per user a month. From there, it gets somewhat more expensive with Apps for Business at £7.90 per user a month, Business Standard at £9.40 per user a month, and Business Premium at £16.60 per user a month. All of these prices are based on annual subscriptions, with Business Basic the more more economical option. While this option doesn’t include desktop versions of Office apps, it does include Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams services.

2. Slack

Handy collaboration tool that won’t eat up your resources

REASONS TO BUY

• Excellent service for free
• User-friendly and intuitive interface
• Isn’t heavy on resources

REASONS TO AVOID

• Free version only retains 10,000 messages

Slack is a popular collaboration tool that can be used on both desktop and mobile devices. Its primary function is exchanging direct messages and files between persons or inside a user group, expanded by the capability to organise chats into channels, say, for a specific project, department, company, topic, etc.

This tool stands out from the crowd thanks to its support for voice and video calling, be it through its desktop or mobile app, allowing for more direct contact when needed. There’s even your space inside the app, where you can draft messages, list your to-dos, or keep links.

This is in no way typical cloud storage but is very useful for sharing files with your colleagues (or keeping them on hand for yourself). While it lacks the cloud storage functionality, Slack can integrate with the likes of Google Drive, Box, Microsoft 365, and Dropbox. The best part? You won’t even notice it’s there if you’re not actively using it, as it doesn’t use up too much of your device’s resources.

You can use this awesome app for free with some limitations, such as the number of stored messages (up to 10,000), storage space, and so on, but no limitations on the length of time used. There are three paid plans - Pro at £5.25 a month, Business+ at £9.75 a month, and Enterprise Grid with customised pricing for extra-large businesses.

3. Asana

Proven track record in the industry

REASONS TO BUY

• Complete project overview
• Plenty of integrations
• Advanced features

REASONS TO AVOID

• Limited communication options

Asana is a well-known player in the collaboration field that has been offering its services for quite some time to the likes of Intel, Pinterest, TED, and Uber. There is a lot to like about Asana, as it allows companies to create and manage to-do lists for current and future projects, track their employees’ work assignments and progress, create reminders, set clear deadlines, send work requests, assign comments to posts, and more. Asana also has an integration with Microsoft Teams, Jira Server, and Zoom.

All the projects can be planned, visualised, and organised in a list, board, or calendar format, while a search option allows you to swiftly find any past task. You can get your hands on the Basic Asana package for free, with the only limitations on the file (100MB) and team size (15 members).

Paid plans include Premium at £9.49 per user a month (annual subscription), Business at £20.99 per user a month (billed annually), or a custom-priced Enterprise package. The Premium plan adds a timeline view, advanced search and reporting, forms, rules, milestones, and an admin console. Business introduces portfolios, custom rules builder, approvals, proofing, advanced integrations with Salesforce, Adobe Creative Cloud, Tableau, and Power BI, while the Enterprise pack throws in priority support, custom branding, data export, SAML, and SCIM.

4. Podio

Collaboration goes fully mobile

REASONS TO BUY

• Integrates with plenty of third-party platforms
• Capable mobile options
• Fully customisable

REASONS TO AVOID

• Interface is a bit outdated

Podio is a great way to facilitate collaboration and communication among teams, allowing them to organise large projects and assign tasks. Employees can also take advantage of options like viewing ongoing projects’ status, file-sharing, and receiving feedback on current work. The platform can be used on desktop and mobile, and supports integration with services like Zendesk, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Evernote.

You can pick whether you want to be billed monthly or annually, with the latter option entailing some discounts. If you have up to five employees, you qualify for a rather limited yet free service that provides task management, apps, and workspaces.

The Basic plan, at £5.99 per user a month, throws in user management, as well as unlimited items and external users. At £9.33 per user a month, Plus will get you a light user role, automated workflows, and read-only access. Finally, the Premium package provides a full suite of advanced features at £15.99 per user a month. In addition to everything from the Plus plan, these include visual reports, contact sync, interactive sales dashboards, and advanced Workflow Orchestration by GlobiFlow. All of the prices mentioned are based on the annual pricing.

5. Ryver

Focuses on communication

REASONS TO BUY

• Beginner-friendly
• Handy extras

REASONS TO AVOID

• Some glitches in the app

Ryver focuses primarily on providing your business with an effective way of communication, accompanied by some surprising bonuses. One of them are filters for who can see your posts in the app and join your teams. You can also save your company’s posts in the Facebook-like newsfeed, for accessing them later.

The platform is available across all major operating systems (including Mac and Linux) and allows you to create countless teams inside those apps, categorise them, and set up chats with individuals or groups.

If you have up to 12 users, Ryver can be yours for just £57.45 a month (Starter), providing you with unlimited chat and file-sharing, task management, as well as video and voice calls. Increasing the number of users to 30 on Standard also increases the price to £107.40 a month, but also adds custom invite links. There's also a Medium Pack plan for over 30 user, offering the same functions and tools but for £3.89 per user a month. Finally, the Enterprise account, available via contacting sales, offers single sign-on (SSO), a testing sandbox, advanced team management, and premium support.

If you’re unsure about whether or not Ryver is the right collaboration solution for your team, there’s a 14-day free trial to see for yourself, but only for the Starter and Unlimited packages.

6. Trello

Simplistic collaboration app

REASONS TO BUY

• Free plan
• 2FA
• Easy to use

REASONS TO AVOID

• Lacks communication features

Trello is another popular collaboration and project management platform that can be installed on both desktop and mobile. Teams and tasks can be organised in the form of boards or lists, and within them, these tasks can be assigned to different people. Employees can also give each other feedback by writing comments to cards. Trello can be integrated with third-party apps including Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, and Evernote.

Its free version features unlimited personal boards, cards, and lists, but limits you to 10MB uploaded file size, 10 team boards, one power-up per board (like calendar, automation, custom fields, etc.), simple automation, 50 command runs per month, and two-factor authentication (2FA).

If you opt for its Standard package, it will cost you £4.16 per user a month (annual subscription) but will increase the maximum file size on 250MB, add advanced checklists, priority support, business-level security setting, unlimited power-ups, card repeater, calendar view, map view, voting, 100+ app integrations, unlimited team boards, board collections and templates, custom backgrounds and stickers, unlimited buttons, rule and scheduled commands, 1,000 command runs per team + 200 per user, email notifications, Google apps sign-on, advanced admin permissions, and more.

After this, the Premium plan offers all of the above plus dashboard, timeline, Workspace Table, Calendar and Map views, with unlimited Workspace command runs and a host of extra features for £8.33 per user a month, and is aimed at teams of up to 100.

Finally, the Enterprise package adds unlimited command runs, SSO for all SAML IdPs, power-up administration, organisation-wide permissions, attachment restrictions, public board management, and organisation-visible boards. You'll need to contact sales for exact pricing.

7. Flock

Solid communication-oriented work companion

REASONS TO BUY

• Free plan
• Excellent communication options
• Suitable for novices

REASONS TO AVOID

• Lacks task management features

Flock reminds of Slack in many ways - it facilitates messaging, audio and video calls, file exchange, the Do Not Disturb feature, essential productivity tools, and more, through free and paid service packages. It can also integrate with third parties like Twitter, Google Drive and Zoom.

The free plan is an excellent way to get smaller teams started, as it provides unlimited individual and group messaging, an archive for up to 10,000 searchable messages, 10 public channels, 5GB of total file storage space per team, single team admin, unlimited polls, reminders, notes, and third-party integrations, as well as individual video calls.

Going for the Pro package at £3.75 per user a month (billed annually) will remove the limitation on archived messages, increase the storage to 10GB per team member, add unlimited private and public channels, multiple team admins, group video calls for up to 20 participants, screen sharing, unlimited ToDos project management, and 24/7 priority support. This package comes with a 30-day free trial.

If you’re interested in the Enterprise plan, you'll need to contact Flock to get a quote (it can be done via live chat). With the Enterprise plan you can get 20GB per team member, Active Directory Sync with Microsoft Azure, real-time Active Directory Sync with OneLogin, Okta, and Ping, SSO, smart channels, unlimited announcement and auto-join channels, and 24/7 dedicated support.

The best cloud storage for business gives companies secure and safe storage of key data and files. In addition, top platforms offer collaborative, administrative, and file-sharing tools, helping your business more ably cope with a hybrid workforce and an increasingly-digital business world.

Factors integral to modern-day success include speed, compatibility, security, centralised data requirements, and ease of collaboration. As such finding and choosing the best cloud storage for your business is more important than ever before.

For many, comparing and contrasting cloud storage vs local storage is still the first port of call. However, cloud storage holds all the cards when it comes to performance and security at a reasonable price, while a wide range of extra advantages relating to blending remote and in-office workforces gives it the edge.

The best cloud storage for business offers cloud sync and military-grade security, with vendors featured below numbering among the best encrypted cloud storage services and the most secure cloud storage systems. With so many options, it's wise to choose a service offering adequate storage, advanced security, high performance, and top-level customer service.

We've ranked the best cloud storage for business on all the above factors, plus size limits, maximum storage, pricing, additional tools, and ease of use.

The top 3 best cloud storage providers for businesses

Egnyte: the best cloud storage for business

Egnyte’s enterprise-class cloud storage for medium to large organizations allows files to be stored and backed up efficiently. Highly rated management tools, third-party app integrations, and API support supplement the system’s robust security features, intuitive user interface, and competitive pricing.

Box for Business: top for security and integrations

Box for Business boasts impressive third-party integrations and powerful security and encryption features, facilitating painless collaboration and file-sharing. The platform is extremely easy to use with a tidy user interface and high-quality Android and iOS apps, while top-value pricing on its Business Plus subscription tier offers great value for businesses.  

Dropbox Business: the leader in file-sharing

A household name in cloud storage services, Dropbox remains a great option for businesses looking for best-in-class file-sharing functionality. Compared to its business cloud storage competitors, Dropbox offers customers added flexibility with third-party applications as well as an easy-to-use dashboard. 

Which is the best cloud storage for business?

Our top pick for the best cloud storage for business is Egnyte, due to its brilliant software and synchronization, accessible collaboration systems, sharing for any file type, third party integrations, and providing users with the option to store sensitive data on on-premises servers for added security, all of which separate it from the rest of the pack. 

Cloud storage stalwarts Box for Business and Dropbox Business also feature highly in our rankings demonstrating extensive experience in the personal cloud storage solutions can translate to the enterprise sector.

SpiderOak is the solution for businesses  looking for zero-knowledge encryption for their cloud storage, while Microsoft’s OneDrive for Business tries to compete for customers looking for security-focused cloud storage.

The best cloud storage for businesses available now

Egnyte

Plenty of storage accompanied by flexible sync tools

SPECIFICATIONS

• Storage capacity: 50GB per employee
• Number of devices: Potentially unlimited
• Encryption: End-to-end

REASONS TO BUY

• 15-day free trial
• Superb integration
• End-to-end encryption

REASONS TO AVOID

• No native Linux client
• Average speeds

Since its launch in 2007, Egnyte continues to provide premium software to meet the file sharing and synchronization needs of businesses, regardless of size. Customers are able to store multiple types of data in the cloud, locally and online, and more sensitive data can be kept on-premises for extra security.

Egnyte provides content services such as a user-friendly collaboration system that allows employees to work together whenever, wherever they are. Both internal and remote employees are able to access important files via the service’s seamless integration with Microsoft 365.

In terms of pricing, Egnyte’s Business plan starts at $20 per user per month and offers customers 1TB storage (plus 10GB per employee) for files up to 100GB in size, spanning 10 to 100 employees. You will need to contact Egnyte directly to get a custom quote for their ‘Enterprise’ and ‘Enterprise Lite’ plans, which provide additional benefits such as AI-based content classification, behavior-based ransomware detection, security issue alerts, unusual behavior detection, and more. 

The only drawback noted by critics online is the platform's long load times for certain files, namely images.

Read our comprehensive Egnyte review

Box for Business

Low-cost and solid storage from a reliable provider

SPECIFICATIONS

• Storage capacity: Unlimited
• Number of devices: Unlimited
• Encryption: AES 256-bit

REASONS TO BUY

• Intuitive interface
• Inexpensive
• Excellent business feature set

REASONS TO AVOID

• Read-only sharing
• Can’t restrict which networks to sync from

Box has been a household name in the cloud content management and file sharing space for over 15 years. Its strengths lie in a wide range of management abilities and a clear focus on robust security protections. 

A simple user interface means there is no learning curve for new users trying to navigate around the platform. A handy user dashboard enables admins to control access to settings, files and folders, as well as monitor users and manage sharing options.

The Box Drive client is available on both MacOS and Windows, as well as offering an Android app through which users can access their files. Box’s storage services are supported by a number of popular productivity suites such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Box for Business starts at $15 per user a month, allowing users to upload files up to 5GB with unlimited storage, technical support during local business hours. The standard Business plan offers organization-wide collaboration, advanced security features, and no limit on the maximum number of users.

The Business Plus plan package costs $25 per user a month and ups the maximum file size to 15GB. This tier also allows for unlimited external collaborators and has an expanded feature set including advanced search filters and custom metadata templates.

With the Enterprise tier, priced at $35 per user a month, the maximum file size upload is expanded to 50GB and offers extra features including password policy enforcement, document watermarking, 2FA for external users, and more.

Box also offers an Enterprise Pus package that offers everything included in the Enterprise tier but allows users to upload files up to 150GB. Other bonus features include enhanced threat detection and smart access controls, improved 24/7/365 customer support, data residency controls, and more. 

Read our full Box for Business review.

Dropbox Business

Affordable and dependable storage from the industry heavyweight

SPECIFICATIONS

• Storage capacity: Unlimited
• Number of devices: Unlimited
• Encryption: In transit and at rest

REASONS TO BUY

• Simple to use
• 30-day free trial

REASONS TO AVOID

• No online editing tools

Dropbox Business’ greatest strength is its simplicity, making it a popular choice among business customers. Cross-platform functionality across most devices and apps, no compatibility issues with different file types, and intuitive drag-and-drop functionality on the desktop app make Dropbox Business one of the easiest cloud storage services to use.

Content can be shared quickly via links, even if the recipient is not a Dropbox user. Dropbox’s business plan lets users connect to their personal account and manage all of their files from one dashboard.

Administrators can gain insights into the status of each team member from the dashboard, as well as modify how they share and manage files, set access permissions, and monitor usage. Third-party support is high level, with apps such as Microsoft Office and Slack part of the package.

Speaking of packages, Dropbox Business offers three different tiers. The Standard plan will cost you $12 per user a month, starting at three users, and includes 5TB of space for secure storage, 120 days of file recovery, 2FA, and more.

The Advanced package builds on this, starting at $26 per user a month with unlimited storage, advanced admin controls, and user management tools. To subscribe to the Enterprise tier, it’s necessary to contact Dropbox directly and work out a deal.

There is a 30-day free trial available, for which you will have to provide your payment credentials: after this, you’ll be automatically bumped up to a paid plan and charged. One consistent complaint from users however was the absence of online editing tools.

Read our comprehensive Dropbox Business review and our Dropbox review.

SpiderOak

High security combined with a simple interface

SPECIFICATIONS

• Storage capacity: Unlimited
• Number of devices: Unlimited
• Encryption: End-to-end

REASONS TO BUY

• Top-notch security
• Central device management
• Unlimited devices

REASONS TO AVOID

• Not as collaborative-friendly as other services
• Relatively expensive

SpiderOak serves as a collaboration tool, online backup and file hosting service, leveraging a cloud-based server to allow its users to access, synchronize, and share data.

Not only does it boast high-level data security and privacy, but it also provides cloud storage, online backup and sharing services using a ‘zero knowledge’ privacy environment (at least the company claims so). There's also a 21-day free trial available, so you can see how the service works and test it before making a final decision.

Considering the focus is on security and privacy, SpiderOak didn’t waste much energy on intricate design. Its interface is pretty simple and straightforward, with a convenient drag-and-drop feature that helps you organize files quickly and efficiently.

The centralized device management dashboard grants users easy access to settings for all applications, such as sharing and backup selection, allowing them to manage their accounts, set group permissions and monitor usage.

In terms of pricing for businesses, a minimum of 500 users is required to qualify for the enterprise package, and you will need to contact SpiderOak’s sales team for a quote. As per the online community, SpiderOak is said to lack many of the collaboration tools that can be found with other cloud storage providers.

Read our full SpiderOak review.

Microsoft OneDrive for Business

Best business cloud storage for Microsoft users

SPECIFICATIONS

• Storage capacity: 1TB per employee
• Number of devices: Unlimited
• Encryption: In transit and at rest

REASONS TO BUY

• Fast file uploads and downloads
• Backed by the power of the Microsoft ecosystem
• Very user-friendly web interface

REASONS TO AVOID

• Average security tools
• Customer support is average at best

Post-Windows 10, OneDrive has been the main Microsoft cloud storage solution, as it's integrated into the file explorer for immediate access. Via Android and iOS apps, as well as a macOS app, OneDrive for Business is interlinked with Microsoft 365, to boost productivity with its many collaborative features.

The best of these include selective syncing, multi-page scanning, access anywhere from any device, 1TB per person on the cheapest plan, and the aforementioned interaction with Microsoft Office apps via 365. This is OneDrive’s biggest draw, with Microsoft 365 plans packaging OneDrive with Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Skype.

While security isn't as high-level as competitors, in transit and at rest encryption ensures file safety, and the potential for unlimited storage is a real advantage for larger businesses. The most expensive plans also come with a one-month free trial, but business plans start at $6 per user a month, with 1TB, potentially unlimited users (via upgrades), file versioning for up to 500 versions, and much more.

Read our full OneDrive and OneDrive for Business review.

Tresorit

Superior file encryption through stylish apps

SPECIFICATIONS

• Storage capacity: 1TB
• Number of devices: Potentially unlimited
• Encryption: End-to-end

REASONS TO BUY

• 14-day free trial
• Strong end-to-end encryption
• Multiple packages available

REASONS TO AVOID

• Pricey
• Few in-app collaboration features

Hailing from Hungary and Switzerland, Tresorit is a cloud storage provider with a focus on increased security and strong data encryption for businesses, as well as personal users.

It will primarily entice businesses whose main priority is keeping online data safely stored, as Tresorit offers ‘zero-knowledge’ encryption. This means that only the people you choose can have access to your data. Moreover, its 2FA login provides an additional layer of security for your account.

Let’s talk pricing: the Business Standard plan costs $10 per user a month, billed annually. You get 1TB of encrypted storage per user, syncing of existing folder structure, secure access for up to 10 devices per user, and a few other features.

The Business Plus plan starts at $20 monthly per user, on the annual billing basis, and includes data residency options, enhanced collaboration and tracking, and support via phone. It also increases the storage per user to 2TB.

The ‘Enterprise’ option will require a custom quote from Tresorit, and is perfect for businesses with more than 50 users. Additional features include admin API, personalized staff training and custom deployment. If you decide on this option, you will need to contact the Tresorit team directly in order to sign up.

All Tresorit’s packages are accompanied by a 14-day free trial. While it might be considered a bit pricey, keep in mind that it offers a higher scale of security compared to other similar services, as well as additional features, so it's probably worth it.

Read our Tresorit Business review.

What is cloud storage for business?

Cloud storage works by storing data on a physical drive, before making the data accessible via an online software platform to users whenever and wherever they want to view it.

Many business cloud storage providers rank among the best apps to share files as a result, and fall into one of two camps: self-hosted, utilizing on-premises (on-prem) infrastructure; or storage as a service (StaaS), using externally managed, third-party infrastructure. A combination is known as hybrid cloud storage.

StaaS providers achieve economies of scale by managing advanced, expansive data centers, and thus can provide large, affordable levels of storage. In comparison to self-hosted services, StaaS providers are always more affordable per TB, and are known as storage and syncing platforms because they're designed for collaboration.

They provide the ability to seamlessly upload and access data, as well as edit or share it, from any connected device. Cloud sync technology meanwhile encompasses link sharing and file versioning, allowing for simple sharing of documents within and across businesses.

Users can track document changes and incorporate colleague edits, allowing StaaS products to provide a cohesive and integrated digital environment.

How to choose the best cloud storage for business

When looking for the best cloud storage for business, you must ensure that the provider you choose offers stable, highly secure storage, and is able to protect company data - often both sensitive and important - at all times.

Look for services offering end-to-end encryption and zero-knowledge architecture. Both security elements are integral, with the former meaning providers are almost hack-proof, but the latter is particularly significant, because your cloud storage service is unable to access your data, even if law enforcement authorities compel them to.

Many services offer in-transit and at-rest encryption, so data is totally indecipherable even if a cybercriminal intercepted it. Both your data and the infrastructure housing it are protected, with StaaS organizations housing servers in highly secure data centers with 24/7 security, biometric authorization for entry, and frequent security auditing.

These safeguards are particularly crucial for enterprise and business cloud storage, especially if you're operating in privacy or data-sensitive industries. It's non-negotiable at this level to invest in cloud storage providing the very best security, especially if you're planning on going cloud-native.

Data center locations are key too, as different countries have different privacy laws, so you'll need to ensure data is stored in a country that complies with the data privacy obligations of your business. This is where the best web hosting services cross over with cloud, specifically the best cloud hosting providers, because regional cloud hosting is affected in the same way.

As well as security, administrator controls for businesses using StaaS providers (which covers most business cloud storage services) enable managers and IT staff to oversee access and system usage. Elements such as 2FA, roles-based permissions, access management, and auditing are just some of the controls available, and StaaS providers also utilize cloud sync technology to offer collaborative functionality as well as seamless digital workflows.

When it comes to the best cloud storage, secure cloud storage platforms should be at the forefront of your mind, especially if you're looking for the best cloud storage for business. Many services don't perform as well when it comes to security, as while files may be encrypted and safe from hackers, not every platform is equal.

Some may, for example, control your encryption keys, so they can essentially access your data if required to by law enforcement. Hackers may also cause a data breach, leaking your important information. Thankfully, a good number of services are truly secure, including those we've outlined in this guide.

Truly secure cloud storage solutions, particularly the best encrypted cloud storage providers, utilise not only end-to-end or in-transit and at rest encryption, but also offer zero-knowledge encryption. This means that you have full control over who can access and view your stored data, and even the provider is unable to access anything - even if compelled to by law enforcement authorities.

Other security controls offered by leading providers include versatile administrator controls, as well as cloud data storage in highly-secure, well-maintained data centres. Those seeking business cloud storage will need these elements, because protecting confidential and vital business data is paramount.

We looked closely at the leading secure cloud storage services available, analysing their security features and tools and focusing particularly on encryption, data safety, and all-round security practices.

The 3 best secure cloud storage providers right now

IDrive: the best secure cloud storage provider

IDrive's high storage, reasonably-priced plans are protected by end-to-end and at-rest encryption, while a private key can be created to enable zero-knowledge encryption. It provides extensive file versioning and offers data centre security measures. For a limited time, get 10TB of cloud storage for only £3.27 for the first year!

pCloud: a security leader in cloud storage

pCloud offers encryption across the board, not least via its pCloud Encryption add-on, which includes zero-knowledge architecture as well as client-side encryption. For business plans meanwhile, user and access controls are available, with the encryption add-on only £4.99 a month on top of subscriptions.

SpiderOak: the top choice for zero-knowledge security

SpiderOak, via the SpiderOak One cloud storage service, offers advanced end-to-end encryption, but also has strict no-knowledge encryption, so will never have access to user files. Additional features include file versioning and recovery, while all plans are available for unlimited devices.

Which are the best secure cloud storage providers?

The best secure cloud storage provider is IDrive, thanks to its range of excellent secure storage solutions for individuals and businesses. Configurable storage and backups, alongside multi-device compatibility, are top features only enhanced by zero-knowledge and at-rest encryption on all files.

pCloud follows closely behind, its pCloud Encryption paid add-on providing advanced zero-knowledge and client-side encryption for an extra £4.99 a month, while business plans benefit from user and access controls as well as multi-device capabilities.

SpiderOak meanwhile is the leader in zero-knowledge, with advanced end-to-end encryption only adding to its zero-knowledge policy, which means the company and its staff cannot access any of your data or information.

We also recommend considering Icedrive, Sync.com, Tresorit, MEGA, and NordLocker when considering which secure cloud storage solution might be right for you or your business.

The best secure cloud storage providers, compared

The best secure cloud storage providers available

IDrive

Best configurable secure cloud storage

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: Optional
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Phone, live chat, email, online form submission

REASONS TO BUY

• Compatible with various devices
• Uses full end-to-end encryption
• Configurable backups
• Support for unlimited devices

REASONS TO AVOID

• User interface can be a little confusing
• Upload and download speeds are a little slow

IDrive is a leading cloud storage provider, and offers excellent secure storage solutions for businesses of all sizes. It's also our top pick not only for the best cloud storage in terms of premium plans, but also the best cloud storage for photos, and more pertinently the best encrypted cloud storage.

It’s known for its configurability, which essentially enables you to specify exactly how you would like files to be stored and how backups should work. In addition, IDrive offers excellent multi-device compatibility, and accounts can be used with unlimited devices, including on mobile and desktop. End-to-end and at-rest encryption is used throughout, and you can create a private key to enable zero-knowledge encryption.

All of IDrive’s data centres are located within the USA. They are designed with multiple failsafes, and they employ industry-standard security measures to prevent physical data breaches.

There’s a basic free plan with 5GB of storage, but you will need to upgrade to a premium subscription for full access to all tools and features. Prices start from £65.25 a year for a single user licence with 5TB of storage. IDrive is currently offering 10TB for a hugely discounted price of £3.27 for the first year — one of the most affordable high-capacity plans we've seen.

It is worth noting that IDrive does have a few small flaws. Upload and download speeds can be slower than average. The user interface is also a little confusing, and you may find it hard to navigate at the beginning.

