WEB HOSTING PROVIDERS
Research Report
The following website is a research report, where I will compare three hosting providers’ services, their benefits and counterpoints. This research was conducted only taking into account the providers’ starter plans ( i.e. lowest price plans ) offered on their respective websites, for an annual hosting plan. Information has been synthesized to allow for a clearer comparison in this research presentation.
Links to each of the providers’ websites and other sources may be found on the footer of the website.
| HOSTING PROVIDERS | Hostinger | SiteGround | Ionos |
|---|---|---|---|
| COST FOR 1 YEAR | US $35.88 | US $35.88 | US $60.00 |
| RENEWAL RATE | ~US $215.88 | ~US $143.88 | US $72.00 |
| DISK SPACE | 25 GB | 10 GB | 25 GB |
| MONTHLY VISITS | ~25,000 | ~10,000 | unlimited |
| DOMAIN REGISTRATION COST | 1 year free (~$16.99 after) |
1 year free (~$24.00 after) |
Cost varies depending on TLD's |
| E-COMMERCE CAPABILITIES | Only WooCommerce | WooCommerce or others | Ionos' own E-Commerce |
HOSTINGER
Visit the site at: https://www.hostinger.com/web-hosting
Hostinger was established in 2004 as “Hosting Media”, headquartered in Lithuania.
Besides hosting (cloud hosting, WordPress, Windows VPS and WooCommerce optimized hosting, etc.), they also provide business email services, domain registration and a website builder.
Based on the services provided by Hostinger’s Premium Web Hosting Plan ( US $35.88 / 1 year )
*Note: Hostinger offers time discounts. As of the date in which this research was done, their website offers a 75% discount. This puts the regular price for this plan at US $11.99 / month ( ~US $143.88 / 1 year )
- Supports PHP and MySQL
- Offers E-Commerce capabilities
- Provides at least 1 GB disk space
The Premium plan allows a maximum of 50 MySQL user connections and 40 PHP workers.
The Premium plan offers Starter WooCommerce support.
The Premium plan provides 25GB SSD (Solid State Storage).
Other benefits worth noting:
- Unlimited free SSL certificates.
- 1 GB RAM and 1CPU Core
- Enhanced security
- Free domain registry on purchase.
- Google Integration
- Up to 25 hosted websites
- Free migration services
Counterpoints
- WordPress.org oriented:
- Although Hostinger provides hosting for other types of websites, most of the benefits they provide are oriented for WordPress.org users.
- No independent E-Commerce capabilities:
- In this plan, the eCommerce capabilities are offered only through WooCommerce, which is a WordPress.org plugin. Independent E-Commerce, such as client e-mail accounts, begin at their Business Plan.
- All of Hostinger’s plans have an estimated limit on monthly traffic for each of the websites.
- This plan caps traffic at around 25,000 monthly visits, which depending on a client’s necessities, may be too short.
- Custom e-mail addresses offered in their Web Hosting plans are free only for 1 year
- After one year, e-mail management are to be charged additionally through their paid email plans.
Additional Comments
While it may appear that Hostinger offers some of the cheapest prices, they are in fact introductory prices. Most of their renewal prices are up to a 27% increase after the initial purchase. Another note to make is that Hostinger displays their offer prices for a monthly rate, even though these prices do not apply to a monthly payment plan. In addition, their free domain perk, offered when buying any of their plans, does not include the renewal rates of said domain after the first year.
In conclusion, while Hostinger may be the option to seek in terms of security, it may not be the best option for small businesses seeking a more cost-effective solution.
SiteGround was founded in 2004, in Sofia, Bulgaria. They provide shared hosting services, as well as cloud hosting, domain registration and custom email services. As of today, SiteGround’s offices are spread around the USA, the UK, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Spain.
Based on the services provided by SiteGround’s StartUp Plan ( US $35.88 / 1 year ) *Note: SiteGround offers time discounts. As of the date in which this research was done, their website offers a 83% discount. This puts the regular price for this plan at US $17.99 / month ( ~US $215.88 / 1 year )
- Supports PHP and MySQL
- Offers E-Commerce capabilities
- Provides at least 1 GB disk space
The StartUp Plan supports Managed PHP version 8.2, custom PHP versions and MySQL & PostgreSQL Databases.
The StartUp Plan provides the free installation of Shopping Cart and Free Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificates.
SiteGround’s StartUp Plan offers 10GB
Other benefits worth noting:
- Free domain registry on purchase
- Free SSL certificate
- Custom Web Application Firewall
- Free domain registry on purchase.
- Unmetered data transfer
- Free migration services
Counterpoints
- No domain registration option.
- No integrated security scans
- SiteScanner, an addon that scans your website regularly for malicious code or other threats, costs an additional US $30 per year.
- Domain name renewal rate comes at US $19.99 after the first year.
- No guaranteed customer safety.
- Domain privacy costs an additional US $12 - $24 rate per year to protect your associated information from being publicly displayed in the WHOIS database.
- Does not allow for purchase without registering a domain.
Additional Comments
Like other website hosting providers, SiteGround offers a Free Domain Registration perk, free only for the duration of a year, whereafter the cost of the renewal rate is at US $21.99 / year. Another pricing practice that SiteGround shares with other providers is the increase of renewal rates. However, SiteGround’s renewal rates remains the same per month for all their different plans ( US $14.99 ).
This renders SiteGround as an adequate choice for long-term website hosting. However, it might not be the best option for a business seeking low costs, as security is an additional expense to their hosting services.
Part of the United Internet Group, Ionos is a german web hosting, domain registration and cloud computing services company, operating in Europe, the UK and the US. Founded under the name “1&1 Internet” in 1988, it became one the first web hosting companies in the world.
Based on the services provided by Ionos’ Essential Plan ( US $60 / 1 year ).
*Note: Ionos offers an initial rate of US $5 / month, for a minimum contract term of 12 months. The renewal rate increase goes up by just US $1, after which the regular annual rate comes to US $72 ( US $6 / month ).
- Supports PHP and MySQL
- Offers E-Commerce capabilities
- Provides at least 1 GB disk space
The Start Plan supports the lates (8.1) PHP versions and a 640 PHP memory limit. Additionally, it offers support for MySQL or MariaDB database types, from which the client can choose.
The Starter E-Commerce Plan allows for up to 500 physical products, and integrated payment and shipping methods.
The Start Plan provides 25 GB SSD (Solid State Storage) storage space.
Other benefits worth noting:
- Free domain registry on purchase
- Allows purchase of hosting without requiring a domain.
- Free SSL Wildcard certificate, in opposition to the standard Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate.
- Unlimited unmetered visits per month.
Counterpoints
- Varying for TLD's.
- Though some free on purchase options are available, depending on the TLD used by the domain of a website, Ionos does not provide a free domain registry for all of their available TLD’s.
- Ionos does not offer WordPress migration support.
- Basic security features, such as virus protection, come at an additional rate.
Additional Comments
It is not exactly clear whether all of Ionos’ hosting plans include E-Commerce support, or if these services are provided as an addon or a separate kind of service. However, Ionos’ prices are clear from the start, and include very basic but essential features and measures, such as security and optimization.
With minimal addons, and competitive prices, Ionos comes as a smart alternative for a simple business website hosting.