Web Hosting News & Industry Updates
Breaking news, M&A deals, pricing moves, security alerts and in-depth analysis for the web hosting industry — 812 articles across 14 categories.
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Software reviews
A Vercel for Africa? HOSTAFRICA’s HCode Runs in South Africa
HOSTAFRICA launched HCode on November 5 as its answer to platforms like Vercel, with prices in local currencies across six African countries. The apps run in South Africa. HCode, a rebranded version of the Zanode platform HOSTAFRICA bought in May, starts at R50, or about $3, a month.
Monarx Reviewed 65 Hosts: 10 of 12 Large Hosting Brands Sell Website Security Add-Ons
Partners #cybersecurity#monarx
Monarx's review of 65 hosting providers finds 37 including advanced website protection at no extra cost, 31 selling a separate security product and 18 doing both. Mass-market brands lean toward add-ons, while managed WordPress hosts mostly build protection into the plan.
Who Owns Europe’s Largest Hosting Markets: IONOS Controls the Leader in Germany, Poland and Spain
Industry reports #domains#europe
The four largest Swiss-owned hosts hold 39.8% of .ch domains, while the UK has one British-owned operator among its eight largest. We matched the leading operators in Europe's eight largest domain markets with their owners, and IONOS owns the leader in three of them.
DreamHost Confirms File Manager Breach. FTP/SFTP and Some Webmail Credentials Were Exposed
Security #cybersecurity#dreamhost
A security breach prompted DreamHost's October 23 File Manager shutdown and password resets. An attacker exploited third-party software behind the tool and could access FTP/SFTP credentials of users who signed in, plus some webmail logins. Well under 10% of email and FTP/SFTP accounts were affected.
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Other
GoDaddy declares 21 million customers “business users” overnight – strips consumer protections, overhauls arbitration, and locks down dispute rights
On February 2, 2026, GoDaddy published a revised Universal Terms of Service Agreement (UTOS) that fundamentally changed the legal relationship between the company and its more than 21 million customers. The update
Microsoft ends free period for expired M365 subscriptions and announces new monthly billing model
TL;DR - Microsoft will end the current renewal model starting April 1, 2026, with enforcement in the CSP channel from May 4, 2026.Until now, expired Microsoft 365 subscriptions could enter a short
Other
Hostinger reports 51% revenue growth in 2025, reaches €275.4 million
TL;DR - Hostinger reported €275.4 million in revenue for 2025, up 51% year over year. This is the fourth consecutive year in which the company recorded more than 50% annual revenue growth.
Stock reports
What’s Next for Tucows After Ting? Five Strategic Paths Forward
Tucows just put up a better year on paper - $390.3m revenue and $50.6m Adjusted EBITDA in FY2025 - while still posting a $75.8m net loss. The gap is mostly financing weight and depreciation from Ting-era infrastructure: $55.3m net interest expense in FY2025 alone. Management’s answer is blunt: sell Ting, then run a simpler, more capital‑light Tucows built around Domains and Wavelo.
Other
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) updated its contract terms, allowing server price changes until shipment
In early February 2026 HPE sent letters to partners, changing contract terms for server and GreenLake orders.HPE cited rising memory prices and supply constraints as reasons for the update. What changed For
M&A
PlanetHoster strengthens its presence in Europe with the acquisition of Digital Forest
PlanetHoster has acquired Digital Forest, a French hosting provider founded in 2020 and focused on eco-responsible infrastructure. The transaction was announced on February 11, 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed. As part
Other
WP Engine claims Automattic planned royalty fees for at least 10 other hosting companies
TL;DR: the 8% royalty proposal from 2024 is old news - but WP Engine now claims that Automattic planned similar demands for at least 10 other hosting competitors. The latest update also
Other
Wix trades 68.7% below 2025 levels despite $2B buyback plan
Wix closed at $70.95 on February 12, 2026. In January 2025, the stock was trading around $240–$247 per share and the 52-week high stands at $239,73. From that peak to $70.95, the
Other
Is Webuzo any alternative to cPanel? See what hosting pros think about it in February 2026
A recent discussion on WebHostingTalk - “I need feedback on Webuzo” - triggered an interesting exchange among hosting operators testing Webuzo as a potential alternative to cPanel. Reading through the thread and
Other
What hosting providers are saying about cPanel in early 2026
A recent thread on WebHostingTalk - “A personal and honest perspective on cPanel - beyond pricing complaints” - triggered a long discussion among hosting operators about cPanel’s direction in 2026. Reading through
Expert's Voice
Why Hosting Companies Are Expanding into SaaS, E-commerce, and Ecosystems
For years, the value proposition was simple: rent space on the internet, keep it online, keep it fast, keep it safe. And that still matters - immensely. But it’s no longer where most of the value is captured. In 2026, the most ambitious hosting companies are no longer competing primarily on CPUs, storage, or even performance benchmarks. They’re competing on something much messier and far more powerful: the customer’s workflow.
1 million registrations of .ai domains – 20× increase over 5.5 years
TL;DR - the .ai country-code domain needed roughly five years to scale from ~40,000 registrations in early 2020 to over 1M in early 2026.This TLD, managed by Identity Digital, has a huge
Shared hosting in 2025 – a year of stress tests, signals and structural change
TL;DR - if 2024 was about post‑COVID normalization, 2025 was about pressure - on margins, positioning, and on the long‑term credibility of the traditional shared hosting model. Growth didn’t collapse, but cracks
Webhosting.today January 2026 Security Update
We’re excited to launch the first-ever Monthly Security Update on WebHosting.Today, we couldn’t be more pleased to do it alongside three of the most respected names in hosting and WordPress security, Blackwall
M&A
Shellrent joins Your.Online — third acquisition in 2026
Your.Online has completed another acquisition with the addition of Shellrent, an Italian provider of domains, hosting, cloud VPS, and server solutions. The deal was signed in February, making this the third acquisition
Automattic and Wayback Machine teamed up to launch Link Fixer
TL;DR - new WordPress connects websites through API with the Internet Archive. When an outbound link dies, instead of 404s, users are redirected to an archived copy of the resource. For public
Other
Have you paid for your open source last year? team.blue did
TL;DR - PHP runs most of the web, and WordPress alone powers over 40% of it. The PHP Foundation’s annual budget is under $1 million and team.blue just became their Gold Sponsor,
4.67 million new .com domains registered in 2025 according to new Namecheap’s domain insights
TL;DR - in the newest Namecheap Domain Insights & Trends Report included registrations comparison of 2024 vs 2025, with trends and signals for 2026. The dataset is based on Namecheap’s proprietary registration
Industry reports
Lost case – Monaco.com will not belong to Monako
TL;DR - The Government of Monaco lost an attempt to seize Monaco.com from a private owner using UDRP. This was proof that governments do not automatically control matching names in .com, even
M&A
UK2 Group has joined Your.Online
TL;DR - this adds another established UK hosting platform to the group. No product changes were announced. The deal fits Your.Online’s ongoing UK consolidation pattern. What actually happened On 2 February 2026,
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