Read our full IDrive review.

pCloud

Best overall secure cloud storage platform

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: With add-on
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Email

REASONS TO BUY

• Generous 10GB of free storage
• Excellent file-sharing tools
• Leading client-side encryption practices
• Fast and easy to use

REASONS TO AVOID

• Support is a little basic
• The free plan has limited tools
• Zero-knowledge encryption is a premium add-on

Swiss-based pCloud is one of the world’s leading cloud storage providers. It’s one of our top choices when it comes to secure cloud storage, and it should be easy to see why.

For starters, pCloud provides all of the expected encryption services across the board. Advanced zero-knowledge and client-side encryption is available through the pCloud Encryption add-on, which costs a relatively small £4.99 a month.

The cheapest business plans also offer excellent value for money. Prices start from just £9.99 per user a month for 1TB of storage per user. Admin team members will benefit from a suite of user and access controls, and there are numerous other tools available to streamline the cloud storage process.

In addition, pCloud offers excellent multi-device capabilities. It’s available across all popular mobile and desktop operating systems, and its user interface is streamlined and intuitive across the board.

On the downside, collaboration tools are notably lacking. The free version is a little limited, and customer service is basic, at best.

Read our full pCloud review.

SpiderOak

Excellent zero-knowledge storage solutions

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: Yes
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Email, live chat

REASONS TO BUY

• Support for unlimited devices
• Point-in-time recovery tools
• Tight security all-around
• Tidy desktop app

REASONS TO AVOID

• Quite expensive
• Phone support is absent
• Limited mobile support

SpiderOak offers advanced secure cloud storage solutions through its SpiderOak One product. This enables you to create full backups of all of your files and other data, storing it in a safe cloud environment.

Like most of the providers on this list, SpiderOak offers advanced end-to-end encryption. It has a strict No Knowledge policy, which means that the company and its employees will never have access to your files or any information associated with them. The point-in-time recovery tools are excellent, enabling you to restore previous versions of files or folders.

In addition, all plans come with support for unlimited devices. Prices are a little high, though, with the base 150GB plan costing £4.89 a month. There’s a 21-day free trial that you can use to test the platform.

Unfortunately, there’s very limited mobile support. The desktop client is attractive and beginner-friendly, though, which is nice to see.

Read our full SpiderOak review.

Icedrive

Highly affordable secure cloud storage

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: Yes
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Phone, online ticketing

REASONS TO BUY

• Uses Twofish encryption algorithm
• Attractive web, desktop, and mobile apps
• Very competitive prices

REASONS TO AVOID

• Somewhat limited support
• Lack of collaboration tools

Icedrive is a newcomer to the cloud storage space, but it offers excellent secure storage solutions nonetheless. It uses the advanced Twofish encryption algorithm, rather than the more widely-used AES encryption. This is a much more secure option, which is nice to see.

In addition, Icedrive offers web, mobile, and desktop apps. These are attractive and highly functional. Collaboration tools are notably absent, though, and customer service is limited to phone and email.

Prices start at a very competitive £1.50 a month for 150GB of secure storage. Lifetime licences are also available from £79.99, and there’s a basic 10GB free forever plan that you can use to test the platform. All purchases are backed by a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full Icedrive review.

Sync.com

Advanced zero-knowledge encryption

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: Yes
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Email

REASONS TO BUY

• Excellent zero-knowledge encryption
• Streamlined file sharing
• Unlimited storage options

REASONS TO AVOID

• Support is limited to email
• Few third-party integrations
• Limited collaboration tools

Sync.com is a clear industry leader, and focuses on data security and privacy across the board. It’s known for its advanced end-to-end, zero-knowledge encryption, which means that no one will be able to access your data except for you.

The secure sharing tools on offer here stand out as excellent. You can set clear access permissions and control which users have what sort of access. For example, you can set permissions to read-only or read-write as necessary.

On the security front, Sync.com offers advanced 2FA tools. It’s compliant with regulations in various parts of the world, including the USA, Canada, and the EU. All data centres are highly secure and protected by tight controls.

Prices start from £4 per user, per month for 1TB of secure storage. Unlimited storage can be accessed for £12 per user a month. There’s also a free version that you can use to test the platform.

On the downside, there’s only email support. In-app collaboration is limited, and there’s only a small number of third-party integrations.

Read our full Sync.com review.

Tresorit

Versatile secure cloud storage for businesses of all sizes

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: Yes
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Live chat, phone, email

REASONS TO BUY

• Excellent encryption tools
• Encrypted file sharing available
• Real-time collaboration tools

REASONS TO AVOID

• Slow upload and download speeds
• Expensive compared to some alternatives

Tresorit is known for its advanced cloud storage solutions backed by a suite of collaboration and other productivity features. It uses zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption across the board.

The secure file sharing tools also stand out as excellent, particularly for those dealing with sensitive data. All links are encrypted, and you can set clear access permissions to ensure files are only available to selected people.

In addition, Tresorit boasts full compliance with various regulatory bodies. It’s fully HIPAA compliant, and its Swiss roots enable it to offer leading privacy features.

The collaboration tools also stand out as excellent. You can work alongside other team members to edit files. All changes will be tracked, and you can mark files that you’re working on as “editing” to notify your colleagues.

Some users will be concerned by the slow download and upload speeds, though, which are somewhat lower than we would expect with a leading cloud storage provider. Prices are also a little high, with the cheapest business plan starting at £9.58 per user a month for 1TB of storage.

Read our Tresorit Business review.

MEGA

The best free secure cloud storage available

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: Yes
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Email

REASONS TO BUY

• Very competitively priced
• Great free forever plan
• Tidy user interface
• Built-in team messaging tools

REASONS TO AVOID

• Slow upload and download
• Limited support options
• Few third-party app integrations

MEGA is our clear choice for those looking for a free secure cloud storage platform. It offers 20GB of storage with its free-forever plan, which is backed by a full range of premium tools.

As expected, all files are protected by zero-knowledge, end-to-end encryption. 2FA is available, and you can set clear link permissions to ensure only the right people can access shared files.

On top of this, the MEGA user interface is tidy and packed full of advanced features. The collaboration tools are excellent, enabling you to work alongside your colleagues and other team members. There’s a built-in secure chat tool, and there’s even a MEGAdrop tool that enables third parties to upload files to your cloud.

The lack of support options will be a little concerning for some, as will the limited number of third-party app integrations. Upload and download speeds are also a little slow.

Read our MEGA review.

NordLocker

Competitively-priced secure cloud storage

SPECIFICATIONS

• Automatic backups: Yes
• Zero-knowledge encryption: Yes
• At-rest encryption: Yes
• Support: Email

REASONS TO BUY

• Great user-friendly interface
• Leading encryption and security tools
• Very competitively priced
• Global data centre locations

REASONS TO AVOID

• Only available on desktop devices
• File sharing is a little limited
• Limited support options

Unlike most of the other platforms on this list, which focus on cloud storage with encryption and security added as extra features, NordLocker uses an encryption-first model. In short, it offers advanced encryption services with cloud storage capabilities, and is from the same product family as NordVPN, one of the best VPN services available.

One thing that stands out about NordLocker is its local encryption services. You can drag and drop files or folders to upload them to a secure cloud server, or you can encrypt your files locally for even more security.

All cloud-stored data can be accessed from any desktop device, at any time. On the downside, though, there are no mobile apps, which will be frustrating for some users. File sharing is also limited, as you can only share with other NordLocker users.

Prices start from just £2.39 a month for 500GB of secure storage. There’s also a free version which offers 3GB of storage. It’s worth noting that customer service is limited to email, which is certainly a downside. However, there’s a decent knowledge base, and the platform is simple and intuitive, so you shouldn’t have too many problems.

How secure is cloud storage?

Cloud storage stores data on physical drives accessible via online platforms whenever and wherever users want to view it. With many contrasting the benefits and disadvantages of cloud storage vs local storage, it's worth pointing out how secure the former is.

End-to-end encryption and zero-knowledge architecture mean providers are almost hack-proof and unable to access your data, even if law enforcement authorities compel them to. In-transit and at-rest encryption ensure data is totally indecipherable, even if a cybercriminal intercepted it.

Data infrastructure is also protected, with highly-secure data centres monitored by 24/7 security, biometric entry authorisation, and frequent security auditing. Data centre locations are key: different countries' privacy laws can vary, so ensure data is stored somewhere that complies with your business's privacy obligations.

Administrator controls including 2FA, roles-based permissions, access management, and auditing also help ensure data transfer and file editing applications are secure as well.

The best cloud management software platforms (CMP) make it easier to manage cloud services and reduce costs and overheads.

This is especially important given that cloud software is fast becoming an essential component in any business IT environment, with the ability to manage and run applications through a SaaS model, or set up and manage your cloud architecture with a IaaS or PaaS platform.

The best cloud management software platforms

1. OpenStack

2. Apache CloudStack

3. CloudHealth

4. Scalr CMP

5. BMC Multi-Cloud Management

However, for those who need enterprise-level cloud computing services it often pays to work with different cloud services and providers and put them together in a hybrid cloud, run through a cloud management software platform. This makes it easier for general IT management as well as monitor performance and control endpoint security more easily, as well as reduce costs.

This also means having more choice over which cloud services you want to use, not least from AWS, Azure, and others. Additionally, major integrations are usually available with VMware, Citrix, and other often essential computing applications.

Managing so many different services and providers though can become a headache without the right cloud management software or services to help configure different applications and custom IT needs.

Therefore various cloud management solutions have become available, where you can directly aim to manage cloud architecture directly, or else bring in different cloud services under a single third-party for simpler management.

Ultimately, the cloud management software you choose will allow for greater personalisation for the demands of your businesses, ensuring that the software fits your needs, rather than the other way around.

Here then are the best in cloud management software.

The best cloud management software available right now

1. OpenStack

The popular open source cloud management platform

REASONS TO BUY

• Free and open source
• Supports heterogeneous networks
• Automate pools of resources

OpenStack is a free and open source software platform for cloud computing. It is usually deployed as an infrastructure as a service (Iaas).

The software is designed for creating private and public clouds. Users can control compute, storage and networking resources throughout a data centre. This is managed from either a dashboard or through OpenStack’s API.

OpenStack Compute (NOVA) is a cloud computing fabric controller which is designed to manage and automate pools of resources. It works with bare metal configurations, virtual machines and containers. It integrates with legacy systems and third-party technologies.

OpenStack Identity (Keystone) is a directory of users linked to accessible OpenStack services. Keystone supports multiple forms of authentication such as password credentials and web service logins.

OpenStack works with many open source technologies. This makes it suitable for heterogeneous networks. The platform can automate all important processes such as workload provisioning, application lifecycle, networking, storage and container infrastructure.

2. Apache CloudStack

Apache's open source cloud management software

REASONS TO BUY

• AWS E2 compatible
• Free and open source

REASONS TO AVOID

• Not entirely customisable

Apache CloudStack is an open-sourced cloud computing company which creates, manages and deploys infrastructure cloud services.

The software is designed as highly scalable Infrastructure as a Service. The cloud platform is used to deploy and manage large networks of virtual machines. It’s designed for use by companies which offer on-premise cloud or hybrid solutions.

Apache CloudStack supports VMware, KVM and Citrix XenServer amongst others. It is a turnkey solution which includes compute orchestration, Network as a Service, account management, open API and resource accounting.

Users manage their cloud through a user-friendly interface. This gives users access to command line tools and/or RESTful API. Users utilise all compute, networking, software and storage resources from the API.

CloudStack’s API is compatible with AWS EC2 and S3. This is a handy feature for those who wish to deploy hybrid clouds.

The platform controls storage for instances running on hypervisors (primary storage) as well as templates, snapshots and ISO images (secondary storage).

Users have noted that CloudStack is not entirely customizable compared to other open source providers.

3. CloudHealth

Hybrid cloud management platform from VMware

REASONS TO BUY

• Avoid hidden costs
• Plan for budgets
• Security and compliance

CloudHealth is virtualisation giant VMware's latest software platform aimed at managing hybrid cloud services for enterprises.

The platform covers a number of key areas, such as multi-platform visibility which provides all the reporting and data analytics you need through a customized dashboard. This allows you to see what resources are being used on a department, team, and individual level, so that these can be reallocated to reduce costs as necessary.

You can almost monitor overall costs to identify all costs, as well as discover trends so you can plan ahead to budget according growth models.

Security, compliance, and governance are also built in to ensure you can protect your data and users according to strict and developing policies, to avoid being caught out by a data breach or other leak.

VMware also provide CloudHealth with approved partner cloud services to help build and manage your clouds with exactly what you need, to ensure full compatibility, cost oversight, and security.

4. Scalr CMP

Cloud management platform designed for scale

REASONS TO BUY

• Avoid vendor lock-in
• Simplified self-service
• Standardisation to reduce costs

Scalr CMP provides a hybrid cloud management platform designed specifically for enterprises that aims to allow you to build a cloud strategy that doesn't compromise on security, cost, or productivity.

This means a self-service approach to cloud management that allows for modular infrastructure with agility while keeping costs down. Cost-effectiveness is driven by automation and standardised application deployments. The aim is to satisfy not just DevOps and security but also finance departments.

Budgeting tools and reports make it easier to manage financial policy and responsibility, and sprawl prevention is built in to prevent spend on unnecessary services.

However, everything is run through a dashboard that aims to simplify the user experience, with a single user interface and single API all that's required for managing multiple cloud platforms.

Another key point is that Scalr aims to avoid vendor lock-in by encouraging policies that encourages integration with existing systems rather than buying into proprietary software.

5. BMC Multi-Cloud Management

Making cloud management easy

REASONS TO BUY

• Multi-cloud migration
• Asset mapping
• Manage and monitor

BMC Multi-Cloud Management provides automated provisioning, governance, and management of secure cloud services. The platform provides self-service access to deploy applications tacks across multiple cloud environments. The entire system is intended to be simple to set up, with easy streamlining to run applications in either a test or production environment.

BMC Multi-Cloud Management allows users to manage multiple clouds in a range of different ways. For example, there are features for cloud migration services, forecasting costs, as well as predictive service management.

Other features include multi-cloud visibility by mapping hybrid assets alongside the automation of dependency mapping. Automation management continues through workloads, workflows, and DevOps.

There's also monitoring of your clouds across hybrid environments, from which you can manage the performance of your apps to ensure a good user experience, while also allowing you to rapidly determine any problems quickly and easily.

Other cloud management software to consider

MultiCloud provides a dashboard through a web application for managing files across multiple clouds. MultiCloud offers a directory tree that works like Windows Explorer, making it easy to transfer files into different locations. You can also sync different clouds and leave the process to run automatically. There's a Freeware plan available, and a Premium one with more features.

DivvyCloud offers a product more focused on managing security, compliance, and governance in cloud environments. It does this through a single interface which allows management and active policy enforcement over multiple clouds, whether public or private, and is compatible with AWS, Azure, Google, Alibaba, and Kubernetes, among others.

Red Hat Cloudforms uses open source technology to provide management tools for virtual and private cloud infrastructure, which allows for automation of standard processes, visualisations for analysis, compliance control and user self-service abilities. It also aims to make it easier to manage diverse IT infrastructure with a focus on virtualisation, along with deploying containers in the cloud to maximise efficiency.

The best IT management tools make managing IT systems simpler and easier, from customer support to diagnostics. Running an organisation involves keeping track of a wide variety of assets, both hardware and software.

For a long time, this was handled by maintaining manual logs on a spreadsheet. Now, it’s done using dedicated software managed by IT departments.

Good IT management software is designed to seamlessly organize, track, and index data to give employees access to company assets from a single interface. Although your mileage will vary from platform to platform, most are designed to help manage multiple projects and help deliver on high levels of customer satisfaction.

However, picking the right tool for the job can be incredibly difficult. You will need something that fully caters to your business needs and is able to scale as the organization grows, while also being simple and user-friendly. Fortunately, we believe there are some tools on the market that do offer that flexibility – you can find our picks for the best IT management tools below.

The best IT management tools available

1. Freshservice

Reason to buy

• 21-day free trial
• The first-time setup is a breeze
• Powerful search functionality
• Lots of resources and how-to guides

Owned and operated by Freshworks, a software company that designs products geared towards small and medium-sized businesses, Freshservice is a customer support tool that also doubles as asset management software. It’s the so-called big brother of Freshdesk, the company’s original customer support software offering.

Freshdesk is geared towards smaller businesses and focuses mainly on external customer service. Freshservice, on the other hand, is a broader offering that works as a full-fledged tech support tool for internal use at medium to large businesses.

At its core, it employs a ticket-based support system that allows your employees to flag potential issues for the tech team to handle. There are options for escalating issues and sending them higher up the chain of command. The user interface is clean but powerful.

2. Oracle Netsuite

Reasons to buy

• Suitable for large businesses
• Supports integration with numerous applications
• Custom flowcharts simulate business processes
• Reports are easy to understand

Acquired by Oracle in 2016, Netsuite offers a variety of solutions designed to custom fit your business needs. When you sign up on its website, you’re asked to provide information that helps tailor the software to your requirements. However, because of the fluid nature of the software, there is no fixed pricing, and the service will need to be customised to your requirements.

Among other things, Netsuite enables you to perform tasks like accounting, inventory management, and customer service. Unlike Freshservice, Netsuite is a business management solution and the focus is not just on IT. The software can be customised to work for any department, from accounting to HR.

3. SolarWinds Service Desk

Reasons to buy

• Lots of customer resources
• Cross-department access
• Easy to set up and navigate
• Cloud-based system can be accessed from anywhere

Used by over 300,000 organisations across the world, SolarWinds Service Desk is a full-range ITSM solution for medium to large businesses. It is entirely cloud-based and boasts powerful features like smart ticketing, asset management, and workflow automation.

Like Freshservice, SolarWinds is built upon a ticketing system that allows employees to submit support requests to the IT department. It also comes with an asset management functionality that helps you keep track of all your hardware and software throughout their life cycles.

Apart from incident reporting and asset management, SolarWinds Service Desk comes with highly detailed analytics to help you measure your organisation’s performance. The benchmarks dashboard is easy to use, with separate indicators for things like customer satisfaction, average response time, and so on.

4. Cherwell IT Service Management (Ivanti)

Reasons to buy

• Flexible dashboards
• Ticket workflows can be customised for specific teams
• Useful tracking and metrics
• Email automation works flawlessly

Used by over 1,700 organisations across the globe, Cherwell IT Service Management is a great combination of flexibility and ease of use and is meant to support companies of any size. The best thing, however, is that its prices start at a fraction of those of its competitors, especially higher-end software like Oracle Netsuite.

While the user interface may not be the best-looking of the bunch, it offers a lot of options to configure and customise everything according to your organisation’s needs.

With Cherwell, ticketing and inventory management is a breeze, and the software is compatible with a range of other products and solutions. It is a well-rounded solution that also works well for departments beyond IT.

The best APM tools make it simple to manage applications and boost IT network performance. Both of these elements are important, because it's one thing to manage IT infrastructure and networks, but quite another to manage applications as well – which often require the most attention.

It's not just the quantity of assets needing management that's a problem, but also the fact that updating all of this technology can create software and hardware conflicts.

It's in these situations that application performance management (APM) tools can really shine. The best APM tools can shrink the management burden by pulling every application into a single interface, where troubleshooting and updating for each app can be done holistically. From this single UI, users can also catch faults and conflicts, manage resources, and view data streams, providing a broad overview of software performance across a business.

Below, we've compiled what we feel are the best APM tools on the market today, including tools that can be used not just for monitoring, but also for general optimization as part of an overall IT strategy.

The best APM tools for 2026

1. Datadog APM

Reasons to buy

• Full-stack visibility
• Works with cloud platforms
• OpenTracing support

Datadog APM is a SaaS-based platform for monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing applications. It does this through a number of features, not least by providing full-stack visibility, which allows customers to collect, search, and analyze traces across their full infrastructure, whether cloud-based, servers, or applications.

This can be done via a global overview, which can be drilled down to a specific line of code, using a combination of analytics and software metrics. Real-time interactive dashboards provide the mapping of data services and clusters, with one-click navigation allowing processes to be isolated. These can be customized according to need, such as by using drag-and-drop performance dashboards, or automated using APIs, to provide performance alerts.

Datadog's APM can be deployed on most popular libraries and frameworks with a single command, providing instant monitoring. It also supports the OpenTracing protocols for applications and framework developers for distributed vendor-neutral tracing.

2. Loupe

Reasons to buy

• No installation necessary, quick setup
• Groups events and finds bottlenecks

Important considerations

• Some rival APMs cover a larger number of applications

Loupe is an effective, feature-packed application performance management tool. Aimed at enterprises and IT administrators, this solution lets you trace events, performance, and other metrics to work out the causes of issues affecting software negatively.

A good APM solution will help you find problems with apps straight away, and if you’ve got to hunt through a sprawling list of potential issues, then it’s going to be hard to do that. However, Loupe automatically groups log events so you can find and address performance issues with a minimum of fuss.

The system also gives you a visual understanding of your application usage and offers insights into bottlenecks that can subsequently be tackled. It’s easy to get up and running with this system, as you don’t have to install anything onto your servers – the setup process is very nicely streamlined.

Loupe offers a free trial, after which plans offer centralized logging and metrics for early stage applications. Further plans adds resolve and analyze, as well as unlimited users and unlimited errors. The Enterprise plan adds real-time log viewing and active directory integration.

Each paid plan also includes 2GB, 10GB, and 50GB respectively of bandwidth per month, with additional charges per gigabyte if your bandwidth exceeds this – though Loupe is at pains to point out that most customers are unlikely to exceed bandwidth under normal circumstances.

3. Traverse (Kaseya)

Reasons to buy

• Works across cloud and on-premise systems
• Automatically discover apps
• Troubleshoots any problems

Important considerations

• No flat-rate pricing

Plenty of businesses use the cloud along with on-premise systems, and when you have a bunch of different apps – from cloud through hybrid to traditional software installations – monitoring them all can be very difficult. Traverse is an APM tool that aims to tackle these sort of scenarios.

It can automatically discover apps, networks, servers and systems, meaning you don’t have to dedicate time in order to configure things manually. Once it’s set up and running, Traverse will monitor each device and app to determine if there are any issues, including on-premise, cloud, and hybrid technology. If a problem is identified, it’ll fire up a troubleshooting process and try to resolve it before your business is affected.

You can also back up and restore changes across your applications, and you’re sent predictive analytics concerning their overall performance.

The one negative is that Kaseya does not advertise flat-rate pricing like the above providers, so you will need to contact their sales department for a quote.

4. Retrace

Reasons to buy

• Designed with the needs of devs in mind
• Provides actionable insights

Important considerations

• May be too restricted for general users

If you’re a developer or have a team of software engineers working within your company, then it’s obviously quite common to come across performance issues and other bugs. Stackify Retrace is a targeted ‘devAPM’ system, giving development professionals the tools they need to find and address problems effectively.

The platform alerts developers if any issues and bugs have been found, and it can be used to improve performance levels across test and production servers. Retrace has been designed so that it provides visibility, data, and actionable insights into app performance and faults. When issues arise, alerts are sent to a choice of destinations, including via email, SMS, or Slack.

There’s a centralized dashboard that displays code performance and metrics, including errors and logs. Stackify can also be used with most common app stacks, and this is a highly scalable SaaS solution, so it’s easy to install and use.

5. Applications Manager (Manage Engine)

Reasons to buy

• Covers all aspects of apps and core infrastructure
• Highly scalable

Important considerations

• Not cheap

Applications Manager from ManageEngine is a tool which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s being marketed as an enterprise-ready, usable, and affordable APM. Businesses are provided with everything they need to ensure that critical applications and systems are always in perfect working order.

This solution can find and address issues involving the end user, applications, and important components such as databases, servers, ERP packages, web services, cloud platforms, and virtual systems.

Applications Manager works with a single install, and allows you to address issues easily, plus when looking further down the road, it’s highly scalable – indeed, it can scale to up to 50,000 applications.

However, although there is a free demo available, there is no flat-rate pricing advertised and you will need to contact ManageEngine for a quote.

Other APM options to consider

There are a number of other vendors leading the way with APM solutions. Here we'll provide a few more options for you to consider as part of your IT infrastructure management.

• LogicMonitor offers automated hybrid infrastructure monitoring and analytics, which means it can automatically monitor all devices, or work with a preconfigured set of rules for the tools you use. LogicMonitor's platform works with servers, cloud, VMs, storage, networks, and apps, as well as websites. In short, it offers a pretty comprehensive set of options for monitoring a wide range of necessary applications.
• Dynatrace looks to simplify complexities in cloud management, not least with the automated monitoring of dynamic microservices. It makes it easy to visualize and monitor all services and provide alerts for events, not least unexpected access to files and information. As a platform it really is very comprehensive in being able to identify problems and help staff rectify them, even when such issues have previously gone unnoticed or have been difficult to pin down.
• New Relic APM monitoring uses clear visualization to help identify performance levels, bottlenecks, and dependencies, by offering a complete overview of your operating environment. Aside from automated processes, the charts are well-presented and make it very clear where root causes lie, making it easier to identify and fix problems. It also works with a lot of data, not just from the apps being monitored, but also key metrics from user agents to make identifying solutions to issues easier to adapt for customer needs.
• Microsoft System Center aims to make it easier to deploy, configure, and manage the IT infrastructure that you're monitoring. The interface is easy to use and reliable, but you may still find there's something of a learning curve as it has a broad range of software features. However, once you get to grips with those, it can be very easy to configure you own custom system and deployments.

The best ITSM tools, or information technology service management tools, make the management of IT hardware assets simpler and easier across your business or organisation.

ITSM tools simplify the tracking and resolution of issues across multiple assets, making it simpler to manage a wide range of devices connected to your IT infrastructure.

One of the key issues faced is the variety of devices that might be used, as network connections can involve desktop PCs, laptops, as well as smartphones, all of which need to be kept up to date with security upgrades, as well as software patch management.

Additionally, ITSM isn't just focused on the technology but also caters for users, meaning that it covers proper error reporting and logging, technical helpdesk assistance, as well as other ticketing support.

