What was the internet like in 1995?

Amazon, eBay and JavaScript all arrive in the same year. A typical home connection was 28.8 kbps, there were about 23,500 hostnames responding on the web, and a gigabyte of storage cost $900.

How long did it take to download a film in 1995?

A 4 GB film at 28.8 kbps would have taken about 13 days, assuming the connection held its rated speed the whole way, which it would not have.

How many websites were there in 1995?

About 23,500 hostnames responded to HTTP. That counts hostnames rather than distinct sites, which is why the figure occasionally falls between years without the web shrinking.

The internet in 1995

Amazon, eBay and JavaScript all arrive in the same year.

23,500 hostnames · A 28.8 kbps modem, and the distinctive handshake noise it made.

A remarkable year: three of the businesses that would define the commercial web launched within months of each other, and the language that runs every page you now visit was written in ten days to ship with a browser. Windows 95 shipped without a browser in the box — Internet Explorer was in a separate add-on pack — which is difficult to credit given what followed. Connecting still meant a modem, still meant the phone line was busy, and pages were designed to load usefully over 28.8 kbps because they had to be.

The numbers

Websites: 23,500 hostnames responding to HTTP
Typical connection: 28.8 kbps — A 28.8 kbps modem, and the distinctive handshake noise it made.
A gigabyte of storage cost: $900, in 1995 dollars

How long things took to download

Assuming the connection ran at its rated speed throughout, which it did not. Real dial-up throughput after protocol overhead was typically 10 to 20 per cent below the modem's rating.
What	At 28.8 kbps
A 3 MB song	14 minutes
A 5 MB photo	24 minutes
A 700 MB CD image	2.3 days
A 4 GB film	13 days
A 50 GB game	169 days

What arrived in 1995

Amazon, in July
eBay, in September, as AuctionWeb
Internet Explorer 1, bundled with Windows 95 Plus!
JavaScript, written in ten days
Craigslist
Match.com

Against the years around it

Year	Hostnames	Typical speed	$/GB of storage	A 4 GB film took
1994	2,738	14.4 kbps	$1,500	27 days
1995	23,500	28.8 kbps	$900	13 days
1996	257,601	28.8 kbps	$500	13 days

Between 1995 and 2020 the typical connection went from 28.8 kbps to 100 Mbps, a factor of 3,472, and a gigabyte of storage fell from $900 to $0.020 — a factor of 45,000. The 4 GB film that took 13 days takes 6 minutes.

Common questions

What was the internet like in 1995?: Amazon, eBay and JavaScript all arrive in the same year. A typical home connection was 28.8 kbps, there were about 23,500 hostnames responding on the web, and a gigabyte of storage cost $900.
How long did it take to download a film in 1995?: A 4 GB film at 28.8 kbps would have taken about 13 days, assuming the connection held its rated speed the whole way, which it would not have.
How many websites were there in 1995?: About 23,500 hostnames responded to HTTP. That counts hostnames rather than distinct sites, which is why the figure occasionally falls between years without the web shrinking.

The internet in 1994 The first banner ad appears, and its click-through rate is 44 per cent.
The internet in 1996 Webmail arrives, and your email address stops belonging to your internet provider.
Every year side by side Speed, storage cost and site count in one table
Convert data units Bits, bytes, and why a megabit is not a megabyte

Sources

Web Server Survey — Netcraft
ICT Facts and Figures / World Telecommunication Indicators — International Telecommunication Union
Historical cost of computer memory and storage — Compiled from contemporaneous retail advertising and manufacturer price lists

How these figures are compiled and checked