Last year my hosting provider, startlogic, charged me almost $200 to host my websites and projects. What I am paying startlogic now is more than twice what I was paying some 10 years ago, and quite frankly it isn't worth it. You would think that with Moore's laws that prices would be going down, not up. I have about 3-4 months left with startlogic, and I been looking at the competition. Indeed their reviews kind of suck now https://webhostinggeeks.com/providers/startlogic .
I was originally planning for hostgator. The rates seemed pretty good, swagbucks was offering a bonus for a contract so that made it look that much better. But then then I see that the the prices are just promotional prices and they that aren't upfront about what they really charge. Then I see the customer reviews about performance ( https://hostingfacts.com/hosting-reviews/hostgator/ ), billing, and customer service....well I am not sure that hostgator is the solution I am looking for https://webhostinggeeks.com/providers/hostgator .
Presently I am looking at greengeek. I know nothing about them, and I guess they use wind energy to power their server farms. They claim to have rates at $3.95 a month for 3 years, but normally are $9.95/month. So basically I can have a spot to house my projects for 3 years as part of a promo for less than the cost of renewing a contract with startlogic. On top of being dirt cheap, their reviews seem pretty good. Unlike the other companies named, they seem to be growing https://webhostinggeeks.com/providers/greengeeks .
I am not looking for just American companies because, if become an expatriate, I really don't want the US claiming jurisdiction over me. I am wondering what other people use and what they would recommend, regardless of what country it is based out of. What I need is http (preferably free https, but not close enough to a marketing phase to really care), mysql, php, and cgi.