This is all organised to make it easy for IT managers to find what they need in order to resolve problems as quickly as possible, and ensure others are solved before they become an issue.

We've put together a list of five of the best ITSM tools currently available on the market below.

The best ITSM tools available

1. ServiceNow

Reasons to buy

• Integration of legacy apps
• Benchmark performance against peers

Important notes

• No free trial available

ServiceNow offers ITSM among its family of support products. IT Service Management endeavors to aggregate IT services into a single cloud-based platform, and has plenty of heavyweight customers including GE Digital, Broadcom, and Overstock.com.

It features the ability to aggregate those essential, but often difficult to work with legacy applications into a single cloud location, with manual processes becoming automated along the way. The firm also claims IT productivity can be increased using features such as incident management with automated routing, asset, and cost management, which can track costs and contracts for assets, and a modern, self-service portal for consumers to access.

ServiceNow IT Service Management can also be integrated into real-time performance analytic dashboards, with the ability to benchmark how you are performing among peer industry averages.

While the website provides plenty of information on how this can benefit your business, the company is unfortunately rather opaque on pricing. With no offer of a free trial, there are two plans with descriptive names, the lower being IT Service Management, and the higher IT Service Management and Performance Analytics. The latter adds features, true to its name, for performance analysis.

2. Freshservice

Reasons to buy

• Free 21-day trial
• Availability of mobile apps
• Features for root cause analysis of incidents

The folks at Freshworks bring us Freshservice, a cloud-based ITSM which promises to standardise processes in a “slick, modern and efficient manner”. 

This ITSM software package offers an array of features including opportunities for collaboration between agents, proactive problem management that can reduce service desk incidents by 40%, support for root cause analysis of incidents via a visual timeline, and coordination for new releases with standardised start and end dates. There are also available mobile apps for iOS and Android.

All tiers offer a 21-day free trial to see if Freshservice fulfills your organisation's needs. Plans start at the Starter plan for the basic feature set, at £15 per agent per month. 

The Enterprise plan, at £95 per month, adds additional features including software license management, analytics, customisable agent roles, sandboxing, and audit logs.

3. Jira Service Management

Reasons to buy

• Features Service Desk apps to connect to hundreds of other platforms
• Streamlined modern interface
• Annual plan discounts

Jira Service Management, from Atlassian, takes a modern approach to helpdesk software, with an uncluttered, and simple to use interface. Standout features include integration with over 600 other platforms such as Slack via available Service Desk apps. Jira Service Management can be used via mobile platform apps, and notable customers include X, Sotheby’s, and Spotify.

On the one hand, Jira Service Management has the shortest trial of our offerings here, only seven days. However, it does offer a free tier for up to three agents with no time limit. Additionally, the free tier comes packed with features, but limitations such as 2GB for using it.

The next step up covers all of the features of the free plan with supporting up to 5,000 agents as well as offering audit logs.

4. InvGate Service Desk

Reasons to buy

• Free trial available
• Available as software or as SaaS

Important notes

• Additional cost for asset management

InvGate Service Desk is a comprehensive ITSM tool to support IT. The list of organisations that use this solution includes Burger King, Nike, Toyota and Starbucks.

Features include ticket management with assessment of customer satisfaction, self-service capabilities with a predictive knowledge base and news broadcast capabilities, and ‘gamification‘, which refers to the use of game-style mechanics to support and motivate employees with a positive reinforcement model. There is also multi-department support, and integration for asset management with InvGate Assets.

As with some other ITSMs, unfortunately the pricing is opaque, but the firm does offer a 30-day trial.

An essential IT support role is monitoring network and device health and providing a rapid response service to ensure problems or faults don't impact on business operations. Downtime is a dirty word as it can cause a loss of productivity while prolonged service outages may lead to irreparable damage to a company's reputation and customer perception.

As networks become interconnected and ever more complex, support staff need all the help they can get if they want to avoid a daily firefight. Network monitoring software is ideal as it can tell them precisely what's on their networks, and how it is performing and alert them to any issues as soon as they happen.

Standard features include hardware component monitoring and measuring device availability and response times but the best products can do much more than this with many capable of keeping a watchful eye on business apps like Exchange and SQL Server plus cloud services such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft 365. Virtual environment monitoring is another valuable feature as software that supports this can present a wealth of details on hypervisor host resource usage and virtual machine (VM) status.  

Automated network discovery services make deployment a breeze as they scan the network and populate their databases with details of all the devices they find. Monitoring software is capable of gathering a huge amount of information about devices and their discovery processes will probably surprise you by revealing more of them on your network than you previously thought. 

Along with color-coded device icons for at-a-glance status views, most offer multiple dashboards that allow you to create custom views that focus on key performance indicators. NOC (network operations center) views are another great feature as these present support departments with a big heads-up display showing network pain points that require their immediate attention.

There's a huge choice of network monitoring products and below, we feature four of the best ones on the market. It's important to choose the right one for your business needs and all are available as free time-limited evaluations so you can try them out before parting with any cash.

Best network monitoring tools in 2026

ManageEngine OpManager is a key player in the Zoho Corporation software and services empire and delivers a complete solution for network, server, and application performance monitoring. It's good value too, as ManageEngine's flexible licensing schemes are based only on devices and not elements or sensors and you can choose from three different editions.

Deployment is swift as it only took 20 minutes to install it on a Windows Server 2022 host and run an initial scan of the lab's IP subnet. OpManager's device identification and classification is excellent as it is endowed with over 11,000 devices and 56,000 vendor templates.

The web console's dashboards present a lot of information about your network with the handy heat-map widget showing a grid of coloured blocks representing each device and their status. Detailed custom dashboards are created by choosing from over 200 available widgets and NOC (network operations center) views used to present support departments with the big picture.

Virtual monitoring is extensive as OpManager provides views of host and VM utilization, guest OSes, and datastore usage. Add the NetFlow module and you can view all common flows and use the free NetFlow Generator utility to translate raw packets into NetFlow data. 

The list of available metrics is basic, but OpManager's root cause analysis (RCA) profiles compare data collected from multiple devices to help with problem remediation. Cisco ACI, IPMI, and VPN monitors are provided, OpManager integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams for alert notifications, and the Application Performance Management (APM) plug-in can monitor and report on an extensive range of on-premises and cloud-hosted apps.

There are a lot of components to familiarise yourself with, but ManageEngine's OpManager is a powerful monitoring solution with plenty to say about your network. The well-designed web console can be easily customized to suit and OpManager's affordable licensing plans will appeal to a wide range of businesses.

UK company Mutiny Ltd has been in the network monitoring business for over 22 years and for good reason as its Monitoring System is designed to be up and running in minutes. It's also excellent value as licensing is based only on monitored nodes with the entry subscription price of £2,833 per year enabling 300 nodes while the unlimited version costs around £6,600 per year.

Deployment options are plentiful as Mutiny can supply a turnkey 1U rack appliance or you can download the CentOS ISO file for installation on your own choice of hardware platform. We opted to virtualize it and installed the Mutiny OVA file on our VMware ESXi host. 

Mutiny's discovery process is fast as its Node Manager scanned our lab network subnet in one minute. Its tidy web console neatly groups all main functions in a ribbon menu across the top and presents a set of informative dashboards that can be easily customized with various widgets

As each node is added to the console, it is assigned a suitable icon for easy identification and receives a default set of monitoring and alerting parameters with predefined thresholds. Mutiny currently supports SNMP but it is developing native WinRM/WMI monitoring so it can gather more information about Windows systems.

From the monitoring tab, you can check the status of all devices and each is assigned one of four status indicators so you can see at a glance those that are up, down, and are experiencing problems. Support departments can display this as a big status wallboard and Mutiny's polling engine is very efficient as it checks availability and properties of over 16,000 devices per minute. 

Mutiny's alerting services are a cut above the rest. It uses primary, secondary, and default shifts for every day of the week where each shift has a start and end time that determines the order support staff will be called when a problem is identified. 

The Mutiny Monitoring System is a great choice for businesses that want a clear picture of the state of their networks. The node-based licensing is good value and it is capable of delivering a wealth of easily accessible information.

Businesses worried about additional costs of optional features can rest easy with Paessler's PRTG Network Monitor as everything is included in the price. Its sensor-based licensing means you just select the number required and apply them to any device, individual hardware component, service, or business application you want. 

Deployment options are good as PRTG can be run on-premises while businesses with distributed offices can use the cloud-hosted version where each network is remotely monitored by installing PRTG probes in them. We tested the on-premises version and it took around 45 minutes to scan a complete IP subnet.

PRTG does all the hard work as it assigns the most appropriate sensors to each device and applies a predefined set of alert triggers. Sensor types are in abundance as Paessler offers nearly 300 but you need to keep an eye on usage as PRTG can get carried away with the number it assigns each device.

The web console provides an overview of all sensors with the device's view using a tree structure with all systems organized into hierarchical groups that inherit settings such as discovery schedules from their parent group. The view can be easily customized for your environment and it's simple to identify problems as sensors are assigned colors showing if they are up, down, paused, or in a warning state. Selecting one takes you to a detailed overview with live graphs and charts showing activity for the past two days, month or year.

Alerting is extensive as notification templates are available for services such as email, SMS, Syslog, SNMP traps, MQTT, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. Paessler includes Windows and macOS desktop apps which provide just as much information as the main web console while its iOS and Android mobile apps are simply the best.

Sensors can get consumed quickly but they do make PRTG a very versatile network monitoring solution. It can monitor almost anything on your network and the simple licensing schemes make it easy to control costs.

WhatsUp Gold (WUG) from Progress Software has ease of use as a high priority as its network discovery service has been recently updated so it automatically monitors all key metrics on every device it finds. Product licensing is even more flexible too, as you can choose from the standard versions, a perpetual license, points-based options or three yearly subscription plans. 

Installation doesn't take long as we loaded WUG on a Windows Server host in 30 minutes with the first wizard-assisted network discovery taking a further 10 minutes. The WUG console presents four menu options in its upper ribbon bar and you can add frequently used views to the Favorites tab by clicking on the star icon at the top right of the console. 

The analysis dashboards feature allows you to design multiple custom views, add columns, and choose the metrics you want to see. Anything WUG is capable of monitoring can be included so you can create very detailed dashboards and each device is assigned a colored icon for instant status views.

The NOC (network operations center) feature manages collections of views that rotate to a schedule for presenting support teams with a live status display. You can add monitored items to a slide deck, enter a display duration in seconds, and pass the URL to support staff so they can access it directly.

Alerting is extensive as policies link device state changes with an extensive range of actions and you can see which actions have been applied to devices from their properties page. General reporting tools are in abundance and WUG is a great choice for businesses running the Progress Flowmon appliances as it can include their traffic analysis data in its dashboards.

Add-ons can increase the price, but WhatsUp Gold is easy to use and provides a superb range of network monitoring tools. Its smart dashboards and NOC views will appeal to busy support teams and it's available in a wide range of licensing schemes.

The best software asset management (SAM) tools make reducing licensing costs simple by identifying the software licenses your business owns. SAM software allows you to put into play assets you still have rights to use, while cutting out subscriptions you no longer need.

Additionally, by using SAM tools to track applicable expiry dates, you can better move workflows from one set of assets to another, by having clear deadlines that you can make full use of. This is especially important where a business or other organisation has an extensive IT inventory, where assets would otherwise be difficult to track.

SAM tools are also essential for IT teams who are under constant pressure to cut costs, and unused or unnecessary licenses are a good way to do this. However, it's not just software assets that can be tracked, but also hardware assets, and this can be essential when it comes to data security.

By ensuring you know where company laptops are and identifying any potentially missing ones, you can take remedial action if necessary to shut them down and even erase hard drives through remote commands.

SAM tools can also be used to transfer assets between departments, making overall control and management of software and hardware much simpler and more cost-effective overall.

Below, we've compiled our round-up of the best software asset management tools currently on the market.

The best software asset management tools available

1. ManageEngine AssetExplorer

Available as a fully-functioning trial for 30 days, MangeEngine’s AssetExplorer will make IT professionals who are used to working in Windows feel right at home. It offers excellent tools used for tracking and reporting alongside support for both physical and virtual assets, which can be added manually. Hosted in the cloud, AssetExplorer also offers VM-based asset support and relationship mapping, covering all the standard bases for IT professionals.

2. ServiceNow Asset Management

ServiceNow Asset Management is a cloud-hosted SAM that’s more suited to advanced users. In response to customer feedback, it’s been simplified in recent years and now sports an attractive UI that’s navigated using a left-hand sidebar. Still one of the more complex (yet fully-featured) offerings on our list, it lets admins use workflows to automate IT asset lifecycles and track financial, contractual, and inventory details of hardware and devices while recording maintenance activity. It also allows regular audits to be performed up until the point that hardware devices need to be retired.

3. SysAid

There are instances where it would be handy to have a helpdesk working alongside an IT asset management solution, and this is where SysAid comes in. It features a user-friendly interface that lets admins remotely track, control and track assets. Admins can easily view the assets in their new work and get a full picture of their hardware components and software products. For support, the organisation's end-users can press a designated hotkey to automatically take a screenshot and capture other relevant information about the asset to log in the event of an incident.

4. InvGate Assets

InvGate Assets is a flexible SAM that lets you track your assets in a front-end view that’s accessible in a browser. It tracks your inventory and offers a list of features that include Change Management, Advanced Reports, License Management, Remote Desktop and Software Development. It has a nifty alerting system when licenses are about to expire, and you can also create alarms for tasks that are a priority – such as updated licenses or renewing IT equipment. If you want to take things a step further, data can be store in the back-end using a MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server database.

5. Solarwinds Web Help Desk

Fast to set up (it took us just under 3.5 hours), SolarWinds Web Help Desk is an affordable option that can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud. A superb asset management took that helps you track your hardware and software assets (while keeping them up to date), it’s available on several different pricing tiers depending on how many assets you want to add. Just be warned that it won’t track licenses and software usage – but it will display the asset and ticket history for individual assets.

6. Freshservice

Easy to setup making it a suitable option for SMBs, Freshworks Freshservice helps IT teams with a number of different functions, with IT asset management being one of them. Up to 100 assets can be managed for free, with the next pricing tier extending that number to up to 250. Admins can get a good view of asset information by opening a timeline that show its associated ticket’s historical activity – from priority assignment and status changes to assigned groups – which can also be viewed by employees.

7. Pulseway

IT asset management is just one component of this multi-talented piece of software, which also offers live chat and infrastructure management as part of the package. It’s a great option for tracking assets on the back of its robust security and support for mobile devices. Pulseway was built as a mobile app first, rather than a desktop app that’s been adapted for mobile use, and it shows. There’s also a desktop client that shows the same information, but the interface isn’t as slick or useful.

The best computerised maintenance management system software (CMSS) can help businesses more easily manage maintenance, workflows, and costs.

CMMS platforms maintain a database of records relating to all aspects of hardware assets in order to help with its maintenance.

This not least where required spare parts may be kept, existing repairs to be logged, and whether it would be more cost-effective to completely replace assets under specific circumstances rather than attempt to fix them. The whole system allows a business to be completely proactive rather than reactive with how it approaches every aspect of maintenance.

A good CMMS is critical in reducing unnecessary maintenance costs, partly by being able to collate all reports and requests across all assets, but also through preventative maintenance. This is where alerts can be scheduled according to an asset's use, wear, or meter readings, so that replacement parts can be readied and and servicing carried out before any such asset breaks down and adversely impacts your business.

Assets, of course, can mean any aspect of industry and plant, property and care management, as well as IT infrastructure and vehicle fleet management.

Overall, the CMMS that you need will reduce equipment failures, labour costs, production errors, and even work injuries. It will use a broad range of tools to do this, not least data management, a work ordering system, schedule and planning management, inventory control, asset tracking, as well as analytics to meet KPIs.

Here we'll feature the best CMMS services currently on the market.

The best computerised maintenance management system software available

1. UpKeep

CMMS software from UpKeep aims to simplify the process of maintenance management through a cloud-based mobile-friendly platform. Work requests come with images of issues which can be easily turned into work orders, and QR codes are provided to make it easy to scan any asset for both its maintenance history but also stock count.

Stock counts can also be provided for parts and spares as part of inventory management, and POS can be created with stock is running low. Maintenance checklists are easy to create and and apply and attach to work orders. Parts, costs, and maintenance time can also be easily tracked and a calendar can be used for scheduling. The mobile platform means maintenance workers can carry and use smartphones for all tasks, and take photos both or issues and finished work.

An analytics dashboard means that managers can easily track maintenance time and costs, while also check equipment history, in order to make efficiency evaluations and change workflows accordingly.

There are four different tiers of plan available, with the Starter plan covering most basic features. The Professional plan offers more for small businesses, with the Business Plus plan aimed at medium businesses, and an Enterprise plan which includes even more advanced features. All pricing is when paid annually.

2. Hippo CMMS

Hippo CMMS provides an all-in-one solution for maintenance management, covering equipment and work orders, preventative maintenance and vendor management, all in a cloud-based mobile-friendly SaaS platform.

The system provides the ability to generate, review, and receive work orders as well as track maintenance. Asset information can be easily stored and accessed using ID tags, O&M manuals, as well as warranty information. Documentation and images can be attached along with comments for each asset, and interactive site maps are available to make it easier to locate equipment. Hippo CMMS can also work for multiple facilities over different sites.

Inventory management is available, and supplies can be ordered direct through the system as required. Maintenance schedules can be set up to allocate labour and resources as needed. There are also powerful reporting tools available to use existing analytics to plan for more efficient repair workflows according to custom KPIs.

The Hippo Starter plan has limited features, but the more cost-effective Hip Plus provides a wider range of features. There's also a Hippo Pro plan for enterprises, which adds more advanced features for integrations, SSO, and e-signatures for work orders.

3. eMaint CMMS

eMaint CMMS offers a CMMS that aims to be flexible, configurable, and scaleable in order to work with the widest range of businesses, needs, and budgets.

eMaint is a comprehensive platform that covers all the major areas of work, asset, and inventory management, predictive and preventative maintenance, as well as scheduling and ordering, all set out in easy to use reports and interactive site plans.

Projects can be set up individually and assign work orders to it. A work request manager can then make it easy to manage, organise, and prioritise work requests and parts ordering. Where work permits are required, these can be stored and edited with a built-in PDF management feature.

For preventative maintenance, you can create an unlimited number of tasks and include detailed descriptions of any required procedures, guidelines, or documentation. Inspections and tasks can then be automatically generated for each asset based on parameters such as time, usage, or consumption.

eMaint offers multiple pricing tiers, with most features available in their Team plan for three users. For five or more users, their Professional package comes with additional advanced features and dedicated account management. The top-tier Enterprise edition includes everything in the Professional plan plus other features such as access to web API and a multi-site toolkit. Regardless which plan, additional support, training, webinars and conferences are available to help managers improve efficiency.

4. Limble CMMS

Limble CMMS is another maintenance management platform that runs the in the cloud as SaaS, and provides apps for both Android and iOS mobile devices.

Maintenance users can then use a smartphone or tablet to view or assign work orders and PMs. There's an option to look up asset information while engage in work, with communications built in for push notifications and email.

The Work Request System allows authorised users to submit a problem by scanning a QR code or by entering a URL to enter their request. This is then sent to the correct person or department according to the best practices options you've configured for dealing with requests.

Limble CMMS's Enterprise Asset Management module can track between 10 and 10,000 assets, providing instant information on what point they are in their lifecycle, as well as associated costs. Assets can be organized into easy-to-follow lists and hierarchies for easier sorting, and/or prioritised according to need.

Preventative maintenance options allows for scheduled alerts based on use, time, or meter readings, and changing date schedules is made easy by using a drag-and-drop system. The parts management feature makes it easy to track inventory and to optimise stock levels.

The CMMS also provides analytics for the data held on your system, to allow for easy reporting on KPIs, costs, and critical workflows.

The Starter plan covers most of these features, while the Professional Plan allows for multiple locations and custom dashboards, along with unlimited cloud storage. Advanced features for enterprise are available through a custom quote.

5. Fiix

Fiix CMMS provides a mobile friendly CMMS, that comprehensively allows for maintenance schedules and plans as well as predictive maintenance.

Because it is cloud-based, there is no upfront investment in hardware required, and you only pay for the resources you use via a subscription that can be cancelled at any time.

And as it's mobile friendly, this makes it ideal for working in the field or yard or across any environment where you can bring a smartphone or any other mobile device, meaning you have the information at your fingertips as and where you need it.

Another advantage of cloud-based software is that there are no disruptive software updates or patches that need to be applied, as this is all done at the source. Various layers of security also mean your data is protected.

The Fiix MMS may take a little while to get start with at first, depending on how much is required in terms of transferring assets and routines to the system, but otherwise the software is simple and easy to use.

The is a free version for up to three users and a Basic plan for the most basic services, rising in price for the Professional plan which provides additional custom features. Enterprise and performance pricing requires a custom quote.

The best IT infrastructure management services make management and administration of IT tasks quick and easy without compromising security.

Maintaining this balance is important, because managing IT infrastructure can be a challenge. Working with servers, cloud services, business applications, smartphones and mobile device management as an integrated whole can be complicated, and made worse if you inevitably have legacy software systems running as well.

Then there are infrastructure-specific needs such as APM tools, DevOps, SecOps, as well as general ITSM tools, and CMMS software. However, there are solutions available that can map your full IT infrastructure to the cloud, allowing you to monitor everything from a single dashboard.

This can display everything from the different OS, software versions, and storage use, as well as provide malware protection as part of endpoint security and even monitor energy consumption and costs.

More importantly, a good infrastructure management solution (IMS) will allow you to pinpoint bottlenecks through network monitoring, allowing you to zoom into any code causing errors, allowing you to identify workarounds and solutions. Usually alerts can also be provided in the event of any technical failure, allowing you to react quickly via push notifications, SMS, email, or even automated calls.

It doesn't stop there - why have your IMS work as a standalone? Often integrations are available to enhance team communications, collaboration, and even work with customer relations management software platforms so that you can ensure everyone in the business cycle affected by an issue can be kept updated, and notified once a solution is in place.

Here we'll look at the best infrastructure management services currently available.

The best IT infrastructure management services available

1. Microsoft System Centre

When it comes to software, it’s hard to beat American tech giant Microsoft, and the company has a great tool for infrastructure management. Microsoft System Centre offers a full service suite of ISM tools developed for IT managers and experts.

This solution deals primarily with operating systems, malware protection, power consumption and IT hardware. It can work on a variety of devices and across different work applications.

In terms of core features, the software offers device management, power management, update management, endpoint protection and inventory reporting. You can also use it to deploy Windows 10 quickly and efficiently on new devices.

The System Centre is very versatile, allow you to manage infrastructure provisioning and deployment of virtual servers and datacentres, as well as configure networks, storage, computing, and security.

There are also a number of automation and self-service options to increase workflow efficiency. Tools are also made available to monitor, diagnose, and troubleshoot issues with the infrastructure or applications in order to maintain performance.

2. PagerDuty

PagerDuty is an excellent infrastructure management solution that offers incident and dispatch features for multiple services and applications, and has been tailored for a plethora of businesses and industries.

This is primarily a system monitoring and alert platform, providing incident management through a web or mobile application. What’s great is that it can send crucial infrastructure alerts through phone, SMS and push notifications. It can even send them to specific people or groups via email.

Feature-wise, the software offers team scheduling management, real-time collaboration information through different devices and platforms, system and user reporting, always-on delivery and business-grade security. There are also integrations with apps and services such as Slack, AppDynamics, Desk.com, Watcher, ZenDesk and more than 200 others.

A free plan is available to help you experiment with the service, after which paid plans are available according to your needs. However, do note that some incident response and analytics options have an additional cost per user, regardless of the plan paid for.

3. Datadog

If you’re after a cloud-based infrastructure management platform, you should check out Datadog. The system offers monitoring and analytics management for businesses of all sizes and sectors, as well as maintaining a rich and yet simple interface.

The software can work with a wide selection of systems, apps and devices, and there are integrations which cover the likes of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Slack, SQL Server, Docker, Apache, Campfire and even PagerDuty above. And like PagerDuty, you have the option to receive alerts – in this case, the software will alert you to performance problems via email.

You can create your own ISM dashboards, too. They offer high-resolution metrics and graphs covering data such as hosts, devices, tags, rates, ratios and averages. There’s also the ability to search for different metrics and events.

In terms of pricing, there's a free tier that provides core collection and visualisations features and allows connections to up to 5 hosts with one-day data retention. This allows new users to test the system and get used to dashboards.

After that, the Pro plan, when paid annually, and can cater for over 400 integrations, offers 15 month data retention, and unlimited alerts. An enterprise edition provides advanced administration tools, anomaly detection and forecasting reports, as well as on-boarding support and a dedicated support manager.

4. ConnectWise Automate

Formerly known as LabTech, ConnectWise Automate is a remote monitoring and management platform designed by IT service providers for technology companies, and it provides automated IT service.

With a focus on network management, this solution offers powerful cloud-based reporting and visibility into your IT capabilities, allowing you to perform almost any IT management task remotely and efficiently.

Meanwhile, on the automation front, ConnectWise will analyse all your systems, solve problems and reduce time spent visiting on-site assets. As well as being able to access the software from a PC, there’s also an app for iOS and Android devices.

Automation isn’t for everyone, but it’s certainly handy if you want to speed up internal processes. There’s a free trial available, so you don’t have to rush into making a final decision as to whether you want to adopt ConnectWise.

However, no flat-rate pricing is provided so you will need to contact ConnectWise for a quote.

5. Pulseway

Pulseway offers a Real-Time Remote Monitoring and Management platform that is one of the most popular and highly recommended services of its kind. It lets you monitor Windows, Mac and Linux computers, and provides you with real-time status on network performance, system resources and logged in users.

