HostList.io is an independent web hosting directory that ranks over 28,000 hosting companies across 60+ countries by HRI, a transparent algorithmic rating, not by affiliate commission. It was built by Gautam Khorana, an operator and builder based in London who also co-founded the agency Seahawk Media and hosts the WP Legends podcast. HostList is one of Gautam's independent ventures, not owned by any hosting company, registrar, or affiliate network, which is what keeps its rankings independent. No host can pay to rank higher: every position is earned from real customer reviews, profile completeness, data freshness, and performance signals you can audit in the live rankings.
Gautam Khorana built HostList. It sits alongside a handful of his other ventures: the agency Seahawk Media, the WP Legends podcast, and WPMaintain, the maintenance service that keeps thousands of sites updated, backed up, and patched.
With over 10,000 websites launched, thousands of sites under management, and countless hacked sites recovered daily, Gautam has seen every hosting company from the inside, not from the marketing page. That ground truth feeds straight into HRI, the enrichment pipeline, and every recommendation in the directory.
The world deserves better advice on hosting. That's why HostList exists.
Gautam also hosts WP Legends, the podcast with 90,000+ subscribers and the Best WordPress Podcast 2025. He writes about hosting and AI at gautamkhorana.com.
After years building and migrating websites, the same question kept coming up: "Which host should I use?"
Every directory Gautam found was compromised. Affiliate-driven rankings. Sponsored placements disguised as editorial picks. "Best hosting" lists written by people who've never migrated a site.
HOSTLIST is the answer. 28,000+ hosting companies in the global directory. 60+ countries. Ranked by HRI, a transparent, signal-based system. No company pays for a higher position.
Gautam built this because the hosting industry deserves one honest reference. If you'd rather skip the comparison, HostMatch takes your stack and audience and returns a shortlist.
HostList.io is an independent venture founded and run by Gautam Khorana, the person behind the agency Seahawk Media and the WP Legends podcast. No hosting company, registrar, or affiliate network holds any stake in HostList, which is what allows its rankings to stay independent.
HostList is independent. It is not owned by any web host, reseller, or registrar. No hosting company has equity, board influence, or any ability to change its position in the rankings. Rankings are set entirely by HRI, an algorithmic rating computed from public signals.
HostList earns through optional services that never affect rankings: featured-listing subscriptions (which add visual styling and a verified badge but do not change HRI or rank order), partner referrals clearly labelled as such, and the WordPress services from Seahawk Media, the agency founded by Gautam Khorana (including its WPMaintain maintenance service). A host cannot pay to rank higher. The ranking algorithm has no paid input.
HostList was founded by Gautam Khorana. Through his other ventures, the agency Seahawk Media and the WP Legends podcast (90,000+ subscribers, named Best WordPress Podcast 2025), Gautam has helped launch more than 10,000 websites and spent years in conversation with the people who actually run hosting companies. That operator-level ground truth is what HRI is built on.
Most hosting comparison sites rank hosts by affiliate commission rate, so the recommendation follows the money. HostList ranks 28,000+ hosting companies across 60+ countries purely by HRI, a transparent algorithmic rating combining real customer reviews, profile completeness, data freshness, and performance signals. No host can buy a higher position.
No. HRI is computed only from publicly verifiable signals, and no payment, sponsorship, or advertising relationship is an input. A featured-listing subscription changes how a listing looks, not where it ranks. The methodology is published in full at hostlist.io/hri so anyone can audit it.