There’s a mobile app for iOS and Android devices, meaning you can track and manage all your IT resources remotely. You also get access to advanced IT automation so you don’t have to spend time on mundane tasks, such as maintenance, backup and security checks.

You can set up alerts, too. Like some of the other systems mentioned here, they’ll flag any system issues that could potentially lead to damage or failure, and you can tailor them based on your IT devices. Pulseway is suitable for smaller firms and businesses all the way up to large enterprises.

Pricing is based on the number of servers and workstations to monitor, with SNMP devices free of charge. Add-ons include endpoint security from Webroot, Kaspersky, or Bitdefender, as well as DNS protection.

6. HPE OneView

OneView from Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an IT infrastructure management platform that allows computing, storage, and networking to be managed through software, with a focus on automation of routine tasks.

A combination of provided templates and software intelligence make it simple to set up reliable automated processes, while making it easier to improve overall flexibility and collaboration throughout your IT infrastructure.

As an established cloud services provider, HP makes it easy to simplify infrastructure lifecycle management across compute, storage, and networking with OneView.

We’re living in a dynamic moment in terms of technology. Even the criminals have become more tech-savvy and are using innovative ways to steal your sensitive data, identity, and/or money, or simply to infect your device with malware that will render it useless.

iPhone users may be at a lower risk from these threats than PC users, but they’re not entirely safe from them. Considering how many sensitive operations are nowadays handled on our iPhones, taking the necessary precautions in the form of a good antivirus is a wise strategy.

Not all security apps are made equal, so let’s look at some that are worthy of your attention.

The best iPhone antivirus software available

Avast Security & Privacy

Avast has a host of powerful security products for various platforms and iOS is no exception. Its iPhone app - Avast Security & Privacy - is available for free, although some ultra-advanced features are still reserved for its premium version.

For instance, scanning for threats and vulnerabilities, malicious website blocking, Wi-Fi security, and privacy tips are free. You also get Identity Protection for one account, as well as a Photo Vault that stores 40 of your photos in a secret, encrypted folder, protecting them from overly curious individuals by PIN, Face ID, or Touch ID. Since the June update, you can import multiple photos into the library.

If you pay for the premium version, Identity Protection is available for all your accounts and the Photo Vault can hold all of your photos, not just 40. The premium version will also provide you with VPN protection which will encrypt your Internet traffic on any network, even an unsecured one.

Unsure about whether you’ll like it? No worries, there’s a 14-day free trial period if you take a yearly subscription and a 7-day period if you go for the monthly subscription. Do note that you’ll have to cancel the subscription before the trial ends unless you want to proceed with paying for the whole thing.

Avira Mobile Security

You can be certain that Avira Mobile Security has got your back as it is the product of an award-winning security company with more than 30 years of experience in protecting our devices.

To protect your iPhone, it offers only the best - a free VPN to keep your Internet activities hidden and your data safe, Identity Safeguard to check if your email has been leaked, Web Protection against infected websites, and anti-theft Phone Locator and siren that alerts everyone near your phone that it has been stolen by the person holding it.

And it doesn’t even stop there. You can create a Blacklist of phone numbers whose calls you don’t want to take, as well as blocking spam and unwanted texts. Additionally, US and Canadian users can use the scam calls blocker feature. The app can scan for all devices connected to your Wi-Fi and it allows you to back up and restore your contacts to email, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

Furthermore, its Device Analyser feature lets you keep control over your iPhone’s usage of memory and storage, so you can optimise its performance.

Lookout

Lookout keeps your iPhone safe by using multiple levels of deep protection, depending on which version you’ve chosen. Lookout Basic includes a System Advisor that alerts you of out-of-date software on your device, as well as missing device tools such as Theft Alerts, Locate & Scream, and even Signal Flare to alert anyone around the thief about the situation. In addition, the ID Scan feature can determine if users' emails have been involved in any known data breaches and can suggest courses of action if they were.

For a small fee, Lookout Premium will get you secure browsing, Safe Wi-Fi, and reports of any breach affecting a company, app, or service you use, along with advice on how to best mitigate the consequences.

The US-only Lookout Premium Plus is a bit more expensive but includes all of the above, plus identity theft protection with Cyber Watch, SSN (social security number) Watch, Social Media Watch, Identity Restoration and Theft Insurance, and even the Lost Wallet Recovery tools.

McAfee Mobile Security

McAfee Mobile Security lists all the usual suspects that a solid iPhone antivirus should have to maintain your privacy and security in the face of outside threats. These entail superior System Security Scan capabilities, Contacts Backup, and secure Media Vault which automatically encrypts your photo sessions and can be opened with a secure PIN, Face ID, or Touch ID.

The Anti-Theft Protection includes a GPS tracker that can locate your phone from anywhere in the world, a remote alarm you can trigger from your Apple Watch, remote wiping of your iDevice, as well as capturing a photo of the thief and emailing it to you.

Additionally, secure Wi-Fi scanning is there to enable safe browsing on every network and alert you if there are any security problems.

All these options are completely free but if you pay for the premium Standard plan, you’ll also get a safe web feature, that protects you against malicious and phishing websites or ARP spoofing. The other, more expensive premium Plus plan, will get you the Unlimited Wi-Fi Guard VPN, plus all the features from the Standard tier.

Both premium plans remove the annoying ads that the free version has and offer a 7-day free trial.

Trend Micro Mobile Security

Trend Micro Mobile Security offers website filtering for Safari and other browsers. It also blocks ads and trackers to maintain your privacy, increase loading speeds, and reduce data usage, all through its Content Block features.

Speaking of browsers, this antivirus platform has its own, called SafeSurfing. This browser lets you be certain your browsing history is not being tracked or recorded, malicious websites aren’t loaded, and mature content is blocked from your children’s eyes.

Your incoming texts are scanned for suspicious links and isolated into a junk folder if suspicion is confirmed. To make sure your phone is configured for optimum protection, just check the Device Access Status. Also, there is a scam message reporting function.

Thanks to the Social Network Privacy feature, this iOS app can also scan the privacy settings of your Twitter and Facebook accounts and warn you of any identified issues. As is usual in the industry, this antivirus software also features its own anti-theft measures which allow you to locate your missing iPhone using Wi-Fi, GPS, or even cell towers.

Trend Micro Mobile Security isn’t free, but there’s a free trial during which you can see if you like what it has to offer.

F-Secure SAFE

The iOS version of F-Secure SAFE offers all the usual protective mechanisms and then some. The app provides the usual website filtering preventing you from accessing potentially malicious websites. There's also a built-in AdBlocker.

Through its Banking Protection tool, every website you visit is scanned to see whether it’s one of the ‘trusted’ places for online banking or shopping. As an extra measure, your connection is scanned to check if it’s secure, as well.

Your device will be kept safe from theft with the help of Finder features that include an alarm and device locator, although not much else (like remote wiping or locking, flare, and so on).

Furthermore, your young ones can be kept safe from unwelcome content thanks to the SAFE’s system of parental controls that filters content by category, eliminates dubious websites from search results and even lets you enforce browsing time limitations. That said, these limits don’t limit the use of other browsers or apps. You can, however, restrict these by disabling them in the device’s settings.

Barracuda CloudGen Access

Barracuda CloudGen Access (former Fyde Mobile Security & Access) isn’t your typical antivirus app but it’s a worthy companion to your iPhone security, especially since it’s available for free. The best part? It won’t reduce your battery life unlike some other security and privacy solutions.

Once you set up the app, you’ll have unlimited, continuous, and real-time protection against unsafe Wi-Fi networks, fake and malicious websites. Barracuda makes this possible thanks to gathering global attack data from millions of Barracuda users - totally anonymous, of course.

The provider also promises to never collect, store, or sell your personal information, nor that any of your identifying information is ever seen by Barracuda staff or anyone else, providing that extra reassurance many will appreciate.

Though we might not all use antivirus software in our personal lives, with many of us placing trust in the basic, free threat detection tools that come with our desktop and mobile devices, this should not be the case for businesses.

Every organization needs a comprehensive antivirus strategy, and for most, this means investing in a trustworthy and effective antivirus software solution.

But knowing where to start and what features to look for in antivirus software can be far from simple. For some small businesses, a step above the free tier will provide sufficient protection until they expand further – others will be looking for more comprehensive capabilities, including mobile device protection and targeted scans for ransomware.

How to choose antivirus software

The first consideration for any business leader adopting antivirus software should be the scale of the workforce they're looking to protect. This will have implications on cost – antivirus plans tend to charge on a per-user, per-year basis – as well as the kind of threats they could be facing.

For example, a business with 200 or more employees might find better value for money in spending more up-front on enterprise-grade antivirus software that comes with a level of onboarding support and active vulnerability scans, to cover their expanding attack surface as well as provide each and every worker with tailored threat protection.

Another deciding factor is how many IT workers an organization has and the scale of the cybersecurity team – if it has one at all. No antivirus software can entirely replace human oversight, but the best solutions can help with tasks such as automatic patch management, inbox protection, and flagging phishing campaigns, which can have a profound impact on the overall security of an organization.

The operating system

Leaders also need to consider which operating systems they're catering to, across their workforce. This may seem like a simple consideration but it can be easy to get confused about which software is compatible on what operating system (unless you have our article to hand). In general, users of macOS and Windows will have access to a very wide range of antivirus options, as by and large the major developers create apps for these operating systems as standard.

Linux users can have a tricker time, as not all software is designed to run on the operating system natively. In most cases it can still be run using additional tools or third-party software, though this is far from the easiest solution for less technical businesses or enterprises looking for centralized, managed security software.

Future-proofing

Finally, the best antivirus software comes with the promise of future updates and continuous improvements to detection capabilities that give businesses an edge over would-be attackers. IT leaders on the lookout for their optimal antivirus solutions might be won over by integrated AI features that help contextualize threats for workers, for example, or by advanced remediation capabilities that shore up defenses against ransomware or data wipers in the long-term.

What is the best business antivirus software?

Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security

Bitdefender is an established name in the security space by now and this entry-level business security suite is a capable option for any small business looking to extent protection across its workforce. For a $799.99 annual fee it covers up to 25 users, with two devices allocated per user.

Of course, the most important stat here is the independent antivirus test scores: for which BitDefender scored an impressive full marks. Another notable feature of BitDefender is that it can protect mobile devices as well as desktops, with support for iOS and Android operating systems.

In October 2024, BitDefender added a new AI-powered feature called Scam Copilot, which flags phishing threats and malicious URLs.

The only thing lacking when it comes to Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security is policy or identity-based access and management controls. That said, the tool trades these more manual features for a centralized dashboard in the name of better and easier user experience – a potential benefit for small businesses.

Microsoft Defender for Business

Microsoft Defender can seem like the non-choice option for antivirus software, as its most basic version comes as standard on every Windows device. But it's a capable offering, and this paid version for businesses – available at $3 per user, per month – includes support enterprise-grade security for up to 300 users.

A clear downside to relying on Windows Defender for Business is that it's not easily available on macOS, so it's best suited to businesses that are Windows shops. Those who adopt it can benefit from AI-powered endpoint detection, vulnerability management, and monthly threat summaries tailored to their business.

Like other options on this list, Microsoft Defender for Business achieved a perfect 100% in AV-Test.org's antivirus tests, proving its competitiveness with third-party options.

Avast Business Security

Avast Business Seurity is a more comprehensive antivirus solution available in a range of tiers depending on your business needs. While all three packages include its 100% protection rate threat detection, and advanced ransomware protection, the more

The Essential plan costs $31.37 per device, per year, while the Premium and Ultimate plans bump this to $39.85 and $48.33, respectively.

For the extra money, subscribers on the Premium package can filter employee web traffic and block unrecognized USB devices from connecting to network endpoints. The Ultimate tier comes with automatic patch management to prevent attackers exploiting overlooked software vulnerabilities.

Whether you go for the simplest or most expensive Avast offering, this is a comprehensive security package with strong business credentials.

Eset Protect

Eset Protect is another product available in a range of paid tiers, known as Entry, Advanced, and Complete. These are available at $211 per five devices per year for Entry, compared with $275 and $287, respectively, for the others.

Eset stands out in our list in its native support for Linux, alongside Windows, macOS, which could be a big bonus for businesses looking to cover a workforce spread out across multiple devices and operating systems. Advanced and Complete customers can also protect Android, and iOS devices.

All of its features, including endpoint and server security are from a centralized console. Advanced customers get access to advanced protection against ransomware and novel threats, as well as disk encryption, while Complete customers unlock mail server security, vulnerability and patch management, and cloud app protection.

Across independent tests, Eset's antivirus software scored protection ratings between 99.1% and 100%. A potential downside of the software is its price, higher than competitors, and the fact that advanced features like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and premium support are only accessible via additional paid modules. But for those looking to go further than entry-level options, it's a strong contender.

Despite the increasing dominance of instant messaging and collaboration tools, email remains an essential pillar of professional communication. Its ability to facilitate detailed discussions and serve as a reliable record of correspondence ensures that email continues to play a vital role in business and personal productivity.

While mainstream options like Outlook and Apple Mail are not natively available on Linux, the open-source community and third-party developers have created a robust ecosystem of email clients tailored for Linux users. Whether you need advanced features, seamless desktop integration, or a simple interface, there’s a solution to fit every workflow.

To help you in making an informed decision, we have evaluated a range of email clients, including Evolution and Kontact, which serve as the default options for the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, respectively.

What to look out for when choosing an email client

When evaluating Linux email clients, compatibility is a top priority. All the clients featured here support IMAP, ensuring smooth integration with most major email providers. Many also offer POP or Exchange support, so you can connect to a wide range of services without issue. Some clients are more specialized: for example, Hiri is designed exclusively for Exchange accounts (including Microsoft 365, Hotmail, and Outlook.com), while Hey only works with its proprietary Hey.com service. If you’re unsure which protocol your provider uses, you can either check with them directly or simply try logging in with your chosen client; most paid apps offer a free trial, so there’s no risk in testing compatibility.

Once set up, it’s important that your client not only manages incoming messages but also maintains a searchable archive. Evaluate each client’s search capabilities and choose one that matches your workflow. For instance, Thunderbird offers multiple search tools, such as Quick Filter, which some users rely on exclusively, while others might prefer scrolling through a sortable inbox or disabling threaded conversations for a more traditional view.

While premium email clients often include advanced features, many users will find that free options like Thunderbird, Evolution, and KMail provide all the essentials, plus extensive customization through add-ons or plugins. Paid clients such as Mailspring and BlueMail offer additional productivity tools, but for most home and small business users, free versions are more than sufficient. Thunderbird, in particular, stands out for its flexibility and robust feature set, which can be further expanded to suit individual needs.

The best email clients for Linux

BlueMail

Blue by name, blue by nature. There's a definite theme here, although you can dress it up in one of 18 different accents if you prefer. You can even color-code your mail accounts to make them easier to distinguish. Everything else is conventional: a sidebar and preview pane, a unified inbox if you set up multiple accounts, the option to turn off 'conversations' (aka threads) application-wide, and a built-in calendar and contacts. You'll quickly feel at home.

Triaging your email is easy, courtesy of the Later Board. This has its button at the top of your inbox, which, when clicked, sweeps away your message preview to reveal a table of three columns, for Today, Later, and Done – you can add other columns if you need them. Drag emails from your message list to the appropriate column, and when their allotted time arrives, a notification pops up. By default, dragging into the Today column sets an email's due date as two hours hence. But, drag it into Later and it will throw up a dialog through which you can set a specific time and date, use a more vague 'this evening', 'tomorrow morning', and so on, or delegate it to 'someday', in which case it will be stashed for safekeeping without a specific due date. If you've ever used a Kanban system like Trello, the workflow will be immediately familiar.

Meanwhile, the clever cluster feature acts like a slightly blunt thread tool. Turn it on (it's an option) and it automatically groups all emails from a particular sender, not just the emails from a particular conversation. Then, when a new email arrives from that sender, the whole cluster jumps to the top of the list. Only your new message is displayed when you click on the cluster, but a chip below the sender icon indicates how many other messages the cluster contains. Clicking it reveals them. It's an effective way to reduce clutter in your inbox without you manually dragging messages into subfolders.

BlueMail’s core features are available for free, including unified folders, integrated calendar, clusters, customizable interface accents, and dark mode. For advanced functionality, such as full theme customization, desktop email backup, and access to GemAI (BlueMail’s generative AI assistant, which uses ChatGPT) for context-based email replies, you’ll need the BlueMail Plus plan, which is priced at $5–$6 per user per month depending on the provider. The Business Pro plan, at $12–$13 per user per month, adds a corporate management dashboard, policy and device management, app integrations, advanced corporate configuration, video conferencing, and priority support. Most individual and home users will find the free tier more than sufficient, while business features are reserved for the paid plans.

Most home users will manage well with the free tier, which offers a fully featured email client with some nifty features. The highlight for us is the Later Board, which takes much of the effort out of sorting and dealing with email in a timely manner.

Evolution

If you're using the Gnome desktop environment, you may already have Evolution in your dock. It might even be ready to roll without you having launched it. That's because it refers to the account logins you can specify when first starting Gnome, or add through the Online Accounts section of the Settings app.

This isn't the only way it's integrated with the desktop environment, either: reminders appear in the notifications drop-down when you click the Gnome clock, and incoming messages populate the same panel. If you're comfortable working through Terminal, you can even tweak some of its settings by writing to Gnome variables. If you aren't, don't worry: pretty much anything you'd want to do is also accessible through dialogs.

There are no Pro or Plus versions as there are with BlueMail and Mailspring, and it's not extensible like Thunderbird. However, it is a competent if no-frills personal information manager for handling email and calendaring tasks, managing a contacts list locally or online, and subscribing to feeds. If you maintain a local address book, you can even expose its contents as a data source for use in LibreOffice, which could be useful when running a mail merge. The built-in calendar supports iCalendar, WebDAV, CalDAV, and Google Calendar, while the address book can sync with CardDAV, LDAP, and Google Contacts. This makes Evolution especially appealing for users who need more than just email management.

You can quickly filter your inbox using the Show menu, with direct access to unread messages, messages with attachments, messages marked as important, and so on, and tag your messages with color-coded labels. There are five default labels, including to-do, later, and personal, but you can add your own and specify a preferred color for each. You can then apply them manually or use rules to automatically tag matching messages.

There's a quick search box for subjects and addresses immediately above the inbox, which is supplemented by a more flexible Advanced Search dialog. This lets you specify multiple conditions across a wide range of variables, like headers, size, and status, or perform regex matching to target a defined subset of messages.

Evolution supports IMAP, POP, and SMTP protocols out of the box, with secure connections via SSL, TLS, and STARTTLS. For Microsoft Exchange, Evolution provides robust compatibility through the evolution-ews extension, which enables full Exchange Web Services (EWS) support for modern Exchange servers. For older Exchange environments, additional plugins such as evolution-mapi or evolution-exchange may be required. This makes Evolution one of the most versatile Linux email clients for users needing enterprise or corporate email integration.

Evolution includes support for PGP/GPG and S/MIME encryption, providing secure messaging for both personal and professional use. It also offers automatic spam filtering (via SpamAssassin or Bogofilter), search folders, and markdown email formatting. Additional plugins enable features like RSS feed reading and news aggregation, further extending its capabilities.

Evolution feels like a very workaday email client that, thanks to sharing the Gnome design principles, integrates smoothly with the operating system – assuming, of course, that Gnome is your desktop manager of choice. It might not have the eye candy of BlueMail or Mailspring, but it's certainly not an app you'd object to spending time in during your working day.

Incoming server compatibility: IMAP, POP, Exchange

Kontact

As Evolution is to Gnome, so Kontact is to KDE. They'll each run in either desktop environment, but it makes sense to pick matching applications.

Kontact is KDE’s integrated personal information management suite, bringing together email (KMail), calendar (KOrganizer), contacts (KAddressBook), notes (KNotes), news feeds (Akregator), and more into a unified interface. While each component can be run individually, using Kontact provides a seamless experience for managing all your communications, scheduling, and information in one place, with deep KDE Plasma integration for notifications, password management (KWallet), and system-wide search.

Kontact’s interface may feel somewhat dated compared to more modern clients like Newton and Mailspring, with certain design choices, such as the vertically oriented button for toggling between plain text and rich text views, being less intuitive and visually appealing. While recent updates have improved usability, some aspects, like Exchange account setup, can still be cumbersome due to longstanding configuration bugs, though workarounds are available and the core functionality remains reliable.

Looks aside, Kontact has all the features you'd expect of a modern email client. Incoming messages are flagged in the KDE Notifications panel, it has unified mailboxes, and, like Thunderbird, it will spot words like 'attached' in your message body and, if you've not attached a file, check that that's not something you've overlooked. That's not the only similarity to Thunderbird: open the Find Messages dialog and it's all but identical to Thunderbird's Search Messages pane, through which you can stack multiple criteria to zero in on a handful of matching emails.

You can schedule pre-composed emails if they need to be sent when you won't be around to supervise, and, rather neatly, if you set a message to depart at a specified time, you can also set it to repeat. So, if you need to send someone a weekly reminder but don't have access to their calendar, you could delegate the task to KMail.

The template system is particularly clever. Four defaults handle new messages, reply to the sender, reply to all, and forward messages, and define how quoted content and fields should be handled within the body area. You might, for example, want to include the subject line from an original message when sending a reply, or the time the original was sent, and define an entirely different setup for use when replying to all, or to a list. This could be very useful when sending messages in-house if your team wants to include specific data in each message so they're easier to surface in a search.

The latest versions of KMail have introduced features such as improved ad and tracker blocking, direct display of OpenPGP key validity, and warnings for expiring keys. Additionally, KMail now offers optional offline and open-source AI features, including translation via the Bergamot engine and speech-to-text with vosk-api, though these are disabled by default and must be enabled in settings

KMail, within Kontact, is a sturdy email client that does everything you need and as form is generally less important than function, criticizing its looks does feel somewhat shallow. The powerful template system, layered search tool, and recurring emails are all welcome, and the fact that it's free and so closely tied to the desktop manager – assuming you use KDE – is a boon.

Incoming server compatibility: IMAP, POP, Exchange

Mailspring

Mailspring is a modern, cross-platform email client available for Linux, Windows, and macOS. Built on the foundation of the discontinued Nylas Mail, it stands out for its sleek interface, flexible layout options, and a focus on productivity-enhancing features

Search is well handled, and the way it's been implemented will be immediately familiar if you're switching from Gmail's web interface. It indexes your mail on a wide range of variables, so you can use prefixes like 'from:', 'subject:', and 'to:' in the search box to strip down the results. And these are just for starters. If you want to find emails that arrived in January, use 'before:' combined with the first date of February. Or, for emails that arrived this week, 'since Monday'. 'in:' lets you search folders or tags, while 'has:' lets you find messages with attachments. You can even combine multiple variables using OR and AND to precisely target an email you remember but can't immediately locate.

The free version of Mailspring includes a unified inbox, customizable themes, a powerful signature editor, language detection for spell check, translation for both incoming and outgoing messages, and efficient filtering and labeling tools. Most productivity features, such as email templates, scheduling (send later), reminders, and email tracking, are now available in the free tier, with some limitations on usage volume.

Mailspring Pro, priced at $8 per month, unlocks unlimited access to advanced tools including rich contact profiles, unlimited snoozing, advanced templates, unlimited send later, follow-up reminders, and detailed read receipts and link tracking. Pro users also benefit from enriched contact information and more granular analytics for sent messages.

Mailspring supports IMAP and Microsoft Exchange accounts but does not offer compatibility with POP servers. Setting up a Mailspring ID is required for features like snoozing and reminders, as these rely on Mailspring’s own cloud infrastructure to sync metadata across devices.

Mozilla Thunderbird

Thunderbird has long been recognized for its powerful, flexible, and extensible nature, but its dated interface was a common complaint among users. That changed with the release of Thunderbird 115 “Supernova”, which delivered a substantial visual and usability overhaul. The new design introduces a cleaner, more modern look, improved iconography, and better support for high-resolution displays. Thunderbird now feels at home on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and the need for custom themes has diminished as the default experience is much more inviting.

The layout remains familiar and highly customizable: you can toggle the preview pane, suppress remote images, adjust interface fonts, and manage most features, like your calendar, settings, and messages, within a unified window. Messages open in tabs by default, supporting efficient multitasking, while composing a new message still opens a separate window, allowing you to easily reference other emails or calendar events as you write.

A thoughtful feature is the attachment reminder: if you mention words like “attach” or “attached” in your email but forget to include a file, Thunderbird discreetly prompts you before sending. This small touch helps prevent common mistakes without being intrusive.

Sorting and searching have improved, but may still require some adjustment for new users. Threaded conversations are enabled by default, but can be disabled per folder. The main search bar returns results in a list view, which some may find less intuitive, but the Quick Filter tool offers real-time, in-inbox filtering that many users find more efficient for day-to-day use.

Thunderbird is more than just an email client; it’s also a contact manager, calendar, and newsreader. Calendar integration is now built-in (formerly an add-on), and an extensive library of add-ons is available through the integrated Add-ons Manager, allowing for further customization and feature expansion.

Now over 20 years old, Thunderbird’s recent redesign and ongoing development have made it more appealing, flexible, and user-friendly than ever. Despite minor quirks with search and threading, it remains a top recommendation for Linux users and anyone seeking a robust, open-source email suite.

Incoming server compatibility: IMAP, POP, Exchange (via add-ons such as ExQuilla or Owl).

Geary

Geary is a minimalist, modern email client designed for users who value simplicity and speed over feature bloat. Developed under the GNOME project and written in Vala, Geary offers a Gmail-like conversation view, making it easy to follow and reply to email threads without clutter. Its interface is clean and intuitive, with just enough features to keep daily email management efficient and distraction-free.

Geary’s interface is focused on usability: the main window presents your inbox and conversations clearly, with desktop notifications for new messages and a straightforward setup process that works with Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com, and any standard IMAP server. Adding accounts is quick, and integration with GNOME Online Accounts makes it even easier for GNOME desktop users. The conversation view keeps related emails together, and a fast keyword search bar lets you find messages using familiar prefixes like from:, is: read, or has: attachment.

The feature set is intentionally basic. It supports HTML and plain text composition, desktop notifications, and a full-featured search. However, it lacks advanced filtering, server-side rules, and plugin support, making it less suitable for power users or those who need extensive customization. Security is limited to SSL/TLS for connections; there is no support for PGP or S/MIME encryption, so it’s not recommended for users with high privacy requirements. Geary only supports IMAP and SMTP, with no POP3 option, meaning all mail stays on the server by design.

Geary is exceptionally lightweight and responsive, even on older or low-spec hardware. It uses an SQLite database to cache mail locally for quick access and search, but does not store full mailbox copies offline by default. Its deep GNOME integration ensures smooth notifications and password management via GNOME Keyring.

It is ideal for users who want a simple, fast, and visually appealing email client, especially those on GNOME-based systems or who prefer a Gmail-style conversation view. It’s a great fit for casual users, students, and anyone who doesn’t need advanced filtering, encryption, or plugin support.

Incoming server compatibility: IMAP, SMTP (no POP3 support).

Although the digital world is changing rapidly, email remains one of the primary communication methods for businesses across the planet. Email apps are available for virtually any operating system, and many programs also have versatile web interfaces.

But selecting the best email provider for your business can be very difficult, especially if you don’t have experience or comprehensive knowledge in the field. Every single program comes with its own feature list and target audience, and in many cases, there are various subscription tiers and options available.

It’s worth noting that many email clients are 100% free, forever. However, these also tend to be quite simple, lacking advanced features and the functionality of higher-end paid alternatives. Some clients focus on security, others prioritise ease of use, and still others aim to provide a rich feature list for a customisable experience.

In our search for the best email client on Windows, we’ve tested countless programs, focusing on those with a downloadable app. In this guide, we analyse our top 10 choices, looking at security, prices, subscription levels, ease of use, and any other standout features that you might find useful.

The best email client for Windows: Our top choices

1. Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook has been a leader in the world of email since its inception in the 1990s, and it continues to provide exceptional service to this day. Notable features include integrations with a powerful calendar, advanced search functionality, and a neat task manager to help you organise your life.

Unfortunately, the Windows version of Outlook is only available with a paid Microsoft 365 subscription. Business plans start from £4.50 per user a month with an annual subscription, and there’s also a one-month free trial available. Along with Outlook, these provide access to various other Microsoft apps and services. Note, though, that you can access the Outlook web app for free at any time.

One thing that stands out about Microsoft Outlook is its versatility. It’s extremely easy to customise the appearance of your inbox, and powerful mail filtering options are available.

On top of this, Outlook comes with one of the most impressive feature lists we’ve seen. Recent additions include an AI-based sorting algorithm, automatic payment tools, and the MyAnalytics data analysis add-on.

There are also apps available for Android and iOS mobile devices, enabling you to access and manage your emails on the go.

Read our full Outlook review.

2. Mailbird

If you’re looking for a high-quality, reliable email client that’s designed to work with third-party apps, Mailbird could be the right choice. Featuring integrations with various calendar, task, messaging, and other apps including WhatsApp, Google Docs, Slack, and Dropbox, this platform is designed to help you streamline everyday workflows.

On top of this, Mailbird is designed to work with virtually any email account provider. It also supports unlimited accounts, which means you will be able to have all of your emails in one place.

Unfortunately, there’s no free-forever version, although there is a limited free trial, so you can test the platform. Prices start from £2.58 a month for a Personal plan, or £3.92 a month for a Business subscription. Alternatively, sign up for a lifetime Personal license for a one-time fee of just £75.

3. eM Client

eM Client is a versatile Windows email client that’s designed to boost productivity through a suite of advanced features. There is a free version, which supports email, task-management, and calendar tools. However, this is constrained by the two-account connection limit and the inability to access many features.

Upgrading to a Pro account unlocks unlimited email connections and an array of additional tools. One-time license fees start from £44.95 for a single user, with volume discounts available for those who need multiple licenses.

With the Pro version, you can also migrate data from another email client with the click of a button, and all data will be automatically backed up at regular intervals.

Additionally, eM Client features a suite of customisation tools so that you can personalise your inbox. Change the layout, colour scheme, and more to ensure you have a workspace that you’re comfortable with.

4. Hiri

If you use a Microsoft email service, such as Hotmail or Outlook, Hiri could be the perfect option for your needs. It focuses on making ongoing email management fast and straightforward, with a suite of time-saving tools designed to put you back in control of your inbox.

For example, the smart dashboard presents information about your account in one simple place. Discover how many unread messages you have, whether any of them need a priority reply, and whether there are any other actions you need to take.

You will also benefit from the cleverly designed Compose window, which only includes the base options you will need to write a new message. With this, you won’t get bogged down by unnecessary formatting or editing tools.

Lifetime licenses are available for just £94.97 per user, or you can pay annually for £31.13 a year. There is also a neat seven-day free trial available, so that you can test the platform before paying for full access.

5. Inky

Inky isn’t a Windows email client as such, but it’s gained a place on this list due to its excellent security features and industry-leading anti-phishing tools. Basically, this tool can be integrated with any other client you use, such as Outlook or Mailbird.

When you receive a new email, Inky will analyse it to ensure it doesn’t contain potentially dangerous phishing links. It’s extremely powerful, with the ability to identify links that would look genuine to the majority of users. The software is based on a powerful machine learning algorithm, which means that it will continue to adapt to new threats over time.

If a suspicious email is detected, you will receive an immediate notification in the form of a banner across the top of the message in question. You will still be able to click the “suspicious” link if you want to, but we’d highly recommend not doing so.

Unfortunately, pricing information isn’t available on the company website. However, a free demo is available, and prices are developed on a case-by-case basis.

6. Claws Mail

Claws Mail is an advanced open-source email client designed for Linux users, but it also comes with a Windows port that enables it to be used with Windows devices. It’s an excellent option for those who are looking for a streamlined, responsive email client, although it can be a little difficult to set up and confusing for new users.

One thing that stands out about Claws Mail is the fact that it’s 100% free, forever. As an open-source project, anyone can access the client and all of its features without paying a cent.

On top of this, countless extra features can be added via the array of available plugins. For example, you could integrate an antivirus plugin for extra security, a calendar to manage your work, or even add a custom theme from the numerous designs available via the platform website.

The main downside is that automatic setup isn’t available for some email accounts, but this shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you’re willing to spend a little time to familiarise yourself with the platform.

7. Spike

Spike combines the power of more traditional Windows email clients with the ease of use of social apps such as WhatsApp. Rather than using a traditional email layout, it turns emails into attractive chat conversations, streamlining workflows and making communication easier than ever.

Basically, the platform is designed to remove any unimportant information from your email thread. Things such as repeated headers, threads, signatures, and other non-essential info are hidden, enabling you to focus on the important parts of your email messages.

On top of this, there’s an attractive free plan that includes virtually everything you need for basic email communication. Business plans start at £6.39 a month per account, and Enterprise options are available for those who need a large number of accounts.

All paid accounts come with unlimited message history and priority support - and you will have access to note, task, and calendar tools to streamline other aspects of your daily life. Note, though, that you will be constrained by file upload size and storage limits.

8. Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a free Windows email client from Mozilla. With a great range of impressive features and inbox customisation tools, there’s a lot to like here.

For one, Thunderbird stores a copy of your emails on your computer, which means that you can restore accidentally deleted or lost files. On top of this, it’s possible to connect various calendar apps, along with an RSS reader and various other extensions.

Downloading and installing Thunderbird is very straightforward. You will have a fully functional email client from the beginning, but it’s also possible to personalise your inbox to ensure you have the appearance and tools you need.

In addition, Thunderbird comes with a suite of security and privacy tools. Benefit from built-in features such as remote content blocking and do not track protocols, and rest assured that your private information is as secure as can be expected.

9. TouchMail

If you use a Windows touchscreen device, TouchMail could be the perfect option. It has a very neat, block-based layout that’s designed for those using Windows tablets, but it works equally well on normal laptops or desktop computers as well.

One of the best things about TouchMail is its highly customisable user interface. Personalise the appearance of your email client by changing colour schemes, resizing elements, and changing the way your emails are presented.

On top of this, TouchMail lets you colour-code messages by sender or type of email. Delete large numbers of spammy or unwanted emails at the click of a button (or tap of a screen), and ensure you don’t miss important mail with customisable notifications.

TouchMail is available for purchase through the Microsoft App Store. It’s priced at a competitive £19.99 for a one-time license.

10. Postbox

Postbox is an attractive, feature-rich email client available for both Windows and macOS users. It’s designed for those who are looking for a streamlined, time-saving client to help them optimise their daily workflows. In particular, Postbox is targeted at busy professionals across a range of industries, with features to help users organise and stay on top of their mail.

The sheer number of advanced features available here is truly impressive. For example, Postbox supports integrations with a suite of third-party apps, including Slack, MailChimp, Evernote, Dropbox, and more.

There are also numerous security tools to help you protect your email, including tracking prevention, end-to-end OpenPGP encryption, and Google Safe Browsing to reduce the risk of phishing. In turn, Postbox is compatible with any POP or IMAP email account, including Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and numerous others.

A 30-day obligation-free trial is available for those who want to test the program before committing to a purchase. Lifetime licenses start from £63 per user, with volume discounts available for those who need numerous licenses.

• Read our guide to the best email clients
• There's also our guide to the best email client for Linux

According to a recent study, there were over 12,000 data breaches in the US between 2008 and 2020. That’s millions of people who have had their sensitive personal data exposed online. Even today, you will be surprised at how easy it is to find leaked credit card details online if you know where to look.

Whether you are an individual or run or own a business, it has become more important than ever to secure your identity from potential fraud, be it online or offline. A good identity theft protection service can help you do just that.

The best identity theft companies use a variety of techniques to keep your personal data safe from online abuse. In exchange for a fee, they will carefully monitor any data breaches to make sure that your information hasn’t been exposed anywhere. And if there’s a breach that concerns you, knowing that your information has been compromised at the right time can make all the difference.

The best identitity theft companies for protecting your identity

1. Norton LifeLock

LifeLock was acquired by Symantec, the company behind Norton Antivirus, in 2017. Since then, it has made great strides establishing trust as an identity protection service. Its yellow interface denotes a feeling of trust, marked by a clean dashboard that gives you all the necessary tools right at your fingertips. Just by looking at the UI, you can tell that this is a company that cares about customer experience.

Right now, LifeLock offers comprehensive packages that monitor online traffic, dark web activity, finance applications, court records, and much more to issue real-time alerts whenever someone attempts to do anything criminal under your name. In the event that your identity does get stolen, LifeLock will take care of all the legal heavy lifting so that you can continue to live your life. Its team will make the necessary calls, inform all concerned authorities, and fill official forms to ensure that everything gets back to normal as soon as possible.

There are several plans to choose from. LifeLock Standard, which costs $8.99 a month, offers credit monitoring and social security number protection. It also comes with $25,000 in theft protection insurance. LifeLock Select, which also costs $8.99, offers all of this on top of a virtual private network (VPN). The pricing is only for the first year, however, after which Standard costs $12 and Select costs $15 a month. Then there’s LifeLock Advantage, which costs $20 a month. Finally, LifeLock Ultimate Plus sets you back $34.99 and offers $100,000 in insurance.

Read our full Norton LifeLock review.

2. IdentityForce

Based in Massachusetts, IdentityForce has versatile protection plans for individuals, businesses, and government agencies alike. Its most basic plan offers access to credit reports from providers like Equifax and Experian, whereas higher-tier subscriptions offer monitoring services for social security numbers, bank accounts, mailing addresses, and even the sex offender registry. With that, IdentityForce keeps track of any potential abuse of your identity and takes necessary steps to secure you against fallout.

Software-wise, IdentityForce is available as a web-based client as well as a smartphone app. It even throws in additional security services like keylogger protection and anti-phishing software to stop your data from being stolen in the first place.

There’s also a social media monitoring network that scans for fake accounts under your name on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. All of this, combined with regular alerts via email and messaging, provide for complete peace of mind as you go about your daily business.

IdentityForce is priced reasonably, starting at just $8.99 a month, and it comes with an insurance cover of up to $1 million. If you require additional features, you can also upgrade to a plan that adds credit monitoring for a total of $19.99 a month.

3. Experian IdentityWorks

Experian is the same credit reporting agency that’s infamous for a 2015 data breach that exposed the email accounts of 15 million customers. While that doesn’t necessarily exude confidence, its identity protection service may still be worth considering in 2021. IdentityWorks specializes in credit report monitoring, but it also keeps track of other activity, like dark web activity, social media accounts, court records, and bank transactions, to give you a comprehensive protection plan against identity theft.

Once you’re logged in to the interface, IdentityWorks presents you with a professionally-designed dashboard that goes to great lengths to ensure that you understand what you’re looking at. Everything is very clearly explained, with an onboarding wizard that takes you through the steps for getting set up. There is no jargon anywhere, and the console is very easy to familiarize yourself with.

In terms of payment plans, the IdentityWorks Plus plan consists of credit report monitoring and dark web scanning. It comes with $500,000 in identity theft insurance, and costs $8.33 a month for one adult and up to 10 children. It’s easy to add another adult to the plan for another $8.33.

IdentityWorks Premium offers more well-rounded protection, monitoring court records and social networks, among other things. The insurance amount also goes up to $1 million, and the plan costs $19.99 a month.

4. PrivacyGuard

Owned and operated by the Trilegiant Corporation, PrivacyGuard offers credit reporting and identity protection services in exchange for a fee. At the base level, the credit monitoring plan is actually offered separately from identity protection, which means that if you want both, you’ll need to subscribe to the costliest plan.

Services include everything from social security monitoring to credit fraud protection, depending on the plan you choose. While this means you can pick and choose what you need, it also stands to reason that you’ll end up paying more if you need both services.

The identity theft protection service comes with dark web surveillance, social security event monitoring, annual public records reports, online fraud assistance, stolen credit card protection, anti-keylogging software, and secure web browsing. The credit report monitoring solution actually costs more, offering three-bureau credit reports, credit record monitoring, and online fraud assistance. It also comes with an anti-keylogger and a secure browser.

PrivacyGuard ID Protection costs $9.99 a month and offers $1 million in insurance. PrivacyGuard Credit Protection sets you back $19.99 a month and offers 24/7 credit monitoring. PrivacyGuard Total Protection offers the benefits of both plans for $24.99. If you’d like to try out the service before you commit, you can go for the trial plan, which costs $1 per day for the first 14 days of your subscription.

5. Identity Guard

Founded in 1996, Identity Guard uses proprietary machine learning algorithms developed by IBM Watson to constantly scan the internet for potential threats of identity theft. It issues real-time alerts to protect users against data leaks through websites, public records, and social media activity. For example, it scans the dark web for any potential mentions of your social security number to ascertain whether you might be exposed. It also provides annual credit reports to its users through Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

In a market saturated with competition, Identity Guard adds extra edge to its offering by using IBM Watson’s artificial intelligence technology. This strategic partnership helps the identity protection service identify possible data leaks faster than any other service provider on this list. It also comes with secure browsing and payment protection tools as an added bonus to subscribers. The highest-tier plan also includes a monthly credit score from TransUnion.

Identity Guard offers three different subscription plans. Value provides the most basic protection, with dark web scanning, safe browsing, and anti-phishing tools. You also gain access to a caseworker who will assist you with reclaiming your identity should the worst-case scenario ever happen. It costs $7.50 a month for individuals and $12.50 a month for families.

The Total plan offers all of this along with credit monitoring for $16.67 a month for individuals and $25 a month for families. Finally, the Identity Guard Ultra plan provides the most benefits, with three-bureau credit reports, card monitoring, criminal records scans, and sex offender registry monitoring. It costs $25 a month for individuals and $33.33 a month for families.

6. Complete ID

Complete ID is the product of a partnership between Experian and Costco. It offers wholesome identity protection services at attractive price rates. It’s packed with features like dark web scanning and social security monitoring. Apart from identity protection, Complete ID also offers credit monitoring and identity restoration services. While the user interface is a bit clunkier than the other providers on this list, the highly affordable packages make it well worth the compromise.

Complete ID scans court records, criminal databases, financial accounts, and change of address requests to locate and flag potential cases of identity theft. It also scans the dark web for your social security number (SSN). As it is owned by Experian, you can expect an in-depth credit monitoring service to go along with your plan. Detailed credit reports are obtained from all three credit bureaus and alerts are issued whenever someone opens an account with your information.

In case your identity gets stolen, Complete ID offers theft coverage of up to $1 million with no deductibles. This should be enough to cover things like legal fees, lost income, and emotional duress. The interface is clean and easy to use, even if slightly outdated.

Complete ID requires you to have a Costco membership in order to sign up. It usually costs $13.99 per user per month, but Costco Executive members get a discounted rate of $8.99. You can extend your coverage to include up to five children for another $3.99 a month ($2.99 if you have a Costco Executive membership).

7. ADT Identity Theft Protection

ADT is a company best known for its smart alarms and motion detectors. ADT Identity Theft Protection, however, is a new service that expands its offerings to security in the digital space. For a surprisingly affordable price, the company gives you access to features like theft insurance, credit monitoring, dark web scanning, financial account security, passport monitoring, and more. While these are run-of-the-mill features that you can get from any service provider, the brand reputation and price affordability alone make this deal worth considering.

Most services at this price point offer $100,000 to $500,000 in insurance. But not ADT. With no-strings-attached coverage up to $1 million, ADT Identity Theft Protection makes for a solid offering indeed. You are limited to only one credit report per year, but you can always obtain unlimited free credit reports from a website like Annual Credit Report.

There aren’t any major extras to speak of, but the package covers your most essential identity protection needs. Experian and Equifax offer limited plans at a similar price range, but they have both experienced data breaches that have been on the news for quite some time.

ADT Identity Theft Protection costs $9.99 a month. You can’t just sign up online, though; you have to call a dedicated hotline. You can also chat with the sales team online if you have questions.

• Read our guide to the best online security suite

The best free people search platforms give you a budget-friendly way to look up and confirm basic facts about someone online. Paid services can dig much deeper, but when you only need to verify an identity or track down an old friend, the no-cost options usually do the trick. They can even handle quick, preliminary hiring checks, though any serious screening still calls for formal, professional vetting.

Expect these free tools to show only essential data — current contact info, general location, and a limited number of searches per day. Details like past addresses, financial history, or criminal records typically sit behind a paywall. In our latest round of testing, That’s Them kept the top spot: its generous free features outshine most competitors, letting you search by email, IP address, or even VIN — capabilities many other services reserve for paid tiers.

What do the best free people search sites offer?

Free people search sites are designed to offer a baseline of information without a fee, catering to users who need quick verifications or are undertaking casual searches. Typically, you can search by name, and, often, by phone number or address. Some platforms may also allow searches by email address or even more unique identifiers. The results usually include basic contact information, potential relatives, and sometimes current or past general locations.

However, it's important to set realistic expectations. Free services will almost invariably have limitations. These can include a cap on the number of searches you can perform daily, less detailed information compared to paid tiers, and frequent prompts to upgrade for more comprehensive data. You're unlikely to access sensitive details such as full criminal records, extensive financial histories, or detailed employment backgrounds through free searches. For such in-depth investigations, particularly for professional due diligence or formal background checks, dedicated premium services are generally necessary.

What are the best free people search sites?

Our top recommendation is still That’s Them, which continues to offer a generous range of free search parameters and insights compared to competitors. Alongside name and address lookups, it still supports searches via email, Internet Protocol (IP), and VIN.

Whitepages, Zaba Search, TinEye, and Peek You are close competitors, offering a range of free search services that rank among the top free people search sites available.

Whitepages remains a go-to for those starting with a phone number, while TinEye excels if you only have an image to go on. For simple social media checks, Peek You can help pinpoint usernames and associated online profiles. Zaba Search’s appeal lies in its quick, hassle-free results.

The best free people search sites available right now

The best allrounder - THAT’S THEM

That’s Them consistently impresses with the breadth of search parameters available on its free tier. Beyond standard name and address lookups, it often allows users to search by email address, IP address, or even a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), uncovering data points that many competitors reserve for paid plans. This makes it a versatile tool for various informal search needs.

While the free service is robust, more detailed reports or a higher volume of searches necessitate an upgrade. As of early 2025, That’s Them continues to offer subscription plans, with pricing typically starting in the range of 20−30 per month, varying based on the level of access and features. It's important to note that while accessible globally for basic free lookups, the depth and accuracy of information are generally more comprehensive for individuals within the US.

The best for phone numbers - WHITEPAGES

Whitepages has long been a household name for directory services, and it remains a strong option, especially for reverse phone number lookups. The free version provides potential owner names, associated cities, and sometimes indicators of spam or scam risks tied to a number. Name and address searches are also available, often yielding information about possible relatives and general location history.

To access more detailed information, such as current mobile numbers, full street addresses, or comprehensive background reports, a premium subscription is required. Whitepages offers various tiers, with basic plans for enhanced lookups starting around $5−10 per month, and more comprehensive background check services costing significantly more.

Premium plans and detailed data are predominantly available for individuals and records within the United States.

The best for quick searches - ZABA SEARCH

Zaba Search is valued for its simplicity and speed when you need to quickly verify basic information. If you have a name or a phone number, Zaba Search can often provide a quick confirmation of an individual's general location and age range, sometimes with partial phone details. The ability to filter by city or state is helpful when searching for common names.

Compared to a service like That’s Them, the free results on Zaba Search tend to be less comprehensive. For more detailed reports, including full contact information, address history, or potential social media links, Zaba Search often directs users to affiliated paid background check services. Pricing for these deeper dives, accessed via partners, typically starts around $25−40 per month.

The best for image searches - TINEYE

TinEye occupies a unique niche; it's not a people search site in the traditional sense of finding personal data but is the leading tool for reverse image searching. If your starting point is a photograph, TinEye can help you discover where that image (or similar versions) appears online. This is invaluable for verifying the authenticity of profile pictures, identifying the original source of an image, or checking for potential misuse of photos.

A key limitation is that TinEye's web crawlers generally do not index images directly from within major social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram due to their privacy settings. However, it can find images on blogs, news sites, forums, and other public websites, which might indirectly help in an investigation. TinEye offers its core reverse image search for free and also has paid API plans for high-volume commercial use.

The best for social media searches - PEEK YOU

PeekYou focuses on aggregating an individual's public online presence, particularly across various social media platforms and web services. If you have a username or a name, PeekYou attempts to locate associated profiles on sites like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram (public profiles), blogs, and other online communities. It can sometimes surface basic demographic information like age, city, and potential family connections linked through these public profiles.

While useful for mapping out a digital footprint, obtaining detailed contact information or comprehensive background data through PeekYou usually involves clicking through to one of its premium affiliate partners, such as Truthfinder or BeenVerified. The free information is a good starting point for understanding someone's online persona.

Best free people search sites FAQs

There are several factors to consider when looking for the best free people search sites, depending on the questions one needs to answer or the specific pieces of information required. Users often ask:

The benefits of people search sites

Fact check someone: Quickly verify basic details provided by individuals, whether they are online contacts, potential casual acquaintances, or verifying someone you've met offline.

Save time: Instead of manually scouring numerous search engines (such as Google) and social media platforms, these sites can consolidate some publicly available information, saving initial research time.

Have information in one place: Some services attempt to aggregate data from various public sources, providing a centralized, albeit often basic, overview of an individual's online presence or public records.

How we chose the best people search sites

Our review process for these free people search sites focuses on several key factors. We assess the variety of search parameters available on the free tier, the accuracy and relevance of the information provided without cost, and the overall user-friendliness of the platform. 

We also considered the transparency regarding what is free versus what requires a paid upgrade, and the relative value offered by any associated premium services if that information is readily available. Our aim is to identify sites that deliver tangible value to users seeking information without an initial financial commitment.

This guide offers an overview of some of the best free people search sites available in 2025. For users who find their needs extend beyond what free services can offer, exploring dedicated premium background check services may be the next step. 

ITPro may have detailed reviews or guides on services like PeopleFinders or TruthFinder that delve into their paid features and data depth. Always choose a service that aligns with your specific information requirements and ethical considerations.

Ethical considerations and limitations of using free people search sites

While free people search sites offer a convenient way to access publicly available information, their use comes with significant ethical responsibilities and inherent limitations that users, especially IT professionals, must acknowledge. Understanding these aspects is crucial for the responsible and lawful use of these tools.

Firstly, privacy implications are paramount. Even though these sites compile publicly accessible data, the aggregation and easy accessibility of this information can feel intrusive to the individuals being searched. 

It's essential to use these tools with a legitimate and ethical purpose, such as reconnecting with a lost acquaintance or verifying information provided directly to you, rather than for casual snooping or digital voyeurism. IT professionals, in particular, should be mindful of not misusing these tools in a way that could compromise their professional integrity or an individual's expectation of privacy regarding their consolidated digital footprint.

Secondly, the accuracy and completeness of data on free tiers can be a significant limitation. Information might be outdated, incomplete, or even incorrect. Namesakes can lead to misidentification, and data refresh cycles vary. 

Relying solely on free people search results for critical decisions, such as those related to employment (beyond very informal pre-screening), tenant screening, or any situation requiring high accuracy, is ill-advised. Formal background checks through FCRA-compliant services are necessary for such purposes. Free searches can offer clues, but they should not be considered definitive or exhaustive proof.

Furthermore, there are legal and regulatory considerations. While the sites themselves operate legally by compiling public records, the use of the information obtained is subject to laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in the US if used for decisions regarding credit, employment, insurance, or housing. Misusing information for discriminatory purposes, stalking, or harassment is illegal and unethical. 

Users must be aware of and comply with all applicable local, national, and international data protection and privacy laws, such as GDPR, if searching for individuals in Europe.

Finally, users should be aware of the potential for misuse by malicious actors. While you might be using these sites for benign reasons, the same tools can be exploited by others for doxxing, identity theft, or social engineering. Understanding this helps to appreciate the importance of managing one's digital footprint and advocating for responsible data handling practices.

While free people search sites are useful tools, they must be approached with a clear understanding of their limitations and a strong commitment to ethical use, respecting privacy, and adhering to legal frameworks. Ultimately, they are a starting point, not an endpoint, for information gathering.

When seeking detailed information on an individual, having the best people search sites on your side is crucial. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about some of the most popular tools available for researching information and conducting a background check.

There are many reasons to look up an individual’s information online these days. For some, it provides peace of mind about the history of new acquaintances, neighbors, or even reconnecting with old friends and family members. Others might have been contacted by someone they don’t know via phone or email and want to identify the sender.

People search sites are designed for personal searches such as these. It's important to remember that most of these services are not FCRA-compliant. This means they generally cannot be legally used for purposes such as screening potential tenants or employees, or to verify a person’s eligibility for loans, credit, or insurance. If those are the types of searches you’re looking to perform, you’ll need to use FCRA-compliant background check services.

If you need ways to screen employees during recruitment or onboarding, you might like to check out our guide on the best talent management software or our review of the best cloud HCM software.

What are the best people search sites in 2025?

Overall, PeopleFinders and TruthFinder (which now often includes Instant Checkmate functionality after acquisitions) stand out as robust options. PeopleFinders is known for its speed, ease of use, and flexible pricing, including affordable one-off reports. TruthFinder (and its associated brands) is often subscription-based but typically provides comprehensive reports that can include social media details, criminal records, and more.

Also on the list is Whitepages, notable for offering a free tier for basic information. US Search can take longer to compile reports, but often provides a preview of the data before purchase. Intelius offers an advanced user experience with interactive data presentation. For searches encompassing vehicle details or unclaimed property, BeenVerified remains a strong contender.

It's crucial to note that the people search industry is dynamic, with companies sometimes merging or changing service offerings. Pricing and specific features should always be verified directly on the provider's website before making a commitment.

The best people search sites in 202

PeopleFinders

PeopleFinders distinguishes itself by offering both one-off report purchases and subscription packages. This flexibility is great for users who don't need ongoing search capabilities. Basic reports are typically inexpensive (historically around $1−3), providing fundamental information.

More detailed reports, which could include criminal and property history, can be more expensive (historically around $9−10 for a single report). Monthly subscriptions for unlimited basic or detailed reports are also often available, with prices generally ranging from $20−30 per month. That said, we advise always checking the site for current rates.

PeopleFinders allows searches using names, phone numbers, and email addresses, which is useful if you only have limited information. A key benefit is that it often provides a list of potential matches before you commit to a purchase, helping you verify if the correct individual is likely to be found. According to the PeopleFinders website, their service is not for FCRA-regulated purposes. Reports may not always include social media handles.

PeopleFinders is a great, cost-effective option if you only need to perform a one-off search or if you have an email address as your primary starting point.

Read our full PeopleFinders review.

Instant Checkmate

Searching through Instant Checkmate can provide users with some of the most thorough reports available. Reports are often divided into categories such as criminal records, relatives, financial history, and online presence.

Services like this may delve into a person’s online activity, including social media posts, dating profiles, and even if they appear on government watchlists or have weapons permits. Unlimited report downloads are common with subscriptions.

Historically, these services are subscription-only. A one-month subscription might cost around $25−35, with potential discounts for longer commitments (e.g., a three-month plan could be around $20−30 per month). We advise verifying current pricing on the website. 

There's often no option for single reports. The search process can feel longer than some competing offerings due to interactive questions designed to refine results.

If you’re looking for in-depth social media activity, online presence, or extensive background details and are comfortable with a subscription, Instant Checkmate is a strong contender. 

Whitepages

Whitepages is one of the longest-standing names in online directories and offers a free search option. This free lookup typically provides a person’s full name, associated landline phone numbers, current address, and age range.

Premium reports unlock more detailed information, such as relatives, associates, mobile numbers, criminal records, financial records (like bankruptcies and foreclosures), property details, and more.

Whitepages' pricing can be multifaceted. A one-off background report might cost around £10-12. For more comprehensive contact information (including mobile numbers and full address history), they often offer a premium contact subscription (e.g., around $5−7 per month for a set number of reports, or a higher tier for more reports, perhaps $20−25). They may also offer an "Enhanced Background Report" for a higher one-time fee (e.g., $30−40), which could involve more current data retrieval. Check the site for current details.

Whitepages is a versatile option, whether you need a quick, free lookup for basic details or are willing to pay for more comprehensive and potentially very current public record data.

US Search

US Search aims to pull a wide variety of data, including social media information, photos, and detailed contact information like cell phone numbers. A significant benefit is that US Search often provides a preview or summary of what the report will contain before you commit to a subscription.

The information can be highly detailed, for instance, providing case numbers and offense descriptions for criminal records. The search portal, however, might not be as quick or modern as some alternatives, potentially requiring navigation through several screens.

Historically, US Search has been subscription-based, with monthly fees around $20. A point of friction in the past was the requirement to call customer service for subscription cancellation; it's advisable to check their current cancellation policy.

If you’re looking for detailed insight into someone’s social media activity and appreciate a preview before committing to a subscription, US Search is worth considering.

TruthFinder

TruthFinder is recognized for its ability to delve deep into public records, drawing from county, state, and federal databases to compile extensive background checks on individuals. Users can initiate searches with relative ease, guided by useful prompts designed to narrow down results and identify the correct person.

The platform is adept at uncovering a wide array of information, including financial details (such as bankruptcies), comprehensive criminal records (such as felonies, misdemeanors, sex offenses, and arrest records), traffic offenses, and more. A notable feature is its system of flagging reports that may contain sensitive or serious criminal information, providing a warning to the user before they access the full details. For potentially graphic content, TruthFinder also implements an age confirmation step.

For individuals curious about their online footprint, TruthFinder offers the ability to search for their records, claim their profile, and request corrections for any inaccuracies found. This provides a measure of control over the information presented.

While initiating a search is generally straightforward, compiling the full report once an individual is selected can be a lengthy process. Users may encounter multiple interactive questions and loading screens, which, while intended to refine results, can extend the waiting time before a report is ready for download.

Regarding access, TruthFinder typically operates on a subscription model. This means users usually cannot purchase individual, one-off reports and must instead opt for a recurring monthly subscription (historically in the $25−35 range, but always verify current pricing on their official website) to gain unlimited access to reports. A drawback for some is that a detailed preview of what a report contains is often not available before payment.

Despite the potentially longer report generation times and subscription-only model, TruthFinder's platform is generally easy to navigate. It stands as a robust option for users seeking in-depth background information, particularly concerning financial histories and comprehensive criminal records, and who are comfortable with an ongoing subscription for regular search needs.

Intelius

The Intelius user interface generally allows for easy searching with a name, phone number, or address. A strong point for Intelius is the depth of information it can provide about people connected to your search subject. You can often include details about family members or associates in your report. Interactive maps might display data related to known addresses.

While reverse phone lookups can be quick, full background reports may take a few minutes to prepare as the system compiles data. Intelius is usually subscription-based, with unlimited reports often costing around $20−25 per month. One-off report purchases are less common.

If you want comprehensive information on a person’s network and appreciate interactive data presentation, Intelius offers a solid platform.

BeenVerified

BeenVerified offers some distinct features, including an unclaimed property search. This allows you to see if there are unclaimed assets or money in your name (or the subject's name) across different states. It supports a broad range of search inputs, including vehicle license plate details.

Reports from BeenVerified are typically well-designed, with clear sections for different types of information. However, you may not get a detailed preview of the findings before committing to a monthly subscription, which could be around $25−30 per month. As with some other services, check their current cancellation policy, as direct online cancellation hasn't always been available.

BeenVerified is user-friendly and offers unique search capabilities like vehicle lookups and unclaimed property searches, making it a valuable tool for those specific needs.

How to choose the best people finder for you

Selecting the ideal people-finder hinges on several distinct considerations. Because most platforms deliver comparable — even virtually indistinguishable — feature sets, your final pick will frequently boil down to subscription cost or overall interface comfort. Nevertheless, certain characteristics render particular services markedly better suited to very unique, specific, specialized use cases.

When your priority is obtaining straightforward data at the lowest possible price, Whitepages deserves initial consideration. Conversely, searchers who plan to conduct thorough background investigations routinely and still want an inexpensive monthly plan will find US Search an attractive, cost-effective alternative service overall.

When the only clue you have is something less conventional — perhaps an e-mail handle or a vehicle’s plate number — select a platform geared toward such reverse lookups, notably BeenVerified or PeopleFinders, which both specialize in that unique capability.

Nearly all of these services supply smartphone applications replicating their web-based functionality, yet users seeking particularly dependable performance on both iOS and Android may gravitate toward PeopleFinders, whose cross-platform app frequently earns praise for consistency and ease.

Many individuals turn online to vet fresh personal contacts — be that a prospective flatmate or someone met through dating apps. In such situations, InstantCheckmate’s exceptionally comprehensive digital-footprint dossier, including linked dating profiles, provides the reassurance and context many people crave before moving forward with them.

Another common reason to turn to a people finder tool is looking up old friends and family with whom you’ve lost touch. You might remember their old address or still have a phone number for their childhood landline, for example. In that case, interactive visuals of an individual’s family network, as provided by Inteliu,s can provide the context you need to find who you’re looking for quickly.

Ethical considerations and opting out 

While people search sites can be useful, it's important to use them responsibly and ethically. Accessing someone's personal information should be done with respect for their privacy and only for legitimate, non-harmful reasons. Never use this information to harass, stalk, or intimidate anyone.

Many people are uncomfortable with their information being readily available on these sites. Most people search sites offer an opt-out process that allows individuals to request the removal of their records from the platform's public searches.

• How to opt-out: The opt-out procedure varies by site. Typically, you'll need to find an "Opt-Out," "Remove My Information," or "Privacy" link, often in the website's footer. You may need to identify your specific record, verify your identity (e.g., via email or phone), and then submit the removal request. Some sites make this easier than others.
• Persistence: Opting out of one site doesn't remove your information from others, nor does it remove it from the original public records sources these sites draw from. You may need to repeat the process for multiple people search sites. Additionally, new information or changes to existing public records could lead to your information reappearing later, so periodic checks might be necessary.
• Data broker removal services: There are also paid services that specialize in removing personal information from a multitude of data brokers and people search sites, which can save considerable time and effort.

Understanding these aspects enables users to be better informed about people search sites and empowers individuals to manage their online footprint.

Further reading on people search sites

Budget may be a barrier to conducting your searches for individuals online; learn how to find someone for free on the internet in our step-by-step guide, and find out which premium people search platforms offer the best free people search sites.

The best website builder allows anyone, whether building your first website or your most recent, to quickly and easily create professional, visually-stunning sites with user-friendly drag-and-drop editors. Whether it's a personal, ecommerce, or business site, you can build it yourself and spend very little doing so.

As a result of an ever-growing market, however, finding the right builder can be challenging. Make sure you bear experience and intentions for your site in mind: easy website builders are ideal for novices, while WordPress plugins via the best web hosting are a more advanced option for those with experience.

You should plan ahead, consider scalability if your site may grow; and be aware of the customer support and service levels you require. Got little to no budget? Free website builders are appealing, but we recommend only using them for trials or testing. They're ideal for simple personal sites, though.

We analysed and ranked the best website builders against these key factors below: see which builders we rated best.

The top 3 best website builders right now

Wix: the best all-round choice

The best website builder available, Wix offers industry-leading templates, an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor, and a wide degree of flexibility. The full builder is included with its free plan, while competitive paid upgrades provide ad-free sites and 14-day guarantees.

Shopify: the best website builder for ecommerce

With millions worldwide using Shopify, we rank it highly because it's ideal for ecommerce sites. Its extensive range of third-party apps, its clutter-free interface, and its built-in shopping cart and checkout manager come with extra marketing and security tools.

Editor X: best website builder for developers

A relatively-recent entrant, Editor X offers advanced users and developers a more powerful site creation platform. Full code access, API customisation, and more set it apart as a top option for those with experience.

How much do the best website builders cost?

How much does it cost to build a website? There’s no one set price. Website builders range from free platforms for simple sites, all the way up to professional and advanced services offering high degrees of customisation.

It depends on your needs: expect to pay more for decent ecommerce and business tools. Most charge per month, and pricing is around £5 to £15 a month. For ecommerce, advanced plans start at around £20.

What’s key to remember is that additional tools, plugins, and features cost extra. It’s worth doing research to see what you need, what’s included, and what to budget for separately, and establish if scalability is possible, in case your site needs to grow.

What are the best website builders?

Wix is the best website builder, thanks to a large template library, excellent design flexibility, third-party app integrations, and its leading artificial design intelligence site editor.

Shopify is a leading ecommerce builder offering advanced tools for creating and publishing online stores quickly and simply. Editor X, a relatively new platform in the market, offers developers and those with advanced-level experience the ability to create highly customised, flexible, and top-level websites.

It's also worth considering BigCommerce, Webflow, Bluehost's WordPress website builder, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Elementor, Zyro, HostGator, Weebly, and 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite. All are worth a look thanks to specific focuses including visually-appealing sites, ease-of-use, or connections to web hosts or CMSs.

Our pick of the best website builders, compared

The best website builders you can buy today

Wix

The best website builder, all round

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: Yes
• Ecommerce features: Yes
• Free domain: Yes
• Unlimited storage: No

REASONS TO BUY

• Tons of flexibility
• Great searchable knowledgebase
• Drag-and-drop simplicity

REASONS TO AVOID

• No template switching
• Some third-party apps are expensive
• Wix Editor can be daunting for newbies

Score: 4.5/5

Wix is our pick for the best website builder, ecommerce website builder, and small business website builder. It offers a great selection of advanced features, including three editing interfaces—the Wix Editor, Velo Dev Mode, and Wix ADI.

The Wix Editor is one of the most powerful available. It enables you to drag and drop different elements into pixel-perfect positions. It can be a little confusing to learn to use, but the rewards are worth it. Velo Dev Mode allows you to make changes outside of the template model, and add features that usually require developer input, like custom forms, dynamic pages, and databases.

Wix ADI is much more beginner-friendly. Simply work through a short questionnaire, and a custom site template will be developed based on your answers, which you can customise to your heart’s content.

Standout features include Wix’s App Market, which contains numerous add-ons that add extra functionality; and an industry-leading template library boasting over 500 designs. The full builder is included within the excellent free plan, though bear in mind it has restrictions and limitations, such as Wix ads on your site. Each paid plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Read our comprehensive Wix review.

Wix's pricing plans

Shopify

The best website builder for advanced ecommerce sites

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: No
• Ecommerce features: Yes, advanced
• Free domain: No
• Unlimited storage: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

• Excellent selection of apps and extensions
• Streamlined mobile management app
• Beginner-friendly store management dashboard

REASONS TO AVOID

• High transaction fees with third-party gateways
• Expensive compared to some other options

Score: 4.5/5

If you've any knowledge of ecommerce, you'll have heard of Shopify. Although not a website builder in the traditional sense, it’s one of the best options for advanced online store creation, and is the world’s leading such builder for good reason.

The tools on offer are excellent, and you'll benefit from an unbeatable range of management, marketing, and general online selling features. These include a built-in shopping cart and checkout manager, alongside marketing and security tools. Shopify is Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, providing top-level security for your customers.

On top of this, there are numerous templates you can base your store on when building an ecommerce website. The beginner-friendly editor is a little limited, but there's full code access if you need to fine-tune designs. Across three plans, there’s plenty of room to scale, with more excellent, additional ecommerce features unlocked as you move up.

Read our detailed Shopify review.

Shopify's pricing plans

Editor X

The best website builder for developers

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: Yes
• Ecommerce features: Yes
• Free domain: Yes
• Unlimited storage: No

REASONS TO BUY

• Excellent selection of developer tools
• Industry-leading design flexibility
• API and database support

REASONS TO AVOID

• Not the best option for beginners
• Templates and apps are limited for now

Score: 4.5/5

With advanced developer tools and a highly-customisable builder, Editor X (owned by Wix) is not only one of the newest, but one of the most powerful builders on the market. Released in early 2021, its top developer tools and advanced customisation include full code editing, custom API compatibility, and database creation and management. It's designed for those with experience, not beginners.

A drag-and-drop editor is stuffed with advanced design features and extras, while 28 extremely flexible templates offer a basic framework that can lead to endless design combinations. Fine-tuning is available via editing of base code files, while access to the Wix App Market offers over 250 apps for integration.

Real-time collaboration tools allow for multiple users on a site at once, while special ecommerce elements include subscriptions, memberships, integrated bookings, and full live chats. Slow customer service response times mark it down a little, though representatives are knowledgeable and helpful. Top-notch self-help resources include a help centre, a training academy, and a community forum.

A basic free-forever plan is ideal for testing Editor X, while there are three site-specific options, and three Business and eCommerce plans, plus a custom Enterprise option for larger stores. While not ideal for beginners, Editor X is one of the best and most powerful website builders currently available for developers.

Read our full Editor X review.

Editor X’s pricing plans

BigCommerce

The best ecommerce website builder for larger online stores

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: No
• Ecommerce features: Yes, advanced
• Free domain: No
• Unlimited storage: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

• Powerful mobile management app
• Zero transaction fees
• Advanced tools for larger stores

REASONS TO AVOID

• Relatively low sales limits
• Small number of free store templates and app library compared to alternatives

Score: 4.5/5

BigCommerce regularly competes with the top ecommerce site and store builders, and differentiates itself with its powerful ecommerce-focused editor, a comprehensive suite of online sales tools, and scalability alongside design flexibility.

Top features include an app library, SEO tools, advanced mobile management, third-party marketplace integrations, and much more. It offers nearly everything needed for creating and managing a new online store, with inventory management, analytics, and much more.

Regularly updated and offering responsive, quick sites and load times, users can test BigCommerce out via a no-obligation 15-day free trial, while four further subscription options offer a growing list of leading features as prices increase. BigCommerce isn't cheap, but it offers an impressive store editor, despite a quite-cluttered interface that takes time to get to grips with.

However, if you're struggling, the platform is known for excellent customer support across live chat, phone, and email, with a friendly and knowledgeable team providing enhanced services. All in all, for top-level online-store focused site creation, BigCommerce is hard to beat.

Read our full BigCommerce review.

BigCommerce's pricing plans

Webflow

The best advanced website builder for complete developer control

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: Yes
• Ecommerce features: Yes (on advanced plans)
• Free domain: Yes
• Unlimited storage: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

• Flexible site editor with breakpoint control
• Built-in CMS
• Integrated development environment

REASONS TO AVOID

• Complex pricing options
• Email support only

Score: 4.5/5

Webflow's extremely capable builder offers flexibility and customisation for web developers and experienced designers, across sites and online stores. Best suited for devs, design agencies, and experienced site creators, it utilises drag-and-drop tech, with CSS and JavaScript accessible via an integrated development environment.

The platform's in-built CMS is a big plus, while editing access for breakpoints is an advantage for designers looking to take total control over look and feel. Ideal for large and data-heavy sites, Webflow also provides a suite of ecommerce tools, the ability to sell physical and digital products, shipping, digital downloads, and more.

However, if there's a drawback, it's complex and expensive pricing. You'll require an Account plan and a Site plan to get the full package, with both priced separately. A free plan is available that covers two sites with two pages, with pricing and features increasing with complexity through to enterprise and ecommerce levels.

It's worth bearing in mind that Webflow is aimed at those with experience, and the time to utilise its complexities and steep learning curve. Despite this, it's incredibly straightforward once you've got your head around it: customer support is only offered via email for most lower-priced plans, but an online directory of tutorials and videos is an excellent additional help.

Read our comprehensive Webflow review.

Webflow’s pricing plans

Bluehost's WordPress website builder

The best website builder for WordPress websites

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: No
• Ecommerce features: Yes (on advanced plans)
• Free domain: Yes
• Unlimited storage: N/A

REASONS TO BUY

• Enables rapid WordPress website creation
• Comes free with all Bluehost shared hosting plans
• Includes versatile editing tools

REASONS TO AVOID

• Can only be used with Bluehost and WordPress.org
• Can’t change template once you’ve started editing
• Poor server response times

Score: 4/5

Bluehost's WordPress website builder is brand new to the market, having been released in August 2021, and it's a great beginner-friendly option. Designed for fast, streamlined site creation, its tidy section-based editor is very easy to use for those with limited experience, via a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) interface.

An excellent introductory tour, top-notch knowledge base, and 24/7 live support provide further assistance. For more advanced users, there's support for custom HTML, CSS, and Javascript code. Various SEO tools, meta text pop-ups, and ecommerce features like online store design are on offer.

One limitation is an inability to switch templates, while performance also poses concerns: if you opt for a high-end shared hosting or WordPress hosting plan, your experience will likely be better. The builder is available with Bluehost via its shared hosting or managed WordPress hosting. There are three specific builder plans, which are similar in terms of pricing to the hosting packages.

While still a newcomer, it’s poised to become an industry leader thanks to streamlined site creation solutions backed by WordPress's powerful CMS. It's an excellent option for beginners, and those wanting to take full advantage of WordPress.

Read our comprehensive Bluehost WordPress website builder review.

Bluehost WordPress website builder's pricing plans

*The Bluehost WordPress website builder is available with a minimum 12-month subscription, and prices will increase on renewal.

Squarespace

The best website builder for professional templates and sites

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: No
• Ecommerce features: Yes
• Free domain: Yes
• Unlimited storage: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

• Stunning templates
• Good integration with marketing tools
• Mobile-responsive themes

REASONS TO AVOID

• Lacks autosave
• Has an initial learning curve

Score: 4/5

Squarespace has long been known for professional templates. Although its library is quite small compared to others, every design is built with modern techniques and standards in mind. These, alongside native tools, add-ons, and a versatile marketing suite, make it easy to see why Squarespace is so popular.

In addition, it offers ecommerce tools to rival the best in the industry. You can sell virtually anything, including digital content, services, and subscriptions. The product categorisation tools are great, to say the least, and you'll be able to manage inventory and orders through the intuitive management dashboard.

However, when it comes to site creation, Squarespace’s editor is far from the best we’ve used. It’s quite counter-intuitive and poorly designed, and you'll likely find it a little confusing to get started with. A free-forever version is also lacking, although a 14-day free trial allows you to test the platform.

Across four paid plans, you get great features including a free domain for the first year, unmetered bandwidth and storage, and built-in SSL security.

Read our Squarespace review.

Squarespace's pricing plans

GoDaddy

The best website builder for absolute beginners

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: Yes
• Ecommerce features: Yes, basic
• Free domain: No
• Unlimited storage: Yes, with high-end plans

REASONS TO BUY

• Straightforward and beginner-friendly
• Fast site creation
• Built-in SEO and ecommerce tools

REASONS TO AVOID

• Overly simple with limited design flexibility
• Basic, generic templates

Score: 4/5

If your top priority is creating an online presence with minimal fuss, we’d recommend GoDaddy, largely thanks to an extremely beginner-friendly, intuitive editor. You won’t have much design flexibility, but that's not necessarily be a bad thing.

With GoDaddy, it’s not unrealistic to get online in just hours. There’s a neat range of tutorials if you run into problems, but the chances of this are low. Underpowered ecommerce tools will bother some, but you get a free domain, 24/7 support, a free SSL certificate, and unmetered storage on all bar the cheapest plan.

There’s one free and four premium plans. The free plan allows you to create a simple site with a branded GoDaddy domain, but is quite limited. Prices are higher for shorter subscriptions, but all allow you to connect a custom domain name, and offer a free business email for the first year, plus editing and analytics tools. More advanced plans add marketing, ecommerce, and business-related features too.

Read our full GoDaddy review, and our GoDaddy web hosting review.

GoDaddy's website builder pricing plans

Elementor (for WordPress)

The best website builder for advanced WordPress websites

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: Yes
• Ecommerce features: Yes
• Free domain: No
• Unlimited storage: N/A

REASONS TO BUY

• Streamlined WordPress website creation
• Very competitively priced
• Great range of editing tools

REASONS TO AVOID

• Somewhat unorganised and confusing to use
• The free option is quite limited

Score: 4/5

Known more as a plugin, Elementor is one of the most powerful WordPress site builders. It provides an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, and you can put together your new site without any coding.

There are numerous third-party integrations, along with a neat free plan that provides access to enough tools to comprehensively test the editor, including over 40 widgets, 30 templates, and basic support. However, you'll need to sign up for a separate hosting account, and purchase a domain name.

There are four premium plugin plans, with the main differences being support and the number of sites you can create (up to 1,000 with an Agency plan). The three most expensive plans allow you to create an Expert Profile with which to showcase your portfolio.

Read our Elementor review.

Elementor's pricing plans

*Monthly billing isn’t available. All subscriptions must be paid on an annual basis.

Zyro

The best website builder for simplicity and value

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: No
• Ecommerce features: Yes, with advanced plans
• Free domain: Yes, with advanced plans
• Unlimited storage: Yes, with advanced plans

REASONS TO BUY

• Inexpensive plans
• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder
• Excellent uptime

REASONS TO AVOID

• Cannot change templates
• Limited design elements

Score: 4/5

Zyro, the site builder from leading web host Hostinger, is designed for those who want to build a simple site without spending much time or money. Start with one of more than 150 templates, add your own content, and hit publish.

There are a number of AI tools available, including an writer, brand name generator, and a logo maker, providing an affordable, straightforward site creation process. You can sell products, but keep in mind that ecommerce tools are basic at best. The blogging tools are decent, though, and all users benefit from 24/7 support.

It doesn’t have a free-forever plan, which is a disadvantage if you wanted to try it out, but its paid plans are among the most affordable we’ve seen. Packages all come with free hosting and a free domain name for one year, with plans able to be paid annually or monthly. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee, too.

Read our comprehensive Zyro review.

Zyro's pricing plans

*Pricing after the first year, which sees respective monthly pricing of £1.10, £2.94, and £11.79 a month

HostGator's Gator Builder

The best website builder offering value for money

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: No
• Ecommerce features: Basic
• Free domain: Yes
• Unlimited storage: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

• Very competitive prices
• Powerful drag-and-drop builder
• Unmetered storage and bandwidth

REASONS TO AVOID

• Deceiving price structure
• Limited blog features

Score: 3.5/5

If you want similar power to Wix without high prices, HostGator’s Gator Builder is a great option. Although there’s no free-forever plan, you can build a new site for just a few dollars a month. Note, though, that prices will increase when you renew.

One thing that stands out is its excellent drag-and-drop editor. This enables you to create the exact site you want, and position any elements with pixel-perfect precision. On the downside, templates are average at best. Many are outdated, and you'll need to do a significant amount of work to make them look professional. Advanced users might find the lack of specialised tools disappointing, such as dedicated email marketing, while it offers relatively basic blogging.

However, a free domain name and SSL certificate, plus unmetered storage and bandwidth, are attractive features available across three plans, though premium support is only available by phone and chat on mid- and top-range plans. Free analytics are available on all though, which is handy for smaller businesses.

Read our full HostGator review.

Gator Builder's pricing plans

Weebly

The best website builder for simple online stores

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: Yes
• Ecommerce features: Yes, advanced
• Free domain: Yes, with advanced plans
• Unlimited storage: Yes, with advanced plans

REASONS TO BUY

• Mobile-responsive templates
• Helpful SEO guides
• Very easy to use

REASONS TO AVOID

• Limited drag-and-drop functionality
• No site design assistant

Score: 3.5/5

Weebly is one of the world’s most popular website builders, and it’s easy to see why. It boasts a great selection of professionally-designed templates, alongside some of the best ecommerce and online tools available via Square Online, which should give you confidence in its reliability and usefulness.

Noteworthy features include advanced site stats, SEO tools, customisable email templates, and full inventory management. One downside is a somewhat limited editor, which constrains you to pre-coded element positions. You can still drag and reorder, but you won’t benefit from pixel-perfect editing other platforms offer.

There are six plans, including a free-forever package that allows you to create a site and online store, though you can't connect your own domain. It's worth noting that in the long-term, there's a pivot towards Square's own ecommerce store builder, with new Weebly customers funnelled to it. However, existing customers will still be supported with features and functionality.

Read our Weebly review.

Weebly's pricing plans

*Price when paid annually

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite

The best website builder offering all-in-one cheap plans

SPECIFICATIONS

• Free plan: No
• Ecommerce features: Yes
• Free domain: Yes
• Unlimited storage: Yes

REASONS TO BUY

• Affordable ecommerce plans
• Easy to make a professional-looking site
• Cross-sell on Facebook, Instagram, and more

REASONS TO AVOID

• Only 18 templates to choose from
• Cannot drag and drop content elements

Score: 3.5/5

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite is an affordable, beginner-friendly builder backed by a great selection of templates, and the power of Europe’s largest hosting provider. It comes with one of the best template libraries available, where you'll find designs for virtually any type of site, including portfolios, ecommerce stores, and simple blogs.

Additional tools include access to a range of stock photos to make your site stand out from the crowd, alongside numerous SEO and marketing features, while the blog manager is one of the best available. The editor is also excellent, boasting an intuitive yet powerful interface.

On the downside, there’s no free-forever plan or trial, but there's a paid trial for one month for new users. There are a range of plans available covering basic builders, ecommerce options, design advice and consultation, and marketing tools, emails, and a free domain and SSL certificate.

Read our 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite review.

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite's basic builder pricing plans

The benefits of the best website builders

• You can build a site without any programming or technical experience or skills. Builders are designed for users with limited prior knowledge, utilising drag-and-drop technology to enable absolutely anyone to build their own website.
• Builders enable site creation in mere hours, thanks to simple user interfaces coupled with built-in template libraries and the option to pre-populate webpages, as well as applications and tools available from the outset to add unique features.
• So much about site creation can seem expensive, but top builders offer this service for little to no monthly cost. For simple personal sites, free website builders are ideal, though they’re not recommended for professional business sites.
• Third-party or native integrations and add-ons mean that if you need a feature for your site, a given builder will either have that feature pre-installed and in-house, or it’ll have an app store that you can download and install tools from.

The best easy website builders for beginners

Easy website builders offer streamlined site creation, and can be used with little to no coding or technical experience. Some of the best website builders are easier to use than others, or are more suited to creating business sites. Most have different focuses, while certain builders are aimed at different audiences.

Look for advanced online store creation tools that enable you to sell online, creating avenues for increased income. Keep an eye out for marketing tools, which are always a bonus. The ability to accept online bookings will be crucial for many, and high-quality SEO is important to help people find you online.

Platforms like Wix are excellent, but complicated editors can make them a little difficult to use. On the other hand, builders like Site123 are extremely easy to use, but don’t always have a lot more to offer. After testing countless options by creating our own basic sites, below is our list of the best easy website builders available.

What are the best easy website builders?

Wix combines power and an intuitive user interface. Excellent tools include a logo maker, online booking support and store features, and over 500 themes. The ADI editor requires little experience and gets sites online quickly; while the Wix Editor's industry-leading drag-and-drop flexibility is more complicated, but great for beginners looking for design freedom.

Shopify is targeted at beginners, offering streamlined online store creation with industry-leading ecommerce tools like discount code support and advanced analytics. Its editor is limited, but designed for those with little online selling experience. It's best for creating ecommerce sites, and isn't viable for standard business sites.

GoDaddy's beginner-friendly editor is extremely straightforward, site creation only taking a few hours. While it has limited design flexibility, it's ideal for beginners. Integrated marketing and ecommerce tools include business directory listings and booking features; order management and inventory tools are basic, so it's not ideal for larger stores or sites.

Elementor adds drag-and-drop functionality to WordPress sites, harnessing the CMS' power without its native editor, and offering business templates, WooCommerce store integrations, and more. However, sites require technical knowledge to create and manage, and you'll need to buy the best WordPress hosting and a domain name separately.

Finally, Site123 boasts a beginner-friendly editor, a great selection of templates, and basic online store creation via integrated ecommerce tools like free professional email accounts, online booking support, and event ticket sales. There's not much customisation available, so it's great for beginners who want to get online fast.

How to choose the best easy website builder

Before you decide, make a list of the tools and features you require. Price is an important consideration, and if you’re looking for something cheap, you'll want to go for a builder like GoDaddy.

Consider whether online store support is required. Shopify is a clear leader here, although most builders come with ecommerce features. The ability to accept online bookings is also important for many businesses: again, most builders include this, but Wix and GoDaddy's excellent tools stand out.

Design flexibility is crucial for those who'd like full freedom to customise their site. The Elementor/WordPress combination is great for this, and Wix doesn’t do too badly either. These two platforms are also great for blogging, another factor that'll be important to many business owners.

Once you’ve listed your requirements, create a shortlist of the most attractive options. We’d recommend starting with the platforms we’ve outlined. Almost all of the best website builders have a free version or free trial, enabling you to test them before committing.

It’s worth putting in the time to test a few options before settling on your favourite. Everyone’s needs are different, and a large part of your choice will come down to simple personal preference.

Website builder FAQs

Want to find out more about website builders? In our frequently asked questions below, we aimed to answer some of the most commonly-asked queries relating to website builders, to help you appreciate how they work and what benefits you can enjoy from creating your own site with one of these leading platforms.

What is a website builder?

A website builder helps you create a site, whatever your level of experience. Ranging from simple platforms to powerful editors, they're equipped with a drag-and-drop editor, a template library, and additional tools.

What's the difference between website builders and web hosting?

Website builders offer all-in-one site creation, usually including hosting, technical management, and everything else needed to set up a new site. This means you'll be able to focus on designing your site and adding quality content to it.

Web hosting stores your files and data on a host's servers, and delivers them to visitors when they load the site. You'll need to use a CMS like WordPress to create and manage your site if you take this route. It's generally a little more difficult, and is less attractive for absolute beginners.

WordPress vs website builders: what's the difference?

WordPress and website builders help design, create, and publish sites. However, they have a lot of differences: for one, builders offer technical management, hosting, security, and often a domain. All you need to worry about is designing and maintaining your site.

WordPress is an open-source CMS designed to help you create and manage your site, and can’t be used without a third-party web host. However, it provides more technical freedom and control, though you should ensure you don't fall into the trap of making the most common WordPress website mistakes.

In general, you should use a website builder if you’re thinking about creating your own site. Most require no coding knowledge, are ideal for beginners, and offer the fastest option, making them a great choice if you want to spend less time and money.

Free website builders vs paid website builders: what's best?

When comparing free website builders vs paid, it's worth noting free builders can be useful, but only in certain cases. You can build a website for free via trials or free plans, but even the best free website builders have limitations like branded subdomains, advertising, and heavily restricted bandwidth and storage.

They usually aren't the best option for business or commercial sites, or for anything beyond small personal projects. However, they're a great way to test a platform before committing.

What is a good free website builder?

Wix is the best option for a free website builder, as the full website builder is included. Remember however that you will be constrained by very limited storage and bandwidth, and will have to have a branded Wix domain and advertising on your site.

What's the best cheap website builder available?

Our top cheap website builder is HostGator’s Gator Builder, which offers subscriptions starting from just $3.84 a month. This entry-level package gets you access to the platform’s powerful drag-and-drop editor, along with a free domain, a free SSL certificate, and basic online store tools.

How to choose from the best website builders

Selecting one of the best website builders can be hard. Plan your site's intended purpose, look, and budget, and consider the specific nature of your business. Research the best options, and take advantage of free-forever plans and trials to test different services.

Builders are generally aimed at beginners, and are quite easy to use. Even complex services start off simply: select a template, personalise the design, and add content. Pay attention to tools included: most offer some form of online store, but choose specialists for strong ecommerce support and tools. Bear after-sales support in mind, especially if you're less technically-minded: look for live chat and phone support.

Finally, most top builders have strong features and simple editors, so don't compromise on quality for ease of use.

How we review the best website builders

When reviewing the best website builders, we make sure to test the builder and editor on our own custom sites. That way, we can find out where these tools sit on the user experience scale, between overly simple or too complex. We also test site uptime and response times, because these are key to performance, and any issues might cost you dearly down the line.

Additionally, we explore features and trial customer support responsiveness, and establish pricing details, as some initial term costs can increase later on.

Next steps when choosing a website builder

If you're just starting out, learn how to build a site from scratch. Wondering whether you need a website for your small business? Look at why you need one; see some top tips for creating a small business website; explore the top tools needed; and discover the foundations of a successful small business site.

Unlimited web hosting sounds too good to be true, but not only does it exist, many of the best web hosting services provide unlimited packages. These plans aren't just empty promises: they provide users who don't want limitations on their hosting or to face barriers on resource use with a great, limitless hosting option.

Regardless of the hosting type, unlimited web hosting plans are available from multiple providers. However, remember that not every host will provide unlimited resources on every plan. It's key to bear in mind that some will restrict resources if you use too much, or will only offer unlimited hosting on high-end plans.

It can be difficult when choosing a web hosting provider offering unlimited site resources to know which one to pick. Don't compromise on great performance, speeds, quality customer support, and particular special features and tools. Below, we've analysed, ranked, and reviewed top unlimited web hosting providers to find the best services available.

The top 3 best unlimited web hosting providers

Hostinger: a leading host with options for unlimited plans

One of the most capable web hosting providers, Hostinger has a few products that give no limitations on most resources. You do have a limit on disk space (up to 100GB SSD) and subdomains (100), but that still should be enough for most users.

Hostwinds: strong range of unlimited packages

Hostwinds has a wide range of products, from shared hosting up, that offer unlimited hosting, so you have more choices than usual. Unlimited bandwidth, disk space, domains, and subdomains are all available, and there are some extras, like a free SSL certificate.

GreenGeeks: unlimited features across premium plans

Eco-friendly host GreenGeeks offers shared hosting with unlimited websites, bandwidth, and disk space, plus nightly backups or Cloudflare CDN integration, to name just a couple of extra tools. WordPress plans also have unlimited features including email accounts, while VPS plans offer unlimited sites and subdomains.

Which is the best unlimited web hosting provider?

Generally speaking, all of the providers mentioned below offer capable hosting services, so you won’t be making a mistake no matter what you choose.

That being said, we prefer Hostinger's selection of hosting products, which have no limitations across most resources bar a limit on disk space for all plans and subdomains. However, most plans above entry-level offer unlimited bandwidth, and nearly all offer unlimited SSL certificates.

Hostwinds is a great choice for beginners and more advanced users. Even its lowest priced shared hosting plans provide unlimited bandwidth and storage, and while that's not the case for VPS web hosting or cloud hosting, business and reseller hosting provide unlimited features too.

GreenGeeks has a powerful set of shared hosting plans with unlimited sites, bandwidth, and disk space (above the Lite package, which still has unlimited bandwidth). Alongside other extras, WordPress and reseller plans add unlimited email accounts and sites and subdomains respectively.

Namecheap, HostGator, Bluehost, and DreamHost all also offer hosting plans across hosting types that provide unlimited resources of one kind or another.

The best unlimited web hosting providers, compared

The best unlimited web hosting providers available

Hostinger

The leading web host offers some unlimited features

SPECIFICATIONS

• Bandwith: Unlimited (bar exceptions)
• Storage: No
• Websites: No
• Subdomains: No

REASONS TO BUY

• Unlimited bandwidth offered on all but cheapest plans

REASONS TO AVOID

• No unlimited storage, websites or subdomains available on plans

Score: 4.5/5

The best web hosting service currently available, Hostinger has a selection of hosting products that have no limitations across most resources, throughout its range of plans and packages.

Unfortunately, it does have a limit on disk space for all plans (the highest you can reach is 300GB SSD with the most expensive cloud hosting package) and subdomains (100), but most plans above the entry-level, cheaper packages offer unlimited bandwidth, and nearly all plans also offer unlimited SSL certificates.

While most of the more expensive plans have an upper limit of 300 websites, this is not a figure most businesses would exceed. While this isn't as comprehensively impressive as some of the other providers below, Hostinger's services and offerings across the board are the best available, which should be enough for most users.

Read our in-depth Hostinger review.

Hostwinds

Unlimited shared, business, and reseller hosting

SPECIFICATIONS

• Bandwith: Unlimited (select plans)
• Storage: Unlimited (select plans)
• Websites: Unlimited (select plans)
• Subdomains: Unlimited (select plans)

REASONS TO BUY

• Unlimited bandwidth and storage across shared, business, and reseller plans

REASONS TO AVOID

• Only certain plans covered, and not all elements are unlimited

Score: 4.5/5

Hostwinds features highly on this list because even at the level of its lowest pricing plans, namely its cheapest shared hosting, you can take advantage of unlimited bandwidth and storage. While this isn't the case for VPS or cloud hosting, that offer unlimited hosting, its more expensive business plans and reseller hosting provide the same unlimited features.

The top level of all three hosting packages includes unlimited websites too, while other extras include free SSL certificates, meaning that below the more advanced, enterprise-level hosting, Hostwinds offers the most unlimited features.

Read our full Hostwinds review.

GreenGeeks

Eco-friendly hosting with options for unlimited features

SPECIFICATIONS

• Bandwith: Unlimited (select plans)
• Storage: Unlimited (select plans)
• Websites: Unlimited (select plans)
• Subdomains: Unlimited (select plans)

REASONS TO BUY

• Unlimited sites, bandwidth, and storage for all premium shared hosting and WordPress plans

REASONS TO AVOID

• VPN plans have limitations on certain factors

Score: 4/5

An eco-friendly hosting provider, GreenGeeks has a powerful set of shared hosting plans with unlimited websites, bandwidth, and disk space for all plans above the Lite package (which still has unlimited bandwidth), plus you also get extras like nightly backups or Cloudflare CDN integration.

The same levels of unlimited hosting are available with its WordPress hosting plans (again, bar the cheapest which still has unlimited bandwidth), with unlimited email accounts added. While the VPS plans are limited, the reseller plans offer unlimited websites and subdomains despite bandwidth and storage restrictions.

Read out comprehensive GreenGeeks review.

Namecheap

The cheapest web hosting with unlimited tools

SPECIFICATIONS

• Bandwith: Unlimited (select plans)
• Storage: Unlimited (select plans)
• Websites: Unlimited (select plans)
• Subdomains: Unlimited (select plans)

REASONS TO BUY

• Good unlimited coverage in shared and reseller hosting packages

REASONS TO AVOID

• WordPress hosting has more restrictions

Score: 4/5

Namecheap offers very affordable unlimited hosting across its shared hosting plans. You get unlimited bandwidth on all plans, unlimited websites and subdomains on plans above the cheapest package, and unlimited disk space for select plans, with a free website builder or free Supersonic CDN also included.

WordPress hosting sadly does not have the same level of freedom, though reseller plans do again include unlimited bandwidth, websites, and subdomains.

Read our detailed Namecheap review.

HostGator

Competitive pricing for unlimited features

SPECIFICATIONS

• Bandwith: Unlimited (select plans)
• Storage: Unlimited (select plans)
• Websites: Unlimited (select plans)
• Subdomains: Unlimited (select plans)

REASONS TO BUY

• Good range of unlimited options across shared hosting plans

REASONS TO AVOID

• Only websites and bandwidth unlimited on more complex hosting plans

Score: 3.5/5

HostGator offers unlimited bandwidth and disk space on its starter plan, but if you want no limitations on your domains and subdomains, you’ll have to choose a higher-tier plan.

However, note that you’ll need to be fully compliant with their Terms of Service, and you’ll need to only utilise disk space and bandwidth in the normal operation of a personal or small business website. Generally, this is nothing to worry about, but just bear in mind that the policy exists.

Unmetered bandwidth is also available across its dedicated and VPS packages, while its reseller hosting offers unlimited websites.

Read our full HostGator review.

Bluehost

Unlimited hosting across the shared hosting board

SPECIFICATIONS

• Bandwith: Unlimited (select plans)
• Storage: Unlimited (select plans)
• Websites: Unlimited (select plans)
• Subdomains: Unlimited (select plans)

REASONS TO BUY

• Beyond starter plans, unlimited resources for hosting included across types

REASONS TO AVOID

• Not as many unlimited options on more complex hosting packages

Score: 3.5/5

Bluehost is one of the best web hosting providers available, and fittingly the vast majority of its shared hosting plans, bar the starter plan, provide unlimited websites, bandwidth, storage, domains, subdomains, and parked domains.

Again, as you increase the level of hosting required, the limitations on these factors does creep in, but its range of shared hosting plans are among the most competitively-priced, meaning that access to unlimited web hosting is cheap to obtain.

Read our comprehensive Bluehost review.

DreamHost

Unlimited hosting across a range of plans

SPECIFICATIONS

• Bandwith: Unlimited (select plans)
• Storage: Unlimited (select plans)
• Websites: Unlimited (select plans)
• Subdomains: Unlimited (select plans)

REASONS TO BUY

• Great unlimited coverage across shared and VPN hosting

REASONS TO AVOID

• Only unlimited bandwidth for WordPress hosting plans

Score: 3.5/5

DreamHost is a good alternative to the providers we already mentioned. When it comes to shared hosting, the Unlimited plan gets you pretty much everything with no limits, and you get an SSL certificate pre-installed. Its VPN plans also include unlimited bandwidth, websites and subdomains, while WordPress plans enjoy unlimited bandwidth too.

Read our detailed Dreamhost review.

Unlimited web hosting FAQs

What is unlimited web hosting?

Unlike many shared hosting plans available, unlimited web hosting plans don’t put a hard cap on resource usage. This means you'll have more flexibility to manage your site without restrictions. In most cases, hosting providers have the following resources set to unlimited.

Bandwidth is the amount of data transmitted between a site and visitors’ browsers. It can determine how fast a website will load, and how many users can simultaneously open the same page. Having unlimited bandwidth means your site will be able to adjust to traffic surges. In turn, you won’t be charged if your site has to use more bandwidth than the usual amount.

The storage space is where you will host your files, including code scripts and multimedia. With unlimited storage, it’s possible to upload as many files as necessary. This makes it an excellent feature for content-heavy websites like blogs and portfolios. However, make sure to go with a hosting plan that offers SSD storage, as these run much more efficiently and have better performance than HDDs.

Most unlimited hosting plans let you create as many websites as you like at no extra charge, which is great if you run several online projects. Some web hosts also offer unlimited subdomains, so you can create multiple sites using the same domain name. Parked domains are additional domain names that point to your website. You can register them to secure misspelled versions of your main domain name, and avoid losing potential traffic.

What do hosting companies include in unlimited plans?

The term “unlimited” doesn’t mean the shared hosting plan has infinite resources. Rather, it means that the service has ample supply for multiple small to medium-sized websites, so much so that you probably won’t hit the usage limit.

Some examples are personal blogs, online resumes, and small business sites, which don’t need a lot of support in the first place. They don’t take up a lot of storage space and only garner a few thousand visitors a month, leaving a lot of resources unused.

So, as long as your website is manageable for a shared hosting server, you have nothing to worry about. Of course, it’s best practice to check the fine print before making a purchase.

Most hosting companies include what counts as usage abuse in their terms of service. Some take it a step further by detailing what you cannot do with your website to avoid hitting the limit, such as creating a file-sharing or streaming site.

If your website is nearing its resource limits, your hosting provider will send you a warning to reduce your usage. Otherwise, the overuse will impact the performance of your website and those of other users sharing the same server partition.

How we review the best unlimited web hosting services

When reviewing any web hosting providers, we create a website and sign up to a hosting plan. We test server response times and uptimes for a two-week period, because these factors are absolutely key to site performance. If your site is unresponsive, or goes offline, this can mean loss of business and revenue for your company.

If a builder's included in the hosting provider's set of features, we'll test out the website building process; if one isn't included, we'll examine another important or unique tool, and use another provider's site builder. Security is paramount, so we determine how easy it is to set up an SSL certificate with a given host, while studying how comprehensive their general web security is.

We also test out how responsive the web host's customer service and support teams are, because in the event of an issue with your site, you'll need to know how fast they are to respond and how reliable and knowledgeable they are. We also taken an in-depth look at pricing, because many hosting packages can be confusing thanks to large, initial-term discounts.

Further reading on web hosting and website builders

Once you've found the best website builder, and are looking for cheaper hosting, look into the best cheap web hosting for your next project, or even the best free web hosting if you're on a tight budget. If you're searching for hosting for a small business website, take a look at the best web hosting for small business.

Do you want your site to focus on European and UK customers? Ensure your chosen host is among the best European web hosting providers. Finally, if you've got a WordPress website or are looking to create one with one of the best WordPress website builders, the best WordPress hosting is ideal and is provided by many of the best web hosts. Also check out our guides to the best unlimited web hosting, and the best VPS hosting.

Learn how to choose a domain name for your website, and why domain privacy is important, and what it means for your business. It's also worth looking into the best anonymous hosting solutions to protect your privacy.

When choosing from the best web hosting services, if your business is globally-focused then providers offering the best European web hosting are worth a look. By this, we mean that it's highly recommended to choose a host with data centres close to your customers, as server location can play a significant part in determining your site's overall performance.

If you have a customer base largely situated in both the EU and the UK, or one or the other, it's wise to find a provider among the best European web hosting services, because they will have data centres based in the region. What this means for your site is that it will perform better for European and UK customers, because when they visit the site, the regionally-based servers will load the site quickly.

As a consequence, there are a large range of options available, and below we've reviewed and listed the best European web hosting providers either based in or possessing data centres in the region, evaluating them on hosting performance and overall quality as well as their location.

The 3 best European web hosting providers

Hostinger

Hostinger: affordable, EU-based host

Hostinger is one of the most popular and affordable web hosts, with pricing starting at less than £2. Its range of advanced tools and competitive prices are rounded out with package benefits including unlimited websites, email accounts, and bandwidth; a native control panel; and a wide array of other top features.

Hostwinds

Hostwinds: top choice across hosting types

Hostwinds' quality plans cover all hosting types, and as the master of dedicated hosting, its servers boast powerful configuration features for both general and high-demanding power users. Its highly-customisable products mean that it's an attractive option for those looking for scalability, while even cheap packages are filled with strong features.

Wix

Wix: best website builder with hosting

Wix isn't a web host per se, but is our choice for the best website builder. Alongside industry-leading templates and an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor, the free plan and three paid plans include the full builder, with attractive pricing seeing benefits added including unlimited bandwidth, one free domain for a year, ad-free sites, and a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Which are the best European web hosting providers?

For us, the best European web hosting provider is Hostinger, which is also our top pick for a wealth of other hosting categories such as the best web hosting for small business and the best VPS cloud hosting. Its top features and competitive pricing rank it top, alongside the fact that it's a European-based provider of hosting services.

Hostwinds also places highly thanks to its large range of quality web hosting plans and packages, across dedicated hosting, shared hosting, WordPress hosting, and much more. Wix, the best ecommerce website builder and the best small business website builder, also features due to its high-spec builder, and its great hosting offerings packaged with the site creator.

UK-based tsoHost is ideal for users based in the UK or who want a UK base, with a legacy in web hosting bolstered by powerful, affordable pricing. For professional hosting, Liquid Web is a top pick, with European data centres offering high-level security and monitoring.

GoDaddy's European data centres embolden its leading performance levels across secure, competitive packages; while Bluehost's UK presence and competitive pricing, alongside speed and security, ensure it's included.

The best European web hosting services available

Hostinger

Affordable, EU-based web host

REASONS TO BUY

• Excellent performance
• Decent support resources
• A great selection of hosting products

REASONS TO AVOID

• SSL installation can be confusing
• Prices could be clearer

Score: 4.5/5

Hostwinds has a huge range of quality plans, making it a good choice for almost any kind of hosting. As the master of dedicated hosting, its servers boast powerful configuration features for both general and high-demanding power users.

Offering high levels of customisation, even its cheapest packages are packed with strong features, with shared hosting starting at £1.99 a month. The provider also offers the Zyro website builder, if you're looking to tie in hosting and site creation.

Read our comprehensive Hostinger review, and our interview with Zyro CEO Giedrius Zakaitis about the company's biggest successes, challenges, and plans for the future.

Wix

The best website builder with web hosting

REASONS TO BUY

• Tons of flexibility
• Great searchable knowledgebase
• Drag-and-drop simplicity

REASONS TO AVOID

• No template switching
• Some third-party apps are expensive
• Wix Editor can be daunting for newbies

Score: 4.5/5

Wix isn't a true web hosting provider, but it's the best website builder out there, and if that's something you need, they'll make a great choice.

It offers one free plan and seven paid plans ranging from £4 a month to £27 a month, personal and business plans offering such features as unlimited bandwidth, 10GB of storage space, the Visitor Analytics and Site Booster apps, and one free domain for a year.

Read our comprehensive Wix review and our interview with Head Product Manager Michal Bignitz.

tsoHost

One of the longest-running UK hosts

REASONS TO BUY

• Transparent pricing
• Good range of plans for any UK business

REASONS TO AVOID

• Cheaper options exist
• Lacks 24/7 live support

Score: 4/5

tsoHost is a good pick for UK users, especially if they use WordPress, as the provider has some powerful plans.

It's one of the longest-running UK web hosts, offering everything from affordable cloud hosting to high-end dedicated server across versatile plans. Transparent pricing and stable performance anchor well-specified packages.

Liquid Web

Best choice for professional users

REASONS TO BUY

• Excellent high-end option for larger businesses
• Leading uptime and performance metrics
• Friendly, knowledgeable support services

REASONS TO AVOID

• Quite expensive
• No budget hosting options

Score: 4/5

Liquid Web offers top-notch quality and advanced features more suited for professional users across its wide range of web hosting plans.

It provides various expert managed hosting services for all types of users and requirements, and its European data centres provide professional-level virus and spam defense systems, deep system monitoring, key software installation, updates, support, and free external migrations. If you're looking for website creation too, it offers WordPress plugin add-ons and WooCommerce plans for ecommerce.

Read our full Liquid Web review.

GoDaddy

Web hosting mainstay offering a European base

REASONS TO BUY

• Very competitive prices
• Beginner-friendly user interface

REASONS TO AVOID

• Deceiving pricing structure
• No email support

Score: 4/5

GoDaddy is a web hosting giant with a wide range of products and great quality support. It often ranks among the best web hosting providers, offering a range of solutions for businesses of all sizes.

It’s known for great performance backed by data centres in Europe, as well as the US and Asia, with competitive prices, a range of extra features, and good security.

Read our GoDaddy web hosting review and our hosting comparison pitting Bluehost vs GoDaddy.

Bluehost

Leading hosting provider with a UK presence

REASONS TO BUY

• Feature-rich shared hosting plans
• Beginner-friendly cPanel control panel
• Impressive 24/7 support

REASONS TO AVOID

• Deceptive introductory prices
• Terrible performance
• Underpowered VPS and dedicated server plans

Score: 3.5/5

Bluehost is regularly found to be one of the best web hosting services generally, and since it has a UK presence, it's only natural to put the company on our list.

It continues to impress in almost every aspect in a competitive market, delivering the complete package of speed, security, versatility, and not least superb reliability for just £2.43 a month. Its 60-day money-back guarantee also lets you trial the service before you commit.

Read our Bluehost review, and our comparisons of Bluehost vs HostGator and Bluehost vs DreamHost.

Advantages of using the best European web hosting

In terms of the advantages of hosting a website in Europe, firstly it's worth noting that no matter where your customers are based, you'll want to be able to reach them quickly. Choosing one of the best European web hosting services is one way to ensure that, as such providers will have a data centre close to your audience.

This is important, because the closer a data centre is to the user, the faster that data can transfer between the server and the user's browsers. This, consequently, means that your webpages' loading speed will be quicker. All of this ensures that your site provides a better user experience, which will make it more likely that visitors and customers will continue to use the site (which can also rank higher in search results).

While data centre location isn’t a significant SEO ranking factor, it can help search engines determine which local SERPs your site should appear on. Specifically, if your IP address points to a location in Europe, users in the region will most likely find your webpages, and this goes as far as city-based searches too.

Since May 2018, all websites targeting EU audiences have to abide by GDPR, or EU’s data protection laws. If you don't comply, you can face non-compliance penalties. Luckily, the best European web hosting services will uphold the GDPR, and while choosing hosting based in the EU doesn't automatically make a site GDPR-compliant, it can go further towards ensuring customers' personal data is protected.

Even when you know everything there is to know about web hosting, choosing the right provider can be tricky. Luckily, all the providers mentioned in this guide have servers based in Europe, and are very capable web hosts for a range of needs and uses, ranking them among the best European web hosting services available.

Several providers offer a wide range of hosting products, so depending on your needs (you might need WordPress, VPS, managed, or dedicated packages, for example), some may be more suited to you than others. In any case, you can hardly go wrong no matter what you choose: take your pick, and enjoy your new provider.

How we review the best European web hosting

First of all, we look to see if the host has European or UK data centres: beyond that, as with reviewing any web hosting provider, we build a site and sign up to a plan. Once the site is live, we then test server response times and uptimes over a two-week period: these factors are integral to site performance. An unresponsive or offline website can mean a loss of trust in and revenue for your business.

We'll test out the site builder too if it's included: if not, we'll examine a platform-specific tool or feature, and create a site elsewhere that we can then host with the service. We test how easy setting up an SSL certificate is, as part of a wider examination of how comprehensive web security is with that service.

In the event of an issue you can't solve, customer support is vital. That's why we test the responsiveness of customer support and service teams, and how knowledgeable they are. Finally, we study pricing in detail, because large, initial discounts for your first term can balloon into very expensive packages down the line.

Further reading on web hosting and website builders

Read our ranking of the best cheap web hosting, and learn how to choose a domain name for your website, and why domain privacy is important, and what it means for your business. It's also worth looking into the best anonymous hosting solutions to protect your privacy.

Check out our guide to managed vs unmanaged hosting to find out which is best suited to your needs, and discover the best VPS hosting or best cloud hosting services. If you're looking to create a new website, make sure you look over the best website builders before making your choice.

Web hosting continues to serve as the bedrock of any online presence, whether you are creating your very first website, managing a growing portfolio of projects, or scaling an established business into new markets. Selecting the right hosting provider today goes far beyond simply considering storage space or monthly bandwidth limits. Modern businesses also need to evaluate factors such as performance, website loading speed, built-in security features, regulatory compliance, flexible pricing, finding the best website builder, and the ability to support future growth.

With a crowded marketplace and hosting companies often using complex or unclear pricing structures, it is increasingly important for decision‑makers to understand industry best practices. Priorities should include guaranteed uptime, reliable customer support, transparent renewal terms, strong SSL and backup options, as well as clarity on where and how customer data is stored.

This guide outlines the essential features to prioritize in 2025 and highlights the providers currently setting the industry standard.

Best web hosting services

Web hosting remains the foundation of any digital presence, whether you're launching your first site or scaling an established business. Choosing the right provider is no longer just about storage or bandwidth – it's about performance, security, compliance, and future growth. With a crowded market and often confusing pricing structures, businesses should focus on best practices such as uptime guarantees, built-in security, transparent renewal costs, and where their data is hosted. This guide highlights what to look for and our picks of the providers that set the benchmark in 2025.

Wht to look for in a web hosting service

• When choosing a host, there are several best practices to keep in mind:
• Performance and uptime: A strong SLA for uptime (ideally 99.9% or better) helps ensure your site stays available and responsive.
• Transparent pricing: Watch out for cheap introductory rates that rise steeply after the first term.
• Security as standard: SSL certificates, firewalls, DDoS protection, and regular backups should be included.
• Scalability: Look for providers offering VPS or cloud hosting so you can expand as traffic grows.
• Sustainability: Consider eco-friendly hosting that offsets or reduces energy use.
• Compliance and data residency: If your audience is in the UK or EU, check where your data is hosted to align with GDPR.
• Customer support: 24/7 access to technical help is essential, particularly for business-critical sites.

What are the best web hosting services?

Our top recommended web hosting providers

We’ve focused on a shortlist of providers that represent best practice in today’s market. Each excels in a particular category — whether it’s affordability, flexibility, sustainability, or advanced WordPress capabilities.

Hostinger – best value all-rounder

Hostinger offers excellent value for money without cutting corners. Its hPanel control panel is intuitive, SSL setup is streamlined, and Cloudflare CDN integration is built in. Plans range from shared to VPS and cloud hosting, with Zyro’s website builder bundled in. While renewal prices are higher than the initial offer, overall performance and features keep Hostinger at the top of our list.

UK Intro Pricing: From £1.49/month for the ‘Single’ plan on a 48-month term. Renewal rates are £7.99/month. ‘Premium’ and ‘Business’ UK plans sit at £2.99/month (renew £10.99) and £3.49/month (renew £13.99) respectively.

Features & Usability: Includes free SSL, weekly or daily backups (depending on plan), free domain (sometimes), AI-powered site builder, Smart WordPress auto-updates, CDN, mailbox, and staging tools.

Strengths & Caveats: Outstanding affordability makes it great for long-term budget hosting. Interface is beginner-friendly with strong AI tools, though renewal pricing jumps significantly.

Read our full Hostinger review for more information

WP Engine – best for WordPress users

WP Engine specialises in managed WordPress hosting with tools designed for developers and experienced site owners. Daily backups, development and staging environments, and integrated performance features make it ideal for scalable business or eCommerce sites. It’s not the cheapest option, but the depth of its WordPress expertise is unmatched.

UK Pricing: Startup plans begin at £16/month, with tiered options—Professional £32/month, Growth £60/month, Scale £152/month, and custom Core plans from £312/month.

Features & Support: Fully managed WordPress hosting via Google Cloud with CDN, staging environments, plugin automation, backups, WP-PHP updates, WooCommerce optimisation, development tools, and high-end security.

Strengths & Caveats: Designed for businesses needing reliability and advanced WordPress features. Cost is high, making it less ideal for basic sites.

Read our full WP Engine review for more information.

Cloudways – best for flexible cloud hosting

Cloudways provides a pay-as-you-go model across major cloud networks including AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. It combines flexibility with performance, offering 24/7 support, SSL certificates, and automatic backups. Businesses that want more control over their hosting environment without being tied to a single provider will find Cloudways a strong choice.

UK Pricing: No explicit UK-specific pricing. Global pay‑as‑you‑go plans begin at $11/month (≈ £8–9) for the ‘Micro’ tier with 2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 50 GB storage, 2 TB bandwidth.

Features & Add‑Ons: Managed across major cloud providers (DigitalOcean, AWS, GCP, etc.), with stacks optimized with Nginx, Apache, Redis, etc. Offers autoscaling (Autonomous), SafeUpdates, CDN, firewall, free migration, backups, and performance tools.

Strengths & Caveats: Full control and scalability for advanced users; pricing varies by region and resource needs.

Read our full Cloudways review for more information.

GreenGeeks – best eco-friendly hosting

GreenGeeks positions itself as the world’s leading green hosting platform, offsetting three times the energy it consumes. Beyond its sustainability credentials, it offers solid shared and WordPress hosting with unlimited bandwidth, nightly backups, and Cloudflare CDN integration. It’s particularly attractive for small businesses and site owners keen to reduce their environmental footprint.

UK Pricing: Plans from $2.95–$8.95 USD/mo, which is approximately £2.40–£7.30/month. Renewals go up to $12.95–$29.95 USD (~£10.50–£24). (Specific UK GBP pricing not listed.)

Sustainability & Performance: Offsets 300% of power consumption, recognized as EPA Green Power Partner. Offers LiteSpeed servers, SSDs, nightly backups, CDN, WAF, malware protection, and a WordPress toolkit

Strengths & Caveats: Ideal for eco-conscious users with decent performance and tools. Renewal costs rise steeply.

Read our full GreenGeeks review for more information.

SiteGround – best feature-packed business hosting

SiteGround stands out for its advanced features, from staging environments to powerful caching tools. Its support and security features are excellent, though prices rise significantly after the first year. For businesses willing to invest a little more for reliability and rich functionality, SiteGround is a strong contender.

UK Pricing (12-month prepaid, ex VAT):

StartUp: £1.99/month, renews at £13.99/month

GrowBig: £3.99/month, renews at £23.99/month

GoGeek: £5.99/month, renews at £34.99/month

Features: Offers managed WordPress features including auto‑install, staging, WP‑CLI, free CDN, domain, email, daily backups, advanced caching, WooCommerce, renewable energy matching, and showcase-level performance tools.

Strengths & Caveats: Powerful, business-grade features with top-notch support. Intro pricing is attractive, but renewals are high.

Other providers such as Bluehost, HostGator and DreamHost are widely used, but for this guide we have focused on the hosts that demonstrate best practice in performance, security, and overall value.

Our pick of the best web hosting services, compared

The benefits of choosing the right host

Only with the right host can your site perform at its peak. Fast loading speeds capture visitor attention and boost search rankings. Reliability matters too -- strong uptime commitments mean your site remains accessible and responsive. Security should be included as standard, from SSL certificates to malware protection and automated backups. Finally, responsive customer support ensures that whether you're a novice or experienced developer, help is always on hand.

Web hosting FAQs

What types of hosting are available?

Shared hosting is affordable but limited. VPS hosting offers more resources in a shared environment. Dedicated hosting provides maximum performance at a higher cost. Cloud hosting delivers scalability, while managed WordPress hosting is tailored for WordPress users.

How much does web hosting cost?

Shared hosting can start at just a few pounds a month, while VPS and cloud hosting are moderately priced. Dedicated servers and enterprise-grade plans can exceed £80 per month. Always check renewal rates carefully, as introductory prices often increase significantly.

Is free hosting worth it?

Free hosting can be suitable for hobby sites or testing projects, but businesses should invest in paid services. Paid hosting includes SSL certificates, more bandwidth and storage, and proper support, all of which are vital for credibility and security.

Conclusion

The best web hosting choice depends on your business priorities. Focus on providers that combine reliable performance with transparent pricing and robust security. Our recommended shortlist sets the standard for best practice, giving you confidence that your site will remain fast, secure, and ready to scale.

When it comes to finding the best web hosting services, paid providers are always best for your needs. However, if you're just starting with websites, you'll be looking to any ways that you could defer costs until you have a solid turnover. Some small business owners in this situation turn to the best free web hosting for their first site - or are tempted to.

Is free web hosting good?

If you're struggling with budgets, then the best free web hosting services can seem like an easy and perfect option. However, free web hosting isn’t as good as it might appear to be on the surface.

Should you try to choose a free web hosting service, remember that free hosts aren’t anywhere near as good as premium options. Generally speaking, you'll have to deal with security vulnerabilities, poor performance, and limited features. You may also be faced with strict resource constraints, and you’ll likely be left to fix things yourself if anything goes wrong.

Should you have a strict budget, taking this route means dealing with its tight limitations, including a lack of reliability, limited disk space, and slow speeds. Most free web hosts aren’t actually free, with unusable hosting, a lack of security and management tools, and extremely poor customer service. You'll almost certainly run into problems with many "free" hosts once you've signed up.

It can be hard to find decent free web hosting, and our advice is - if budget is an issue - to take a look at our guide to the best cheap web hosting. Here, you can see how you can save without going for free web hosting, as it usually cuts corners.

The 3 best web hosting services right now

We've outlined below our top three best web hosting services, which while not free do instead offer competitively-priced web hosting that's secure, reliable, supported by hosting experts, and evidenced by strong performance figures.

• Hostinger: best all-round web hosting service
  Hostinger is the best overall, VPS, and cloud hosting provider, with advanced tools, an excellent native control panel, and more. Premium Shared Hosting is exclusively available for £1.99 a month, and includes 100 sites, 100GB SSD storage, and unlimited bandwidth and MySQL databases.
• Cloudways: a top cloud hosting provider
  Cloudways offers flexible, powerful cloud hosting across customisable, pay-as-you-go plans. Benefits include managed hosting, free SSL certificates and site migrations, and more, with packages starting from £8.41 a month for 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, and 1TB bandwidth.
• WP Engine: best hosting for WordPress
  WP Engine's powerful managed WordPress hosting offers automated backups, integrated development, and more. High-level performance and leading tools are ideal for scalable, flexible sites, with its Startup package £24 a month for 10GB storage and 50GB bandwidth.

Below, we've tested a range of providers to find the best free web hosting services, as for many there will be little to no other option. Having identified available options that are worth your consideration, we'd also point out that many of these providers are designed to compel you to upgrade to a paid plan once you've hit their constraints.

What are the best free web hosting services?

InfinityFree and Byethost are recommended free hosts, especially if you’re looking for advanced features and generous server resources. Additionally, FreeHostingNoAds, FreeWebHostingArea, AwardSpace, FreeHosting.io, GoogieHost, FreeHostingEU, and HyperPHP are all options worth considering.

One particular free host worth highlighting is 000webhost, which is managed by Hostinger, an industry leader in the hosting space. Although it offers very limited storage and bandwidth, you can rest assured that it provides secure, reliable service.

Our pick of the best free web hosting services, compared:

The best free web hosting services available

InfinityFree

Best free web hosting overall

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: Unlimited
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Subdomains: Unlimited

REASONS TO BUY

• 99.9 percent uptime
• Unlimited disk space and bandwidth
• No ads

REASONS TO AVOID

• Middling speeds

InfinityFree is about as good as a free web hosting service gets. For a start, you get unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and subdomains. There are no forced ads on your website; InfinityFree states that it makes enough money from the ads on the control panel to support the service. It’s been around for over eight years, so you know that your site is unlikely to just disappear one day if the company goes bust.

InfinityFree also has a 99.9% uptime guarantee. We like that you can install over 400 applications through the Softaculous one-click script installer. This makes setting up a WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal site a breeze. InfinityFree even offers free DNS, SSL, and CloudFlare CDN support. As many paid hosts charge for these services, it’s impressive to see in a free host.

In our performance tests, load times were unimpressive but not terrible. But if your website takes off, you can easily upgrade to InfinityFree’s £5.77 a month Ultimate Premium plan for unlimited daily hits and faster server response times.

ByetHost

A professional free host to get you started

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: 5GB
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Subdomains: 1

REASONS TO BUY

• Unlimited bandwidth
• 24/7 support
• Site builder with templates

REASONS TO AVOID

• 10 MB maximum file size

ByetHost is an Ohio-based web hosting company with shared hosting, virtual private servers, and dedicated servers. Its free plan is basically an introduction to its services (and you are encouraged to upgrade to a more powerful paid plan once you’ve set up your website). You get 5GB of disk space, unlimited bandwidth, and five email addresses.

Other features include unlimited MySQL databases, an online file manager, and Softaculous auto script installer. Support is good too, with a handy knowledge base, a busy community, and 24/7 tech support.

FreeHostingNoAds

A no-frills free hosting company

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: 1GB
• Bandwidth: 5GB
• Subdomains: Unlimited

REASONS TO BUY

• Modern website design
• Straightforward plans
• 99.9 percent uptime

REASONS TO AVOID

• 15 MB file size limit

FreeHostingNoAds is a free hosting product from respected web hosting provider Runhosting. Its plan is relatively modest: 1GB of storage, 5GB of bandwidth, and free email.

We actually like these types of plans that are straightforward and don’t over-promise on a free service. You get a file manager, FTP support, a free app installer, and support for PHP. If you don’t want to code your website yourself, you can use the free website builder. As the name suggests, FreeHostingNoAds doesn’t put any forced ads on your website.

On the downside, the one-click installer only supports three applications, file size is limited to 15MB, and an SSL certificate costs £25.

FreeWebHostingArea

An old-school free host for programmers and web developers

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: 1.5GB
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Subdomains: 1

REASONS TO BUY

• Automatic backups
• Fast SSD hosting
• 99.8 percent uptime guarantee

REASONS TO AVOID

• Basic control panel

FreeWebHostingArea has been offering free web hosting since 2005, making it one of the longest-running free web hosts on the internet. It’s an interesting option because it's run and maintained by volunteers. Your site will be deleted if it doesn’t get any visitors for a month.

With this plan, you get 1.5GB of web space, three MySQL databases, unlimited bandwidth, and automatic backups. That’s more than you get with some paid plans. But the ancient design of the FreeWebHostingArea website tells you that there are few creature comforts offered by this web host.

There’s no one-click installer or web-based drag-and-drop design interface, for example. Essentially, you should only choose this web host if you’re a seasoned web developer who knows how to use FTP, and how to set up web applications manually.

AwardSpace

A free web host with a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: 1GB
• Bandwidth: 5GB
• Subdomains: 3

REASONS TO BUY

• 99.9 percent uptime
• One-click installer
• No ads

REASONS TO AVOID

• 15MB file size limit

AwardSpace is a web hosting provider that sells cloud hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers. Its free web hosting plan is intended to get you interested. You get 1GB of disk space, 5GB of bandwidth a month, three subdomains, one MySQL database, and one email account. This is just about enough for a small personal website.

AwardSpace uses its own app installer called Zacky. With the free plan, you can only install WordPress, Joomla, or Grav. With a paid plan, however, you can use Zacky to install around 30 popular web applications. There’s also a drag-and-drop website builder, but on the free hosting plan, you’re restricted to creating a single-page website with it.

000Webhost

One of the longest-running free web hosting services

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: 300MB
• Bandwidth: 3GB
• Subdomains: 1

REASONS TO BUY

• 99 percent uptime guarantee
• Cloudflare protection

REASONS TO AVOID

• Poor security history
• Web pages are watermarked

000Webhost is a product from Hostinger, one of the world’s largest web hosting companies. 000Webhost has been around for over a decade and has accumulated over 18 million users. Its free plan is quite limited—you only get 3GB of bandwidth per month, 300MB of disk space, and one subdomain.

Features like SSL certificates, backups, 24/7 support, and email accounts are only available on the paid plans. 000Webhost suffered a massive data breach in 2015, where millions of account details were stolen. Though steps have been made to shore up security, 000Webhost only barely makes our list, as it’s been usurped by more secure free services that have more features.

Learn more about Hostinger and its paid web hosting by reading our comprehensive Hostinger review.

FreeHosting.io

Unlimited disk space and bandwidth on a free plan

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: Unlimited
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Subdomains: 3

REASONS TO BUY

• cPanel support
• Softaculous one-click install tool

REASONS TO AVOID

• Poor customer support
• Websites are often suspended for arbitrary reasons

FreeHosting.io has 10 years’ experience in web hosting. It's easy to sign up for a free site and have it up and running in a matter of minutes. Freehosting.io’s free plan gives you unlimited bandwidth and disk space, three MySQL databases, and up to three subdomains.

Administration is done through cPanel, and you have a simple site builder for creating a website using a drag-and-drop interface. What’s exciting is the support for Softaculous, a tool that you can use to install a wide range of popular website software with just one click. There are over 400 scripts to install, from content management systems to project management tools.

But FreeHosting.io is a smaller outfit that doesn’t have the proven track record of some of the other entries on this list. The FreeHosting.io support forum is full of customers complaining that their website has been suspended, seemingly without cause. We were unable to get a response from technical support on the issue, so we’d hesitate to put an important website on this host.

GoogieHost

Many features—if you can get a free account

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: 1GB
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Subdomains: Unlimited

REASONS TO BUY

• cPanel hosting
• 1GB SSD storage
• No ads

REASONS TO AVOID

• Site feels a bit sketchy

GoogieHost is a free hosting company located in Lucknow, India. It's been running for eight years and has over 200,000 users. That said, the service can feel a little sketchy, since it’s no coincidence that GoogieHost could be mistaken for GoogleHost.

The company’s website even states that it “ran into many problems” with Google because of this. GoogieHost has been re-tooled as a non-profit organisation, presumably to get around the legal issues of using such a similar name to Google.

But if you can look past all that, GoogieHost is quite an impressive free host. It has servers in the USA, UK, and New Zealand, and the company promises a 99.95 percent uptime. While it has its own control panel, you can also use the popular cPanel to manage your website.

Free plans get a massive 1GB of storage space—on fast SSDs, no less. You also get unlimited bandwidth, free subdomains, two MySQL databases, and free email. It even has a free website builder and Softaculous auto script installer.

Upon signing up for GoogieHost, you have to tell the team why you want a free account. We suspect that this is a way to weed out new members unlikely to want to upgrade to a premium account in the future.

FreeHostingEU

Ad-free hosting with severe limitations

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: 200MB
• Bandwidth: 4TB
• Subdomains: 5

REASONS TO BUY

• Web-based email
• No forced ads

REASONS TO AVOID

• Limited disk space
• Maximum file size of 15MB

FreeHostingEU has free web hosting, though the desire for you to upgrade to one of its paid hosting plans (from £4.14 a month) is clear. The free service has significant limitations: you can’t upload any file over 15MB in size, your disk space is restricted to a paltry 200MB, and you have a 4TB bandwidth limit. As you might expect, these limitations are removed when you pay for advanced hosting.

While there are installers for WordPress and Joomla on the free plan, you don’t get access to the rest of the installers without being on a paid plan. These include phpBB, Drupal, Elgg, MediaWiki, Moodle, and Zenphoto. Ecommerce tools like Zen Cart, osCommerce, and PrestaShop are also locked off behind the paywall.

FreeHostingEU is about as basic as you can get with free web hosting, and the limitations of the service will probably have you wanting to upgrade or look elsewhere.

HyperPHP

Ad-supported free plan

SPECIFICATIONS

• Disk space: Unlimited
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Subdomains: Unlimited

REASONS TO BUY